Chapter 75 (First Update)
Yan Minghe was assigned the task of canvassing for votes by his mother.
He gets 5 cents for every vote he gets.
He really wanted to buy a comic book, but he had already spent all his allowance for the month and didn't have any money left.
The comic book cost 50 cents. Yan Minghe calculated that he needed to get at least 10 votes.
One ballot costs 5 cents, so 10 ballots would cost 50 cents, just enough to buy a comic book.
Yan Sihe was immediately filled with enthusiasm, darting around in the crowd, and in no time he had pulled out 5 or 6 cards.
The slingshot that Song Yiping made for him was of great help.
Director Li checked the time; it was already 9 o'clock.
He went to the podium, tapped on the table, and said, "Everyone, please be quiet. Today, our subdistrict office is holding a selection event for 'Good Mother-in-Law, Good Daughter-in-Law,' 'Five-Good Families.' You all know the selection criteria, and the families participating in the selection have been publicized in advance on the bulletin board. So far, the subdistrict office has not received any objections from the public, which shows that these candidate families have gained widespread recognition. This has laid a good foundation for our selection today. Now, I will repeat the selection rules for today."
Director Li explained the selection rules again, and then came the main event of the day: the selection process.
There were two ballot boxes on the stage: one for good mothers-in-law and good daughters-in-law, and the other for five-good families.
The two selections were conducted simultaneously.
Everyone ticked off their ballots and then went to vote, laughing and joking.
Director Li and his team shouted for everyone to line up, but the place was so noisy that no one listened to him.
Among the voters were elderly people and children. Song Yiping was afraid of pushing people over, so he went over to help maintain order.
"Everyone, please split into two lines. Those who vote for 'Good Mother-in-law and Good Daughter-in-law' should stand on the left, and those who vote for 'Five Good Families' should stand on the right. After you have finished voting, please go to the other line and wait. Once you have finished voting, please leave the line and wait to the side."
He wasn't wearing his military uniform today, but almost everyone on the street knows him.
The son-in-law of Yan Guoqiang, the machine tool factory owner, is a promising military officer.
I'd never met him before, but I'd heard of him. Now that I see him in person, wow, he's really good-looking. He's not only handsome, but he also gives off a sense of security.
He's been on the battlefield and participated in flood relief efforts. If I don't vote for Yan Guoqiang's family, I'd feel like I'm letting down my People's Liberation Army comrades.
Because of Song Yiping, many people asked the street office staff for pens and changed their voting at the last minute.
There were so many people participating in the selection today that the courtyard couldn't accommodate them all, and the line stretched out onto the main road outside.
The voting alone took more than half an hour.
Today, the votes were counted and the results were announced on the spot.
The first step was to select the best mother-in-law and the best daughter-in-law.
Ye Hongzhen didn't sign up, so she wasn't very concerned about who was selected.
She was concerned about the selection of "Five-Good Families".
The selection of good mothers-in-law and good daughters-in-law ended quickly.
The selection of "Five-Good Families" is about to begin.
Yan Ruyi asked her mother in a low voice, "Mom, are you nervous?"
Ye Hongzhen said, "I'm not nervous. As Officer Li said, participation is the most important thing."
Yan Mingtao said, "Mom, weren't you so excited last night that you couldn't sleep?"
After her son exposed her secret, Ye Hongzhen slapped him across the face, saying, "If you don't speak, no one will think you're mute."
Yan Ruyi decided to save her second brother. "Mom, stop talking, the vote counting has already started."
Ye Hongzhen immediately drew attention and stared intently at the stage.
Director Li personally counted the votes for the "Five Good Families" selection.
"Yan Guoqiang 1 vote, Feng Dashu 1 vote, Ma Cheng 1 vote..."
...
As time went on, the number of tally marks on the blackboard increased.
Ye Hongzhen couldn't read, but she knew that the first word written was for their family.
Right now, there are the most tally marks on the back of their house.
However, the second place was not far behind, closely following behind.
Ye Hongzhen's heart was in her throat.
She no longer cares about being selected as a model family; now she cares about the number of votes she receives.
If she wins first place, she'll brag about it for the rest of her life.
After a while, the second place team pulled ahead of them.
Their family received an overwhelming number of votes and was ultimately named a "Five-Good Family" with 558 votes.
Ye Hongzhen was overjoyed, and several of Zhao Cuifang's close friends came over to congratulate her.
"The first place winner has been chosen, leaving the second place so far behind. They should be sending out wedding candy!"
Ye Hongzhen said, "I'll treat everyone to candy tomorrow!"
A woman standing nearby who wasn't selected said sourly, "Everyone only voted for you because of your son-in-law."
