In Northeast China, Wei Lan has been transferred here for more than a week. Apart from their initial meeting at the factory gate, Song Qing has been learning from Master Liu in the drafting room ever since.
I haven't seen her alone since.
The residential area has been very lively these past few days. Even the children have felt the atmosphere and run around the compound like crazy as soon as school is over.
The factory's recruitment exam is about to begin, and there are a lot of applicants. Director Zhang cleared out all their offices, and the newly built factory building also came in handy, filled with tables and chairs borrowed from various places.
To ensure fairness, each examination room was divided equally between applicants from the family compound and those from the city, while the educated youth were interspersed among them.
The factory's literacy classes have been running non-stop for over a month. The eager family members have exhausted the teachers, but the results have been remarkable.
In addition to their own names and some basic writing skills, the family members also possessed basic arithmetic abilities.
Of course, the military canteen was also extremely busy during this period, and the wives stopped cooking and relied entirely on their husbands to bring food back from the canteen.
The children dared to run wild in the family compound, but not at home, because if they made even a little noise, they would get slapped by their mother.
Chen Yuehong, who lives next door to Song Qing, is also preparing for the exam. She looks enviously at Song Qing and Zhao Qin, who don't have to prepare.
"You two are the best. Just thinking about sitting there taking the exam makes my hands tremble with nervousness. If I'm this weak now, how am I going to pass the exam?"
Song Qing and Zhao Qin exchanged a glance. They were also engrossed in their books, but since they didn't have to take an exam, they weren't as anxious.
"Don't be nervous. You have a foundation. Many of the sisters-in-law learned on the spot. Just do your best."
"Oh, how can I not be nervous? Those brats at home always think I can pass the exam so they can have money to treat them to a life of luxury."
And my husband is already fantasizing about getting a new set of clothes made every two years.
Chen Yuehong now vents her tension by scolding her husband and children.
"Pah! Look at his old face, as white as tree bark. Why would he need new clothes? It's like painting an old tree. Aren't you ashamed?"
Lu Ronghui didn't have to work these days either, as the brigade had given everyone preparing for the exams a few days off. Hearing Chen Yuehong's words, she and Song Qing burst into laughter.
Chen Yuehong looked at Song Qing's sister-in-law and secretly felt a pang of envy.
She herself only graduated from junior high school, and several years have passed. Not to mention forgetting all that knowledge, she didn't even have many words in her head when she was in school.
Unlike that young girl, I heard she just graduated from high school this year. Her grades were already good, and with Song Qing tutoring her a bit more, the pressure wasn't so great.
Soon Chen Yuehong and the others left, and Song Qing told Lu Ronghui to go back to her room to study while she started preparing dinner.
"Mother?"
An'an has been particularly clingy to Song Qing these past few days. She knows that her aunt's mother will leave the day after her exams and won't be back for a long time.
Song Qing was also reluctant to part with An An. Whether in her past life or this life, she had never been separated from her daughter for such a long time.
"Mom is cooking, can you stay next to her and tend the fire?"
She knelt down and kissed An'an on the cheek, and An'an, sitting on the stool, kept following her gaze.
After watching for a while, she picked up the little car that Lu Yang had made for her and started playing with it.
This time, Lu Yang did not disappoint An An's expectations. After scrapping several pieces of wood, he finally made a wooden cart with moving wheels.
The cart needed to be pushed on the ground, so Lu Yang simply put a long wooden stick on it, so he could push it by just bending over slightly.
An'an took the little car directly to the cement ground near the sports field and ran it around. Now, the little wooden car was even more attractive than the little goose.
Lu Ronghui even found some paint to color it, and Lu Yang sanded it. The exquisite craftsmanship of this little toy was a sensation in the family compound.
The adults were amazed, and knowing that Lu Yang had done it, they all turned their attention to their husbands.
The children were envious; they didn't even need to go home, they just got up on the court and started wriggling like loaches in a pond.
"Your dad doesn't have such skillful hands."
The men were seething with hatred, while Lu Yang, amidst his daughter's praise and the child's whining, became increasingly arrogant.
He's the most capable.
However, he also aroused their competitive spirit, and they all thought about what they could make. In no time, the children in the family compound had all kinds of toys.
It can be considered a benefit to the children in the area.
————
Unlike the atmosphere in the family compound, in Xin'an, the Bai family members in the interrogation room were all in mourning, and no one knew what they had gone through during this time.
Each of them was locked in a small interrogation room, and apart from the occasional interrogator coming in to ask a few questions, no one else came in.
That darkness, emptiness, and fear tormented each of them greatly.
Bai Jiamei was in a daze, not knowing what sins she had committed, and had been suffering all kinds of hardships for the past few months since she transmigrated into the book.
I originally thought that clearing land and farming in Northeast China was the most terrifying thing, but compared to this period of time, it's really nothing.
She was in a daze, and even started thinking about the TV dramas she used to watch, wondering how she could die in this situation.
The only thing she could think of that could be done in this environment was biting her tongue, but she couldn't bring herself to do it even after trying several times.
Gradually, I lost track of time, only knowing that a long time had passed, and I was transferred to a detention center.
It was there that she saw Bai Rongjun and Bai Jiaying again.
Bai Jiaying had the best complexion among the three and quickly adapted to life in the detention center.
"Don't overthink it, just hang in there, we'll get out of here eventually."
Perhaps remembering the few hundred yuan Bai Jiamei had given her, Bai Jiaying kept encouraging her to persevere.
“We know nothing about her, and we haven’t even benefited from the resources that come with her status, so don’t worry too much.”
Bai Jiamei didn't really want to live. She couldn't find any meaning in her life here. Was she just meant to suffer different kinds of hardship all the time?
That's really interesting.
Unlike the faint aura of death emanating from her, Bai Rongjun wanted to live; she was afraid of dying.
But those in the world who could help her were already struggling to survive themselves, and the fear of the future was like a knife hanging over her head, tormenting her every day.
"Big sister, do you think Mom will die? I..."
"Shut up!"
Before Bai Jiaying could react, Bai Jiamei had already turned around and angrily scolded her, "You idiot."
She wanted to die, but she absolutely did not want to be dragged down by this idiot.
"What's all the noise about?" The female police officer on duty immediately came over loudly upon hearing the argument.
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