Chapter 42: Job Placement

Seeing the two people behind Wu Wei, Lao Zheng quickly wiped off the exasperated look he’d just had and put on a serious face. “And who might these two be?”

“This is my old squad leader, Nan Zhou, and his younger sister, Nan Qiao—your future lifeline,” Wu Wei said with a grin.

“Cut the nonsense,” Zheng Anshi said with displeasure. Wu Wei was fine in all aspects, but that soldierly roughness and inappropriate sense of humor were hard to shake off.

Ignoring him, Wu Wei turned to introduce them properly. “This is Zheng Anshi, head of the Publicity Department. Technically, hosting foreign businessmen should fall under foreign trade, but we don’t get enough of them here to justify setting up a separate department. So, that job fell to the Publicity Department, and Lao Zheng’s in charge.”

“Nice to meet you, Director Zheng,” Nan Zhou and Nan Qiao greeted him politely.

“Hello,” Zheng Anshi stood to return the greeting. Anyone introduced with such respect by Wu Wei was clearly not ordinary.

“Lao Zheng, don’t say I’m talking nonsense. Qiao Qiao is fluent in English and can communicate in Russian. If she’s not your lifeline, then who is?”

“Really?” Zheng Anshi’s eyes lit up as he stared at Nan Qiao. If she weren’t a young girl, he might have rushed over to give her a big bear hug.

Nan Qiao felt a little uncomfortable being stared at like that but replied politely, “Hello, Director Zheng. My uncle works at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and has taught me since I was young, so I’m fine with daily communication in both English and Russian.”

“Excellent, excellent! Then could you take a look at this document and see if you can translate it?” Lao Zheng asked excitedly, handing over the papers.

Nan Qiao took it and flipped through it. It was just three or four pages—a simple procurement document. It wasn’t difficult.

“No problem.”

“How long would it take you to translate it?” Lao Zheng asked eagerly.

“About an hour,” Nan Qiao replied. The content wasn’t hard, but there were a few technical terms, so she gave a conservative estimate.

“Are you sure? You can guarantee the accuracy?” Lao Zheng pressed.

“I can.” Nan Qiao sounded a bit helpless. If I couldn’t, what’s the point of translating at all? Just make stuff up?

“Then… could you do it right now? I’ve been struggling with this since morning. Even wore out the dictionary and barely got two lines done.” Lao Zheng said sheepishly.

He only knew a smattering of English—just enough for “ABC” and “How are you? Fine, thank you.” Translating documents was far beyond him.

Nan Qiao was just about to start when Wu Wei interrupted.

“Hey, Lao Zheng, that’s not very considerate. She’s still a zhiqing and has to go work in the fields. Where does she have the time to sit here doing unpaid translations during her break?”

Everyone at this level was sharp. Zheng immediately caught on to what Wu Wei was implying.

“Then… should I apply for a budget from the department? Pay her per document?” Zheng tested the waters. It was the first time he’d faced something like this, and he wasn’t sure how to calculate it.

“How much were you thinking?” Wu Wei asked.

“Two yuan per document?”

“Come on, Squad Leader, let’s go to my office for a bit. You’ll have lunch here. The food in our canteen isn’t bad,” Lao Zheng said quickly, trying to dodge.

“Three yuan?”
“Four yuan?” Zheng kept upping the offer, but Wu Wei kept walking, unfazed. Nan Qiao watched them, amused.

“Alright, alright, just say it already!” Zheng hurried to block the doorway, looking rather frustrated.

If it weren’t for the increase in foreign business with Director Bai’s steel plant—and the rising complaints from Qing City about skipping their invitations—he wouldn’t have caved so easily. Secretary Qian was getting increasingly angry and constantly yelling at him.

Lao Zheng kept justifying it in his head.

Seeing that Zheng had relented, Wu Wei finally said, “Lao Zheng, look, it’s not that I don’t want to help, but the girl still has to work in the fields.”

Zheng’s brow furrowed tightly.

After a moment, he said, “As a zhiqing… I can’t fully transfer her household registration from the village to the town. At most, we can second her here temporarily. She’ll still have to do some of the village farm work.”

Wu Wei knew this was already quite lenient and looked toward Nan Zhou and Nan Qiao.

After exchanging a glance, Nan Qiao replied, “That’s completely understandable. Thank you, Director Zheng.”

“Then… can you translate it now?” Zheng held out the document again with a pitiful look.

Nan Qiao chuckled, took the papers, and sat at the desk to begin.

As he watched her smoothly start writing—almost like she was just copying the document—Zheng finally relaxed.

