Chapter 71: Recommendation

“Did everything go smoothly with your liquid soap at the exhibition yesterday?”

On Monday morning, Principal Zeng asked Lin Qiao as soon as they met at school. He was quite cautious with his words, not directly asking if Lin Qiao had won any awards.

Lin Qiao nodded with a smile, “It went well. I won a bronze award.”

This invention and creation exhibition gave out many awards, and a bronze award was basically equivalent to a participation award with little value.

However, Lin Qiao’s formula wasn’t complicated; it was just that no one had done liquid cleaners before. Principal Zeng didn’t mind the award being too low, “A bronze award is fine. With an award, the school can recommend you.” He directly asked Lin Qiao, “Did you bring the certificate?”

“I did.” Lin Qiao lifted her bag, and Principal Zeng took her to his office.

The certificate wasn’t large, about the size of a palm when unfolded, but it was beautifully printed since the Invention Association organized it.

Principal Zeng held it and pondered, “I remember you said last time that you were preparing to apply to Yandu Institute of Technology?”

Lin Qiao responded with a “Hmm” and then took out another similar certificate from her bag.

“Another one?” Principal Zeng was stunned for a moment, his expression more serious than before.

He took it and unfolded it. This time, it read, “Winner of the Gold Award at the Invention and Creation Exhibition.”

This was much more valuable. Those selected for this award were all innovative and practical inventions with great future potential.

Principal Zeng looked at the certificate and then at Lin Qiao, “If you go to study education, it would indeed be a waste.”

Just as they were talking, Vice Principal Qi knocked and entered. “I heard Xiao Lin is here with you. How did yesterday go? Did you win an award?”

“We did,” Principal Zeng raised the certificate in his hand, “and we got two.”

“I saw Huaiwen was in a good mood when he came back yesterday, so I guessed you won. But he wouldn’t say.” Vice Principal Qi took the certificate and was also surprised, “A gold award?”

Last year, when they were giving public lectures, they were worried about getting a special recommendation for Lin Qiao. Even when they knew she made the liquid soap, they only hoped she could win an award. They didn’t expect her to prepare another project and win two awards, one of which was a gold award.

Vice Principal Qi pondered for a moment and asked Principal Zeng, “Shall we try recommending her to Qing University? If that doesn’t work, we can recommend Yandu Institute of Technology.”

If she wants to pursue a research path, Qing University is indeed much stronger than Yandu Institute of Technology.

“Let’s give it a try,” Principal Zeng said. “We’ll prepare another set of recommendation materials. If Qing University doesn’t work, we’ll immediately recommend Yandu Institute of Technology.”

“That works. We don’t want to waste time. There are only two months left until the college entrance exam.”

Soon, the school prepared a thick set of recommendation materials and sent them to Qing University. The materials included recommendation letters from principals and other faculty members, records of Lin Qiao’s two invention awards, and the changes and contributions she made to the school and the education sector over the past year.

Being able to mentor students was also a plus. After all, universities are places for cultivating talent, and excellent faculty are needed to stay and teach.

Compared to the two principals, the students were purely excited and happy for their Teacher Lin when they heard she won an award.

Junzi, who helped out that day, was the most animated, “You didn’t see it. Out of over a hundred people, our Teacher Lin was the youngest and won two awards. When she went up the second time, people’s eyes almost fell out.” He got so excited that he stood on a chair, imitating the award presenter announcing the winners, making everyone regret not knowing about it yesterday.

Junzi, the attention seeker, was greatly satisfied, “You missed out. Yesterday, the Teacher’s wife was also there, and after the exhibition ended, he treated us to dinner.”

“Teacher’s wife?” The students who didn’t go were confused.

“That’s our Teacher Lin’s husband. Oh—I’ll get down, I’ll get down right away!”

Junzi’s shirt was tugged, and he turned to see Lin Qiao. He quickly jumped off the chair, “Teacher Lin.”

“Study hard and stop doing these useless things,” Lin Qiao patted him and then took the phone numbers she had just noted down back to the office.

