Chapter 107
When Xing Fei and the other three arrived, Bi Chunliu didn't wait for them because she was backstage. Wang Xiaoman was one of this year's hosts, and Bi Chunliu stayed backstage to chat with her, then watched her use makeup to create a high-altitude red.
Bi Chunliu: ...
Forget it. I don’t have any advanced makeup skills to help Xiaojun. So let it be. Anyway, with the overhead lights on, the people in the audience can’t see what the host looks like.
Wang Xiaojun turned to look at Bi Chunliu, clasped his hands in front of him, blinked, and asked her, "How is it? Does it look good?"
"..." Bi Chunliu replied, "It's okay. Well, Xiaojun, are you hungry? I'll find you something to eat."
Wang Xiaojun nodded and shook his head, "I'd rather not eat. I'm too nervous to eat now."
"All right then."
"Secretary Bi, I just saw your family. Do you want to go and say something?" asked Secretary Wei from the Propaganda Department.
Secretary Wei's voice was very pleasant. Bi Chunliu felt as if her ears were being rubbed. She replied, "Okay, thank you Secretary Wei. I'll go right away."
Bi Chunliu looked at Wang Xiaojun, who was taking off her braids and preparing to re-braid them. She bit her hair tie and mumbled, "Nei Kuai Qi Ba..."
"Okay, then you can go over your words with Secretary Wei later. I won't be here for a while."
"Uh-huh."
Bi Chunliu emerged from backstage, glanced at Secretary Wei, who was fiddling with his shoes, and sighed. They say when a window closes, a door opens. Secretary Wei was just like that. He was tonight's other host. He was good-looking, with thick eyebrows and big eyes. When he looked at people and spoke, his eyes flickered. And his voice was beautiful! Unfortunately, he was short. A little too short.
Bi Chunliu hadn't inquired about Secretary Wei's exact height, but based on her own visual estimation, she estimated that he was about 1.65 meters tall without shoes. She also heard that Secretary Wei's mother made all his shoes herself, adding insoles and thickening the soles herself. Bi Chunliu thought that the soles of Secretary Wei's shoes she had just seen did seem different.
After a few words of admiration for Secretary Wei, Bi Chunliu began looking for her family. The auditorium was packed today. With nearly two hours left before the party, it was already nearly full. There were many children running around in the aisles. When a child cried, parents would yell, "Stop making noise! I'll beat you up when I get home!" in between conversations. She glanced outside and saw many people carrying stools and mats heading toward the auditorium.
Bi Chunliu: I wonder how crowded this auditorium will be soon. She glanced around and finally spotted Xing Fei and the other three in the third row, near the middle aisle.
Bi Chunliu walked to the third row of seats. Xing Fei was sharing food with Bi Weiguo and the other two sitting to his left. They were sharing melon seeds, candies, and popcorn. To the uninitiated, one might have thought they were having a picnic. Xing Fei noticed someone standing next to him and quickly said, "Sorry, someone's here... Chunliu? Are you done?"
"Yeah, I want it too." Bi Chunliu sat down in the seat next to Xing Fei's left and stretched out his hand with a smile.
Xing Fei put the rice popcorn and candy in Bi Chunliu's hand and said, "I'll peel the melon seeds for you. You eat first."
Bi Chunliu: "Have you encountered someone who makes popcorn?" Nowadays, popcorn and corn are made with old-fashioned machines. The machine is turned back and forth on a stove, and when the time is almost up, with a bang, the prepared popcorn is put into a bag connected to the machine.
Xing Fei: "No, Dad brought this."
"Oh ok."
More than an hour passed quickly, and the auditorium became more and more crowded, even outside the windows were filled with people. Bi Qiuguo looked around and saw the brothers Liu Jiang and Liu He.
"Second brother, third sister, I saw Zhuzi and Shuanzi. I'll call them over and let's squeeze in." It was okay for five people to squeeze into three seats.
Bi Weiguo and Bi Xiahe both nodded, and Bi Qiuguo shouted at the Liu brothers at the top of his voice.
Liu Jiang and Liu He walked through the crowd and greeted Bi Chunliu and Xing Fei first. "Sister Chunliu, Brother Fei, happy New Year in advance! I wish you all the best in the new year and all your wishes come true!"
Bi Chunliu gave them a handful of sunflower seeds and rice crackers. "I wish you both good academic performance and good health! Zhuzi, your grandma and your parents aren't here?"
The five of them were all thin. Liu Jiang sat down in his seat and replied, "My parents felt it was too crowded, so they went back home after reaching the factory gate. My grandma is with Grandma Zhang and the others."
Bi Chunliu smiled. It was indeed too crowded. Luckily, she didn't have to worry about anything this year because she had a prize to collect. She probably thought Sister Mei and Sister Hongxia would come out and yell at everyone to maintain order and avoid crowding.
