Chapter 22
"Qingtang, do you know this person?" Xie Jinxuan was very concerned about Xia Qingtang's every move. Seeing her staring at the woman who fell into the water with a frown, she asked in a low voice.
Xia Qingtang came back to his senses, shook his head and said, "I don't know her. I just think this female comrade should cherish her life. Especially, she owes you a life now. How can she die so easily after taking two lives?"
She said this with no other intention, but hoped that the person who fell into the water would thank Xie Jinxuan first.
Although the weather is not cold now and Xie Jinxuan is indeed fine, no matter what plans Xu Jianming and the woman who fell into the water have, they should first thank the hero who saved her.
As for other emotions, Xia Qingtang no longer had any thoughts. This woman had nothing to do with her in this life. What's more, what she was doing now was targeting Kong Liangchao. Xia Qingtang could only cheer for her, fearing that Kong Liangchao would not fall fast enough.
Before Xie Jinxuan could say anything, an older woman standing next to Xia Qingtang heard her words and immediately said, "Yes, girl, you really can't commit suicide. You have been saved by a good person. If you commit suicide again, how can you be worthy of your savior?"
Everyone then focused their attention on the soaking wet Xie Jinxuan. Everyone was talking at once. Some were praising Xie Jinxuan for her bravery, while others were trying to persuade the woman who fell into the water to be more positive.
The woman who fell into the water also looked up at Xie Jinxuan. Seeing that the other party was a tall and handsome young man, her eyes immediately lit up, and she hurriedly pretended to thank him: "Comrade, thank you for saving me, but...but you shouldn't have saved me..."
"Why shouldn't we save him? It's a life after all! This man is really brave!" a passerby shouted.
"Yes, comrade, which unit are you from? You are so brave in saving people. You should tell your unit and give you a big award certificate!"
Xie Jinxuan waved her hand to shift everyone's attention back to the woman who fell into the water: "It's just a small favor, don't take it to heart. Let's go see if this female comrade is okay and whether she needs to be sent to the hospital."
The woman who fell into the water must have not forgotten her mission. Upon hearing this, she covered her chest and cried bitterly, "My benefactor, I don't need to go to the hospital. My benefactor, why did you save me? You should have let me die! There is no point in living for someone like me!"
Xu Jianming said from behind the crowd: "Please don't do that. You said that because you have some difficulties or grievances. Tell us and we will all help you!"
"Yes, girl, just tell me. If there is any injustice, I will take you to seek justice!" A female comrade who looked like a female cadre said loudly.
"That's right! We'll all help you!"
For a moment, all the onlookers joined in.
The woman who fell into the water first thanked everyone for their kindness, then covered her face and cried. As she cried, she became so emotional that she suddenly jumped up from the ground and wanted to continue jumping into the river.
Of course, this time there were so many people around her that as soon as she moved, she was hugged tightly by the two older sisters.
"You can't jump anymore! You can't jump anymore!"
The woman who fell into the water cried and wailed, "Let me die! Please let me die! I'm in that state, I really can't live anymore! Wuuuuuuuu..."
"My daughter, what kind of injustice have you suffered that makes you so depressed... My daughter, tell me, I will help you if there is anything wrong!" A soft-hearted mother-in-law walked over and gently wiped the tears from the woman's face with her handkerchief.
Xia Qingtang also followed Xie Jinxuan and stood outside the crowd. He found his half-new cloth shoes, took off his wet socks, wrung them dry and put them in his trouser pocket, and then put on the cloth shoes.
"It feels very uncomfortable, right?" Xia Qingtang asked in a low voice.
Xie Jinxuan said nonchalantly: "It's OK, the weather isn't cold, we can go back after seeing what's going on here. It just disrupted our plans, I wanted to take a walk with you to see the scenery."
"There will be plenty of opportunities to take a walk in the future, so there's no need to rush." Xia Qingtang said, and smiled at Xie Jinxuan, then continued to look inside through the gaps in the crowd.