After the exhibition ended, some units called her, wanting to buy the formula for the industrial-strength degreaser. Most were state-owned enterprises of varying sizes, and some private entities were also interested. She shortlisted a few and planned to arrange meetings.

Selling the formula directly wasn’t cost-effective, as inflation would devalue the money in a few years. But if she wanted to invest in technology, she had to choose partners carefully. She wouldn’t get a penny if the other party got the formula and slightly modified it, claiming it as their own research. Such lawsuits would be hard to win even decades later, let alone in 1981 when there wasn’t even a patent office in the country.

Lin Qiao trusted Ji Duo’s character. When she gave him the formula, she held back a bit, not expecting that Ji Duo’s “I have a friend” was actually true.

Unconsciously thinking about this person again, Lin Qiao paused, but soon, her expression returned to normal, and she picked up her students’ assignments to start grading. She had just graded two assignments when someone from the security office came to tell her she had a phone call.

“You sure are busy,” Group Leader Gao said with a smile, “When you sell the formula, remember to treat us to a meal. We’re all waiting to feast on the big spender.”

After the award news came out, everyone in the office knew that Lin Qiao owned the liquid soap formula. Although she didn’t own the factory, apart from Teacher Bi nagging about it for a while, others just made a fuss and teamed up to get a treat from Lin Qiao, and the matter was settled.

Hearing Group Leader Gao’s words, she smiled and agreed, “Of course.” She also apologized to the security guard, “Sorry.”

When she picked up the phone, a very familiar voice greeted her, “Comrade Lin Qiao, hello, I am the director of Yandu Muzi Chemical Plant…”

“Ji Ze,” Lin Qiao interrupted with a hint of exasperation before he could finish.

“Yes,” he replied, still in a serious tone, “According to our information, you recently won a gold award at the Invention and Creation Exhibition. Our factory is very interested in your degreaser and would like to invite you to collaborate with us through a technology investment. Do you have time recently?”

Although she had already guessed some of it, Lin Qiao still fell silent upon hearing this.

Ji Ze knew things were awkward between them, “I’m inviting you as the director of the chemical plant. Just consider me as the director, and we’ll only talk business, nothing else. You don’t have to agree immediately. Listen to my terms, compare them, and then decide.”

“Alright, I’ll think about it.” Although Ji Ze had kept things from her, his accounts were always clean, making him a decent business partner.

Hearing Lin Qiao not outright reject him, the other side breathed a sigh of relief, “When you decide, call this number.”

He gave her the factory’s number, and as Lin Qiao was about to hang up, he suddenly added, “Actually, if I were Uncle, I wouldn’t want you to know about the switch either. It would make you uncomfortable, and your wife would be involved with someone else.”

Lin Qiao didn’t respond. Over the next few days, she found time to meet with the two most interested parties.

One was a large state-owned factory specializing in degreasers, wanting to buy Lin Qiao’s formula to update their products. However, state-owned factories of this era didn’t face much competition from private enterprises and were somewhat arrogant, feeling they were serving the country. They started by giving Lin Qiao a patriotic lecture and asking her to contribute to the nation. When it came to price, they were stingy and only offered her 10%.

“The state-owned enterprise is very stable, and the country’s credibility in this area is guaranteed. It won’t cheat you like some small private factories. You can rest assured about that.”

Did they think Lin Qiao chose to negotiate with them instead of continuing with the previous factory because the negotiations fell through, or did she have a falling out with the previous factory?

Lin Qiao didn’t express any emotion. “I understand your factory’s conditions. If I decide to cooperate, I’ll call you.”

“Please do it quickly,” the other party said, “Although your degreaser won an award, it’s not that advanced. Our factory’s technicians are also very excellent.”

They almost outright said that if Lin Qiao didn’t sell to them quickly, her formula would be worthless once they developed their own.

Lin Qiao shook her head inwardly, feeling that after talking to this one, she didn’t want to negotiate with the other state-owned factories either.