Before she could finish her thought, Wang Hongxia's voice came from the loudspeaker, "Workers and family members by the west windows, since everyone has brought their things, please sit down quickly and leave a small path for people to walk. Family members in the middle aisle, hold your children tightly and don't let them fall or get hurt. Leave a path for people to walk, otherwise our leaders won't be able to get to the front later. If they can't use the loudspeaker to start, how can we watch the show? The leaders can't shout at the top of their lungs like us."
Everyone burst into laughter, moved around, and finally sat down before the leader arrived.
At 5:50 in the afternoon, ten minutes before the party was to begin, all the leaders were finally seated.
At six o'clock, the party finally kicked off.
Just as Bi Chunliu had thought, even though she was sitting in the third row, she still couldn't see Xiaojun's face clearly. The light from above shone downwards, making Xiaojun look like a little girl with sparse hair. Even Secretary Wei looked ugly.
"Dear factory leaders, dear coworkers and their families and friends, good evening everyone! I am..." Wang Xiaojun and the other person delivered the opening speech passionately, and then introduced the leaders that everyone was familiar with sitting in the audience one by one.
"Now, let's move on to the second item of the party. Please invite our beloved leader, Director Dong Mingde, to the stage to give a speech!"
Director Dong was wearing a Zhongshan suit today. He walked onto the stage with a square step and took out his speech in the center of the stage where the lights were the brightest.
Bi Chunliu only felt that Director Dong's sparse hair looked even more shinier. She heard someone behind her say that after all, he was a factory director, with such style and temperament!
"Good evening, fellow workers and their families! Today's event is both our factory's summary meeting and our New Year's party..."
Bi Chunliu heard from Sister Mei that Dong Tingting had shortened Director Dong's speech. According to Dong Tingting, everyone came for the show and the bonuses; who wanted to hear the director ramble on? Couldn't the meeting be held during work hours? So, five minutes later, Director Dong concluded his final speech of the year. Director Dong Mingde pocketed the speech and left the stage.
Secretary Wei marched onto the stage, his demeanor dignified. "Next, we'll proceed to the third item of the party: the performances. The first performance is from Workshop One..."
The gala featured singing of revolutionary songs, poetry recitation, adapted dance performances, and decent performances of model operas. Although none of the performers were orthodox singers, dancers, or performers, they were enthusiastic, simple, and close to the masses, and the audience cheered loudly.
Finally, it was time to distribute the benefits. Secretary Wei and Wang Xiaojun came on stage together. "Next, we will proceed to the fourth item of the party: the awards ceremony. This year, our factory comrades have not only shown great enthusiasm for their work, but have also done many good deeds. Next, please invite Comrades Li Ermei, Bi Chunliu, Li Musheng, and Wang Dong... to the stage to receive their awards!"
Leaders came on stage to present awards to the exemplary workers. This year's first prize went to Comrade Li Ermei, and everyone at the factory was impressed. She was known for her dedication, working the longest hours, and being highly efficient, so she won the bicycle ticket. To Bi Chunliu's surprise, she and Li Musheng were given second-place prizes—watch tickets! This was a real surprise!
Li Musheng grinned beside Bi Chunliu. He wanted to keep the watch ticket and buy a watch for Jingjing when he and Jingjing got married!
Li Musheng has already met Yu Jingjing's parents. Although the Yu family feels that Li Musheng has no foundation and his family has no background, they cannot persuade Yu Jingjing. With Yu Jingjing's grandmother who loves her very much, they help her. Yu's father and mother think that at least Yu Jingjing will not be wronged in the future, and thinking about their daughter's future life, they relax and agree to discuss the marriage of the two with their in-laws, Aunt Wang, after the New Year.
The award recipients took their prizes and happily came down from the stage one by one.
"Next, we will proceed to the fifth item of the party: the closing speech by the factory leaders."
Dong Mingde: "As the director of the textile factory, I'm also delighted to see the enthusiasm of my fellow workers. In addition to these rewards this year, our two deputy directors, Chairman Ren of the labor union, and I have hidden a surprise among the benefits that will be distributed to everyone at the factory. Let me be clear, we picked it randomly, and now everything is mixed up, so we don't know which apple bag it is in. Deputy Director Xiong, Deputy Director Zhang, Chairman Ren, can one of you reveal the surprise to everyone?"
Zhang Xing'an was not happy about this kind of spotlight, so he waved his hand. Ren Qianjin also smiled and waved his hand. Xiong Wenhua took the microphone and said, "Then let me reveal the surprise to everyone. It's a radio ticket!!"
Radio tickets?! The audience erupted in excitement. That was the "ring" of the three-turn-one-ring tickets! It was almost as cheap as a bicycle ticket!
Xiong Wenhua: "Later, everyone will line up according to the order of their respective departments to receive their benefits. We will also wait for this comrade nearby. After all, we don't know who will have the ticket. Director Dong, I see that the comrades are getting impatient now. Let's go line up now?"
Dong Mingde: "Hahaha... I wish all my fellow workers a happy new year and good health in advance! Come on, everyone, listen to my command. Three rows, three rows, go out together. No need to fight or rush. After all, it's better to arrive early than early. Now, the three rows on the far left, stand up, turn left, and march in step!!"
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