Chapter 37 Confirming the Internship Candidates
"Why would Li Guodong volunteer to be stationed on the reef island?" That night, Jiang Suining and Lu Ye chatted in bed.
“Li Guodong was on track for a promotion a while ago, but because of the uproar caused by Zhou Xiaomei’s framing of you, he was affected and didn’t get the promotion,” Lu Ye said cryptically. “Recently, things have been a bit turbulent around the reef islands.”
Jiang Suining immediately understood Lu Ye's implication: the area around the reef island was not peaceful. If Li Guodong went there to guard it at this time, he might be able to earn a third-class merit within a year. With that third-class merit as a foundation, he would definitely be promoted when he returned.
"Do you think he can still go to the reef island after all this trouble caused by Zhou Xiaomei?" Jiang Suining asked, fiddling with Lu Ye's fingers.
"It's hard to say," Lu Ye said after a moment of silence. "Based on my understanding of Commander Zhang, I'm afraid we'll have to replace him."
“Zhou Xiaomei ruined my promotion opportunity last time, and now that my island garrison duty is also canceled, these two are bound to cause a huge uproar.” Jiang Suining felt a sense of schadenfreude, as if she were watching a good show.
“I warned Guodong not to get entangled with Zhou Xiaomei, but he didn’t listen,” Lu Ye couldn’t help but feel sorry for Li Guodong. “Since he made the choice, he naturally has to bear the consequences of his choice. It’s just a pity for the three children.”
“Yes,” Jiang Suining thought of how the two children cried in fear when Zhou Xiaomei dragged Yuejin and Teng Hui over. “How can Li Guodong be such a father, just letting Zhou Xiaomei use his sons as a tool?”
“Guodong isn’t that confused. I reckon he’s not home.” Lu Ye couldn’t help but defend Li Guodong. “Besides, since he applied to go to the reef island, would he let Zhou Xiaomei cause trouble?”
“That makes sense,” Jiang Suining agreed wholeheartedly.
"No way," Jiang Suining pushed his shoulder, "I just helped you last night, why do you need it again tonight? Do you still want to act next month? If you do, then go to sleep!"
Lu Ye was silent for a moment, then put his arm around Jiang Suining's shoulder, rolled over, and pulled her into his arms: "Okay, whatever you say, go to sleep."
Meanwhile, as Lu Ye embraced Jiang Suining and drifted off to sleep, Zhou Xiaomei and Li Guodong were arguing fiercely on the other side.
It turned out that Zhou Xiaomei had brought Li Yuejin and Li Tenghui to Jiang Suining's house, just as Lu Ye had predicted, secretly behind Li Guodong's back.
Xiao Zhao took the two children back to the Li family home. When he came out, he ran into Li Guodong, who had just returned home from the regimental headquarters. He then told Li Guodong the whole story in detail.
Li Guodong initially couldn't believe it. Ever since Zhou Xiaomei framed Jiang Suining and apologized on the radio, their relationship had been strained. Zhou Xiaomei tried to please him in every way, but he ignored her. If it weren't for the fact that she was taking care of the child, he would have applied for a divorce long ago.
During this time, he saw Zhou Xiaomei taking the initiative to study and thought she had reformed. He never expected that she was still full of scheming. Last time, because of her, he not only lost his promotion, but also lost face. This time, he finally had hope of promotion again, but this woman came to drag him down again.
Li Guodong was furious. He gave Xiao Zhao a few perfunctory words and stormed into the courtyard.
Zhou Xiaomei took the children to Jiang Suining's house and made a scene. She achieved her goal and was in a great mood. After returning home, it was only when Li Tuqiang asked her younger brothers that she realized she had left the two children at Jiang Suining's house.
She thought that Li Guodong shouldn't know about this, so she decided to let the two children stay at Jiang Suining's house and pick them up when it was time for them to go to bed at night. Then they could go straight to sleep, and Li Guodong wouldn't have a chance to find out.
So she lied to Li Tuqiang, saying that Li Yuejin and Li Tenghui were staying at Lu Ye's house for dinner and that she would go pick them up later.
