Chapter 22: Opportunity

In the past few days at the army base, Ji Duo had been working regular hours. Lin Qiao would have almost forgotten he was a soldier if he hadn’t mentioned a mission.

Lin Qiao put down her book, “How many days will you be gone? When are you leaving?”

“I don’t know, I’ll leave tomorrow.”

“Do you need me to help you pack?” Lin Qiao expressed some concern as a cooperative partner since he specifically mentioned his schedule.

“No need.” Ji Duo refused decisively, but his gaze remained fixed on her.

Lin Qiao thought for a moment and added, “Don’t worry about home. I’ll go back on the weekend.”

Xu Li was very kind to her, and whether or not this man was around, she would visit the old couple whenever she had time.

This time, the man said nothing more, lowered his eyes, and continued reading. It was clear he was leaving and was worried about home.

At night, after turning off the lights, the couple lay on opposite sides of the bed as usual, clearly separated.

Ji Duo watched and couldn’t help but frown. They had been married for a week and had moved in several days ago, but they still hadn’t consummated their marriage.

If Lin Qiao was resistant to him, she wouldn’t have agreed to the marriage in the first place. Moreover, Lin Qiao had never shown any signs of nervousness or discomfort while lying in the same bed with him. But she was too relaxed, often falling asleep within two minutes of her head hitting the pillow, with steady and long breaths.

What normal girl would be so carefree? Unless the man was incapable…

Thinking of what Ji Yan had said that day, Ji Duo paused and dismissed the thought from his mind. Although he wondered if Lin Qiao had heard the rumors because of what the old man had said, Lin Qiao had only been in Yandu for a short time and didn’t know many people. Moreover, her gaze towards him showed neither rejection nor disdain or sympathy, unlike someone who knew those rumors.

So, she was just too young and didn’t understand anything yet. Thinking about it, Lin Qiao had indeed just turned eighteen a few months ago. Ji Duo’s brows relaxed, and he asked in a low voice, “Has your period come yet?”

“Which one?” Lin Qiao was already confused and took a while to realize he was asking about her menstrual cycle.

No wonder she could sleep so well. At this age, her body naturally craved sleep, and since she had started going to bed early and waking up early, her sleep quality had improved significantly. But was family planning so strict in this era? They had just gotten married, and the unit was already asking about her period.

Lin Qiao’s mind was not very clear, and she forced herself to think, “Not yet.”

Possibly due to a lack of nutrition and insufficient care, girls in this era matured later, often experiencing their first period at eighteen or nineteen. The original Lin Qiao wasn’t particularly late in this regard, but her cycle wasn’t regular, usually occurring every two or three months. Since Lin Qiao had transmigrated, she hadn’t had her period yet.

Ji Duo listened and thought she meant she hadn’t had her first period yet.

She was indeed too young and needed more nurturing. He wasn’t a lustful person and couldn’t force a young and inexperienced girl.

Seeing Lin Qiao struggling to keep her eyes open and getting drowsy again, he rubbed her fluffy head, “It’s okay, go to sleep.”

The next morning, Ji Duo left early.

Lin Qiao ate and slept as usual, only missing the warmth beside her, but she quickly got used to it.

When she went to school, Teacher Yang asked her, “I heard many people went on missions. Did your husband go too?”

“Yes,” Lin Qiao answered honestly.

Teacher Yang smiled at her, “You have a good disposition. The first time my husband went on a mission, I was so worried I couldn’t sleep for two nights.”

This left Lin Qiao unsure of how to respond. Although she and Ji Duo were only in a cooperative relationship, it wasn’t that she didn’t care about his safety. Mainly, Ji Duo had been so calm when he mentioned it, as if going on a mission was as routine as eating and drinking. Plus, she believed he was the male lead and wouldn’t get into trouble, so she hadn’t thought much about it.

Teacher Yang wasn’t trying to tease a newlywed. She handed Lin Qiao some exam papers to grade, “Come help me supervise an exam.”

Vice Principal Qi had assigned Lin Qiao to her not only because of her solid teaching quality but also because she was good at using people.

After supervising the exam, Teacher Yang had Lin Qiao grade the papers and finally asked her to find some free time to teach, “Try it out. To be a good teacher, you must be able to teach.”

