Chapter 63: Where is this nesting doll, senior?
This invitation lasted for more than half a year, and she almost forgot the existence of this colleague in the Family Rights and Interests Department.
Jiang Xueyi smiled and said, "Really? That's great. With Xia Ying back, we'll have more people to share the work. When many hands gather, the fire burns brighter."
Xu Shanshan's eyes widened. "Her? Sharing the work?" Then she sighed slowly. "You're overthinking it. I think she's a little confused. I'm glad she doesn't cause any trouble for us."
The next day, Xia Ying reported in.
She came on time, and this time did not refer to work time, but meal time.
It was already eleven-thirty when Xia Yingcai finally arrived.
At this moment, Jiang Xueyi and the others packed up and prepared to go to the cafeteria for dinner.
Section Chief You frowned and asked, "It's your first day back at work, why are you late again?"
Xia Ying chuckled twice: "Well, I overslept."
Section Chief You said, "Be more careful next time." He then added, "Come, let me introduce you to a new colleague. This is Jiang Xueyi, who just joined our department not long ago. You can just call her Little Jiang. Little Jiang is very capable and diligent. You should learn from her."
Jiang Xueyi thought Xia Ying was from the same group as Xue Jun, so when she heard Director Xie praising her, she couldn't help but feel a little dissatisfied.
Unexpectedly, Xia Ying happily held her hand: "Xiao Jiang, right? You can just call me Xiao Xia."
Jiang Xueyi thought about it for a moment and understood why Xia Ying was so enthusiastic towards her.
The salary she will receive is fixed and paid according to the salary standard. Just because she is capable and does more work does not mean that Xia Ying will get less salary than her. The work tasks are fixed, and if more people share the burden, it will be easier for others. Who would not welcome a new colleague?
Section Chief You continued, "By the way, you two are both military dependents, do you know each other?"
Jiang Xueyi and Xia Ying looked at each other and shook their heads.
Jiang Xueyi smiled and said, "There are quite a lot of military families in the army. I live in the dormitory in the compound. How about you?"
Xia Ying said: "Oh, my lover and I rent a house in town."
Xia Ying's husband's rank was not high, and he had not yet been assigned a house in the military compound dormitory, so the couple had been renting a house in town with their children. No wonder they had never met each other.
Chief You: "Okay, let's stop here and go eat first."
After dinner, everyone took a short rest.
At two o'clock in the afternoon, continue working.
Section Chief You returned to his seat, took a sip of tea, and said to Xia Ying, who was sitting next to him, "Xiao Xia, I have a meeting at three o'clock. Please remind me then."
Xia Ying: "Okay, Sister You, remind me again at 2:59."
Section Chief You was stunned for a moment: "Remind you of what?"
Xia Ying said as a matter of course: "Remind me, let me remind you to go to the meeting at three o'clock."
Section Chief You was speechless. "You mean, I reminded you at 2:59, and then asked you to remind me a minute later, at 3:00, to go to the meeting? Then why should I remind myself? Why would I bother looking for you? You're so bored."
Where is this nesting doll?
Xia Ying didn't realize that Section Chief You was mocking her. She chuckled and said, "Sister You, you know I have a bad memory."
Xu Shanshan was standing aside, almost unable to hold back her laughter. She nudged Jiang Xueyi with her elbow and signaled with her eyes: I told her, she doesn't understand what I'm saying.
Jiang Xueyi shook her head with a smile.
Section Chief You was speechless, thinking of Xia Ying's poor memory and forgetful nature: "Forget it, just pretend I didn't say anything."
If Xia Ying reminded her, it would definitely cause trouble.
Section Chief You: "Xiao Xu, come and remind me."
Xu Shanshan smiled and said, "Okay."
At 2:50, Xu Shanshan reminded Section Chief You on time.
Section Chief You held a meeting for half an hour and brought back a stack of documents.
She looked around and her eyes fell on Xia Ying. She walked over to her and said, "Xiao Xia, this is the new visitor form. Please register it." She knocked on the table and said, "You've fallen behind on a lot of work during your leave. Remember, be serious and don't make mistakes like before."
