Chapter 85
In order to highlight the identity of military families and enhance the sense of honor of military families, the street office has made a lot of glory plaques this time.
It is a yellow paper with red characters, about the size of two bricks. On the top is a line of small characters that read "Be vigilant and defend the motherland", and in the middle are four large characters that read "Glorious Military Families".
Ye Manzhi felt that one should not be stingy with the honor plaques. Residents should hang as many plaques as the number of people in their families who have joined the army.
There was an old lady who handed over all her sons and grandsons to the country, and now she can hang four honor plaques at the door of her house!
Considering that Aunt Feng never works overtime on weekends, Ye Manzhi gave the task of awarding the honor medals to Gao Xiaoguang and Liu Jinbao.
It was also emphasized that the licensing process must be grand and lively, so that all neighbors, upstairs and downstairs, would know that this family was a military family.
Deputy Director Ye likes to sleep in on weekends and just hands off his work.
However, Gao Xiaoguang and Liu Jinbao really made her worry a lot. Before she even got up, the Young Pioneers, the Flower Drum Team and the Lion Dance Team came to her door playing music and jumping up and down!
Liu Jinbao took a hammer and nails and started nailing the glory board on the gate.
Six Young Pioneers, wearing snow-white shirts and red scarves, stood on both sides of the gate waving plastic bouquets.
A whole row of residents came out of their homes to watch the fun.
Ye Manzhi was dealing with questions from neighbors, feeling a little embarrassed.
There was no need to emphasize her identity as a military dependent. Few people in the compound didn't know that she was a military dependent.
She originally planned to get a sign and quietly hang it on the door.
I didn't expect Liu Jinbao and Gao Xiaoguang to be so high-profile.
"Very good, very good," Ye Manzhi said reluctantly, not wanting to dampen everyone's enthusiasm. "Our licensing ceremony should be just as grand! We should follow this standard when we visit other military families' homes! Time is short and the mission is heavy. Jinbao, Xiaoguang, you two should quickly take your comrades to the next house!"
Her family was the first on the card distribution route, and the flower drum team and lion dance team would also visit other military families in the compound.
She gave each of the Young Pioneers a piece of fruit candy and personally saw off this team full of revolutionary enthusiasm and vigor.
Catching a glimpse of Wu Zhengrong standing at the intersection, carrying his luggage and watching the excitement, Ye Manzhi immediately ran over and asked, "Why did you come back so early?"
"If I hadn't come back earlier, how could I have witnessed such a grand spectacle!"
"Oh, it's just a badge of honor. I didn't expect it to become such a big deal." Ye Manzhi couldn't hold his arm outside, so she had to help him hold the handle of his luggage bag.
However, as soon as she carried her luggage into the yard, she felt something was wrong.
Why did she feel something was moving in the luggage bag?
"What's in your bag?"
"A gift for you."
"You really brought me a gift!"
Ye Manzhi was quite conflicted about bringing gifts.
They went to the south to visit relatives for a month, and spent a lot of their savings on eating, drinking and buying local specialties.
The cash she brought with her was almost spent.
After returning to Binjiang, in order to save money, she usually took Wu Zhengrong back to her parents' home for dinner, and went to the Wu family's old house to eat on weekends.
Anyway, we just go back to each other's homes to eat and drink.
Before Wu Zhengrong went to Beijing, he asked her what gift she wanted. She originally wanted to tell him not to spend money recklessly, but then she thought, what if Wu Zhengrong thought she was going to be frugal and stopped bringing her gifts?
So she said vaguely, let him decide for himself.
Wu Zhengrong put the luggage on the table and signaled her with his eyes to open the bag.
"I just felt something moving inside," Ye Manyi leaned over suspiciously. As soon as her fingers touched the zipper, she turned her head and warned sternly, "If you dare to scare me with these random things, the consequences will be very serious!"
Wu Zhengrong smiled and urged, "Open it quickly."
He saw a black nose from the reserved ventilation hole.
If you don't open the zipper, the gift will pop out.
Ye Manzhi carefully unzipped her pants. Just when she had pulled it halfway, she heard a "woof" and a round head popped out.
