Chapter 86
When Wu Huainian returned to the room, Sun Ruzhen was still calculating the expenses of the kindergarten.
"Who's calling? Are you going out so late?"
"No need to go out, the call is from Zhengrong's wife."
Sun Ruzhen took off her reading glasses and asked, "Why is Xiaoye calling at this time? Is there something wrong in Binjiang?"
After Ye Manzhi returned to Binjiang, she wrote them a letter to report her safety and introduced the physical condition of the two elderly people. After that, there was no news.
When Sun Ruzhen heard that the person who had just called was her daughter-in-law, her first reaction was that something had happened in her hometown.
After all, long-distance calls are not cheap, and it is very troublesome to transfer calls through various channels. If there is a problem in any link, the call has to be made again from the beginning. Sometimes it may take an hour or two to get through.
Wu Huainian sat on the edge of the bed, thinking, and after a while he relayed the content of Ye Manzhi's call to his wife.
"Zhengrong has been away on a business trip these days. As a young woman, she's undecided about what to do, so she called to ask for my advice."
Sun Ruzhen thought for a moment and said, "Her intention is good. To allow soldiers to defend their country with peace of mind, they really need to ensure family stability. But since it involves changing the class status of the landlords, you need to think carefully..."
"Changing class status isn't new. Many military families who stayed in the countryside to work have already had their status changed. But the situation Xiaoye mentioned is quite special. A landlord living in the city, not engaged in agricultural labor, how can you expect the local comrades to change her class status? There are three military families who are landlords on one street. This is definitely not an isolated case. I'll go and inquire about the situation here tomorrow."
Sun Ruzhen put away the account book and asked, "What are you going to do about what Xiaoye said?"
"What can we do? As a deputy director of a neighborhood committee, she's definitely still concerned about the three military families on her street. I can certainly push things along here, but distant water can't quench immediate thirst, and ultimately it all falls to the provincial military district."
Wu Huainian flipped through his contact book and muttered, "Ever since Zhengrong was transferred to Binjiang for work, I've kept Old Zheng's phone number, thinking I could get in touch with him when my son needed me. But in the end, my son didn't use this connection, but my daughter-in-law did!"
His youngest son, who is well educated, thoughtful and opinionated, has never found a place to use his talents at work.
He was quite surprised that his daughter-in-law was willing to call him for help.
It was a rare opportunity for the child to speak, and since it was about issues concerning military families, he had to pay attention to it both publicly and privately.
…
Ye Manzhi in Binjiang was scolded by her father-in-law after she called him.
"I think you're just getting carried away. You're not even a regular deputy director yet, and you're already meddling in the landlords' affairs!" Ye Shouxin reprimanded in a low voice, "Zhengrong's father is a military leader. Asking him to speak for the landlords is like asking him to make a mistake!"
Ye Shouxin was born into a poor peasant family. When he was young, his family rented land from a landlord and even grazed sheep for the landlord. He had no hatred for the exploiting class in the old society, but he also had no good feelings towards them.
He actually didn't understand why his daughter helped the landlord change his identity.
"I've already made the call. What's the point of talking nonsense now?" Ye Manzhi supported her father and walked carefully on the snowy road. "I'm speaking for the military families, not for the landlords. Besides, my father-in-law is definitely more knowledgeable than me. He knows better than me whether this matter can be done or not."
Ye Shouxin asked: "What did he say?"
"He said he wanted to understand the situation and asked me to wait for his call."
Ye Manzhi went back and waited for two days, until Wu Zhengrong returned home from a business trip, but still did not receive a call back from Comrade Wu.
She was so enthusiastic at the time that she made the long-distance call without giving it much thought, but thinking back on it over the past two days, she felt that she might have been a bit rash.
"Do you think our dad can handle this?"
"Yes." Wu Zhengrong answered his wife's question while catching the dog. "If it wasn't possible, he would have rejected you on the phone that day. He wouldn't have kept you waiting."
Ye Manzhi felt relieved and pleaded for Ye Kuihua: "Just let it stay in the house. It's so cold outside, why do you have to let it go to the yard?"
"If it doesn't go to the yard, how can it guard the house?"
"It's so small, do you really expect it to guard the house?"