After the reform and opening up, many problems in state-owned enterprises were exposed: low worker enthusiasm and kickbacks in procurement and sales. Some even took the payment without giving it to the factory, kept it in the bank to earn interest, sold the goods and took the money, made a batch of fake ones at home, and returned them to the factory, claiming they didn’t sell.

With such practices, it was no wonder many went bankrupt later. Lin Qiao didn’t want her formula to go to a partner destined to fail.

State-owned enterprises’ confidentiality wasn’t particularly good either. Seeing the Qin family father and son take the factory’s formula to start their own business was proof. She decided to consider private individuals.

The private individuals offered a higher share, starting with a 50-50 split, but then they wanted her to invest money.

Lin Qiao asked a few questions and did some background checks, finding that the other party had only applied for a business license and the factory didn’t even exist yet. They were just trying to get something for nothing. Even if she invested, the factory might not start up. The other party could run off with the money and sell the formula to someone else.

Did her face say she was easy to deceive?

After the negotiations, Lin Qiao couldn’t help but look at herself in the mirror on the wall by the door, not seeing anything naive or foolish.

Just as she was about to look away, the courtyard gate sounded, and Ji Duo returned.

The man entered, first looking at her expression as if he had been doing that for the past few days, then said, “Dad is in the hospital.”

“Dad is in the hospital?” Lin Qiao was surprised, “When did this happen? Is it serious?”

“Just today. There was a letter from home that no one had received. I helped deliver it, and after Dad read it, he was hospitalized in the afternoon.”

Ji Duo’s expression was clearly tense, but he paused and lowered his voice, “Do you want to go with me?”

Lin Qiao looked at him, “Even without our relationship, Dad is an elder who has helped me. If he’s hospitalized, how can I ignore it?”

“Let’s eat first,” Ji Duo said, taking the bag she had just placed on the sofa. They left the canteen and headed straight to the hospital.

This time, the old man was clearly not hospitalized out of anger. He looked somewhat downcast and, seeing Lin Qiao, showed some embarrassment, “Qiao Qiao, you’re here.”

When he decided to keep things from Lin Qiao, he genuinely thought it was for her own good. Unfortunately, being the head of the family for so long, he took things for granted and forgot that no secrets could be kept forever.

Lin Qiao came to visit the sick, so she naturally wouldn’t bring up other matters at this time. She put down her things as usual and asked about the old man’s health.

Xu Li sighed, “Didn’t the second son help deliver a letter? It was about your little uncle passing away.”

Ji Duo’s little uncle?

If Xu Li hadn’t mentioned it, Lin Qiao would have forgotten that there was such a person in the Ji family.

In fact, if Ji Duo really didn’t have an little uncle, even if the Ji family wanted to hide the switch from her, she, knowing some of the story, would have guessed it by now. However, Ji Duo did have an uncle, and the Ji family rarely mentioned him. They didn’t visit during the New Year, and she hadn’t met him until now.

Unexpectedly, the first time Xu Li mentioned him was to say he had passed away, and the old man was hospitalized because of it.

Lin Qiao glanced at Ji Duo but said nothing. Instead, Ji Duo asked, “How did he die?” His tone was calm.

“They said it was a heart attack. He was six years younger than your father,” Xu Li, being soft-hearted, couldn’t help but sigh.

The old man’s expression didn’t show much sadness, “Second son, if you have time, go back. Now that he’s gone, some things need to be settled.”

Ji Duo didn’t directly answer, “I’ll go back and take a look.” It was clear his mood wasn’t high.

The old man and Xu Li didn’t seem to want to talk much either. After sitting for a while, they got up and left.

“Dad hasn’t been in contact with our little uncle for over thirty years.” As soon as they left the ward, Ji Duo suddenly said to Lin Qiao in a low voice.

Lin Qiao looked up in surprise, meeting his gaze, “You looked at me just now, wasn’t it to know this?”