More and more people were watching here. The woman who fell into the water had probably finished her performance. She grabbed the mother-in-law's hand and said with tears in her eyes, "Auntie, Auntie, I really have no way out! I've been deceived! He said he would marry me, he promised me, and he also said he would have three children with me in the future, two boys and one girl. He said it so well, but he turned around and didn't want me! Auntie, what do you say I should do? Wuu ...
This is a very common melodramatic story from ancient times to the present. Xia Qingtang didn't know what happened between Kong Liangchao and the woman who fell into the water, but from what she said, it was definitely the man who was wrong.
However, based on Xia Qingtang's understanding of this person, she and Kong Liangchao must be mutually beneficial, one gets the benefit and the other gets happiness, and this person has now come out to act in such a big drama, and he must have received a lot of money from Xu Jianming.
Someone asked, "Are you two talking to yourselves?"
"Yes, it was from a personal conversation. It was from a letter he wrote to me. I started dating him because he was so sincere. But I didn't expect that he would change his heart so quickly. He cheated me of everything I had, and I gave him everything. How could he not want me anymore? Auntie, what do you think I should do? I really can't live! Wuuuuuuuuuuuuuu..." The woman who fell into the water burst into tears again, causing the aunts and sisters to try to comfort her.
However, now that things have come to this, everyone knows the reason why she jumped into the river. She was cheated by the person she was dating, but the person didn't want her anymore. Wouldn't that ruin her life? How could she find another partner?
One of the older sisters said, "Girl, you are so confused. How can you give yourself away before you get married?"
"I was deceived by him. I said I was scared at that time, but he insisted... insisted... wuwuwuwuwuwuwuwu... I'm a woman and not as strong as him. What could I do? After that, he said that he would come to my house soon to propose marriage, but I waited and waited, but he didn't want me anymore! Oh God, how can I live! Just let me die!" The woman who fell into the water cried until her voice was a little hoarse. It was so sad and everyone who heard it cried. She won the sympathy of everyone present.
At this time, Xu Jianming, standing outside, added: "If what you said is true, this is a crime of molestation! Tell us who hurt you, and we will help you sue him!"
"That's right, sue him!"
The woman covered her face and said, "He comes from a cadre family, he is also a cadre, and he even studied at the Workers, Peasants and Soldiers University. I am just a small worker in a printing factory, how can I sue him? Just let me die, I have no choice but to die..."
Everyone was busy again, trying to hold down the woman who jumped up.
"Girl, don't worry. No matter who it is, as long as they break the law, they will be punished. Tell me, who hurt you? Tell me!"
"Yes, go ahead and tell me! There are so many of us here, we'll all help you!"
Everyone stared at the woman who fell into the water with curious eyes. When she saw the opportunity, she cried and said, "His name is Kong Liangchao. He works in the Grain Bureau. I don't know the specific department, but I know he works there. I went to his unit to look for him. Most of the time, he was late and left early to come and play with me. He said that he was not busy at work. He had a strong background and no one dared to order him to work. His family lived in the family quarters of the Municipal Party Committee compound. I heard that they lived in a two-story building. All his family members were cadres. He brought me milk powder, floral water, vanishing cream, leather shoes, cigarettes... Oh, and lipstick. He also brought me lipstick, which was very beautiful, but I didn't dare to use it because I was afraid that I would make a mistake. Anyway, he was a very impressive person, and there was not a single patch on his clothes."
Someone said: "This doesn't sound like a good person! How can this be described as a proletarian?"
"Someone from the Grain Bureau? Hey, Old Li, isn't that your subordinate? His surname is Kong and he has a background. Oh, I know who he is. It's the son of the Kong family, right?" A middle-aged man who was watching the fun suddenly pushed another middle-aged man next to him.
The middle-aged man was wearing a gray shirt, his temples were gray, and there were very deep nasolabial lines on his face. He looked particularly serious.
Xia Qingtang suddenly remembered that this person should be the current director of the Grain Bureau. When he got married in his previous life, this Director Li came to the banquet.
No wonder the woman who fell into the water chose to jump into the river at this time. It turned out that Director Li was right next to her. Xu Jianming deliberately wanted Director Li to hear about it.