Glancing at the poor fleeing puppy, Ye Manzhi thought to himself that if he wanted to keep Kuihua in the house over the winter, he would have to use some strategies.
Among the Thirty-Six Stratagems, the one she is best at is the Beauty Trap!
So, Ye Manzhi put her arms around his waist from behind and whispered a few words in his ear.
Wu Zhengrong had indeed fallen for the trick and ignored the fleeing puppy. He turned his head and asked, "Hasn't our family run out of cloth coupons this year? Where did you get the cloth?"
"When we left Guangzhou, my eldest sister gave me two pieces of silk. One of them was too brightly colored and not suitable for making a cheongsam."
Ye Manzhi helped her elder sister-in-law contact a supplier of bicycles, and her elder sister-in-law gave her a lot of things when they returned to Binjiang.
Among them were two pieces of premium silk.
However, there is one piece that is pink jacquard.
She can wear a silk shirt of this color, but she can't wear a cheongsam like this because the color is too gaudy.
Wu Zhengrong said calmly, "Oh," and said, "If you're not suitable for making cheongsams, then you can make bidou."
"I originally wanted to make it for my third sister-in-law's baby, but then I thought it might be suitable for adults too..." Ye Manzhi couldn't explain any further and said angrily, "If you don't want to see it, forget it. I'm going to review!"
She felt that she might not be suitable for using the honey trap.
The practice of the beauty trap is too shameful. She should have chosen the self-torture trap or the sneak attack on Chencang.
Wu Zhengrong quickly pulled the person into his arms and chuckled, "Who said I don't want to see it? I definitely want to see it."
He was just a little surprised that Ye Lai Ya would take the initiative to make such clothes.
"You're still laughing!" Ye Manyi's eyelids were burning because of his smile.
"No, let me take a look first."
…
Ye Manzhi's beauty trap was very effective, and the military representative showed unprecedented enthusiasm.
However, the wake-up service the next morning also encountered unprecedented difficulties.
Ye Manzhi lay in bed like a soft noodle, not wanting to go to work.
"How about I ask for a leave for you?" Wu Zhengrong dragged the naked person out of the bed and dressed her while offering advice. "Just tell her that Director Xiao Ye has been overworked lately and needs a rest."
"I'm not asking for leave. I can't afford to lose face!"
Ye Manzhi was served like an old Buddha, dressed neatly, and after having breakfast, she finally forced herself to go to work.
Passing by Ye Kuihua, who was quacking at goat's milk, Ye Manyzhi stroked her round head and sighed, "To keep you here, I've used all my 36 strategies! Kuihua, you better behave yourself and stop making trouble at home! Otherwise, you'll be out in the cold!"
After winter officially arrived, Ye Manzhi decided to mend the sleeves of Wu Zhengrong's pretty green wool vest.
After not using a needle for more than half a year, her knitting skills had regressed a little. After humbly asking Aunt Feng for advice, she managed to knit a quarter of a sleeve in one morning.
I originally planned to complete the task of cutting half of the sleeves before lunch break, but at around eleven o'clock, I received a call from the provincial military district.
The other party claimed to be from the political department of the provincial military region and wanted to ask her about the work of supporting the military and caring for veterans, especially the situation of military dependents whose class background was landlords and rich peasants.
After hearing his question, Ye Manzhi intuitively felt that the phone call she made to her father-in-law had worked.
He immediately cheered up and introduced the problem of the three military families on Guangming Street.
After being reminded by Old Ye, Ye Manzhi became more cautious and did not say a good word for the landlord. He focused on the difficulties of military wives and military families throughout the whole process.
The other party just listened quietly, occasionally asked questions, but rarely interrupted.
Ye Manzhi guessed they might be taking notes, so she waited for several seconds after she had finished speaking before hearing someone ask, "Is that all?"
"Yes, that's roughly the situation."
The other party didn't say any polite words, just said "thank you for your cooperation" and hung up the phone.
Ye Manzhi stared at the beeping receiver in a daze. Since the comrades from the provincial military district have already understood the situation, there should be some hope of changing the class status of military dependents, right?
She knew that this matter could not be rushed and the leaders would have to hold meetings to study and discuss it repeatedly.
After she had done everything she could, she let the matter go.
It was not until the end of the year, when the street office began to select advanced individuals and grassroots work models, that things finally made progress.