He turned to Wu Wei and the others and said, “You wait for good news. I’m going to find Secretary Qian.”

“Lao Zheng! Bring out all your tricks—beg, cry, and plead if you have to!” Wu Wei called out jokingly.

Zheng ignored him and walked straight out of the office. At Secretary Qian’s door, he paused to rub his tired eyes, then knocked.

Only after hearing a voice inside did he enter.

Secretary Qian’s face darkened as soon as he saw Zheng Anshi. But then he noticed Zheng’s bloodshot eyes and dark circles and hesitated slightly. It’s not really his fault he can’t translate. The Publicity Department was just thrown into this mess…

“Alright, sit down. You’re a grown man—what’s with that miserable look?”

Zheng made an even more pitiful face, clearly hesitating.

This made Secretary Qian even more irritable. “If you’ve got something to say, say it! Otherwise, get out!”

Zheng flinched, then spoke quietly. “Secretary… I couldn’t translate the document…”

I knew it! Secretary Qian mentally cursed. That guy really can’t handle it. Looks like I’ll have to beg Qing City after all.

He sighed, already frustrated… It was humiliating, and even then, it might not work.

“But I found someone who can!” Zheng suddenly added, now speaking with more confidence.

“Oh? Who is it? A local?”

“Well… yes and no,” Zheng said hesitantly.

Secretary Qian was getting more impatient. “Just spit it out! You’re getting more long-winded with age!”

“She’s a young girl. A zhiqing sent to the countryside from the Hongqi Commune.”

Hearing this, Secretary Qian immediately understood Zheng’s dilemma.

“Can we just pay her per document?”

Zheng shook his head. “The farm work is heavy, and with the translation and escorting foreign visitors… she can’t manage both. And since her household registration is still tied to the village, if we don’t intervene, the village won’t allow her to leave often.”

Secretary Qian paused in thought before asking, “Have you seen her translation? Is she any good?”

“No problem at all. She translates like she’s copying a book. She’s doing one in my office right now. Her older brother was Wu Wei’s squad leader, from a very reputable unit. And her uncle’s in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs.”

“Go talk to her village chief about this tomorrow. Come on, let’s meet her,” Secretary Qian said, rising and heading toward Zheng’s office.

When Secretary Qian arrived, Nan Qiao was sitting in Director Zheng’s chair, watching her brother and Wu Wei chat across the desk.

The moment Wu Wei saw Secretary Qian enter, he quickly put away his usual grin and, for once, looked serious.

“Secretary Qian,” he greeted.

Nan Qiao and Nan Zhou followed suit, “Hello, Secretary Qian.”

“Hello. You must be Nan Qiao?” Secretary Qian shook hands with Nan Zhou before turning to Nan Qiao.

“I’m Nan Qiao.”

“Director Zheng just said you were translating something here—have you finished it?” Secretary Qian asked sternly.

“It’s finished,” Nan Qiao replied as she handed over the handwritten manuscript.

Zheng Anping looked surprised. It seemed the girl had been conservative earlier when she said it would take an hour.

“This matches what Director Bai mentioned,” Secretary Qian said as he skimmed the pages. He couldn’t vouch for the finer details, but the general content aligned with what Director Bai had reported before.

The girl was unusually attractive, refined, and bright-eyed. For someone like her to be sent down to the countryside seemed like a waste of talent.

“Director Bai? Is this from the steel factory?” Nan Qiao asked, pretending not to know while already guessing the identity.

Secretary Qian nodded, then asked upon seeing her surprised expression, “Do you know him?”

Nan Qiao noticed her brother also looking at her with confusion and quickly explained, “Brother, don’t you remember that uncle from out of town who visited our home once? It was during my birthday, and you came back from the army just for it.”

Nan Zhou thought for a moment and then nodded as something clicked. Secretary Qian also seemed to recall the incident.

“Your family’s from Shanghai?” he asked.

“Yes.”

“In that case, a few years ago when our steel plant here ran into trouble, Director Bai went to Shanghai, resolved the issue, and even brought back several foreign investors. I suppose your family lent a hand there,” Secretary Qian said with a more cheerful tone.

“Secretary Qian, you flatter us. It wasn’t much at all.”

Seeing Nan Qiao’s humble response, Secretary Qian didn’t press further on the topic.

“About the salary, we can’t pay you what a full-time translator earns. It’ll be 70 yuan a month. Right now, we don’t have that many foreign guests. Aside from translation, you’ll help with Publicity Department work. If anything special comes up, we’ll discuss it then,” Secretary Qian stated clearly.

