There are no secrets in the family quarters. That night, the news that Zong Shao carried the feverish Lin Wei to the hospital and took two days off for this spread everywhere.
Some people envy this, thinking that Zong Shao is loyal and kind to his wife, and that Lin Wei is lucky.
But some people think that Zong Shao is making a big deal out of nothing. Isn’t it just a cold? Is it necessary to send him to the hospital with such fanfare? I even took two days off for this purpose. What a waste.
Gao Xiu Lian was the one who thought Zong Shao was making a big deal out of nothing.
But ever since Zhou Jianhai came to her last time and Zhao Feng got furious with her, she no longer dares to confront Lin Wei, Deng Xiangyun and the others head-on, and can only say a few words to them behind their backs.
But it's always unpleasant to say it out loud. The main reason is that Gao Xiulian is not popular.
Before Lin Wei came to join the army, although Gao Xiulian was not popular, Li Qin always supported her. Although Wang Fangli doesn't support her as much as Li Qin, she won't easily go against her.
Ever since the quarrel with Lin Wei, Li Qin no longer came to Gao Xiu Lian's house. Wang Fangli came a few times, but she always felt that there was sarcasm in Wang Fangli's words, and the two had several minor quarrels.
Although Wang Fangli likes to gossip, she is not a mean person. If she is unhappy with Gao Xiulian, she will not look for her again. Gao Xiu Lian was bored at home, so she could only go out to play with military wives who were familiar to her but not so close to her or who didn't support her that much.
Although Gao Xiulian's words were not pleasant to the ears and she always wanted someone to flatter her, the people who got together with her were not looking for close friends, they just wanted to chat together, so their requirements were not that high.
Anyway, it's impossible to praise her. If she says something unpleasant, you can argue with her if you want to, or ignore her if you don't want to. You don't owe her anything, so there's no need to put yourself in a difficult position.
And the last time Lin Wei and Gao Xiu Lian had an argument, these people were sitting in her yard.
The relationship isn't bad, but it's not good either.
Therefore, when Gao Xiulian talked about how Zong Shao was a loser for doing this, a military wife stood up and disagreed with her: "If a 24-year-old deputy battalion commander is considered a loser, then I really hope that my man is a loser! By the way, what was the rank of Deputy Regiment Commander Zhao when he was 24 years old?"
Zhao Feng is thirty-four this year, and he has been promoted to deputy regiment commander for two years. Among his peers, he is definitely successful in his career, but looking at the entire base, he is definitely not young and promising.
It is said that there are 31 hurdles for soldiers to overcome. If one can be promoted to deputy regiment commander before the age of 30, he naturally has a bright future. But if he cannot be promoted, then it is hard to say. Even though Zhao Feng is now the deputy head of the regiment, it is still uncertain whether he can become the head of the regiment before he reaches the retirement age.
On the contrary, although Zong Shao's rank is lower, as long as he is promoted to deputy battalion commander at his age, he will be stronger than Zhao Feng.
You know, when Zhao Feng was Zong Shao's age, he was only a deputy company commander.
Not to mention that Zong Shao had won first place in the individual competitions these past two days. I heard that not only their regiment leaders, but even the division leaders valued him very much.
Even so, Gao Xiu Lian still dared to comment that Zong Shao was a loser, which was really laughable.
But Gao Xiu Lian didn't understand this.
In her opinion, although Zhao Feng's rank was not as good as Zong Shao's when he was 24 years old, his rank now is higher than Zong Shao's!
Besides, although she didn't receive much education, she still knew the saying "A child who is very smart at a young age may not be a good person when he grows up". Even if Zong Shao was promoted to deputy battalion commander at the age of 24, it is still uncertain whether he can become deputy regiment commander when he is 34!
As for the leaders' appreciation, Gao Xiu Lian thought it was all empty talk. If he continued to act like this, his leaders would be disappointed in him sooner or later.
