Font Size:
◎ Third update ◎
Liang Baozhen got up very early on Monday. Today she and Xu Shengjie had to report to the State Cotton Factory. Once she was officially employed, they could go back to the village to ask the team leader to issue a certificate to transfer her household registration.
Becoming a worker at a state-owned factory all of a sudden, Liang Baozhen was a little dazed.
She wondered how happy her parents would be when she returned home later.
The second State Cotton Factory is located in the west of the city. It covers a large area, and has a total of about 3,000 workers. It’s smaller in scale compared to first factory, but had an upgraded equipment and refined technology.
What’s more, it’s newly built, which makes it look even more grand. The factory resembled a small community, with workshops, family quarters, a seedling training class, and canteens. Essentially, it provided everything the workers needed—food, clothing, housing, and transportation.
The first time Liang Baozhen stepped into the State Cotton Factory, she first registered with the old man at the gate. The factory did not allow outsiders to enter easily, and a legitimate reason was required.
“We’ll first go to the factory office. A publicity officer will talk to you. Once everything is settled, they will take you to get your work uniform and other things.”
“What will we talk about?” Liang Baozhen was curious and asked about everything related to the factory.
“They’ll just ask what you know about the factory and your attitude towards work… mainly for ideological education and publicity,” Xu Shengjie recalled the conversation he had experienced not long ago, but he could no longer remember the specific content. “Are you nervous?”
“Not at all.” Liang Baozhen wasn’t nervous at all; she was mainly curious.
The factory director Xue Lijun was not here today, so Liang Baozhen was received by the publicity officer Huang Cuie, who was specifically responsible for the ideological education of new employees.
The two were alone in an office while Xu Shengjie waited outside. He had taken half a day off today, and after finishing his work at the factory, they would have to rush to Damei Village.
The office door was closed and no sound could be heard. Xu Shengjie was sitting outside and saw Chen Siming walking towards him.
***
“Comrade Liang Baozhen, right? Please fill out this employment information form first.”
“Okay, Sister Huang.”
Huang Cuie looked at the information and quickly grasped it: she was from the countryside, a high school student, and looking at her appearance, she was very beautiful.
“You got here by taking the Xu family’s job quota, right?” Huang Cuie had learned about the situation in advance. For a long time, the factory did not recruit workers from outside. Those who occasionally came in were either filling in for the job or were relatives of the factory leaders.
A few days ago, a guy from the countryside came in and said that he had connections with Chen Siming, the director of the Purchasing Office.
“Yes, it’s the job quota from our family.” Liang Baozhen answered every question.
“What do you know about the current situation of our factory?”
“What do you think about your future work?”
***
Liang Baozhen had heard about the State Cotton Factory situation from Xu Shengjie and spoke confidently. Huang Cuie just went through the motions and introduced her to the development history of the State Cotton Factory. Not long after, she smiled and congratulated Liang Baozhen on joining the State Cotton Factory. She took out a yellow book from the drawer—a collection of quotations from important leaders—and gave it to Liang Baozhen. Then she asked her to go for an employment physical examination.
After everything was completed, they went out of the office to collect the new worker’s uniform, towel, and protective gloves.
The office door opened, and Liang Baozhen saw Xu Shengjie with his back to her, and not far in front of him was Chen Siming’s back. She immediately became alert and whispered, “Is he here to cause trouble again?”
“No.” Xu Shengjie greeted Huang Cuie next to her and went to the warehouse with the two of them.
There were two sets of brand-new blue work clothes, which could be alternated, a white towel, white work gloves, an enamel cup, and an aluminum lunch box, neatly stacked together.
Liang Baozhen held it in her arms and felt the heaviness of it. From now on, she would also have a job!
After putting the things in the workshop, the two of them headed straight for Damei Village.
This time they came back so suddenly that the Liang family had no idea that their daughter and son-in-law would come back. When Liang Zhigao saw Liang Baozhen appear at the gate of their house, he was so excited that he almost stuttered.
“Bao… Baozhen? Why are you back suddenly?” Liang Zhigao shouted to Song Chunhua, who was washing dishes in the kitchen, “Chunhua, Baozhen is back! And Xiao Xu!”
“What?” Song Chunhua wiped her hands on her apron, ran out, and indeed saw her daughter walking into the yard, “Oh, why did you come back suddenly?”
Having not seen each other for almost a month, both mother and daughter were a little excited and held hands tightly.
Hearing the noise, the others also came out. They had just finished lunch, and knowing the young couple had rushed home without eating, Song Chunhua immediately went back to the kitchen to cook noodles.
