Chapter 331: After reading the teacher-student romance novel, she became the principal. ...
During the Spring Festival of 1985, Qin Xiangxiang "stole half a day of leisure" and nestled on the soft sofa in front of the fireplace, reading and sleeping, sleeping and reading. When she was hungry, she would eat something from the refrigerator. She was very happy.
The greatest benefit of the 1980s was the unprecedented abundance of literary works and the increasingly developed print media publishing industry, with various literary novels, periodicals, and magazines appearing before the public.
Some authors, decades later, lamented that the number of literary novels published in the 1980s exceeded the reasonable number of readers.
Besides domestic literary novels, there are also various imported novels from Hong Kong and Taiwan. On a winter afternoon like this, you can easily pick up a novel and spend a pleasant afternoon.
"What is the charm of reading?" Qin Xiangxiang felt that after finishing a novel, it was like having a "full meal," and all kinds of physical desires were reduced.
This is completely different from the accumulation of material wealth. It's like how she once couldn't wait to own an imported car, but after getting it, she started thinking about having a better car in the future, as if there was no end to it. This makes her like a greedy snake that is never satisfied.
Reading a good book is different. After finishing it, you feel a sense of satisfaction, like you've had a full meal. You can even forget about physical hunger, and this feeling of satisfaction can last a long time.
"Spiritual satisfaction." Li Jianzhi and she snuggled together on the sofa to read. The couple had a lot in common on this point. They would read for a while, chat, and "steal half a day of leisure" together, spending the 1980s, a time when poetry and romance coexisted.
Perhaps because literature and novels were flourishing at this time, even though there was plenty of money everywhere, many people did not have a high pursuit of money and material possessions. At least, they did not have the extreme mentality of everyone pursuing sudden wealth that existed in the consumerist era later.
In that era, even when Coca-Cola ran promotions and advertisements in China, it only gave away small toys like balloons. That's right, at that time, many people in China didn't really like Coca-Cola and thought it was like a potion, not yet the "happy fat man's drink" it would become later.
In a highly developed consumerist society, you will be constantly induced to consume, creating a sense of scarcity so that you will never be satisfied. In order to "consume", you will be willing to work yourself to death at your job as a beast of burden, just to earn more money to satisfy your consumption needs, and you will be forever trapped in the sense of scarcity and insatiability created by merchants.
In the 1980s, without this kind of widespread, pervasive marketing that created a sense of scarcity among businesses, people were still easily satisfied.
Qin Xiangxiang: "I just read a romance novel."
"What? Were you moved by the love story in it?"
Qin Xiangxiang: "No, it's a novel about a teacher-student romance. I think the love in it is quite disgusting. Thinking about it carefully, a forty-year-old man dating a seventeen or eighteen-year-old girl... I feel that this man is not very charming, and he is already over forty, forty-four years old!"
Li Jianzhi: "..."
"Wife, are you implying something about me?" Chief of Staff Li, who is exactly forty-four years old this year, felt like he had been shot in the knee.
Qin Xiangxiang looked up at him and said, "No, besides, he smokes, drinks, and his wife died. At least you don't smoke or drink, and you don't have yellow teeth or smell of smoke."
Li Jianzhi: "...Should I feel honored?"
Qin Xiangxiang: "I quite like the female lead and I can understand her parents. However, I don't think it's a love story. It's just that the female lead's fighting spirit is admirable."
Li Jianzhi: "A struggle in the name of love? Falling in love with someone she shouldn't love, becoming an enemy of her parents, her friends, and the world, falling in love with her teacher, everyone criticizes her, she becomes the target of public criticism, as if she is an enemy of millions? Although on the surface it seems that she did something wrong, because she is an enemy of everyone, she seems to become a 'great hero', because she dares to be an enemy of everyone, dares to break the boundaries that others dare not break, while others still succumb to the rules."
Qin Xiangxiang: "Yes, yes, that's probably one of the reasons why this kind of novel and the female protagonist are so attractive. Although she is described as having a weak appearance, a woman who is weaker than the weakest, she dares to be cursed by millions of people. Such courage is rare... No wonder you said that she became a 'great hero'."
"It wasn't love that made her attractive, but her rebelliousness."
Li Jianzhi smiled slightly: "When we are young, everyone has had that thought, wanting to be an enemy of the whole world... and to become a hero who walks against the light, not to be corrupted by these worldly things."
Li Jianzhi was once like that. When he chose to join the army, being a soldier was no longer a desirable thing. Under the criticism of his parents and those around him, it seemed like he had made a wrong choice... However, that rebellious spirit is a sentiment unique to teenagers.
Qin Xiangxiang paused for a moment: "...So even now I still have a rebellious spirit. Even though I've been a factory director for ten years and been named a model worker, I still want to be lazy. I want to be 'lazy and unwilling to work'."
Li Jianzhi: "Hmm, think about never being a slave."
Qin Xiangxiang: "??????!!!!"