"Oh my God—" Ye Manzhi was so frightened that she took a step back. After seeing the situation clearly, she asked in surprise, "Why did you bring back a puppy?"
Wu Zhengrong stroked the dog's head and said, "Let it keep you company when I'm not home."
"I already have pear blossoms!"
Wu Zhengrong said contemptuously, "What else can your cat do besides eating? It can run faster than you at the critical moment."
Branches full of leaves and pear blossoms: "::::::"
Ye Lihua, who was lying on the windowsill, seemed to understand his sarcasm and meowed twice in dissatisfaction.
Wu Zhengrong said disdainfully, "The sound of her barking is also meowing."
"Oh," Ye Manzhi patted his arm, "Don't say bad things about it in front of Lihua! Lihua is also very good at catching mice. Since it came, there are fewer mice in our area! It's all thanks to Lihua!"
"Well, let him catch mice, and get a dog to guard the house."
Yard No. 16 is located at the innermost part of the compound, some distance away from the nearby neighbors' homes. If something happens when Ye Manzhi is alone at home, the neighbors may not be able to notice it.
It's safer to have a dog in the yard.
While the two were talking, the puppy had already jumped out of the bag and was standing on the table, whimpering.
Ye Manzhi walked closer and finally saw its appearance clearly.
He has round eyes, a dark face, and some wrinkles on his forehead.
"Is this a pug?"
"Um."
"How many months old is it? I've never had a dog before. How do I raise a dog this small?" Ye Manyzhi touched the puppy's head tentatively, and the puppy squinted its round eyes comfortably.
Hey, although raising puppies wastes a lot of food, they are so cute!
"It's said to be more than three months old. Haven't you raised a cat before? Raising a cat is similar to raising a dog."
Ye Manzhi thought to herself that she had never experienced Lihua's childhood.
The Ye family has a hard time raising children, so how could they have the time to raise a cat? When they lived in a bungalow, they never had cats or dogs.
Ye Lihua came to them after they moved into the building because he was attracted by her beauty.
The other party insisted on being her kitten, so she accepted it with reckless abandon.
Wu Zhengrong observed her expression and asked, "You don't like having a dog? If you don't like it, just tell us. We can find a good home for it or give it away."
Ye Manzhi quickly took the puppy with wide eyes into her arms and said, "I like puppies, but I don't know how to raise one. What if it gets bad? And I need to feed it meat and grain, right?"
According to Wong Tai Sin, by then people might not even have enough to eat, so how can they raise dogs?
"This kind of dog isn't picky about food; it'll eat whatever people eat." Wu Zhengrong stroked the dog's head and said, "Its mother is quite formidable. When I was visiting a comrade's home, I heard her barking loud and fierce. She's said to be quite good at guarding the house, so I brought her back."
Ye Manzhi had no resistance to this furry animal cub. After hugging the puppy and kissing it, she couldn't bear to give it away.
She comforted herself by saying that her fifth brother had just bought her 100 kilograms of sorghum rice and 50 kilograms of red beans, and that she could then transport the food home and let the puppy look after it.
It can guard the house and keep the food, so it can be considered self-reliant and earn its own food through work.
Puppies deserve to eat and drink!
She convinced herself in her heart that since she already had Ye Lihua, a pug wouldn't make a difference.
So this pug puppy officially settled down in Yard No. 16.
Because the puppy's face was black in the middle and yellow around the edges, similar to the disk of a sunflower, Ye Manzhi wanted to name it "Ye Kuihua" after Lihua.
Wu Zhengrong reminded: "It's a male dog."
"Oh, then let's call him 'Haha'. He's a pug anyway, so calling him 'Haha' sounds pretty nice."
Thinking of Wu Zhengrong's expressionless "Haha", Ye Manyi couldn't help laughing.
Wu Zhengrong: “…”
Forget it, let’s just call her Sunflower.
He brought the dog back not to keep it as a pet, but to train it as a working dog to guard the house in the future.
The military representative office had two military dogs, and Wu Zhengrong had a general idea of how to train them, so when Ye Manzhi was overwhelmed with love and wanted to keep the puppies in the house, he flatly refused.