Xia Qingtang still remembered that Director Li was an upright man who worked diligently, so he didn't like lazy people with connections like Kong Liangchao. Xu Jianming had found the right person this time.
Seeing that everyone was talking about Kong Liangchao from the Grain Bureau, Xie Jinxuan turned her head to glance at Xia Qingtang, then pulled her and slowly walked away.
Xia Qingtang whispered, "Are you cold? The sun has set and the wind must be chilling. I'll go back with you to change clothes. Your home is not far from here."
She didn't have a good impression of the Xie family, but for Xie Jinxuan, she could endure it.
"I'm not cold, it's just that this matter doesn't seem right, and it involves Kong Liangchao, so it's better for the two of us to stay away from it." Xie Jinxuan lowered her voice and said, "Did you notice that there was a man hiding behind the crowd over there, who has been shouting for the woman who jumped into the river several times. It's obvious that he did it on purpose. In my opinion, these two people must be in the same group, and the director of the Grain Bureau is also there, and they are clearly going after Kong Liangchao. Kong Liangchao was infatuated with this female comrade and then abandoned her, so he must want to seek justice from his leader. If I were to guess, there might be some other conflicts between them, and they are using this incident to make trouble."
Xia Qingtang was extremely surprised. She didn't expect that Xie Jinxuan could tell something was wrong just by looking at these.
This man is so smart!
"You...you are so amazing. You can tell something is wrong right away. You are so smart." Xia Qingtang said in a low voice as he walked slowly out with him.
"I'm not that smart. It's just that this is such a coincidence that I can't help but think about it. Also, judging from the look on Chief Li's face, he must have realized that the person who jumped into the river came to him on purpose. But he was the right person to come to, and so many people are watching. The chief will take care of it no matter what."
Xia Qingtang said: "Can they really manage it to the end? I mean, can they really sentence him to molest? He will be shot."
"He will definitely not be sentenced, but that woman must have some evidence that can prove that Kong Liangchao really slept with her. But the Kong family is no pushover. Give that woman some benefits, or let Kong Liangchao marry her directly. Then it won't be considered hooliganism, but rather a pre-marital relationship. As long as the marriage is concluded, the unit won't care so much. But after such a commotion, even if the Kong family is capable, Kong Liangchao will not be able to climb up in recent years. After all, the indiscretion between men and women is a big problem." Xie Jinxuan spoke slowly, obviously explaining it to Xia Qingtang.
Xia Qingtang nodded as he listened: "If Kong Liangchao did something else bad at this time, would it be impossible for him to climb up in his life?"
"That depends on what bad thing it is... Today's jumping into the river will surely spread all over the city very quickly. At this cusp of the storm, if any serious mistakes are found, it is possible that you will be fired."
Xia Qingtang nodded repeatedly, expressing his approval of Xu Jianming in his heart.
Sure enough, it was a good idea to send him some of the evidence. This guy is quite smart. It was natural for him to make such a fuss to make Kong Liangchao look bad.
If Xu Jianming could make some more efforts later, Kong Liangchao might really be fired, and Xia Qingtang would then feel relieved.
The two of them walked out of the Ring City Park along the path. Xie Jinxuan was thinking about something just now, so he didn't pay much attention to his clothes. Now that he was on the main road, he began to feel uncomfortable because he was wet all over. Passers-by also looked at him curiously, wanting to know what happened to this person.
"This place is closer to your workplace. Does your workplace have any replacement clothes?" Xia Qingtang whispered, "You should change into dry clothes as soon as possible, otherwise you will catch a cold if the cold wind blows."
Xie Jinxuan smiled and said, "You care about me?"
"What do you think? If I don't care about you, who should I care about? We are a couple." Seeing that he was just laughing foolishly, Xia Qingtang said, "It's already this time, and you are still happy about this."
"Of course I should be happy. I dream that you would care about me." Xie Jinxuan said slowly.
Xia Qingtang just couldn't bear to hear him express his affectionate words every time, so she could only sigh and said, "Okay, then Comrade Xie Jinxuan, are you happy? If you are happy, let's quickly think about where to change your clothes!"
