Chapter 8: Your husband is calling you!
"Then you will go to the shipyard with Political Commissar Wang..."
Commander He felt that Li Jianzhi's suggestions were very valuable and praised him for his ability and ideas. The team was going to order a batch of new warships, and Li Jianzhi gave many suggestions for modification. Commander He asked him to go to the Shanghai Shipyard with him to explain his ideas and requirements to the engineers there, as well as whether they were feasible.
"This trip is considered an official business for you. We need your input to provide feedback; we can't leave you clueless."
After explaining the work, Commander He sighed and said, "Many people say that you are like Yu the Great who controlled the floods, passing by your home three times without entering."
"You should work on your relationship with your wife. It's not easy for her to raise a child alone... Show more care for your family."
It is common knowledge that Li Jianzhi has a wife from a well-off family in Shanghai. It is also known that his wife stayed in Shanghai with their child, and the couple had not seen each other for four or five years, which has led to much speculation.
Some people guessed that Li Jian knew his wife in the city came from a wealthy family, but was ugly. Comrade Li married her for the sake of his child's urban residency, and didn't actually like her at all, so he didn't go back to the city to visit her for several years.
In this era, children's household registration follows the mother's, so it's very important for the mother to have a good urban household registration. For soldiers, after retiring from the military, their household registration can follow their wives. If they choose a wife from Shanghai, they will be assigned a job in Shanghai after retiring from the military.
Now that they've sent a telegram about getting a divorce, this matter needs to be resolved. It just so happens that Li Jianzhi is going to the Shanghai Shipyard, and Commander He asked him to take some time to arrange things at home as well.
"Okay, I will take care of my personal matters."
Li Jianzhi recalled those beautiful almond-shaped eyes that had gazed at him so brightly, and he couldn't help but feel a surge of desire. Not only did others not understand, but even he couldn't understand why the original Li Jianzhi had given up his beautiful city wife and hadn't even glanced at her for several years.
Is he asexual? Or perhaps he likes...people of the same sex?
This guy is a total workaholic!
Li Jianzhi wears a rather intimidatingly cold and stern face, but in private he is constantly complaining about the original Li Jianzhi, this expressionless robot whose mind is always on work. This parallel universe version of himself, with such a pathetic appearance, still managed to marry a beautiful wife.
Now this wife is his... cough, I wonder what her personality is like.
Suppressing the turmoil within him, Li Jianzhi planned to call the state-owned 316 Textile Factory later to contact his mother-in-law, explain the situation, and say that he needed to go back to visit his family.
As for divorce... I've got a beautiful wife for free, so I'd rather not divorce her if I can avoid it.
Qin Xiangxiang got up early in the morning because she had to hand over the workshop at eight o'clock. She quickly made twenty shumai, put them in a steamer and steamed them all at once. She turned off the heat at the right moment, lifted the lid of the steamer, and a mixture of glutinous rice, meat, mushroom and soy sauce aromas wafted out, making her mouth water.
"Mom, it smells so good!"
She gave two to her son, four to herself, three to her mother, two to her father Qin Wutong, and the remaining nine to her lunchbox, which she would take to the factory later.
The four pretty little shumai sit in a snow-white bowl. They taste best when they're fresh out of the pot, with thin, fragrant skins. One bite and your mouth is filled with juicy goodness, just like xiaolongbao (soup dumplings).
The chubby little boy blew on the meat, biting through the skin to reveal diced mushrooms and meat. The meat was so delicious it made him want to bite his tongue off. It was so good that the little guy jumped up. The glistening broth, glistening with oil, flowed all over his little palms. He wasn't bothered by the heat and ate it while blowing on it, one bite after another.
"Mom, I want one more!"
Qin Xiangxiang refused, saying, "Two is enough for you. Your grandpa is back from buying breakfast."
Qin Wutong went to a nearby restaurant and bought three large pancakes, two sweet and one savory, two fried dough sticks, two pieces of glutinous rice cake, and a pot of soy milk for the family's breakfast.