Ye Hongzhen said, "Even if it's because of my son-in-law, it's because my daughter is capable and found a good son-in-law. If you're not satisfied, let your daughter find one too."
The woman fell silent. There was only one Song Yiping, and her daughter had already put him in the bowl. Where else could she find someone else?
The results are in, and the next step is the awards ceremony.
The selected person will receive a reward of 100 yuan.
Even those who weren't selected received an encouragement prize: a box of apples.
Ye Hongzhen happily went on stage and stood in a row with the other selected family representatives, receiving 100 yuan from Director Li.
When awarding prizes, representatives give speeches; for the "Five Good Families," Ye Hongzhen is the representative who speaks on stage.
This was the first time Ye Hongzhen had ever spoken on stage.
However, Ms. Ye Hongzhen was not intimidated at all.
"Respected leaders, fellow neighbors, good afternoon. Today, I stand here with immense excitement to speak as a representative of our exemplary families..."
Yan Ruyi was stunned; this was completely unlike her mother's speaking style!
She turned to her second brother and asked, "Is this the manuscript that your sister-in-law wrote for Mom?"
Yan Mingtao: "No, my mother asked Officer Li to write it yesterday."
Yan Ruyi exclaimed in shock, "The speech was written yesterday, wasn't it just today that the 'Five Good Families' were selected?"
“Mom said she was sure she would be selected, so she asked Officer Li to write one in advance. After it was written, she asked Sihe to teach her. Sihe would read a sentence and she would repeat it. Sihe, how much money did you make again?”
Yan Minghe: "Only 10 cents."
He had to repeat it 10 times before his mother remembered it. In the middle, he said his mother was stupid and couldn't remember things, and he even got slapped by her. He felt he had lost out big time.
Yan Guoqiang hummed beside him, "He memorized it for half the night last night, and he was even reciting the words in his sleep."
Yan Ruyi, however, was very supportive of her mother, saying, "My mother is just being prepared, and this is exactly what she needs."
Song Yiping now understands why his wife is always so confident.
Like mother-in-law!
Li, the secretary, probably worried that Ye Hongzhen wouldn't remember it, so he wrote a short speech for her. Ye Hongzhen only spoke for one minute before coming down from the stage.
Director Li then took the stage to give a concluding speech, thus bringing this selection event to a close.
It's already 11:30.
Yan Minghe asked Ye Hongzhen for a reward, "Mom, I got a total of 20 votes. It was agreed beforehand that each vote would be worth 5 cents, so 20 votes would be worth 1 yuan."
Ye Hongzhen was in a good mood today and readily gave the money to Yan Minghe.
And they even gave me an extra 10 cents.
Yan Minghe had been jumping around all morning, and now his stomach was growling with hunger. "Mom, I'm hungry."
Yan Guoqiang said, "I'm hungry too. Let's hurry home and cook."
Ye Hongzhen never earned any money herself, either before or after marriage.
This bonus for being a model family was the first money she had ever earned on her own.
Although the money was a reward for the whole family, if she hadn't taken care of the family and campaigned for votes before the selection, she might not have been chosen.
So she naturally assumed that she had earned the 100 yuan!
Having earned money for the first time in her life, Ye Hongzhen said smugly, "Why cook? Let's all go to a restaurant today, and I'll pay."
She waved the 10 ten-yuan bill in her hand, "I have money."
Yan Minghe was the first to agree, "Mom, where shall we eat?"
Ye Hongzhen said, "Since you all like spicy food, let's go to that Sichuan restaurant near the entrance for hot pot today."
The group of people went to the Sichuan restaurant at the entrance in a grand procession.
Their family consists of 11 people, young and old.
There wasn't enough room in the main hall, so Song Yiping asked a waiter, who said there were private rooms available, and Song Yiping asked for one.
Ye Hongzhen patted her pocket, "We can order whatever we want to eat, money is no object."
After Ye Hongzhen spoke, everyone got down to business and ordered a tripe hotpot first, followed by a whole bunch of other miscellaneous dishes, all with the goal of eating to their heart's content.
Yan Guoqiang asked Song Yiping, "Does Yiping drink alcohol?"
Song Yiping chuckled. His father-in-law was probably craving alcohol and was using his name to ask for some.
He readily replied, "Have a drink."
He then asked the waiter, "What kinds of alcohol do you have here?"
"Luzhou Laojiao, Fenjiu, Xifeng, Shuangou Daqu."
"Let's start with two bottles of Luzhou Laojiao."
The men were drinking, and the women couldn't just watch, so they asked the waiter, "Do you have any wine?"
"Yes, red wine."
"Then I'll have two more bottles of red wine."
The waiter quickly brought the wine over.
The dishes were served quickly.
On a freezing cold day, there's nothing more satisfying than enjoying a hot pot meal.
