Chapter 36 (Trouble)
Although Lu Ye was just lying down and enjoying himself last night, Jiang Suining was still worried about his injuries. Before going to work this morning, she instructed Xiao Zhao to make sure to take Lu Ye to the hospital for a follow-up examination today.
Lu Ye woke up this morning feeling perfectly fine, but in fact, he was quite refreshed. He was originally reluctant to go to the hospital for a follow-up examination, but in order to put Jiang Suining at ease, he decided to cooperate with Xiao Zhao.
Jiang Suining rushed to the labor protection factory after breakfast. All the workers were in the auditorium. She thought she was late today, but after looking around, she didn't see Du Chunlan and Chen Jun, so she breathed a sigh of relief.
"Why are you all here so early today?" Jiang Suining walked to the front of the auditorium. "Did you make plans?"
"Xiao Jiang, has the internship list been finalized yet?"
"We're all anxious to know who's going out for internships."
"I don't really want to go out for an internship, I just want to see how many points I got on the test."
"I see," Jiang Suining said as she walked up to the podium. "Everyone, please be patient and wait a moment." She glanced at her watch; it wasn't time to start work yet. "Wait five more minutes until Teacher Du and Teacher Chen arrive, and then I'll make the announcement."
"Stop waiting, announce it now."
"That's right, they all know, don't they?"
"Yes, you see, we came so early because we wanted to know as soon as possible."
Jiang Suining took out neatly folded red paper and glue from her bag: "I'll paste the report cards first."
Everyone stepped forward to help, but Jiang Suining refused, fearing they would tear the red paper. After reporting her work to Ren Gang yesterday, she made a special trip to the Women's Federation office at the labor protection factory, found a piece of red paper, and copied everyone's scores according to their ranking.
As the red paper was pasted on the wall, everyone rushed up to it, and soon various sounds could be heard: those who did well on the test exclaimed with excitement, while those who did poorly wailed in despair.
Zhuang Hongjuan already knew the results last night, so she didn't squeeze in with the crowd. She walked up to Jiang Suining and said, "Suisui, I've taken care of everything."
"Did Crescent Moon agree to let you go out for your internship?"
“She agreed,” Zhuang Hongjuan nodded. “This child, she not only agreed, but also told me not to worry and that she would take care of my grandfather in my place.”
“I knew it, Yueya’er is the most sensible,” Jiang Suining said happily for her. “Sister Hongjuan, you can go with peace of mind. Study hard, and a bright future awaits you when you come back.”
What happened?
What are they looking at?
Du Chunlan and Chen Hong walked in one after the other and saw the workers crowded in front of the wall. They were puzzled.
“The report card,” Jiang Suining explained, “I posted the report card on the wall.”
"Have you talked about the internship?" Chen Jun asked.
"Not yet, we're just waiting for you two to come." Jiang Suining said loudly when she saw that everyone had seen enough. "Those who have seen the results, please return to your seats quickly. After everyone is seated, I will announce the internship details."
Those who wanted to do internships immediately returned to their seats upon hearing this, while those concerned about their grades were still looking at their transcripts. Jiang Suining waited another three minutes before having everyone return to their seats.
After everyone was seated and quieted down, Jiang Suining said, "Next, I'm going to talk about the internship. Please listen carefully and don't interrupt me. If you have any questions, wait until I've finished speaking, and I'll give you time to ask."
Jiang Suining paused for a few seconds before saying, "Our internship will be in another city, and will last at least ten months."
She paused here to observe everyone's expressions, and sure enough, she saw that many people were confused, especially those who wanted to go out for internships.
"The internship location is the Hongxing Kelp Farm in Lugang, Dongzhou City. We'll be departing in a week. The project team will buy the round-trip transportation tickets. The Hongxing Farm will arrange accommodation, internship wages, and food coupons." Jiang Suining looked at everyone. "You've all seen the report cards, so you should be able to guess who has been selected for the internship."
The crowd immediately began to whisper among themselves.
Jiang Suining waited a moment before quieting everyone down: "The top five performers in this assessment have earned the opportunity for this internship. They are: Zhou Xiaomei, Duan Xiangqin, Zhuang Hongjuan, Wang Haihong, and Liang Xia."