“Mother, we’ll handle it ourselves; you take a break.” Liang Baozhen pulled her busy mother aside and went to the kitchen to cook noodles. Xu Shengjie also followed her to help.
“That’s impossible. How can I let my son-in-law do it?”
“Mother, please don’t treat me as an outsider. Baozhen and I are here, you all should take a rest.”
The two of them each had a bowl of noodles and ate it all up. After finishing the noodles, Xu Shengjie went to wash the bowls.
Liang Baozhen told her family the purpose of her return.
“You have a job?”
The Liang family was shocked. It was already a great joy that Liang Baozhen married into the city and did not have to work in the fields or expose herself to the hot sun, but having a formal job was something they had not expected.
“Yes, it was a job quota left by Shengjie’s parents, and now we’ve got it back.”
Our daughter is really fortunate!” Song Chunhua nudged Liang Zhigao with her elbow; her face was full of contentment. “It’s really the ancestors’ blessing.”
“Sister, does that mean you’ll be a city person from now on?” Liang Baoling was envious of her sister. She knew that city people received food and meat ticket! She was very tempted by that!
“No matter where my household registration is, you’re still my sister.”
“Then you should quickly go to the production team office to get a certificate. If you wait any longer, the team leader will be going home for dinner soon.” Liang Baoying was also happy for her sister and believed her life would definitely get better in the future.
Her daughter Mengmeng, who was in her arms, was also excited that she danced with joy and said in a sweet voice, “Third Auntie, can you buy me candy in the future?”
“You’re always thinking about candy.” Liang Baozhen also thought that when she had a job and a salary, she could buy some things for her family. “No need to wait until later, there’s candy now.”
A few days ago, the Wei family sent a pound of red shrimp crisps, and Zhou Yun insisted that Liang Baozhen bring half of it back.
“Grandma insisted on giving it.”
“Grandma Zhou is so polite. How can they keep sending things to our family?” Song Chunhua looked at the shampoo and matchbox and felt a little uneasy. She was even more worried about her daughter.
When she brings things back to her parents home from her husband’s family, nine times out of ten her husband’s family will have opinions, and she is worried that it will be difficult for her daughter.
“Don’t bring things in the future. There is no shortage of things at home.”
“Mother, it was really grandma who made me take it. Don’t worry, she’s not that kind of person.”
“Well, you’re really lucky to have such a good in-laws’ family.” Song Chunhua felt her daughter had made the right choice in marriage.
Before leaving, Liang Baozhen took advantage of the time when her family was busy and went to her parents room. Seeing that the wardrobe was still there and looked like it had not been moved at all, she pushed it with her slender fingers and then left with peace of mind.
She thought about it carefully and decided not to tell anyone about the gold buried underground. First, it would be difficult for her to explain, and second, she was worried that her parents would not be able to sleep well in the future. They would probably be frightened and anxious about it every day.
It’s best to quietly bury it underground and take it out when needed in the future.
In the afternoon, they had to return to the factory. Xu Shengjie and Liang Baozhen spent some time catching up with Liang’s family before heading straight to the production team office.
Team leader Wang Dali was very pleased to hear that Liang Baozhen had found a job and was moving her household registration to the city.
You see, Dong Jiayan, who married the factory director’s son, still has her household registration in the village. If the factory director’s son wanted to arrange a job or transfer a household registration, it would be easy, but there’s been no movement.
On the contrary, Liang Baozhen is about to become a city dweller.
“Congratulations, Baozhen, you’ll be a city dweller from now on.” Wang Dali wrote out the certificate and handed it to her, adding with a joke, “After you left, it was hard for our team to get urea bags.”
Liang Baozhen smiled and told the team leader not to rely on her, “Team Leader, go find Director Liu and be persistent. You’re practically family to him.”
“Oh, he is so stubborn!” Although they are relatives, they are not close.
Xu Shengjie recalled the appearance of his old comrade and felt that they were well matched. “Team Leader, Brother Liu likes to smoke dry tobacco, especially the tobacco he rolls himself. He says it tastes better.”
“Ah?” Wang Dali didn’t expect that the director of a supply and marketing cooperative would not like cigarettes, but actually liked dry tobacco! He smiled and nodded, “I understand, thank you!”
On the way back, Xu Shengjie and Liang Baozhen passed by the gate of Liang’s courtyard again. As time was tight, they did not go into the house, but just said goodbye to their family at the door.
She took a moment to quietly ask about the current situation at home, especially regarding her brother-in-law’s thoughts.