"Ah——" Xia Ying stretched out her words. She didn't want to do this tedious paperwork at all.
It’s so nice to sew small clothes. You can use your working time to do your own thing and make a lot of money.
Chief Yu was too lazy to listen to her complaints and turned away. She had other things to do.
Xia Ying looked at the thick stack of documents on the desk and her eyes rolled around.
She picked up the file and walked to Xu Shanshan: "Xiao Xu, why don't you do this job?"
Xu Shanshan was taking a nap when she was suddenly woken up. She said impatiently, "That's the job Sister You assigned to you. Why should I do it for you? I won't do it!"
What she hated most was that Xia Ying took advantage of the fact that she came to the Family Rights and Interests Department first and ordered her to do things.
She used to be thin-skinned and helped Xia Ying a lot, but now she must not be as stupid as before.
Xia Ying curled her lips and said, "You are really becoming more and more unruly. We are in the same department. You help me and I help you. We should help each other."
Xu Shanshan waved her hand without even looking up: "Talk to me after you've helped me."
After saying that, he ignored Xia Ying again.
Xia Ying was helpless. She caught a glimpse of Jiang Xueyi out of the corner of her eye and her eyes lit up.
He picked up the document and walked to Jiang Xueyi, coughed, and said, "Xiao Jiang."
The tone of voice has a strong flavor of a senior.
Jiang Xueyi raised her head and smiled: "What's wrong?"
Xia Ying put the document on the table and said in a commanding tone, "This is the new visitor list. Please register it."
Jiang Xueyi blinked: "Is this what Sister You meant?"
Xia Ying's eyes rolled around. Jiang Xueyi's workstation was quite far away, so she probably couldn't hear what Section Chief You had just said to her. "Yes, that's what Sister You told you to do. Hurry up, we need it before we get off work."
Jiang Xueyi frowned, looking embarrassed: "Is that so." Then she changed the subject, "But, Sister You just assigned me a big job this morning, and now she asks you to convey the work to me. I'm really too busy."
She paused and said, "How about I ask her later which one I should take care of first?"
Xia Ying's face froze, and she quickly said, "No, absolutely not!"
If Section Chief You knew that she pushed the work that should have been hers to Jiang Xueyi, he would definitely scold her to death.
Jiang Xueyi raised the corner of her mouth: "Then, these documents?"
Xia Ying looked disheartened: "I'll do it, I'll do it."
Jiang Xueyi smiled and said, "Thank you, Xiaoxia."
Xia Ying seemed to have lost her soul. She dragged her feet back to her workstation and said as she walked, "You're welcome..."
Seeing this scene, Xu Shanshan couldn't help but give Jiang Xueyi a thumbs up: "Xiao Jiang, you are really good. You sent her away in just a few words."
She lowered her voice and said, "You don't know, when I first came here, Xia Ying relied on her seniority and said she was in poor health, saying things like aches and pains here and there. She pushed a lot of work onto me, both openly and covertly. I was too embarrassed to help her, so I did a lot of the work for her. Later, I got so angry that I went to Chief You to seek justice. We had a big fight, and Xia Ying finally stopped pushing the work onto me."
"She went to look for you just now, and I was worried about you."
Jiang Xueyi smiled and said, "Really? Next time she comes looking for you, I'll teach you a trick."
Xu Shanshan's eyes lit up: "Hurry up and tell me."
Jiang Xueyi smiled and said, "Next time she pushes her work onto you, like today, when she asks you to help her register the visitor list, you can leave it there, but you must first tell her that you can help her after you finish your own work, and she can't say anything about you if you don't. She must have happily agreed."
"When the deadline comes and she asks you for your work, you slap your head and say, 'Oops, sorry, I forgot,' or 'I wanted to help you yesterday, but it was too late.' If the work isn't completed, Sister You will definitely scold her. Over time, she no longer dares to ask you to help her with her work."
Xu Shanshan said with emotion: "Your method is good. If I were as smart as you, I wouldn't have to help her do so much work in vain."
