◎ Third update ◎ 

“Hello everyone, I am Liang Baozhen from the factory radio station. Today I will read a selection of leaders quotations for you.” 

“Imperialism and all reactionaries are paper tigers.” 

“Be self-reliant and work hard.” 

*** 

Most people in the factory don’t care whose voice is coming from the loudspeaker hanging everywhere; they only care about listening to the broadcast. 

On ordinary days, there isn’t much in the way of entertainment, and appliances like radios and televisions are expensive and require tickets to purchase. That’s why the big loudspeaker in the factory was an important spiritual nourishment for everyone. It was interesting to listen to the broadcaster reading the newspaper… Of course, there are also some people who are more attentive and notice something different. 

Xu Shengjie was naturally familiar with his wife’s voice. Liang Baozhen’s voice was soft but not piercing; it flowed like a warm spring breeze, with emotional intensity that occasionally shifted into a powerful, resonant tone.” 

However, the sound effects of the loudspeakers always make people’s voices sound a little strange. 

“Xiao Xu, your wife is a broadcaster now?” Ding Xiaoxia loved listening to the radio! To her, a broadcaster was someone quite impressive. After all, they can recognize so many characters and speak standard Mandarin. 

Xu Shengjie took his lunchbox and prepared to find a place to eat. “Yes, today is her first day at work. Auntie, I’m heading out now.” 

Xu Shengjie covered the lunchbox lid for Liang Baozhen’s meal and put it aside to prevent it from getting cold too quickly. He and Hong Saner found a place to sit down. As two big men, they ate quickly and often finished their meals in no time. Liang Baozhen often scolded him for this. 

But today Xu Shengjie ate slowly. Listening to his wife’s voice constantly floating out from the radio, he felt refreshed and magical. Unconsciously, he ate slower, as if he had an extra dish to go with his meal. 

“It’s incredible! My sister-in-law is really impressive. We’ll get to hear her broadcast every day.” Hong Saner’s mouth was full of food, but he did not forget to praise Liang Baozhen. 

Xu Shengjie also felt a sense of pride when he heard this, “That’s right.” 

Hong Saner glanced at his brother, who didn’t know how to be modest! 

*** 

Calculating the time, Liang Baozhen’s broadcast was about to end. Xu Shengjie washed his lunchbox and asked Hong Saner to take it back. He then carried the hot meal to the radio station to find her. 

In the small radio station, Liang Baozhen was finishing the last two minutes of her broadcast with her back to him. 

Xu Shengjie leaned against the door, staring at his wife’s back in a daze. Her two braids were neatly arranged behind her. Liang Baozhen was meticulous and pursued order in everything. Every time she combed her hair neatly, her braids were skillfully braided, which made her neck look white and slender. 

Hearing the footsteps behind her, Liang Baozhen looked back and saw her husband smiling at her. She gestured to him, asking him to wait for her, but she did not stop talking; she continued to speak into the microphone. 

“Today’s broadcast ends here. See you tomorrow.” By pressing the knob on the radio station, the microphone is turned off and the sound will not be picked up. 

Liang Baozhen quickly stood up and walked towards Xu Shengjie, raising her little face. “How was it? Did I do a good job today?” 

Seeing his wife looking for praise, Xu Shengjie couldn’t help pinching her cheeks and felt the smoothness under his fingers. “Very good.” 

Gradually getting used to the man’s thriftiness with words, Liang Baozhen took the lunchbox, sat next to the radio station, and started eating. 

Before the broadcast, she had eaten a steamed bun. During lunchtime, she was so excited and nervous that she didn’t feel hungry at all. It was only after the broadcast ended that she started to feel hungry.

Xu Shengjie never knew why Liang Baozhen looked pretty even when she ate quickly. Unlike Hong Saner sitting across from him, who would get a mouthful of oil all over his mouth when he ate. Looking at his wife, her cheeks puffed out and then deflated as she ate, it was clear she enjoyed her meal. 

“Eat slowly, don’t choke.” He brought a bottle of water, unscrewed the lid, and handed it to his wife. 

After taking a big gulp of warm water, Liang Baozhen continued her meal! 