To ease Lin Qiao’s nerves, she added with a smile, “Just treat them like Captain Ji. Your Captain Ji is much scarier than the students.”

Imagining Ji Duo sitting in the audience with a stern face, Lin Qiao couldn’t help but laugh, “He’s not like a student, more like someone inspecting work.”

With that cold face, he could scare people into stuttering.

But Lin Qiao wasn’t worried about teaching. She had been a chemistry class representative for three years in high school and had helped teach when the teacher was busy. She had also supervised exams for this class before and graded their papers, so she wasn’t unfamiliar with them. Her clear voice and good looks even had an anti-sleep effect, making her lessons engaging and easy to follow.

“I’ll stop here for now. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me.”

Putting the remaining chalk back in the box, Lin Qiao looked up and saw Vice Principal Qi standing at the classroom’s back door, his glasses reflecting the dim light.

If she hadn’t been standing on the podium, she might have jumped in surprise. Which student isn’t afraid of a teacher standing at the back door during class?

Lin Qiao looked away, thinking Vice Principal Qi was too dedicated, inspecting even her teaching.

After the students finished asking questions, Lin Qiao left the classroom with her things and found Vice Principal Qi still there. His thin figure stood in the corridor, smiling and nodding at her, “You taught well. No wonder Teacher Yang let you teach after just a few days.”

“Thank you,” Lin Qiao accepted the compliment graciously, feeling that Vice Principal Qi had stayed to say more than just that.

Sure enough, Vice Principal Qi quickly asked, “Do you have a class next period?”

“No, just some assignments to grade.”

“Then come to my office.”

This was Lin Qiao’s second visit to Vice Principal Qi’s office. His attitude was warmer and more serious than the first time. He poured her some water and got straight to the point, “I remember you said you could teach high school as well.”

Upon hearing this, Lin Qiao immediately thought of Old Jiao, who had been injured a few days ago.

The school was short of teachers, but not every grade was affected. In recent years, many educated youths have returned to the city and taken exams to become substitute teachers. However, while it was easy to find junior high school teachers, it was much harder to find high school teachers. Those with slightly lower levels of education couldn’t even understand the material themselves, let alone teach others.

As a result, Old Jiao, who was already at retirement age, continued to work, teaching chemistry to two first-year high school classes. His broken leg was a severe blow to his already struggling family, and they couldn’t find anyone to substitute for him. Another teacher could take over one of his classes, but with the second-year students preparing for the college entrance exam, the two chemistry teachers couldn’t spare any time, and one of them even had a chronic illness.

Lin Qiao hadn’t intentionally sought out this information, but the school was small, and she had overheard some conversations. She became serious, “I can only teach high school chemistry. It’s my favorite and best subject.”

“Teaching chemistry is enough. It will be for a short time, just a few months, until Old Jiao returns. One of our first-year teachers has a broken bone.”

It was indeed about Old Jiao’s injury. Just as Lin Qiao was about to nod, someone knocked on the office door.

Vice Principal Qi paused the conversation and said, “Come in.” The person outside couldn’t wait and pushed the door open, “Didn’t you say Old Jiao was injured and the school urgently needed a chemistry teacher? I found a university student to help for a few months until Old Jiao returned. That should be enough.” It was a middle-aged man with a bit of a bald spot, followed by a young woman.

Lin Qiao was surprised to see that it was Song Jing, whom she had met at the wedding less than half a month ago.

Song Jing stood properly with a bag in her hands, looking surprised to see Lin Qiao.

Hadn’t Aunt Ye said she was from the countryside, uneducated, and inexperienced? How could she be here?

Moreover, seeing the papers and lesson plans in her hands, it seemed she was a teacher at this school. Even if she was just a private substitute teacher, she would need at least a high school education.

Song Jing began to doubt Ye Minshu’s words. Seeing her confidently greeting guests at the wedding, she didn’t seem uneducated or inexperienced.

In contrast, Lin Qiao was only slightly surprised and quickly regained her composure. After all, she knew from their first meeting that Song Jing was studying to be a teacher.

The person who had just entered the office didn’t seem to notice the situation inside and introduced Song Jing to Vice Principal Qi, “A student from Capital Normal University, is that okay?”

