Chapter 6
Although he looked much younger, the pair of gentle eyes with distinct black and white were clearly the same person. Xia Qingtang was not mistaken!
There was also the very recognizable little mole at the corner of his mouth. Before Xia Qingtang fainted, she was staring at this mole.
At that time he called himself "Auntie", but now it seems that this person is a little older than himself.
But there was nothing that could be done. In 1998, Xia Qingtang was indeed very old, but this kind-hearted person looked much younger, and it was not wrong for her to call her aunt.
"Are you thinking of me again? Have we met before?" The young man Xie Jinxuan spoke again.
He had a nice voice and seemed to have a cheerful personality. Xia Qingtang really wanted to say that they had really met before, but she knew that she couldn't say that. Even if it was true, others would think she was crazy.
So Xia Qingtang still shook his head and said, "I must have made a mistake. I may have seen someone who looks very similar to you, but I have never heard of your name, so we don't know each other."
Xie Jinxuan immediately said, "That's nothing. We can just exchange names now, and then we'll know each other, right? What's your name, comrade?"
"My name is Xia Qingtang." Xia Qingtang was naturally willing to get to know a kind-hearted person who had helped her.
At that time on the street, Xie Jinxuan was the first one who ran over shouting to stop Kong Liangchao from beating people. Xia Qingtang remembered it very clearly.
Before Xie Jinxuan could say anything, he heard his cousin Yueyue say with a sly smile, "Cousin, that's great. You got to know such a pretty sister so quickly. Sister Yanni, this sister is really pretty. Is she your friend?"
"She is my best classmate. She came to my house to play for two days." Hu Yanni said with a smile. Perhaps she felt that the young man's financial conditions were not good enough for Xia Qingtang, so she ended the topic and changed the subject to ask about Yueyue's situation at school.
After chatting about study for a while, it was completely dark. The movie started and no one spoke anymore. Everyone was concentrating on watching the movie, even Xia Qingtang was absorbed in it.
Because she had long forgotten the plot of this Su Lian movie, it was like a new movie, so she watched it with great gusto.
After the first showing of the movie, there was a fifteen-minute break before the second showing began. This was the old rule. The movie had to be shown at least three times a night, and many people would watch it three times in a row before going back to bed.
But after Hu Yanni and Xia Qingtang finished watching the film for the second time, they went back to sleep with Hu's father and mother. Before leaving, Yueyue winked at Xie Jinxuan, meaning that she wanted him to see Xia Qingtang off, but was stopped by Hu Yanni.
After returning to the bedroom and lying down, Hu Yanni saw that the lights on her parents' side had been turned off, and then she started talking about what happened in the evening.
"Qingtang, Yueyue's cousin looks like a nice person, but I think there is some gap between him and you. You'd better not get too close to him. He is so poor that he can't even find an ordinary partner. How can he be worthy of a beautiful girl like you? Although we haven't found a partner yet, if we really do, we'd better find someone with a more affluent family... at least not too bad." Hu Yanni said in a low voice.
Xia Qingtang was stunned for a moment before she realized that her friend had misunderstood. She did have feelings for Xie Jinxuan, but it was not the kind of feelings between a man and a woman. Instead, she was grateful to a kind and brave person.
But she didn't explain anything, just said: "You are right, that's the truth."
The next night, a movie was shown again. Xia Qingtang and the others did not meet Xie Jinxuan and his sister. Hu Yanni felt relieved, thinking that Xie Jinxuan might not want to get to know Xia Qingtang.
The two-day rest time passed quickly. Xia Qingtang said goodbye to his friends and returned to work at the cotton mill.
She was also working the early shift this time, so during lunch break, she took her lunch box and meal ticket and went to the canteen with her fellow workers to eat.
All factories have their own canteens. The canteen at the cotton mill is neither good nor bad, but the chef’s cooking skills are first-class. Even stir-fried cabbage and leeks are very delicious.
Vegetables are abundant in summer. You can see seven or eight kinds of vegetarian dishes at the canteen’s food window. There are also meat dishes next to them, including meat, fish, and eggs. As long as you have money, you can eat well and be full.
After Xia Qingtang started working, he handed over most of his monthly salary and food coupons to Zhao Meizhen, just like Xia Daming. He only kept some for himself to eat in the cafeteria. He didn't have much private money, so he couldn't eat well.
After receiving his next salary and food coupons, Xia Qingtang planned to have a meat meal in the cafeteria to satisfy his hunger.
Following the line of people, Xia Qingtang ordered a serving of stir-fried tofu skin with green peppers and four taels of rice. He and Wen Xiaoli took their lunch boxes and found an empty table to sit down and eat.
The cafeteria was bustling with people. Wen Xiaoli chatted with her while eating. When they were almost done, Wen Xiaoli raised her head and said, "Qingtang, your mother is here."
Xia Qingtang didn't look up, still calmly lowered his head and ate all the food in the lunch box. Then he took out a handkerchief from his trouser pocket and wiped his mouth. Then he looked at Zhao Meizhen who was sitting next to him as if nothing had happened: "Mom, have you eaten?"
"You still care about me? I thought you had turned so big that you no longer knew I was your mother." Zhao Meizhen said sarcastically.
Wen Xiaoli was not stupid. She realized that Zhao Meizhen wanted to teach her daughter a lesson, so she quickly found an excuse and ran out with the empty lunch box.
