Chapter 105
There are only two female teachers in the Department of Industrial Economics. One is Teacher Xu, who teaches political economics and just retired this year. The other is Teacher Ouyang sitting in front of us.
Ouyang Jin was in his thirties but not yet forty, with a fair complexion, neat clothes, and long black hair piled high behind his head. He had a very capable and neat temperament.
She was in the prime of her life, and not only did she have the task of teaching undergraduate courses, but she also had to teach advanced training courses for county and department-level cadres, as well as special training courses for enterprise directors and managers.
Due to the heavy teaching and scientific research tasks, Ouyang Jin has little communication with students and seems to be not easy to talk to.
Director Miao was attracted by this point and placed her in a machinery factory where students were the main employees.
Compared with those approachable teachers and student factory managers who are reluctant to save face with their classmates, it is easier to manage the factory if she is the deputy production manager, who has some distance from the students.
Although Ye Manzhi had taken classes with Teacher Ouyang, she was one of the students with whom she did not have a close relationship.
She was so surprised when she suddenly received the invitation from the other party that she couldn't hide her surprise.
After a moment of hesitation, he regretfully chose to decline.
"Teacher Ouyang, I'm due to give birth in just over a month. Right now, I can only manage to balance my studies with some of my factory work. I don't have time for anything else. If I join your research group, it might delay your project's progress."
Every teacher in the Department of Industrial Economics has scientific research tasks. Some teachers will let senior students join the research team to help collect information and organize research data.
Chen Ying is in Teacher Xu’s research group.
Although the work is tedious, it is a rare learning opportunity for undergraduates.
Of course, Ye Manzhi wanted to join Professor Ouyang's research group, but a topic like "protecting female labor force" sounded like it required extensive research at the grassroots level.
She is pregnant with a baby now, so how can she have the energy to mess around!
Hearing this, Ouyang Jin glanced at her. Although she was pregnant, her face was rosy, her limbs were slender, and her eyes were full of energy.
She thought for a moment and said, "This project is still in the preparation stage. You can join us first and do some simple preparatory work. After you are out of confinement, I will arrange for you to go to the grassroots level for research."
There are actually two senior students in Ouyang Jin's research group.
However, most college students are unmarried and childless, and topics such as "protecting the female labor force" always involve topics such as marriage, childbirth, pregnancy, and breastfeeding.
When unmarried girls see female workers lifting up their shirts to breastfeed, they will blush and turn away, not to mention their reactions when they hear grassroots female workers talking about couples.
Therefore, Ouyang Jin wanted to find an assistant who was married and had children from among the transferred students to help.
The first candidate she considered was Bian Queqiao, who had served as the director of the women's department. However, after checking the final grades of the previous semester, she gave up the idea.
Except for political theory and physical education, her grades in several courses were at the bottom, and her overall ranking was only 23rd.
If the subjects distract her from studying, it will probably make her already poor grades even worse.
In comparison, Ye Manyi, who has served as deputy director of a street committee and scored full marks in Russian and physical education, seems to be more suitable.
Although his physics score was terrible, with only 63 points, his other scores were relatively average, and he ranked 8th overall in the class.
It can barely be considered among the best.
She originally wanted to wait until Ye Manyi gave birth to a child before inviting her to join the research team.
But recently a rumor suddenly emerged in the factory, saying that Ye Manzhi wanted to be the deputy factory director but failed to achieve his goal and ended up losing half of the production planning department.
What he said makes sense.
Ouyang Jin participated in the entire incident and knew the truth. Ye Manzhi had suffered an unprovoked disaster.
She brought Ye Manzhi into the research group earlier, which was a disguised way of comforting and compensating her.
"Don't worry about the rumors in the factory. Take care of yourself and your children first," Ouyang Jin pulled a stack of magazines from a drawer. "This is 'Friendship of Nations,' published in the Soviet Union. The Uzbek writer Mukhtar serialized her novel 'Sisters' in this magazine. It's said to be about the story of female workers fighting for liberation and building the first modern textile factory."
Ye Manzhi subconsciously took the stack of magazines, not understanding why the teacher showed her the magazines.
