Chapter 39: Selected Pharmaceutical Factory

The exam was actually very simple. Simple in this context means that there were no questions beyond the level of high school.

The questions were not as bizarre as those in civil service examinations decades later, which made one wonder in what state the test setters were when they created them.

Wen Jiajia answered the questions quite smoothly. There were indeed a lot of people, and because the weather was good, they all sat in a large open space to take the test. Many people patrolled nearby to eliminate the possibility of cheating.

There was only one exam paper, which included mathematics, Chinese, politics, history, physics, etc. Whether to take history or physics depended on the candidate’s choice.

Wen Jiajia wrote as fast as the others.

With memories from her previous life and the original owner’s memories, plus having reviewed non-stop for the past two or three months, she felt confident in her performance.

Soon, she finished the test paper.

At this point, half of the people in the venue had already left. She packed up her things, handed in her paper, and waited on the side.

To prevent people from taking backdoors as much as possible, the factory’s recruitment process has always been revised during the examination.

For example, at this moment, several people were grading papers. Wen Jiajia glanced secretly and saw that it was almost her turn.

As the end of the exam approached, many candidates became increasingly anxious.

Some even cried while doing the exercises.

It wasn’t just silent tears but tears sobbing out of control, with some candidates almost beating their chests and stamping their feet.

Wen Jiajia could understand this distress, as in those days, young people without jobs had to go to the countryside.

It wasn’t the 1950s or 1960s anymore. Everyone knew that life in the countryside was hard. How could one not collapse?

Wei Dai, not knowing who he had gotten close to, had actually entered the pharmaceutical factory just after the exam.

“Wow, you almost scared me,” Wen Jiajia said as he patted her shoulder, making her nearly jump. “Why are you here?”

Wei Dai replied, “You hadn’t come out yet, so I was worried about you.”

He had grown anxious waiting outside, so he tried to strike up a conversation with the security staff. Since the exam was over, it was normal for him to come inside to look for his wife, who was taking the exam, so they let him in.

Wen Jiajia whispered to Wei Dai, “I’ve answered every question, but I don’t know if I did it right.”

She felt confident in her answers.

Wei Dai kept his eyes on the people grading the papers and said, “They must be all correct.”

After waiting for five or six minutes, Wen Jiajia yawned.

The sun was so warm that it made people feel sleepy.

The grading was almost finished, and all the candidates were staring at the grader. When the grader started to grade the last paper, Wen Jiajia could even hear the rapid breathing of the candidate next to her.

Finally—

After the grading was completed, several graders took out five papers and handed them to the deputy factory director in charge of recruitment for a final check.

This inspection was actually a review of the political answers.

Wen Jiajia only sought stability in politics. She had not read the newspapers in vain for the past month or so, and now she was no longer a political expert.

After checking, the deputy director took out one of the papers and then looked at the names on the four papers in his hand.

“Deng Guoan, Zhang Qing, Li Jingwei, and…”

He flipped through the test paper. At that moment, Wei Dai’s breathing stagnated, and everyone’s eyes were focused on Wen Jiajia.

“And Wen Jiajia.”

Wen Jiajia’s tense breath suddenly released, and her eyes instantly became sore.

That’s great! She could earn a salary again from now on.

Even though Wei Dai had a lot of savings, she was happier and more comfortable when she could earn money on her own.

Wei Dai was obviously more excited than her. He pulled Wen Jiajia towards the deputy factory director.

The deputy factory director looked at the four people one by one and said, “You should report to the Personnel Department on the first of next month and try to get your diplomas in advance. As for the positions, we will discuss them later.”

The four of them nodded heavily.

Wen Jiajia had her graduation certificate with her, while the other three were probably students and needed to return to school to complete the formalities to get it in advance.

There were many trees inside the pharmaceutical factory.

The wide road was lined with ginkgo trees on both sides, and there were also a few camphor trees so large that two or three people couldn’t hug them.

The buildings of the pharmaceutical factory were quite distinctive, with gray-white walls and a somewhat Western-style appearance. The tallest building was five stories high and surrounded by ginkgo trees. The scenery would likely be more beautiful in autumn.

Wei Dai took Wen Jiajia for a walk around the pharmaceutical factory and specifically walked the route from the factory gate to the Personnel Department, in case she had trouble finding it when she reported.

When they were done, it was time to go back.

The fact that Wen Jiajia was going to work at the pharmaceutical factory soon spread to many people. Because she needed to get a certificate from the military, the job also required review.

This made it impossible to keep it a secret.

The first person to come was Sister Bao. Her husband worked in logistics and was the most well-informed.

“Are you going to work at the pharmaceutical factory?” Sister Bao rushed into the yard. “I was wondering today why you and your husband went to the city so early in the morning. It turns out you were going to the pharmaceutical factory to take an exam.”

“Oh, you’re amazing. You passed the exam on the first try,” Sister Bao said enviously.

Most of the people in the family compound were family members hoping for a job.

But just as most soldiers came from rural areas, many of their families did too.

At that time, the literacy rate in rural areas was not high, and many soldiers had to take extra cultural courses after joining the army. For the wives of soldiers, it was considered impressive if they could recognize some common characters and read primary school textbooks by guessing.

This general environment made it extremely difficult for military wives to work.

Wen Jiajia smiled and poured her a cup of tea. “It’s also good luck. I’ve been preparing for the exam, but I wasn’t sure whether I’d pass or not.”

Sister Bao sighed, “For a family like yours where both partners have jobs, life will be easier. Not to mention, having a job means you have a food ration book.”

What’s a food ration book? It’s a document for non-rural residents that includes a fixed amount of food and oil.

