092 lateral support
Guan Yuehe jogged out, took the envelope from the mailman, opened it, and sure enough, it was her admission notice. Only then did she feel relieved.
On Tuesday, she heard from her father that a technician at the Five Star Automobile Factory had received an admission notice from Peking University, while she had been waiting for several days and still hadn't received hers.
She called her teacher yesterday to inquire and learned that she was the first person admitted to the Department of Western Languages at Peking University this year, which put her at ease.
If the mailman hadn't come sooner, she probably would have gone to the post office today. And if she couldn't find it at the post office, she would have had to go to the school!
Last night, after learning she had been accepted, she excitedly chattered with Lin Yiku for half the night. So now that she has received the acceptance letter, she isn't too excited.
The mail carrier heard her mutter, "Finally delivered," and explained, "I've been busy these past few days and haven't been able to deliver mail. I'm delivering all the mail I've accumulated today."
"Thank you for your hard work!"
"Oh dear!" The messenger chuckled sheepishly and scratched his head.
Xie Zhenhua came out a step later than her. He opened the envelope, confirmed the school and major, and then put the admission notice back into the envelope.
The two men looked at Zhang Desheng, who was surrounded by his neighbors, without prior arrangement.
The two of them were too calm, which made Zhang Desheng seem overly excited. Although he tried his best to control his emotions, his trembling hands as he opened the envelope betrayed him.
As soon as he took out the admission notice, Zhang Desheng broke into a smile, so excited that he wanted to jump up and down and cheer like his son Zhang Quanbin. But he usually tried to act like a cultured person, just like Xie Zhenhua, and he couldn't ruin his image as a cultured person!
The neighbors exclaimed with envy, "Teacher Zhang, you've done something amazing without making a sound!"
Zhang Desheng's lips twitched, a half-smile playing on his lips, and he waved his hand modestly, "I've just benefited from the country's good policies, I'm lucky, haha!"
He couldn't help but laugh in the end.
He glanced casually to the side and saw Xie Zhenhua with a calm expression, and his smugness subsided slightly. But looking at Xie Zhenhua, this college student, he finally no longer needed to look up at him with envy!
"Teacher Zhang, after you graduate, you should at least stay at the university and teach college students, right?"
The leap from elementary school to university is too big.
Zhang Desheng was pleased with himself, but he was still clear-headed. "What I do in the future depends on the assignment. I'll go to whatever position the organization assigns me. I'll be involved in construction wherever I am."
He thought to himself that being assigned to work at the Education Bureau would be a stroke of good luck; becoming a university teacher? He had never even considered it.
The neighbors scoffed, thinking that reply was really sarcastic!
People strive for higher positions, just as water flows downhill. If the organization were to assign him back to the Wuxing Automobile Factory's affiliated primary school as a Chinese language teacher, I doubt he would still say he would obey the organization's arrangements.
However, if Zhang Desheng had graduated, he probably wouldn't have been assigned to work at the factory's affiliated primary school.
Otherwise, why would people say that knowledge can change one's destiny?
Getting into university and graduate school opens up a whole new world. It's hard to say about others, but for Zhang Desheng, it was like a carp leaping over the dragon gate.
Seeing everyone crowding around Zhang Desheng, Aunt Xie was displeased: These people are blind! Her eldest son got into Tsinghua University for graduate studies! Isn't he more capable than Zhang Desheng? Why are they only praising Zhang Desheng? And Guan Yuehe from Jiang Guiying's family, she also got into Peking University for graduate studies, aren't those two schools even better...?
Everyone naturally knows that Peking University and Tsinghua University are better, but Xie Zhenhua was a college student more than ten years ago, and Guan Yuehe had attended a worker-peasant-soldier college a few years ago and studied foreign languages every day. Everyone felt that it was expected that these two would get into university.
Most people are ordinary people with limited education, just like Zhang Desheng. Zhang Desheng's admission to graduate school was like a thunderclap, giving ordinary people like them more hope.
Back then, both being teachers, Zhang Desheng envied Xie Zhenhua's university degree. Now, both working in the same car factory, they envy Zhang Desheng for getting into graduate school.
Everyone congratulated Xie Zhenhua and Guan Yuehe, then crowded around Zhang Desheng and went home to ask him for advice on applying for postgraduate studies.