After lunch, we built a luxurious doghouse for Kuihua in a sheltered place in the yard.
Ye Manzhi started the sewing machine and made a super thick mattress for Kuihua using old clothes and old cotton, and then spread some straw on it, so that the puppy had a formal place to stay.
The native Lihua was quite wary of this new member and stood on the windowsill, observing the puppies' movements.
Ye Manzhi was originally worried that the cat and the dog would not get along well, but Ye Lihua was an sensible kitten. It often ran around in the yard and had seen many cats and dogs outside.
After confirming that Ye Kuihua had neither fighting power nor any threat, the cat's tail finally stopped wagging.
In the evening, he caught a little mouse and put it at the door of the doghouse as a snack for Ye Kuihua.
*
The puppy that Wu Zhengrong brought back kept the couple busy for most of the day.
When it was time to rest at night, Ye Manzhi finally had time to show off her recent experiences to him.
"Comrade Military Representative, I might become a People's Representative!"
"What do you mean by possible? The list hasn't come down yet?"
"Well, the preliminary list has just been submitted to the district. We still need joint nominations from higher authorities. Our street has one spot for an agency representative. Director Zhang, Liu Jinbao, and I are vying for this spot." Ye Manzhi put her arm around his and whispered, "I think Liu Jinbao's chances are slim. I think Lao Zhang and I have a 50/50 chance."
Wu Zhengrong recalled the situation in their unit and asked, "Liu Jinbao was the one stabbed by the female spy, right? He just had such a recent incident, so there's a good chance he'll be nominated."
Ye Manzhi laughed softly: "Your troops don't participate in the election of people's representatives. You don't understand the complexities of the election."
She sat up in bed, covered her chest with the quilt, and said excitedly, "Come, come, let me tell you about universal suffrage."
Wu Zhengrong hadn't seen her for half a month and didn't want to talk about universal suffrage so late at night, but when he saw her eyes shining and her cheeks flushed with excitement, he had no choice but to nod in agreement.
"There are certain ratio requirements for the allocation of district people's representatives. For example, religious and ethnic minorities must be allocated. In addition, there are certain requirements for the ratio of women representatives to party members. Women representatives must account for no less than 30%, and party members must account for no less than 40%!"
Mulan is both a party member and a women's representative, so she can fill two quotas by herself. That's why she was able to get a seat as an agency representative in the last session.
In addition to her own excellence, she also has the advantage of her status.
Liu Jinbao is not a party member, nor a women's representative. If she were nominated as a resident representative, she might be selected, but not necessarily as a representative of the nominating agency.
The district also needs to rely on agency representatives to increase the ratio of women representatives to party members.
Ye Manzhi and Zhang Qinjian, one is a women's representative and the other is a party member, both have certain advantages and the probability of being nominated is 50-50.
She has been alone at home these days, and in addition to reviewing her lessons, she has been studying the issue of universal suffrage.
"These are all valuable experiences I've pondered day and night, summed up, and now I'm teaching them all to you for free!"
After hearing all the information about universal suffrage, Wu Zhengrong couldn't help but pull the person down and said, "I've also been pondering a lot of valuable experience day and night, and now I can teach it all to you for free."
Ye Manzhi smiled and pushed him away: "I don't want your experience. What I teach you is serious experience. What you teach is not serious!"
"Director Xiao Ye," Wu Zhengrong leaned over and kissed her, "I have a suggestion for you."
"What?"
"Next time you talk to me about something serious," Wu Zhengrong pushed aside the loose quilt and lowered his head to hold the soft white thing in his mouth, "you should put on some clothes."
Ye Manzhi held his head with her cheeks flushed, "Don't be so ungrateful!"
*
Wu Zhengrong's return allowed Ye Manzhi to resume his regular life of working two days and resting one day.
Because there was suddenly a new member in the family, when she returned home for lunch at noon, she specifically told her mother not to throw away the leftovers and to leave them for Ye Kuihua to eat.
"Where are the leftovers for the dog at home? Your dad doesn't even have enough to eat!"
