Chapter 32 Chapter 32 Registration

On Thursday morning, Meng Yufei took Xia Qinqin to go to work on time at 7:30.

At the gate, Mrs. Zhang stood there nervously. Meng Yufei saw her and greeted her with a smile: "Morning, sister-in-law."

Xia Qinqin raised her head, waved her hand and smiled, "Good morning, Auntie."

Mrs. Zhang nodded and said, "Well, good morning." She seemed to have something to say, but didn't know how to start, and her face was hesitant.

Meng Yufei asked her: "Sister-in-law, do you have something to ask me?"

Mrs. Zhang said, "Well, sister, I heard a notice on the loudspeaker yesterday saying that our courtyard is going to build a kindergarten and they are hiring..."

Meng Yufei said: "Yes, sister-in-law, are you going to sign up?"

Mrs. Zhang said, "I'm thinking of applying for a job as a childcare worker, but I don't know if it will work."

Meng Yufei nodded and said, "Of course I can. Didn't we say in the loudspeaker yesterday that the job requirements for a childcare worker are a good personality, patience, and experience in taking care of children? I think you meet all these requirements."

Mrs. Zhang clutched the corner of her clothes and said with some embarrassment, "I'm afraid I won't be selected, and it will be embarrassing then."

Meng Yufei advised, "What's the big deal? You have to give it a try. How do you know if you can be selected if you don't even apply? Besides, you must be more than one person who applied. Even if you are not selected, you will not be the only one. There is nothing to be ashamed of."

Mrs. Zhang smiled and said, "What the sister said is true. Then I will go and give it a try."

Meng Yufei smiled and said, "Sister-in-law, come with me to the logistics department now. I just need to go to work. Let's go together and register first."

Mrs. Zhang waved her hands and said, "Sister, you go to work first. I'll go home to wash the dishes and change my clothes before going over." She pointed at her patched clothes and said, "When you go out to look for a job, you have to dress decently."

Meng Yufei said, "Okay, sister-in-law, go to the logistics department and come directly to my office to find me. My office is the third room on the left on the second floor."

Mrs. Zhang nodded and said, "Oh, I understand."

After bidding farewell to Mrs. Zhang, Meng Yufei took Xia Qinqin's hand and walked towards the cafeteria.

Today's breakfast included shrimp wontons. Meng Yufei made a big bowl as usual and added two boiled eggs, which was enough for the mother and daughter.

Xia Qinqin's injured hand from yesterday had not healed yet, so Meng Yufei fed her daughter first and then ate herself.

When they arrived at the office after breakfast, Xiao Zhang was already sitting at her seat. When she saw them come in, she greeted them, "Sister Meng, Qinqin, good morning."

"Good morning, Xiao Zhang."

"Good morning, Auntie."

Xiao Zhang said, "The cafeteria cooked shrimp wontons this morning. Did you eat them?"

Xia Qinqin nodded and said: "I ate it, it was delicious~"

Xiao Zhang said, "Some time ago, a pastry chef came to the cafeteria. There were snacks every morning. She also made crystal shrimp dumplings. The dough she made was transparent, soft and sticky, and you could even see the shrimp inside."

Meng Yufei asked curiously, "Where did this master go?"

Xiao Zhang shrugged and said, "Someone reported it. The reporter thought that the cafeteria didn't need so many people. He said that she only made breakfast every day and suspected that the leader helped her through the back door. Because of this incident, the military supervision committee sent people to investigate our logistics department."

"Ah?" Meng Yufei was surprised. "It's so serious."

Xiao Zhang nodded: "Well, the report was handed over to the commander, so it can't be serious. Although no problems were found later, the case master resigned on his own."

At this point, Xiao Zhang sighed: "I really want to eat thousand-layer cake, shrimp dumplings, and barbecued pork buns..."

Xia Qinqin listened to her talking about the delicious dishes and asked curiously, "Auntie Xiao Zhang, are these delicious?"

Xiao Zhang said, "It's delicious, but it's a pity that we can't eat it in our cafeteria now. By the way, next time you go to Qiongzhou City, you can go to Fangyuan Hotel. It's a century-old restaurant. After liberation, it was a public-private partnership. Now it's a state-owned hotel, but most of the chefs there are still here, and the snacks they make are especially delicious!"

When Xia Qinqin heard about the delicious food, she turned to look at Meng Yufei and asked, "Mom, when are we going?"

Meng Yufei smiled and said, "Mom and Dad will take you there on our weekend."