"Give me three more seconds to be happy." Xie Jinxuan really counted the three seconds seriously, and then said seriously: "Okay, now let's talk business. My unit does have replacement clothes. Will you accompany me there?"
"Then let's go quickly. I'm really worried that you'll catch a cold." Xia Qingtang grabbed Xie Jinxuan's wrist and quickly walked towards his unit.
At this moment, the light was gradually dimming, and the street lights were on. When they walked to the gate, the guard looked at Xie Jinxuan curiously: "Secretary Xie, what happened? Did you fall into the river?"
"Almost, so I have to go to the office to change clothes." Xie Jinxuan said with a smile: "This is my lover, who happened to be with me."
The guard stared at Xia Qingtang's face for two seconds, then smiled: "Secretary Xie, are you married? I haven't even heard of it."
"I said that this morning, and I even brought some wedding candy to give out to everyone, but you're on the night shift, so you didn't hear it."
"Then I won't be able to eat your wedding candy?"
"I'll come out and bring you some later. Just wait." After Xie Jinxuan said this, she took Xia Qingtang in.
Xia Qingtang whispered, "Do you have such a good relationship with everyone in your company?"
"Not really. There are also quite a lot of people who don't like to talk to me." Xie Jinxuan whispered, "There are very few people who know who my grandfather is, so they don't have a good impression of me. They think I'm the kind of dandy boy who can only come to work because of family connections. In fact, I really relied on my own assignment to get here. I have made contributions in the army and can write articles. The year I came back, the secretariat happened to be short of people, so I got in with my pen. However, it's normal for them to dislike me, and I'm too lazy to look at them. My grandfather often said that when we do things, we should not break the law or violate regulations, and we should be worthy of heaven and earth and our own conscience, and we don't need to worry about anything else."
After saying that, Xie Jinxuan smiled slightly, with a very open-minded look in her eyes.
Xia Qingtang also laughed. She really liked Xie Jinxuan's personality. After hearing what he said, it seemed that everything could become a little easier and she didn't have to take everything to heart.
"Why are you looking at me like that? Do you think what I said is right?" Xie Jinxuan leaned over and whispered in her ear.
Xia Qingtang nodded vigorously: "I still think you are amazing."
The provincial government office is a three-story U-shaped building. Xie Jinxuan and her colleagues' office is on the second floor at one end. Most of the offices are empty at this moment, but lights are still on in a few rooms, and people can be seen working inside through the open doors.
Soon they arrived at Xie Jinxuan's office. It was a large office with lights on and many desks. There were also many bookcases against the wall, which were filled with file bags. At a desk on the west side, there was a middle-aged woman wearing glasses, writing something at the desk.
Xie Jinxuan knocked on the open wooden door first. The female comrade looked up at him and couldn't help but be a little surprised: "Why is Xiao Xie back? And he's covered in water?"
Xie Jinxuan walked in with a smile: "There was an accident. I accidentally fell into the water. I saw that it was close to the unit, so I came back to change clothes. Oh, by the way, this is my wife. I asked her to sit here and wait for me for a while."
The female comrade immediately stood up, pushed up her glasses and looked at Xia Qingtang carefully, then smiled: "Hello, I'm Xiao Xie's colleague, my last name is Jia."
"Hello, Comrade Jia, I am Xie Jinxuan's lover, my name is Xia Qingtang." Xia Qingtang also quickly greeted.
"Please sit down. There are several stools over there that can accommodate you. Xiao Xie, go change your clothes. I'll pour Xiao Xia a glass of water." Comrade Jia walked towards the table in the corner where there was a kettle, a thermos and a row of white porcelain cups.
"Okay, thank you Sister Jia. I'll go in and change my clothes." Xie Jinxuan shook Xia Qingtang's hand and walked towards a wooden door at the end of the large office.
"That room is a storage room. Some of our personal belongings are also stored in it. We occasionally work overtime all night and go on business trips, so we keep one or two sets of clothes here for use at any time." Comrade Jia picked up the thermos, "Xiao Xia, what do you want to drink? Tea or brown sugar water?"
Xia Qingtang said: "Brown sugar water."
