Ning Shu patted San Bao’s head. “I’ll be back as soon as possible.”

She was in a hurry to get to the written test, so she didn’t say much to the children. When Ning Shu left on her bicycle, other families were also leaving for work, so she ran into many people from the village. Everyone saw her, and there was a continuous stream of gossip.

“Ning Zhiqing, are you going to the county again?” Some people were familiar with Ning Shu because of the sugar exchange for chestnuts, so they greeted her.

Ning Shu nodded. “Yes.”

Someone muttered, “I heard she went out yesterday too, and she’s going out again today. She must have money to burn.”

“You don’t know. I heard she makes her children rub her legs and back at home, acting like a landlord’s wife.”

“The landlord’s wife wouldn’t get this treatment nowadays.”

“That’s right, she’s a capitalist’s daughter.”

“Shut up, she’s a military wife. Be careful what you say.”

The person quickly covered their mouth.

Ning Shu left early and arrived at the clothing factory around 7 o’clock, with the written test scheduled to start at 8 o’clock.

Although she was half an hour early, there were already quite a few people waiting at the factory gate.

Ning Shu was surprised that the three positions—two workshop workers and one clerk—had attracted so many people.

This was rare in the future, right? No, in the future, interviews were notified by phone, and the times were staggered, not like this centralized written test.

Huh?

Someone frowned and looked at Ning Shu’s back for a long time. After confirming that they were not mistaken, the person walked slowly over, and when they confirmed it was Ning Shu again, they reached out and patted Ning Shu’s back.

Ning Shu was startled and quickly turned around to see…

Lin Xiaoqing. She was speechless. Did she not know that scaring people could scare them to death?

“Why are you here?” Lin Xiaoqing frowned, her brows almost pinching a mosquito.

Ning Shu took a deep breath. “I’m here to take the written test. How about you?”

Lin Xiaoqing couldn’t believe it, but then she thought about it. She was a sent-down youth, proud and arrogant, unwilling to work in the production team.

But the factory was offering a job, a stable job. It was normal for her to apply. “I’m here for the written test too.”

She had never thought that one day Ning Shu would become her competitor. “How did you know they were hiring here?”

Ning Shu didn’t hide it. “I came to check out the situation here and saw the job posting at the door… What about you, which position are you applying for?”

If it were usual, the two wouldn’t have said so much to each other.

Ning Shu had no thoughts about her, but Lin Xiaoqing felt a mix of admiration and disgust toward Ning Shu.

But these days, Lin Xiaoqing had seen the three children doing well when she went home.

Combined with the upcoming written test, Ning Shu was the only person she knew here.

Perhaps she was a bit nervous and wanted to talk to someone. Or maybe Ning Shu’s appearance here had surprised her so much that she had overlooked her previous resentment.

“Gan Shi, what about you?” Lin Xiaoqing considered herself a high school student, although she would graduate next year. But she was still a high school student, so of course, she wanted to do office work as a clerk.

“Workshop worker,” Ning Shu replied.

“You? A workshop worker?” Lin Xiaoqing didn’t believe it. Being a workshop worker was undoubtedly hard work, everyone knew that. So could the lazy Ning Shu do such a job?

“Yes, me, a workshop worker,” Ning Shu thought of what Director Wang had said yesterday.

If she could recover all of the thirty thousand losses, not only would she receive a half-done reward, but she would also be given a job.

Ning Shu was confident about this. She had already dyed the fabric for the camouflage uniforms, and in a month, she would make a set for each of the two brothers and bring them to the clothing factory.

This would make them perfect child models for the 1970s. Camouflage uniforms never went out of style in the future, let alone in this era.

They would definitely be in high demand among children and young people.

So this reward and job were within her grasp. She just hadn’t expected to work in the county town.

Whether the county town was chaotic or not was one thing, but she wouldn’t even have time to find someone if something happened in the county town.

Although she knew Meng Jie, in the production team, the Lin family was a big family, and no one could bully her.

Moreover, after the next wave of wild vegetables and bamboo shoots grew out, she would have to go back to gather them. If she wanted to eat well in this era, she relied on the app.

That was the real deal.

“Why are you staring at me?” Lin Xiaoqing felt uncomfortable under Ning Shu’s gaze and asked unfriendly.

“Nothing,” Ning Shu was thinking. If Director Wang gave her the job, should she sell it to her? Considering that the original owner had indeed schemed against her and had been good to the three children before, she could sell the job to her.

Of course, in business, the job would be sold at a discount. She could allow a five-dollar discount from the market price.

Seeing her like this, Lin Xiaoqing didn’t say anything. She clenched her school bag tightly with both hands, her heart pounding nervously.