Others brought their own children who were preparing for the college entrance examination in July, thinking that if they didn't get into university, they could apply for the postgraduate entrance examination next year and still have a bright future.
Aunt Xie thought to herself irritably: "Go to Zhang Desheng's house, and nobody will get the candy and peanuts I prepared!"
The crowd blocking the gate all squeezed into Zhang Desheng's house before Xie Zhenhua finally went back inside with the notification letter in his hand.
Liu Axiu wasn't interested in Xie Zhenhua's admission notice. What she was thinking was: Xie Zhenhua was a college student before, and after graduation, he might be able to become a technical expert, and their family could move into the small villa that only factory leaders and technical experts could be allocated!
Tingting frowned as she looked at her father's admission notice. Her grandmother had been telling her since last year that she should follow in her father's footsteps and get into university.
Oh no, her dad has now been accepted into graduate school. Will she have to study for so many years in the future?
Xie Zhenhua looked down and saw his daughter with a wrinkled face, about to cry.
Thinking of Zhang Quanbin, who had yelled and screamed because his own father had been admitted to graduate school, Xie Zhenhua felt a little gratified: his daughter seemed quite happy that he had been admitted to graduate school.
Before Tingting could even cry, a large ten-yuan bill appeared before her eyes, which immediately suppressed her tears.
Her father said gently, "Buy whatever you want, just don't eat too many popsicles at once, or you'll get diarrhea and have to go to the hospital for a shot."
Tingting suddenly stopped feeling sad. Zhang Quanbin was right; having a graduate student as a father meant she would have more pocket money in the future.
When Liu Axiu saw this, she wanted to stop him, but then gave up. Xie Zhenhua gave her most of his salary each month for living expenses, but he had earned some money tutoring the secretary's child, which she told him to keep for himself.
But given how lavishly he gave his daughter pocket money, almost all of his money ended up in Tingting's piggy bank.
"Why give so much money to a little girl?" Aunt Xie muttered as she left, only daring to mutter under her breath, "She's over thirty already, if she doesn't hurry up and have another child, will she still be able to have more later..."
—
Guan Yuehe squeezed through the crowd to go home and show off her acceptance letter shortly after receiving it.
Only her sister-in-law and nephew were home. Her mother had gone out to buy some things and would take them to her sister's later. Her father had gone to buy fish from his friends. Her older brother had been frequently traveling with the transport team lately, and Guan Aiguo had to work at his master's house on his days off.
So she went next door to find Grandpa Lin and Grandma Fang.
"Wait a minute, let me wash my hands." After washing and drying her hands, Aunt Fang took the notice and said happily to Uncle Lin, "When we go back to our hometown, we have to go and see if there's any auspicious smoke rising from our parents' graves."
Guan Yuehe laughed out loud. Lin Yiku had said the same thing last night: "Now that you've received your acceptance letter, my parents will definitely say that my grandparents' graves are smoking again."
Lin Yiku also said that the last time smoke appeared was when they got married. He saw his parents burning incense in the kitchen, saying they were thanking their ancestors.
Unexpectedly, Lin's father and Fang's mother are quite superstitious.
Aunt Fang smiled and sighed, "Once Sitian graduates and comes back, I really won't have to worry about her anymore."
One, two, three—each one has a bright future. Even if she doesn't have children in the future, her employer will provide for her, and she can enjoy a comfortable retirement.
Grandpa Lin laughed at Grandma Fang and said, "Don't you need to worry? Just wait, you'll have endless worries to worry about."
"Go away." Aunt Fang remembered to look for the school start date. School doesn't start until September, it's still a long way off.
"The food at school isn't as good as at home, so I need to eat more oily and nutritious foods during this time so I'll have the energy to study when I get back to school."
Guan Yuehe nodded and agreed.
She looked at the notice and belatedly began to feel happy.
—
Jiang Guiying returned carrying a basket covered with a cloth. Before she even reached the alley entrance, a neighbor told her, "Your Yuehe has received her admission notice!"
"Really?" Jiang Guiying couldn't wait to confirm with her neighbor and quickened her pace to get home.
Just as I was about to turn into courtyard number two, I learned that Guan Yuehe was at her old friend's house, so I went straight to the house next door.
