In early December, the day finally arrived for Zhao Qinglan to attend the provincial commendation conference.
She had put together her outfit a few days in advance: a smart women's suit, a scarf her son had given her around her neck, and an overcoat over it.
Once she arrives at the venue, she takes off her coat and goes on stage to accept the award wearing only a suit.
To make her complexion look better, she even put on some light makeup; she clearly took the award ceremony very seriously.
Ding Yu drove the Mercedes, and Liu Dandan sat in the passenger seat.
As soon as she got on the bus, she took out the speech she had read countless times and started reading it again.
Her mother and sister were happy for her when they learned she was going to receive an award, but it was a pity they couldn't be there to see her.
Zhao Qinglan said that if she could find an opportunity, she would take some photos and then develop them.
Because of this, she even brought her own camera with her when she went, just in case she wanted to take pictures but there weren't any available at the venue. Even if there were people taking pictures, it would still be more convenient to use her own camera.
Upon arriving at the venue, Ding Yu and Liu Dandan couldn't go in, so they had to wait in the car outside. Zhao Qinglan went in alone.
After signing in, she quickly found her seat.
Knowing that she was the entrepreneur who came to receive the award, the staff treated her with great enthusiasm.
After she sat down, more and more people arrived around her, but she could only recognize a few of them.
She doesn't know anyone else, but quite a few people know her, so people keep coming over to greet and talk to her.
The meeting room only quieted down after all the leaders had arrived.
Several leaders gave speeches, which is a tradition in China. By the time the leaders finished speaking, more than half an hour had passed.
Perhaps because it was new and exciting, Zhao Qinglan didn't find it boring at all and listened quite attentively.
When the awards began to be presented, she became a little nervous.
"Zhao Qinglan was named one of the top ten outstanding private entrepreneurs in the province in 1987."
Amidst the applause of the crowd, Zhao Qinglan took a deep breath and walked over with a smile.
She received a certificate and a trophy, and posed for a photo with the other entrepreneurs who were also receiving awards.
Then each winner will give a speech.
Some people spoke very simply, while others, like Zhao Qinglan, prepared their speeches and spoke very formally.
When it was Zhao Qinglan's turn, her nervousness seemed to dissipate as soon as she started speaking.
When she finished speaking, the audience erupted in enthusiastic applause once again.
"Comrade Zhao Qinglan spoke very well. I hope everyone here can learn from her." The leaders present also spoke.
Feeling affirmed, Zhao Qinglan felt proud, acknowledging that her long preparations had been worthwhile.
Even after the awards ceremony ended, some people didn't leave immediately. Some continued to chat and build relationships with acquaintances, while others took photos with the photographers on site.
Zhao Qinglan was very glad that she had brought her camera. She went to the door and called Liu Dandan in, asking Liu Dandan to take several photos of her at the event.
Seeing that she had a camera, some people even came over and asked if they could take pictures.
Zhao Qinglan was very generous and didn't stop until she had used up all the film she brought.
Because she took photos for many people, she also kept their contact information as well as her own, so that she could contact the right person to pick up the photos once they were developed.
As for the cost of developing the photos, she didn't even consider it; she just saw it as a way to build good relationships and accumulate goodwill.
When she got home, the children kept asking about the award ceremony during dinner with the family.
Zhao Qinglan also picked out some interesting things to talk about, and what she was most proud of was being recognized by the leader and being encouraged to learn from them.
Because her husband had put a lot of effort into the speech, she also gave a proper "thank you" to the great contributor.
This made Li Huai extremely happy.
He'll be forty next year, and the two of them, who have been married for a long time, don't have the same frequency of intimacy as they did in the first few years of their marriage.
It's even rarer for a wife to take the initiative and come up with new and interesting ways to do good things.
Perhaps because she was too excited and overexerted herself, Zhao Qinglan felt uncomfortable all over her body and back when she woke up the next day.
However, Li Huai hoped that such good things would happen more often in the future. He was not afraid of hardship, whether it was writing speeches or doing chores.
The couple were truly sweet for several days, their affectionate behavior making their children, who were used to their parents' loving relationship, feel somewhat uncomfortable.
Regarding the awards ceremony, Zhao Qinglan thought all that remained was developing and posting the photos.
She never expected that someone would deliver flowers to her office.
When she got to her office and heard from her secretary that someone had sent her flowers, she thought she had misheard.
Are you sure this is for me?
"Mr. Zhao, it is indeed a gift for you."
Uh, is it possible that my man is acting strangely again?
Although she felt a little embarrassed, she was still happy inside.
When she got home and asked her husband why he had thought of sending her flowers, he was taken aback.
"Sent flowers? I didn't."
"Ah, not you?" Zhao Qinglan was also surprised.
She assumed her husband was just being romantic, so she didn't press the secretary for details, not expecting it to turn out to be a misunderstanding.
Li Huai's face immediately darkened. "Who sent you flowers? Was it another man?"
"If I had known, I wouldn't have asked you." Zhao Qinglan was both amused and exasperated, and also regretted asking her husband before she had figured things out. Look at the mess she's made of this now.
"No, I'll take you to your office tomorrow." He wanted to see which clueless person was eyeing his wife.
Having nothing to hide, Zhao Qinglan reluctantly said, "Alright then."
This is something that someone with no sense of propriety did. Doesn't he know he's a married woman and how old his children are?
Perhaps because she was jealous, Zhao Qinglan was "tortured" by her husband again, and she cursed the person who sent the flowers in her heart.
Li Huai was a man of his word. Instead of going to work at the military region early in the morning, he waited for his wife to get ready before taking her to her office.
The couple were still riding in his personal Jeep; the Mercedes was left at home. Li Huai planned to pick up his wife from get off work today.
The people of Lanxin certainly knew that their boss was married and a soldier, but apart from a few elderly people, not many people had seen Li Huai.
His sudden appearance to drop Zhao Qinglan off at work surprised everyone in the company.
Only the secretary who knew that Zhao Qinglan received flowers yesterday seemed to have guessed something.
Li Huai didn't just drop her off and leave; he followed his wife into her office, and when he bumped into people from the company who greeted him, he would respond enthusiastically, as if he were there to assert his dominance.
Zhao Qinglan found it amusing but didn't say anything.
Her husband's jealousy showed he cared about her, so how could she not be happy?
The couple entered her office, and she began asking her secretary questions.
"Did no one send flowers today?"
"Mr. Zhao, no."
Zhao Qinglan breathed a sigh of relief.
The next second, Li Huai picked up the conversation, "Who was the person who sent the flowers earlier?"
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