Comrade Jia made her a cup of brown sugar water, walked over and handed it to her, then sat down on the stool by the door with her: "Drink it while it's hot. These brown sugars were brought by Xiao Xie. He is the youngest person in our office now, with the least experience, but he is the most diligent."
Xia Qingtang nodded silently while holding the brown sugar water. She also felt that Xie Jinxuan must be the most hardworking one.
Comrade Jia continued, "We were really shocked when Xiao Xie got married. You don't know how many people came to introduce him to potential partners after he was assigned to our place. He is young, good-looking, and most people don't know his family situation, but those who can work here will not be too bad in the future, so he is very popular. But he was introduced to so many good girls, but he didn't like any of them. Old Zhao often said before that he didn't know if Xiao Xie was going to find a fairy. Who would be so difficult to talk to him about? Now it's good, Xiao Xie really found a fairy, and I know why he didn't like the people introduced to him before. With you, a pearl and jade in front of him, how could a stubborn stone catch his eye?"
Xia Qingtang quickly said: "I am not a pearl or jade, but I am just good-looking. There is nothing special about me."
She felt that there was really nothing worth mentioning about her. Apart from her good looks, everything else was just average.
"So what you mean is that Xiao Xie is a superficial man who only likes beautiful women and doesn't care about their inner qualities?" Comrade Jia asked with a smile.
Xia Qingtang was stunned. Just as she was hesitating about how to answer, she heard Xie Jinxuan open the wooden door and walk out, saying as she walked: "Sister Jia, our Qingtang is timid, so don't tease her. I've said before that I'm a superficial person. I do like pretty girls, but I like Qingtang not just because she's pretty. She has so many advantages, but she's so pretty that people tend to overlook them."
Xia Qingtang was really stunned this time. Did she have many advantages? How could she not know?
"Okay, okay, I was just joking with her, but you took it so seriously." Comrade Jia stood up with a smile, "Your wife looks so well-behaved, I couldn't help but tease her. Okay, you've changed your clothes, don't disturb me from working overtime, go home quickly. What's the point of you staying at work as a newlywed?"
After saying this, Comrade Jia returned to his desk and continued writing.
Xie Jinxuan came over carrying a bulging cloth bag, and Xia Qingtang immediately handed him the cup in his hand: "Drink it quickly."
Xie Jinxuan took it subconsciously and took a sip: "Hey, brown sugar water, why are you giving it to me? Isn't this what you lesbians drink?"
"Finish this, otherwise I'm worried you'll catch a cold. This can drive away the cold." Xia Qingtang's tone did not allow for argument. Xie Jinxuan smiled and drank the brown sugar water in one gulp, then walked to the other end to wash the cup and put it back in its place before saying goodbye to Comrade Jia.
The two of them walked out of the building slowly, and Xie Jinxuan said, "You're not upset about what Sister Jia joked about you just now, are you?"
"How could I be unhappy? I think she is a very nice person and she even came to talk to me." Xia Qingtang really thought so. Comrade Jia could have continued to work overtime and ignored her, but she didn't. Instead, she came over to talk to her. It can be seen that this person is very kind and thoughtful in doing things.
Xie Jinxuan showed a gentle smile and said, "You have always been like this, thinking the best of everyone. I still remember that there was a sports meet, you participated in an 800-meter sprint, you were the one running at the back, but many classmates, especially male classmates, followed you to run and cheer you on, but there were too many people, and some people even affected your running. After reaching the finish line, a classmate in your class asked why you didn't drive those people away. Aren't you annoyed by them always following you and yelling at you? Do you remember what you said at the time?"
Xia Qingtang shook his head: "I don't remember."
"You said at the time: 'Everyone came here to help me out with good intentions. If I drive them away, wouldn't that hurt their good intentions?'"
"Did I say that?"
"Yes, you said it. After you finished speaking, you went to the side to rest. I heard the classmate who asked the question scolded you, saying that you were pretentious and only knew how to please the boys. You actually heard it, but didn't say anything. But I know that you were not pretending at all. You sincerely believed that everyone had good intentions."
