Chapter 68
In the entire Guangming Subdistrict Office, only Mulan and Zhang Qinjian are district-level cadres who are qualified to be interviewed by the District Party Committee Organization Department. The others are supplementary cadres recruited by the subdistrict itself.
Although Ye Manzhi often considers herself a small cadre, she actually doesn't even know which way the Organization Department's door faces.
Never been there!
After receiving the call from the Organization Department, Ye Manzhi's first reaction was that she was going to be promoted!
Otherwise, why would the Organization Department want to talk to her? She has no qualifications if she is not promoted!
However, after calming down, she thought about the frequent personnel changes in the unit and felt that the Organization Department might want to use her to learn about the situation of other comrades, such as Zhang Qinjian.
Having been disappointed once before regarding the transfer of cadre students, Ye Manzhi did not dare to speak out this time. He waited anxiously all night and went to the district party committee organization department early the next morning as required.
Deputy Minister Lin was a middle-aged woman. After a brief opening statement, she went straight to the point and asked her about her views on street work and also asked her to introduce her work and studies.
After hearing the other party's question, Ye Manzhi felt relieved.
It seems that the subject of this investigation is herself.
This was her first time facing an organizational conversation, but the principle was the same: if she wanted to be promoted, she had to demonstrate her abilities and achievements!
So she put out the most impressive results first.
She is solely responsible for the street's cottage industry development. In the fourth quarter of last year, Guangming Street ranked second among all the city's streets in terms of cottage industry revenue. Thanks to the Anti-Imperialist Market this year, Guangming Street's cottage industry revenue has increased significantly, ranking first in the city in the first quarter.
In addition, the newly built "Anti-Imperialist Primary School" is the first "publicly run and privately assisted" primary school in the city. Under the severe conditions of tight municipal finances and extremely difficult enrollment of school-age children, they did not use a penny of financial allocation and successfully built the school by raising funds on their own. She also played an important role in this.
Ye Manzhi did not say that she was the one who obtained the school construction indicators and exchanged for the cement. She felt that this was too straightforward.
If she heard other people talking like this, she would feel that they were stealing her credit.
In addition to the two outstanding achievements mentioned above, Guangming Street’s adult literacy work has also been very effective.
Although it is not the street with the highest number of people who have been freed from illiteracy in the district, it has the largest number of people who choose to continue their studies and study in adult high school classes after graduating from the literacy classes.
She picked out the key points and gave a brief introduction to the main work.
As for the academic performance, the deputy minister was definitely not asking about the academic performance, but whether there was progress in ideological and political aspects.
Ye Manzhi has already submitted an application to join the party, and has also completed the grassroots cadre training class at the Party School. Her test scores ranked fifth in the class.
Although she failed to make it into the top three, she is so young. Ye Manzhi feels that this achievement is worth bragging about!
So, even though she was only ranked fifth, to Deputy Minister Lin's ears, the tone sounded as if she had ranked first.
Mulan had previously said that this Comrade Ye was positive, confident, and passionate about his work. She hadn't taken it seriously then, but now she had come to understand that Ye Manzhi truly possessed a strong revolutionary spirit.
Deputy Minister Lin calmly looked at the young comrade and asked with a smile, "Besides attending the grassroots cadre training class, what other areas have you studied? What textbooks have you read recently?"
"Two comrades were recently transferred, and the work at the unit has been quite busy. I've only skimmed through 'How to Be a Communist Party Member' and haven't had time to read it in depth. However, after submitting my application to join the Party, I've read the Party Constitution and the Political Knowledge Reader, and also read 'How the Steel Was Tempered.'"
Ye Manzhi actually wanted to mention a few high-quality titles she saw on Wu Zhengrong's bookshelf, but she hadn't read them. What if her boss asked her to share her reading experience and she didn't know anything? Wouldn't that be embarrassing? So she stayed honest and talked about what she had read.
"Well, it's fine for young cadres to read these books. Later, they can also look at 'Socialism and Communism' and 'On the Cultivation of Communist Party Members' to gradually deepen their study." Deputy Minister Lin mentioned a few book titles and then, according to procedure, asked, "Do you feel you still have shortcomings?"
Ye Manzhi couldn't find any significant flaws at the moment.
She is not very "excellent" in some aspects, but she can still reach the "good" level. "Good" cannot be considered a disadvantage, right?