As soon as Jiang Suining finished speaking, people began to congratulate the five people. Jiang Suining gestured for everyone to be quiet and then said, "I know that you have children, elderly people, and men to take care of at home, but this internship opportunity is hard-won. I hope you will think it over carefully, overcome all difficulties, and complete this internship. Zhou Xiaomei, Duan Xiangqin, Zhuang Hongjuan, Wang Haihong, and Liang Xia, I will give you three days to consider and confirm whether you will go for the internship. Give me your answer in three days. Okay, does anyone have any questions now?"
"Is this the only internship opportunity? Will there be more in the future?"
"Yes, I wanted to ask that too. I ranked eighth this time. I'll definitely get into the top five next time. Please give me another internship opportunity."
“It’s good to want to improve,” Jiang Suining noted down the question carefully. “I will apply to the project leader for the next internship opportunity. Everyone should continue to work hard and prepare in advance. Remember, opportunities are only given to those who are prepared.”
"Are the literacy and arithmetic lessons over? Next, shall we learn how to grow seaweed?"
Seeing that many people were paying attention to this issue, Jiang Suining glanced at Du Chunlan and said, "It's not completely over yet, but from now on, we will only schedule one literacy class and one arithmetic class each day. The rest of the time will be spent on artificial breeding courses."
"You've already taken the exam, why do you need to study it again?"
"That's right, I don't want to learn to write, so let's not learn."
“It’s impossible not to learn,” Jiang Suining said.
"Then how will those girls who went out for internships learn?"
Jiang Suining was speechless at the question and couldn't help but look at Du Chunlan.
Du Chunlan stepped onto the podium: "We have prepared textbooks in advance, and we will have the comrades who go out for internships take them with them for self-study. They will still be assessed when they come back."
Upon hearing this, everyone fell silent.
"If someone doesn't go for the internship, who will fill the vacant spot?" someone else asked.
“The five people selected are the top five in this assessment. If someone doesn’t go, the next person in the ranking will naturally take their place,” Jiang Suining explained. “I hope these five comrades cherish this hard-won opportunity. This is an opportunity you have earned through your own efforts. Now that you have taken such a big step, you must not give up halfway.”
As Jiang Suining spoke, she noticed Zhou Xiaomei glaring at her with hostility. She frowned, puzzled. Although she and Zhou Xiaomei had been living under the same roof every day, they hadn't spoken to each other. Zhou Xiaomei hadn't shown any malice towards her either. What was wrong with her today? Had she gotten this opportunity and become arrogant again?
She gave Zhou Xiaomei a cold look and then looked away.
Jiang Suining didn't take Zhou Xiaomei to heart. After getting off work, she asked about Lu Ye's follow-up examination. Xiao Zhao relayed what Dr. Zhuang had said: Lu Ye's injury was no longer a big problem and he could do some exercise, but not strenuous exercise, especially any exercise that would aggravate the wound.
"Stop!" Jiang Suining turned around and pushed him away. "Dr. Zhuang said to exercise appropriately. Do you understand what 'appropriate' means? Go to sleep quietly tonight."
"Stop yelling," Jiang Suining covered his mouth. "If you have no energy to spare, sweep the floor or do chores. I'll go help Xiao Zhao cook."
Jiang Suining rushed into the kitchen, helping to prepare the vegetables while chatting with Xiao Zhao. Just as the meal was almost ready, someone knocked on the door outside the yard: "Jiang Suining, Jiang Suining, come out here!"
Jiang Suining had just taken the cooked porridge off the stove when she heard a commotion and went out of the kitchen. There was a loud banging on the courtyard gate. She stood in the courtyard but did not rush to open the gate.
"Who's knocking?" Lu Ye and Xiao Zhao came out one after the other.
"The voice sounds like Zhou Xiaomei," Jiang Suining said.
"What is she doing here?" Lu Ye didn't have a good impression of Zhou Xiaomei.
"Should we open the door?" Xiao Zhao hesitated.
"Open it!" Jiang Suining shouted loudly, which would surely disturb the neighbors, and she didn't want to be laughed at.
Xiao Zhao opened the door and saw Zhou Xiaomei striding in angrily, holding Li Yuejin's hand with one hand and Li Tenghui's hand with the other: "Jiang Suining, if you didn't want me to do the internship, why did you choose me? What kind of skill is it to play dirty tricks and make underhanded moves behind my back?"
"Are you out of your mind?" Jiang Suining said, bewildered. "I made it very clear today that the interns were selected based on the rankings in this assessment. Are you hard of hearing? Didn't you hear me? You say I used underhanded tricks? What underhanded tricks did I use? Tell me!"