She did want to know, after all, not realizing she had mistaken someone partly because of this uncle. But she didn’t know many things about the Ji family.

Lin Qiao didn’t speak, but Ji Duo seemed to know what she was thinking, “Not just you. Even Xiao Ze and Xiao Ling don’t know they have an little uncle.”

Lin Qiao hadn’t thought of that. If she was considered an outsider, Xiao Ze and Xiao Ling were definitely family. And on their wedding day, when she asked the man, he told her directly.

Ji Duo stopped by the window in the stairwell, “Mom had me in her thirties. Before me, she had a daughter.”

But apart from their cousin Ji Yan, Ji Duo had no sisters, so this daughter must have passed away.

Sure enough, Ji Duo looked out the window, “When the child was over six months old, Mom’s place became unsafe, and she had to evacuate urgently. As a pregnant woman, she had to take care of our elder brother, making it difficult to move. She wanted to hide our elder brother at home since Dad used an alias when he joined the revolution, and no one knew where his hometown was.”

When many people first joined the revolution, they used aliases because the ruling party at the time was different, and everyone feared their families would be implicated.

Xu Li sent Ji Jun back to his hometown, which was actually safer than keeping him by her side.

Lin Qiao thought for a moment and understood why the man was saying this, “Little uncle didn’t agree?”

“No, he agreed,” Ji Duo said, but his voice was still cold. “Then, as soon as Mom left, he secretly abandoned our elder brother.”

“Secretly abandoned him?” That was even worse than outright refusing. Lin Qiao hadn’t expected such a move, “How old was our elder brother at the time?”

“Six years old, and it was winter.”

That was truly heartless. He probably feared being implicated and didn’t want to offend Old Mr. Ji, so he pretended to agree and then abandoned the child.

How long could a six-year-old child survive outside in winter? Later, he could just say the child got lost on his own.

“How was our elder brother found later?”

“He had a good memory and remembered the way Mom took him. He kept following and calling for Mom.”

With Xu Li’s kind heart, she must have been filled with regret and pain. Even if a knife was at her throat, she would have protected this stepson.

When Ji Duo mentioned Xu Li’s lost daughter, it was likely during this process that something dangerous happened.

But Lin Qiao still didn’t understand one thing, “What about our eldest uncle? Wasn’t he at home at the time? Did he just watch little uncle do this?”

“Eldest uncle had been in poor health since childhood. Later, to bring good fortune, he married our eldest aunt. They had no children for over a decade after marriage and had no say at home.”

No wonder Ji Yan, who was clearly the eldest uncle’s child, was nearly ten years younger than Ji Jun and had no other siblings.

Whether it was Lin Shouyi, the Gu family, or Ji Duo’s uncle, human nature couldn’t withstand the test when personal interests were at stake. No wonder when Lin Qiao asked before, he hesitated and said he didn’t dare to disturb the other party.

“Later, our family cut off contact with them. Today’s letter was sent through someone else.”

But with death, the light goes out. Old Mr. Ji was old, and knowing his brother had passed away, his emotions were inevitably affected.

Ji Duo’s gaze shifted from the window to Lin Qiao’s face, and he suddenly changed the topic, “This morning, Elder Brother has already left for the southern province.”

This was something Lin Qiao hadn’t heard about before.

Before Lin Qiao could react, Ji Duo continued, “Because of that anonymous letter and his plea to Dad. He wanted you to sell the formula to Eldest Sister-in-law’s elder brother.”

Lin Qiao had already guessed that the anonymous letter was related to Ye Minshu, so she reminded Ji Duo to handle it.

But this was the first time she had heard about the formula. Looking up into Ji Duo’s focused gaze, she suddenly realized something.

Since the day she mentioned divorce, their conversations had ended poorly, and Lin Qiao had been refusing to communicate. Ji Duo wanted to take advantage of her interest in the uncle’s matter to say everything he hadn’t had a chance to.

