Chapter 34
As the deputy chief of the Culture and Education Section of the Education Bureau, Tang Ning was well aware of the situation at the entrance of the section.
As soon as Ye Manzhi opened his mouth, she recognized him.
This is also one of the clerks queuing at the door.
The girl was young and pretty, and when people passed through the corridor, they would unconsciously take a few more glances at her.
But, even if you are a fairy, you can't chase me to the bathhouse, right?
Are there any rules anymore?
Tang Ning was unhappy and frowned, saying, "I don't need a bath. What's wrong with you, comrade? Why would you come to the bathhouse and block people?"
Unexpectedly exposed so quickly, Ye Manzhi sighed inwardly and, imitating Zheng Dongmei's expression, asked blankly, "Why can't we come to the bathhouse to talk? Our director said that those who do revolutionary work should be like the People's Liberation Army building the Sichuan-Tibet Highway, fearless of hardship and death. We grassroots cadres must exhaust all our resources and use all our minds to serve the people wholeheartedly!"
Tang Ning: “…”
Why is this child so stupid? Is she talking nonsense?
"Which unit do you work for? How long have you been working here?"
"I just started working this month," Ye Manzhi said, eyes wide and nervously looking at her. "Auntie, you're not going to complain to our director, are you? I, I didn't do anything, did I? I'm just talking to you for a while, it won't bother you taking a shower."
Tang Ning thought to himself that it was no wonder that young people who had just started working were the most enthusiastic about their work.
He always does things that make people laugh and cry.
She rinsed the soap foam off her head and asked with narrowed eyes, "Why did you come to see me?"
Ye Manzhi quickly seized the opportunity and said, "The school dropout rate for school-age children is particularly severe this year. Our neighborhood committee would like to apply to the Education Bureau for a quota for building a new primary school. And unlike other units, we can raise some of the funds ourselves."
"The Education Bureau has stated this many times: education funding will temporarily favor secondary education, and there will be no quota for new primary schools this year."
The Culture and Education Department is responsible for approving documents and has explained this to various units many times.
But some people just want to take chances and insist on blocking the entrance of the Culture and Education Department.
Ye Manzhi asked in surprise, "So the Education Bureau had already said that? If there were no quotas, why did our director ask me to come to the Education Bureau to ask for them?"
"Well, I've told you before. Go back and tell your boss that our district doesn't have any quotas, so it doesn't matter who comes."
"So our leader already knew about this. Now I can report back." Ye Manzhi said shyly, "This is my first time working, and I'm afraid of disappointing my leader. I hope I was a bit rude before!"
Seeing that she didn't continue to pester him, Tang Ning felt a little satisfied.
Young people who have just started working can easily make a fool of themselves if they don’t know the rules.
"If you have nothing else, go back. Don't work like this in the future."
"Then I'll take a shower before going back. I've already bought the ticket," Ye Manzhi said with a smile. "I live in an apartment building, so it's inconvenient to take a shower. Every night, all the women on the floor gather in the bathroom, close the door, and shower in a basin. Although I can take a cold shower every day, it's not as comfortable as a hot shower."
Tang Ning nodded and said, "Your idea is good. You can make use of the bathroom and save us the time of going to the bathhouse every day."
"Haha, you have to hang curtains when you shower in the bathroom, and you have to find two people to guard the door. At first, we were inexperienced and almost got seen by the residents of the building opposite..."
Ye Manzhi chatted with her about the water room and the bathhouse for a while. Feeling that her attitude had softened a bit, she turned the topic back to the primary school indicators.
"Auntie, why doesn't the country build more primary schools? There are so many school-age children on our street. It would be great if we could build more primary schools so that all the children can go to school!"
“Because we need to concentrate our efforts on major tasks.”
Tang Ning also enjoyed appreciating beauties. When this girl stood there, her waist was her waist and her hips were her hips, she covered her chest with a towel and raised her little butt, which was quite pleasing to the eye.
Her expression relaxed, and she could naturally say a few more words.
"The country is striving to complete its first five-year plan, and all undertakings are being vigorously developed. I ask you, what is needed to develop these undertakings?"
Ye Manzhi replied: "Money and people."
"Yes, construction requires a large number of talents, and the quickest way to cultivate talent is to expand middle school enrollment. However, the country's financial resources are limited, and the main focus is on industrial development. There is only so much funding for education, and if funds are prioritized for middle school education, primary schools will suffer."