Ye Manzhi: “…”
"Can such a tiny puppy eat normally?" Chang Yue'e asked, "What have you been feeding it these past two days?"
Ye Manzhi didn't dare to tell anyone that Wu Zhengrong bought a bag of goat milk powder for the puppy.
If their mother knew that they fed the dog goat milk powder, Wu Zhengrong's reputation as a spendthrift would be confirmed.
She lied guiltily: "I just eat leftovers, but I can't eat anything too salty."
"Why do you keep that thing? It's not enough to worry about!" Chang Yue'e brought out an enamel basin and whispered, "This is the chicken soup I made for your third sister-in-law. There's no salt in it. You can pour out a bowl and take it back for that sunflower."
"My third sister-in-law already has the privilege of having her own kitchen?"
"I heard from the third brother that she seems to be pregnant, but she hasn't gone to the hospital for a check-up yet. The symptoms look very similar. The third brother gave me five yuan and asked me to make something good for his wife recently." Chang Yue'e glanced at her daughter's belly and asked, "You're fine recently, right? Is your period on time?"
"That's right." Ye Manzhi leaned close to her and whispered, "Wu Zhengrong said that we should wait until I'm 20 before having another child."
"It's the end of the year now. In two or three months you'll be 20."
"No! I'm still thinking of applying for a transfer student position this year. If I get pregnant, it might affect the selection results. Wu Zhengrong said we should wait until the results of this year's selection are announced."
Chang Yue'e is an experienced person and doesn't want her daughter to have a baby too early, but her son-in-law is eight years older than Lai Ya, so the family will inevitably urge her to have a baby.
She asked doubtfully, "Did Zhengrong really say that? He's not in a hurry to have a child? His elders aren't urging you to do anything about it?"
"Don't worry! His grandfather asked once, but he retorted."
Ye Manzhi felt that between married life and children, Wu Zhengrong preferred the former.
Chang Yue'e said with satisfaction, "Zhengrong is really thoughtful. Just listen to Zhengrong on this matter. Once you pass the exam for the transfer student program, you can think about having children later!"
She was happy and scooped another piece of chicken from the enamel basin and put it into the soup bowl.
"I'll help you feed Sunflower this afternoon, so you can go back to work without worry!"
Ye Manzhi nodded and handed over the task of feeding Ye Kuihua during the day to her mother.
She thought it was good enough that Chang Yue'e could give Kuihua a special meal.
However, Kuihua successfully captured Chang Yue'e's heart with its big round head and watery eyes.
It just so happened that she had been cooking special meals for her daughter-in-law recently. The third daughter-in-law couldn't eat so much by herself, so she left some good food for Ye Kuihua every day.
Let it eat special meals with the pregnant woman.
In less than half a month, the puppy gained a lot of weight.
Wu Zhengrong touched its plump belly and couldn't help but laugh, "It snowed last night, and I was worried it was too small to withstand the cold. Now that it's fat, it should be able to survive the winter."
Ye Manzhi agreed with a hum and a ha, but what she was thinking in her heart was that after Wu Zhengrong left the house, she would move Kuihua's doghouse into the house.
It's so pitiful to let such a little puppy spend the winter alone outside!
She pretended to be concerned and asked, "What time are you leaving? How about I go and see you off?"
"No need to see me off. I'll be back in five or six days at most." Wu Zhengrong kissed her on the forehead, picked up his luggage and went out.
They were going to deliver the products this time, and the round trip would take at most a week. Ye Manzhi glanced outside the door, confirmed that the other party had left, and quickly carried Ye Kuihua into the house.
"Sunflower, please behave yourself and stop making trouble in the house! Otherwise I'll have to send you back to the yard to freeze!"
After settling the puppies, Ye Manyzhi secretly lamented that Wu Zhengrong was too strict with the puppies, and went out to work with her bag on her back.
The preliminary list of people’s representatives has been submitted for a month, but there has been no movement from the district.
After Ye Manzhi arrived at the office, she couldn't help but ask, "Director, there's no news from the District Election Committee yet?"