Thinking of this, Gao Xiulian said, "I'm talking about Zong Shao's old idiotic behavior. He's a soldier, and he asked for leave whenever he wanted. With his attitude, how can their leaders be happy? That Lin Wei is so squeamish. It's just a cold, but she insisted that the man take leave to come back and take care of her. She doesn't know what's going on at all."
"What's wrong with being a soldier? Soldiers are human beings too. They have families and their own lives. If his wife is sick, what's wrong with him taking two days off to take care of her without affecting his work?"
The wife asked several questions and turned to the other wives without waiting for Gao Xiulian to answer, "Ask yourselves, when you are sick, do you want your husband to put down his work and take care of you, or do you want him to ignore you and let you fend for yourself? Anyway, I'm saying this, if my man dares to ignore me without affecting his work, I won't live with him!"
Although most of the military wives here have prepared themselves for the possibility that a soldier will not be able to take care of the family before deciding to marry him. But that was when there was nothing else to do, like this time when Lin Wei was sick, Zong Shao didn't have to go to the battlefield, didn't have to go on a mission, and there was nothing important in the battalion, so wasn't it his right to take leave to take care of her?
Seeing everyone nodding, the military wife looked at Gao Xiulian again and said, "Some people, I don't know if they really think so lowly of themselves, or if they are just jealous. Other couples are living well, but they have to come out and express their opinions, saying this and that shouldn't be done, without realizing that the sourness in their words is soaring!"
If it were because of Zhao Feng's warning, Gao Xiu Lian would definitely rush up and fight with the guy. But there is no if. In order to avoid being sent back to her hometown, all she could do was to walk away.
After that, Gao Xiu Lian didn't go out for several days.
And when she calmed down and went to talk to those fake friends again, she found that every time she mentioned this matter, others could not help but mock her in their tone, saying that they were jealous of Lin Wei, which made her very angry!
She just didn't understand, what was there about Lin Wei that was worthy of her jealousy?
Comparing with men, her husband is the deputy regiment commander and Zong Shao is only the deputy battalion commander, so she wins.
In terms of children, she has two sons and a daughter, while Lin Wei only has two sons, so she still wins.
As for work, although she is unemployed for the time being, Lin Wei's previous job was ruined by her, so it's not right to be considered a draw! She has a job!
…
Gao Xiu Lian was secretly saying bad things about Lin Wei to others and was repeatedly slapped in the face, while Lin Wei was concentrating on taking care of her health.
It’s strange to say, she used to be in as good health as a cow. She had only been sick a few times since she was a child, and she was not hurt at all even after being caught in the rain in the spring. It’s a hot summer day, but I was sent to the hospital because of a rain.
Although her fever went away that day, her nasal congestion took nearly half a month to heal, so that her originally scheduled swimming class (taught by Teacher Zong) was postponed again and again.
And after her nasal congestion was cured, Lin Wei always felt that she was out of energy and her health was much worse than before. For this reason, she went to the hospital for a full body check-up, and was relieved when the results showed that everything was fine.
After hearing about this, Liu Dan advised: "As the old saying goes, illness comes like a mountain falling, and goes away like pulling a thread. You haven't been sick for several years, so you must take good care of yourself. Relax, eat well, and you will be fine in two months."
"There's a saying in our hometown that minor illnesses won't lead to major ones. I see that you've never been sick before, but now that you're sick you feel like something's wrong with you." Yang Yi said.
Zhao Li was puzzled: "What does this mean?"
"Even if the meaning is different, the logic is still the same. Besides, didn't Weiwei get a checkup? The doctor said she was fine, so how could he be wrong?"
Zhao Li thought that was true and stopped talking.
Deng Xiangyun also said: "I have heard doctors say that people who are constantly ill may look weak, but in fact their immunity is better than those who have never been sick. Many of our minor illnesses are resisted by our immunity."
Maybe she felt relieved after the examination, or maybe the disease really was slowly subsiding, after another half month of recuperation, Lin Wei finally recovered.
By the time she recovered, it was already late September.
