Chapter 4
Zhao Meizhen immediately widened her eyes and asked, "Who is it?"
"His name is Kong Liangchao. He is 24 years old this year. He is the same age as your Xia Qingtang, and they are also a good match in appearance. He works in the Grain Bureau, and his parents are both government employees. The young man studied at the Workers, Peasants and Soldiers University. He is conscious, thoughtful, and willing to work hard. His future is bright. Originally, such a good and progressive young man would not come to your area to propose marriage. You know, people who live in the municipal party committee compound, even if they look for people from factories, they will go to factories like steel mills, pharmaceutical factories, and electrical appliance factories, and they will not come to your cotton mill. But this little Kong said that your Xia Qingtang is also a very conscious and progressive young man, and he wants to become a revolutionary partner with her, so that we can make progress together in the future and contribute to the construction of the motherland." Director Wu spoke with great interest, his voice getting louder and louder.
Inside the house, Xia Qingtang's expression became increasingly ugly.
She thought Kong Liangchao would not give up on her, but she didn't expect that he would actually take the path of marriage proposal, and directly asked the director of women's affairs to come and propose marriage so soon.
In this era and on this street, it is a great honor to have Director Wu propose a marriage. This is through the introduction of the organization, and coupled with the superior conditions of the Kong family, Zhao Meizhen will marry Xia Qingtang to them no matter what!
Of course, there is free love now, but the most mainstream practice is to have a matchmaker and parents make the decision. Almost all the young colleagues in Xia Qingtang's workshop got married in this way.
As expected, Zhao Meizhen was immediately delighted, and she jumped up and down like a child. Then she suppressed her excitement and asked loudly, "Director Wu, you are not joking with us, are you?"
Director Wu smiled and said, "How can you joke about this? Don't you know who I am? I have come to your house twice before to help others talk to you. Were they both serious?"
"Then let's go inside and talk. Let's sit inside. This matter is important. Let's talk slowly." Zhao Meizhen ran over and pulled Director Wu into the house.
Xia Qingtang and Xia Daming were still eating porridge and pumpkin. Zhao Meizhen said with a look of disdain, "What are you still eating? Can't you see that we have distinguished guests? Qingtang, quickly clean up the table. I'll go make tea for Director Wu!"
Xia Qingtang stood up and greeted Director Wu, then ignored Zhao Meizhen and finished his own dinner. He waited for Xia Daming to finish his meal before clearing the table.
Zhao Meizhen brought a cup of hot tea and placed it respectfully on the coffee table, then took out a bag of peanut candy that was originally reserved for Xia Qinghai. Then, without bothering to scold Xia Qingtang, she quickly shook Director Wu's hand and inquired about the details of the young man's family.
This is the young man who lives in the compound of the Municipal Party Committee. This time, the Xia family can finally be proud!
Director Wu came with a mission this time, so he told Kong Liangchao everything he had said, such as that the family lived in a two-story building, his grandfather's retired rank, his parents were cadres, his uncles and aunts were also cadres... He spoke in a very exaggerated way, as if if the Xia family did not agree to this marriage, it would be the wrath of heaven and man for not knowing the value of the family.
Zhao Meizhen was very excited, so excited that she wanted to marry her daughter to the Kong family today. However, she was a little smart and knew that she had to make some arrangements before the marriage so that she could ask for the highest gift at that time.
Since they are such a good family, three turns and one ring are a must, nothing less is acceptable. In addition to these, there must be a full set of furniture, three sets of new clothes, three pairs of new shoes...
Earlier this year, the Qian family received eighty yuan as a gift for their daughter's marriage, which made them very proud. Zhao Meizhen thought that she didn't want much, and one or two hundred yuan would be enough.
She lowered her head and thought for a while, then showed a reasonable look: "Director Wu, the specific situation still depends on whether the two young people can get along well. We are not parents in the old society who need the consent of their children."
"Old Zhao, we have known each other for many years. Let me tell you the truth. With your family's financial situation, marrying into their family would be marrying up. Look, Xiao Kong lives in a two-story building, and your daughter lives in a shed. Of course, we don't talk about these things in our new society, but privately, who doesn't understand these things? People who live in the cadres' compound are much better off than you who live in a bungalow and a shed. If your daughter wasn't so good-looking, they wouldn't have come to propose marriage to you, don't you think? Marriage is not a trivial matter. I heard that your son is coming back to take over your job. If he has a good brother-in-law, you won't have to worry about not being able to get a promotion in the factory?" Director Wu spoke from the bottom of his heart, and it was obvious that he wanted to make this marriage a reality.
Zhao Meizhen's eyes were shining, her pale face turned rosy, and she even stopped coughing while talking. She became even more excited when she talked about the benefits that Xia Qinghai would get from her brother-in-law in the future.
Xia Daming sat in the corner smoking silently. He was not a heavy smoker and would only smoke a cigarette when he was thinking about something. Judging from his appearance, he was probably also tempted by the Kong family's conditions.
Xia Qingtang was the only one with a sullen face in the whole room. She looked at Zhao Meizhen's excited expression with cold eyes, and her heart grew colder.
After she married Kong Liangchao, because her husband's family was very well off, she had to give money to her parents' every month. Industrial coupons, meat coupons, cigarettes, liquor, fruits... Xia Qingtang didn't know how much she gave back, and most of it was given to Xia Qinghai and his wife.
