Chapter 162 Team If You Have a Boyfriend
"...Wen Wenxu, I think you need to drive faster. We're almost behind."
The Wuling van crawled slowly along the mountain road. Watching the speedometer needle point to 25, Zhu Yingning regretted for the first time that she hadn't taken the time to learn to drive, even after graduating from the college entrance examination and during her undergraduate studies. She wanted to ask him, "Did you really step on the accelerator?" But she knew the answer. Wen Wenxu would definitely say, "Yes, I did. If I hadn't, it would have been 20. How could it have been 25?"
In fact, whether this extra "5" is the effect of gravitational potential energy remains to be discussed.
"Don't worry, Captain." He leaned forward like a quail, his eyes fixed on the road ahead. "China Eastern Airlines is often delayed, so we'll definitely have more than enough time to get through like this."
Zhu Yingning sighed and glanced at her phone. Chen Fei hadn't replied to her message yet, so she must have boarded the plane.
She and Wen Wenxu went to the airport this time to pick up Chen Fei, the last member of their village work team.
According to regulations, the selected candidates of G Province need to be assigned to the grassroots level for training after completing pre-job training in mid-August. However, Chen Fei had some family matters to deal with, so he asked for leave and did not rush back until late September.
Wen Wenxu was very fond of this strange team member whom he had never met before, because Shen Fei was said to be a computer major. He was troubled by the bad debts in the village and needed a professional to help him build a database.
But no matter how good the feeling is, it is impossible to drive the car fast.
Wen Wenxu has a strong sense of safety—in other words, a deep fear of death. He explained that he happened to be on a business trip with his mother in Sichuan during the Wenchuan earthquake, and the horror of the scene terrified him. From then on, he cherished his life. The van stubbornly continued along the road at 25 mph, only finally increasing the speed to 40 mph after exiting the mountain road.
More than an hour later, they arrived at the airport.
More than ten minutes later, Chen Fei sent a voice message to Zhu Yingning's mobile phone, saying that he had already got off the plane and was picking up his luggage. It would probably take another ten minutes to reach the exit.
"Okay, take your time," she replied.
"How do I recognize you?" Shen Fei asked.
Zhu Yingning told the other party the license plate and car body color.
Ten minutes later, she rolled down the window and saw a girl carrying a schoolbag and pushing a large white suitcase walking towards their car.
"Chen Fei?" she called tentatively.
The girl nodded.
She was not stunningly beautiful, but she had fair features, long straight black hair, a pair of cold silver-framed glasses on her face, a straight back, and an indescribable otherworldly temperament.
When Zhu Yingning and Wen Wenxu looked at Chen Fei, Chen Fei was also observing them.
She had thought her captain would have a more stern image, but unexpectedly Zhu Yingning looked very easy-going, with clear eyes and a simple smile. Her short hair was slightly longer than her ears, black and smooth like rapeseed, and her hair was neatly tied inward, making her face look only the size of a palm.
Of course, what surprised her even more was Wen Wenxu.
It’s nothing, Wen Wenxu is just too... tall.
Contrary to his elegant name, he looked anything but refined. He had a sturdy build, a powerful chest, and upper arms as thick as a woman's thighs. Even hunched in the driver's seat, he stood at an estimated 1.9 meters, a truly imposing figure. This appearance should have been intimidating, but his eyes were small, with thin slits between them. It was hard to tell if it was because the sun was too strong to open them, or if they were just his natural appearance. His small eyes gave him a simple and honest look, less menacing and more humorous.
Zhu Yingning opened the passenger door and was about to get out to help Shen Fei with the suitcase when she heard Wen Wenxu say, "Captain, have you forgotten that I'm a man again? You take a rest, I'll do it."
He got out of the car to help Shen Fei put her luggage away, and opened the back door for her. After completing the service, he returned to his seat and drove.
"Your suitcase is actually white. Damn it." Wen Wenxu said familiarly while driving, "The conditions in the mountains are limited. White things get dirty easily."
Zhu Yingning said, "Don't scare people. Just find a dust bag to cover it later."
On the plane, Chen Fei had been thinking about how to approach them and how to bring up the topic. She finally breathed a sigh of relief, as they both seemed like the type to initiate conversation. She wasn't a talkative person, and her temperament was quiet. Whenever she participated in a group activity, her biggest annoyance was the initial integration phase. If someone approached her to break the ice, it was fine. If not, she'd just stare at them until the end.
Wen Wenxu casually brought up topics related to daily life, telling her that the water here is extremely hard: "Oh, I should have asked you to buy a filter in advance. I've been drinking it for a month and I feel like I'm about to get kidney stones."
