Chapter 40: Entering the Pharmaceutical Factory

Two days passed, and it was Sunday.

Wei Dai had been busy the past two days, and Wen Jiajia wasn’t sure whether he could take her to the pharmaceutical factory the next day.

Wen Chun and Wen Xuan also knew their aunt was going to work, but it had no effect on them because they had to go to school every day.

The two sisters were even quite happy because they firmly believed that as long as their aunt went to the city, she would bring back delicious food, just like a cat waiting for its owner to bring home prey every day.

On Sunday night, Wen Jiajia, working for the first time in two lives, suffered from insomnia.

Wei Dai didn’t come back, and Wen Jiajia looked toward the yard, reviewing several times the things she was going to bring the next day.

If you went to work these days, you had to be prepared to work for a long time.

In her previous life, employees in her studio always brought personal belongings, such as water cups, to the office half a month later. Why? They weren’t sure if they would stay in the office for long.

Job-hopping was very common at that time. Companies were choosing employees, while employees were also choosing companies.

Wen Jiajia still remembered a colleague who had five assistants in one year. Not long after, it was revealed that he had too much overtime but no pay, and did not cover medical and social security for his employees.

This incident caused quite a stir, and the reputation of the internet celebrity’s self-media studio fell to a low point, causing Wen Jiajia to suffer undeservedly. Recruitment during that period was even more difficult than before.

Of course, job-hopping didn’t exist in this life, and there was no choice of companies. Wen Jiajia had to be prepared to treat the pharmaceutical factory as her second home.

She put her cherished water bottle in her backpack, along with a lunch box, a pair of chopsticks, and a dishcloth.

Then there were umbrellas. Unfortunately, there were no telescopic umbrellas, so Wen Jiajia had to carry a long-handled umbrella.

In addition to umbrellas, there were also raincoats. These two items were very necessary in the recent rainy season.

Finally, there were pens and toilet paper.

There were indeed a lot of things, but none of them could be left behind. Fortunately, her backpack was big enough to fit everything.

Oh, and this backpack was also made by her in the past two days.

She had imitated a later model and bought two zippers to create two layers.

May was the beginning of summer.

Cicadas occasionally appeared on early summer nights.

The rapeseed in the fields had been harvested early, and Wen Chun and Wen Xuan had gone to the fields to help the day before yesterday. Their class also had labor courses, and most of them went to the fields in the next village to help with light work. It was a bit like doing things while having fun, and it felt like learning through entertainment.

Of course, the seniors had to do more work. Bao Jie borrowed some medicinal wine from her the other day, saying that her child had been injured from too much work and had hurt his shoulders and back.

Once rapeseed is harvested, it means that this year’s new oil will soon be available.

Wen Jiajia had already washed the two oil cans at home and was waiting to be filled with oil.

There were four oil cans at home: two for lard and two for vegetable or peanut oil. There were also two enamel cups, one for sesame oil and one for sesame oil.

When all the oil containers were full, if used sparingly, it could last for a year.

After the rapeseed harvest, it would be time for soybeans, sweet potatoes, and potatoes.

Farmers naturally figured out crop rotation methods based on the knowledge left by their predecessors.

For example, rapeseed straw contains potassium fertilizer, which can provide nutrition for soybeans. Another example is planting potatoes after rapeseed, which can effectively reduce insect pests.

This was something generations of farmers had figured out, and modern science had proven these crop rotations to be effective.

According to Sister Bao, when the soybeans ripened, the students at school would have to help harvest them.

It would be hard work then; being exposed to the sun would not be as comfortable as it was now.

After thinking about this and that, it was already nine o’clock.

The lights went out without warning, and Wen Jiajia lit the kerosene lamp in front of the window.

Candles could be blown out by the wind, but oil lamps were not afraid of the wind.

Wei Dai didn’t come back until about half past nine, and Wen Jiajia was still awake at that time.

“Is it so late tonight? Do you have another mission?” It was a bit cold, and Wen Jiajia was covered with a quilt, with half of her face hidden by it, asking him in a muffled voice.

Wei Dai opened the closet to get clothes. “Yes, I have to leave again.”

“I guessed as much.” Wei Dai was always extremely busy in the days before leaving for the army and would be very clingy at night.

Wei Dai held the clothes in his arms, walked quickly to the bedside, bent down, and kissed her forehead. “I’m sorry, I can’t go to the pharmaceutical factory with you tomorrow.”

Wen Jiajia stretched out her hand and placed it on his shoulder, saying sweetly, “It’s okay, it’s not like I don’t know the way.”

“Besides, there’s nothing dangerous on the roads here, right?” Wen Jiajia really felt that the roads here were much safer than those in her hometown.

Her hometown was relatively remote. She had heard from the old people in the village that there used to be robberies on the road and even bandit dens hidden in the nearby mountains.

Even now, some girls in the village had to be on guard against scoundrels or the sudden appearance of wild boars and other animals when they went to the county town.

But there was none of that here.

There was no need to worry about second-rate people. Even if there were such people, they would never touch military dependents.

As for wild animals, this was a suburb, with mostly plains and low mountains. The wild animals had been hunted to extinction by nearby people decades ago, so there was no way they could survive until now.

Even snakes were rarely seen.

Wei Dai sighed and rubbed her hair. “I’m going to take a shower. Wait for me.”

Wen Jiajia: “…”

Sorry, I need to go to bed.

You have plenty of energy, and even if you have a mission tomorrow, you still have time to think about that.

I can’t do that. I’m weak and tomorrow is my first time going back to work.

So when Wei Dai came back from taking a bath, Wen Jiajia was already pretending to snore softly, creating the appearance that she was soundly asleep.