The lunchbox was also taken away by Xu Shengjie, who washed it and put it back in the workshop. Liang Baozhen rarely took a break, so she headed to the factory office to prepare the selection of broadcast content for the next few days and the preparation of publicity materials. 

Director Xue was planning to have her go out for some practice and accompany Huang Cuie to interview Chen Yong, the director of the State Cotton Factory. 

The factory’s publicity department publishes a monthly report every month. It is not long and mainly documents the major and minor events of the State Cotton Factory, such as the factory’s selection of model workers and the monthly production evaluation results of each workshop. There will also be interviews with factory leaders from time to time. The work content is quite rich and varied, and Liang Baozhen enjoys it. 

However, her schedule wasn’t too full, and in the afternoon, she could leisurely read a book at the radio station. Recently, she found several high school study materials at a book flea market and brought her high school textbooks from home to prepare for next year’s college entrance examination. 

The old office building where the radio station was located faced a forest. Liang Baozhen stretched and moved her limbs after getting tired from reading and happened to see two people standing by the trees across the way. The distance wasn’t too far, and from the third floor, she vaguely recognized one of them—after all, there weren’t many men in white shirts and black trousers at the State Cotton Factory, and Chen Siming was one of them. 

The man next to him was the middle-aged man with the mole at the corner of his mouth that she had seen that day. 

She had seen this man going to the office building twice. It seemed that Chen Siming was indeed involved with him. 

*** 

Work has been going well recently, and with the opportunity to study and review, Liang Baozhen rarely had a day off without reading. After taking a nap, she decided to visit Liu Nianhua for a chat. 

She has been busy preparing for the radio station recently. As she has taken up her new position, she naturally has to put more thought into it, and her interactions with Liu Nianhua and Cheng Caili have become less frequent. 

However, Cheng Caili mentioned today that she went back to her family with Lu Yuan, so Liang Baozhen headed to the west wing. 

“Sister Hua, are you home?” The Liu family’s door was slightly open, and it was quiet all around. Liang Baozhen knocked on the door and called out. 

After a while, there was no response. 

“Looks like they went out,” Liang Baozhen muttered to herself. She turned around and was preparing to leave but heard a creaking sound behind her. 

“Baozhen.” 

Liang Baozhen looked back and saw Liu Nianhua opening the door. Her hair was messy, and there was a look of exhaustion on her face. When she opened her mouth, she gave a bitter smile. 

“Sister Hua, what’s wrong with you?” Liang Baozhen had never seen Liu Nianhua like this before. Her eyelids were swollen, and her eye sockets were red, as if she had been crying. 

Liu Nianhua looked at Liang Baozhen, biting her lower lip so hard that it nearly bled. She struggled to speak and shook her head. Just as she was about to say, “It’s okay,” tears began to fall from her eyes. 

Thinking that something was wrong, Liang Baozhen looked around and saw no one, so she quickly pulled Liu Nianhua’s hand and went into the house. Her hand was also cold, which made Liang Baozhen feel uneasy. 

“Sister Hua, what’s wrong with you?” Liang Baozhen shook the Liu family’s water bottle, but there was no water left. She looked at Liu Nianhua in surprise. She had known Liu Nianhua for half a year. If nothing else, she would never allow the water bottle at home to be empty of water. No matter what time it was, she always made sure to boil water in advance and refill it when it was almost empty. 

Liu Nianhua was always meticulous; she considered everything carefully, no matter how big or small, and she didn’t like changes or being caught off guard. 

But this time, Liu Nianhua couldn’t find a way out after thinking about it, and what was even more frustrating was that she had no place to vent her grievances. 

Her parents were old and in poor health, so she hadn’t gone home at all these days. She was worried about crying uncontrollably in front of her parents and upsetting them. Her two children were still young; Xiaolong was seven and Xiaohu was just five, so they wouldn’t understand what was happening. 

Liu Nianhua has been staying at home since she got married. She devotes her whole heart to this family and has few friends. But now, she can’t find anyone to vent her grievances to. She feels uncomfortable and trapped in her own home. Yet Zhou Guoping didn’t notice anything about her struggle. 

Because Wang Fang’s husband had recently gone on a long-distance transport trip and was said to be back in ten days, Zhou Guoping hurried to visit her again. 