This Old Qu was as rough and careless as ever. However, since the Party branch work wasn’t busy, he didn’t have to teach classes and had time to help with these matters.

Vice Principal Qi was a bit helpless but still politely nodded to Song Jing and greeted her, then asked the person, “She hasn’t graduated from university yet, right?”

“The college entrance exam was only restored in 1977. Who has graduated yet?” Old Qu, clearly familiar with Vice Principal Qi, poured himself a glass of water, “Finding a university student is good enough, better than those high school graduates. Xiao Song is about to start her internship in the second half of the year, so consider this an early start.”

Although he hadn’t figured out the situation, his comment about high school graduates accurately hit Lin Qiao.

Vice Principal Qi and Song Jing instinctively looked at Lin Qiao, but she remained calm, not feeling looked down upon at all.

Compared to education, ability is not a straightforward thing. In a limited time, it’s normal for employers to prioritize education. Back then, even first-tier universities were ranked.

This composure made Vice Principal Qi nod secretly. He said to Old Qu, “I also have a candidate here, and we were just discussing this matter.”

Old Qu finally noticed Lin Qiao and frowned, “Isn’t she too young?”

Saying she was young was putting it mildly. Lin Qiao looked like a high school student herself, and it was hard to say if she had even graduated. How could she teach high school?

He thought Vice Principal Qi was being too hasty and suggested, “I think you should consider Song Jing. This is for teaching high school.”

He didn’t directly say that Lin Qiao wasn’t qualified, which was already giving face to both Lin Qiao and Vice Principal Qi.

Vice Principal Qi understood and couldn’t help but frown. This was also his concern. Otherwise, he wouldn’t have assigned Lin Qiao to junior high after asking about her background. Just now, he had heard Lin Qiao explain the junior high content well, but he wasn’t sure about high school. If no one else were available, he would let Lin Qiao substitute for a few months until Old Jiao returned. But now…

Vice Principal Qi hesitated and looked at Lin Qiao. Before he could speak, Song Jing, who had been silent since entering, suddenly said, “Why don’t we both take a test to see our levels?”

Seeing everyone look over, she smiled apologetically, “I grew up with Lin Comrade’s nephew, and by seniority, I should call her Aunt. I believe Vice Principal Qi has a reason for inviting her, so let’s have a fair competition.”

“You two have that connection?” Old Qu was surprised.

“Just call me Lin Comrade,” Lin Qiao spoke before Song Jing, “I just got married and am not familiar with the family situation yet. Calling me Aunt makes me sound old.”

However, it was clear that the Song family wanted to get closer to the Ji family. Otherwise, why would Song Jing, who wasn’t related to her, call her Aunt? Even Ji Ze didn’t call her that often. And saying it was a fair competition, who could compete with a university student specializing in chemistry?

In the end, Song Jing just wanted to make her job opportunity more legitimate so others wouldn’t think she was taking it from Lin Qiao, which would sound bad. But by saying this, Lin Qiao was put on the spot. If she didn’t take the test, it would mean she thought she was inferior to Song Jing and couldn’t handle the high school teaching job.

Lin Qiao wasn’t desperate to compete. After all, she had the college entrance exam next year, and teaching junior high or high school was the same. Junior high courses were even less demanding.

But since Song Jing insisted on putting her on the spot, Lin Qiao wouldn’t be polite. Seeing Vice Principal Qi look over, she nodded readily, “Let’s give it a try.”

This way, there’s no need to worry. Whoever has the higher level will take the position, which is also responsible for the students.

“Then I’ll go find Old Gao and see if he has any test papers.” Old Qu, being impatient, didn’t wait for Vice Principal Qi to speak and took the initiative to run this errand.

Before long, the head of the first-year science group, Old Gao, came along, carrying unfinished assignments. “I heard you’re looking for someone to teach chemistry. I have two test papers from the last midterm exam.” Tall and thin, he habitually ducked his head as he entered. It was better that he came, saving the trouble of finding someone to grade the papers after the test.

Old Gao sat down in Vice Principal Qi’s office, grading assignments while waiting to grade the two candidates’ papers. When he got tired of grading, he got up to stretch and stood behind each candidate, watching them answer the questions.