I looked at the notification letter again and again, and finally felt relieved.
"It's good that I can graduate in three years." Jiang Guiying thought that by the time Yuehe graduated in three years, she would be almost thirty. It wouldn't be too late to have a child at that age, so as to avoid the greater harm to her body if she had a child at an older age.
She had previously thought that studying wouldn't affect having children, and that she and her two best friends could just help take care of the baby.
But Gu Mannian mentioned during a meal at home that dating is not allowed in university, and students would be expelled if discovered. If dating is prohibited, then getting pregnant while studying should also be discouraged.
Jiang Guiying then gave up on that idea.
"Let's find some time another day to have a meal together to celebrate Yuehe's birthday," Aunt Fang decided.
But now was not the time to discuss when to celebrate. Aunt Fang already knew they were going to Guan Yuehua's house today, so she didn't keep them to talk.
When Guan Canghai returned with the fish, he quickly glanced at the notice and said he would leave for the garment factory's residential compound as soon as possible.
When Guan Yuehe went for the re-examination, she made an appointment with her older sister to go to her sister's house this Sunday, so that she could "take sides" at the crucial moment.
But Jiang Guiying felt that without the elders present, the two of them might suffer, which is why she and Guan Canghai were also arranged to go to the garment factory's residential compound today.
But Guan Canghai's old bicycle was unreliable; the chain broke down as soon as he pushed it to the alley entrance.
He had no choice but to go back and borrow a car from Grandpa Lin.
"I'll ask Engineer Lu to help me fix it when I get back."
Guan Yuehe disagreed, saying, "You've been riding it for almost twenty years, you've already made your money! Look at my dad's new bicycle, it's so smooth to ride, you should get a new one soon!"
Jiang Guiying chimed in, "I told him long ago, he's stingy when he should be frugal and stingy when he shouldn't! He can't even afford a bicycle?"
"Didn't you say you wanted to buy a TV?"
"Why not just buy a new bicycle first, then a TV? I think you're getting more and more stubborn as you get older. What's the use of saving money if you don't have a TV or a plane ticket!"
"How do I look old? The factory manager came to me for a haircut and said my hand holding the scissors was just as steady as it was twenty years ago!"
"Just because I praised you a couple of times doesn't make you think you're someone special. You're not getting any younger..."
Seeing her parents arguing one after the other, Guan Yuehe remained silent and did not participate. After reminding Jiang Guiying to hold on tight, she pushed off with her foot and rode a long distance, quickly leaving Guan Canghai behind her.
That way, they won't be able to start arguing.
"Why are you rushing so fast? I need to yell at him a few more times!"
Guan Yuehe asked, "Why are we going to my sister's house today?"
"You're swearing!"
"That solves it! When facing external threats, we must remain united internally and avoid division!" Guan Yuehe said seriously, "Your and my father's actions just now are not conducive to our concentrated attack later."
Jiang Guiying: "......"
That makes a lot of sense.
To maintain unity, Guan Yuehe deliberately waited for a while at the entrance of the family compound before going to her sister's house together with her father.
Downstairs, I saw the seemingly kind but actually mentally ill old lady I'd met at the supply and marketing cooperative.
Before Guan Yuehe could even roll her eyes at her, the older woman rolled her eyes at her first.
Enemies meet on a narrow road and are bound to be hostile. The old lady had just rolled her eyes when Jiang Guiying pursed her lips, clenched her fists, and rushed over, grabbing her hair with one hand.
"You still have the nerve to roll your eyes at me? You shameless old man, are all the men in the world dead or something? You just have to find your daughter a man who already has a wife and kids? I didn't slap you last time because I was giving the boss face, but today I'll give you a good slap across the face!"
Guan Yuehe was stunned for a moment. When she heard what her mother said, she realized that the kind-looking woman was the one who wanted to find a stepmother for Gu Yu. Her anger flared up, and she shouted "Stop fighting!" as she stepped forward to pull the two apart. She mainly grabbed the kind-looking woman's hand to make it easier for her own mother to do it.
It's Sunday, and it's still early morning. Most of the workers and their families are at home.
Upon hearing such a commotion, everyone rushed out to see what was happening.