Soon it was eight o’clock, and the factory gate opened. A female comrade came out and said, “Comrades here for the written test, follow me.”

So, the people waiting outside followed quietly behind the female comrade.

After arriving at the destination, the female comrade said again, “There are five examination rooms here, and there is a notice in front of each room with the names of the candidates. Check your name against the list and enter the corresponding examination room.”

Ning Shu saw her name on the notice in front of the fifth examination room. After entering and taking her seat, she did not see Lin Xiaoqing but instead saw the girl she had met yesterday at the newspaper office.

Ning Shu thought to herself that the arrangement of the examination rooms should be based on the time of registration.

Lin Xiaoqing had registered much later than herself, and the female comrade had registered around the same time as her, which was why she didn’t see Lin Xiaoqing here, only the female comrade.

The whistle blew, and the invigilating comrade handed out the exam papers.

Ning Shu was delighted when she looked at the exam paper. It was about the knowledge related to workshop workers, all related to making clothes.

Of course, there were also some questions about ideological awareness.

Ning Shu started writing immediately. The workshop knowledge was ingrained in her, and she was sure she wouldn’t forget it. That’s why people should learn skills; once you’ve learned a skill, it’s for life.

As for the ideological awareness, Ning Shu was not lacking in that either. Modern people are best at talking nicely.

Ning Shu finished the exam quickly. After checking her answers and finding no problems, she handed in her paper.

She was the first one to finish, and many people looked up at her when she handed in her paper.

The invigilating comrade, surprised to see her answers fill the entire paper, kindly said to her, “The results will be out at 2 p.m. Remember to come and check.”

“Thank you.”

After leaving the examination room, there weren’t many people outside. Ning Shu felt a bit bored and didn’t know how to pass the time.

She thought that since the wooden frame in the empty room was almost done, she might as well go to the scrap station to find some children’s books.

So, she inquired about the scrap station from Mr. Wang at the entrance of the clothing factory and went there.

Ning Shu had never been to a scrap station before, and the scrap station of this era was quite shocking to her.

The place was filled with discarded items everywhere, it was beyond messy.

“Hello, comrade. I’d like to find some children’s books.” Ning Shu said to the elderly woman guarding the entrance, her voice hoarse.

“Go on in. If you find something you like, come out and we’ll weigh it for payment.” The elderly woman nodded.

“Thank you. Also, could you please help me check my bicycle?” Ning Shu parked her bicycle to the side.

The elderly woman nodded again.

Inside, there were many books, but they were arranged in a disorderly manner, so Ning Shu had to search for a while. However, her efforts paid off, as she found quite a few children’s books, including “The Adventures of Xiao Bu Tou,” “Children’s Literature,” “Miniature Books,” and “Grandfather’s Childhood Games.”

The titles were straightforward, and the covers were very appealing.

“The Adventures of Xiao Bu Tou” had a colorful cover, showing a child falling through the air with an eagle flying towards them.

According to Ning Shu’s understanding, the child must be Xiao Bu Tou, and children would surely love this kind of book.

The cover of “Children’s Literature” was also colorful, showing two children sitting under a tree reading a book, with the words “Children’s Literature” written on the book.

The cover of “Miniature Books” was different from the previous two. Although it was also colorful, it depicted a scene of rural farm work, with people working in the fields and carrying harvested crops.

“Grandfather’s Childhood Games” also had a colorful cover, showing several children playing games.

Ning Shu flipped through it briefly and found various games inside. She thought it was also good, as the children could play the games from the book instead of just playing tag.

After picking these few miniature books, Ning Shu didn’t choose any others. As for picking high school books and taking the college entrance exam when it resumes, Ning Shu hadn’t thought about it.

She didn’t have the intelligence to contribute to the country. She couldn’t become a scientist or a doctor by attending college. For her in her past life, studying was just a formality, from elementary school to junior high, high school, and university, everyone followed the same path.

After university comes work. In blunt terms, studying is for making money. But in this era, there are many ways to make money. She didn’t want to study again to change her life.

She didn’t have the fate of being born into a wealthy family, but she had the fate of becoming wealthy. She wanted to buy a house and start her business, becoming a landlady in the future.

With this kind of ambition, Ning Shu pedaled her bicycle back home vigorously. The results would be out at 2 p.m., so she could come back after having lunch.

She returned home earlier today, and the three brothers weren’t hungry yet.

They hadn’t eaten the three cans of red bean and bird’s nest congee, but they had eaten two oranges. Just as the family of four was having their meal, someone outside shouted, “Is Guodong’s wife here?”