Teacher Ouyang then added, "Literature is also an important part of promoting the protection of the female workforce. Most female workers have a low level of education, are accustomed to following the crowd, and lack the awareness to fight for their own rights. This work, 'Sisters,' is a rare work that depicts the struggle of female workers for liberation. I heard you're very good at Russian, so why not use your spare time to translate this work? Then, select some key plot points and use them as teaching materials for women's literacy and advanced education classes."
Ouyang Jin studied English when she was in school, and her Russian level was not enough to support her to read the original novel.
She had only read the translated first chapter of "Sisters" in the Russian Department, and she had never read the subsequent content because no one translated it.
This time, she brought Ye Manzhi, who was very good at Russian, into the research team. She didn't need to go to the grassroots level to conduct research, she just had to translate the novel.
Ye Manzhi held the stack of "National Friendship" in his hands, feeling a little confused.
Although Teacher Ouyang's explanation was very high-sounding, linking the topic of protecting female workers with Soviet novels, why did she feel that the two had little to do with each other?
Could it be that Teacher Ouyang wants to see it himself?
She was confused, but still took the magazine quickly.
In order to join the teacher's research group, some senior students even went to the teaching and research office to fetch water and mop the floor. Teacher Ouyang just asked her to translate a Soviet novel, and she didn't need to go to the grassroots level with a bulging belly, so what was there to refuse!
Ye Manzhi expressed her determination to the teacher, saying that she would complete the task conscientiously. When the other party asked about the labor protection of female workers in the street office factory, Ye Manzhi answered a few questions.
We chatted for more than an hour before leaving with the stack of magazines.
Being assigned to the research group by the teacher was certainly great news worth celebrating for a freshman like her.
But although she was happy, she didn't forget the important things!
If you allow rumors to spread, they will soon become true.
She does covet the position of factory director, but she hasn't taken any action yet!
Why should she take the blame?
Ye Manzhi glanced at her watch and saw that it was already lunch time. She went back to the office to get her lunch box and prepared to go to the cafeteria to eat first before settling the score with Shi Lei.
Man is iron and food is steel. She is now eating for two and cannot miss a single meal.
Ye Manzhi strolled into the cafeteria and saw that some students had braised knife fish in their lunch boxes. She quickly quickened her pace and took a few quick steps.
Each city resident only had 7.5 taels of meat coupons per month. The big pot dishes in the student cafeteria were mainly seasonal dishes, with occasional meat and seafood only seen twice a year.
Being able to eat a meal of knife fish in the cafeteria is truly a Chinese New Year experience!
Ye Manzhi, with a bulging belly, walked as fast as he could to get a bite of food, and soon he was at the back of the team.
I spent 80 cents and bought half a box of braised saury.
As she was looking for a seat with her lunch box in hand, she sighed in her heart that it was fortunate that she went to school with her work experience and salary, otherwise she really would not be willing to spend money so lavishly.
She doesn't work now but still gets paid. She always feels like she got the money for free and spends it without hesitation.
Ye Manzhi looked around the cafeteria, but didn't find any empty seats. However, he saw a few familiar faces.
She closed the lid of the lunch box containing the knife fish and headed straight for her target.
"Shi Lei!" Ye Manzhi walked up to Shi Lei and asked in a voice loud enough for everyone at the nearby tables to hear, "What's wrong with you? Are you still a man?"
Shi Lei was stunned by the sudden question. After meeting the strange looks from several classmates at the same table, he finally came to his senses.
He said with a hint of shame and anger in his tone: "Could you please not be so vulgar?"
"Is being a man vulgar when I ask you?" Ye Manzhi said confidently, "What did we agree on at the beginning? Didn't we agree to fight with real swords and guns? No cheap tricks allowed? You promised me in person, but spread rumors about me behind my back! All my classmates are saying that I fired you to become deputy factory director!"
Ye Manzhi told him all the rumors of the past few days one by one, then looked at him with a frown.
"It's obvious that you don't like me, a pregnant woman, and you've repeatedly tried to get rid of my section chief. Why are you still blaming me? You weren't allowed to be the deputy production director because the integration of production and teaching wasn't good. That was the department leader's arrangement. What does it have to do with me? If I had the ability, why wouldn't I be pushing for the director? Why do I need a deputy director?"
It was lunchtime and the area was full of students and teachers having lunch.
As soon as she started shouting, she immediately attracted the attention of curious people.