It was the first time that Ye Manzhi heard such an argument, and suddenly he had an epiphany.
She said, primary school is basic education, how can the leaders of the Education Bureau ignore the problem of primary school students dropping out of school!
However, understanding is one thing, but we still have to fight for it.
"Aunt, we can raise some funds ourselves to alleviate the country's financial pressure," she added, gritting her teeth. "If that doesn't work, we can pay for it all. Wouldn't that still give us some quota for running the school?"
This bathhouse was a large open space with no partitions between the shower heads, so the conversation between the two people could easily be heard by others through the sound of the rushing water.
The female cadre under the shower next door interjected, "Schools funded by private individuals are considered private schools. There were quite a few of them in the early days after liberation, but there were many chaotic problems among private schools. They were reorganized by the municipal bureau long ago, and are now all publicly run. Comrade, the district also follows the city's orders. You won't solve the problem by chasing them to the bathhouse."
“…”
Tang Ning turned off the water valve and said as she wiped her hair, "The primary school students' absence from school is only temporary. Once the bureau has funds, it will definitely increase its investment in primary education. Don't worry, just wait a little longer."
Ye Manzhi complained in his heart, we can wait, but primary school students can't.
The oldest child in the literacy class is already 11 years old. In another year or two, he or she will be able to go to middle school.
*
Ye Manzhi ultimately failed to obtain the school operating quota.
But the fact that she chased someone into the bathhouse was spread by Zhao Erhe.
They spent four days at the Education Bureau, and they couldn't waste their time.
So, after returning to the street office, he reported their experience to the two leaders. Ye Manzhi went into the women's bathhouse, while he was guarding outside.
Anyway, neither of them has any credit, but they both worked hard.
However, Zhang Qinjian's face turned grim. "Aren't you just fooling around? We have to follow the proper procedures when doing our work. How can you resort to such crooked methods? You're blocking the leader after get off work hours, and even blocking him in the bathhouse! If people find out, how will they view our Guangming Street officials? Are there any rules left?"
Ye Manzhi didn't argue with him before because the organization was still in his hands, which was no different from being held by someone else.
But she has already officially started working, and her title on her work permit is "cadre."
As long as she doesn't make any mistakes of principle, Zhang Qinjian cannot fire her.
So, when faced with Zhang Qinjian's criticism again, Ye Manzhi chose to say whatever he wanted.
"She doesn't even know my name, let alone which unit I work for. Don't worry, she won't bring shame to Guangming Street. Besides, Deputy Section Chief Tang wasn't angry. I even treated her to a bottle of iced soda after her shower!" Ye Manzhi asked distressedly, "Leader, I'm also socializing for the unit, right? Can the soda be reimbursed?"
Zhang Qinjian: “…”
Mulan smiled and said, "Alright, they don't even know where you work, so what kind of social interaction is this? The soda money can't be reimbursed! However, Xiaoye and Xiaozhao's work enthusiasm is still worthy of recognition. We have a lot of young people in our unit now, and they are full of energy every day. I think it's great!"
Although he failed to get the quota, Ye Manzhi was not discouraged.
Anyway, even Zhang Qinjian couldn't do it, so it's normal for her, a newcomer, to not be able to get the target.
She focused her attention on other work, while mentally planning a trip to the department store.
Her second sister is about to give birth, and she wants to buy something for her.
"Just go to the market and buy some meat, eggs, and vegetables and send them over," Chang Yue'e stopped her, "What can you buy at the department store? Sending food is the most economical way to prepare for the confinement period after childbirth."
"I want to stop by the department store to buy some fabric and see what new styles of ready-to-wear clothes are available!"
"Haven't you used up all your cloth coupons? What are you looking for now?" Chang Yue'e looked at her daughter suspiciously. "Do you still have any cloth coupons?"
She always felt that something was wrong with this girl recently.
Ye Manzhi turned her back and said, pretending to be busy, "Yes."
Yesterday when she went to open mailbox No. 16, she found that Wu Zhengrong had left her a five-foot cloth coupon.
It was said that he had to work overtime at the factory this weekend, so he gave her a cloth coupon and asked her to go shopping and make a new dress by herself.
This cloth coupon touched Ye Manzhi's heart, and it was much more satisfying than the pen that encouraged her to practice calligraphy every day!