If she had to point out a shortcoming, it would be that she was too young and had worked for too short a time. When selecting and transferring students, her length of service was her shortcoming.
However, she would not take the initiative to bring this up. What if her boss also thinks she is too young and doesn't promote her?
Therefore, Ye Manzhi thought about it for a long time and just said that the efforts to carry out self-criticism were not strong enough. Moreover, she had rich experience in grassroots work and was good at dealing with the masses, but lacked experience in working in government agencies. When she came to work in the District Party Committee Reform Office, she did not understand the situation of the government agencies and made many jokes, such as mistaking a bus for a car.
She was originally a grassroots cadre, so it was normal for her to lack experience in government work. She felt that this shortcoming was not a big deal.
*
The conversation lasted more than half an hour, and when Ye Manzhi left the district party committee office building, his palms were full of sweat.
According to the information revealed by Vice Minister Lin, the reason for today's inspection is that Director Mu recommended her to the organization department.
She suddenly understood how Director Mu felt when he introduced her to someone, and her gratitude and joy were beyond words!
After Ye Manzhi returned to the unit, she had another private talk with Director Mu.
"Director, you recommended me to the Organization Department, right?"
"Well, no matter what the final result is, you should keep calm and continue to serve the residents of Guangming Street."
When Mulan talked with the organization, she recommended Zhang Qinjian to succeed her as director and also recommended Ye Manzhi as deputy director.
Ye Manzhi is young, which is both a disadvantage and an advantage. It is an indisputable fact that young people are smart and energetic.
Mulan was able to catch the attention of his superiors partly due to the young people's creative ideas.
The primary school's construction indicators and last year's second-class model were both obtained by Ye Manzhi, so recommending Ye Manzhi could be considered a "merit" for her.
Moreover, she will work in Zhengyang District in the future. Guangming Street was built by her with her own efforts. It is both her achievement and her base.
Mulan needs to continue the brilliant achievements of Guangming Street, while Zhang Qinjian is more calm and mature, good at maintaining the status quo but not at being enterprising enough.
Now the whole city is engaged in socialist construction, and other streets are making progress. If Guangming Street stands still, it will be equivalent to regressing, and it will not be long before it is overtaken by other streets.
Therefore, Mulan wanted to choose an enterprising partner for him.
People transferred from other units might not necessarily listen to her, but Ye Manzhi was a young cadre she had personally trained, and it was just right for her to be in the position of deputy director.
Ye Manzhi asked hesitantly, "Director, I'm too young and haven't worked for many years. I'm afraid the organization won't agree, right?"
"The fact that you were able to have a talk with the organization shows that they recognize your recent work achievements. Don't overthink it, just focus on your work."
Mulan didn't say too much.
She was able to recommend Ye Manzhi to the organization department, and of course she also took her age shortcoming into consideration.
At other times, young people who have just started working may not have the opportunity to be promoted.
But this year, the city government proposed to build a cadre team armed with Chairman Mao's thoughts, with a strong revolutionary spirit, and close ties with the masses. This team must include both leading cadres with long-standing revolutionary experience and outstanding young people.
It also emphasizes that certain old comrades should overcome their conservative right-wing ideas of seniority and widely cultivate proletarian successors, nurturing them at all levels.
Now, cultivating revolutionary successors is the political task of party organizations at all levels, and there are plans at every level.
Ye Manzhi comes from a working-class peasant family and is a young cadre who has made achievements. He is likely to be selected by the district to "cultivate talents."
The person involved, cadre Xiao Ye, had no idea that he might be admitted to the "Miao Miao Class".
Director Mu asked her to calm down, and she really did so and stopped thinking about promotion.
The key point was that this wasn't something she could influence. Although Director Mu had recommended it, Zhang Qinjian was her immediate superior, and the Organization Department would definitely have to seek his opinion.
Ye Manzhi felt that Zhang Qinjian might not be willing to work with a young person like her.
So, Ye Manzhi put the matter aside and started to busy herself with her own wedding.
Due to changes in her work, Wu Zhengrong never mentioned the topic of marriage. She heard the two dates chosen by the elders from Chang Yue'e.
She went to discuss it with Wu Zhengrong, and they both wanted to get the marriage certificate on May 28th.