“I suggested separating Eldest Brother and Eldest Sister-in-law so that she wouldn’t have anyone to conspire with, and Dad agreed.” He lowered his voice, “Dad doesn’t have many relatives left, just me and Eldest Brother. He always hopes for family harmony, so he often tries to smooth things over. But if you were truly wronged, the family wouldn’t ignore it. Some things were handled poorly, but the family never intended to treat you as an outsider.”

Lin Qiao believed this. If Old Mr. Ji truly wanted to treat her as an outsider, he wouldn’t have let his youngest son marry her.

If she had been involved in that incident and Ye Minshu had been the victim, Old Mr. Ji would have still tried to smooth things over and kept it from Ye Minshu.

Ji Duo was the same. He didn’t like discussing family matters with her, and he never talked about their issues with the family either.

But she didn’t want to talk, and Ji Duo noticed. He suddenly asked, “Am I a big disappointment to you?”

Since the day they met, Ji Duo has always seemed steady, composed, and reliable, handling everything with ease.

This was the first time Lin Qiao heard him express self-doubt, but he said, “I didn’t know how to buy you soda, didn’t know how to take you to the movies, talked to you like I was giving orders to a subordinate, and even our marriage started with concealment. Yet, I still hoped you could rely on me more.”

Ji Duo paused, “But Qiao Qiao, I can learn what I don’t know. If you think I’m doing something wrong, you can tell me. Can we not get divorced?”

Yes, he was learning everything he didn’t know—buying her soda, taking her to the movies. He used to say nothing, but now he explained everything clearly when he went out and even made arrangements for her.

But why was she still angry?

She had married him to escape the mire, even waiting for him to bring up divorce at any time.

She was even less serious about this marriage than he was. Why was she angry about him keeping things from her?

Lin Qiao’s gaze drifted to the window, “Do you know that before this happened, I thought about living a good life with you?”

Ji Duo’s eyes widened.

Lin Qiao’s voice was softer than the night wind outside, “It was when I asked you what you thought about divorce.”

Ji Duo was tall, handsome, successful, steady, reliable, and clean-living. He could do housework. Although he had a bit of an old-fashioned, patriarchal attitude, he never interfered with anything she did. He often supported her, becoming her most solid backing, something no one had ever given her before.

Lin Qiao wasn’t heartless. When she noticed that he had feelings for her and was trying to change, she did consider just going along with it.

So what if he was the original male lead?

She married him, slept with him, and he had feelings for her. Why should she let someone else have what she was used to?

That’s why she asked him about his views on divorce, thinking that if he wasn’t planning to divorce, it wouldn’t be impossible to continue like this. Sometimes, old-fashioned men could be quite amusing. But then, the matter of him and his family hiding things from her came out like a bucket of cold water poured over her.

Lin Qiao was not only angry at his lack of respect for her but also at her own lack of caution.

Outside the window, an old willow tree was sprouting new buds. On closer inspection, it looked familiar, as if it was the same tree she saw the first time she came to the hospital with Ji Duo in April, standing by this very window in the stairwell.

At that time, they were still strangers testing each other, but now they were discussing whether to divorce.

Lin Qiao pulled her clothes tighter, “It’s a bit cold. Let’s go back.”

Just as she was about to turn around, a jacket, still warm from body heat, was draped over her shoulders, followed by the warmth of the man’s chest.

The window glass reflected two figures, one tall and one short. Lin Qiao looked at the window, but the man was looking at her.

The reflection was too blurry for Lin Qiao to see the expression in his eyes, but she clearly heard his low, hoarse voice, “I’m sorry.”

No one spoke for a while until footsteps approached. Ji Duo helped her button the jacket, took her hand, and walked down, ignoring others’ gazes.

The next day, Ji Ze received a call from Lin Qiao in the factory office.

“We can discuss cooperation, but I want to add two conditions to the contract. First, no relatives of yours, except you, are allowed to participate in the factory’s management. Second, if the factory wants to accept financing, it must get my consent. Otherwise, I will withdraw the formula unconditionally, and if you continue to use it, I will hold you legally responsible.”