Everyone stretched their necks to watch the fun.
Being questioned in public, Shi Lei's face turned from green to red. He threw down his chopsticks and said, "Who spread rumors about you? You need evidence to prove what you say!"
"Liu Shihu and Zheng Bin from your class have already confessed. You told them that! If you still want to quibble, let's confront them right there!"
The two people who had quarreled with Zhao Jinhua before, one named Liu Shihu and the other named Zheng Bin, were both classmates of Shi Lei.
Of course, it was impossible for the two of them to give Shi Lei away, but Ye Manzhi had already determined in his heart that Shi Lei was the source of the rumors.
Who else but him would make up such boring nonsense!
However, Ye Manzhi had planned everything, but she had never expected that Liu Shihu, whom she had never met, would actually be sitting at this dining table.
Their class had a technical class today. After class, several boys in the class came to the cafeteria to eat together.
Shi Lei looked at the buzz-cut boy opposite him in disbelief, "What did you confess? When did I ever ask you to spread rumors?"
When Liu Shihu was called, he said in surprise, "I didn't confess anything!"
Ye Manzhi: “…”
She thought it was a bad idea and quickly thought of her words.
She straightened her back and said, "You guys said I'm a pregnant woman who doesn't work, that I'm just sitting there doing nothing. Didn't you say that at the factory? If I don't work, how are you going to get all those production tasks? You were caught red-handed by my classmates and criticized by Teacher Ouyang, and you're still trying to make excuses! I have no grudge against you. You're not part of the factory management and didn't attend the management meeting. If no one told you, how did you know those meeting details?"
Liu Shihu had only whispered a few words to his classmates in private, and he still felt a little embarrassed when he was questioned by the real person.
He hesitated and said, "I heard it from others."
"Who are they?" Ye Manzhi asked in front of everyone, "and where did they get the information about them?"
Noticing Liu Shihu's gaze towards him, Shi Lei said unkindly, "When did I ever tell you that she was just occupying the toilet without doing anything?"
When his roommate asked him why he was kicked out, he just casually complained that the freshman Ye Manzhi was too difficult.
I never brought up this topic with anyone again after that.
This was not a glorious thing for him, and there was no need for him to keep reminding others that he had been demoted from deputy factory director to section chief.
Shi Lei felt that he was not wrong, so he explained the situation truthfully. "There were so many people at the briefing that day, who knows who spread the rumor!"
Ye Manzhi snorted and said, "The rumor started during your junior year, and many of the people who spread it were your classmates. Your job was changed because of the department's decision. Why do you say I'm difficult? If you hadn't been such a chatterbox in the dorm, how could anyone else know this?"
Shi Lei: “…”
Who is the chatterbox?
"Since the rumor originated from you, you're responsible for refuting it! If I hear anyone slandering me behind my back again, I'll find you, Shi Lei, if not anyone else!" Ye Manzhi lowered her voice and whispered to him, "Then I'll tell everyone in the school that you're not only a coward, but a nagging cat!"
Although the volume was lowered, the boys who were eating at the same table still heard it.
Someone couldn't help but burst out laughing.
Ye Manzhi ignored Shi Lei's gloomy face, snorted, and took the lunch box to enjoy the braised knife fish.
*
Because of the incident of blocking someone in the cafeteria and confronting him on the spot, Ye Manzhi became famous in the school.
Students from other departments haven't heard the rumor yet, but now they all know that she is powerful and difficult to deal with.
However, Ye Manzhi has always been a self-centered person. After solving the source of the rumors, she no longer cared about what others thought of her.
These days, whenever I get home, I go through the Russian magazines that Teacher Ouyang gave her.
She had read Russian novels before, but had little opportunity to read local Soviet newspapers and magazines.
Even though these magazines were out of date, she still read them with fascination.
She didn't translate "Sisters" for the time being, and instead started reading another romance novel serialized in a magazine.
Wu Zhengrong worked overtime at the factory at night, and when he returned home it was already lights-out time.
Seeing her leaning against the head of the bed, staring intently at the Soviet magazine in her hand, Wu Zhengrong wanted to ask her if she had been lying at home reading all day.
After two seconds, in case the pregnant woman had any resistance, he changed the subject and asked, "Have you been studying at home today?"