"Section Chief Gu's father-in-law and mother-in-law are here again. Last time, Section Chief Gu's mother-in-law brought a group of old men and women and cursed for a whole morning. The director of the Women's Federation had to rush over to deal with it."
"Why are they coming to our door again? Did Section Chief Li's mother-in-law go to Section Chief Gu to introduce him to someone again?"
A family member who knew the whole story explained, "Section Chief Li's mother-in-law rolled her eyes at someone, which annoyed them."
This Section Chief Li is the deputy section chief of the sales department. His wife gave birth to another child this year, and since his own mother couldn't help him take care of the child, he had to bring his mother-in-law to help.
Section Chief Li's mother-in-law seemed easy to get along with. She immediately became friends with the older women in the residential compound. If she hadn't suddenly said she wanted to introduce Section Chief Gu to a caring and considerate partner who could take care of children, no one would have guessed that she was this kind of person.
If it were her, she would have gone up and started a fight too.
Who would find someone who introduces a woman to their son-in-law agreeable? It's already a miracle they didn't report it to the police as pimping.
There were many onlookers, but few went up to offer advice: Wasn't Section Chief Xiao Guan trying to persuade them?
After watching for a while, someone noticed something was wrong. "Is Section Chief Gu the brother-in-law of Section Chief Guan?"
The others suddenly realized: No wonder Section Chief Guan came to the family compound.
Someone knocked on Gu Mannian's door, asking him to come down and handle the situation. Gu Mannian pretended not to hear it and kept shushing Gu Yu, trying to coax her to keep quiet.
My mother-in-law said last time that he was there, and she couldn't very well vent her anger in front of the officials if she caught someone in the family compound.
Guan Yuehe noticed that as the fight went on, two more people rushed in to help the kind old lady. She couldn't hold three people with just her two hands, so she could only block and protect them while taking sides when she had the chance.
Guan Yuehua, who had rushed back from school, arrived even earlier than the factory's women's federation staff. Upon seeing the situation ahead, she didn't even have time to ask what was going on before rushing over to help her mother and sister.
Although it's a three-on-three match, Guan Yuehe can take on three opponents at once, and her team can definitely achieve an overwhelming victory.
Guan Canghai was still stopping the male comrades who were about to step forward, saying, "Women comrades can handle their own affairs; men can't get involved."
"Stop it, all of you! Stop it!"
Guan Yuehe saw the Women's Federation director coming from afar, promptly pushed the person opposite her away, and even turned the tables, saying, "I already told you, stop hitting, stop hitting, this is really outrageous!"
The head of the Women's Federation nearly choked on her breath: "..."
The kind-looking old lady immediately complained to the leader: "She came and started hitting people as soon as she arrived. Look what she did to my hair! The factory won't give me an explanation, so I'm going to sit at the factory gate and demand justice!"
The Women's Federation director frowned. Going to the factory gate was pointless. The leaders and most of the workers lived in the family compound. It would be better to make a scene in the sports facilities area of the family compound, where there were more people.
Generally speaking, the one who strikes first should be criticized the most, but the background is really upsetting. Just for this act of stealing someone else's daughter's boyfriend, it wouldn't be surprising if the other party came to beat him up several times.
Jiang Guiying's mouth didn't stop either, "If you don't roll your eyes at me, am I supposed to slap you? You're doing something awful and you're still acting all smug. Even if the police come, I'll still be in the right!"
Guan Yuehua had just been helping to beat someone up and didn't know what had happened. Now, upon hearing this, the daggers in her eyes flashed as she stabbed at the three people opposite her.
Besides the wife of Section Chief Li from the sales department, there was another person, one older and one younger, who were complete strangers to her.
But the young woman looked like Li Pengcheng's wife, so it was obvious they were related.
The young woman looked so pitiful, standing next to a kind-looking middle-aged woman. If she hadn't seen and heard it with her own eyes, she probably would have thought they were good people if she had met them outside.
"So young and already wanting to be someone's stepmother?" Guan Yuehua asked coldly. "Is this your own idea or Li Pengcheng's?"
Li Pengcheng's wife was furious, shouting, "Why are you throwing mud at our Li Pengcheng?"
"You know it's dirty water? Don't you know how to pour your own dirty water into the toilet? Who are you trying to disgust by throwing it at someone else's house?"
