"Furthermore, this matter could actually be handled by someone else."

"Who? Gu Zhengrong's eldest son?"

"But he's only 16, can he join the army?"

"Why not? As far as I know, several of your Uncle Shen's children went to military academies when they were this age."

"Can these be considered the same?"

“How is it different? Didn’t you say that Gu Yunpeng will graduate from junior high school this summer? We’ll see if he can get into high school. If he can, I’ll recommend him to join the army after he graduates. If he can’t, I’ll recommend him to join the army when the army comes to recruit this year.”

"What's different about Gu Cuicui joining the army?"

"No matter how far Gu Yunpeng goes to serve in the army, he's still a member of the Gu family, and the eldest grandson at that. The Gu family will definitely value him. Even though your parents are no longer here, how many of their comrades-in-arms do they know? They'll only try to curry favor with you and won't dare offend you. As long as they're not afraid of hindering Gu Yunpeng's career, they won't show any bias when you encounter problems. Take building a house in the village just now, for example. How much wood could you get for a radio ticket? How many houses could you build? You suffered a huge loss, all because they thought you were young."

"Okay, I understand, Uncle Zhou."

"After this, don't rush to make decisions. You can come to your uncle. If you really don't have time then, you can send someone to deliver a message to your uncle."

"Is that alright, Uncle Zhou?"

"What, did you meet someone in the brigade?"

"I don't really know or understand anyone else in the brigade right now, but I have a pretty good relationship with Grandpa Huang, who drives the cart for our brigade."

You mean Old Huang?

"Do you know him?"

“His son used to be one of my soldiers. It’s a pity he died in a mission. His wife had a difficult and premature birth when she received the notice. She managed to give birth to the child, but she also passed away.”

"I knew his son had sacrificed his life, but I never expected it to turn out like this."

"This Old Huang is trustworthy. He's an old revolutionary; he's been our Party's liaison since the Anti-Japanese United Army days. But even your brigade secretary doesn't know this. You can't tell anyone else. Just keep it to yourself, understand?"

"Don't worry, Uncle Zhou, I know what I should and shouldn't say."

"Let's talk about this girl from the Gu family. Regardless of whether Gu Yunpeng can join the army this year, we still need to find a job for her. It can't be too far away, just somewhere in the county town. The problem is, we don't know what kind of job to arrange. It's hard to find a job these days."

"What work are you assigning? Old Zhou, who's here?"

Your aunt is back.

"Xiao Fen, come and let me introduce you. This is Li Mianmian, whom I mentioned to you the other day."

"So you're Li Mianmian! Oh my, girls are always so beautiful! Your auntie has given birth to five sons in a row, but I'm just not destined for a daughter. Seeing a girl as big as you makes me so envious."

"It's alright, Auntie. You didn't manage to have a daughter, but your son can have a granddaughter, right?"

"Yes, you're right. I need to hurry up and find wives for my eldest and second sons, so they can give me granddaughters."

"Alright, I still have some takeout from the state-run restaurant in the cafeteria, let's eat quickly."

"Okay, Mianmian, come and eat."

"well"

"By the way, Lao Zhou just came in and overheard something about work assignments. What happened?"

After Uncle Zhou recounted our conversation to Aunt Zhou, we heard her say, "What's there to worry about? It's just a job."

"What, you have news?"

"It's quite a coincidence, isn't it? We have a colleague in our supply and marketing cooperative whose husband is serving in the military in the south. He was recently promoted to deputy battalion commander, which meets the requirements for him to accompany his family to the military. That's why they just wrote to ask her and their child to come with him."

"Who in your supply and marketing cooperative?"

"Xiao Guo, Guo Xiaojie"

"So it was her. Why was she planning to sell her job?"

"Sigh, every family has its own troubles. Her in-laws are reasonable enough; as long as they provide her with a pension every month, they won't make things difficult for her and her two children. But her family is a different story. They have many brothers but few jobs. Didn't they hear she was going to join the army and try to take her job? But you know, you need at least a junior high school education to get a job at the supply and marketing cooperative, and her brothers and their wives didn't even finish elementary school. It was only because her blind grandmother supported her education for several years that she got this job. The most crucial thing is that Xiao Guo isn't close to her family. She was raised by her grandmother and knows that her parents love her brothers more than her, so she doesn't want to give up her job. That's why she secretly leaked the news that she wanted to buy the job."

"I heard that when she got married, she didn't ask the groom to buy her anything except for the bride price."

"No, she didn't buy anything. Her parents kept all the betrothal gifts, and she didn't get a single penny. But she has the money to buy other things in her hands."

"And what about her salary?"

"Her parents didn't get a share of this either. Before she got married, she lived with her grandmother. Although her grandmother was supposed to manage the money, she actually kept it herself. Not long after she got married, her grandmother passed away. Apart from the money she gave to her in-laws for their retirement, she kept most of her salary herself."

Her parents didn't make a fuss.

"Making a fuss won't do any good; a married daughter is like water spilled from a cup."

"That's fine."

"Mianmian, when you go back today, tell the Gu family that there's a job available now. It's just a matter of whether they want it or not, but you'll need to prepare the money."

"How much"

"Six hundred. If nothing major goes wrong, you can be promoted to a permanent position in six months."

"Okay, thank you, Auntie."

"No need to thank me, but Mianmian, don't tell them you know how much the job pays; have them come to me and ask."

"this"

"Just listen to your aunt, otherwise they'll feel they spent too much money and complain about you."

"Sigh, I'll listen to my uncle and aunt."

On the way back, I talked to Grandpa Huang about finding a job for Gu Cuicui: "Grandpa Huang, do you think this will work out?"

"You don't need to worry about whether it will work out or not. There are already job opportunities available; it's just a matter of whether you can seize them."

"Too"

"Besides, finding out about a job opening isn't something just anyone can do; they should all be very grateful to you, you know?"

Why?

"Not everyone will be kind enough to tell you about such an opportunity. Everyone secretly keeps it to themselves, considering whether they might need it."

"That's true."

Back in the village, seeing Liqiu carrying a basket of wild vegetables home, I quickly asked, "Liqiu, are your grandparents home?"

"Grandma's home right now, and Grandpa's at the brigade headquarters. What's wrong, Sister Mianmian?"