"Which day is the day off?"

"The day after tomorrow is a rest day."

Xia Qinqin stretched out her hand and counted on her fingers: "Tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, the day after tomorrow, ah, there are only three days left until the holiday!"

Xiao Zhang gently pinched her little face and said with a smile: "Yes, then you will be able to eat the snacks I just mentioned. Are you looking forward to it?"

"Yeah, looking forward to it."

Boom boom!

Xiao Wu from the Personnel Department knocked on the office door. "Director Meng, our section chief wants you to come to our department. We have something to discuss with you."

Meng Yufei nodded and said, "Okay, I'll go over now." She turned to Xiao Zhang and said, "Xiao Zhang, please help me take care of Qinqin."

"Okay, Sister Meng."

Meng Yufei went to the Personnel Department next door after she finished speaking. Xiao Wu did not follow her back, but said to Xiao Zhang: "Sister Zhang, you stay here to take care of the baby. I heard that Accountant Zheng from the Finance Department will be back soon after her confinement. When the time comes, I will talk to Section Chief Chen for you and transfer you back to the Personnel Department."

Xiao Zhang glanced at her and said calmly, "Sister Wu, you sound as if you can decide on the personnel transfers in our logistics department. We are just bricks, and we can be moved wherever the leader needs us."

Xiao Wu's expression froze, and he said in a somewhat unhappy tone: "Okay, okay, I meant well but ended up doing something bad by bringing up something that made you unhappy."

Xiao Zhang sneered, "How do you know I'm unhappy? Ever since I stopped hearing the flattery from certain people, I've been extremely happy every day."

Xiao Wu said angrily: "You... who are you talking about flattering?"

Xiao Zhang said, "You're talking about certain people. Why are you so anxious?"

"You..." Xiao Wu couldn't argue with her, so he glared at Xiao Zhang angrily and stomped away.

In the Personnel Department, Section Chief Chen said to Meng Yufei, "You should have heard the announcement on the loudspeaker yesterday. The Director's plan is to complete the registration today and confirm the people tomorrow. This will make it easier to carry out subsequent work."

Meng Yufei said: "The director is really quick in his work."

Section Chief Chen said, "As for who will be chosen in the end, adhering to the principle of fairness and justice, the director is going to set up a temporary judging panel. He will be the leader, Director Wang from the Women's Committee will be the deputy leader, and we will be joined by you and me."

"Me?" Meng Yufei asked in surprise.

Section Chief Chen nodded and said, "Yes, now you are the head of the Finance Department, I will definitely consider your opinion. I will notify you of the specific time after all the registrations are completed today."

Meng Yufei nodded and said, "Okay, I understand."

Section Chief Chen said, "Director Meng, please come over today and help us register the names of the applicants. You and I will be responsible for registering the teacher positions, and Xiao Wu from our department will be responsible for registering the childcare positions."

"Okay, I'll go back to the department and talk to Xiao Zhang first." Meng Yufei nodded readily in response.

After returning to the Finance Department, Meng Yufei told Xiao Zhang that she had to go to the next department to help out today, so it was not convenient to take Qinqin with her, so she had to leave her here with Xiao Zhang.

Xiao Zhang said, "Sister Meng, don't worry, I'll take care of the department's affairs."

The tickets have just been issued, and the Finance Department doesn't have too much to do right now.

Meng Yufei told Xia Qinqin again, "Qinqin, Mommy has to go to the office next door to work today. Can you stay here with Auntie Xiao Zhang?"

Xia Qinqin pouted and said, "Mom, can't I go with you? I will be obedient and not run around."

Meng Yufei explained: "Today there will be a lot of people coming over there, there will be no place for children, there are only adults there, if you go over there you will be knocked down like yesterday. Look at your hand, did it hurt when you fell yesterday?"

Xia Qinqin raised her right hand and looked at the wound on the palm of her hand. It had scabbed over now and she no longer felt any pain, but the memory of the pain she felt yesterday was still in her mind.

She shrank her palm and said, "It hurts! Mom, you need to come back soon."

"Well, Mom will be back after work."

Meng Yufei picked up her water cup, pen, and notebook, and stood up to go next door, but saw someone knocking on the door.

"Sister-in-law, you're here." Meng Yufei said with a smile.

The person who came was Mrs. Zhang. She changed out of the old-fashioned coarse cloth jacket with a front opening that she wore at home and put on a half-new solid-colored floral shirt and navy blue pants. Her hair was neatly combed into a bun at the back of her head.