Li Yuejin knew that his two younger brothers liked the food cooked by Uncle Lu Ye, so he didn't suspect anything. After eating, he saw that it was getting late and saw that his stepmother Zhou Xiaomei didn't intend to pick up his brothers, so he went to pick them up himself. Before he even left the yard, he saw his brothers return.
When Zhou Xiaomei saw the two children return, her heart skipped a beat. She quickly pulled them into the bedroom, closed the door, and took out a handful of White Rabbit milk candies from a box: "Yuejin, Tenghui, do you want some milk candy?"
The two children stared intently at the candy in her hand, their eyes glued to it, and reached out their little hands, clamoring for a piece.
Zhou Xiaomei refused to give them any: "As long as you listen to me, all these candies are yours."
Yuejin: "Listen, listen to me."
Teng Hui: "I want to hear that too, I want milk candy."
“Okay, then listen carefully and remember this,” Zhou Xiaomei carefully instructed the two children, “When your father comes back later, if he asks about your trip to Uncle Lu’s house, just say that you wanted to go to Uncle Lu’s house for dinner, so I took you there. Don’t say anything else.”
"I remember, give me candy." Yuejin raised his little hand to take the candy from Zhou Xiaomei's hand.
"I want it, I remember." Teng Hui raised his little hand, afraid that Yue Jin would take all the candy.
Zhou Xiaomei stuffed the candy into the hands of the two children: "Don't say the wrong thing, or you won't get any more milk candy."
"I've got it."
"I've got it."
After the two children spoke in unison, they couldn't wait to peel open the candy and put it in their mouths.
"Dad, you're back. Have you eaten?" Zhou Xiaomei breathed a sigh of relief, but then she heard Li Tuqiang's voice from outside. She quickly stood up and was about to open the bedroom door when she heard Li Guodong angrily ask, "Where's Zhou Xiaomei?"
Her hand, which was about to open the door, froze in mid-air. She immediately felt uneasy and quickly turned around to grab the two children. Just then, she heard the door open behind her: "Zhou Xiaomei, what have you done now!"
Li Guodong roared, startling Li Yuejin and Li Tenghui into tears. With milk candy still in their mouths, the milky white liquid dripped down their lips as they cried.
Li Tuqiang followed Li Guodong in and heard his two younger brothers crying. He quickly went up to them, pulled them to his side, and led them out of the bedroom, making sure to close the door behind him.
Hearing the door close, Li Guodong's face darkened as he approached Zhou Xiaomei step by step: "What were you doing at Lu Ye's house last night? Tell me!"
“I,” Zhou Xiaomei retreated step by step, her heart pounding with panic. During this time, Li Guodong had never given her a kind look. She had been humble and subservient, pleading and begging, until Li Guodong finally changed. She didn’t want to go back to the way things were before. “It was Yuejin and Tenghui who wanted to go to Lu Ye’s house for dinner. They made a fuss for a long time, and I, I took them there.”
“Zhou Xiaomei,” Li Guodong’s eyes were red with anger, “Do you think I’m easy to fool?”
“I’m not lying to you,” Zhou Xiaomei said anxiously, her heart pounding and her hands clenched into fists. “Really, how could I dare to lie to you? If you don’t believe me, you can ask Yuejin and Tenghui.”
Zhou Xiaomei was so shocked by his shout that she couldn't speak.
"You took the child to someone's house and questioned Lu Ye about why he sent me to guard the reef island," Li Guodong said, enunciating each word clearly. "What exactly were you thinking?"
As Li Guodong approached, his face contorted with rage, Zhou Xiaomei's legs trembled, and she couldn't utter a word. She thought of Li Guodong in her past life, who was always kind and gentle, never so ferocious. Why, why was this happening? What went wrong?
"Speak!" Li Guodong shouted again when Zhou Xiaomei remained silent.
"What exactly do you want?!" Li Guodong grabbed her arm and pulled her up from the ground. "Are you only satisfied if you destroy me? What good will it do you to destroy me?!"