As if that wasn't enough, Zhao Meizhen asked the Kong family to promote Xia Qinghai to a small team leader. Within two years, he was promoted to a senior team leader, and later to deputy director of the workshop.
It was obvious that all this was obtained by Xia Qingtang by humbly currying favor with the Kong family, but after her divorce, no one in her family remembered her efforts, but instead blamed her for affecting Xia Qinghai's work.
Looking at Zhao Meizhen's dreamy face, Xia Qingtang already knew what he should do.
Director Wu tried to persuade Zhao Meizhen earnestly for a long time, until Zhao Meizhen could not help herself. She held Director Wu's hand and said sincerely, "I am not bragging. Our Qingtang has always been prettier than others. My mother said that she should marry a rich...progressive family. I know that Comrade Xiao Kong is very good, but our Qingtang is not bad either. So many people have come to propose marriage within a radius of dozens of miles. The whole factory knows about it. But our family does not care about the job or family background. We like down-to-earth, hardworking and progressive young people. When I heard you talk about Xiao Kong, I felt that he was right. He is better than the previous ones!"
"From what you said, you agree?" Director Wu said with a smile.
Zhao Meizhen looked at Xia Qingtang in a fake manner: "It's not enough for us to agree. We have to see what the child thinks."
Director Wu also looked at Xia Qingtang and asked her what she thought.
Xia Qingtang smiled, her expression clear and foolish, she said: "Director Wu, I'm still young, I don't want to talk about a partner now, let alone get married. I've thought about it. As a young person in the new era, I should concentrate on my work and contribute my own strength to the country and our cotton mill. We young people need to shine in our jobs and build a beautiful new China. I want to learn from our advanced comrade Liu Yumei, who has been working in the front line of the cotton mill for many years, not afraid of hardship or fatigue, and only considered personal affairs when she was nearly 30 years old. As soon as I entered the factory, I made up my mind to be like Comrade Liu Yumei, work hard, put personal affairs behind my mind, and strive to make achievements before considering personal affairs."
The room was silent. Director Wu stared at Xia Qingtang in a daze, as if he had not expected that such a beautiful girl would say such a thing.
She also knew Comrade Liu Yumei. Did she not want to get married earlier when she was 30? She did not want to get married earlier because she was not good-looking, her father died early, and she had no brothers to rely on, so she waited until she was 30 to get married.
Zhao Meizhen was even more frightened. She knew her daughter well. Xia Qingtang was a fool and obeyed everything she said. How could she not know that her daughter had such a lofty goal?
But Director Wu was the director of the Women's Department after all, so she reacted quickly. After thinking for a while, she said, "Contributing to the country and the factory does not conflict with getting married. After you get married, you can still go to work and contribute as usual."
Xia Qingtang said seriously, "No, I need to take care of my family after marriage, and pregnancy and childbirth will affect my work. My current position is on the front line. If I get pregnant, I will be transferred from my post for at least a year and a half. It's such a hard job. If I don't sacrifice, who will? If I don't contribute, who will? I am young and in good health. I am willing to work hard in my position for another ten years!"
Although Xia Qingtang is a person with no future, she has watched many TV dramas and learned all these high-sounding empty words from them.
Zhao Meizhen would never let go of this high branch of the Kong family. All Xia Qingtang could do was to raise the banner and seek higher standards. If Zhao Meizhen insisted that she marry Kong Liangchao now, then she would have problems with her ideological awareness, which would affect young female workers' contributions to the proletarian cause.
Those ten years had just passed, who would dare to be labeled as having a problem with their ideology? Wasn't Zhao Meizhen afraid of affecting her son's return to the city?
Director Wu smiled awkwardly: "You will be thirty years old in ten years, and you may not be able to find a partner by then. It is a good thing to contribute to the factory, but you don't have to be so..."
"Then twenty-five, I think twenty-five is suitable. At least it will allow me to devote five more years." Xia Qingtang seemed very sincere, as if he had really made up his mind to dedicate his youth to the cotton mill.
Director Wu didn't expect Xia Qingtang to be so...stunned, so he said, "You can also get married without having children first..."
"How can that be possible? Wouldn't that delay the gay man's time?"
"Xiao Kong said that he respects and admires you very much. After you two form revolutionary comrades, he will definitely respect your wish not to have children for five years...he will agree to it." Director Wu cursed in his heart, but he still had a smile on his face. He was determined to persuade this young man.
Xia Qingtang said innocently, "Really? Comrade Kong respects my wishes so much?"
"Of course, he is a progressive young man, and his ideological awareness is no worse than yours."
"That's great! Since he respects my wishes, please ask Director Wu to tell him my ambitions and ideals. I must work diligently in the front-line workshop for five years. If he really respects me, then he should wait for me for five years. After five years, I will definitely consider becoming his revolutionary comrades. We are all revolutionary youths of the new era, and we should all focus on our work." After Xia Qingtang finished speaking, he looked at Director Wu innocently and expectantly.
Director Wu felt that he had hit a snag. This Xia Qingtang was not as stupid as others said. Even someone as experienced as him had been led into a dead end by her today.
The words were so righteous. If Kong Liangchao did not agree to discuss this matter with her five years later, it would be disrespectful to female comrades and the lofty aspirations of the working class. How could this be tolerated...
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