Mrs. Zhang nodded and said, "Well, I was delayed at home for a while."

Fangfang also came over. Meng Yufei bowed and smiled and said hello: "Fangfang is here too."

Fangfang said shyly, "Hello, Auntie."

Xia Qinqin heard Fangfang's voice, slid down from the chair, trotted over and took Fangfang's hand, and said happily: "Sister Fangfang, why are you here?"

Meng Yufei smiled and said, "Qinqin, take Fangfang to play here." Then she looked up and said, "Sister-in-law, let Fangfang play here first. I also want to go to the Personnel Department. Let's go together."

Mrs. Zhang nodded and said to Fangfang, "Little girl, you can play here with your sister."

Fangfang nodded obediently and said, "Okay."

Several people had come to register next door. Meng Yufei took Mrs. Zhang to Xiao Wu's seat and said, "Sister-in-law, the childcare workers are registering here."

Section Chief Chen was registering applicants. When he saw Meng Yufei coming in, he hurriedly said, "Director Meng, come over here and get the registration book. You can sit at Xiao Zhang's desk."

"Okay." Meng Yufei turned to Mrs. Zhang and said, "Sister-in-law, you line up here."

Mrs. Zhang said, "I understand, sister, you go and do your work first."

Meng Yufei took the registration book and said to the people queuing next to Section Chief Chen, "Those who are applying for teaching positions can also come to me to register."

Hearing her say this, the person at the end of the line turned to Meng Yufei and said, "I want to apply for the teaching position."

Meng Yufei opened the registration book and asked, "May I ask your name?"

"Liu Qiuju."

"Age?"

"30 years old."

"Education?"

"junior high school."

“Do you have any relevant work experience?”

"no."

"Okay, everyone has registered. Please go back and wait for notification. The next person, please..."

Many people came to the Personnel Department to sign up. On the other side, in the Finance Department, Xiao Zhang was sorting documents, and Xia Qinqin pulled Fangfang and read a book with her on the table.

Xia Qinqin pointed to the illustration in the book and said, "Sister Fangfang, look, this little boy is called Xun Ge'er. He has a very big yard at home with many trees and snakes..."

Fangfang asked: "Is it the snake we encountered that day?"

Xia Qinqin said: "Mom said no, this is a red snake, very, very powerful, children will hide far away from it, it's very scary."

Fangfang patted Xia Qinqin's hand and said, "Don't be afraid, I will protect you. I am not afraid of snakes. I will catch it!"

Xia Qinqin opened her mouth in surprise and said, "Sister Fangfang, you dare to catch a snake!"

"Well, I saw how Sister Jianhong caught the snake that day, and I will do it next time."

"Wow, Sister Fangfang is so awesome!" Xia Qinqin praised while holding Fangfang's hand. The two children held each other's hands and smiled at each other.

When little Zhang Yuguang saw the two of them, the corners of his mouth lifted unconsciously. What a pure and lovely friendship.

Halfway through the morning working hours, Meng Yufei had already registered more than a dozen people. It seems that the competition for kindergarten teachers is quite fierce.

"I want to apply for the position of kindergarten principal."

Meng Yufei raised her head and saw the person standing in front of her, with his chin raised high and looking at her with sidelong eyes.

"Comrade Qi Huiying, I only register people who apply for teaching positions here. If you want to apply for the position of kindergarten principal, please go to Section Chief Chen."

"Where is Section Chief Chen?" Qi Huiying asked arrogantly.

Meng Yufei almost laughed out of anger. Why did Qi Huiying always look down on her every time they met? Who did she think she was?

In fact, the reason why Qi Huiying is like this is because she thinks she comes from the future and has a vision that is decades ahead of others. She thinks she is the protagonist of this world, and others are just supporting roles. Only those who are of higher status and can help her are worthy of her good face.

Someone like Meng Yufei was destined to be cannon fodder in Qi Huiying's eyes, so she naturally didn't need to be taken seriously.

"Hey, let me ask you, where is Section Chief Chen?"

Not hearing Meng Yufei's reply, Qi Huiying asked again in an unhappy tone.

Meng Yufei looked up at her, then suddenly smiled and said, "Section Chief Chen went to the director's office. I guess they are discussing the candidate for the principal. You know, this kind of position requires leadership decision-making. I seem to have heard that there is a particularly suitable person. I think you should apply for a teacher position instead. The requirements are not that high. Although the salary is lower, the teaching tasks are not that heavy. You just need to play with the children."