Once Guan Yuehua opened her mouth, her voice showed no sign of stopping, one sentence after another bursting out: "I'm in college, not dead. You don't need to rush to find Gu Mannian a new wife. I've never seen anything like your family, deliberately letting your daughter break up other people's families and rush to be a stepmother."
"The factory holds two or three social events every year. Is your family in such a hurry to send your daughter away? You don't even have time to find a proper partner at a social event. Is someone in your family dying and you're afraid of delaying her marriage?"
"Could it be that Li Pengcheng is afraid Gu Mannian will be elected as the head of the procurement department, so he's trying to ruin his reputation beforehand?"
“If Li Pengcheng didn’t know the truth, he’s blind and ignorant. He can’t even manage his own affairs, and his family’s thinking is completely skewed. What kind of factory cadre is he?”
Upon hearing this, Li Pengcheng, who had rushed over, felt his vision go black. He cursed inwardly that Gu Mannian's wife was really sharp-tongued. What if the factory leaders had a problem with him because of this? He still wanted to compete with Gu Mannian for the position of head of the purchasing department.
"Comrade Guan, I'm so sorry, my mother-in-law doesn't know your family situation. I explained it to her last time. She thought Section Chief Gu was a single mother with a child, which is why she wanted to introduce him to someone."
The kind-looking woman glanced at him and then turned her head away.
"Pshaw!" Jiang Guiying didn't believe such nonsense.
Is the staff quarters of Zhuoyue Garment Factory bigger than Ginkgo Hutong? Or bigger than the staff quarters of Wuxing Automobile Factory?
Why do you immediately assume someone is unmarried just because you see a single guy with a child? Besides, if you want to introduce someone to someone, shouldn't you at least find out about their situation first?
Living in the family compound, how many people are in each family and what their situation is? You can find out anything by asking a neighbor in the same building.
Saying you don't know? That's all nonsense!
But Jiang Guiying never imagined that this would be related to her running for section chief.
Then, she thought happily: "Thank goodness Yuehua came back; she immediately realized the key."
Although they were in the right, the director of the Women's Federation was not very happy.
The factory had already dealt with the matter when Jiang Guiying brought a group of people to cause trouble last time. They went to the factory to give them ideological education and emphasized to the workers that anyone who did this again would be reported to the police and dismissed.
Why are you causing trouble again? This is never going to end.
Guan Yuehua noticed the strange expression on the Women's Federation director's face and said, "I'm going to study at university for four years. Who knows if some people will try to take advantage of my family?"
Upon hearing that Guan Yuehua had returned, Gu Mannian brought Gu Yu over in his arms. Hearing this, he immediately shook his head: "It's none of my business if someone knocks on my door late at night!"
Gu Yu also shook her head and mimicked, "Ah!"
"Listen to this, leader!" Jiang Guiying suddenly perked up again, "Knocking on the door in the middle of the night, scaring my son-in-law so much that he packed his bags and took the children to stay at my house overnight, that's too much!"
The young woman finally lost her nerve and ran home.
The kind-looking woman didn't seem to care at all, but she still tilted her head back, looking as if she hadn't done anything wrong.
Li Pengcheng took a deep breath and was about to speak when he heard Guan Yuehua sneer at him again: "Li Pengcheng, you're something else, sending your sister-in-law to knock on the door. You're not just waiting to catch her in the act, are you?"
Li Pengcheng: "......"
You want to throw all this dirty water on me, right?
The others looked at Li Pengcheng with meaningful glances.
If Guan Yuehua hadn't said anything, they wouldn't have imagined it was related to promotion. Now, upon closer reflection, everyone felt it made perfect sense.
I'd heard that the head of the purchasing department was going to be promoted, and the most likely successor would be Gu Mannian. If Li Pengcheng wanted to compete for the position, he'd have to get rid of Gu Mannian first.
Their positions, seniority, and performance at the factory are similar, so it's impossible for them to surpass Gu Mannian based on work performance alone. But what if Gu Mannian himself runs into trouble?
That's really shady!
The Women's Federation director coughed twice, didn't mention anything else, and gave her opinion on today's fight: both sides were wrong, she was impartial and criticized both sides a few times, and then asked the family members to disperse.
Li Pengcheng wanted to chase after Gu Mannian to explain, but Guan Yuehe raised her hand to stop him, signaling him not to follow.