Although the other party made the rude request to make a cheongsam, once the cloth coupons fell into her hands, she had no say over them and could do whatever she wanted.
Chang Yue'e knew exactly how many cloth coupons her family had in stock, and she pointed out, "Those cloth coupons were already stolen by you. Where did you get them?"
"Oh, someone gave it to me."
"Male or female?"
"A man."
“…”
"Look, I told you the truth, and you're so shocked again! If you keep doing this, I won't be friends with you anymore!"
Chang Yue'e came to her senses and asked, "Which man? Is he from our factory or outside?"
"They're college students working in factories, doing technical stuff. We'll talk about the rest later."
When she heard that it was from the factory, Chang Yue'e felt relieved.
The ones in the factory are great, they know everything about you.
As an employee of a state-owned military factory and a college student, the young man definitely has a future.
If the two children can really have a result, my daughter's in-laws and her parents' home will all live in the same compound!
If they were bullied, Lao Ye and her three brothers would go to their in-laws to settle the score.
She was thinking in her mind that she wanted Old Ye to secretly inquire about the unmarried college students, but she stopped asking her daughter about it.
"Okay, since you have the cloth coupons, let's go to the department store first. Your second sister hasn't given birth yet, so we don't know how her milk supply is. I'll go to the store and buy her two packets of milk powder as a backup. Her mother-in-law doesn't seem reliable, so don't count on her."
Ye Manzhi quickly gave a thumbs up and said, "Mom, how can you be so nice? There's no other stepmother like you in the whole compound! If my eldest sister knew about this, she would definitely be jealous to death, haha!"
"Stop trying to fool me!"
The mother and daughter went hand in hand to the First Department Store in the city center.
Ye Manzhi decided to tear five feet of cotton cloth to make the new style of braid in the window.
The remaining scraps can be used to make a small jacket for my second sister's little Maomao.
As for how to deal with Wu Zhengrong, she had already thought of it.
Five feet of cloth is not enough to make a cheongsam. If you want to see her wearing a cheongsam, you need to add another five feet.
hey-hey……
With her mother's help, Ye Manzhi quickly chose the fabric. When the two of them went to the third floor to buy milk powder, they met Huang Li who was coming down the stairs.
"Sister-in-law, why did you come to the city alone? If I had known you wanted to buy something, we would have gone together!"
"I just thought of this on a whim." Huang Li smiled and said, "My second sister is about to give birth, so I bought her some milk powder and malted milk."
The second sister and Ye Mantang are siblings, so she will definitely do her best to show her support when the other party gives birth to a child.
Ye Manzhi quickly asked, "Sister-in-law, how much milk powder did you buy? If you're sure you want to give it to my second sister, I won't buy any. If I give too much, it might not be enough for my second sister to eat."
"I bought two packets of milk powder and two packets of malted milk."
Huang Li was holding a net bag, and the contents inside were clearly visible.
In addition to milk powder and malted milk, there were a dozen or so tin cans underneath.
Ye Manzhi took a casual glance and silently clicked his tongue in his heart. Braised pork, luncheon meat, and canned sardines were all there.
A box of canned meat is more expensive than a pound of pork.
My third sister-in-law is really willing to spend money!
However, she felt that these canned meats might make Chang Yue'e angry.
Chang Yue'e doesn't like her third sister-in-law, so her act of buying a lot of canned food might be interpreted by her as her third sister-in-law not liking the food she cooks.
Ye Manzhi observed the reaction of the person beside her with the corner of her eye and found that her expression was not very good.
"Sister-in-law, do I need a food ticket to buy canned food?"
“No ticket required.”
"Oh, then I'll buy two cans for Dad later. That's a good idea. You don't need a ticket to buy canned food, which is more convenient than buying pork. Dad and Third Brother have been working overtime in the workshop recently, so we'll give them some good food to nourish them."
Huang Li felt that her sister-in-law had become much more sensible and pleasing after she started working at the street office.
She spends all her energy outside, which really saves her family a lot of trouble.
She echoed Ye Manzhi's words, "They're working overtime at the factory, so their nutrition might not be adequate. I bought some canned food as a snack."
In fact, the canned food was not for Ye Mantang to eat.
The food in the cafeteria of Factory 656 is pretty good, so she doesn't have to worry about nutrition.
