In June 1963, Tang Cuixiang and Tao Qing graduated from university.
Tang Cuixiang was assigned to work as a staff member at the Luoyang City Construction Bureau. Her major was design and planning, so working at the Construction Bureau was a good fit for her.
The reason she gave up staying in the provincial capital was that she wanted to be closer to her sisters; she preferred their city of Luoyang to Zhengzhou.
Los Angeles is an ancient capital of nine dynasties with a rich cultural heritage. It will become a tourist city in the future, which will provide her with more opportunities to develop her professional skills.
Tao Qing, a graduate of Henan Normal University, also chose to stay in Luoyang. He was directly assigned to teach history at Luoyang No. 1 High School.
Luoyi High School is a key high school in the city. The fact that he was directly assigned here after graduating from university shows that his academic performance at school was also quite outstanding.
Both of them were rare college graduates of this era, so they were hired as full-time employees. Although they were interns, their salaries were not low.
During the internship, you receive a level 14 salary, which is 48.5 yuan. After you become a full-time employee, you receive a level 13 salary, which is 55 yuan. This is the value of a college degree.
After all, most people in that era were still struggling to earn around the level 16 salary, which was exactly the standard for vocational school interns, at 37 yuan per month.
Tang Cuixiang and Tao Qing both had rural household registrations, but because of their status as college graduates, they were able to directly change their household registrations to urban household registrations after graduation.
Compared to his two older brothers who had graduated long ago and then pursued further education at their workplaces, Tao Qing became the first child in the Tao family to earn a salary.
Tang Cuixiang graduated a year earlier than Tang Cuimei. As a medical student, she had to do hospital internships and rotations in her fifth year. Moreover, once you enter this field, you have to study it for a lifetime.
After Tao Qing and Tang Cuixiang joined the company, they were assigned to dormitories. Although it was a shared dormitory, only college students could get an empty bed as soon as they joined the company, even though the housing was crowded.
Especially after Tao Qingyi claimed to be Tao Tao's older brother, her treatment at Luoyi High School skyrocketed. As a result, every teacher in the high school knew Tao Tao, not only because she was a good student, but also because she was a kind person who often helped her classmates and was loved by the elderly and her classmates.
Therefore, Tao Qing's entry into Luoyi High School went quite smoothly, and everyone was looking forward to seeing if this little girl could get into her desired school.
Tao Tao left the school's address, but it didn't really matter where she left it, because the only post office near their school was Tang Cuiju's workplace. She would receive her admission notice as soon as possible and would find a way to notify her.
The reason for not sending it to my home is that I'm afraid something might happen on the way. It's safer to put it anywhere than at the post office where my sister works.
Not only her, but Yuan Yuan also followed her method, filling in the school address and even instructing Tang Cuiju to help her keep it.
In late June, Xiao Jiu received a telegram from Tang Cuiju and hurriedly returned to Luo City with Yuan Yuan.
When Yuan Yuan received their acceptance letters, she couldn't control her emotions and burst into tears while holding the letters.
Xiao Jiu's eyes also welled up with tears because she had indeed received an admission notice from the Air Force Medical University. Even Yuan Yuan had been successfully admitted, although their majors were different. Xiao Jiu was studying clinical medicine, while Yuan Yuan was studying preventive medicine, which is a category of public health and preventive medicine, and both require a five-year program.
Although their exact test scores are unknown, the delivery of their admission notices is proof of their excellence.
The two sisters hugged each other and cried bitterly, especially Yuan Yuan. It had been such a difficult journey. Even when she didn't have to study, she couldn't sleep at night, fearing that she wouldn't pass the exam. Now, not only did she pass, but she also got into the same university as Xiao Jiu. This was more than just luck; it was an incredible stroke of luck.
Tang Cuiju was genuinely happy for her younger sister. This was a military medical university, and a key one at that; it was definitely something to celebrate.
"Oh right, here's a letter for you too. It looks like it was sent by Zhou Yue."
Upon hearing Zhou Yue's name, Xiao Jiu suddenly slapped her forehead: "Oh dear, how could I forget about him? Quick, give it to me, let me see what he wrote."
Judging from the postmark, the letter was not sent from Xishi. Sure enough, upon reading the letter, it turned out that he had gone to a special airborne operations regiment in Hubei Province to adapt first, and then undergo six months of military training with the new recruits before deciding whether to stay.
Does this mean that all the previous glamour is over, and the child has to be trained from scratch?
A perfectly good pilot, going off to become a paratrooper...
A mix of complex emotions welled up inside her. She didn't know how he planned his future, but she did know.
The child must have made this decision after careful consideration.
There was nothing she could do to help him, so she could only write him a letter to congratulate him and look forward to the future, encouraging him to join her in pursuing new goals.
In early July, the Tang sisters and Tao Qing, who were in Los Angeles, returned home to attend Tang Cuihua's wedding.
The wedding was held in the village, just like Tang Cuihong's wedding. Only the Tao family and village officials were invited. Both families were from out of town. They would come to give gifts at weddings and funerals in the village, and other families would also contribute money. But there were only a few families. It's not that the relationship was bad, but given how long the two families had been there, there were only a few families they could truly confide in.
Unlike the indigenous people, who have different surnames and clans, they are not like the local people.
Although Xihe Village is not a large village, with only three major surnames and the rest being migrants from other places, the relationships are very complex. The Tao and Tang families have kept a low profile in the village over the years, so only people in their own team know them. Outside of their team, not many people really know them.
Therefore, the wedding was not a grand affair; in fact, it was quite low-key.
However, since the meal is for family, it must include meat and fish, along with a few vegetable dishes, steamed buns and cornbread, and finally a large plate of egg drop soup. That would make a complete banquet.
The wine served at the wedding was homemade rice wine from the Tao family, and it tasted just as good as any other wine—a taste you can't buy anywhere else.
When Tang Cuihua got married, everyone in the village knew that the son-in-law was coming to live with the family, but no one dared to underestimate Zhai Sanhe.
Who could blame him for having such a prestigious job? He was the deputy head of the Criminal Investigation Department of the County Public Security Bureau, a proper official.
Some people even remarked on Tang Cuihua's good fortune, noting that after dumping Huang Xin, she was able to find such a respectable son-in-law. They were all jealous and praised her, but the two families simply laughed off such rumors.
Life is something you create yourself, not something others can flatter you with.
The sisters' reactions to the Tang family's live-in son-in-law were surprisingly unanimous. No one thought he was superior just because he was an official, nor did anyone look down on him because he was a live-in son-in-law. In their eyes, this man was their eldest sister's other half, their life partner, and their future brother-in-law. Respect was all that mattered.
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