Chapter 10
If embarrassment could ferment, then Ye Manzhi at this moment would definitely be the softest steamed cake.
I don’t know where Wu Zhengrong saw the clue, but if she continues to pretend to be drunk, she will inevitably appear petty.
That would be more difficult for her to get over than embarrassment.
Therefore, with mature wisdom and a numb left leg, Ye Manzhi quickly made a decision -
I did as he said and changed my sleeping position!
Wu Zhengrong raised the corner of his lips in amusement, and asked, considering her appearance, "What good day is today? Why are you so drunk?"
"Ahem, it's not a special day," Ye Manzhi coughed lightly and opened her eyes to explain, "Director Mu asked me to talk to my sister-in-law on behalf of the subdistrict office. I thought it would be better to talk with wine and meat, so I treated her to a meal at the restaurant."
"If Director Mu assigns you more tasks, won't you get drunk every now and then?"
Ye Manzhi said awkwardly, "That's not the case. Today is a special situation."
Although society is more open nowadays and lesbians can freely go to bars, restaurants and clubs, it is still very rare to see someone drunk like her.
Wu Zhengrong glanced back and saw her cheeks flushed and her eyes sparkling. He couldn't help but remind her, "This area has been a bit uneasy lately. You should be careful when you go out at night."
Ye Manzhi asked quickly: "Has something big happened here?"
The street office is right next to the police station. If there was any disturbance, there would be no way she didn't hear about it.
"The factory is planning to expand southward and needs to requisition the land east of Chenjiatun. There's a lot of resistance from the local residents."
Ye Manzhi concentrated on recalling the location of Chenjiatun and asked doubtfully, "I remember that area seemed to be a cemetery, right?"
"Yes, there are more than 3,000 abandoned graves there."
"..." Ye Manzhi murmured, "No wonder people are resisting. Although there are abandoned graves there, many of our deceased neighbors are also buried there. If the factory digs up that piece of land, no one will be happy!"
Factory 656 is built at the southernmost end of the city, in the urban-rural fringe area, and is out of the city after crossing Guangming Street.
If the factory wanted to expand, it would have to expand to the towns and villages, but she never expected that it would expand to the cemetery.
"Recently, quite a few people have come to the factory to protest, and there are even patrols roaming around at night. In a chaotic situation like this, it's easy for people to take advantage of opportunities," Wu Zhengrong said sternly. "If you want to drink, drink at home. Try not to go out at night."
"Ah, I don't usually drink." Ye Manzhi quoted the words of her third sister-in-law to justify herself, "Today I treated you all, and I only drank a little hawthorn wine."
"Smell it yourself."
"What are you smelling?" Ye Manzhi sniffed.
Wu Zhengrong calmly stated the facts: "The whole carriage was filled with the smell of strong liquor."
Having been hanging out in places with the most men for many years, he can even smell what kind of alcohol the other person is drinking.
"Oh, you, you, you..." Ye Manzhi was so embarrassed that he hesitated for a long time but couldn't figure out what was going on.
It is an indisputable fact that she drank nearly four taels of sorghum wine. There is really nothing to say about it.
Noticing that her cheeks and neck were becoming increasingly red, Wu Zhengrong reflected for a rare moment, wondering if he had spoken too harshly.
Ye Manzhi, who was standing behind him, suddenly said, "You are so perceptive! Dzerzhinsky is no better than that!"[1]
Wu Zhengrong: “…”
That’s not the case.
"In addition to the hawthorn wine that Director Mu gave us, we also drank some sorghum wine. However, the bulk wine in the restaurant seemed to be diluted with water, so it didn't have much strength."
Wu Zhengrong smiled, "You even know that loose liquor can be diluted with water."
It seems that he has gained experience from drinking.
"My fourth brother said so."
"Um."
The carriage fell silent again.
Wu Zhengrong was sitting in the front and suddenly remembered that he had promised his aunt that day that he would try his best to win over Comrade Xiao Ye.
He frowned and was lost in thought for a moment, then suddenly bent down and took out the bottle of Maotai he had just received from the military district leader from the gap between the seats.
"Most of the wine jars in the restaurants along Stone Road are diluted with water. You can take this back and drink it."