After Aunt Feng went to the city to attend a meeting on supporting the military and caring for veterans, she brought back a piece of news - military and martyr families whose class background is landlords or rich peasants can be given priority to change their class background.
However, there are two prerequisites.
First, they must actively participate in labor. Military dependents who stay in rural areas must participate in agricultural labor, and military dependents living in cities must participate in industrial or family handicraft labor.
Second, receive ideological and political education regularly to improve political awareness.
Whether the conditions for changing class composition are met will be decided by the police station and street office in the place of household registration based on the actual transformation situation.
Ye Manzhi felt that these two requirements were reasonable and the threshold was not high.
If military dependents do not have the conditions to go out to work, they can still engage in home handicrafts at home.
Guangming Street's family handicraft industry ranks first in the city, and there is always something to do for these people!
"Director Ye, the district requires you to submit an evaluation report. You should hurry up and write it." Zhang Qinjian reminded him while sipping his tea.
"Director, I won't pay this year, okay?" Ye Manzhi said with a smile. "Each unit only has one spot for the grassroots work model award. I'll fully support you in your bid for the title!"
Zhang Qinjian was surprised and asked, "You really aren't going to participate?"
Ye Manzhi has always been proactive and always tries to get involved in everything.
"Model of Grassroots Work" is the only individual award that street directors and deputy directors have the opportunity to apply for.
According to her previous style, she would not miss this opportunity.
"I really won't participate. I'm still the acting deputy director this year, so my submission won't be competitive."
Zhang Qinjian said politely, "Our street has done quite well this year. Your contribution is obvious to all. Apply and you might have a chance of being selected."
Ye Manzhi chuckled in her heart. This Old Zhang, after hearing that she would not participate in the election, could hardly suppress the curve of his mouth, and he even had to pretend to be polite to her.
"Director, I really won't participate. I fully support you in your pursuit of the model title this year! If you need any additional materials, I can also help you collect some. No matter who wins the award between us, it will be an honor for Guangming Street." Ye Manzhi joked, "Director, you have to work harder this time and don't just run for the same position!"
Zhang Qinjian sighed and nodded. He was under a lot of pressure to strive for this model title.
I had been a runner-up once when I was the deputy director. Now that I am the director, it would be unreasonable for me to be a runner-up again when Ye Manzhi voluntarily withdrew.
After much thought, he decided to go to the district to report his work to the main leaders and show his face in front of them.
Ye Manzhi told him to just go to the district for activities, and she would take care of the house.
Giving up on striving for this model title was the result of her careful consideration.
She had only been acting deputy director for six months, and during that time she had taken a month-long family leave. It was unlikely the district would give her the position. Instead of writing documents, she would be better off reviewing her lessons.
Moreover, she took the initiative to withdraw from the selection, which was a precautionary measure to establish a good relationship with Zhang Qinjian in advance.
She felt that Zhang Qinjian had a high chance of winning the award, and the incident that happened immediately afterwards added some weight to their chances of winning the model title and advanced collective.
The incident was caused by an elementary school student's composition published in the newspaper - "The Unique March 8th Service Station".
Since this composition was published in an educational newspaper, Ye Manzhi did not see it immediately.
Even if she saw it, she wouldn't think it was a big deal. After all, it was a composition written by an elementary school student. She didn't even write the name of the street she was on, but just described the environment in the service station.
However, this student composition was submitted by the Chinese teacher, and was not only submitted to the "Provincial Education Newspaper", but also to other newspapers and magazines.
Last week, for some unknown reason, the provincial newspaper reprinted this elementary school student's composition. The editor also wrote a message at the end, revealing that the street where the elementary school student was located was Guangming Street in Zhengyang District, Binjiang City.
After the composition was published, some citizens came to visit the "March 8th Convenience Service Center". Some even brought lunch boxes for breakfast, intending to try the crispy straw hat cakes mentioned in the newspaper.
At this point, no one in Guangming Street thought it was a big deal. People can come if they want to. Eating at the service station can also help increase their sales. What a great thing!
While there are so many people here recently, the more money you can make, the better!
The first time Ye Manzhi realized that the matter had become a big deal was when a reporter from Binjiang Daily came to interview him.