Although Yazhou Island has no obvious changes in seasons due to its low latitude, the temperature has dropped a little since September, and at least it is not so hot to sleep at night.
Just as the temperature was changing, Gao Xiu Lian was arranged to work in a state-owned restaurant, where she was responsible for serving meals.
Actually, it was Zhao Li who told Lin Wei about this. Although her family and the Zhao family were separated by a small road and were neighbors, the two families basically stopped interacting because of the previous quarrel, so she didn't pay attention to Gao Xiu Lian's recent situation.
The reason why Zhao Li knew about this matter was because of the cooperative relationship between the state-owned hotel and other units.
There are many small units outside the family quarters. The one with the largest number of employees is the military primary school, which has only more than 20 people. Other units have seven or eight employees, which is considered a lot, and some units even have only one or two people.
Of course, it is impossible for a small unit like this to hire someone to cook. The cost is too high and it is unaffordable. But it happens that these units basically belong to the service industry, and customers may come at any time. It's okay to give them half an hour to an hour for lunch, but closing the shop for two hours and letting them go home to cook? That's impossible.
But the problem of employee meals had to be solved. We couldn't let people just work without eating, so some units approached state-owned restaurants and discussed ordering employee meals from them.
They are all subordinate units of the army, and no matter they are employees or leaders, they are all old acquaintances. Besides, although the higher-ups don't have any performance requirements for state-owned hotels, hotel leaders have their own aspirations. Providing employee meals can not only generate revenue for the hotel, but also provide better service to everyone. Only a fool would refuse to agree.
As a result, the two parties successfully reached a cooperation.
When other units saw that this method was feasible, they followed suit and asked state-owned restaurants to provide lunch for their employees.
Before cooperating with various units, the state-owned restaurant had an area of only about 40 to 50 square meters. There was a counter at the entrance and only six square tables for four people inside.
After the cooperation was reached, the state-owned restaurant's facade has been expanded again and again. Now it has three rooms in a row, two of which have been connected, a row of food windows have been built inside, and sixteen square tables have been added.
The main business is divided into two parts. One part remains unchanged and continues to serve stir-fried dishes, while the other part is similar to the employee canteen, serving big pot meals. The price of the meals is slightly cheaper than that of stir-fried dishes. Due to insufficient staff, the employee canteen currently only receives employees of cooperative units and is not open to other customers.
But now that there are big pot meals, who living in the family quarters would be willing to be sucked in and eat stir-fried dishes? Although they taste better, they are also expensive.
Therefore, the only customers for Xiaochao were the families of soldiers who came to visit their relatives. They lived in the guesthouse, had no place to cook, and could not eat from the same pot, so they had no choice but to choose Xiaochao.
But problems also followed. In the past two years, soldiers have often complained to their superiors that the state-owned restaurants' practice of segregating customers is inhumane.
There are also many internal conflicts in state-owned hotels.
There is a chain of contempt in every profession, and this is also true for chefs. People from big restaurants look down on those from small restaurants, and people from small restaurants look down on those who cook in a big pot.
So when the state-owned restaurants wanted to have communal meals, the chef was not very willing to do it, so the leader arranged for the second-in-command to do it, and it worked.
Because the big pot meal business was good, the hotel management promoted the second-in-command to be the chef in charge of this area. But he also felt that stir-frying was the most important thing for cooking, so the chef did not leave the stir-frying side, thus creating a situation where both ends were the winners.
As the saying goes, there can't be two tigers in one mountain. If a state-owned restaurant has two chefs, how can the kitchen be peaceful?
Of course not. They think you are the one in charge of everything. I used to dislike them when they gave me side dishes. Now you think you are the boss in front of me now that you have mastered the skills. So what if someone thinks you’re a good cook? No one wants to eat the food you cook anymore, why are you showing off in front of me?
The hotel leader was good at playing peacemaker. Over the years, conflicts in the kitchen became more and more serious, and the hotel employees were even divided into two factions. The stir-fry side was obviously at a disadvantage because of the small number of people.