Xia Qingtang thought for a moment and said, "I'm afraid that's what I really thought at that time..."
In her previous life, she was always confused and thought almost everyone was a good person. She was even more stupid when she was in school and couldn't tell which classmate disliked her at all.
"So, you are a kind person at heart, that's why you think others are kind." Xie Jinxuan said: "Also, every time you participate in a sports meet, it's actually that event, but you always run very slowly, always last or second to last, but no matter how slow you are, you will insist on finishing. You even fell once in your third year of junior high school, but you insisted on running to the finish line in the end. Not only are you kind, you are also very perseverant. I was not joking when I said you have many advantages just now. I discovered these little by little."
After hearing these words, Xia Qingtang suddenly felt very strange.
She had lived two lifetimes, but this was the first time she had heard someone praise her for something other than her appearance.
In her memory, many people praised her for her good looks, but after she became old and haggard, no one praised her in any aspect anymore.
Xie Jinxuan's words sounded very sincere. She probably believed from the bottom of her heart that Xia Qingtang was a kind and perseverant person. This made her very happy and her heart felt warm.
"I'm not as good as you say. I'm not kind at heart. I'm just too stupid. I run slowly because I'm not very capable. I'm average in study and sports. After I started working, I can only make sure I don't fall behind. I'm not as good as others at anything." Xia Qingtang said seriously, "You are the one with many advantages. I heard from Yanni that when you were in school, you were always the first in the grade, won several championships in sports competitions, and were the president of the student union. It's a pity that I didn't have any impression of you back then."
In fact, Xia Qingtang not only had no impression of Xie Jinxuan, she also had no impression of those boys who were famous at that time. She only remembered those who were in the same class as her and the boys who had given her gifts several times.
"What's the matter? Isn't it enough that I have an impression of you?"
"You have so many impressions of me, why didn't you talk to me when you were studying? It would have been great if we had known each other earlier..."
"My family is very strict and has a lot of rules. I was afraid that if I talked to you, it would upset the elders. Also, I felt that we were all young at that time and shouldn't have considered these things. At least we should have waited until we were able to survive on our own before we talked about these things. Am I outdated in this way of thinking? I know that in fact, when I was in school, many people started dating secretly, but I couldn't do it..." Xie Jinxuan said: "However, those are all things of the past. You and I are a family now. Although we didn't meet earlier, we are still together."
Xia Qingtang also showed a relieved smile: "Yes, we are still together."
At this point, they also walked over to the guard. Xie Jinxuan took out a small paper bag from her trouser pocket and handed it to Lao Kan: "Wedding candy."
"Thank you." Lao Kan said with a smile, "Are you going home now?"
"I'm going home." Xie Jinxuan smiled and waved her hand, "See you tomorrow."
When they walked out of the gate, Xia Qingtang asked Xie Jinxuan to go home quickly to take a shower and rest to avoid catching a cold. However, Xie Jinxuan disagreed and insisted on sending her to the steel plant's family quarters. She held her hand for a long time before happily going back.
Every household in the steel factory had already eaten dinner, and there was no power outage today, so there were still young people playing under the street lights. When Xia Qingtang walked to the door of the Hu family, he saw the aunt of the next-door neighbor pouring out a basin of water.
"Xiao Xia is back?" Aunt greeted warmly.
“I’m back.”
"I heard you're married, why are you still living here?"
“The house allocated by the company has not been vacated yet.”
"That's really not easy, but you should be careful. Now that you're married, move out quickly." Auntie suddenly lowered her voice and said, "I'm not urging you, but some people in the factory are gossiping. They say that those who don't know would think you're marrying Yanni's brother. Anyway, it's okay for you to know the truth. I won't say anything else."
"Is that so? Thank you, aunt, for telling me. I understand." Xia Qingtang forced a smile.
After Hu's father and mother went to bed at night, Xia Qingtang secretly asked Hu Yanni whether the rumor was true.
Hu Yanni said, "Who cares what they say? There are always people gossiping everywhere. You mustn't take it seriously."
That being said, how could Xia Qingtang not take it seriously?