Zhao Meizhen continued, "Haven't you heard the saying? You can hide on the first day, but you can't hide on the fifteenth. Where are you going to hide today?"
"Mom, what are you talking about? Why am I hiding? I've already made an appointment to stay at my classmate's house for two days." Xia Qingtang looked innocent.
"You know clearly in your heart whether you are hiding or not, but it's the same thing whether you are hiding or not. Let me tell you, your father and I have agreed to your relationship with Xiao Kong, and I have also written to Qinghai, and Qinghai must have agreed as well. When you were not at home, Xiao Kong came to visit our house with white wine and fruits. He is such a handsome young man, it's a pity that he is not worthy of you. But he just happens to like you, and as your mother, I have no objection. I have already told Xiao Kong that the three turns and one ring must be complete, and not only for you to use after you get married, but our family must also have a set. We only have a radio and a sewing machine at home. Xiao Kong said that he would buy me a Plum watch and a bicycle for your brother. When your brother returns to the city to work, he will ride a bicycle to and from work every day. How glorious will that be? By then, you can date any kind of person." Zhao Meizhen was smiling happily and was very proud.
No matter what this person says, he is always thinking about his son.
Xia Qingtang was indifferent, but her tone was a little teasing: "Mom, you are really forgetful. I have already said that I will devote myself to the front-line workshop until I am 25 years old before getting married and having children. This is my ambition."
"Don't forget, we raised you to this age. Your brother suffered for you in the mountains for so many years. What's wrong with you marrying into the Kong family for our family? Besides, you will enjoy a good life if you marry there! Isn't it for your own good? You are my daughter, how could I not think about you? That is a cadre building, don't you want to live in it?"
Xia Qingtang said seriously, "First of all, my brother is five years older than me. When he went to the countryside, I was only twelve or thirteen years old. He didn't go to the countryside for me anyway, because he had to go. Secondly, this is a new society, and you can't force children to marry. If you insist on forcing me, I can only tell the factory office and the trade union that you still have feudal remnants and force your daughter to get married. In this way, the factory will not give me a letter of introduction. Without a letter of introduction, who can I marry?"
In later times, one needed a household registration booklet to get married, but these days one needs a letter of introduction from a work unit. Without a letter of introduction, no one can get married.
Zhao Meizhen's face turned red with anger. She glared at Xia Qingtang and said viciously, "Do you have someone else outside? Is that why you look down on Xiao Kong because you are dating someone?"
"Every day apart from going to work, I go home to eat and sleep. Where can I go to find a partner? There are dozens of units around here. Who doesn't know me, Xia Qingtang? If I had a partner, the whole world would have known about it long ago." Xia Qingtang sneered.
"So you are deliberately going against me?"
"You are my mother and I respect you very much, but we are all working class. I respect you and you have to respect me too. Once you get married, you have to have children. After you have children, you can't stay in a workshop. You have to replace another worker. I don't want to trouble my coworkers, nor do I want to cause trouble for the factory. Mom, the factory gave me a job, shouldn't I work hard for the factory and give back to society?" Xia Qingtang deliberately said it with sincerity.
Zhao Meizhen frowned at her daughter and said, "Are you stupid? Those slogans are for others to hear. Who would really not get married for the sake of the factory?"
"How could I be stupid? How could it be stupid to dedicate myself and sacrifice for the factory? Mom, I don't agree with what you said. Otherwise, let's go find the party secretary and let him judge the matter! I am wholeheartedly striving for progress and making contributions, how could I become stupid?" Xia Qingtang stood up and dragged Zhao Meizhen to find the party secretary.
Zhao Meizhen was shocked. If the incident really came to the attention of the party secretary, she would definitely be severely criticized, and it might even affect her retirement!
The salary after retirement was not high to begin with. If something went wrong again, how would she live in the future? She couldn't be a burden to her son!
Therefore, Zhao Meizhen desperately grabbed her daughter and said that she did not have such thoughts and that Xia Qingtang had misheard her. She had never said such words and she also supported her daughter dedicating her youth to the factory.
Xia Qingtang could be considered to have won the first battle, but she knew in her heart that the matter was definitely not over yet, because Zhao Meizhen was still secretly meeting with Director Wu. Xia Daming, who had always been taciturn, suddenly became talkative and began to persuade his daughter to find a husband from a well-off family during dinner.
Xia Qingtang treated all this with silence and was also thinking of other solutions, but a few days later, she saw Kong Liangchao as a visitor at her home.
He was wearing a white shirt and black leather shoes. He was in high spirits, his eyes full of contempt and determination. He looked into Xia Qingtang's beautiful big eyes and said word by word: "Comrade Xia Qingtang, after I talked to your Director Qi about your dedication, Director Qi was deeply moved and felt that you are a rare good comrade. Young workers like you should do more meaningful work and help more workers make progress together. Therefore, Director Qi decided to transfer you to the factory office to do publicity work to help all the workers in the factory make progress together!"
Zhao Meizhen was so excited that she started clapping: "Qingtang, look how sincere Xiao Kong is! In order to show his sincerity in marrying you, he approached Director Qi several times and finally changed your position. The publicity work will not be affected by marriage and pregnancy, and you don't need other employees to replace your position. You can do whatever you want. Even if you and Xiao Kong get married now and have a baby next year, it will not affect your work!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
