041 Pie
The admission notice stated that enrollment would be completed on March 12th or 13th. After finishing her February shift, Guan Yuehe's work at Zhuoyue Garment Factory would come to a temporary end.
There wasn't much work to do, and the factory office didn't plan to hire anyone else, so the tasks were shared with other colleagues.
But she has to go through the procedures for taking a leave of absence without pay first.
While processing her paperwork, Section Chief Xiao from the personnel department said regretfully, "Xiao Guan, it would be great if you had another year of seniority!"
Those who have worked for five years can continue to receive a salary while attending university. The salary is always much higher than the subsidies provided by the university.
Xiao Guan was a little disappointed, but not much.
"Being recommended to go to university is already a great achievement!"
The three years she spent studying also count towards her work experience. Once she graduates, she will be a college graduate with seven years of work experience!
In the long run, she still gained a lot of benefits.
Section Chief Xiao: "That's true. Xiao Guan, you're really good at taking things in stride." How can all the good things in the world be enjoyed by one person alone? We should learn from Comrade Xiao Guan's optimistic attitude.
"Here, it's done. You can use this certificate to transfer your grain rations. Before the start of the semester, you'll need to go to the Municipal Revolutionary Committee to get a letter of introduction." Section Chief Xiao handed her an envelope and told her to put the certificate inside.
"Thank you, Section Chief Xiao!" Guan Yuehe looked at it again and again, making sure there were no problems, before carefully folding the certificate into the envelope.
"Come back to the factory more often when you have time during holidays."
Guan Yuehe nodded with a smile. She would have to come back after graduation, so of course she would come back more often to make herself known to everyone.
Having obtained the certificate from the factory, Guan Yuehe didn't rush to get a letter of introduction from the Municipal Revolutionary Committee or have her photo taken. She decided to finish her last few days of work first.
Jiang Guiying, however, was an impatient person and wanted her to quickly take half a day off to go to the Municipal Revolutionary Committee, but Guan Yuehe refused, saying, "Taking leave will result in a deduction from my salary, so there's no rush."
While taking stock of the supplies at home, she began to think about what luggage to bring to school.
There's no way she can take the homemade sauerkraut with her. Even if she comes back once a week, she can't finish it all, so she asks Jiang Guiying to come over and get more vegetables to take back and eat.
The cabbages and white radishes that were stored in the cellar at the end of last year have been almost eaten up and do not need to be processed.
Jiang Guiying was embroidering her name on her new military green satchel when she saw her walking back and forth between the bedroom and the living room, making her dizzy.
"If you forgot anything, just come back when you have a day off. Oh right, don't bring the radio and bicycle with you when you go to school. We'll see how it goes later."
"Oh." Guan Yuehe originally wanted to ride her bicycle with her luggage there herself, but now that she was reminded, she felt that her mother was right, and she should go to T school to see what the situation was like.
What if she's the only one in the class who rode a bicycle? That would be too conspicuous. She only shows off to people she knows well; she's cautious around strangers!
Just as she was starting to feel cautious, her mother continued to instruct her, "When you get to school, don't tell anyone you got a room. It's too conspicuous and people will easily target you..."
Guan Yuehe would occasionally hum in agreement to show that she was listening, but her hands and feet wouldn't stop moving; she would even lift up the cloth covering the dining table and shake it.
A little while later, Lin Yufeng brought Weiwei and Jingjing over as well, and sighed, "It's been so many days, and Aunt Xie's family still hasn't had a moment's rest."
Every day, matchmakers or Aunt Xie's friends would bring women over to meet Xie Zhenxing.
Either Xie Zhenxing looked down on the woman, finding her unattractive or considering her a temporary worker without her own house, or the women who came said Xie Zhenxing's family was lying, arguing that just because his older brother and sister-in-law had jobs and a house didn't mean Xie Zhenxing did, and besides, Xie Zhenxing was from a rural area and unattractive...
In short, we have not yet seen a solution that satisfies both parties.
There was one woman Xie Zhenxing was quite satisfied with, but she didn't like him at all. Instead, she took a fancy to Jin Junwei, who was washing clothes in front of her house, and immediately asked the matchmaker to find someone else for her. This made Aunt Xie even more disgusted with Jin Junwei.
The key issue is that Xie Zhenxing's attempts to find a partner always resulted in arguments with the women or matchmakers. The third courtyard was a daily spectacle, largely provided by the Xie family.
Jiang Guiying was also avoiding it, because she really didn't want Aunt Xie to come and complain to her, and then ask her to help introduce her to suitable female comrades.
Given Xie Zhenxing's conditions and demanding requirements, who would be so immoral as to push a woman into a fire pit? Jiang Guiying did not respond to Aunt Xie's words.