There is no need to explain why Wu Zhengrong chose this day. The newly made wooden bed has been hanging out for more than a month, just waiting to welcome the arrival of the hostess.
Ye Manzhi chose this date mainly because she didn't want to choose August 1st. After August, all units were very busy, especially the military representative office, which had to organize some kind of National Day celebration every year. Wu Zhengrong would probably be traveling frequently during the honeymoon period, leaving her alone.
The two had their own reasons, but they both chose to register their marriage on May 28th.
When the elders of the two families were discussing the betrothal gifts, Ye Manzhi and Wu Zhengrong were not there.
But when Chang Yue'e came back, she gave her 600 yuan and asked her to deposit it in the bank.
"The old lady of the Wu family said that when Zhengrong's brother and sister got married, their parents prepared a betrothal gift and dowry of 300 yuan each. All the children in the Wu family were provided for according to this standard, and the private contributions from other elders were not counted."
Chang Yue'e whispered, "I don't know how much his brothers and sisters have contributed, but the Wu family's relatives are all here in Binjiang, so even if someone does contribute, it's limited."
"Then how did you get back the six hundred? The other three hundred were given by his grandparents?" Ye Manzhi asked.
Chang Yue'e nodded. "The dowry we prepared for you has already been used to buy you a house, so we won't give you any extra money. When you get married, you'll get a house in the city center, which is more impressive than any dowry! We won't keep a penny of the 600 yuan the Wu family gave you. Save it for your future needs."
A betrothal gift of 600 yuan is considered quite high in the city, and an average family would be very generous if they had 200 or 300 yuan.
The betrothal money of the three daughters of the old Ye family was allowed to be taken away by the daughters themselves. The daughters could take away as much as their husband's family gave them.
"You two should hurry up and take your wedding photos. I'll go to Zhengrong's house in the next two days to check on anything he needs. I'll quickly make up for it."
Thinking of the new bed in Wu Zhengrong's room, Ye Manzhi's cheeks felt like burning.
But if her mother had gone to see the house, she would have certainly seen the bed as well.
She stammered, "Wu Zhengrong built a new bed, and the mattress we prepared might not be the right size."
"I made your mattress based on a width of 1.5 meters. Is it too wide or too narrow?"
Quilts and mattresses are part of the woman's dowry. Her family has to buy cotton in advance to make quilts, and prepare several quilts, both thin and thick.
When the eldest and second daughters got married, Chang Yue'e made six quilts.
But now cotton and cotton cloth had to be purchased with coupons, and the cotton cloth she had saved before was not enough, so she only planned to make four quilts and two mattresses for her little girl.
Ye Manzhi pulled the bills out of the envelope and pretended to be busy counting the money while saying, "The mattress you prepared is a bit narrow."
Chang Yue'e asked, "Is 1.5 meters not enough? How wide is his new bed? Actually, a difference of ten centimeters is not a big deal. Just spread the bedsheets out and you won't notice anything."
"It seems to be more than half a meter away..."
"Oh," Chang Yue'e paused and said with a dull face, "that's a bit too much."
The difference is more than half a meter, which means the bed is more than two meters.
Apart from the earthen kangs in rural areas, she had never seen a bed more than two meters long in any city home.
Her son-in-law really broadened her horizons!
…
Because of the new bed made by Wu Zhengrong, Ye Manzhi felt three points shorter in front of her biological mother.
When the two of them went to the photo studio to take wedding photos, she criticized the military representative.
"You made a bed so wide that the mattress my mom prepared for me won't fit!"
"My bed was already made. Didn't you see it? Didn't you tell Auntie the measurements before she made the mattress?"
"I forgot. It's a common convention that mattresses should be 1.3 meters and 1.5 meters long, but my mother made them a bit bigger."
"Well, this is my fault. Auntie doesn't have enough cotton and cotton cloth, right? I'll get her some cotton later and tell her to make the mattress thicker. We have cotton at home." Wu Zhengrong adjusted the collar badge of his military uniform in front of the dressing mirror, then sat in the chair in front of the camera and gently reminded him, "Don't pout, or you'll get a pouting wedding photo."
"Who's pouting?" Ye Manzhi also adjusted her shirt collar and sat down next to him, gently reminding him, "You must remember to smile later! The photo will be affixed to the marriage certificate for life, and you look better when you smile."
