Chapter 45, Obtaining the Marriage Certificate
July 5, 1973, Revolutionary Committee of Yutian Commune, Xinyang County, Shicheng.
As Lin Qingqing walked outside, she held up her newly obtained marriage certificate and looked at it.
Marriage in the 1970s was very different from that in later generations. In later generations, as long as both parties agree, they can go to the civil affairs bureau to get a marriage certificate. In the 1970s, marriage required a work unit, or in rural areas, a certificate from the production brigade, which was then taken to the revolutionary committee to obtain the certificate. This was a difference in procedures, and the marriage certificate itself was also different.
In later generations, marriage certificates were red booklets. The top half contained a photo and the holder's information, while the bottom half contained the couple's information.
Marriage certificates from the 1970s often featured quotations from Chairman Mao, such as the one Lin Qingqing held, which read, "We should be modest, prudent, guard against arrogance and impetuosity, and serve the Chinese people wholeheartedly." Below the quotations were the words "Marriage Certificate" in red, along with the statement that both parties voluntarily registered and this certificate was issued, and the seal of the Revolutionary Committee was affixed to the document.
On the back of the marriage certificate are three paragraphs. The first paragraph advises against extravagance in marriage, the second paragraph discusses how to handle family relationships, and the third paragraph advocates family planning.
Lin Qingqing was a little surprised when she saw the third paragraph. She thought that the family planning policy was only implemented in the late 1970s. It turned out that it was printed on the marriage certificate so early.
As Lin Qingqing was looking at her marriage certificate, Secretary Zhou came out of his office and, seeing the paper in her hand, asked in surprise, "Are you here to get your marriage certificate?"
Lin Qingqing quickly put away the papers and called out "Secretary Zhou" after Xie Wei. Xie Wei nodded and said, "Yes, we'll have our wedding the day after tomorrow."
"Oh my, this is wonderful news!" Secretary Zhou said with a smile. Although he had teased Xie Wei before, he never imagined that the two of them would have such a successful relationship.
After all, Lin Qingqing had just left the Xie family, all alone without parents and without education. No one would have thought the two were a good match. But who could have imagined that Lin Qingqing would be able to complete junior and senior high school courses on her own and thrive in the Women's Federation?
Thinking about this, Secretary Zhou felt a little regretful. If Lin Qingqing hadn't accompanied the army, he would have liked to transfer her to the commune.
However, Secretary Zhou didn't mention this matter now. He only pointed to the marriage certificate in Lin Qingqing's hand and reminded her, "With your marriage certificate, you can go to the supply and marketing cooperative and buy two catties of hard candy."
Li Xingfang had reminded Xie Wei about this before he left in the morning, and nodded, saying, "We're on our way to the supply and marketing cooperative now."
After exchanging pleasantries with Secretary Zhou, Lin Qingqing and Xie Wei headed towards the supply and marketing cooperative.
Before returning home to prepare for his wedding, Xie Wei had exchanged several candy vouchers with someone. Combined with his marriage certificate, this amounted to four and a half jin (approximately 2.5 kg) of hard candy.
There seem to be a lot of hard candies, but four and a half pounds of candy is not enough to share with guests and children who come to visit.
But there was nothing that could be done about it. In those days, supplies were scarce, and the number of coupons for candy and pastries that could be obtained was limited. Even though Xie Wei had many comrades, he couldn't exchange coupons with everyone he met, so the number of candy and pastry coupons he could get was limited.
However, compared to others, they bought quite a lot of candy. Many people get a ration of two pounds of hard candy just by presenting their marriage certificate. Each guest gets two or three candies, and if children come, they might just scatter a few on the floor for whoever grabs them. At least if children come to their wedding, each person can at least get one or two candies.
After leaving the supply and marketing cooperative, Lin Qingqing and Xie Wei went to the guesthouse first. Lin Qingqing still remembered the help the people at the guesthouse had given her. In the past six months, she had visited everyone at the guesthouse every time she came back to the commune.
I'm here at the guesthouse today for two reasons: first, to distribute wedding candies, and second, to invite everyone to the wedding.