"No," Zhang Qinjian put down his teacup and said with experience, "No news is good news. It means the list we submitted doesn't need to be adjusted. The district may be comparing candidates from other units right now."
Zhang Qinjian clapped his hands and said, "Everyone, put aside your work. There's an impromptu cadre meeting being held at the police station this morning, and we from the subdistrict office should also attend. It's almost time, so let's go now!"
Everyone stood up, grabbed their notebooks and pens, and walked out, asking, "Director, what did the meeting discuss?"
"You'll know when you get there!"
The meeting was chaired by Chief Liu from the police station.
Liu first introduced the international situation, noting how Britain and the United States were invading the Middle East with increasingly brazen and shameless force, and how Spain was deploying troops to carry out a bloody military crackdown on the people of the Ifni region of North Africa and bombing Morocco.
At this time when the world situation is tense, there are still many bad elements in society. We must never allow these bad elements to destroy the achievements of socialist construction!
Ye Manzhi was confused and bewildered when he heard it.
I don't understand what the international situation has to do with bad elements.
She was about to ask Aunt Feng beside her, when she suddenly heard what Liu said before, that the five categories of elements, namely landlords, rich peasants, counter-revolutionaries, bad elements and rightists, should be reformed.
Regarding the transformation of the five types of elements, Ye Manzhi has nothing to say.
But among these five categories, the number one is the landlord!
She and Aunt Feng looked at each other and both remembered the three landlords and military relatives of martyrs on Guangming Street.
Aunt Feng rarely took the initiative to intervene. "Xiao Ye, can we apply to the city government for information about the background of Jiang Wanqiu and the other two?"
These three military dependents got married before or just after liberation, and have been living in the city for many years.
Without working in the countryside, it is impossible to change your class status from landlord to peasant.
However, there are practical difficulties for military families not to participate in labor. The men are not at home all year round, and they have to take care of the elderly and children. Even if they are willing, they are unable to go out and participate in labor.
Ye Manzhi shook her head and said, "The last time I went to the district, I talked to District Chief Mu about their class background. District Chief Mu said that the local government can do some work to support the military, but there are limits to this work. Changing the class background of military dependents is not something we can control."
Even if we find the city, we still need the military standing committee to push it forward.
The military standing committee members are usually the commanders or political commissars of the military regions. Even if Ye Manzhi is very brave, he can't get close to them!
Aunt Feng also knew this was a difficult matter, and sighed, "Voteer qualification reviews only happen every few years, and once the event is over, everyone forgets about it. But reforming the five categories of elements is a long-term task... I think the landlord status of many military families can actually be changed. Even if policy doesn't allow it, military families should be given certain preferential treatment."
Ye Manzhi knew that what Aunt Feng said made sense, but she had no choice now!
Wu Zhengrong went on a business trip again, and she couldn't contact him for the time being.
Even if he were at home, he would have little say in such matters.
If we want to change the class composition of military families, it is not enough to rely solely on the power of Guangming Street or Zhengyang District.
This matter needs to be passed up and implemented from top to bottom.
After the meeting that day, Ye Manzhi waited for another three days. She wanted to wait until Wu Zhengrong returned home and then think of a solution with him.
She is now a military dependent and is quite concerned about the affairs of this group.
Especially since Wu Zhengrong has been on business trips one after another recently, she feels that the military families whose husbands are not around all year round must have a much harder time than she does.
Speaking up for other military families is speaking up for yourself.
That night, Ye Manzhi went to her mother's house and said to Old Ye, "Dad, please accompany me to the city!"
"Where are you going? Look at the time."
"We're going at night! Long-distance calls are half price at night!" Ye Manzhi handed him the cotton-padded jacket. "I want to make a long-distance call to my father-in-law. Don't dawdle. Come with me!"
"Why are you calling someone so late at night?" Old Ye didn't move and asked his daughter to explain the reason for the call.
Ye Manzhi briefly introduced the situation of several military families and said frankly: "He is the leader of the army and Wu Zhengrong's biological father. Who else can I go to if not him? I don't know any other leaders! Anyway, I'm not asking him to do a personal matter, so what are you afraid of!"
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