Jiang Guiying felt she had finally vented her anger and felt refreshed.
"Xiao Gu, is that guy surnamed Li really going to compete with you for the section chief position?"
"Whether he's really competing or not, he's already reached out his hand, so it's no wonder I'm going to smear him!" But Guan Yuehua felt that Li Pengcheng definitely wanted to crush Gu Mannian.
Gu Mannian, unaware of Li Pengcheng's thoughts, whispered, "Our section chief is going to be promoted, but the vacancy has already been filled by Mo Zhinan."
"He's no longer in logistics? Is he being transferred back to the purchasing department?"
Gu Mannian nodded, "Director Mo of the Housing Management Section took the initiative to apply for a transfer to the Archives Office as director, so the factory transferred Mo Zhinan up."
Section Chief Mo is paving the way for Mo Zhinan.
Guan Yuehe laughed and said, "If Li Pengcheng knew, he would be furious!"
Gu Mannian added, "He can't go to the purchasing department, so he might also want your position now that it's vacant."
After all, the planning department is widely recognized as a great springboard for promotion.
“If you don’t go for graduate school, our section chief will get promoted, and you might become my boss.”
He wasn't just making wild guesses without any basis. It was only after news spread that Section Chief Mo had submitted his application for a job transfer.
Gu Mannian sighed with feigned regret, "I was hoping you would promote me."
He had barely finished speaking when Guan Yuehua said disdainfully, "When someone comes knocking on your door, why don't you try to take advantage of the people behind them? To solve a problem, you need to focus on the main issue! All you do is hide!"
Gu Mannian had no rebuttal. He really hadn't thought of anything else and genuinely believed that the other party wanted to be his daughter's stepmother because his family was well-off.
His parents, who usually don't come to his place, made a special trip after his mother-in-law's visit to warn him not to do anything immoral.
Guan Yuehua didn't say anything more to him. She turned her head and immediately changed her tone, speaking softly to Gu Yu, "You should learn more from your mother and your aunt in the future, okay?"
You need either brains or strength. Of course, it's best to be good at both.
There was a knock on the door, and when it was opened, it was Xu Chengcai and his family of three.
“I only went to the clinic for a short while, and when I came back I heard that Aunt Jiang had brought people to fight. You didn’t even wait for me.”
Jiang Guiying was amused by him and patted him twice, "You really hit me when I called you?"
Whether it's Xu Chengcai or Gu Mannian, they are both factory cadres and live in the family compound. It would be easy for them to cause trouble if they were to fight, and they can't really put in the effort like she did.
Guan Yuehe wasn't worried. She would be going to school soon, and it was uncertain whether she would be able to return to the Zhuoyue Garment Factory after graduation.
Xu Chengcai chuckled and scratched his head, then remembered what he had seen on his way back and hurriedly said, "Li Pengcheng's wife's cousin is making a fuss about going back, but Li Pengcheng's mother-in-law is trying to stop her and is making a scene at the gate."
"Huh? Isn't that her daughter?" Jiang Guiying exclaimed in surprise.
"No," Qin Zilan said, "It's that old lady's niece. When she called people over, she said she was going to introduce her to a job, but she didn't find any work. Then she said she was going to introduce her to a boyfriend. Now she has no reputation in the family compound. Who would want to date her? She was crying loudly at the gate just now, saying that Li Pengcheng's family is forcing her to do bad things. She can't stay here anymore and wants to go back to her hometown."
But whether he was forced into it or agreed to it himself, no one knows.
The others in the room remained silent for a while, and did not mention that troublesome family again.
Xu Cheng changed the subject, "Yuehe, have you received your acceptance letter yet?"
Guan Yuehua also looked over immediately.
"Received it! How could I fail the exam?" Guan Yuehe proudly raised her chin high.
"That's great! Ding Xue... uh, Ding Xuewu is just bragging in the alley, saying he'll take the postgraduate entrance exam if he doesn't pass the college entrance exam. I don't believe him, haha."
She almost slipped up and mentioned Ding Xuewen. She cautiously looked at the others, and only breathed a sigh of relief when they didn't react.
Guan Yuehua raised an eyebrow, but didn't expose them, pretending she didn't know anything.
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