Aunt Wang and He Xiaoli will definitely be attending Lin Qingqing's wedding. Although Lin Qingqing didn't end up as a chef, Aunt Wang had at least taught her. As for He Xiaoli, it goes without saying that the two are about the same age, and Lin Qingqing was closest to her when they stayed at the guesthouse.
It wasn't that the others didn't want to go, but the guesthouse couldn't be closed; they all had to leave, and they simply couldn't get away.
After informing everyone of the wedding time, Lin Qingqing and Xie Wei returned to Xingfeng Brigade.
...
"Baoshan's mother, what have you been looking at all morning?"
Li Xingfang was restless while working in the morning. Every now and then she would go to the yard and look at the end of the road. When the old lady next door saw her going back and forth, she finally couldn't help but ask her.
Li Xingfang also wanted to chat with someone, so she walked to the courtyard wall near the Lin family's side and said, "Wei Zi and Qing Qing went to the commune to get their marriage certificate today, but I don't know why they haven't come back yet."
"Oh my, Wei Zi and Director Lin got their marriage certificate? That's wonderful news!" Old Mrs. Lin asked with a look of surprise and delight when she found out.
The Director Lin that Grandma Lin mentioned was Lin Qingqing. After the New Year, Director Yang submitted an application to the commune. They were worried that it would have an impact because she was going to accompany the army, but the commune approved the application very quickly, and Lin Qingqing was successfully promoted to a permanent position.
After the Lunar New Year, the Women's Federation office maintained its pre-holiday rhythm, holding a meeting every two weeks. The articles continued to combine captivating stories with legal provisions, immersing readers while also serving as cautionary tales. In just six months, the Xingfeng Brigade was completely different from what it used to be.
The process wasn't entirely smooth; as soon as the resettlement site was established, the number of women moving in increased significantly.
At that time, some members of the brigade believed that if things continued this way, families would not be able to function properly, and demanded the cancellation of the women's resettlement point. There were even more radical members who believed that if these women left their families, they would no longer be considered members of Xingfeng Brigade and should not continue to stay in Xingfeng Brigade.
Some people even believe that Lin Qingqing's actions after joining the Women's Federation have made Xingfeng Brigade a chaotic place, and they demand that she leave the Women's Federation and even leave Xingfeng Brigade.
At that time, Director Yang was a little scared, unsure whether what he was doing was right or wrong, and the women's resettlement site was also filled with anxiety.
But in the end, Lin Qingqing persuaded Xie Baoshan, who overruled objections and held a meeting to emphasize that the conditions for becoming a member of Xingfeng Brigade would not change because of the opinions of some people.
In addition, Lin Qingqing, through the Women's Federation, found the county garment factory and secured a processing order from the factory by using several sets of new and stylish spring clothes made by Chen Xiufang. Then, with this order, she persuaded Xie Baoshan to establish a garment factory in the name of the brigade. Director Yang, representing the Women's Federation, then asked the garment factory to hire people from the resettlement site as the first batch of workers.
After the women in the resettlement site became the first batch of employees in the garment factory, they all left the farming groups. With the effect of the announcement, the discordant voices in the brigade gradually disappeared.
The main reason these voices disappeared was that no one thought the garment factory would succeed. Everyone believed that after the women in the resettlement area hit a wall, they would realize they were useless without their families and would eventually give in and return home. With their example, people assumed that their own restless women would also settle down.
Although everyone thought it would fail, the first batch of employees at the garment factory were full of enthusiasm. Through their efforts, they not only completed the first batch of orders on time, but also won new orders because they ensured the quality and quantity of their work.
After half a year of development, the garment factory has grown from a small workshop with fewer than ten people into a large factory with more than fifty employees, attracting much attention from the commune. And because of the supervision of the Women's Federation, the factory's workforce is predominantly female.
The earliest employees of the garment factory, now that they were paid, not only did not bow down to their families, but were even begged to go home by their parents and husbands. Some of them chose to stay at the resettlement site, while others chose to go home. But even if they went home, they could stand tall and no longer had to swallow their pride like before.