Halfway through the meal, Song Yiping stood up.
Yan Mingtao guessed that Song Yiping was going to pay the bill, so he stood up as well.
He's different now. Before, all his money was with Li Yan, and he was penniless.
Li Yan doesn't know how much he earns now. Besides giving it to Li Yan, he keeps quite a bit for himself.
I always keep about a hundred yuan in my wallet for emergencies.
He wanted to pay the bill before Song Yiping could.
As soon as he stood up, Li Yan quickly stuffed Congcong into his arms.
"I've been holding you for ages, my arms are sore, you can hold me for a bit."
"You hold him for now, I'll hold him when we come back later."
Li Yan didn't answer, saying, "Congcong wants his dad, you hold him."
In just a short while, Song Yiping had already gone out and settled the bill.
After everyone had finished eating and drinking, when Ye Hongzhen went to pay the bill, she found out that Song Yiping had already paid.
Ye Hongzhen said, "I promised to pay for it, how could I ask you to pay? How much did it cost in total? Mom will give you the money."
Song Yiping said, "It didn't cost much. Maybe next time Mom will treat us to another meal."
Yan Guoqiang was already drunk. He swayed and patted Song Yiping on the shoulder, saying, "Brother, that's a true friend."
Six months after marrying his wife, Song Yiping finally received the "brother" from his father-in-law.
Yan Mingtao had drunk quite a bit, but his mind was still clear.
Wen Jia realized what was happening and asked Li Yan, "Did you give Congcong to me because you were afraid I would pay for it?"
Li Yan pretended to be confused, "You're so thoughtful. I didn't know Yiping was going to pay the bill at the time."
Yan Mingtao couldn't shake the feeling that something was wrong.
During meals, he usually held Congcong in his arms, and only handed Congcong to Li Yan when he went to the toilet.
How tired can Li Yan be?
Moreover, just as Song Yiping stood up, Li Yan handed Congcong to him—what a coincidence!
It's clear that Li Yan doesn't want him to pay.
During this time, he followed Chen Feiyong to learn how to do business, and his horizons broadened considerably. He increasingly felt that his wife was too short-sighted!
It seems that in the future, I should try to keep some things from her knowing, otherwise she'll definitely hold me back.
Her family was recognized as a model family, and Yan Ruyi was also nominated by the Cultural Relics Bureau to participate in the selection of "National Outstanding Young Entrepreneur" and "National Outstanding Young Factory Director (Manager)".
This selection is jointly organized by the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League, the State Economic Commission, and the All-China Federation of Trade Unions. A total of 10 "National Outstanding Young Entrepreneurs" and 90 "National Outstanding Young Factory Directors (Managers)" will be selected.
Moreover, no quotas were allocated to any province or city.
Unlike before, when these kinds of selection events would allocate quotas to ensure that someone from each province or city would be selected.
In this selection process, if the candidates recommended by a province are not outstanding enough, that province may be left with no candidates.
The selection process this time was as follows: the city first recommended candidates and reported them to the province, and the province then screened them and reported them to higher levels.
This kind of selection isn't something you can just win by canvassing votes.
We need to look at both the results achieved and the qualifications.
Dong Yingxue told her that if she was selected, it would definitely be a plus when she took the postgraduate entrance exam.
After returning home, Yan Ruyi lay down on the recliner. "I probably won't be selected. Putting aside everything else, I don't have enough qualifications. I heard from Director Liu that the city nominated three people this time. Besides me, there's a hardware factory director named Chen Xiangdong, who is 35 years old and has been in the position for 5 years. The other one is the feed factory director named Xie Yunfei, who is also in his 30s. Although he hasn't been the director as long as Chen Xiangdong, he has always been the captain of the youth commando team and was awarded the title of municipal model worker last year."
Based on the principle of knowing yourself and your enemy, Yan Ruyi thoroughly understood the other two candidates, and the more she learned, the more she felt that she had no chance.
Chen Xiangdong and Xie Yunfei's resumes are so long they could fill a single page.
Aside from receiving the title of Outstanding Individual Worker, she received no other honors.
These are just the people nominated by Beijing. There are so many provinces and cities across the country, and the candidates nominated are all outstanding.
For the first time, Xiao Yan, who is usually very confident, was not so confident.
"I'd better just focus on studying."
Song Yiping came over and squeezed onto the recliner with her.
The recliner that Yan Mingtao made was quite spacious; Yan Ruyi could lie there by herself with plenty of room around her.
However, even the most spacious recliner couldn't fit her and Song Yiping.
Song Yiping simply picked her up and let her lie on top of him.
She lay on Song Yiping's body. Da Hua saw this, jumped onto her back, washed her face first, then found a comfortable spot, curled up, and fell fast asleep, snoring away.
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