These cans are prepared for emergency situations.
She didn't live a rich life in modern times, but she never had to worry about food and drink.
The unknown future made her feel uneasy. If she didn't stock up on food, she wouldn't feel safe.
Although canned food is expensive, it has a long shelf life and is easy to store, and does not attract rats like grain vermicelli.
Since she still had some extra money while the tickets were still available, she wanted to buy more.
[In two years, even if you have money, you might not be able to buy these things. The book says that there were already signs of material shortages in 1958.]
【……】
【……】
Stock up on food, canned goods, and vitamins now. If any of them are nearing their expiration dates, buy new ones to replace them. It's a little more troublesome, but it's better than going hungry later.
Ye Manzhi hadn't paid special attention to her third sister-in-law for a while. When she suddenly saw the golden words appear out of thin air, she was stunned for a moment.
What does Third Sister-in-law mean by this?
There are workers and cadres in their family, and her own salary is not low. How could they let her starve?
She turned around and looked at the counter on the second floor. There was a wide variety of goods there, everything you could think of. How could there be a shortage of supplies?
Ye Manzhi had doubts in her mind, and when her third sister-in-law left with the things, she didn't have time to react.
Chang Yue'e patted her hand and said, "You're so kind! And you're still making excuses for her! I see those canned foods she bought are just for herself! I don't know what's wrong with this third son's wife. She always buys a lot of things. She hasn't even finished eating those vermicelli noodles that were eaten by mice, and she bought another bunch of canned food. How can she live like this!"
"That canned food looks delicious! I've never tried canned braised pork before," Ye Manzhi said, putting his arm around her. "Come on, let's go buy some cans and try them!"
After that day, Ye Manzhi paid special attention to the supply of goods in the vegetable market and the supply and marketing cooperative.
I also asked my fifth brother about the production situation of the surrounding agricultural cooperatives.
In short, there are sufficient material reserves and the situation is very good, so there is no need to worry at all.
But Third Sister-in-law wouldn't risk being misunderstood by her family by stockpiling food for no reason, right?
Since she said it would happen in two years, then maybe it will happen in two years.
Before the incident happened, Ye Manzhi didn't feel nervous at all and would subconsciously buy some canned candy or something.
Unfortunately, she was weak-willed and ate everything she bought.
This made her silently admire her third sister-in-law's self-control.
*
Ye Manzhi took some time to visit her second sister's house and gave her a bag of milk powder and half a basket of eggs.
Aunt Xu quipped bluntly, "We're all brothers and sisters. Your third sister-in-law gave us two bags of milk powder and two bags of malted milk the day before yesterday, and also a little rooster. You're a cadre now, after all, so how come you're not as generous as your third sister-in-law?"
"Auntie, you are really good. How can you choose a gift in front of the person giving it?"
"You are sisters, what can't I say?"
Ye Manzhi said with a smile: "My sister and I are biological sisters, but you and I are not. Fortunately, my sister is my biological sister, otherwise I would not come next time after being scolded by you like this!"
"Look at you kid!"
"Hey, Auntie, I'm a neighborhood official now," Ye Manzhi boasted without any burden. "Usually, people give me gifts. I can give gifts to your family, so you should be happy!"
Aunt Xu perked up when she heard this, and quickly asked with wide eyes, "Is someone really giving you a gift now?"
"Of course. Someone stuffed money directly into my hand! However, I confiscated it and reported it to my superiors. We cadres must abide by the three major disciplines for party and government cadres and the eight points of attention. We must not take a single needle or thread from the masses!"
Aunt Xu was stunned by her tricks and thought that this little girl from the Ye family had really become rich.
He speaks in a very coherent way.
Ye Manzhi ignored her and pulled her second sister back to her room.
"Sister, why is your belly so big? I don't even dare to get close to your belly."
"A belly that's about to give birth is this big." Ye Manyu whispered, "My mother-in-law is like that, don't take it personally!"
Ye Manzhi didn't care. "I've seen a lot of difficult old ladies. Your mother-in-law wouldn't even be served at our street office!"
The second sister smiled gently: "You are so awesome!"
"Mom and I bought a lot of things for you, but Third Sister-in-law already gave you something, so I didn't bring all the things here." Ye Manzhi curled her lips and said, "Your mother-in-law and brother-in-law are both at home, and my brother-in-law is also a greedy person. If I give you too much, they will definitely eat it! I'll have Mom come again in a few days and give you some things little by little. I won't let them eat it!"