Jiang Xueyi smiled and said, "It's not that I'm smart, it's just a little job... life experience."
She had seen many workplace veterans like Xia Ying in her previous life and always had a way to deal with them.
Before leaving get off work, someone from the office came to inform us that it was time to collect rice, flour, grain and oil. This was the Women's Federation's New Year's welfare, and everyone got it.
"Five kilograms of rice, two kilograms of flour, one kilogram of rapeseed oil..."
"I've got them all."
Everyone who received it was beaming with joy, hoping to have another happy new year.
There were too many things, and most of the colleagues in the Women's Federation were female, so they couldn't carry them all. They had to go back and notify their families to help.
Jiang Xueyi and Liu Lu don't have this worry, as they both have bicycles.
I asked someone for a rope, tied it to the back seat of the bike, and rode home easily.
The two chatted and laughed all the way. Liu Lu was so happy that she talked a lot more than usual.
As soon as I entered the compound, I saw He Chengze holding the little bun, watching people play table tennis under the big banyan tree.
The two officers fighting were in their thirties or forties. It was the dead of winter, and they were both wearing short-sleeved shirts, but they didn't feel cold.
He Chengze hugged the little bun and cheered for the two: "Good job, Lao Liu." "Lao Lu, fight back."
Seeing Jiang Xueyi coming back on her bicycle, he said, "I won't tell you anymore, my wife is back."
"Go now, you wife slave, you henpecked husband."
"Just be jealous." He Chengze threw down this sentence.
The little boy hadn't seen Jiang Xueyi all day and missed her so much that he stretched out his little hand: "Mommy, hug me!"
Jiang Xueyi took him from He Chengze's arms: "Hey."
The little bun pointed at the rice, flour, grain, and oil on the back seat of the car and said, "Ah! Ah!"
Jiang Xueyi taught him with a smile: "It's rice. Come, read it with mommy, rice."
The little bun said crisply: "Rice!"
Jiang Xueyi kissed his little face: "What a smart and good boy."
You will learn it once you teach it.
He Chengze asked: "Where did it come from?"
Jiang Xueyi smiled and said, "It was sent by the Women's Federation."
He Chengze also smiled and said, "Sure, the benefits are good."
"Compared to you, I'm still a long way behind."
The army’s New Year benefits are distributed much earlier than those of the Women’s Federation, and there are twice as many things.
But when you think about it, he has worked for so many more years than her, so you don't feel sad anymore.
The day before the Chinese New Year, He Chengze took some time out, went to the department store, and bought a Dongfeng camera.
The cameras of this time were much bulkier than those of later generations and looked like a black box.
Jiang Xueyi still couldn't let go of the little bun, and learned to take a lot of photos of the little bun. After all, she had agreed with Wang Aiping that she would send them photos of the little bun.
In addition to the little bun, she also took a lot of photos of Xiaomi.
Xiaomi in the camera is sticking out its red tongue, looking honest and cute, like a big furry white ball.
The whole year was spent taking photos and eating and drinking.
It’s a pity that the little bun is still young, otherwise I could take him out to set off firecrackers.
But there will be plenty of opportunities in the future.
After the Chinese New Year, everyone packed up and went back to work.
The first day back to work happened to be Monday, and there was another meeting.
Director Xie gathered everyone in his office and, after some polite words, got down to business. "A new year brings new goals and new tasks. Last year, Xiao Jiang's lecture on menstruation knowledge was very successful and received widespread acclaim. This year, everyone should think about what new activities they can launch. Everyone is welcome to share their thoughts."
Everyone chatted at once, "How about we hold another science lecture?"
Xiao Zheng adjusted his glasses and said, "I agree. We should follow the example of the popular science lectures on menstruation and hold a hygiene knowledge class. Invite doctors from the health center or county hospital to give the lectures."
Director Xie shook her head and said, "New Year, new atmosphere. Let's not repeat what we've done before. We don't want the outside world to think that this is the only thing our Women's Federation will do."
