Letters and replies
Wang Shuitao, of course, wouldn't forget to share such good news with Meng Songying.
They often talked on the phone, and Meng Songying would often come back to visit on her days off. On days when Director Sun Ming had to go to give a report, Wang Shuitao would also go with him.
However, this time Wang Shuitao only dialed two numbers before putting down the microphone.
She suddenly remembered that Meng Songying had been sent to a county in another province to provide guidance, and that would take three months.
They may show respect and care, but it's impossible to arrange a phone call for someone who's only staying for three months.
The two of them couldn't very well express their longing for each other in someone else's office.
Wang Shuitao rested her chin on one hand, exhaled with a slightly frustrated air, and the bangs on her forehead swayed in the wind.
"Knock knock knock"
A regular knocking sound rang out.
The door opened, and Li Yuanhong was outside.
Wang Shuitao greeted her sweetly as always, "Sister Li is here."
Li Yuanhong waved the letter in her hand and handed it to Taozi: "Take this, it was sent by Engineer Meng."
He then smoothed Taozi's bangs, placed the large package he was carrying in his other hand aside, and thoughtfully closed the door, leaving her some space of her own.
Wang Shuitao glanced at the large package, then quickly focused her attention on the letters.
The envelope was a simple light beige with a slight grayish tinge, a sugarcane residue product familiar to Wang Shuitao.
In the very center are the large characters for "Post Office".
The upper right corner features a stamp in vibrant red and yellow, depicting a factory.
The stamps had already been stamped, and were also red, mostly landing on the envelope, making them very eye-catching.
The bottom right corner contains several lines of text:
Meng Songying (sent) from the Xinxin Research Center of Wuzhou Sugarcane and Sugar Industry Research Institute
Shenxian Sugar Factory (received)
The envelope didn't say who it was addressed to, but Li Yuanhong knew who it was meant for as soon as she saw the sender's name.
Take out the letter and unfold it.
Comrade Wang Shuitao:
Seeing these words is like seeing the person in person.
We haven't been in touch for a long time since I told you last month that I was going to be transferred to a factory in Xia County, Anhui Province to help out.
The learning atmosphere here is very strong, and the workers are also very eager for knowledge. They started learning on their very first day here. I hope to teach them soon and return home as soon as possible. Director Zhong Zhenguo said that after this assignment ends, I will be given three days of leave, plus Saturday, making it four days. I will then travel directly from Xia County to Shen County.
It's night now, and the moonlight outside the window is beautiful, casting a hazy glow on the letter. It reminds me of the day a group of thieves broke into the dormitory area, and how you bravely apprehended them. I had just seen Mr. and Mrs. Song that day; now they are gone, their bones buried deep underground. In dealing with their affairs, I'm so grateful for your company. I won't say thank you again; I just want to tell you that I was awake that night when the thieves came, and I didn't fall asleep after they left.
The reason for this is something you probably didn't understand before.
But now, it seems that only Heaven, Earth, I, and you know.
Speaking of the past, I recently bought a rabbit pounding medicine in Xia County. It holds a pestle high, with a moon behind it. It looks a lot like you wielding a hammer to beat a thief. I wanted to send it to you with this letter, but I couldn't bear to part with it, so I left it by my bedside to temporarily ease my longing.
During the day, the factory manager here gave me some books on basic machinery, which I suppose he found at a junkyard; he put a lot of thought into it. There are a few books I haven't read before, so I sent half of them with the letter. When I return, we can exchange them and read them.
Last time you mentioned on the phone that the dormitory windows were drafty. Even though you blocked them with newspapers, you still felt a cold draft coming in. Have you called a repairman to fix them? It's the lean season between spring and winter, is the food in the cafeteria still good? I remember you really liked the salty biscuits from the department store, I wonder if they're still selling them?
I often think about your hard work and hope you eat well and stay healthy.
While in the provincial capital, I managed to get some cotton and asked an older woman at a factory to make me a cotton-padded jacket. She said young girls always like bright colors. Unfortunately, I was working on a new project at the time, and the lathes in the workshop were running non-stop. I heard that new fabrics had appeared on the shelves, but I didn't have time to buy them. In the end, I only found a piece of sky-blue fabric, which was already finished. I asked a long-distance driver from the provincial capital to deliver it to the Pearl Sugar Factory. I think it will arrive before the letter arrives. I wonder if it will be suitable for me to wear?