The photographer stood in front to help the two people guide their sitting posture.
"Don't blink for a moment! Lesbians, stop smiling and be serious when taking pictures."
Unfortunately, the lesbian didn't listen at all. Marriage is a happy occasion, why be serious? She just wanted to laugh!
When the master reminded her, Ye Manzhi stopped smiling. However, as the flash went on and the shutter clicked, the female comrade on the film smiled brighter than anyone else.
When he stood up from his chair, Ye Manzhi asked worriedly, "Did you laugh just now? If not, let's do it again."
"I laughed! I dared not not laugh," Wu Zhengrong said in a voice only the two of them could hear. "If I didn't laugh, you would nag me for the rest of my life."
"Hmph, I'm going to enlarge this photo and hang it on the wall of my room. It's going to make me feel happy and cheerful, and maybe it'll bring us good luck!"
These words were just something Ye Manzhi said casually.
However, on the morning of May 28, when she was about to register her marriage with Wu Zhengrong at the street office, she suddenly received the latest appointment from the district.
Comrade Mulan, the former street director, was transferred to the Zhengyang District People's Committee and served as deputy district mayor.
Comrade Zhang Qinjian took over the position of director and was in charge of the overall work of Guangming Sub-district Office.
Comrade Ye Manzhi will temporarily take over the position of deputy director of Guangming Sub-district Office to assist the director in completing his work.
Ye Manzhi stared at the lines of words on the notice and read them several times. She was overwhelmed with surprise. She was really lucky!
"Director, what does acting as deputy director mean? Will there be anyone else who can serve as deputy director in the future?"
"Probably not."
Mulan called her out and whispered, "You've only been working for a short time, so the organization still needs to assess you. If you pass the year-end cadre assessment, the word 'acting' in front of the deputy director position can be removed."
Ye Manzhi asked, "It's like the probation period when I first started working, right?"
"That's understandable."
"Is that deputy director really the deputy director?"
"Of course. When you're working, don't always think about the word 'deputy' and think of yourself as the deputy director!" Mulan patted her hand and said, "Although Guangming Street has developed well in the past year, our basic conditions are poor and there is still a lot of work to be done. Xiaoye, as the deputy director, you must do a good job! Assist Director Zhang to take charge of the work of Guangming Street!"
Ye Manzhi nodded happily: "I will cooperate with Director Zhang to complete the work seriously and will never let you and the organization down!"
When Wu Zhengrong walked into the street office, the office was in a state of chaos.
Zhao Erhe was expressing his reluctance to leave Director Mu, and Liu Jinbao was jealous and asked Director Ye, who had just been promoted, to treat him to a meal.
"What are you so happy about?"
Mulan smiled and said, "Captain Wu, you chose a great wedding date. It's a double blessing today. Xiaoye has been appointed deputy director of our subdistrict office!"
Wu Zhengrong also thought this was a good day. He looked at Director Xiao Ye, who was smiling secretly, with surprise and joy. "Really? Then we really have to treat you!"
He opened the bag of wedding candy in his hand and put a handful of wedding candy on everyone's desk in the office.
Ye Manzhi had previously complained that he didn't know how to live. When most people registered for marriage, they would buy some fruit candies at 97 cents per pound, or some mixed candies at 95 cents per pound, which was considered quite good. However, her military representative spent money lavishly and bought a bag of mid-grade milk candies at 1.6 yuan per pound.
However, today is a double celebration, the marriage registration and her promotion, so this 1.6 yuan candy is perfect for her!
Ye Manzhi had already used her position to fill out the application forms for the two of them. Now she handed all the materials to Aunt Feng and asked her to help write and stamp the marriage certificate.
Aunt Feng made a rare joke, "Director Ye, shouldn't you write a marriage certificate for yourself? That would be so meaningful!"
"Haha, I made up my mind on my first day at work: when I get married, I want Aunt Feng to write me a marriage certificate! Now that this day has finally come, Aunt Feng, you have to use your best skills and write a good one for me!"
Aunt Feng nodded and filled out a new marriage certificate very carefully.
When it was her turn to use the seal, she turned around and asked, "Director Mu, tomorrow we'll be District Chief Mu. Can you please help Xiaoye put the Guangming Subdistrict Office's official seal on the marriage certificate?"