The Hu family was so good to her, taking her in and introducing her to Xie Jinxuan. No matter what, she shouldn't cause them any trouble.
The next day, Xia Qingtang was on the middle shift, so she went to the factory early and went to the factory office to find Secretary Wang to ask about the dormitory.
Previously, Director Qi had ordered not to give her a dormitory, but now Director Qi doesn't dare to play tricks anymore, so he should be able to assign her a bed.
Secretary Wang took out a thick bound book from the drawer, flipped through it page by page, and looked through it carefully. After reading it all, he said, "There are beds available, but the only one left is the one with the worst conditions. Are you sure you want to move in?"
"How bad can the conditions be?" Xia Qingtang asked.
"It's the one next to the toilet. Not to mention the bad smell, one side of the wall is all moldy and can't be lived in. There are two bunk beds on the other side of the wall. Now only Deng Fang lives there. Otherwise, you can go and take a look. If you really want to live there, I'll fill out a form for you and you can move in tomorrow." After Secretary Wang finished speaking, he lowered his voice and said, "But I advise you not to live there. Several people who lived there before got a worse cough afterwards."
Xia Qingtang understood this. She had heard from a university teacher in the community that if the walls were covered with mold, it would affect health and would be bad for the skin and respiratory system.
She already works in a dusty workshop, and if she were to live in a dormitory filled with mold, she would be really not taking care of her health.
"Forget it, I won't live here anymore. Thank you, Secretary Wang." Xia Qingtang said.
Secretary Wang said, "You're married, but you still don't have a place to live. Is it because your spouse's company doesn't have any housing?"
There is really no more empty houses in the cotton mill’s family quarters, and the same is true for many other units.
Xia Qingtang said: "He has a house at his workplace, but he needs time to vacate it."
"Then you can live in their house temporarily. Now that you are married, you belong to that place, so you should live with them."
"Yes, Secretary Wang is right." Xia Qingtang left the factory office, saying it was getting late.
She was a little absent-minded while working that day, and kept thinking about what to do.
After finishing the afternoon shift, it was already late. Xia Qingtang packed up his things and walked out, planning to go to the factory gate to find Xie Jinxuan because he had promised to pick her up.
Before she reached the factory gate, she saw Xia Daming standing under the street light holding a patched cloth bag, looking at her hesitantly.
Xia Qingtang didn't feel any particular resentment towards Xia Daming. Among his relatives, he was the one who had hurt him the least, so he walked over and called out "Dad".
Xia Daming immediately asked, "How are you? Where do you live now? Have you moved to your lover's house?"
"I still live in Hu Yanni's house."
"It's not a good idea to live in someone else's house after getting married." Xia Daming was a little worried.
"Dad, do you have something to talk to me about?" Xia Qingtang changed the subject.
"Yes, I have something to talk to you about...your mother went to your grandmother's house today, so I thought of giving this bag of things to you. These are all your things and should be given to you." Xia Daming handed over the cloth bag in his hand with the mouth of the bag tied up.
Xia Qingtang said: "My things have all been taken away, there shouldn't be anything left out, and I didn't leave anything in other rooms."
Only that small shed contained her things, and she even kept her toothbrush and towel in there.
Xia Daming's expression suddenly became awkward, his ears even reddened, and then he whispered, "These are indeed your things, they were put away by your mother. Anyway... take them, and when you go back and look at them, you will know that they are indeed yours."
Xia Qingtang had no choice but to take the cloth bag. It was not light at all, so she asked, "What is it?"
"Go back and have a look... I'm leaving, I'm going back." Xia Daming hurriedly walked out a few steps, then turned back and said, "We are a family after all. When your mother is no longer angry, you can bring that Xiao Xie back to sit with her. Dad... supports you getting married."
Xia Qingtang didn't say anything, but just watched Xia Daming walk away before he sighed softly.
It was useless for him to support her because Xia Qingtang and Zhao Meizhen could no longer be normal mother and daughter.
Taking a deep breath, Xia Qingtang continued to walk out, and sure enough, he saw Xie Jinxuan in the corner outside the factory gate.