The more Qi Huiying listened, the deeper her frowns became. She raised her chin and said disdainfully, "Who wants to take care of the kids? I'm here to sign up to be the head teacher!" With that, she turned around and left the Personnel Department, heading towards the director's office.

Meng Yufei looked at Qi Huiying's back. She was still wearing high heels today, and her feet made a clicking sound when she walked. Meng Yufei squinted her eyes and stared at Qi Huiying's heels carefully, and found that she didn't walk with her feet turned outward...

A person's walking habits should not be related to the height of the heels she wears, right?

Meng Yufei suppressed her doubts and continued to register those who came to register.

Qi Huiying walked to the door of the director's office and vaguely heard voices from inside. Thinking of what Meng Yufei had just said, it should be Section Chief Chen in there. Could it be that he had to decide on the candidate right away?

Thinking of this, Qi Huiying knocked on the office door.

"Come in."

Qi Huiying pushed open the door and saw Section Chief Chen inside. When he saw her, he asked, "What do you want?"

"Director Fu, my name is Qi Huiying. I'm here to recommend myself to you for the position of kindergarten principal." Qi Huiying said confidently, "I have a high school diploma."

High school students in this era are highly educated. Qi Huiying felt that there were few people in the entire family compound who had a higher education than her. In the original owner's vague memory, there were only two or three girls in a high school class. In this era, not many families choose to let girls go to school.

Her attitude made Director Fu and Section Chief Chen frown.

Section Chief Chen said, "Director, this is the family of Deputy Commander Chen of the Second Regiment. They have just joined the army." He then said to Qi Huiying, "If you want to register, just go to our Personnel Department to register."

Qi Huiying said, "The position I want to apply for is the headmaster. It's no use telling them. This kind of position must be decided by the leader."

She smiled and said, "Director Fu, this kindergarten was built with money from the Logistics Department. It's up to you to decide who will be the employees here."

After hearing this, Director Fu's face darkened.

No leader likes to be told that he or she has the final say. Everyone knows that the leader's opinion is important when making decisions, but no one speaks out as openly as Qi Huiying. Moreover, in this era when workers dare to slam the table with the factory director, leaders should listen to the opinions of the masses.

Moreover, Director Fu has just set up a panel of judges to avoid people saying that he is arbitrary and involved in backdoors...

Section Chief Chen looked at Qi Huiying strangely, then turned around and looked at the director's gloomy face with some embarrassment, raised his hand to his mouth, coughed heavily and said:

"Comrade Qi Huiying, your academic qualifications are indeed good, but the position of kindergarten principal requires not only academic qualifications, but also rich teaching and management experience. You are still young and have relatively little qualifications. You need more experience..."

Qi Huiying looked at Section Chief Chen who was speaking and thought to herself, the director hasn't spoken yet, why are you interrupting? You have no emotional intelligence. She interrupted Section Chief Chen and said, "Director Fu, I think work ability has little to do with qualifications. Young people are more innovative and energetic. I think I am fully qualified for the position of director."

Section Chief Chen looked at her and opened his mouth to say something, but after thinking for a while, he closed his mouth and decided to just forget it...

Director Fu said with a straight face, "Okay, I know what you said. Our logistics department has already set up a judging panel. The final selection of candidates for each position will be decided by the panel members. You want to apply for the position of director, right? Chief Chen, please register her and let her go back and wait for notification."

Section Chief Chen immediately said, "Okay, I understand."

Before Qi Huiying could say anything, Section Chief Chen stood up and said, "Director, you are busy, we will go back first." Then he took Qi Huiying out.

Qi Huiying said dissatisfiedly: "Chief Chen, if you want to leave, why are you holding me back?" She was ready to say a few more words.

Section Chief Chen thought to himself, "Just shut up!"

She took a deep breath and said, "The director has to go to the headquarters for a meeting later. Please come with me to the office to register your information."

Qi Huiying said reluctantly: "Okay."

Section Chief Chen thought about it and kindly said to her, "Comrade Huiying, I think you should reconsider the position you want to apply for. Although you only have a high school degree, you have no relevant teaching experience after all. It would be better for you to apply for a teaching position."

After hearing this, Qi Huiying raised her chin and said impatiently, "What kind of education and experience does a kindergarten teacher need? Isn't it just to take care of a group of children? Just find two people at random. I have a high school diploma. Wouldn't it be a waste of my education to be a kindergarten teacher?"