Ye Manzhi: “…”
She caught the bottle at a loss, deeply suspecting that she was still drunk.
Who would give wine to a girl?
Could it be that Wu Zhengrong really thought of her as an alcoholic?
"Captain Wu, this is too expensive. I can't accept it." Ye Manzhi quickly pushed the bottle back.
She had never tasted Moutai, but she knew that this wine was priceless and was specially supplied.
"You can take it. I don't drink much." Wu Zhengrong thought he was playing to his liking and said cheerfully, "Some bars sell inferior goods as good ones. Drinking too much low-quality wine is harmful to your health. You should try to go out less at night recently. If you want to drink, just drink something good at home."
Ye Manzhi: “…”
As expected, he thought she was a drunkard.
She held the bottle of wine, but did not make any presumptuous associations with the relationship between men and women.
They had a blind date, but both sides had tactfully expressed their attitudes and had no intention of that kind.
However, looking at Wu Zhengrong's calm demeanor, it didn't seem like he had a change of heart because he had ruthlessly exposed her.
She let her mind wander, assuming various possibilities, and finally decided to keep the bottle of Moutai.
"Thank you very much, Captain Wu. If there's a chance, can I ask my dad to treat you to a drink?"
"Okay."
Ye Manzhi secretly breathed a sigh of relief. After seeing his third brother through the car window, he politely said goodbye to Wu Zhengrong, then pushed the door and got out of the car alone.
Although she drank a little too much today, her brain was still working at its usual high level!
Because she broke off her engagement with Zhou Mu, Lao Ye's situation in the factory was a bit delicate.
According to the progress of each workshop in completing production tasks, Lao Ye's workshop should have been included in the awards for advanced collectives and individuals in the first half of the year. However, when the awards were actually presented, the factory leaders cancelled the awards on the grounds that someone was late for work for a quarter of an hour.
Old Ye didn't say anything, but she felt that her father was being targeted.
In her opinion, there were many factory leaders. Even if Zhou Zhenye was gone, there were still others.
Old Ye could easily take the opportunity to repay a favor and get in touch with Captain Wu.
A bottle of Moutai is so expensive, he has to treat everyone to several meals to repay the favor!
As the number of interactions increases, the relationship becomes closer.
She didn't ask Wu Zhengrong to speak for Lao Ye. As long as he was not targeted by anyone, Lao Ye's life would be easy with his technical level!
*
After that day, news of Factory 656's expansion and land acquisition gradually spread.
The topic of relocating graves caused a stir among many local residents in the military industrial compound.
In the corridor, the families of elderly employees often visit each other and secretly seek recommendations for reliable masters or nuns.
The ancestral tomb of the old Ye family is in the countryside, and this expansion and land acquisition will have little impact on the Ye family.
However, a few days later, a sudden announcement from the factory office caused the Ye family to explode!
Ye Mantang, who was about to leave for internship at Stalin Automobile Factory, the Ye Mantang who made the ancestors of the Ye family proud, had his qualification to study in the Soviet Union revoked by the factory!
What’s the difference between this and digging up the Ye family’s ancestral grave?
Upon hearing the news, the uncle and aunt of the Ye family rushed to the military industrial compound overnight.
"Didn't you say you could go abroad next month? Why did you get taken down now?"
"Someone reported my actual length of service to the factory, saying it didn't meet the requirements for studying in Russia."
"Does your length of service meet the requirements?" asked the uncle and his wife in unison.
“It was consistent before, but it’s not consistent now.”
The factory’s personnel department issued a notice the day before yesterday, one of the items of which gave a specific explanation of length of service.
According to its explanation, Ye Mantang's formal working experience was only two years, which did not meet the requirements for studying in the Soviet Union.
The next day after the notice was issued, he was reported by an old worker whose name he had never heard of.
This was obviously done intentionally by someone in order to get a place to study in the Soviet Union.
Uncle Ye slammed the table and said, "I told you from the beginning that San Yatou's marriage should be handled with caution, but you refused to listen and hastily called off the marriage. Now even Man Tang has been implicated by her, and someone has taken away our chance to go abroad!"
"Uncle, the factory changed the rules. What does it have to do with the youngest?"