The people on the big pot rice side were also unhappy because the hotel management always wanted to promote the stir-fried dishes and always favored the people on that side, making them seem like they were raised by a stepmother. As the old saying goes, what is worrying is not the lack of wealth but the inequality of distribution. After a long time, they are bound to have complaints in their hearts.
Under the dual pressure of internal and external conflicts, the hotel leaders finally couldn't bear it anymore and decided to restructure, removing the small stir-fry dishes and making everything into a big pot. The customers of the big pot meal are no longer limited to employees of cooperative units, anyone with money and tickets can go to eat.
In other words, state-owned restaurants now only exist in name, and have essentially become base canteens.
After the restructuring, the customer base of state-owned hotels increased and the existing staff was insufficient, so two new positions were added and the Military Family Placement Office arranged for military wives to join the jobs.
It was under such circumstances that Gao Xiu Lian was arranged to work in a state-owned hotel.
As for Zhao Li, because of the cooperative relationship between the supply and marketing cooperative and the state-owned restaurant, she always had lunch at the state-owned restaurant. Therefore, Gao Xiulian saw someone on her first day of working at the state-owned hotel.
Zhao Li was very upset about this. She felt that if Gao Xiulian hadn't been jealous and plotting behind her back, Lin Wei would have gone to work at the military hospital long ago. As a result, Lin Wei hasn't got her job yet, but Gao Xiu Lian has got a new job, which is really infuriating.
Lin Wei's mentality was quite peaceful. Originally, the Military Family Settlement Office arranged jobs for military wives. Unless the employer had any special requirements, the first thing they considered was the length of time the soldier had been with the army.
The job of serving food at the window of a state-owned restaurant does not require collecting money or doing any accounting, nor does it require writing down and memorizing the names of dishes. It is purely physical work, and of course there are no special requirements when recruiting.
Although Gao Xiu Lian had a bad reputation, she had not made any major mistakes, had a clean resume, had a clean background, and had been in the army for a long time, so it was normal for her to get the job.
Of course, what is more important is that although Gao Xiulian's job looks decent and easy, and all she needs to do is move her wrists every day, it is actually not an easy job.
State-owned restaurants now provide three meals a day, and the counter service does not require a lot of preparation time like the kitchen, so employees have to work in two shifts. The people who serve food at the window are basically only busy for two or three hours before and after meals. There is no need to be on duty in the state-owned restaurant at other times, so they work from five in the morning to eight, from eleven in the afternoon to two in the afternoon, and from five in the evening to eight in the evening.
It seems that there is quite a lot of freedom in terms of time, with rest time in the morning and afternoon, but you have to know that going to work at five in the morning means getting up at four, and getting off work at eight in the evening. When you get home, you may be busy until eleven or twelve, so six hours of sleep at night is considered a lot.
Moreover, in order to avoid improving work efficiency, there are no seats at the food window. Imagine a person who sleeps little at night and stands for several hours during meals. After going back, can she have the mind to do anything else except falling asleep?
Therefore, in Lin Wei's view, the job of serving meals at the window seems to be free and the working hours are only nine hours, but in fact, once you do this job, it means that you will no longer have your own private time.
This is indeed the case.
Although Lin Wei and Gao Xiu Lian didn't interact much, their two families lived next to each other after all, and they both had no jobs before and had free time, so it was inevitable that they would meet each other when going in and out. And every time they met, Gao Xiu Lian would always glare at her and say a few sarcastic words.
Although Lin Wei has never lost in a verbal battle, she is not a fighting cock, and it is inevitable that she will be in a bad mood if it happens too much.
However, ever since Gao Xiulian went to work at a state-owned hotel, Lin Wei had never run into her when she went out. No more quarreling when going out, Lin Wei just felt refreshed and the sky seemed much brighter.
Therefore, Lin Wei felt that it would be best if Gao Xiulian could continue doing this job for a long time.
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