"Okay, Lao Feng will write and I'll stamp it. From now on, only Lao Zhang and Xiao Ye can use this official seal." Director Mu stamped the seal and said with a smile, "Comrade Ye Manzhi and Comrade Wu Zhengrong, I wish you a happy wedding, a long and happy marriage, and an everlasting unity. May you work together for the cause of communism and become each other's closest and most reliable comrades on the road to progress!"
Wu Zhengrong took the freshly issued marriage certificate, confirmed the contents as usual, and then thanked Director Mu and Aunt Feng with a smile.
Ye Manzhi next to her was already crying.
Wu Zhengrong stuffed the handkerchief into her hand and explained to Mulan, "She just can't bear to leave you. She's told me several times before that she doesn't want Director Mu to leave. Xiaoye is just like that. She's just like that."
Liu Jinbao: “…”
Ye Manzhi was already a good talker, but she didn't expect that the man she found was also good at talking nonsense.
What a true character! He was probably excited because he got promoted to deputy director!
Hey, we are all young people, and he does a good job. Why doesn’t the organization consider making him the deputy director?
Liu Jinbao scratched his head in envy and jealousy, he really couldn't understand it!
*
Ye Manzhi's eyes were still red when she went home with Wu Zhengrong holding the new marriage certificate.
She had actually already decided that she would be happy when she got her marriage certificate, but she was first struck by the surprise of her promotion, and before she could recover, she was moved by the sentimentality of Director Mu and Aunt Feng.
Thinking that Director Mu would go to work in the district tomorrow, she couldn't control her tears.
"Don't cry, our mother is still waiting at home."
Ye Manzhi's tears were frightened back by his calling her "Mom". Too many things happened today, and she had not had time to adapt to her married status, but Wu Zhengrong had already changed his name to call her Mom.
Chang Yue'e agreed very naturally and happily gave her new son-in-law a big red envelope for changing his mind.
The two children even got their marriage certificate, but if they don’t call her mom, will they call her aunt?
She likes young people like Zheng Rong who are straightforward and straightforward!
Although the wedding banquet had not yet been held, the two were already legally married. Chang Yue'e asked them to go back to the house and rest for a while while she went to prepare lunch.
Ye Manzhi, the person involved, hadn't yet adjusted to the change in her status. She leaned against Wu Zhengrong for a moment and asked, "What are we going to do next?"
"What do you want to do?"
"I'm telling you something serious!"
"The next step is to move your things to my place and choose a date for the wedding..." Wu Zhengrong didn't continue, and instead asked, "When will your work in the district be completed?"
"It's almost there, probably about half a month from now. What's wrong?"
"Active-duty military personnel and their families are entitled to home leave. Those who haven't visited their parents in four years can take 20 days off to do so. I haven't taken home leave since I joined the army. After the wedding, we can find time to visit my parents. Their base is by the sea. You've never been to the south before, so this is a good opportunity to go and see them."
Wu Zhengrong actually wanted to take her to Beijing, Tianjin and Shanghai.
However, the round-trip travel expenses can be reimbursed for home leave, and there are restrictions on the destination, which must be to visit parents.
Then I can only take her for a walk around Lao Wu’s residence.
Ye Manzhi asked in surprise: "Can I take a vacation with you too?"
"Of course. After you hand over the work, tell me the time and I'll buy the ticket in advance."
Seeing that she stopped crying, Wu Zhengrong finally felt relieved. If he had known this trick would work, he should have used it earlier.
Ye Manzhi asked excitedly, "How many places can we go? Can we take trains and ships?"
Not to mention the south, she has never even been out of Binjiang.
She has never seen the sea or ridden on a big ship!
Ahhh, she wanted to visit her relatives so badly that she couldn't wait to have the wedding banquet and enter the bridal chamber tomorrow!
However, she had just become deputy director, and the subdistrict office was currently understaffed, with three staff vacancies.
If Zhang Qinjian recruits staff for the street office during her vacation, all the people he recruits will definitely be his relatives. Then the street office will be under Zhang's sole control, and she, as the deputy director, will probably have to step aside.
Ye Manzhi frowned and thought.
A heart was divided into two halves, one half was given to the distant sea and Wu Zhengrong, and the other half was given to the street office.
She had to think of a way to gain a foothold in the position of deputy director as soon as possible.
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