Chapter 57 Something Big Has Happened
The next morning, Dong Xinguo ran into some trouble and couldn't take Jiang Zhizhi back with him.
Dong Xinguo looked apologetic: "Comrade Xiao Jiang, I'm really sorry. You can take the shuttle bus back and ask me for reimbursement later. I'll also reimburse you for two meals."
Jiang Zhizhi didn't seem to care much: "No need, no need, Secretary Dong, you go ahead and do your work. I'll go to the station by myself in a bit."
Fortunately, Zhou Xiye's watch was with her, so she could keep track of the time when she went to the station to catch the train.
Jiang Zhizhi finished packing her things. She had only been there for a week, but she had accumulated quite a lot of stuff. Seeing that it was almost time, she carried her luggage to the bus station.
There was no direct bus to the commune; you had to take a bus to the county town first, and then from the county town to the commune.
Getting back to Qingquan Village from the commune depended on luck. If you were lucky, you could hitch a ride on a donkey cart that was going the same way; if you were unlucky, you would have to walk back.
While Jiang Zhizhi was queuing to buy tickets, Zhang Zhao suddenly appeared and stopped her: "Comrade Jiang? You haven't gone back yet?"
Jiang Zhizhi turned around and saw Zhang Zhao. She looked behind him and saw that Zhou Xiye was not there. She was also very surprised: "Company Commander Zhang, what are you doing here?"
Zhang Zhao pointed to the bus station: "I'm seeing off a comrade-in-arms. He's going back to his hometown to visit his family. He'll be taking a long-distance bus from here."
Looking at the letter of introduction and money in Jiang Zhizhi's hand, she said, "You're going back to Qingquan Village? That's on the way."
Jiang Zhizhi was worried about how far the journey back from the commune would be, but unexpectedly Zhang Zhao arrived, and she readily nodded, "Thank you."
Zhang Zhao waved his hand: "Don't be so polite, it's just a matter of going the same way."
But I was surprised. What a coincidence! And when the boss approved my family visit leave, I clearly wanted to leave tomorrow, but the boss insisted that I leave today, and even picked out the train ticket for me, saying that this would save me time and money on getting home.
Zhang Zhao's mind wasn't working too well. He scratched his head and thought to himself, "This is probably just a coincidence."
He hurriedly went to help Jiang Zhizhi with her luggage: "Let's go, my car is parked right outside. Have you eaten yet? Why don't we go eat first?"
Jiang Zhizhi checked the time; it was only mid-morning. "I've already eaten. Let's go back first."
When Zhang Zhao saw the watch on Jiang Zhizhi's right wrist, his eyes almost popped out. This was the boss's treasure, and he usually cherished it very much. A while ago, when Staff Officer Xiao asked to borrow it for a couple of days, the boss didn't agree!
It has now appeared in Jiang Zhizhi's hands.
How could the boss bear to do that!
When he went on that blind date, he wanted to borrow Zhou Xiye's watch, but what happened? He was also sternly rejected, who said that if the purpose of the blind date was a watch, then there was no point in going on the blind date at all.
But now!
Zhang Zhao felt a pang of sadness, but after Jiang Zhizhi got into the car, he couldn't help but say, "Technician Jiang, the watch you're wearing looks like it belongs to our Captain Zhou."
Jiang Zhizhi nodded: "Yes, it belongs to your Captain Zhou. We were having dinner together that day, and he left it on the table. You can take it back to him in a bit."
Zhang Zhao thought to himself, "Given how much importance the boss places on this watch, how could it possibly end up on the dinner table? It's probably because Technician Jiang doesn't have a watch, so he deliberately left it for her."
Since it was the boss's doing, he certainly couldn't help take it back. He sighed and said, "I'm afraid not. The boss is at the base right now. You'll have to wait for him to come and give it to me. I'm such a scatterbrain; I'm afraid I'll lose something so valuable again."
Jiang Zhizhi thought about it and agreed. She decided to hand it over to Zhou Xiye herself, since watches were still very valuable items in this era.
"Alright, I'll give it to your Captain Zhou later. By the way, is your captain's back injury healed yet?"
Zhang Zhao was quite surprised. He hadn't been to the city even once. What had happened between his boss and Technician Jiang? How did they even know he had a back injury? Suppressing the shock in his heart, he quickly nodded: "It should be healed. Our boss is made of iron. This little injury is nothing to him."