Section Chief Chen: “…”

Come on, she was the one who said that!

Meng Yufei saw Section Chief Chen coming back with a sullen face.

Qi Huiying, who was following behind, raised her chin with pride when she saw him.

Section Chief Chen sat down, opened the registration form, and said to Qi Huiying, "Fill it out yourself."

Meng Yufei sensed impatience in Section Chief Chen's tone and thought to herself, this Qi Huiying is also a talented person. She offended another person in just a few minutes...

"Sister Meng, my friend is here to apply for a teaching position."

Xiao Zhang's voice brought Meng Yufei back to her senses. She looked up and saw Xiao Zhang appear at the door with a smile, followed by a young woman with delicate features and pale skin. Her thin figure gave people a sense of fragility and brokenness.

Xiao Zhang pointed at the person behind him and introduced him, "This is the comrade from the art troupe I told you about yesterday. Her name is Zhou Wenqian, and she is the family member of the troupe's battalion commander Zhao."

Zhou Wenqian smiled and said, "Hello, Director Meng, I'm here to apply for a kindergarten teacher position."

Meng Yufei smiled and said, "Hello, my husband is also in the same group. From now on, you and Xiao Zhang can call me Sister Meng. Come, I'll give you the registration information."

After picking up a pen and writing down Zhou Wenqian's name on the register, he asked, "Wenqian, what is your age and education level?"

"24 years old, junior high school education."

“Do you have any relevant work experience before?”

"No, I used to work in a cultural troupe. I can dance a little bit, and I can sing, too."

Meng Yufei smiled and said, "Your specialties are very suitable for kindergarten teachers."

After registering the information, Xiao Zhang took Zhou Wenqian back to the Finance Department office and held her back, saying, "You finally got out for a while, breathe some fresh air outside, don't rush home, have lunch with me! We haven't had a meal together alone since you came here!"

Zhou Wenqian said: "He will bring lunch home at noon."

"Who cares?" Xiao Zhang suggested, "How about this? I'll go to the Publicity Department to borrow the internal phone and tell him not to bring you lunch at noon."

As he said that, he pulled Zhou Wenqian to sit on his chair, then turned to Xia Qinqin and said, "Qinqin, I'm going to be out for a few minutes. Please help me watch this auntie and don't let her leave."

Aunt Zhang, who had just registered, took Fangfang home. Xia Qinqin was bored and looking at the illustrations in the book. When she heard Aunt Zhang's instructions, she nodded solemnly and said, "Yes, yes, okay."

She slid off the chair, trotted over to the strange aunt, looked up at her, and said with her mouth open, "Wow, aunt, you are so beautiful!"

Zhou Wenqian looked down at the delicate girl in front of her, and couldn't help but reach out and touch her braid, smiling and saying, "You are also very beautiful."

Xia Qinqin hugged her aunt's arm shyly and said seriously: "Auntie, you can't leave. I have to help Auntie Xiao Zhang keep an eye on you."

Zhou Wenqian looked at the little girl's smiling face, her heart softened, she nodded and said with a smile: "Okay, I won't leave."

Seeing that they were getting along well, Xiao Zhang turned around and went out to make a phone call to the Publicity Department.

Zhao Zhengliu thought about the change in Zhou Wenqian's attitude last night and was in a good mood the whole day. He arranged his work early in the morning and planned to go to the cafeteria to get a few more dishes to celebrate at noon. Qianqian has lost too much weight recently and needs to be nourished.

Moreover, the two of them hadn't sat together and had a good meal for a long time. Thinking that they could finally ease their relationship and have a good meal together again, Zhao Zhengliu couldn't help but smile.

"Captain Zhao, the logistics department is calling you."

"The logistics department is looking for me?" Zhao Zhengliu took the phone with some surprise and asked, "Hello, this is Zhao Zhengliu, who is this? What do you want to talk to me about?"

Xiao Zhang's voice came from the other end of the phone, "It's me. Wen Qian won't be going home for lunch. She'll eat with me. Don't bring her any lunch."

Xiao Zhang finished his words in one breath, ignored the reply from the other end, and hung up the phone.

“Beep, beep, beep!”

There was only a dead tone on the phone...

Zhao Zhengliu didn't react at first. He looked at the phone in his hand, blinked, and after a few seconds, he hung up the phone angrily!

This little Zhang!

Why do you want to invite my wife to have dinner with you?