“You selected me for an internship, but then you had your husband send my son Guodong to guard the reef island,” Zhou Xiaomei pushed the two children in front of Jiang Suining. “If all three of our children go out there, who will take care of them?”
"Did you even understand what happened before you came here to throw a tantrum?" Jiang Suining laughed angrily. Seeing Li Yuejin and Li Tenghui crying loudly in fear, she quickly asked Xiao Zhao to take the children inside. "Our Lu Ye was injured on a mission and has been recuperating at home. He hasn't gone to the army at all."
"You're talking nonsense!" Zhou Xiaomei's eyes flickered, and she immediately denied it. She had heard that Jiang Suining was in charge of recruiting workers at the aquaculture farm, and she was afraid that Jiang Suining would deliberately not approve her application. That's why she asked Li Guodong to find a way to get her into the training program. She had always known that there were internship opportunities, and she had been working very hard during this time. But today, she finally confirmed that she was among the interns. However, when she got home, she saw Li Guodong packing his luggage. When she asked him, she learned that the leader had sent him to guard the reef island.
The garrison on the reef island rotates every year. Li Guodong has gone and won't be back until next year. If she goes out for an internship, who will take care of the children at home? The older one can't take care of the younger one, can he? A day or two is fine, but it will take several months. Li Guodong will not agree to that at all.
Jiang Suining didn't want to give up this internship opportunity, so she begged Li Guodong to find a way to replace the person stationed on the reef island. However, Li Guodong wouldn't listen and insisted on going to be stationed there anyway. She had no other choice but to come to Jiang Suining.
"Whether I'm talking nonsense or not, you can find out by asking at the regiment." Jiang Suining didn't believe that Zhou Xiaomei didn't know about Lu Ye's injury and leave. This matter had already spread in the family compound. Even if Zhou Xiaomei no longer lived next door to them, Li Guodong was still in the same regiment as Lu Ye, so how could he not know? She probably had other purposes for coming here.
Although she didn't know what Zhou Xiaomei was up to, Jiang Suining didn't want to get entangled with her: "Besides, can one person make a decision like rotating guard? Don't you have a brain? Don't you even know common sense?"
Zhou Xiaomei's knocking on the door was too loud, disturbing the surrounding residents. Now, quite a few people have come out to watch. They are all military wives, so they all know the process of changing shifts. When they heard Jiang Suining's words, they couldn't help but laugh.
Sister-in-law Lian rushed into the yard and grabbed Zhou Xiaomei: "Can't you just shut up? Your Li Guodong was transferred, why are you making a scene at Lu Ye's house? Putting aside the fact that soldiers are duty-bound to obey orders, even if you have objections, go and complain to the regiment. It's after get off work, and you come to their house. What kind of image do you have!"
“Sister-in-law,” Zhou Xiaomei grabbed Lian’s sister-in-law and cried, “You don’t know how difficult things are for our family. Guodong is stationed on a reef island and won’t come home for a year. It’s not a big deal under normal circumstances, but I just got an internship at a fish farm in Shanghai. I’ll be away for ten months. If I go, who will take care of the children at home?”
Even the sister-in-law was in a dilemma when she heard this. She knew about Li Guodong's family situation. There were no elderly people in the family, and if the couple went out, there would indeed be no one to take care of the child. But that was not the reason for her to come to Jiang Suining's house and cause trouble.
“You can report this to the troupe,” Sister-in-law Lian was almost swayed by Zhou Xiaomei. “If there’s a problem, we can sit down and resolve it. It’s not right for you to come here and make a scene. Don’t you know that Lu Ye’s injury hasn’t fully healed yet? Your commotion is disturbing his rest.”
Zhou Xiaomei actually came here to cause trouble on purpose. Of course she knew that Lu Ye was injured and asked for leave, and she also knew that Li Guodong's transfer was not something Lu Ye could control. But Li Guodong insisted on going to the reef island, and wouldn't allow her to go out for an internship. He even threatened her with divorce.
She didn't want a divorce, nor did she want to give up this hard-won internship opportunity. After thinking it over, she decided to use Jiang Suining and Lu Ye to make a big scene. At that time, a leader would definitely step in, and it was very likely that someone else would be sent to guard the reef island.
As she had predicted, things unfolded in the way that attracted Sister Lian. Zhou Xiaomei knew that Jiang Suining wouldn't help her, so she tried to get Sister Lian to step forward, since Sister Lian's husband was a regimental commander, a higher rank than Lu Ye.
