After the two girls left, Xia Qingqing smiled and pinched Song Ze's ear, saying, "Oh, our Comrade Song is very charming, isn't he? Do many female workers in the textile factory like you?"
Song Ze felt no pain as Xia Qingqing pinched his ear, but his heart raced a little.
He stammered, "No, no, I don't usually interact with girls. I don't know that person at all."
"Okay, I believe you. Keep up the good work in the future," Xia Qingqing said, satisfied, as she released Song Ze's ear.
As the soft touch disappeared, Song Ze felt a little reluctant to let go. He liked Qingqing making these affectionate little gestures to him.
Soon the movie started playing; the movie they were watching was called "The Fiery Years".
The story primarily revolves around a steel plant in Shanghai. The plant is tasked with smelting a new type of steel. The working class, represented by furnace foreman Zhao Sihai, insists on producing their own steel, while the plant manager advocates importing alloys from so-called "brotherly" countries. Just as the steelmaking process is about to succeed, a malicious group introduces harmful elements, causing the furnace bottom to burn through. Sihai is suspended from his duties pending investigation, but he is not defeated by the difficulties and continues to persevere. Ultimately, the entire plant works together to successfully produce alloy steel, providing crucial support for naval construction.
Xia Qingqing had never seen this movie before. Watching the older generation of that era unite as one, work together with one heart and one mind, and strive to contribute to the motherland, she was deeply moved.
Song Ze's attention was entirely focused on Xia Qingqing. He would either hand her dried meat, peel melon seeds, or peel peanuts, or hold her little hand from time to time.
After the movie ended, Song Ze still didn't know what it was about.
When they left the movie theater, it was almost lunchtime, and Song Ze suggested that they go to a state-run restaurant for lunch.
Xia Qingqing rubbed her overly full stomach with a bit of helplessness. She had been so engrossed in watching the movie that she had unknowingly finished all the snacks that Song Ze had brought, and now she couldn't possibly eat lunch.
Seeing her little gesture, Song Ze touched his nose a little awkwardly: "How about we go for a walk in the park first? It'll be good for you to digest your food."
Xia Qingqing felt the chilly wind and shook her head, refusing: "Let's go to the state-run restaurant instead, you must be hungry."
"Mmm, Qingqing is the best~", Song couldn't help but smile.
......
Inside the state-run restaurant, Liu Dinglan looked at the braised pork, shredded pork with green peppers, stewed chicken with mushrooms, and Mapo tofu on the table and frowned slightly: "Wenwen, you ordered so many dishes, the two of us probably can't finish them."
Li Wenwen glanced at her apologetically and said, "Lanlan, I accidentally ordered too much, but it's okay, I brought a lunchbox. If we can't finish it, we can pack it up and it won't be wasted."
Liu Dinglan and Li Wenwen were both female workers in a textile factory. Unlike Liu Dinglan, Li Wenwen had to hand over most of her salary to her family every month, and she usually lived frugally.
Once, on payday, Liu Dinglan was in a good mood and invited Li Wenwen to a state-run restaurant for a meal. She felt that since they were friends, there was nothing wrong with inviting a friend to dinner.
From then on, things spiraled out of control. Every payday, Li Wenwen would subtly suggest that Liu Dinglan treat her to a meal.
Liu Dinglan thought that she really needed to celebrate her salary. Since she was eating alone or with someone else, she acquiesced to Li Wenwen's freeloading.
The state-run restaurant usually serves a lot of food, and one meat dish and one vegetable dish is just right for the two girls. Today, she was a little delayed by something, so she asked Li Wenwen to order first. Unexpectedly, Li Wenwen ordered three meat dishes and one vegetable dish.
Although it wasn't that she couldn't afford it, she felt inexplicably uncomfortable, as if she had been taken advantage of.
But since she had already ordered, she couldn't say anything more.
Seeing that her expression wasn't good, Li Wenwen said cautiously, "Lanlan, are you angry? It's all my fault. If I had known you would be angry, I definitely wouldn't have ordered more."
Hearing this, Liu Dinglan felt even more uncomfortable. Was this an insinuation that she was petty?
"No, eat quickly, we have to go back to the factory after we finish eating," Liu Dinglan tried to ignore her discomfort and picked up her bowl to start eating.
Seeing this, Li Wenwen immediately started using her chopsticks, each bite landing precisely on the braised pork, while she didn't seem to touch the Mapo Tofu.
Liu Dinglan recalled how Li Wenwen always ate as much meat as she wanted whenever they went out to eat, acting as if she hadn't eaten meat in ages. Liu Dinglan felt sorry for her and always let her eat more.
When the two were halfway through their meal, Xia Qingqing and Song Ze walked in.
It was lunchtime, and Xia Qingqing looked around but couldn't find an empty seat. Just as she was about to find someone to share a table with, she spotted Liu Dinglan.
"Lanlan," someone patted Liu Dinglan on the shoulder, and when she looked up, she saw Xia Qingqing's smile.
"Qingqing, you're eating at the state-run restaurant too?" Liu Dinglan was very happy to see Xia Qingqing, but she quickly noticed Song Ze.
With such a large person standing next to Xia Qingqing, it was impossible to ignore him.
Xia Qingqing noticed her gaze and took the initiative to introduce, "Lanlan, this is my boyfriend."
“His name is Song Ze, right?” Liu Dinglan interjected, “Qingqing, have you forgotten that I work at a textile factory? Comrade Song is a new colleague in the security department, and he’s quite well-known in our factory.”
A while ago, a very handsome man joined the security department. This caused quite a stir in the factory. Many female workers secretly went to see Song Ze, and Li Wenwen also dragged her to see him.
Liu Dinglan was surprised to find that Song Ze was Xia Qingqing's boyfriend. She looked disappointed and her eyes drooped. It seemed that her dream of becoming Xia Qingqing's sister-in-law had been dashed.
Li Wenwen's eyes hadn't left Song Ze since he came in, and she even forgot to eat her braised pork. When she heard that Song Ze was Xia Qingqing's boyfriend, her eyes turned to Xia Qingqing with a hint of jealousy.
She remembered this girl; they had met her at the supply and marketing cooperative. At the time, she envied the girl because she was both rich and beautiful.
Later, she learned from Liu Dinglan that Xia Qingqing was from the countryside, so it was obvious why Xia Qingqing had so much money to buy things at the supply and marketing cooperative.
Song Ze felt a little uncomfortable under her gaze, but seeing that she was an acquaintance of Xia Qingqing, he managed to control his urge to retaliate.
She gently said to Xia Qingqing, "Qingqing, please sit down first. I'll go order. What would you like to eat?"
"Okay, I want to eat braised pork," Xia Qingqing replied casually, then waved for Song Ze to hurry up and order.
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