“I told him, but I don’t know whether he believed it or not. But there’s nothing we can do now. It’s always good to read more books.” Liang Baoying felt that her husband Song Jianguo seemed to have calmed down, so she squeezed her sister’s hand to reassure her.
“That’s good.”
“Mother, Father, Brother-in-law, Mengmeng, we’re heading back now.” Liang Baozhen couldn’t see her second brother, Liang Baojun, or her younger sister, Liang Baoling.
“Okay, be careful on the road.” Song Chunhua glanced outside and whispered, “Your sister said she went to find Baojun. They were acting all mysterious, and I don’t know what they were up to.”
Speaking of the two.
Liang Baojun and Liang Baoling ran over while panting heavily. When she took a closer look, she found that they were holding a few strings of things in their hands.
“Sister, are you leaving?” Liang Baoling was a little reluctant. She said a few words to her sister and handed the thing in her hand to her, “This is a gift for my brother-in-law’s sister.”
Xu Shengjie took it, raised his eyebrows when he looked at it, and thanked Xiaoya on her behalf, “Baoling is really good at giving gifts.”
“Brother-in-law, remember to heat it up again. It will definitely get cold on the way.”
“Got it.”
***
Getting on the bus home, Liang Baozhen would officially start working tomorrow while Xu Shengjie has to go back in the afternoon, the two of them parted ways at the alley entrance.
Liang Baozhen went home with her bag. Zhou Yun, who was currently wiping the cabinets inside, hurried over to help when she saw her daughter-in-law with a bag of items. This time, Song Chunhua had asked her to bring back a bag of herbs. It was too hot in the summer and it was easy to get heatstroke. Especially for Zhou Yun, who was old, it was common for her to feel dizzy. The herbs, when boiled, could help cool the body. When working in the fields, many people would pick them in the mountains, boil a big pot, and everyone would drink a bowl.
In the afternoon, Zhou Yun accompanied Liang Baozhen to the neighborhood office with her household registration certificate. When Uncle Wei learned that she had secured a job and was going to transfer her household registration to the city, he was very happy and went with them enthusiastically.
Liang Baozhen watched as her household registration was moved to the Xu family’s household registration book, and her grain and oil allocation was registered. Liang Baozhen’s share was also included in the Xu family’s “Grain and Oil Supply Certificate for Urban Residents.”
“Once the household registration and grain and oil allocation are transferred this month, you can start receiving food next month.”
“Thank you, comrade!” Liang Baozhen carefully put away the documents and sincerely thanked them.
From now on, she would have a fixed food allocation.
On the way home, Liang Baozhen felt her steps were lighter.
When Xu Shengjie came back from work, and Xu Shengwei and Xu Shengya came back from school, the herbal medicine had already been boiled on the stove at home. The herbal medicine tasted much better than traditional Chinese medicine, and even had a sweet aftertaste.
“Grandma, this almost tastes the same as soda.”
“It’s much better than my Chinese medicine.” Xu Shengya, who rarely enjoyed something so much, thought the slightly sweet herbal water was similar to the sodas sold outside.
“Would you like some more to drink?”
“No, I need to save room for dinner.” Xiaoya saw that there was boiled corn in the pot today, which was sweeter!
“Not just for dinner.” Xu Shengjie rinsed the bowl twice to prepare for dinner, and raised his chin towards Liang Baozhen, “Go ask your sister-in-law for a gift. She has something good for you.”
Gift? Xu Shengya blinked her big eyes, raised the corners of her mouth slightly, turned her head and looked at Liang Baozhen, “Sister-in-law, what’s the gift?”
“Liang Baozhen put down the bowl, walked to the stove, and fiddled with it for a while. She took out a few strings of things and handed them to Xu Shengya. ‘We went home today. Baoling asked me to bring these back, saying it was a gift for you to thank you for the candy wrapper you gave her the other day. She liked it very much.'”
Xu Shengya was a little surprised when she looked at the skewers of food in front of her. There were three skewers of roasted grasshoppers and three skewers of roasted cicadas. The golden, crispy shells emitted a tempting aroma.
The author has something to say:
★ Congratulations to Ms. Liang Baozhen for getting a job! Yay! ★
Liang Baoling: A hardcore gift, you deserve it ^O^
It’s just a daily gift exchange between two elementary school students online
Liang Baozhen: I’m just an ordinary messenger ⊙▽⊙
***
🌸 Thank you so much for reading! 🌸 If you’d like to download the PDF or EPUB version of The Little Sweet Wife Arrives At The Courtyard In The Seventies, feel free to visit my Ko-Fi page! ☕📖✨ Chapters 1-98 are available for download. 😊