Sometimes having this book is more valuable than money or tickets; it allows you to buy food and cooking oil at designated stores.

Wen Jia said, “Anyway, our troop doesn’t lack food. Having or not having the ration book doesn’t make much difference.”

The troops would not starve anywhere. As far as she knew, there shouldn’t be any disasters in the area in the next few years, as it had always been a land of fish and rice.

Sister Bao agreed. 

Soon, Sister Hong also came.

“You are really a fast runner. No one can run faster than you,” Sister Hong said to Sister Bao and then addressed Wen Jiajia. “If we talk about who loves to join in the fun the most in our family compound, you and Sister Bao must be on the list.”

Sister Bao rolled her eyes and scolded with a smile, “I was only a few minutes earlier than you. Your home is farther away than mine. If we really count, you came faster than me. Who is the faster one?”

Sister Hong ignored her and pulled Wen Jiajia’s hand with a little excitement, asking, “People like you who passed the exam will work in the office directly, right?”

Wen Jiajia replied, “I don’t know yet. I have to wait for the report to be assigned.”

She was certain she would be assigned to an administrative position, but she actually wanted to switch to a technical position.

Not for any other reason, but because she could always learn something in a technical position and test her golden finger.

Secondly, technical positions paid more.

Compared to administrative positions, technical positions at similar levels always paid a few more dollars per month, and it was said that the annual festival benefits were also more generous. If you reached the position of researcher, you would also receive a meal allowance every day.

Of course, Wen Jiajia didn’t even dare to think about becoming a researcher.

Sister Hong said, “I have a niece who works in a workshop that produces mercurochrome. If you have any questions, you can go find her. Her name is Liu Sihua.”

Wen Jiajia nodded to indicate she would remember.

Sister Bao and Sister Hong left after not staying long. After all, Wei Dai’s meal was almost ready, and they couldn’t disturb the couple while they were eating.

To celebrate passing the exam, Wei Dai bought a lot of vegetables today.

Many of them were reserved by him yesterday. Wen Jiajia leaned against the door frame of the kitchen and said with a smile, “You knew I would pass the exam. You even bought the food.”

Since he had already passed the exam, Wei Dai was no longer as cautious as before and said bluntly, “That’s not the case. If you passed the exam, it’s a celebration. If you didn’t, it would have been a consolation.”

“…”

The smile on Wen Jiajia’s face disappeared.

This person’s words were too honest and too blunt.

She snorted, “Since it’s a celebration, you have to prepare all the meals today.”

As she said this, she went to pick up the vegetables piled up in the kitchen.

Wei Dai was really amazing. He had managed to get a palm-sized piece of beef from somewhere. Wen Jiajia took it in her hand and weighed it. It must weigh more than half a pound.

Wen Jiajia wanted to make fried beef with coriander, but then realized she didn’t even grow coriander!

This was impossible.

She was a loyal believer in coriander.

“Oh!” Wen Jiajia felt extremely disappointed. She drooped for a moment and asked Wei Dai sadly, “How are you going to cook the beef?”

Wei Dai replied, “I learned how to stir-fry peppers from Lao Li. He is very good at making stir-fried beef with peppers.”

Wen Jiajia nodded, saying that this was fine.

She dug around and found some wild rice stems. She asked again, “Do you want to use the wild rice stems to stir-fry the meat?”

Wei Dai said, “Stir-fry. Have you seen snow peas? Don’t you like snow peas? Let’s stir-fry the meat with snow peas.”

Wen Jiajia was surprised. “Snow peas won’t be ripe in May?”

Wei Dai replied, “There will always be people who plant early.”

Plant early and sell early. As long as he could sell at a high price, he was willing to grow vegetables at home.

Wen Jiajia also noticed the half-dead duck. She recognized it and said, “This is the duck I bought some time ago. I bought it because I wanted to make ginger duck^[1]is a popular dish in Chinese cuisine, particularly in Taiwanese and Cantonese culinary traditions. It features duck meat cooked with ginger, creating a flavorful and aromatic dish..”

Actually, she had initially wanted to make beer duck, but she couldn’t buy beer at the moment.

But ginger duck is equally delicious, so she had prepared enough old ginger and some essential spices.

Wei Dai thought for a moment and said, “I originally wanted to make soup… never mind, let’s make ginger duck.”

Wen Jiajia looked at him suspiciously. “Can you?”

Wei Dai snorted and laughed, “Wait until I succeed, then you’ll know if I can do it or not.”

He was full of confidence and seemed to believe he could do it.

Wen Jiajia immediately gestured toward the kitchen. “Come on, you’re in charge of the kitchen today.” She then waited eagerly to eat.

Lunch was ready: a plate of fried eggs with leeks and a plate of fried bacon with wild onions.

The leeks were tender and newly grown. Not only did they have a strong taste, but they also didn’t get stuck in your teeth. They were good leeks.

Wen Jiajia noticed that the taste of vegetables at this time was indeed better than decades later.

Most leeks, after a few decades, would lose much of their leek flavor unless you spent a lot of money on high-altitude or organic leeks.

And wild onions were now everywhere.

Even at the gate of the yard and in the open space next to it, wild onions could be seen, making Wen Jiajia wonder if she had made a mistake planting onions in the yard. She could have saved the land for planting coriander.

It was time to pull them all out and plant coriander!

After lunch, the couple lay down in the yard to rest.

Perhaps because she had been living too tense recently, Wen Jiajia actually fell asleep on the bamboo chair.

Wei Dai had no choice but to carry her into the house and then return to the yard to carve building blocks for the two sisters.

The sun moved westward, and the sunlight gradually left the yard.