“I didn’t,” Zhou Xiaomei’s heart skipped a beat when she heard this. She just wanted to go out for an internship and wanted Li Guodong to stay away from the reef island. How could she be accused of wanting to ruin him? She couldn’t bear that accusation. She took a deep breath and pushed Li Guodong away. “You know, I participated in the seaweed farm worker training. I’ve been studying very hard during this time, and you’ve been very supportive of me, haven’t you? I got first place in the training exam and got the opportunity to go out for an internship. But, but this internship will be in another place for ten months. I just, I just think that if I go out for an internship and you go to the reef island to stay, the children, the children will be left without anyone to take care of them.”
“No need,” Zhou Xiaomei said, ignoring Li Guodong’s sarcasm. She quickly waved her hand and forced a smile. “I’m willing to do anything for the child.”
“Since you’re willing to do anything,” Li Guodong grabbed Zhou Xiaomei’s wrist, “then you shouldn’t go for your internship; stay home and take care of the children.”
"You don't want to?" Li Guodong interrupted her. "Last time you framed Lu Ye's wife and ruined my promotion opportunity. This time I finally got the chance to be stationed on the reef island. When I come back in a year, Jinjiang will be a sure thing. Are you trying to sabotage me again?"
"What?" Zhou Xiaomei was stunned. She regretted it deeply because the last incident delayed Li Guodong's promotion. She didn't expect to ruin Li Guodong's plans again this time. The reason she went to great lengths to marry Li Guodong was because she knew that Li Guodong had a bright future. No, she couldn't hold Li Guodong back.
Zhou Xiaomei weighed the pros and cons and made a decision immediately. She grabbed Li Guodong's hand and said, "I... I didn't know. If I had known, I would never have done this. Guodong, please forgive me. I'll go find Jiang Suining right now. I won't go for this internship. I'll let you go to the reef island to be stationed."
"Are you really not going to do an internship?" Li Guodong didn't expect her to change so quickly and thought she was up to some kind of trick again.
“Really,” Zhou Xiaomei said, still hoping that Li Guodong would be transferred back to Beijing after his promotion. “If I had known earlier that you were stationed on the reef island for your future promotion, I definitely wouldn’t have gone to Jiang Suining. You wait, I’ll go and explain things to Jiang Suining right now.”
Seeing Zhou Xiaomei about to run out, Li Guodong grabbed her and said, "Forget it, it's already dark. Let's talk about it tomorrow."
“Guodong,” Zhou Xiaomei knew that Li Guodong had calmed down, so she stepped forward and leaned into his arms, hugging his waist with both hands. “Don’t worry about going to the reef island, I’ll take care of the children at home.”
Li Guodong didn't say anything, but felt a refreshing fragrance waft over, and the place where Zhou Xiaomei was next to him felt like it was burning. He took a deep breath and forced himself to push Zhou Xiaomei away, saying, "It's getting late, you should make sure the children are asleep."
Zhou Xiaomei immediately understood what Li Guodong meant. Because of their argument, the two of them hadn't been together for a while, and she actually missed him a lot. "Okay, I'll put the child to sleep now. You can get ready first."
The next day, Zhou Xiaomei stopped Jiang Suining at the entrance of the family compound and told her that she was giving up her internship. Jiang Suining was a little surprised because Lu Ye had said the night before that Zhou Xiaomei's commotion might lead to a change in the person in charge of guarding the reef island. She had thought that if the person was changed, then Zhou Xiaomei's internship would be a done deal. She never expected that after just one night, Zhou Xiaomei, who had schemed so much last night, would give up on her own.
She couldn't quite describe the feeling in her heart. Although she disliked Zhou Xiaomei, seeing that she had given up the opportunities she had worked so hard for and her career for a man, a faint sadness rose from the bottom of her heart.
"Are you sure you don't want to go for the internship?" As a woman, she still hoped that Zhou Xiaomei wouldn't tie her future to a man. "This is a rare opportunity. Don't you think it's a pity to give it up like this?"
"What's a pity?" Zhou Xiaomei couldn't stand Jiang Suining no matter what. "What, are you hoping I'll go so that Guodong will miss out on another promotion opportunity?"