Song Jing, who had been among the first to get into university, naturally had good grades. Old Gao nodded in satisfaction and then went to look at Lin Qiao.

Suddenly having to take a test, Lin Qiao answered calmly and…

Old Gao raised his eyebrows and looked at Vice Principal Qi.

Seeing his expression, Vice Principal Qi also stood behind Lin Qiao and stayed there until she finished.

Old Qu had other matters to attend to and grew impatient waiting, so he left midway. When he returned, Old Gao was grading Song Jing’s paper.

“How is it?” he asked directly.

Old Gao’s red pen quickly marked the paper, “Not bad, full marks.”

Old Qu was pleased, “I told you she could do it. Old Song’s daughter was good in high school and is studying to be a teacher.”

Old Gao said nothing, placing Song Jing’s paper aside and continuing to grade the next one.

Vice Principal Qi looked at him, and his gaze fell on Lin Qiao’s paper.

Old Qu was puzzled. Song Jing had already scored full marks, so why was there still a need to check? Then he saw that the second paper was also quickly marked with full marks.

Old Qu couldn’t believe it and looked at Lin Qiao, “You must have graduated a long time ago, right? How can you remember all this?”

Song Jing was equally incredulous. Her eyes quickly scanned Lin Qiao’s paper but were unable to find any mistakes. She gradually pursed her lips.

Everyone thought Song Jing would win easily, and the test was just a formality. Who would have thought that Lin Qiao, a high school student from a township school, could score full marks just like her?

Facing their gazes, Lin Qiao raised her hand, “I can assure you, Group Leader Gao did not leak the answers to me.”

This amused Group Leader Gao, “And I can assure you, I’ve never met this young lady before.”

Their words lightened the atmosphere considerably. Lin Qiao then smiled, “It’s not that I graduated and still remember; I’ve been revising recently, preparing to become a teacher.”

This made sense, showing she was meticulous. No wonder Teacher Yang had changed her opinion of her after just a few days.

Vice Principal Qi smiled, and Group Leader Gao said, “If everyone could revise and reach your level, I wouldn’t have any headaches.”

He asked, “With such good grades, why didn’t you go to university?”

Lin Qiao smiled but didn’t answer.

In her previous life, she had taken the exam and even reached graduate school. The original Lin Qiao didn’t have such good grades, but with effort, she could have gotten into a technical school. However, when she graduated, Grandma Lin’s health deteriorated, and she had to take care of her, making it impossible to take the college entrance exam.

After Grandma Lin passed away, the household registration fell into the hands of Lin Shouyi and his wife, making it even more impossible for her to take the college entrance exam.

Even if she could take the exam and barely pass, in those days, many people were replaced to attend university. How could that couple let her go?

Group Leader Gao was only asking casually. Seeing her not answer, he joked, “Would you consider coming to our school to repeat your studies? I wouldn’t even mind if you didn’t attend classes.”

“She’s here with her husband as a military spouse, and you want her to come to school?” Vice Principal Qi gave him an annoyed look and then fell into contemplation.

Both candidates took the same test, and whoever scored higher would get the position. It was supposed to be a simple matter. Now that they had the same score, wasn’t the test pointless?

It wasn’t entirely pointless. Initially, he had low expectations for Lin Qiao’s level, but now he genuinely believed she could handle the job.

“Why don’t you come up with two more difficult questions?” Old Qu asked Group Leader Gao.

There was indeed no better solution at the moment. Group Leader Gao went back to get a teaching aid book, flipped through it, and came up with three more questions.

Both candidates scored full marks again. Perhaps because she was getting the hang of it, Lin Qiao finished even faster this time, putting down her pen before Song Jing.

After grading, Group Leader Gao shook his head at Old Qu, “I can’t make it any harder. Any more difficult, and it would be beyond the syllabus and impossible to test.”

The college entrance exam had only been restored for two years, and many students didn’t have a solid foundation, so the exam questions weren’t very difficult. The school aimed to secure basic points and then strive for more, rather than learning things that wouldn’t be tested.

So, who should they choose?

Old Qu couldn’t decide to give Song Jing the job opportunity when both candidates had full marks.