Having made up her mind, Zhou Xiaomei grabbed Sister Lian and cried, "Sister-in-law, please help me! I really have no other choice. They say women hold up half the sky, and I want to be a useful person too. I've been studying until midnight every night for this internship. I've worked so hard to get this opportunity, and I really don't want to give it up. Sister-in-law, please talk to Commander Zhang and ask him to send someone else to guard the reef island."
"What's going on? What happened? Why is it so lively?" Commander Zhang had just returned from the regiment and saw a crowd of people blocking the way from afar. He squeezed in and saw his wife there as well, so he asked.
Jiang Suining and Lu Ye naturally wouldn't say what was wrong, because saying it would be helping Zhou Xiaomei. Zhou Xiaomei wanted Sister-in-law Lian to speak up, so she grabbed her hand tightly and looked at her with pleading eyes.
Even Sister-in-law couldn't bear it, so she sighed and told Commander Zhang the whole story.
The more Commander Zhang listened, the deeper his brows furrowed. After Sister-in-law Lian finished speaking, he looked at the crowd watching the commotion outside the courtyard and said, "Alright, this has nothing to do with you. Go home and eat. Everyone, disperse."
When Commander Zhang gave the order, no one dared to disobey, and they returned in twos and threes.
After everyone had left, Commander Zhang looked at Lu Ye and asked, "How are your injuries? Will you be able to participate in the performance next month?"
Lu Ye patted his chest and said, "I'm almost fully recovered. It definitely won't delay the performance next month, so don't worry, Commander."
Jiang Suining grabbed the hand that was patting his chest and said to Commander Zhang, "I just went to the hospital for a check-up today. Dr. Zhuang said that I can do some exercise, but not strenuous exercise, especially arm exercises, so as not to pull on the wound."
Commander Zhang laughed: "This kid survived a hail of bullets and was still brought down by this little injury. He should rest well and make sure he doesn't miss the performance next month."
"Yes." Lu Ye stood at attention and saluted Commander Zhang.
"Li Guodong volunteered to be stationed on the reef island," Regiment Commander Zhang returned Lu Ye's salute before turning to Zhou Xiaomei and saying, "Why are you causing trouble at Lu Ye's house? Apologize to the couple."
Zhou Xiaomei guiltily avoided Commander Zhang's gaze. After hesitating for a moment, she said to Jiang Suining, "Sui Sui, I'm sorry, I misunderstood. I was just too anxious. Besides, I really didn't know anything about military appointments. I just got married here, and I don't understand these things."
"Sui Sui, I didn't, you misunderstood me, I was just confused in my haste." Zhou Xiaomei didn't expect Jiang Suining to see through her intentions, but now she didn't dare to admit it at all, so she could only bite the bullet and make excuses, while pretending to be pitiful, "I got this internship opportunity through my own efforts, and I really don't want to give it up. Sui Sui, I know you won't blame me, otherwise you wouldn't have chosen me to go out for the internship."
The strong smell of tea made Jiang Suining want to vomit: "You're overthinking it. I'm just following the rules and regulations, unlike you, who's full of cunning. Don't come to our house again unless it's absolutely necessary. We don't welcome you."
"Alright, go back." Regiment Commander Zhang was too lazy to listen anymore. "I will discuss Li Guodong's garrisoning of the reef island in another meeting. Work-related matters should be resolved at the regiment level. Why are you causing trouble at someone's home?"
That was exactly what Zhou Xiaomei wanted to hear. She didn't care about getting entangled with Jiang Suining anymore. She quickly thanked Commander Zhang and turned to leave Jiang Suining's house.
"Sui Sui, don't be angry, it's not worth it," Sister-in-law Lian comforted her.
"Sister-in-law, I'm fine. If a dog bites me, am I supposed to bite the dog back?" Jiang Suining said self-deprecatingly.
Even Sister-in-law Lian and Regiment Commander Zhang exchanged glances and smiled simultaneously.
After seeing off Commander Zhang and Sister-in-law Lian, the two went inside and saw Li Yuejin and Li Tenghui.
When adults have conflicts, they shouldn't involve the children, especially since these two children really like Lu Ye.
Lu Ye served the two children a meal, but instead of personally taking them home, he asked Xiao Zhao to drop them off at Li Guodong's house on the way.
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