As representatives of the street, she and Lang Qinghong took the reporters to visit the convenience service station and took photos.
The reporter asked, "Director Ye, Liu Xiang wrote in her essay that your service station offers breakfast, savings services, government bond exchanges, book and newspaper sales, magazine and stamp sales, utility bill payments, and insurance services. Is this true?"
"It's true!" Ye Manzhi pointed toward the door. "There are signs for the post office, bank, insurance company, Xinhua Bookstore, and water company. I've also read Liu Xiang's essay; it's very well written, realistic and vivid. But when she wrote it, our service station had just been established, and those were just the first few businesses we had."
"In fact, after several months of development, the service categories of the service station have long gone beyond this. We can help residents with many daily chores. For example, we can help residents pay rent and property taxes, purchase train tickets, bus and tram monthly passes, movie tickets, theater tickets, theater tickets, stadium tickets, and even call taxis and hire rickshaws at night."
The reporter asked curiously, "Can you even call a taxi? Has anyone used this service?"
"Yes, we have a partnership with the city's bus company. They have 19 taxis, and you can call two hours in advance to get one. So far, only one comrade has called a taxi, and that was to take his wife to the hospital to give birth."
The reporter scanned the bustling service station and asked earnestly, "Director Ye, how did you come up with the idea of setting up a service station staffed entirely by women?"
Ye Manzhi pushed Lang Qinghong out. "This is Comrade Lang Qinghong, the welfare committee member of our neighborhood. It was she and Comrade Yu Ziyang, the women's director, who first proposed hiring all women for the service station. Sister Lang, please tell the reporter about our original intention for organizing this service station."
Lang Qinghong looked at her with a smile, and then told the reporter about his initial mental journey.
It mainly emphasizes the practical difficulties faced by uneducated women comrades in getting out of their families.
The reporter quickly wrote down the information in his notebook. "Besides these, do you two have anything else to add?"
Ye Manzhi felt that there was nothing to add.
At first, she just wanted to open a restaurant to make money, increase some income for the street office, and allow cadres to use monthly bus passes when they go out to do business.
As for hiring all women and adding many service categories, that was all forced upon us.
If she was asked to come up with a more glamorous reason, she really couldn't think of one at the moment.
However, it is a rare opportunity to be interviewed by reporters, and this is indeed a valuable opportunity to promote Guangming Street to the outside world.
So she recalled the contents of several recent meetings in the city and district and quickly sorted out her thoughts.
"Our original intention in setting up the March 8th Convenience Service Station was, as Comrade Lang Qinghong said, to serve residents and to provide more job opportunities for women. However, we are constantly expanding the service categories and trying to provide residents with more comprehensive services, also hoping to free most residents from the complicated daily chores."
"Some time ago, the city leaders asked the people of the city to make a big leap forward, to work hard and compete with each other. We need to make leaps forward in every field, including industry, agriculture, and health. In this situation, everyone's time is very valuable."
"These tedious matters, such as paying fees, buying tickets, and purchasing books and newspapers, all require frequent trips into the city, which consumes a great deal of personal energy and time. Now these tedious tasks are completely handled by collective organizations, allowing residents to focus more time and energy on more important work. This is an important measure taken by our Guangming Street to respond to the call of the Municipal Party Committee!"
Hearing this, the reporter seemed to have finally heard something useful, and quickly took notes in his notebook with satisfaction.
Lang Qinghong, who was listening, said: "..."
Director Xiao Ye is really good at making up stories!
A few days ago, I was still grumbling about why the leaders wanted to organize another competition, but today it has become a response to the call of the Municipal Party Committee.
Anyway, no matter what the real original intention was, the response was quite good after the reporter's interview article was published!
In the following days, representatives from several other streets came to Guangming Street in groups to visit the March 8th Convenience Service Station.
Ye Manzhi and Zhang Qinjian took turns to be responsible for the reception. Although they were happy, they were not very happy either.
The main thing is that guests have come and they have to show their appreciation.
These visiting groups always stay at the service station for meals, and they are almost emptying their little coffers!
"Director, I don't think this will work. There are hundreds of streets in the city. If we treat everyone who comes to visit, we'll be bankrupt!"