A sweet pancake costs four cents, a savory pancake three cents, a fried dough stick four cents, a glutinous rice cake five cents, and a bowl of sweet soy milk five cents. The total cost here is three cents and four cents, which is the breakfast for the family. Actually, it's more than that, as most of it is eaten by Qin Wutong and Li Qingfeng.
Ordinary families who were frugal couldn't bear to buy sweet pancakes and sweet soy milk. They would choose savory pancakes that cost three cents each and savory soy milk that cost four cents a bowl. Eating two savory pancakes and a bowl of savory soy milk would probably fill the stomach of an adult, and it would cost at least ten cents.
Deep-fried glutinous rice cakes are something most people wouldn't buy for breakfast, but Qin Wutong doted on his grandson and bought him two five-cent glutinous rice cakes, enough for him to eat. He couldn't finish them all at once, so he saved half for a snack at ten o'clock.
Qin Xiangxiang quickly ate her four shumai, poured out a small cup of soy milk, drank it down in a few gulps, the sweet soy milk flavor in her mouth diluted the oily taste, she raised her hand to slap away her son's greedy little hand, took a big bite of his glutinous rice cake, tore off half of the fried dough stick and put it in her mouth before going downstairs, finishing the fried dough stick before riding her bicycle, and then went to the factory full.
"Mom's mouth is so big!" The chubby boy stared at the rice cake that had been bitten off more than halfway, looking heartbroken. He always ate the leftover rice cake that his mother had bitten off.
His mother had a big appetite; she not only took a big bite, but she also ate the crispiest and most fragrant part of the cake.
"Everyone says my mom has a small, cherry-like mouth..."
In the little chubby boy's eyes, his mother didn't have cherry lips, but rather a big mouth.
When Qin Xiangxiang arrived at the textile factory, she first rode her bicycle to the canteen entrance, carrying an enamel cup, and still wanted to buy a bowl of sweet soy milk for five cents. The soy milk buckets in the canteen were scalding hot, and the soy milk ladled out of the large ladle was piping hot. Many people liked to drink savory soy milk, and her mother, Zhou Aodong, was one of them. Savory soy milk had dried shrimp, seaweed, chopped green onions... some even added soy sauce and chili oil. Qin Xiangxiang had never been able to stand that kind of taste since she was a child; she only drank sweet soy milk.
With her cup filled with sweet soy milk, Qin Xiangxiang slowly sipped it as she walked to the workshop. There she saw Li Xia, the machine operator who had praised her yesterday. Li Xia was the experienced mentor who had been training her. Qin Xiangxiang gave her two shumai.
"Try it, it's homemade."
"Oh, it smells so good! There's meat inside too."
...
Master Li was very happy and praised Qin Xiangxiang for looking more and more like her mother. "If you are willing to work hard, you will definitely be one of the outstanding performers at the end of the year. As long as people change their mindset, everything is easy to talk about. Xiangxiang, you are an excellent girl."
Qin Xiangxiang's face was blank: "..." But all I want to do is eat and be lazy.
Master Li kept praising her, like dangling a carrot in front of a donkey, always saying he would give her an award at the end of the year. Another female worker next to him, surnamed Zheng, was unhappy to hear this.
She is the niece of Deputy Secretary Tang. Her uncle and Qin Xiangxiang's mother are direct competitors for the position of assistant factory director. Zheng, a female worker, works in the same class as Qin Xiangxiang and is eager for Qin Xiangxiang to cause trouble for her mother at the factory every day. If her uncle becomes the assistant factory director this time, he will definitely become the factory director in the future.
Qin Xiangxiang has a delicate personality, but like her mother, she is quick-witted and sharp-handed. When she really gets serious about working, she can only cut off 52 pieces per hour... If we're talking about the best performance, no other female worker can compare to Qin Xiangxiang.