Wei Dai chuckled, lifted the quilt, and lay down on the bed. Just when Wen Jiajia thought she had fooled him, he turned over and pressed on her while pulling the quilt with both hands to completely cover them both.

The night was long.

The kerosene lamp had gone out, and a gentle breeze blew in slowly through the window, leaving no strange smell in the room.

Wen Jiajia hit Wei Dai’s shoulder hard, her eyes red. “You were born in the year of the dog, right?”

Wei Dai asked back, “How do you know that one of my zodiac signs is indeed a dog?”

Wen Jiajia snorted repeatedly. “I won’t go get condoms next time. You don’t know how people laugh every time I go to get them.”

“What are they laughing at?” Wei Dai hugged her, kissed her temples, opened the drawer of the bedside table, took out a handkerchief, and wiped her face.

Wen Jiajia was shocked. “You don’t know what you’re laughing at, and you have the nerve to ask.” Only three condoms were free each month; the rest were charged. When she looked at the hospital account book, it was full of your name. Wen Jiajia felt embarrassed.

“You… why do you still remember my name?”

“Do you still remember me?” She rolled her eyes.

Wei Dai laughed softly. “Aren’t we together? Are you just trying to cover up your mistake?”

Wen Jiajia angrily slapped him, saying it was better to cover up one’s mistakes than to make a fool of oneself. She really didn’t understand why the hospital had to keep records of such things.

In fact, she had just found out about this yesterday. Sister Hong had used this matter to embarrass her, and Wen Jiajia felt even more socially frustrated than when she had been stuck in a trance before.

Wei Dai smoothed her hair again and consoled her. “I’ll go get one later. It’s nothing. We’re talking about family planning now. We’ll encourage you to get more free condoms in the future.”

“Family planning?” Wen Jiajia was slightly surprised.

In her impression, family planning was something that happened in the 1980s, but it turned out it had existed since the 1970s.

But you are also right. This kind of major policy must have been gradually promoted and implemented several years or even more than ten years in advance. People must have been given a period of adaptation.

Wei Dai said, “You weren’t here at the time. In fact, we discussed this matter at a meeting at the end of last year.”

It was the end of the year, the peak time for having babies.

The army was really concerned and wanted to warn the soldiers not to have more children. In recent years, the schools in the army were obviously not enough, and they were even preparing to expand them.

In fact, having too many children was not good. Wei Dai had a deep understanding of this after learning more about the household affairs of various families in recent years.

Wei Dai pulled the quilt down a little, hugged her tightly, and whispered, “Let’s have one child in the future.”

Wen Jiajia’s eyes sparkled. “Regardless of gender?”

“Of course not. I’m a party member. My superiors have said that it doesn’t matter whether I have a boy or a girl. How could I violate that?” Wei Dai said firmly. No matter what, one could not doubt his party spirit.

Wen Jiajia gave a thumbs up. “You’re right.”

Wei Dai also gave her a thumbs up and pressed his thumb against hers. “Don’t worry, my parents won’t care about this.”

Wen Jiajia smiled and said, “Go to sleep. No matter how good you are, I won’t let you do it again.”

Wei Dai paused and sighed.

The room returned to silence, and those blushing and heart-pounding sounds finally disappeared.

___

The Next Day

Wen Jiajia got up very early; it was still dark when she got up.

However, when she touched the quilt next to her, it was only warm, which showed that Wei Dai had already left.

When she came to the kitchen and saw a few sparks in the stove, she knew that Wei Dai had made breakfast before leaving.

Wen Jiajia opened the lid of the pot and saw a big red bowl. After turning on the light, she realized there were boiled noodles inside.

What kind of flour? Amaranth flour.

Whether amaranth is fried or boiled, the soup will be red when cooked.

It has a unique taste. Some people like it while others hate it. It just so happens that all four of us in my family like it.

The amaranth vermicelli was still hot because it was heated by a charcoal fire, but it was overheated and had been soaking in the soup, so several strands of vermicelli broke when she picked it up with chopsticks.

Wen Jiajia brought out the big bowl of noodles and placed it on the table. She put down her chopsticks, woke up the two children, and went to wash up.

Amaranth powder not only contains amaranth but also lean meat.

Although the noodles were soft and not elastic, the soup was delicious. With one spoonful, the red soup wrapped the rice noodles that had broken into small pieces, which was very tasty.

From time to time, Wen Jiajia enjoyed tender amaranth and salty, fragrant lean meat, which tasted no worse than a pure meat soup base.

The bike ride later was physically demanding, so Wen Jiajia finished two large bowls. Wen Chun and Wen Xuan hadn’t had noodles for a long time, so they were very eager and each ate half a bowl.

Before leaving, Wen Jiajia asked the two girls, “Are you going to Xiaoyi’s house, or are you staying at home? If you stay at home, you need to pay attention to the alarm clock. When the alarm clock rings, you have to go to school, understand?”

The two girls had been feeling a bit tired of studying recently. Two days ago, they were lying in bed and refused to get up in the morning. After getting up, they made a fuss and refused to go to school.

Wen Chun immediately expressed her preference: “I want to go to Xiao Yi’s house.”

Wen Xuan nodded vigorously. Xiao Yi’s family had a radio.

Wen Jiajia took out four pieces of butterfly cakes, wrapped them in oil paper, and handed them to Wen Chun. “Don’t eat them all; share them with Xiaoyi and your brother, okay?”

Wen Chun nodded.

Wen Jiajia held the two girls in her arms and kissed them one by one. She closed the doors and windows and sent them to the Xie family next door.

The sky was bright, but the sun was temporarily out of sight.

This period of time was probably when the temperature was most comfortable during the day.

It was neither too hot nor too cold, and the breeze blowing against her face was extremely fresh, as if it had just undergone photosynthesis, floating from the green leaves to the tip of Wen Jiajia’s nose.