Chapter 168
The candidates for this quarter's Canton Fair have been decided. Apart from forwards Li Jingdang and Zhang Wenfeng, the rest are Zhou Jiani, Sheng Li, Peng Guangrong, Yu Wanxia, Bi Yingxiong and Li Jianye.
Li Jianye is from Yuezhuang Brigade and Bi Yingxiong is from Xigou Brigade. They both work at Qianjin Weaving Factory and have excellent performance.
Sheng Li and Zhang Wenfeng are both from the same village, and are also the younger generation selected by the factory cadres to be trained as key personnel.
Peng Guangrong volunteered to get this opportunity for himself, which really shocked Wang Changzheng, Zhou Hongbing and others. They were privately surprised that Zhou Jiani actually gave him the approval.
Peng Guangrong took a deep breath and said with a wry smile, "What we thought was a conflict, in fact, has long been ignored."
To put it bluntly, they are the only ones who take themselves seriously, and others have long forgotten about them. However, they have erected a barrier for themselves this year, always feeling that all good opportunities will not fall on them, because they believe that they have offended Zhou Jiani and have no future in the Qianjin Brigade.
But when Peng Guangrong said he was going to see Zhou Jiani, he didn't hear any ridicule or mockery. He even encouraged him and said that it was right for him to have such a positive attitude. Wang Changzheng and others felt complicated.
As for choosing Yu Wanxia... because last year they chose Tian Yumei, who was in the same batch as Zhou Jiani and the others, this time they chose Yu Wanxia, who was in the same batch as Zhou Jiani. The factory chose her themselves and did not let Zhou Jiani interfere.
Some of the previous batch of educated youth were quite dissatisfied with this arrangement. They couldn't say anything directly, so they said to Sun Ping with a sarcastic smile, "You have a good relationship with Zhou Jiani, so why didn't they choose you?"
The other educated youth nearby laughed and said, "It seems that living together makes us closer."
Sun Ping didn't bother to pay attention to their provocation.
The selection was decided by the factory, but it just happened that Wanxia and Jiani had a good relationship.
Besides, she was in high spirits recently. Wang Qianjin confessed his love to her and they officially started dating. On top of that, she got first place in the assessment held by the material selection team last month. As the quality inspection department was short of staff, she was transferred to a more relaxed and respectable position. These people's provocations had no effect on her at all. Instead of dealing with these people, she might as well go to have dinner with Jiani and the others, and ask her two good sisters to bring her some clothes and fabrics from the south, and some nice wool if they had any. After the autumn harvest, she wanted to knit a sweater for Wang Qianjin.
When she arrived at Jiani's place, there was a little girl in her family. Sun Ping had seen her a few times. She was a child of Jiani's relative and a new educated youth who had just arrived this year. Her name was Xiao Min.
Xiao Min was about to go into the house with a few bowls in her hands. When she saw her come in, she smiled and greeted her, "Sister Sun Ping!"
Sun Ping smiled: "Xiao Min is here too!"
Xiao Min squinted her eyes and said, "Sister Jiani asked me to come over for dinner."
Sun Ping: "Your sister Jiani is biased and didn't even call me."
Zhou Jiani was washing cucumbers and green peppers in the yard, preparing to pickle them. She looked up and said to her, "You don't have to shout. You'll know to come here just by the smell."
Sun Ping pretended to pounce on him: "You said I have a dog nose..."
The two of them were making a big fuss until Wang Qianjin and Bai Haoyang came in.
While eating, Zhou Jiani felt a pang in her heart when she saw Sun Ping and Wang Qianjin flirting with each other and making small gestures. She missed Qiu Zeming.
Lying on the kang at night, I took out Qiu Zeming's most recent letter and read it again. Then I took out the unfinished reply and added some trivial details of life...
After writing it, she folded it neatly and put it in an envelope. She had ready-made stamps, so she just put them on and took it to the post office to mail it out at noon tomorrow.
I browsed through the group chat, picked up a bunch of washed rose-scented grapes from the shelf, and ate them while reading. Perhaps it was because I'd been too tired recently, but after ten o'clock, I felt a bit exhausted. I put away my things, brushed my teeth, slid downstairs, and fell asleep with my eyes closed.
The next morning, Yu Wanxia and I took the sealed suitcases to the factory and placed them there. At around ten o'clock, the transport team's car came and sent the goods to be shipped, samples, and some of everyone's luggage. So we still had to travel light on the day of departure.
After a few busy days, watching the truck send out the second batch of goods, it was time for them to set off.