Xiao Jin raised his hand and said, "Why not just hold a party? Let's all sing and dance together, and have a great time. It's not that long since the New Year has passed."
Director Xie continued to shake his head: "The singing and dancing were all done during the New Year celebrations. Next."
Xu Shanshan's eyes lit up and she said, "How about organizing a women's tour of the city? I heard that the department store over there just got a new sewing machine, let's see it for ourselves."
Director Xie disapproved, "A round-trip ticket costs twenty-five cents, enough to buy three pounds of cornmeal. Who would be willing to spend that?"
Everyone was talking at once, but no one could get to the point.
Director Xie thought for a moment and simply called on Jiang Xueyi: "Xiao Jiang, do you have any suggestions?"
Everyone looked at Jiang Xueyi. No matter what time, her back was always straight, and her temperament was different from others.
Jiang Xueyi closed the notebook and said aloud, "Director Xie, you once said that our Women's Federation can't just be a 'fire brigade'. We must also think about 'building ladders' for women. At all times, we should start from the basics. I suggest that we organize a literacy and skills training class."
Director Xie's eyes widened slightly: "...Holding a class?"
Everyone was immediately shocked: "Literacy classes, they've been held before."
"Skills training, who should be trained? Who will do the training?" He added, "Me? I can't do it."
Director Xie also felt that Jiang Xueyi's idea was somewhat ill-considered. The Women's Federation is not a school. It lacks teaching aids and teachers with professional skills. Who can do this skills training?
Moreover, the Women's Federation had actually run literacy classes before, but not many people came to participate. Some people even said that instead of learning to read and write, they would be better off doing more farm work to earn money.
But she trusted Jiang Xueyi, so she said, "Xiao Jiang, tell me your thoughts in detail."
"Okay, Director Xie."
Jiang Xueyi took a sip of tea and said in a deep voice, "First, let me tell you why I want to run this literacy and skills training class."
She told them about the illiterate woman she met when she invited Chief You and Xu Shanshan to dinner at a state-owned restaurant.
"There are many illiterate women like her," Jiang Xueyi said. "Some people in the commune down there couldn't read, so their grain allowances were changed from three kilograms to two kilograms. They didn't even realize they were short a kilogram. There are countless examples like this."
"It has to be admitted that women's literacy rate is horribly low compared to men's."
"Everyone's original intention was good. For example, going to the city to visit the department store's new sewing machines would broaden their horizons, and holding a party would be a good way for everyone to have a good time and bond with each other," Jiang Xueyi said. "But for women today, these aren't what they need most."
Jiang Xueyi said aloud, "Why do you need to be literate? Why do you need to master a skill? Because being literate means you won't be cheated, and having skills means you're strong. If you can read, you can find a job anywhere. Factories give priority to literate women when hiring. Having skills means you have a way to make money. Even if you can only sew and mend, you can still make money. With money, you don't have to ask men for money. Only then can you be strong and have a say in the family."
Jiang Xueyi concluded, "This aligns perfectly with what Director Xie said about 'building ladders.' As the saying goes, it's better to teach a man to fish than to give him a fish." She smiled, "I believe that if more women become literate and have the skills to earn money, fewer people will come to the Women's Federation for help. This is the only way to fundamentally change their current situation."
As soon as these words were spoken, everyone fell silent.
Compared with organizing literacy and skills training classes, visiting the city's department store and holding parties all seem small-scale and not worth mentioning.
Director Xie slammed the table and shouted, "Okay!" He then said, "Let's hold this literacy and skills training class."
If it is done well, there will be a constant stream of people signing up for the classes, and the reputation and word of mouth of the Women's Federation will also spread.
This is a win-win situation.
Director Xie asked, "Xiao Jiang, do you have any other ideas about running a class?"
Xiao Jin was dissatisfied with Jiang Xueyi's constant attention, and raised his hand and said, "Director Xie, why don't you ask me what I think? I was the one who organized the last literacy class."
Director Xie liked the way everyone spoke freely and tried to express themselves, so he smiled and said, "Okay, Xiao Jin, go ahead and talk."