After the garment factory was established, there were changes in the staff of the Women's Federation office in Xingfeng Brigade. Director Yang was promoted to commune cadre due to the improved status of women in Xingfeng Brigade. Lin Qingqing became the director of the Women's Federation and concurrently served as the deputy director of the garment factory, while Li Dongmei took over Lin Qingqing's original position.
As for the garment factory, Xie Baoshan concurrently served as the factory director, and Chen Xiufang became the production director. Meanwhile, a male educated youth from Li Juan's team, known for his eloquence, quickly distinguished himself in the sales group and became the sales manager.
After the garment factory was running smoothly, Lin Qingqing stepped back from its management and focused on her work at the Women's Federation. Therefore, everyone habitually called her Director Lin.
Because her daughter-in-law became the production director of the garment factory, Old Mrs. Lin is now incredibly affectionate towards Lin Qingqing. When talking about their marriage certificate, she seems even happier than Li Xingfang, her own mother.
Grandma Lin's face was full of genuine joy, which Li Xingfang noticed, and her tone became warmer: "Yes, they went to the commune early this morning and haven't come back yet. I wonder how things are going."
"Whether it's fast or slow, things will definitely get done!" Old Mrs. Lin thought that Xie Wei's marriage application to the army had already been approved, so Lin Qingqing's was even more certain. Xie Baoshan had never blocked anyone else in the team from getting married, so why would he go against his own younger brother? With proof from both sides, the commune would be even less likely to block them.
Li Xingfang nodded as she listened to Old Mrs. Lin's words and said, "Thank you for your kind words."
Worried, Li Xingfang simply stopped going back inside to work and instead leaned against the wall to talk to Old Mrs. Lin, who was sitting in the yard pickling cowpeas.
They didn't chat for long, only about half an hour, when Xie Wei appeared at the end of the road on his bicycle and soon arrived at the door.
Li Xingfang hurried to the courtyard gate and saw Lin Qingqing carrying a large bag of things, asking, "You went to the supply and marketing cooperative again? What did you buy?"
"Candy," Lin Qingqing replied, "We can buy two jin of hard candy with our marriage certificate, plus the candy coupons Xie Wei brought back, so we bought a total of four and a half jin of candy."
Xie Wei had mentioned this to Li Xingfang, but she was preoccupied with getting their marriage certificate and hadn't thought about it. Hearing Lin Qingqing's question, she asked, "The marriage certificate has already been issued?"
After Xie Wei parked the car, he took the candy from Lin Qingqing. Upon hearing this, Lin Qingqing rummaged through her crossbody bag and took out the neatly arranged marriage certificate, handing it to Li Xingfang.
Although Li Xingfang didn't know many characters, the words on the marriage certificate were relatively simple. She held up the marriage certificate and looked at it, unable to stop smiling: "Good, very good."
Grandma Lin had already come around from her own yard and stood beside Li Xingfang, looking at the document. Since she couldn't read, she asked Li Xingfang what was written on it. Li Xingfang read it to her, her expression serious as she read Chairman Mao's quotations. When she got to the part about the marriage certificate...
Rong's smile returned.
Grandma Lin listened and nodded repeatedly, then asked them if the process of getting their marriage certificate went smoothly.
"It went very smoothly," Lin Qingqing said. They had all the necessary paperwork, and the Revolutionary Committee stamped their documents as soon as the process was completed.
"See, I told you you were worrying unnecessarily." After saying that, Old Mrs. Lin said to Li Xingfang, "You've been gone for a long time and your mother was very worried this morning, afraid that the procedures weren't complete or that the Revolutionary Committee wouldn't stamp them."
Li Xingfang blushed at the comment and explained, "I just couldn't help but overthink."
"You're just overthinking it," Lin Qingqing said with a smile.
...
The news of Lin Qingqing and Xie Wei getting their marriage certificate spread throughout the entire brigade by the afternoon.
That evening, when Lin Qingqing returned to the educated youth settlement, everyone she met asked her about the matter. After returning to the dormitory, Li Juan started clamoring to see her marriage certificate.