Zhang Qinjian cared about his reputation, but he also cared about money. He gritted his teeth and said, "I won't entertain you anymore. Even if the emperor comes, he has to pay for his own meal!"
"Yes, that's it!"
The two of them vowed and made up their minds.
However, just one day after they said this, they received a notice from their superiors that Vice Governor Sun would come to Guangming Street to visit the "March 8th Convenience Service Station" and asked the Guangming Street Office to prepare for the reception.
Ye Manzhi put down the phone and asked, "Should I treat the leader to a meal at the service station?"
Zhang Qinjian's face flushed with excitement, "We must have a meal!"
The history of Guangming Subdistrict Office is about to be rewritten!
The highest-ranking leader they had received in the past was the mayor, but this time they were going to receive the vice governor!
The leaders came very quickly. They received a call the day before and came the next day.
It seemed that he was on his way to some unit and stopped by to visit Guangming Street.
Guangming Street was only roughly cleaned and then the leaders were received.
However, the focus of their visit was the service station, and they asked detailed questions about the situation at the service station.
He even asked about how each employee's salary was determined, the purchase price of rice, flour, grain and oil, the commission for purchasing tickets and selling newspapers on behalf of others, as well as tax issues.
The leader's schedule was tight, so he stayed at the service station for less than twenty minutes. After tasting a piece of fragrant straw hat cake, he was ready to leave.
Before leaving, Vice Governor Sun asked again, "Are you only planning to open one service station?"
Zhang Qinjian was quick to react and replied, "This service station is just a pilot program. We may open other service stations in the future."
Ye Manzhi added: "We have 18,000 residents in Guangming Street. One service station is obviously not enough. We will try to open a service station in every neighborhood committee to serve more residents."
Vice Governor Sun nodded, shook hands with them and left.
After seeing the leaders off, the people from the subdistrict office slumped in their chairs. Zhao Erhe murmured, "Are they really going to open a service station in every neighborhood committee in the future?"
"Why not? This service station isn't enough!" Zhang Qinjian said excitedly, "Liu Jinbao, take a look at the unused storefronts. Not to mention setting up one for every neighborhood committee, but at least we should ensure there are three service stations for every six neighborhood committees, right?"
Ye Manzhi also thinks that two more service stations can be opened. The current service station’s business is already saturated and the employees are sometimes too busy to handle it.
Especially those who are responsible for delivering newspapers, they always sigh every time they meet subscribers who live far away.
Everyone on Guangming Street thought that the arrival of the provincial leaders was their crowning moment.
However, things did not end there, and soon a bigger pie fell on their heads!
At a cadre meeting at the end of the year, Vice Governor Sun mentioned the "March 8th Convenience Service Station" on Guangming Street, Zhengyang District, Binjiang City!
We call on all urban streets in the province to learn from the "March 8th Convenience Service Station" on Guangming Street, provide convenience for residents' lives, free the vast number of workers and cadres from the tedious chores of life, and wholeheartedly promote production and construction. In the new year, the lives of the people across the province will reach a new level and achieve a great leap forward!
Ye Manzhi carefully studied the leader's speech.
The reason why the other party singled out their convenience service station was not because it was the first service station in the city staffed entirely by female comrades, but because this service station was all-encompassing and provided comprehensive services, allowing residents to get rid of the trivialities of life to the greatest extent possible and devote all their efforts to production.
Regardless of what the leaders think, after the slogan "Learn from the Guangming Street March 8th Convenience Service Station" was shouted out, Zhang Qinjian's title of "grassroots work model" was completely secured.
He has been beaming lately, walking with a breeze, and smiling warmly and kindly to all his comrades, as warm as spring.
However, Zhang Qinjian's good mood lasted less than a week.
After New Year's Day, the district election committee finally finalized the preliminary list of representative candidates.
There are 15 places, and not a single one is wasted.
But in the candidate for agency representative, the name filled in was Ye Manzhi.
Ye Manzhi smiled and said, "Hey, Director Zhang won the title of Model Worker at the Grassroots Level, and Liu Jinbao won the Advanced Individual Award. You've all made such great progress, and I was feeling quite disappointed. But now, having me as a candidate for People's Representative is a consolation prize, isn't it?"
Fortune and wealth are achieved through risk. Fortunately, she did not compete with Zhang Qinjian for the title of model.
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