The second sister ignored the food and pulled her aside to ask, "How's your work going lately? I heard someone beat up a neighborhood official over their child's schooling. Are you being bullied?"
"The person who was beaten was not a neighborhood official, but a teacher in a literacy class."
Speaking of this, Ye Manzhi couldn't help but sigh.
Director Mu is right. If children cannot go to school, there could really be a big mess.
The literacy class organized by the street accepted a group of school-age children.
There is no charge for literacy classes, and these children certainly don’t have to pay to attend classes.
This has attracted many parents.
Those who were not in a hurry to go to school were also sent to literacy classes by their parents.
Of course everyone is happy if their children can learn knowledge for free and have someone to help take care of them!
The retired teacher took in the children. By the time Ye Manzhi and Director Mu learned about the situation, the small class of more than 20 people had suddenly become a large class of 50 people.
In addition, many parents are preparing to send their children to literacy classes.
The street literacy class is neither a kindergarten nor a formal school, so of course it cannot accept so many students.
Director Mu quickly stepped in to stop it.
Some parents felt resentful about this and beat Chi Dongsheng, who was present to maintain order that day.
Chi Dongsheng has been in the compound for so many years, of course it is impossible for him to passively take a beating.
The beating turned into a brawl, and when things got out of hand, both sides were taken to the police station. Chi Dongsheng, who was in the right, refused to give in, and the incident became so serious that even my second sister heard about it.
Because of this incident, Director Mu went to Factory 656 several times and even hosted a banquet to entertain a deputy director.
Unfortunately, the treatment was not very successful.
Ye Manzhi thought, even Director Mu came to the table in person to build relationships, she couldn't just stand by and watch, right?
She has connections with Wu Zhengrong in the factory, so she can actually use them appropriately.
Ye Manzhi made up her mind and ran to the military representative's office after get off work, intending to personally build relationships with the military representative.
Wu Zhengrong is still in the pursuit stage and has not yet been officially hired. Logically, he should show sincerity and perform actively.
Besides, Ye Manzhi never asked him for help, and the rare time she spoke to him was always for official business.
But after pondering for a while, he still chose to talk to her objectively about running a school.
"The factory is currently expanding a branch, and there's a significant gap in both construction and production funding. With an existing primary school for children, it's unlikely the factory will allocate funds to build a branch."
"But the teaching staff in primary schools is not up to par now, and many children are dropping out of school!"
"Laiya, I can suggest that the factory assign a few more teachers to the children's primary school so that the out-of-school children can go there as soon as possible. However, the factory will not consider your street's proposal to jointly run a primary school. Now is not the right time to allocate funds to build a branch school."
Ye Manzhi thought to himself that whatever he could do would be a good thing. If he could arrange for some of the children in the literacy class to attend regular schools, it would be a solution to the urgent problem.
As for how to arrange for the children outside Factory 656, we will take it one step at a time.
Regarding the issue of primary school students' education, Ye Manzhi was not afraid of causing him trouble and asked, "Can we really add more teachers to the children's school?"
Wu Zhengrong said solemnly, "It's rare for a leader to assign me a task, so I will definitely do my best to complete it."
Ye Manzhi smiled: "Then I will wait for your good news."
"Um."
Ye Manzhi knew that he was too busy to handle everything, so after finishing the business, she prepared to leave.
However, as soon as she stood up, Wu Zhengrong pressed her shoulders and made her sit back down.
"I have a class reunion this weekend, would you like to come with me?"
"Why would you ask me to go to your class reunion?"
"What do you think?"
"I have no idea."
Seeing her playing dumb, Wu Zhengrong couldn't help but laugh: "Do you think I'd be interested in attending a class reunion now?"
As a factory worker, Ye Manzhi knew how busy the factory was. She asked in confusion, "Yeah, how do you have time to attend a class reunion?"
"You want a place in a public elementary school, don't you? One of my classmates' spouse works at the Municipal Education Bureau. Since we're blocked by the district, maybe we can find a solution from the Municipal Bureau." Wu Zhengrong chuckled. "However, family members are required to attend the class reunion. If you want to come with me, you'll have to be my family member for a day..."
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