Fortunately, Aunt Xie didn't have the nerve to confront Bai Xianghong and Zhang Chaonan, otherwise Xie Zhenxing would definitely have been kicked out of Ginkgo Alley by Aunt Bai or Aunt Zhang.
"Don't bother with their family. Even if Xie Zhenxing doesn't find anyone suitable, his letter of introduction will have expired by now."
The neighborhood committee showed Xie Zhenxing his letter of introduction on his very first day there, but only granted him a one-month stay. By mid-March, he would have to leave whether he wanted to or not.
Then we can only wait until the letter of introduction expires.
As soon as Lin Yufeng sat down, she saw Guan Yuehe looking at herself again and again in the red mirror hanging on the wall.
Guan Yuehe thought to herself that she needed to get a haircut before school started; her hair was too long and took too long to dry. She'd ask her dad to cut it for her another day.
Speaking of her father, Guan Yuehe asked, "Is the car factory rushing to increase production lately?"
"They say they've set up a new production line, and workers in several workshops are working in three shifts."
No wonder, in the past few days, less than half of the workers have returned at 6 pm, with many returning after 10 pm and others as early as 7 am.
Aunt Zhao brought back meat the next day, not only to increase Cao Lili's nutrition, but also to supplement Uncle Chang's diet, who was busy from morning till night.
Chang Zhengyi was also scolded the next day. Aunt Zhao said that he was wasting his time eating meat.
Not only are the car factory workers busy, but even Song, the police officer who lives across the street, is busy. I heard he has to go on a business trip to another province to assist in handling a case.
Oh, and there's Bai Xianghong, who hasn't been officially hired yet. Her workshop is also busy. The Zhuoyue brand sports shoes are almost sold out as soon as they're put on the shelves. Department stores in the city alone have placed orders several times. The workers in the workshop are working three shifts.
Half as many people came to listen to the radio in the evening.
The broadcast ended at exactly 10 o'clock, and Aunt Bai was just about to leave when she said, "Xiang Hong gets off work at 10:30, I have to go pick her up."
"Aunt Bai, is your son Chao Nan getting off work tonight too?"
“I told my husband, Lao Zhang, to stay at the factory after get off work and wait for Chao Nan to come back together.”
Guan Yuehe went to the toilet before going to bed and saw more than a dozen people chatting under the ginkgo tree at the entrance of the alley.
It's not that they're not sleeping late at night because they have nothing better to do. Seeing the lights flickering in the distance, you know it's the people from the afternoon shift returning.
"Why are you so late today? You're more than ten minutes late again."
"The machine broke down, so the technicians should spend more time repairing it. Everyone says there's no need to wait, and I'm not the only one leaving get off work late. We can all go home together, nothing will happen."
"Stop talking! Have you had dinner yet? You haven't! How long does it take you to eat? Are you so poor that you can't even afford to eat? What if you faint one day and people come asking me if I didn't feed you...?"
"Keep your voice down! Everyone else is asleep."
A few of the younger ones rushed toward the figure in the darkness, whispering joyfully, "Mom's back!"
Guan Yuehe looked back and saw only a few dark figures standing side by side, some were couples, some were parents and children.
The next day, I saw people who usually leave home early on weekdays.
Good morning, Uncle Chang!
As Grandpa Chang watched Guan Yuehe push her stroller out the door, he turned back and slapped his youngest son, who was still dawdling and hadn't left yet. "Everyone who works nearby has already left, why aren't you hurrying up?!"
You have absolutely no ambition. What if you're late? What's wrong with going to work earlier? Wouldn't you be able to learn more from your mentor if you didn't go earlier?
Chang Zhengyi was helpless. He wasn't an apprentice learning a skill, nor did he have to eat breakfast in the factory canteen like Sister Yuehe!
Guan Yuehe, who "leaves home early," doesn't rush to the factory canteen for breakfast. Instead, she goes straight to a nearby state-run restaurant, eats noodles there, and then rushes into the factory gate just in time.
When the security guard saw her, he would tease her if he had nothing else to do: "Xiao Guan, the bicycle shed is behind your office building, don't get lost looking for it."
Gu Mannian, who was riding his bicycle into the factory behind him, laughed so hard that the bicycle tipped to one side.
Guan Yuehe glanced back at him and said, "Just wait and see who laughs at whom later!"
No need to wait until later, this Sunday, Guan Yuehe saw Gu Mannian making a fool of himself in front of both families.
"Are you done yet? Hurry up, go and urge your older sister again. She just needs to get dressed." Jiang Guiying patted Guan Aiguo, then pulled the old pocket watch out of Guan Canghai's pocket to check the time, and said anxiously, "It's almost ten o'clock, we should leave! We can't keep them waiting!"