He was wearing a white shirt, green military pants and black cloth shoes, and he was pushing a bicycle!
"You bought it?" Xia Qingtang ran over happily and touched the shiny handlebars.
The new car looks really good. Xia Qingtang thinks it is even better than the imported car that her cousin’s husband bought later.
Xie Jinxuan said, "Yes, I went to pick it up after get off work today. I asked the master to adjust it and then I rode over to pick you up. It will be convenient in the future. Give me your weekly schedule, and I will pick you up and drop you off as long as I have time."
Xie Jinxuan and her colleagues work from 8 am to 5 pm, but Xia Qingtang works in a workshop in three shifts, so he can't pick her up and drop her off every day. He can only pick her up when the time is convenient.
"Okay, I'll give you a copy of the weekly schedule from now on." Xia Qingtang said with a smile, "Come on, ride it quickly and show it to me."
The two of them happily rode their brand new bicycles to the steel plant's family quarters, and happened to meet Yueyue and her mother near the basketball court.
Yueyue’s full name is Zhang Qiuyue. Her mother is Xie’s mother’s cousin, the third child, so she is the third aunt.
After chatting with Third Aunt and Yueyue for a few words, Third Aunt pulled Xie Jinxuan to the side and whispered, "Jinxuan, you are both married, why do you still let Xiaoxia live in the Hu family? Don't you know that someone in the factory is saying something unpleasant?"
"What unpleasant words?"
"They say Xiao Xia doesn't know Brother Yanni well, otherwise why would she live in their house all the time? You guys are the same, your house is so big, how can you let Xiao Xia keep disturbing the Hu family?" Auntie San said dissatisfiedly: "Do you want me to talk to your mother and see how to deal with it?"
"No need to tell my mom, I know everything about this. Thank you, Third Aunt."
After they separated from Third Aunt, Xia Qingtang said, "I heard everything Third Aunt said to you. She spoke at a volume just loud enough for me to hear."
"Don't take it to heart. Just live wherever you want and don't worry about what others say. If you are worried about causing trouble for the Hu family, let me prepare some gifts for them." Xie Jinxuan said seriously.
Xia Qingtang smiled and said, "Thank you."
"What are you thanking me for? Isn't this what you should do?"
The two of them said goodbye at the entrance of the Hu family. Xia Qingtang watched Xie Jinxuan disappear under the street light on her bicycle, and his expression became solemn.
She really couldn't cause any more trouble for the Hu family. If she continued to live like this, it would be like repaying kindness with enmity. Hu's father and mother didn't care, so could she pretend not to know?
That night, Xia Qingtang tossed and turned. She got up to go to the bathroom in the middle of the night. She saw the cloth bag on the table and remembered that there were still these things she hadn't looked at.
Sitting down at the table, she gently opened the tied cloth bag.
Inside were four large bundles of letters, each with a thick stack of letters, all tied tightly with thin ropes.
Xia Qingtang was very puzzled because all her letters were moved out. What were the meanings of these letters?
She took out a bundle and placed it on the table. The top envelope was indeed addressed to "Xia Qingtang (recipient)", but the sender's address was written to an unfamiliar place, a rural area in another province.
Xia Qingtang untied the thin rope and took out the letter. The envelope had been torn open long ago, and inside were two thin sheets of folded letter paper. The contents were indeed written to her. She didn't have time to read the contents carefully, so she quickly turned to the second sheet to see the signature.
The signature is Li Dali and the date is November 3, 1977.
Li Dali was her middle school classmate. After graduation, he went to work in the countryside. This was a letter he wrote to her from the place where he was working.
Xia Qingtang's face was as gloomy as water, and he quickly picked up the second letter.
This letter was also written to her, also with an unfamiliar address, and had also been opened and read. She was not familiar with the person who signed the letter, but after roughly browsing the contents of the letter, she found that the person was also a classmate in No. 1 Middle School, but in a different class.
An obvious fact is here. Many people have written letters to her and expressed their affection for her, and all these letters fell into Zhao Meizhen's hands. Not only did she open and read these letters privately, she also hid them all and deliberately did not let Xia Qingtang know.
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