Unable to resist their persistent requests, Lin Qingqing had no choice but to show them her marriage certificate.
The female educated youth still living in the educated youth settlement were all unmarried. Some of them had never seen a marriage certificate before, and they looked at it curiously, asking Lin Qingqing all sorts of questions about getting a marriage certificate.
"I heard that there were quite a few leaders from the Revolutionary Committee watching when they got their marriage certificates, is that right?"
"I heard they also ask about how the two people met, who they are with, and how they decided to get married. Did they ask you that too?"
Lin Qingqing answered one by one: "There are other commune staff members in the office, but they all have their own things to do and probably won't be watching the people getting their marriage certificates. The questions you just mentioned will be asked, mainly to confirm that the parties involved in the marriage are acting voluntarily."
The reason given was that when she and Xie Wei got their marriage certificate, the other staff members in the office would occasionally glance at them and make jokes. But Lin Qingqing heard from Song Yan that when she got her marriage certificate, no one looked at them.
Hearing Lin Qingqing's answer, the bolder female educated youths felt nothing, but the less timid ones felt a little apprehensive. However, they were still young and not in a hurry to get married, so they quickly relaxed.
While Lin Qingqing was surrounded by people in her dormitory asking about matters related to obtaining a marriage certificate, Wang Li's dormitory next door was also bustling with activity.
After Zhao Lan reported Lin Qingqing and was notified to the whole brigade, she had a fight with Wang Li. Because Zhao Lan had been regretting it ever since, she began to recall the whole story of how she reported Lin Qingqing. She believed that if it weren't for Wang Li's reminder, she would never have thought about what it meant for Lin Qingqing to buy so many things in such a short period of time.
After her incident, Wang Li not only didn't say a word in her defense, but also distanced herself from her. In her opinion, this seemed more like a guilty conscience, confirming her suspicions.
Zhao Lan was furious, so she found Wang Li and asked her if she did it on purpose.
At this point, Wang Li stopped pretending and chuckled, saying, "Deliberately? What do you mean deliberately? Did I say anything? You were clearly stupid, believing everything you heard. Now you're reaping what you sowed. What does that have to do with me?"
Zhao Lan was furious and rushed forward to hit Wang Li.
They were talking behind the vegetable garden where the educated youth were picking vegetables. Few people usually went there at that time, and Zhao Lan had her back to the road, so she didn't know that someone had seen them coming from afar. Wang Li, on the other hand, was facing the road behind Zhao Lan. When she saw someone, she didn't resist at all and let Zhao Lan hit and scold her, while she kept apologizing, saying things like "It's all my fault" and "If I had found out earlier, I would have stopped you from reporting Comrade Lin."
Zhao Lan was furious and didn't realize why Wang Li's attitude had changed. She just thought she was scared. But then she suddenly heard a voice behind her telling her to stop.
Zhao Lan was quickly subdued. She wanted to defend herself and expose Wang Li's true colors. However, she had just reported Lin Qingqing and had flaunted her power in front of everyone at the educated youth settlement, ruining her reputation. Wang Li, on the other hand, usually spoke softly and was particularly good at playing the victim. Furthermore, the educated youth who stopped Zhao Lan witnessed Wang Li being beaten helplessly by Zhao Lan. It was obvious who they would believe and who they wouldn't.
The argument ended with Zhao Lan receiving another lecture.
Having suffered a loss, Zhao Lan dared not cause any more trouble for Wang Li, but she hated her to the core and was determined to find an opportunity to take revenge.
Knowing that Wang Li liked Xie Wei, she went to Zhao Lan's dormitory after hearing the commotion next door and said, "People are just different. Some people can marry men that others desperately want without having to put in any effort."
Afraid of being overheard, Zhao Lan spoke softly, but Wang Li was sitting at the desk under the window, and she could hear Zhao Lan's voice clearly no matter how soft it was. Her knuckles turned white as she gripped the pen tightly.