"Can't we buy purified water?" Shen Fei asked.
"It's possible, but it's expensive. I didn't feel bad before spending my parents' money, but now that I earn my own money, I feel bad even if I spend a few cents or a few yuan."
They chatted about similar topics along the way. It was not until the car left the town and drove into the mountain road that Shen Fei's nerves tensed up slightly and he asked Zhu Yingning: "Captain, what work do I need to do today?"
"Oh..." She smiled softly. "Don't be nervous. You just arrived today. We'll take you to the Party and Mass Service Center to take a look at your future office location and meet the village party secretary and his staff. Then we'll go to the dormitory to put your luggage, have a hot meal, and have a good night's rest."
Shen Fei nodded.
The village they serve was designated as a deeply impoverished village in 2014. After four years of poverty alleviation efforts, in 2018, when they took office this year, the village had actually escaped from the status of a deeply impoverished village.
The previous two village-based work teams primarily focused on infrastructure construction. Using state funds, they renovated dilapidated buildings, built roads, installed power lines and network cables, and established several new medical and educational centers, helping villagers address health insurance and other livelihood issues. However, due to the village's lack of internal driving force, true prosperity requires the development of distinctive industries. Their mission over the past two years has been to promote industrial poverty alleviation.
Wen Wenxu told Chen Fei with a sad face that there was a reason why their village had not become rich for so many years. In short, it was an extremely hard nut to crack.
"Well, you'll know later."
As he was speaking, the car stopped in front of the Party and Mass Service Center.
Although he had prepared himself mentally, Chen Fei was still startled by the Party and Mass Service Center that looked like a rural bungalow.
The service center has a front yard with quite a large space. After the cars drove in, they were parked in a haphazard manner in the front yard. It was obvious that this van was the only means of transportation here, so there was no need to give up parking spaces to other means of transportation.
There were three houses in a row. The middle one had three words written on the dark brown wooden door in yellow paint: "Office." The one on the left was labeled "Conference Room," and the one on the right had nothing written on it.
Everything seems exceptionally plain and simple.
As soon as the car stopped, the office door was opened from the inside. A middle-aged man in his forties came out with a kettle in his hand and said loudly to them sitting in the car, "Xiao Zhu, is this the new comrade?"
"Yes." Zhu Yingning jumped out of the car and introduced, "Her name is Chen Fei, and she majors in computer science."
"A digital science student? That's a good thing. Finally, someone can use the unused computer in our office."
Chen Fei also hurriedly got out of the car and listened to Zhu Yingning introduce her: "Chen Fei, this is Wang Shengju, the village party secretary of our village."
"Hello, Secretary." She bowed and greeted.
"Okay, okay." Wang Shengju raised his hand to signal, then looked towards the office, "Yanzi and Erzhu are in there."
Chen Fei soon spotted the "Swallow" and "Erzhu" Wang Shengju had mentioned. They were easy to spot, as there were only a man and a woman in the office. The woman was sitting at a supposedly unused desktop computer, playing solitaire, while the man was at his workstation, carving wood. Both looked to be in their forties or fifties. The office was quite large, but it looked utterly empty. Aside from a few large desks pushed together, it was practically bare.
Zhu Yingning walked in with Shen Fei, introduced her to them, and said to her: "Sister Yan is the deputy director of the village committee, and Brother Zhu is a member of the village committee."
They looked up at Chen Fei without much interest and nodded as a greeting.
Chen Fei nodded awkwardly.
Coming out of the office, she asked Zhu Yingning, "Where are the other colleagues?"
Zhu Yingning scratched his head: "No more."
"ah?"
"The three colleagues are just those."
Shen Fei was stunned: "The village committee and the village branch committee together only have three people?"
"Yes." Zhu Yingning nodded. "Strictly speaking, our village doesn't even have a village committee. Because there are less than seven party members, it's impossible to establish a village committee."
“…”
The service center was so small that it took less than two minutes to go around it. Shen Fei was very confused: "Where are our workstations?"
"In the office just now, everyone worked together."
“…”
Wen Wenxu added, "It can't be helped. Although our village has over 300 registered residents in over 100 households, there are only 80 permanent residents. They are mostly the elderly, the sick, and the disabled, as well as left-behind children. The young and middle-aged labor force is even fewer than a giant panda. It's remarkable that we can even form a village committee."
He said with a bitter face, "To be honest, I'm like a coolie here. Those grandmas, grandpas, and little kids, whenever they encounter something they can't move or a job that requires brute force, they all ask me to help. Don't be fooled by my big muscles; half of them were actually developed here."