If Qin Xiangxiang were to make a firm decision, and if she maintained this performance for only three months, she would be a model employee, and the factory would praise her as a treasure. Qin Xiangxiang also has a good image, so when the propaganda posters feature Qin Xiangxiang and her good grades, and when reporters interview or inspect the leaders, they would have Qin Xiangxiang stand up and perform a series of "good results," which would elevate her mother's status in the factory. This is unacceptable.
Ms. Zheng gritted her teeth. She couldn't let Qin Xiangxiang listen to Master Li; she had to make her restless.
"Think about it, your man hasn't come back even once this year?"
Ms. Zheng feigned surprise and said, "He didn't even call back once, did he? You should be worried. Be careful that he doesn't have another wife over there... or disown his son in the future."
"You have to be careful he doesn't suddenly threaten to divorce you." Zheng, the female worker, deliberately scared Qin Xiangxiang, making sure she didn't focus on the workshop and couldn't become an outstanding female worker.
Qin Xiangxiang glanced at Zheng, the female worker, and was very grateful to her for helping to change the subject. She had no intention of continuing to listen to Master Li and be an excellent female worker.
"If my man wants to divorce me, wouldn't I be pitiful?" Qin Xiangxiang blinked, her beautiful almond-shaped eyes misting over.
Master Li quickly said, "Don't scare yourself. With such a beautiful and good wife, how could any man bear to part with her?"
Ms. Zheng said, "If it gets to that point, then of course it's pitiful. Think about it, you'll have to work hard on your man."
“If he doesn’t want me anymore, I’ll be so pitiful raising my child.” Qin Xiangxiang sighed and then said confidently, “If the factory is going to allocate housing this year, they should let the housing management department allocate one to me.”
Ms. Zheng, the female worker: "??????!!!!" What are you saying?
“My man doesn’t want me anymore. He hasn’t come back to see me for years…” she said, her voice lowering again.
Qin Xiangxiang decided yesterday to stay at the textile factory, so naturally she had to find a way to get a room, even if it was just a single room of about ten square meters. The newly built workers' quarters now have water, electricity, gas, and a private bathroom. After she divorces Li Jianzhi, even if he doesn't want their son Li Qingfeng, he can leave the son with her parents and she can live happily in a single room by herself. After work, she can even go to her parents' place for a free meal.
The factory considers many factors when allocating housing. Some families are in financial difficulty, and others... each has their own story. It all depends on the housing management department's coordination. Qin Xiang thought to herself that if she divorced Li Jianzhi, she would be a divorced wife abandoned by her military officer husband. Wouldn't she deserve a room?
Master Li nodded and said, "You've had a tough time all these years, you deserve a room."
Master Li affectionately touched Qin Xiangxiang's hand. Such a beautiful young woman, married for so many years, is practically a widow. She has no husband to help her on a daily basis, which is truly not easy for her.
Ms. Zheng, who was standing next to her, was so angry that she almost rolled her eyes. She thought to herself, "It's not easy for Qin, what's so difficult about it?"
“Master Li is right, it really wasn’t easy for her.” The other female workers all felt sorry for Qin Xiangxiang when they heard about her situation.
Because in many people's eyes, divorce is a very tragic thing no matter how you look at it. If Qin Xiangxiang divorces her military officer husband, she will be really miserable. Apart from those who die and become widows, no one is more miserable than her.
"The house should indeed be allocated to her."
"Think back to the time when we chose the wrong person."
"It's time to allocate her a house."
Hearing the agreement from those around her, Ms. Zheng was furious. She had been making mistakes while working in the workshop that morning, and had been scolded by the senior mechanic and then by the workshop director.
Qin Xiangxiang, who was described by everyone as "very miserable," was in a very good mood early in the morning. If she could get a divorce smoothly and even get a share of the house, she would be overjoyed!
Around noon, the female workers took turns grabbing a bite to fill their stomachs. Qin Xiangxiang was in a good mood, so she gave out two more shumai, which were well received.
"Think about it! Qin Xiangxiang, your husband is calling you!"
“Your husband called the factory. Go answer it quickly and have someone cover for you after get off work.”
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