She suddenly hugged the man's neck, unable to suppress a laugh: "I understand why the female lead fell in love with a forty-year-old 'old man'. It's hard to find a soulmate in life. If you keep urging me to be ambitious and work hard, even if you become your twenty-year-old self, I'll still slap you a few times like I'm swatting a mosquito."
Li Jianzhi smiled and winked: "You never urged me to do anything, saying that some people become generals in their thirties..."
Qin Xiangxiang said, "Peaceful times are still the best."
"Comrade-in-arms."
The couple snuggled together reading novels, enjoying a rare moment of tranquility. Their son was in college, Sui Sui was in middle school, and their two young daughters were in elementary school—none of them were old enough to cling to their parents.
At times like these, when work and children's琐事 (trivial matters) are put aside, it's time to enjoy life.
The special branch factory achieved brilliant results and recovered its costs, and the intelligence center also achieved considerable success. The situation was very promising... Qin Xiangxiang felt that there was really nothing to worry about.
Qin Xiangxiang: "I've found a lot of management talent for myself, and now, being the factory manager is getting easier and easier!"
"Being a factory manager is easier than being a female worker in the workshop."
Li Jianzhi smiled and shook his head, "You have put in a higher level of mental labor, and your more than ten years of experience as a factory manager are equally valuable."
Qin Xiangxiang said, "Chief of Staff Li, I'll be able to relax from now on... In another ten years or so, I'll retire just like my mother!"
"Shall we imagine our retirement life together?"
...
Just as Qin Xiangxiang was chatting with her deadbeat husband about the wonderful days of retirement, Secretary Li and others came up to offer their New Year's greetings, their faces beaming with joy.
Qin Xiangxiang said, "Didn't I say I didn't need to come to pay my respects for the New Year? I'll deal with things at the factory after my vacation. Unless it's something urgent, you don't need to tell me."
"Could it be some bad news..."
Don't try that during the Chinese New Year.
No!
"Factory manager, ptooey! It's the New Year, we should say auspicious things! Of course it's a good thing!"
Secretary Li cleared his throat, took out an envelope with an official document stamped on it, his eyes shining, his expression both serious and unable to contain his excitement.
"Director Qin, Chief of Staff Li, I have some fantastic news!" Secretary Li suddenly raised his voice: "After extensive research, the city has decided to establish a new type of 'Shanghai Business School' that is geared towards practical business experience."
"Business school? That's a good thing." Qin Xiangxiang put down her novel, rubbed her hands together, feeling a wonderful sense of anticipation, thinking, "This is great, let's continue to scout for talent."
"With a business school, it will be much easier to recruit students in the future."
Secretary Li slapped his thigh excitedly: "So, the city has decided that our Feiyan Factory will take the lead, joining forces with several large state-owned enterprises, to jointly establish this business school!"
Qin Xiangxiang: "..." Huh? What what?
What the heck is this "establishing a business school" thing?
Secretary Li dropped another bombshell: "Furthermore, the official document states that Comrade Qin Xiangxiang, the former general manager of Feiyan Joint Factory, is appointed as the honorary president of Shanghai Business School and vice chairman of the preparatory committee."
"Factory Manager, you'll be Principal Qin soon!"
"Won't all the students graduating from this business school be your students in the future?"
The air inside the villa seemed to freeze instantly, except for the flickering flames in the fireplace.
Qin Xiangxiang's joy vanished, replaced by utter bewilderment and confusion. She blinked in disbelief, doubting what she was hearing.
"Me? You want me to be a school principal? I didn't even attend many classes properly after getting into university... and you want me to be a school principal?"
Being a factory director and a model worker is one thing, but now even Qin Xiangxiang has become a school principal! Heaven is truly blind!
"The higher-ups also think that you, Factory Director, have innovative ideas, a flexible mind, and don't play by the rules. They feel that only someone like you can truly train cadres who understand the market!" Secretary Li said enthusiastically, "Especially since the city leaders have all read 'The Echo of Spruce Wood,' they particularly admire Factory Director Qin's thinking of 'always looking for the simplest and most effective methods because he's afraid of trouble'! They say that's what 'practice makes perfect' means!"
"Now, 'Echoes of Spruce' has become a model for everyone to learn from your corporate spirit."
"Comrade Zeng Yao also said that it was after listening to your teachings that she came to understand your 'true spirit' as an entrepreneur."
Qin Xiangxiang: "..."
What entrepreneurial spirit does she have? She only has the spirit of a salted fish.
Can an official document with an official header be revoked?
Secretary Li smiled slightly: "No, not at all... Factory Director, you should prepare yourself in advance to be a good principal of this business school."
After Secretary Li left, Qin Xiangxiang, who had just stolen a moment of leisure, lay on the sofa like a dead fish, feeling as if she had been cursed unconsciously.
Qin Xiangxiang: "I shouldn't have read those damn teacher-student romance novels..."
After watching her, she became the principal.
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