“I was just asking a redundant question. A woman like you who only knows how to rely on men will only ever be like this in her life.” Jiang Suining rolled her eyes. “Write a ‘Voluntary Waiver Commitment Letter,’ clearly stating that you voluntarily give up this internship opportunity, and promising that you will never regret it and will not hold anyone responsible. Sign your name, write the date, and put your fingerprint on it before handing it to me.”
"Aren't you going to bother me?" Zhou Xiaomei said impatiently. "I'm not writing it."
"Do you think this is child's play? You can't just say you're not going and then quit?" Jiang Suining found Zhou Xiaomei increasingly displeasing. What was the point of rebirthing someone like her? "If you don't write it, you still have to go to this internship. If the project team buys the tickets and you don't go, you'll have to bear the consequences."
Zhou Xiaomei wanted to force the issue, but she was afraid of affecting Li Guodong's promotion, so she said impatiently, "Fine, fine, I'll write it when we get to the auditorium."
Jiang Suining walked past her and left the family compound. Zhou Xiaomei watched her back and scoffed, thinking to herself: When Guodong gets promoted and Lu Ye retires, let's see what you'll be so arrogant about.
Zhou Xiaomei acted quickly, writing a commitment letter and pressing her fingerprint on it as soon as she arrived at the auditorium. She handed it to Jiang Suining, who read it and put it away. Jiang Suining then asked Qi Ling, who ranked sixth in the assessment, if she was willing to go out for a ten-month internship. After receiving an affirmative answer, she announced that Qi Ling would replace Zhou Xiaomei in this internship.
Many people felt sorry for Zhou Xiaomei, but Zhou Xiaomei did not regret it at all. What good would going out for an internship do? She would still be a worker when she came back. It was nowhere near as comfortable and respectable as being an official's wife.
Three days later, with no one objecting to the internship, Jiang Suining finalized the list of interns for this trip: Duan Xiangqin, Zhuang Hongjuan, Wang Haihong, Liang Xia, and Qi Ling. She then went to the project team with the commitment letter written by Zhou Xiaomei.
Ren Gang didn't comment much on Zhou Xiaomei giving up her internship opportunity, but asked Jiang Suining to remind the five comrades that when they were away from home, they represented the face of our island, so they must perform well and study hard.
After Jiang Suining returned, she conveyed what Team Leader Ren had said and instructed the five people to pack their luggage in advance and to make sure to bring thick winter clothes.
The matter seemed to have been settled, but unexpectedly, Zhou Xiaomei came to Jiang Suining's house again that evening, demanding that the letter of commitment to voluntarily give up the internship be withdrawn.
“I confirmed with you when you withdrew,” Jiang Suining said, speechless. The selection was only finalized today, and the project team had already bought tickets for five people. What was Zhou Xiaomei doing now? “I also said that there would be a three-day consideration period. Now that three days have passed, the selection has been submitted and cannot be changed. Besides, you voluntarily gave up and even signed a voluntary withdrawal commitment letter.”
"No, I won't give up. I want to take back that promise. I came in first place in this assessment, you have to let me go!" Zhou Xiaomei grabbed Jiang Suining's arm, her voice almost hysterical.
Hearing the commotion, Sister-in-law Lian from next door came over to ask what was going on. After figuring out the situation, she hesitated for a long time before whispering to Jiang Suining, "Li Guodong is not stationed on the reef island this time."
"I see," Jiang Suining scoffed. "I told you last time, this isn't child's play. We're all adults, and we have to take responsibility for what we say and do. You can't go this time, but there will be other opportunities in the future. Study hard and wait for the next chance."
"Then I'll have to trouble you." Jiang Suining didn't stand on ceremony; she had no desire to get involved in the troublesome affairs of Li Guodong and his wife.
After the person left, Jiang Suining asked Lu Ye, "Was it because she caused trouble last time that Li Guodong couldn't go?"
"That's part of the reason," Lu Ye said. Although he was still on vacation these past two days, he would spend a few hours at the regiment every day. "The higher-ups recommended other comrades, but according to seniority, it was indeed Guo Dong's turn. However, because of Zhou Xiaomei's fuss, the higher-ups found an excuse to replace him."
Jiang Suining sighed after hearing this. Whether a person has the potential for officialdom is sometimes hard to say.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