Zhou Jiani held a meeting with the team members the morning before and made arrangements for the next work. If there was anything, the three of them would discuss and decide together. If they couldn't make a decision, they would ask Director Zhai for help.
In the afternoon, she rode her bike to Dongwang Brigade and went to Zhao Hai's house. She took away the dried cowpeas she had saved during this period and left him 20 yuan, asking him to continue collecting them and settle the bill when she returned from the south.
When she returned to the village in the evening, she went to the brigade to get a letter of introduction and saw Zhao Weiguo standing in the office.
Zhao Weiguo saw that she was obviously stunned for a moment, his face flushed for a moment, and he greeted her in a low voice: "Comrade Zhou!"
Zhou Jiani nodded calmly: "Comrade Zhao!"
A year later, Zhao Weiguo came back and reported to Zhang Baosheng.
Zhang Baosheng was scratching his head. With the experience of Liu Ailing as a lesson, it would be inappropriate to send Zhao Weiguo out again. He could only stay in the village. There would be no good work for him. After the autumn harvest, he would be sent to different corners to see how he performed.
Seeing Zhou Jiani coming over, he first gave them a letter of introduction and asked Zhao Weiguo to wait on the side.
Looking at the high-spirited Zhou Jiani, Zhao Weiguo felt a little uncomfortable.
Having spent a year on the farm, it goes without saying that he had suffered a lot of hardships. Ever since he suffered that blow from Liu Ailing, he slowly figured out some things. He felt that he was a fool and an idiot a year ago. His brain was like lard, and he actually went to report Zhou Jiani just to please Liu Ailing.
As a result, Liu Ailing was completely unaware of the situation and trampled on his dignity.
He paid the price for his brainless behavior. He should have apologized to Zhou Jiani, but he found it difficult to say it, so he hung his head and stood by without saying a word.
Zhou Jiani didn't bother to pay attention to his thoughts. After issuing the letter of introduction and leaving, Zhang Baosheng looked at Zhao Weiguo standing there, and felt a headache again. He said, "You should be thankful that everyone in the village is busy right now..." Otherwise, he couldn't guarantee that the situation of being scolded by everyone wouldn't return when he and Liu Ailing came back. "You just came back, so take a day off and make some arrangements. The day after tomorrow, go to the fields with everyone to pick corn cobs. We'll make arrangements after the autumn harvest."
Zhao Weiguo nodded and whispered, "Captain, I was wrong in the past. I was too reckless. I know I was wrong and I am willing to continue to accept the punishment. I will go pick up manure after the autumn harvest."
Zhang Baosheng waved his hand and told him to go back. He was not reckless, but stupid. He didn't even apologize to Comrade Xiao Zhou just now.
Zhou Jiani went home, scooped up a jar of pickles and took it to Zhao Mei's place. Seeing that her shoes had been worn out quickly recently, Zhao Mei's sister-in-law made her another pair of cloth shoes. She also took apart the uppers of the pair of shoes that had pushed out her toes a few days ago and made her a new pair. She came to get it.
Zhao Mei was now well-off, so she gave Zhou Jiani some money and tickets, asking her to buy her some nice-looking cloth or bed sheets, and also to buy a pair of sneakers for Huihui and her nephew.
Life was hard at home in the past. She was powerless to do some things, and her mother-in-law mocked her for giving birth to a girl. But now she feels quite proud, and she is determined to make her daughter live better than the son of her sister-in-law.
After returning from Zhao Mei's house, Yu Wanxia was packing pickles, Xiao Min was helping her, Sun Ping was helping to make pancakes in the kitchen, and Zhou Jiani also washed her hands and went into the kitchen, took out the meat bought from the commune today, and fried the meat sauce.
Outside, Yu Wanxia called out, "Jia Ni, are you done packing all this food?"
She counted and found that there were twelve bottles, and there were also several pickled cabbage lumps that Jiani asked her fellow villagers for.
Zhou Jiani was used to collecting cans and bottles, and she had saved quite a few of them, which came in handy at this time.
She said, "There's a lot of people traveling with us this time, so most of the pickled cucumbers will be consumed on the way. They won't last more than a few days. The pickled cabbage lumps...once you've spent a few days there, you'll realize how delicious they are."
In addition to the bottles, she also took out two lunch boxes and asked Yu Wanxia to fill them up for her. Her parents would come over when she backed up from Qi Yang tomorrow, so she would give them to them.