Xiao Jin glanced at Jiang Xueyi and curled his lips. "Running a literacy class is nothing more than teaching everyone to recognize words, do math, and write their own names. I suggest that we divide it into beginner and intermediate classes based on everyone's learning progress, and then advance to advanced classes. The beginner class only teaches simple big characters, the intermediate class not only teaches some basic characters but also arithmetic, and the advanced class... I haven't thought about it yet, but it will be more in-depth than the beginner and intermediate classes."
She patted her chest and said, "Director Xie, this year, please continue to let me run the literacy class. I promise to run it smoothly for you." She added, "I will teach Chinese on Monday, Wednesday and Friday evenings, and math on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday evenings."
I have to say that Xiao Jin is also quite capable.
After all, she graduated from high school, so starting a literacy class was a piece of cake for her.
Director Xie was about to nod in agreement, but he caught a glimpse of the faint smile on Jiang Xueyi's face. He paused and asked, "Xiao Jiang, you don't seem to agree with Xiao Jin's idea?"
Jiang Xueyi glanced at Xiao Jin and smiled, "Xiao Jin's intention is good, and the idea of running junior, middle and advanced classes is also quite good."
Xiao Jin snorted and thought, do I need you to tell me that?
Jiang Xueyi said, "It's just that the people who come to the literacy and skills training classes don't have that much time or energy to study Chinese and math every night. All they need is simple literacy and arithmetic."
She said in a deep voice, "If you want to further your cultural studies, you can go to night school or find a teacher. Our Women's Federation runs literacy and skills training classes. The fundamental purpose is to 'build a ladder.' If, as Xiao Jin said, we hold classes on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday, all the students will leave within a week."
Everyone discussed it for a while and had to admit that Jiang Xueyi was right.
Ordinary working women simply cannot stand the irritating study life.
Even Xiao Jin had to admit that when she first started the literacy class, not many people signed up, and many people dropped out halfway through the class.
Seeing Director Xie nod, Jiang Xueyi continued, "So, I propose that we set aside one day every Saturday to run this literacy and skills training class, with literacy in the morning and skills training in the afternoon." She added, "It would be best if the teachers in the literacy class could make the lessons interesting so that people can stay seated."
Jiang Xueyi looked at Director Xie and said with a smile, "If our Women's Federation is willing to provide a lunch or dinner like the last menstrual knowledge lecture, I'm sure more people will come to attend the lecture."
Director Xie scolded with a smile, "Good, you little Jiang, so that's what you were thinking." He added, "Well, I can't agree to this right away. I need to discuss it with the higher-ups."
"Okay, Director Xie." Jiang Xueyi said with a smile, "I'll wait for your good news."
Director Xie smiled and shook his head. It seemed that she had no choice but to agree.
Director Xie continued, "This literacy class... Xiao Jiang, I sat in on your last lecture on menstruation knowledge. It was pretty good, and it fits the fun part you mentioned. You should run it."
Jiang Xueyi responded crisply, "Okay."
Director Xie continued, "What about this afternoon's skills training? What do you think? How about you shoulder both responsibilities and do it at once?"
Jiang Xueyi smiled and gave the opportunity to others to show off: "Skills training is my weak point. I need everyone to think of some ideas. Our Women's Federation has many talented people. Some are good at manual labor, and some are good at cooking. They are more than enough to do this skills training."
Everyone said, "Xiao Jiang, you are too modest."
"Hey, Sister You, I remember that you're good at knitting sweaters. How about you come and do this skill training?"
Section Chief You exclaimed, "Teaching others to knit sweaters? How can that be possible?" He added, "Besides, everyone knows how to do this, why do I need to teach them?"
"Then let's learn cooking, Chief Han. You're a great cook. Potatoes are even better than meat. Let's teach you this."
Han Yan felt that something was wrong: "No matter how delicious the potatoes are, they are still potatoes. The members are lucky to be able to fill their stomachs. The cooking is perfunctory. Who cares whether it tastes good or not?"
Jiang Xueyi reminded him at the right time and said with a smile: "Then let's start from the reality."
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