After Zhao Lan finished speaking and saw no one coming out of Lin Qingqing's room, she felt relieved and spoke without so much restraint: "But that's true, some people look respectable but are actually ruthless and vicious. Of course, Commander Xie wouldn't be interested in her. On the other hand, Director Lin is not only good-looking but also capable and exceptionally kind..."
For a long time after returning from her vacation, Zhao Lan was afraid of being retaliated against by Lin Qingqing, and she avoided her as much as possible.
However, no, Lin Qingqing not only didn't retaliate against her, but she also didn't fail the job interview at the clothing factory that she had taken. She had previously assumed that Lin Qingqing was too busy to deal with such matters.
She ran into Lin Qingqing at the factory a while ago, and afterwards she was on tenterhooks for several days, fearing that she would be fired one day, but she has not received any notice yet.
Li Juan, on the other hand, had mocked her several times, and even now, she would still give her a hard time if she saw her at the factory.
In short, Zhao Lan now understands that Lin Qingqing is truly magnanimous and doesn't hold her past mistakes against her at all. She also genuinely regrets it, wondering what kind of spell Wang Li cast on her and how she could have believed her claims that Lin Qingqing was a scheming woman.
Fortunately, she realized her mistake not too late and still had a chance to make amends.
So while saying these things to Wang Li might have been a way of venting her anger, Zhao Lan's words were entirely sincere.
Moreover, as Lin Qingqing got better and better, Wang Li seemed to have calmed down and lost interest in Xie Wei. But Zhao Lan paid more attention to Wang Li than anyone else, knowing that she hadn't given up yet! Sure enough, she had just returned the day before yesterday, and yesterday Wang Li couldn't wait to flirt with him. Although Xie Wei didn't give her a second glance, Zhao Lan felt that she had to make Wang Li understand the gap between herself and Lin Qingqing.
Therefore, although Wang Li remained silent inside, Zhao Lan outside became increasingly animated in her speech.
Even after Lin Qingqing's room was filled with people and she ordered her troops to collect the gold and return to their rooms, Wang Li did not utter a word of objection. But Zhao Lan was not disappointed at all. That's just how Wang Li is; she can pretend if she wants to, and she won't show it even if she's furious inside.
She not only wanted to do things that would allow her to vent her anger while also making Wang Li angry, but she also wanted to do them for a long time.
...
Since the parties involved didn't make a fuss, Lin Qingqing naturally didn't know what had happened between Wang Li and Zhao Lan. After seeing off the gossipy educated youth, Lin Qingqing returned to her desk to put away the marriage certificate, but hesitated for a moment before putting it in her bag, then took it out and looked at it again.
When Li Juan came back from her shower, she saw Lin Qingqing staring at the marriage certificate. She leaned over and teased, "Still looking at it?"
Upon hearing the sound, Lin Qingqing put away the marriage certificate and said, "I was just about to put it away."
"Tsk." Li Juan didn't believe her. She put down the bucket and basin, moved closer to her, and asked, "You're getting married the day after tomorrow. Tell me how you feel right now?"
"What do you mean, what do you feel?" Lin Qingqing stuffed the bag containing the marriage certificate into the closet.
Are you nervous, scared, or looking forward to it?
Lin Qingqing sat down on the bed, then sat up after thinking for a moment and said, "I'm a little nervous, scared... no." Although she and Xie Wei could only communicate through letters for the past six months, Li Xingfang often invited her to her home for meals, and she was already quite familiar with the Xie family. So, unlike many brides, she wasn't worried about not getting along with her in-laws.
As for expectations... she certainly has them, but she's not the kind of person with particularly strong emotions, so her expectations are limited.
“You’re…too calm,” Li Juan said helplessly, but she quickly found a reason for Lin Qingqing: “It’s probably because the time hasn’t come yet. You won’t be so calm on your wedding day.”
Lin Qingqing smiled and did not refute Li Juan's words, but she felt in her heart that even on the day of her wedding, she would definitely not be nervous or scared, but full of anticipation.
With this in mind, Lin Qingqing suffered from insomnia from July 6th to July 7th.
Author's Note: First update
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