After urging everyone here, he went outside and called out over the wall, "Yuehe, get ready to leave!"
A reply came from the other side of the wall after a while: "Let's talk about it after we go out."
The phrase "Ready to go" had been repeated for the third time. Guan Yuehe had already pushed her bicycle outside the door, waiting for her family to leave so she could catch up.
Lin Sitian has been so busy lately that she hasn't had a day off on Sundays. Otherwise, she would have gone to the neighbor's yard to wait with them.
Aunt Zhao and Cao Lili were preparing clothes and diapers for the baby when they heard the noise and craned their necks to look outside.
The eldest daughter of the Guan family is just starting to talk about marriage, while Chang Zhengyi already has a child, far ahead of her peers.
Aunt Zhao glanced at Cao Lili and could only console herself: getting married early has its advantages; it's good enough that the wife she married isn't a troublemaker.
After repeated urging, he was finally able to leave on time. When he arrived at the state-run restaurant, Gu Mannian and his family were already waiting at the door.
Gu Mannian got a buzz cut this time, which Guan Yuehe found very displeasing.
It's not that they look bad, it's just that when a familiar face suddenly changes their look, they seem like a completely different person.
She heard Gu Mannian and her sister whispering a promise: "We won't cut our hair short again."
Her dad liked the buzz cut, thinking it looked neat and tidy, but her sister didn't.
The two families squeezed together at one large round table.
Both sides were quietly observing each other's people. With Gu Mannian and Guan Yuehua acting as intermediaries, the two families quickly got to know each other.
Judging from their enthusiastic responses and lingering smiles during the conversation, it was clear that both families were very satisfied.
Customers who come to eat often glance this way. If they run into someone they know from the car factory, they won't come up to bother them, but they can't help but whisper: "Our factory's most beautiful girl is getting married, and her fiancé isn't even one of the men from our car factory?!"
"Our house isn't big enough to cover the full year's rent, so his father and I will give him more money. We won't decide on the furniture for the wedding. When we officially visit, we'll hand the money over to Yuehua so the two of them can discuss what furniture to get for the new house..."
"We won't accept the bride price your family offered. Let Yuehua take it all. The young couple is just starting out and has a lot to prepare..."
Both sets of parents were satisfied, and when discussing the bride price and dowry, both sides were very frank and straightforward. It was clear that Gu Mannian and Guan Yuehua had already discussed it privately and consulted with their families. Now, discussing it again in person was simply to confirm it.
After the conversation, Grandpa Gu reminded the wooden-faced Gu Mannian, who had been grinning foolishly the whole time, to refill the tea. Overjoyed, he refilled the tea for Guan Canghai and Jiang Guiying and said, "Dad, Mom, have some tea."
Grandpa Gu and his wife: "......"
It's true what they say, once a son grows up, he's gone!
This time, Guan Canghai didn't find the word "father" jarring. He even found his future son-in-law more agreeable and took a sip.
Guan Aiguo chuckled to himself, wanting to whisper to his second sister: "Your future brother-in-law is such a simpleton."
Turning my head, I noticed that my second sister was also looking down, trying not to laugh.
The most lively children were the four kids from both families. Instead of sitting still, they each had a meat bun and sat together outside the restaurant, eating and talking, not at all like strangers.
The meal that Gu Mannian ordered was very lavish. When Guan Yuehe saw it, she saw that there was braised pork and roast duck. It was simply wonderful!
Not only her parents and sister, but everyone else ate to their heart's content. Guan Yuehe thought smugly: I knew ordering these dishes would be the right choice!
This was the second time Guan Yuehe had met with her family to discuss marriage, and it went so smoothly that she thought marriage was that simple.
Turning around, after eating and returning to Courtyard No. 2, I heard Second Aunt and Zhang Chaonan arguing again about the matter of taking a son-in-law.
Then I immediately realized that getting married isn't easy either.
First, T has to make a choice: whether to find someone to marry or hire someone to marry.
Zhang Chaonan's reasons this time were very convincing.
"Look at Sister Erni over there. If it weren't for Uncle Wu finding a man to come to her door, would she be bullied like this?"
As soon as Grandpa Sun stepped out of the house, he heard these words. He was so angry that he turned back into the house and closed the door.
Although Wu Erni is no longer able to stand up, Grandpa Sun and Grandma Sun still want to control people as before, but the workers and their families at the car factory are not to be trifled with.
They would curse Grandpa Sun and Grandma Sun almost every time they saw them, saying that they were not the families of car factory workers, but the families of labor camp inmates, and should be kicked out of Ginkgo Alley.
After provoking public outrage several times, Grandpa Sun and Grandma Sun finally calmed down.
Zhang Chaonan dropped another bombshell: "We're open to having someone marry into our family, as long as you and my dad find me someone with a job, who's willing to do housework, and who's decent-looking."