Electricity is restricted here at night. The main power switch is about to be turned off, and the lights should be turned off too. It's late and the dew is heavy, so I'll stop writing here and put down my pen.
I look forward to your reply.
Even if it's just a word or two, I'm still happy.
Meng Songying.
Two more lines of crooked text followed the line that should have ended.
The moonlight was so bright that it kept me awake, but then I suddenly remembered that a new movie should be showing at the cinema.
And last time you mentioned the bedding was always damp; remember to take it out and air it in the sun more often.
Wang Shuitao smiled, thinking that Meng Songying must have written this in the dark.
She pulled a piece of paper from the drawer and began to write.
Comrade Meng Songying:
Greetings.
The windows have been repaired; a repairman came, but the result wasn't good. Now, not a breath of air can get in. I'm relying on my ingenuity to save this. Let me share this little trick with you: paste three layers of old newspaper on top, so the ink smell isn't too strong.
Now that it's no longer drafty, I've moved my bed to the window, so the bedding gets sun every day, and I can always smell the fragrance of sunshine when I fall asleep, quickly drifting into a sweet dream. I haven't been to the movies in a long time, so I can't tell you if the movies have changed; I'm very sorry. The food in the cafeteria is as delicious as ever. I wonder how it is where you are? Even though it's a neighboring province, the tastes are always different. I hope you eat well and stay healthy.
The sky-blue cotton-padded coat is so pretty. What a coincidence! You said the gift wasn't good enough, but it's exactly what I wanted. Lately, I've been learning to knit hats, scarves, and gloves with the aunties, but unfortunately, yarn is hard to find, and army green is especially scarce. With the aunties' help, we only managed to snag three skeins of dark brown yarn.
Gloves are too difficult to knit, and I haven't learned how yet. I also don't have enough yarn, so I just knitted a scarf instead. It's a very, very long scarf, long enough to keep your neck warm while also covering your head and hands. You've been moving around a lot lately, so I won't send it to you now. You'll see it when you get back.
There are a few small holes where stitches were missed. They weren't visible at first, but suddenly appeared after the whole piece was finished. I've thought about it a lot, but I can't find a good solution. Just bear with it.
I bought a lot of savory biscuits, and also some sweet sponge cakes. Last time I happened to come across some dried plum vegetable biscuits, which were oily and fragrant, and they were all gone as soon as I got them back. The rest are stored in my dorm room, and I'll eat a couple when I come back at night, as I told you on the phone last time.
Comrade Li Yuanhong told me that you will lead the establishment of a new technology research and development team after your assignment ends. This is a good thing. You have always been extremely dedicated to your work. Congratulations!
Congratulations to me too.
If it were me from before, I would find it incredible that the progress of others could make me so happy.
Okay, I won't keep you in suspense any longer. I'll tell you that I remember to brush my teeth after eating cookies, so there's no need to worry too much about cavities.
I've been testing a new product recently, which was requested by the Swedish company. Their requirements were really vague, and all they did was say no, no. They revised it five or six times, and then said the first one was the most suitable. It was really annoying. Fortunately, they settled the payment very quickly, which is an advantage.
It's been some time since the Song couple passed away, and I recently heard that Wu Dong has also passed away. For some reason, I don't feel happy about it. Thinking about it makes me uncomfortable, so I've thrown myself into studying. I've already graduated from night school, and I've taken out those books to review again. Your mechanical engineering books came at just the right time; the world of learning is always simple and beautiful.
Even the pain of not being able to learn has a kind of childlike cuteness.
Actually, there are many things I want to say to you, but my writing is always dry and my handwriting is dull. When Comrade Meng Songying returns, I will ask you how you manage to write such a long letter when you are usually so quiet.
I eagerly await the sight of the medicine-pounding rabbit day and night.