“And about the village…” Nan Qiao asked. She was still pleasantly surprised—it was better than expected to avoid field work and get a wage.

“Tomorrow, Lao Zheng and I will accompany you to your village. We’ll try to make sure they won’t require you to work in the fields anymore. Come find me the morning after tomorrow, and we’ll talk specifics then.”

“Alright, I’ll come see you first thing the day after tomorrow,” Nan Qiao answered.

“Well then, I’ll leave you all to it,” Secretary Qian said as he turned and exited the office.

He had originally intended for Director Zheng to handle the conversation with the Hongqi Commune’s village chief. But today, the girl had left an excellent impression. Her family background was distinguished and honorable.

Not only that—her family had helped their steel plant and even brought in foreign exchange. Emotionally and logically, he felt it was only right to step in personally.

Once Secretary Qian left, the four people in the room all visibly relaxed.

Especially Nan Zhou—having arranged a better position for his sister with no more labor duties, the trip was well worth it.

Now that the matter was settled, Director Zheng finally felt relieved too. No more trying to decode those documents that looked like an alien language—his hair loss might finally slow down.

“Finally resolved a big problem. Nan Qiao, just wait and see. Since Secretary Qian said so, this matter is basically settled.”

“Exactly. You both can rest easy now,” Wu Wei added to Nan Zhou and Nan Qiao.

“Thank you both very much,” Nan Zhou expressed his sincere gratitude.

“No need to be formal—aren’t we all on the same side?”

“That’s right. I’ll be depending on little Nan from now on. Now that the translation issue is solved, and the foreign guests are coming to us instead of Qing City, those old guys there must be fuming!” Zheng Anping laughed with a satisfied look.

Nan Qiao also smiled a bit at the sight.

“Alright, Lao Zheng, I’ll head back for now. Let’s have lunch together later.”

“Sure thing,” Lao Zheng agreed.

“I’ll treat you all to lunch—let’s go to the state-run restaurant,” Nan Zhou said at the right moment.

“No way we’ll let you pay. You’re the guest,” Wu Wei declined.

“No can do. You helped me solve a huge problem today. Treating you is a must,” Nan Zhou insisted.

“Alright then, I’ll mooch a meal too. Lao Zheng, we’ll come find you at noon,” Wu Wei said with a grin.

“Sounds good. I finally don’t have to translate anymore—I can take a proper break and enjoy some tea.”

Back at Wu Wei’s office, Nan Qiao took out the packages of meat sauce and jerky she had brought.

She handed them to Wu Wei and said, “Brother Wu Wei, I made these myself. Take them home and try them. They go great with noodles and all sorts of things.”

Wu Wei accepted them and thanked her without putting on airs. With many days of interaction ahead, there was no need to be overly formal.

“Thanks a lot, Qiao Qiao.”

The three of them sat in the office and chatted for quite a while about old times. As noon approached, they left the office and headed to Lao Zheng’s door.

“Lao Zheng, let’s go—it’s lunchtime!” Wu Wei called out from the doorway.

The state-run restaurant wasn’t far, so the group strolled there on foot instead of taking bikes.

In the local context, Lao Zheng and Wu Wei held fairly high positions. Many people tried to cozy up to them along the way but were politely turned down.

Just as they were about to enter the restaurant, Nan Qiao wondered whether they might bump into Bai Kaixuan today. She also thought of Jia Baimei, whom she’d met last time, and wondered how she was doing now.

As if summoned by her thoughts, Bai Kaixuan appeared up ahead, riding his bicycle.

He spotted Nan Qiao immediately—not only because of her eye-catching beauty, but also because she was with Zheng Anping and Wu Wei.

His uncle often worked with these two, so Bai Kaixuan recognized them instantly.

He parked his bike and came over to greet them. Jia Baimei, a bit hesitant, followed behind.

“Hey Nan Qiao! Director Zheng, Director Wu—what a coincidence seeing you all together!”

“Brother Wu Wei was a comrade of my brother’s. This is my brother, Nan Zhou,” Nan Qiao explained first.

With that, Bai Kaixuan understood and greeted Nan Zhou and the others warmly.

“Ah, so you’re Brother Nan Zhou. We’re all family here!”

Noticing Nan Zhou’s unfamiliar expression, Wu Wei leaned in and whispered, “He’s Director Bai’s nephew, currently the admin chief at the steel factory.”

Nan Zhou gave a polite smile and said, “Nice to meet you,” then quickly returned to his usual cold demeanor.