Jiang Zhizhi smiled and said, "We still need to be careful. If the wound gets wet, it won't heal easily, and it will be troublesome if it stays wet for too long."
Zhang Zhao agreed and sighed, "That's just the kind of person our boss is. He never says anything. Even when he's injured, he never takes a vacation. He hasn't taken a vacation to go home for many years. If it weren't for the mission that happened to take him to Beijing recently, he wouldn't have gone home either."
Jiang Zhizhi was quite curious: "Why?"
Zhang Zhao blurted out things he shouldn't have said: "Don't look down on him just because he comes from a good family. His parents are very authoritarian and you have to do whatever they say. Even with marriage, they arranged for a girl to marry him without asking our boss's wishes. Don't they think that our boss is twenty-eight years old? Does he not have someone he likes?"
Jiang Zhizhi felt a pang of sadness: "Who does your boss like?"
Zhang Zhao suddenly shut up. How could he forget that Jiang Zhizhi was sitting next to him? He had said everything!
For the rest of the journey, Zhang Zhao never brought up the topic of Zhou Xiye again.
When they arrived at Qingquan Village, Jiang Zhizhi got out of the car and was about to thank Zhang Zhao when he drove off like a rabbit!
Somewhat bewildered, I watched the car turn the corner in the blink of an eye, shook my head, and went to Old Man Liang's house first.
There's not much farm work to do these past few days; we're organizing canal repairs, which also earns us work points.
Yang Fengmei was assigned a light job: herding the production team's two oxen. She didn't need to go too early in the afternoon; she could go later, and the oxen would return just as it got dark.
A day of herding cattle earns seven workdays, while a day of repairing a canal only earns ten workdays.
Therefore, this is a highly sought-after job that many people are eager to do. Old Man Liang is fair, so he lets all the women in the village take turns doing the cattle herding work, which is fair. Recently, it was Yang Fengmei's turn.
When Jiang Zhizhi arrived home, Yang Fengmei was still sitting in the yard sewing shoe soles. Seeing Jiang Zhizhi enter the yard, she threw what she was holding into the basket next to her and hurriedly got up: "Oh dear, you're finally back. I was just telling your uncle at noon that you should be back."
He helped Jiang Zhizhi carry her bag and put it under the shed, then moved a stool for her and poured her a bowl of tea: "Sit down and rest for a while. Have you eaten? There are still some boiled potatoes from lunch. I'll heat them up for you."
Jiang Zhizhi wasn't very hungry yet: "No need, no need, I'm not hungry right now. We'll eat together tonight."
As he spoke, he took out the yarn and fabric from his bag and handed them to Yang Fengmei.
Yang Fengmei was overjoyed, wiping her hands on her clothes before taking the fabric and yarn: "Why did you buy me these? I already have all of these at home. It's a waste of money and cloth coupons. My goodness, this is woolen fabric! My goodness, how much does this cost?"
As she spoke, she repeatedly touched the fabric; she had never worn anything so fine in her entire life.
She put down the fabric and picked up the yarn. It was soft and delicate, and she exclaimed in surprise, "My God, this is pure wool! You... how can you waste money like this? This is so expensive!"
As she spoke, she quickly handed it to Jiang Zhizhi: "Return it later, this is too expensive, no one in the village is willing to buy pure wool."
Jiang Zhizhi smiled and pushed the yarn back to Yang Fengmei: "Auntie, this is for you. No one else has worn it, so you can wear it."
Yang Fengmei still grumbled, reluctant to part with it: "It's too precious, I can't accept it. If I do, your uncle will scold me when he gets back."
Jiang Zhizhi smiled and said, "I've been so good to you at your house. If you don't accept my food, I won't come to your house for meals anymore."
Upon hearing this, Yang Fengmei quickly retracted her previous statement: "I'll keep it and save it for Dazhuang's wedding."
Jiang Zhizhi smiled as she watched Yang Fengmei's reluctant expression, knowing that Yang Fengmei was definitely unwilling to use these fine materials on herself, but rather on her husband and son. They were a gift, after all; she could use them however she wanted, as long as she was happy.
Yang Fengmei repeatedly touched the yarn and then the woolen fabric: "It's really nice, it feels so high-end."
After looking at it for a while, he carefully put it away and started gossiping with Jiang Zhizhi: "Oh my, the village has been so lively these past few days while you were gone. Something big happened at that educated youth settlement."
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