Ye Manzhi said "hmm" without even raising his head.
"Didn't you go out for a walk?"
"No, I studied hard." Ye Manyi said shamelessly.
Wu Zhengrong pondered for a moment, then took off his military jacket and quickly washed up before speaking again, "It's less than a month until your due date. Your belly is getting bigger and bigger, and it's too inconvenient for you to commute to school every day..."
Ye Manzhi put down the magazine and asked incredulously, "You don't want me to move back to the dormitory, do you?"
"No, grandma suggested we move back to the old house for a while. I was afraid you wouldn't be used to it, so I didn't agree. But you're getting heavier, so it's more convenient to live near the school. It can save you time traveling."
Wu Zhengrong has been working overtime recently and cannot accompany her for a walk every day like before.
It just so happened that Ye Lai Ya was obsessed with reading Russian novels these days. When he was not at home, Ye Lai Ya lay in bed for several hours without moving.
Instead of letting her stay alone, it would be better to move to the old house for a while and let grandma and aunt accompany her for a walk.
Ye Manzhi has a good relationship with the elders of her husband's family and often stays at her husband's house during festivals. She has no objection to living in the Wu family's old house.
After confirming that Wu Zhengrong would move with her, she nodded in agreement.
The lights-out signal blew again. Ye Manzhi put the magazine aside and asked him to turn on the light and go to bed quickly. Then she lay on her side beside him, putting half of the weight of her stomach on him, and then pressed her legs on his legs, finding a comfortable position.
"When will Grandpa come up with a name for the baby?" Ye Manzhi muttered. "He's got to hurry up! He has to pick a name before the baby is born! Otherwise, people will call him by random names like 'taxi' and 'pill'."
Dean Wu officially retired two months ago. It was inevitable that he had some difficulty adapting to life after retirement, so Ye Manyi gave him the task of naming the child to give him something to do.
The names of the Wu family members are all very nice, and she is very confident in Grandpa Wu's naming.
She was not anxious about this matter originally, but since her fourth sister-in-law gave birth, she had to be anxious.
When my third sister-in-law gave birth to her child, the new parents loved the child so much that they were not satisfied with any of the names they gave him. As a result, the child was born without a proper name, so my fourth sister-in-law took advantage of the opportunity and gave him a nickname called "Taxi".
As a result, two months ago, when my fourth sister-in-law's second son was born, she didn't give the child a good name.
Ye Manzhi saw on Wong Tai Sin's forehead: [Fortunately it's not a daughter.]
Then, she heard Wong Tai Sin suggest that the newborn should be named after his two older brothers. Maddox's full name was Ye Qifu, Taxi's full name was Ye Qixiang, and the youngest's full name was Ye Qiqiu.
Of course, there is no way that someone named Ye Qiqiu would be accepted.
But Wong Tai Sin holds a grudge, just like the fourth sister-in-law did back then, calling the newborn baby "qiqiu". So now the whole family has been led astray by her and starts calling babies "qiqiu" along with her.
Ye Manzhi was very nervous, fearing that her baby would be given a strange name when he was born.
Thinking of this, she asked anxiously, "Grandpa, can you give the baby a name? If not, let's just pick one for the baby! It's okay to give it a nickname first, whether it's a boy or a girl, the nickname will be "Pretty". Then when people call me, they can call me 'Pretty Mom' and you 'Pretty Dad', haha~"
Wu Zhengrong, who didn't want to be called "handsome dad", said: "..."
After finishing their interaction with the baby in her belly for the day, Wu Zhengrong gently stroked her head and said, "Let's stay over there tomorrow. Let's ask him about naming the baby. If he hasn't decided yet, we can choose one ourselves."
He also felt that Dean Wu was a bit procrastinating. Several months had passed, and he still hadn't come up with a decent name.
The couple had already prepared to name their own child, but when they moved into the old house the next day, Grandpa Wu handed his grandson a piece of red paper with the name he had chosen for his great-grandson on it.
Ye Manzhi didn't even look at the red paper and asked directly, "Grandpa, what name did you give your child?"
"Wu Yuzhuo, it can be used by both boys and girls."
Ye Manzhi's face froze for a moment, and he wondered who would name their child "Jade Bracelet"?