Just now, Liu Nianhua was lying in the room, staring at the ceiling and thinking. She seemed to have run out of tears, and her brain seemed to be about to explode. How could she live like this? If she couldn’t live anymore, what would she do? What would happen to her children? What would happen to her parents? 

Questions came to her one after another. She felt sick just looking at Zhou Guoping now, but if they divorced, how would she live? Widow Chen in the courtyard was a living example. When her husband died, she had seen how difficult it was for them to live. 

Even after all these years, being a widow still brought plenty of troubles. 

 Just then, Liang Baozhen’s voice came. 

“Sister Hua, don’t keep things to yourself. If you’re feeling bad, speak up. We’ll solve what we can, and for what we can’t, we’ll figure out together.” Liang Baozhen held Liu Nianhua’s cold hand and rubbed it hard to warm it up. 

“Baozhen.” Liu Nianhua sniffed and held her hand tightly. “Zhou Guoping has another woman outside.” 

Liang Baozhen was stunned. Zhou Guoping had another woman outside? Her first reaction was disbelief. Zhou Guoping had a good reputation in the neighborhood over the years. He was praised by everyone as a good man and was well-known for being good to his wife and kids. How could he be having an affair outside? 

But the next moment, Liang Baozhen realized this was true. 

Given Liu Nianhua’s personality, she would never say this unless she was absolutely sure. 

“Sister Hua, you…” Seeing Liu Nianhua’s exhausted appearance, Liang Baozhen considered every word carefully and went through them in her mind, fearing that a single word might hurt her. “How did you find out?” 

Liu Nianhua stared blankly ahead. She talk about the scarf that Cheng Caili mentioned, the faint fragrance she smelled on Zhou Guoping, and about the scenes she saw when she followed Zhou Guoping that night… Liu Nianhua thought that one day when she told these things to others, she would cry and become hysterical, but instead, she was calm, without shedding a single tear. 

But the more numb and desperate her expression, the more it frightened Liang Baozhen. 

“He’s actually this kind of person!” In the past, he pretended to be gentle and considerate in the courtyard. Not only Liang Baozhen, but everyone else was deceived by him. “What a scoundrel! Sister Hua, have you thought about what you’ll do next?” 

If Liang Baozhen encountered a similar situation, she would definitely fight to death with her husband, but Liu Nianhua was different. She had a gentle temperament and might not even be able to have a big fight with Zhou Guoping. 

Liu Nianhua looked at Liang Baozhen and asked the question she had been thinking about for a long time these days, “Baozhen, do you think I can manage on my own?” 

She had no idea; her heart was filled with uncertainty. She didn’t know whether divorce would be a disaster or a new beginning for her. 

“Of course you can!” Liang Baozhen said without hesitation, “Sister Hua, you can definitely live well on your own! People like this, regardless of whether they ever admit their mistakes, are not worthy of forgiveness. Think it over. If you decide to get a divorce, I will fully support you.” 

“But I don’t have a job, and I have children. I don’t want to give Xiaolong or Xiaohu to him, but Zhou Guoping will definitely fight me for them…” Liu Nianhua seemed to have grasped at a life-saving straw and expressed all her concerns. 

The word divorce passed through her mind countless times, but everything after the divorce scared her. 

“As long as you take the first step, everything will be possible!” Liang Baozhen remembered what Liu Nianhua had just said about Zhou Guoping’s secret meeting with his mistress, and she already had an idea. 

*** 

Zhou Guoping came out of the tube building, still carrying some of Wang Fang’s fragrance. Wang Fang was used to spending the money her husband made from his long-distance transportation work lavishly. She recently bought a bottle of perfume at a department store. The scent was very strong, captivating, and almost overwhelming. 

Zhou Guoping, who had a good time, walked back to his house. Just as he was about to enter, he suddenly realized something was wrong. He staggered back two steps and looked at the empty wall above his front door. At the doorstep, the plaque with red letters on a yellow background was broken into two pieces and lay quietly on the ground. 

Zhou Guoping’s eyes immediately turned red, and he shouted loudly, “Who smashed my ‘Model Family’ plaque?” 

Liu Nianhua opened the door, looked at the drunk man outside, and said coldly, “I did”