Wang Shuitao
Letters, train tickets, and monthly phone bills are stacked high and carefully stored in wooden boxes, occasionally taken out by their respective owners to cherish and examine them.
The water level of the Zhunü River rises and recedes, recedes and rises again, and fewer and fewer people jump into the river each year.
Newspapers published news of the reopening of the college entrance examination and news of reform and opening up.
The news also mentioned that Guangzhou would be inviting foreign friends to participate in the first trade fair after the reform and opening up.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, embargoes and trade restrictions followed one after another. In order to break the blockade, develop foreign trade, and obtain foreign exchange urgently needed for national construction, the first China Export Commodities Fair was opened, and Premier Zhou proposed to call it the Canton Fair.
The exhibition is divided into five pavilions: industrial products, textiles, food, handicrafts, and local specialties. The exhibits include domestically developed Jiefang brand heavy-duty trucks, ordinary lathes, and various daily light industrial products, agricultural and sideline products, and traditional handicrafts.
This exhibition was never canceled during the 1960s and 70s, and it accounted for nearly half of the foreign exchange earnings. This time, it is the first time it has been held since the reform and opening up, which is of great significance. The organizers attach great importance to it and hope to have a great start, giving the people of the whole country a strong boost.
Wang Shuitao stood at the entrance of the import and export commodity trade fair, took a deep breath, and cheered herself up.
She can only succeed this time; failure is not an option.
The tide of the times is rolling in, and no one can stop it. All the sugar factories at the county level in Wuzhou Province must be restructured, changing from state-owned to private.
Employees are no longer guaranteed a job like they used to.
Only the leadership can be placed.
Sun Ming and Li Yuanhong have already been transferred to the city's sugar factory. Because of their good performance in recent years, Sun Ming is now the deputy factory director, while Li Yuanhong has been transferred to the logistics department, but she has been demoted one level and is now the deputy director.
Wang Shuitao, as the director of the factory office, is highly capable, and the city's sugar factory also wants her.
However, just as the supply and marketing cooperatives were being abolished one by one, Wang Jinbu lost his job.
Over the years, she had developed feelings for the pearl sugar factory. Perhaps it was because she had just arrived in this era and was not yet married that this place gave Wang Shuitao a sense of security, so she inevitably had some of the "newborn bird effect".
In short, Wang Shuitao wanted to try going against the current.
Because she had gotten the job from Wang Jinbu back then, Wang Shuitao returned the job to Wang Jinbu after considering various factors.
However, due to the change in personnel, the position of deputy director is no longer offered, and only ordinary worker positions are available.
Wang Shuitao secured the opportunity to choose a department and placed Wang Jinbu in the tobacco department.
The tobacco industry's current performance is not as good as the sugar industry's; it doesn't want to become the envy of everyone and a place everyone wants to work for in the future.
Just then, the sugar, tobacco and alcohol company was going to split up, and everyone was flocking to the sugar company.
Wang Jinbu was then appointed as the group leader.
Wang Shuitao thought that this way, they would be even.
Of course, she also hinted at her feelings to Sun Ming and Li Yuanhong, whom she had known for a long time. Unfortunately, out of caution not to put all his eggs in one basket, and also because of his reliance on familiar channels, Sun Ming chose to stay at the sugar factory as deputy director.
Li Yuanhong was in charge of logistics and women's affairs. She was quite active and trusted Wang Shuitao's predictions about the future. So when the family business was divided, she went to the tobacco company. Although she was still the deputy director, the director was an older woman. She stayed there because she was about to retire and didn't want to move.
Wang Shuitao believed that with Li Yuanhong's abilities, he would definitely be able to return to the position of director soon.
As for the Shenxian Pearl Sugar Factory, which is to be converted to private ownership, it is unlikely to go bankrupt after years of operation, but the biggest problem is that no one is buying it.
To be precise, no one can afford it.
Therefore, after making inquiries from various sources and learning from many experiences, Wang Shuitao proposed a route that many factories had already implemented, which involved management and employees jointly investing in and subscribing to shares.
It can solve the property rights issue and also motivate workers to work, just like the household responsibility contract system in rural areas. Working for yourself and working for others are different.
Unfortunately, the results were not good.
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