Wu Zhengrong seemed to see through her thoughts and explained: "If jade is not carved, it will not become a useful object. That jade is carved."
"Ohhh, that sounds nice."
At least it was a serious name, and Ye Manzhi finally felt relieved.
The baby had a formal name, and she and Wu Zhengrong settled down smoothly in the old house.
However, perhaps because of the change of environment, Ye Manzhi didn't sleep well for three consecutive days.
She was always thinking about the pear blossoms, sunflowers, a brood of chicks, and the vegetable patch in her yard.
When she couldn't sleep before, Wu Zhengrong had his own ways to help her sleep.
But she was already in the late stage of pregnancy, and the doctor had specifically emphasized that any form of sexual intercourse was prohibited.
Wu Zhengrong felt the situation was a bit awkward. When she woke up from another daze, he suggested, "Why don't we go back home? I'll drive you to and from school every day."
Ye Manzhi suddenly came to her senses and said quickly, "No need. It's not good for you to drive for personal business."
"I'll have to drive to and from the old house and the workplace these days." Wu Zhengrong leaned over to help her put on her shoes and said, "It's settled. I'll pay the factory for the gas later."
So, the young couple, who had just lived in the old house for three days, packed their luggage and moved back.
Ye Manzhi lay on her two-meter-long bed, took a deep breath of the scent of sunshine on her pillow, sighed that a nest of gold or silver was not as good as her own, and then closed her eyes and fell asleep in seconds.
Wu Zhengrong sat on the edge of the bed, his eyes passing over her hillock-like belly. He stared at her rosy face for a long time, leaned over and kissed her on the forehead, put on his military jacket again, and went to the factory to work overtime.
*
After Ye Manzhi returned to the military industrial compound from the Wu family's old house, she ate well, slept well, and was in good health again. Driver Wu was responsible for picking her up and dropping her off at school every day.
Kong Lin, the monitor of Class 2 in the same grade, took leave at the end of May to give birth.
According to her due date, Ye Manzhi estimated that she might miss several final exams, so she asked for leave from her teacher in advance.
I applied for a make-up exam for next semester.
However, she was prepared not to take the exam, but the child was reluctant to come out.
"Xiaoye, look at your belly. Are you about to give birth?" The resident group leader came to her home to do some work. When he saw her belly, he said, "I was originally thinking of asking you, a college student, to write a document on behalf of our resident group. But forget it."
Ye Manzhi asked: "What materials do you want to write?"
"Write a letter of determination to increase production and save money, and the neighborhood office will reward you with a towel and an enamel teacup!"
There are actually prizes!
Ye Manzhi readily agreed: "Being pregnant won't stop me from writing! I'll take the job and send it to you tomorrow!"
After the team leader left, Wu Zhengrong took the paper and pen and said, "Why are you writing a letter of determination? I see you're not going to have a baby anytime soon, so you should just focus on studying for the final exam."
Ye Manzhi's face fell. "What's wrong with this kid? I was hoping to use the opportunity of having a baby to get through this semester's final exams, but I've already finished my math, chemistry, statistics, and Russian exams, and he still hasn't shown any interest. Is he going to wait until I finish my last physics exam before he's willing to come out?"
"It's possible. You should review carefully."
Wu Zhengrong took the manuscript paper, took out a pen and wrote a line of cursive script on the top - "Determination to Increase Production and Save".
"Can you write a letter of determination? We must conserve water, electricity, coal, grain, and cloth. Write more! I'm also missing towels and teacups!" Ye Manzhi gave examples with concern, "For example, we must strictly practice eating enough and not wasting food, conserve food according to the original plan, and reduce electricity and water consumption by 20% compared to last month..."
Wu Zhengrong waved his hand and asked her to concentrate on reading and reviewing.
He wrote a letter of determination for his wife quickly, striving to win the grand prize from the street office.
Ye Manzhi sighed again, this child is really slow, and picked up the physics textbook to review.
She kept making a silent wish in her heart, hoping that the baby would be born before the physics exam.
However, she prepared for the physics exam normally, entered the exam room normally, and started answering questions normally.
After she finished a test paper and walked slowly out of the examination room, she said to Wu Zhengrong who was waiting at the door, "Hurry up! Comrade Wu Yuzhuo is too strict. He really won't come out until I finish the test!"
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