Compared to his family's anxiety, Ye Mantang was actually quite calm. It was a pity to lose the opportunity to study in the Soviet Union, but he could consider it a blessing in disguise as he didn't have to divorce his wife.
"Why did you change it before you left the country? Can you say this wasn't intentional?" Uncle Ye turned to lecture his younger brother. "If the third girl hadn't broken off the engagement, at least someone at the factory would have spoken up for Mantang! Second brother, forget about saving face now. Go to the Zhou family and plead for mercy!"
The eldest aunt took Ye Manzhi's hand and advised: "Laiya, you should know better. You have to help your third brother this time!"
Her old man originally wanted to follow Deputy Director Zhou's path and get his eldest grandson, who had just graduated from junior high school, to work at Factory 656, but the two families suddenly parted ways, and his plan was dashed.
Ye Manzhi responded with a humming and laughing sound.
She was the one who secretly came up with the idea to her third sister-in-law. Now that it was almost done, how could she possibly remove the ladder halfway?
Ye Shouxin was already worried about his son's affairs, and he was even more upset when he heard them mention the Zhou family. "Brother, it's not like my daughter can't get married. Why does she have to hang herself on the crooked tree of the old Zhou family? It was the Zhou family who wronged us in the first place, so I won't beg them!"
"If you don't ask, what will happen to Mantang? How will we explain this to our parents? Back home, they've already set off firecrackers and had a banquet!"
Although Ye Shouxin named his children in a cultured way, with names like "A House Full of Gold and Jade" and "A Branch of Guilin", in fact, among his children, only Mantang was really good at studying, and the others could not be relied upon.
If Mantang loses this opportunity to study in the Soviet Union, it will be unknown when he will have the next chance to bring honor to his family.
My second brother's family is all clueless. Uncle Ye waved his hand and said, "Forget it. I'll go back and help you find a solution."
Uncle Ye had been a materials custodian at the cigarette factory, but two years ago, because the tobacco leaves he was responsible for were damaged, he was transferred to guard the gate. Given his qualifications, he had no say in the matter of studying in the Soviet Union, and everyone just thought he was just being polite.
Unexpectedly, just two days after he said that, Ye Manyi was stopped by Zhou Mu on his way home from get off work.
Zhou Mu stood in front of her and said proudly, "I heard that you regretted it? You want to get back together with me?"
Ye Manzhi glanced at the setting sun and sneered, "What are you daydreaming about? Who said they wanted to get back together with you? Go find that person!"
"That's what your uncle said in person when he came to my house!"
"Then let my uncle get back together with you!"
Zhou Mu chased after her, his eyebrows dancing with joy as he said, "You clearly regretted it but you still refuse to admit it! Didn't you get jealous when you saw me having dinner with Su Ying the other day?"
"..." Ye Manzhi was speechless, "How do you know I'm jealous?"
"Haha, you've already gotten drunk, trying to drown your sorrows!"
Ever since Ye Manzhi's uncle came to their house to give gifts, Zhou Mu has been in a particularly excited state.
In fact, after they broke off the engagement, he always had a feeling of unreality in his heart. He always felt that Ye Manzhi was just angry and would continue to play with him like before after she calmed down.
Uncle Ye's arrival just confirmed what he was thinking.
"I've already told my mom that the previous cancellation of the engagement doesn't count. We're still..."
Ye Manzhi interrupted him and asked, "I heard your family has introduced you to someone?"
"That's true, but they were all introduced by my parents, and I didn't like any of them..."
Ye Manzhi interrupted him again, "My family also arranged a blind date for me, and I fell in love with her."
"Impossible! Who did you go on a blind date with? Why haven't I heard about it?"
"Nothing is impossible. Your parents don't like me, and you're not nice to me. Why should I wait for you?"
Zhou Mu stared at her intently, as if trying to find any signs of lying on her face.
Ye Manzhi said frankly, "My uncle wanted to ask your family for help, so he used me as a raft. You should be more careful..."
Seeing that she didn't seem to be pretending, Zhou Mu's expectations were dashed, and his foolish spirit emerged again, "Why are you so boring! You don't even dare to admit what you said! I don't care, you must reconcile with me, otherwise I will go on a hunger strike!"
"..." Ye Manzhi didn't tolerate his young master's temper and said coldly, "Then you should just give up."
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