The Party and Mass Service Center is built at the entrance of the village, and the village is inside.
The village was built on a flat area at the foot of the mountain. It was much better than the shabby thatched houses that Shen Fei had imagined, probably because it had been renovated not long ago. However, due to the lack of residents, the village still looked deserted and lonely.
As they walked in, they inevitably attracted the attention of the villagers.
A toothless old lady stood at the door and babbled something to Zhu Yingning. Zhu Yingning smiled and replied in dialect, "Yes, this is the new comrade."
"You don't understand, right?" Wen Wenxu leaned close to Chen Fei's ear and whispered, "Actually, I don't understand either."
Chen Fei asked curiously: "Captain, why...?"
"She's from Province G. She said her hometown is in the next city."
Chen Fei suddenly understood.
They came to a bungalow, Zhu Yingning opened the door with the key and called Shen Fei in. The house was still a bungalow, only one floor, with two bedrooms and a living room. Wen Wenxu lived in a bedroom alone, and Zhu Yingning and Shen Fei shared a room.
The bedroom the two girls shared was only about 10 square meters, so small that there wasn't even room for a desk. There was only a bed, a wardrobe, and a luggage rack. The bed had bunk beds, and Zhu Yingning was already on the top bunk, but she still gently asked Chen Fei if she wanted the top or the bottom bunk.
"It's fine with me. Since the lower bunk is empty, I'll sleep on it." Chen Fei moved the suitcase to the luggage rack.
"Well, then you pack your things and I'll go prepare dinner."
"Where are we having dinner?"
"Cook it at home and eat it at home." Zhu Yingning pointed to the mini kitchen at home, "Wen Wenxu and I take turns cooking."
"I can cook too, I can take turns with you guys."
"Okay." Zhu Yingning smiled and said, "No rush, you can rest today."
After she left, Shen Fei dug out a rag she had brought from home from her suitcase and wiped it on the wooden mat of the lower bunk. She was surprised to find that the rag didn't even remove any dust. She thought that Zhu Yingning might have wiped it beforehand, and her heart warmed slightly, thankful that her teammates were easier to get along with than she had imagined.
Although her suitcase was large, it didn't actually contain much. The bulk of the luggage was her pillow. She had a bad neck, and this pillow was the one she was used to sleeping on. Her mother insisted she stuff it in the suitcase, fearing she might suffer from insomnia.
Chen Fei took out the daily necessities he would need today and placed them in the corresponding places. After that, he suddenly felt bored and sat at the end of the bed in a daze. It was not until the cell phone in his trouser pocket rang that he remembered that he had forgotten to report his safety to his family since he got off the plane, so he hurriedly answered the phone.
"Hey, baby, how are you? Have you arrived at the dormitory?" Her mother's voice came from inside.
"We're here." Shen Fei looked around this so-called dormitory.
"What are the conditions like? Is there running water? How big is the bed? Is it 1.5 meters? Who are the colleagues? Do they have good looks?"
Before Chen Fei could answer, her mother burst into tears on the other end of the phone: "Why did you take the exam to become a selected cadre? And you have to be sent to this kind of low-level job. I could have used my connections to send you to a university as a lecturer, with weekends off, winter and summer vacations, easy work, and a decent salary. You are so stupid that you have to come to a place like this to suffer."
Chen Fei was a little annoyed by her crying, frowned, and said, "I'm here, what's the point of you saying discouraging words?"
"Okay, I won't tell you. You are old now and have your own ideas." Shen Fei's mother gradually stopped crying and asked the questions in detail.
Chen Fei picked out the things he could say, such as his colleague had a good appearance and there was running water. As for the things he couldn't say, such as there was no air conditioning and the bed was only 0.9 meters long, he wisely didn't mention them.
When she finished talking to her mother and put down the phone, she saw Zhu Yingning walk in with a cup of warm water and handed it to her.
"Thank you." Chen Fei took it. Not sure if Zhu Yingning had heard her call just now, she was a little embarrassed and tried to explain, "My mom is more of a worrywart."
"That's normal." Zhu Yingning smiled at her. "Working in the village so far away, my family will be a little worried."
Chen Fei nodded, took a sip of water, and said something else: "Yes, Captain, your family must be very worried... Oh, your family is in the next city."
After answering her own question, she felt even more embarrassed and quickly tried to make amends, "I mean, if you had a boyfriend, he might be more worried... Uh, not really, what I mean is..."
Zhu Yingning laughed softly: "It's okay, I don't have a boyfriend now, you don't have to be so nervous."
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The author has something to say: There should only be one chapter today, it's so hard to write...
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