In the end, Vice Principal Qi decided, “Let’s have a trial lesson. To be a teacher, you need to be able to teach.”

Many people are good at studying but not suited to teaching. After all, being able to do something yourself doesn’t mean you can teach others to do it.

Old Qu had no better solution, “Then let’s have them each teach a class next Monday.”

In those days, there was only one day off per week, so tomorrow was Sunday, and the trial lessons would indeed have to wait until Monday.

But regardless, the school suddenly had two capable people, which was a good thing. Vice Principal Qi smiled, and Group Leader Gao left the office with his assignments, feeling cheerful.

Only Old Qu seemed a bit stuck, and Song Jing’s farewell smile to Lin Qiao was not as natural as it had been at the beginning. This girl had probably been excellent since childhood, used to being praised, always thinking she could have both the job and a good reputation. In the end, what seemed like a sure thing became less certain because of her own actions.

Lin Qiao thought it was fine for young people to be a bit competitive, but she didn’t like being put on the spot and felt that the other party was trying too hard to get close. She greeted Vice Principal Qi and prepared to leave.

Song Jing, however, called out to her, looking apologetic, “I’m really sorry about today…”

“I know you didn’t know before you came,” Lin Qiao could guess what she wanted to say and waved her hand, “It’s okay, I didn’t lose anything.” She left with her papers and lesson plans.

The test had taken up a class period, and when Lin Qiao entered the office, Teacher Zheng gave her a mocking look, “One paper took you two hours?”

In the few days since she arrived, Lin Qiao had figured out why Teacher Zheng was always sarcastic towards her.

It wasn’t because Teacher Yang wanted to push her onto Teacher Zheng, but because Teacher Zheng, who also graduated from high school, followed her husband to the army and became a teacher, teaching junior high chemistry. However, her teaching level wasn’t great. Despite only teaching two classes, parents still frequently complained, hoping to get a different teacher for their children. So when Lin Qiao arrived, she saw her as a competitor and couldn’t stand her.

People who don’t try to improve themselves but instead focus on others exist everywhere. Lin Qiao ignored her and told Teacher Yang, “Vice Principal Qi had something to discuss with me.”

Since nothing was confirmed yet, she didn’t go into details, and Teacher Yang didn’t ask, only saying, “How did your first lesson go?”

Lin Qiao, who now had her own desk in the office, sat down and thought seriously, “The students are much cuter than Captain Ji.”

This made Teacher Yang laugh, “That’s good. Actually, you’ll get used to it after a few more lessons. Everyone goes through this.”

The next day, Lin Qiao was going back to the Ji family’s old house. After dinner, she washed her clothes in the washing machine.

In those days, twin-tub washing machines were just becoming popular. One side was for washing, and the other for spinning. Although they were a bit cumbersome and noisy, they were very durable, with some lasting for over forty years.

Lin Qiao hung the spun-dry clothes in the courtyard overnight, and by morning, they were dry. She folded them and put them in the wardrobe, had breakfast in the canteen, and seeing that it was still early, she decided to visit the military district store.

Although she had bought soap when she got married, the domestic brand Red Double Happiness, Lin Qiao didn’t like using this industrial hot-processed soap. The manufacturing process wasted a lot of ingredients and included many additives to make it set quickly. She preferred mild handmade cold-processed soap but wasn’t sure if she could find the ingredients for it in this era.

After all, the best oils for making handmade soap are olive oil, palm oil, or coconut oil, which are produced in the south. In the north, the common oils available were soybean oil and lard.

As expected, she couldn’t find what she wanted after searching around. Seeing her looking for a long time without buying anything, the shop assistant asked, “You’ve been wandering around making me dizzy. What exactly are you looking for? Don’t underestimate our small military district store; we have many good things you can’t find outside.”

That was true, as evidenced by the canteen. Lin Qiao thought for a moment, “Do you have olive oil?”

“What’s olive oil?” The shop assistant, clearly a northern woman, asked.

It seemed she would have to use common oils. Although the quality wouldn’t be as good, it would still be better than industrial soap.

Just as Lin Qiao was about to leave, she heard a familiar voice behind her ask, “Are you looking for olive oil?”