There was still some left in the jar. Zhou Jiani left the key to Sun Ping. She and Xiao Min could come and get it if they wanted to eat it.
At around four o'clock the next morning, the six of them gathered at the entrance of the Qianjin Brigade village, carrying simple luggage.
Knowing Zhao Weiguo had returned, Peng Guangrong glanced at Zhou Jiani. Zhou Jiani didn't have any extra thoughts about Zhao Weiguo. She divided the cans in her hand and said with a smile, "Each of you take two bottles to eat on the way. The leftovers can be saved for when we get there. The tastes in the north and south are very different. If you just arrived there and you're not used to it, you probably won't be able to eat without some pickles..."
Everyone hurriedly smiled and thanked him. Peng Guangrong also shyly thanked him softly. After thinking for a moment, he said, "Um... Zhao Weiguo is back."
He thought Zhou Jiani didn't know.
Zhou Jiani nodded: "I saw him at the brigade headquarters yesterday afternoon."
Peng Guangrong nodded, knowing that not only did they not take them seriously, but Zhao Weiguo was probably taken even less seriously. Ultimately, they were just being too concerned.
Zhang Baosheng came over to see them off, said a few words of encouragement, gave them some important instructions, then waved his hand and asked them to get in the car.
Uncle Liu and Bai Haoyang drove a mule cart to take them to the county town.
On the way, Yu Wanxia assigned her brother a task: "Remember to clear the private plot for me and Jiani. Plant wheat there, and don't plant anything else..."
This year, the village was going to distribute private plots to Yu Wanxia and other educated youth, and also gave Zhou Jiani a piece as an exception.
Bai Haoyang: "I know. Don't run around there. Follow Comrade Zhou if you need anything. Follow his instructions in all actions. Remember to buy me some good stuff if you find anything."
"I know, I know. You've told me so many times!"
Arriving in Qi Yang in the afternoon, Peng Guangrong's eyes turned red as he got off the train. He finally saw his family whom he hadn't seen for a year.
Like Zhou Jiani, he called home in advance, and his parents rushed to the station to see their son. The family walked aside to greet each other.
This weekend, Zhou Wanli and his wife brought their twins to see Zhou Jiani off, but the daughter ignored them at first. She first looked for the person holding the sign, went over to get the sleeper ticket that Aunt Su's colleague had bought for them, paid the person for the ticket, thanked him, and watched him leave before coming back to look for her family.
Aunt Su is not in Qi Yang, but she is also attending the Canton Fair this quarter. She arrived a few days earlier than Zhou Jiani and the others, and asked a colleague to help her buy the ticket.
Yu Huifang naturally brought food for her daughter and gave her some money and tickets as usual.
The twins have grown significantly this year. I haven't seen them for a while, but they've grown taller. Zhou Jiani gestured with her hand, then leaned against Huluhu's head and said with a smile, "Eat more and grow faster. Try to reach my shoulders by the end of the year."
I asked about their foot sizes and went back to the south to buy a pair of sneakers for the two kids.
Zhou Jiani also introduced Yu Wanxia to her family. Yu Huifang smiled and said, "I often hear Jiani talk about you. Come to our house when you have time."
Yu Wanxia smiled and said, "Okay, Auntie, I will definitely go if I have the chance."
After a brief reunion, at Sheng Li's embarrassed reminder, they went out to take commemorative photos. Zhou Jiani and her group then boarded the train with their luggage. Two days later, they were standing on this land in the south again.
On their second visit, Zhou Jiani was familiar with the area, Yu Wanxia was curious and a bit excited, and Peng Guangrong was okay, though a bit uneasy. Sheng Li, Bi Yingxiong, and Li Jianye, however, were hesitant and a bit hesitant.
However, after seeing Li Jingdang and Zhang Wenfeng coming to pick them up, they felt much more at ease.
Sheng Li was familiar with Zhang Wenfeng. As they walked side by side, he whispered, "Is the work here so tiring? You've lost so much weight."
Zhang Wenfeng shook his head, raised his hand to show him the needle marks on the back of his hand, and whispered, "Don't mention it. I couldn't adapt to the climate and water, and I almost lost my life."
Bi Yingxiong and Li Jianye in the front turned around and asked, "Did you eat unclean food?"
"No, the doctor said it's due to acclimatization. You'll know after a few days. I feel uncomfortable everywhere."
When they were welcoming them in the evening, Bi Yingxiong and the others looked at Zhang Wenfeng who was holding on to the pickled cucumbers and were worried about the days to come.
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