After the second auntie stopped cooking, she was worried: What if they bring back someone like Sun Dashan? What if that family comes and takes over the house after she and her husband leave?
Pressing her advantage, Zhang Chaonan offered another solution: "Why don't we just have another child who takes my surname, Zhang?!"
Aunt Er's eyes lit up, but her expression remained unchanged. After a long while, she reluctantly said, "Your father and I will discuss it again."
This means there's hope.
Meanwhile, Xie Zhenxing from Courtyard No. 3 failed at his blind date again today.
The woman who came for the blind date first met Xie Zhenhua, and knowing he was her blind date's older brother, her expectations immediately rose. However, the next second she saw Xie Zhenxing, her expression changed drastically, and without even exchanging a word, she turned and left. She even accused the matchmaker of marriage fraud, saying that brothers from the same parents couldn't possibly be so different!
Xie Zhenxing was hit hard by a series of setbacks, and when he learned that Guan Yuehua next door had already arranged a date for him to propose marriage, he felt even worse and told Aunt Xie that he wanted to go back to the village to work.
Upon hearing this, Aunt Xie immediately punched him several times, telling him not to be picky anymore and that he must seize the opportunity to stay in the city.
Xu Xiaomei, on the other hand, broke up with another boyfriend and returned to being single.
Guan Yuehe concluded that dating and getting married is not a simple matter!
In the blink of an eye, the last day of February has arrived.
Guan Yuehe was excited all day long. She was about to have her first long vacation since starting work, a full twelve days!
She and Xie Dongxue had arranged to go to school on the 13th.
In the morning, Mo Zhinan sent a message, asking Guan Yuehe to come to his house on March 6th for a full moon celebration.
He Shuangshuang gave birth to a son on the sixth day of the Lunar New Year and is currently in postpartum confinement at home. Her certificate and letter of introduction were obtained by Mo Zhinan.
Since we're going to attend the full moon celebration, we need to prepare the gifts.
Guan Yuehe asked Xie Dongxue, "What are you planning to give her?"
"Sending a packet of brown sugar is just right for He Shuangshuang to nourish her body."
Guan Yuehe wanted to invite Xie Dongxue to go on a spring outing in March, but Xie Dongxue looked surprised and asked, "You're not coming to work in March?"
"Yeah, wasn't it supposed to be that we work until the end of February, then come back in March to collect our paychecks?"
"Don't you have anything to do in the factory office?" Xie Dongxue was so envious that she almost cried when she saw Guan Yuehe nod. Their union had a lot of important matters to attend to, and even more small ones. The director told her that she should do more work and come back to work for another ten days.
Of course, you can still get paid for these ten days.
Guan Yuehe was also surprised, "Nobody told me I could continue working!"
If she had known earlier, she would have been willing to work ten more days to get paid!
But the formalities had already been completed, and it was too late for her to back out.
Guan Yuehe's happy long holiday, where she didn't have to go to work and was just waiting for school to start, has begun.
"Hey! Yuehe, aren't you leaving for work yet? You're definitely going to be late!"
"I don't need to go to work anymore."
"Oh... I almost forgot, you have to go to school."
Xie Zhenxing, wearing a new coat, saw Guan Yuehe at the alley entrance from afar. He subconsciously shrank his neck and walked quickly over, hugging the wall.
"Is Aunt Xie's youngest son going out on a date? Did he finally succeed in finding a partner?"
"I heard that's it, and it was introduced by the women's federation officer in our factory."
An old man clicked his tongue in disdain, "What kind of taste does she have... Hey! Who?!"
Turning her head, she saw Aunt Xie's eyes blazing with anger: "Who the hell are you?"
Guan Yuehe silently made room for them to fight.
Guan Yuehe spent the entire afternoon wandering around the alley, from courtyard number one to courtyard number thirteen. She was even more idle than the gossipy old men and women, and she heard quite a bit of gossip.
The elderly couple said they were going to the Zhuoyue Garment Factory to inquire about something, and casually asked her if she was going.
What gossip is this? Do we have to go to her workplace to find out?
But she still set off with the elderly men and women.
They were there to ask the gatekeeper for information, while she was there to collect her salary from the finance department.
"Is there a mistake? Is there two extra months' salary?" For the first time, Guan Yuehe didn't take the money immediately.
The woman at the window glanced at the slip of paper next to her and confirmed, "That's right, this is a special approval from the factory to give the three comrades who were recommended to go to university an extra two months' salary as a subsidy."
Guan Yuehe exclaimed happily, quickly took the money and tickets with both hands, and started counting them rapidly.
The number is correct!
This was the first time she had ever received a lump sum of over one hundred yuan in wages!
Another windfall!
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