Chapter 49: Article in the Newspaper

Wei Dai was a man open to new things and wanted to try everything. He even coveted a TV so much that he was willing to empty his family’s savings to buy one.

Wen Jiajia felt that the earliest one could buy a television was after the 1990s.

After all, owning a TV was useless without enough programming. A TV would only serve as decoration.

Wei Dai sighed and buried this thought deep in his heart.

The Next Day

The pot used for cooking the osmanthus jam was left unwashed overnight. The living room still had a faint scent of osmanthus.

As soon as Wen Chun and Wen Xuan opened the door, they ran to the table and stared at the stone pot with burning curiosity.

Wen Jiajia, who woke up later than the two girls, saw them eyeing the pot as she went out.

She knew it would be like this.

Wen Jiajia covered her head, feeling speechless. She had forgotten to wash the stone pot yesterday and only remembered it before bed. Unable to get up to wash it then, she had left it for the next day.

But since Wen Chun and Wen Xuan got up earlier than her, she could guess they would probably have already licked the stone pot clean with their fingers.

“Aunt, where is my uncle-in-law?” Wen Chun asked as she ran to wash her hands, then dipped her fingers into the osmanthus sauce on the stone pot and tasted it.

Wen Jiajia, unable to bear watching it, retreated to the kitchen. “Your uncle-in-law has gone to work.”

He had left before dawn. Wen Jiajia vaguely remembered him getting up and opening the door, and she had asked absentmindedly, “What time is it?”

Wei Dai had replied that it was five o’clock.

Wen Chun said “Oh” and continued to dip and lick her fingers. The sweet taste made her narrow her eyes in delight.

Wen Jiajia, in the kitchen, had other things to focus on. Breakfast was ready, consisting of fried rice and hot rice—something quick and filling after months of taking care of the baby and working. 

Fried rice was eaten when hot, and cold weather called for cooked rice, which was leftover from the previous day’s steaming. Even in the hottest weather, rice stayed fresh overnight if kept in a cool cupboard. Vegetables were chopped or peeled the night before, so they only needed to be added to eggs and cooked for a quick breakfast.

Wen Jiajia looked out at the rain and decided to have hot rice today. 

The hot rice was accompanied by mushrooms, which were fresh and aromatic, likely picked by Wei Dai the previous day. 

“Eat up!” Wen Jiajia said.

From lighting the fire to washing the pot, Wen Jiajia managed breakfast in less than ten minutes. When she emerged with two large bowls of hot rice, the stone pot had already been licked clean by the two girls.

Wen Jiajia couldn’t bear to look at it. It was so embarrassing!

“Have you brushed your teeth?” she asked.

Wen Chun immediately replied, “Not yet. We plan to do that after breakfast.”

Wen Jiajia followed her reasoning. Both children had brushed their teeth the night before and hadn’t eaten after brushing, so logically, their mouths weren’t dirty in the morning, and it was better to brush after eating.

The hot rice warmed them from the inside out, making Wen Jiajia feel stifled even in her raincoat.

“I hate rainy days,” Wen Jiajia muttered.

At that moment, riding her bicycle and seeing the rice that had not yet been harvested, she thought it was a pity. If the rain had come a day later, the rice would have been harvested.

Glancing at the time and seeing it was already 7:40, Wen Jiajia accelerated, overtaking others on their way into the city for work or deliveries, and finally arrived at the pharmaceutical factory before 8 o’clock.

“How was the movie last night?” Wen Jiajia asked Sha Yue, as she hung up her raincoat and shook it dry.

Sha Yue propped her head on her hand, rubbing it. “It gave me a headache just watching it.”

It wasn’t the plot that caused the headache, but the howling wind and pouring rain. She seemed to have caught a cold in the storm.

Wen Jiajia thought it was fortunate she hadn’t stayed for the movie.

After hanging up her raincoat, she went to the bulletin board to get the newspaper.

“Hey, where’s the Daily Worker?” she asked.

Qiao He poked his head out from the window. “The Workers’ Daily is with me.”

He pulled out a page and laid it on Wen Jiajia’s desk. “This is the newspaper with your manuscript published.”

Wen Jiajia rushed in and picked up the newspaper to read.

Sha Yue came over despite her headache and said, “Oh My, Oh My, I never thought the names in the article would be connected to the people around me.”

The newspaper featured a prominent headline: *20 Years of the Rise of the Sulfonamide Series.*

Below it was a dense main text that occupied half of the newspaper page.

Sha Yue was stunned and read aloud, becoming increasingly emotional. She found it hard to believe how Jia Jia wrote it.

“How did you write it?” Sha Yue asked.

Wen Jiajia replied, “I just polished it. It took me more than a month.”

Several people in the office looked at her. Initially, her words seemed insincere, but considering the effort Wen Jiajia had put in over the past two months, her statement was no longer seen as merely perfunctory.

As she said, it was all about perseverance.

Wen Jiajia had borrowed all the information about the Sixth Workshop, filled half a notebook with notes, and spent days chatting with the workshop workers, developing a close rapport with them.

Li Haijun couldn’t help but recall his thoughts at the time. Wen Jiajia, who had been sidelined by Director Xue and relegated to menial tasks, had worked tirelessly.

No one expected that her hard work would result in a feature in the Workers’ Daily, making her the most successful writer in the factory. It was likely that the leaders above would soon hear about her achievements.

Li Haijun was still thinking about taking over Director Xue’s position.

No one cared about Li Haijun’s thoughts because, as anticipated, Wen Jiajia soon became famous in the pharmaceutical factory.

Team leader Wei from the workshop visited the office with a rare smile on his face. “Wen Jiajia, you are amazing. You really showcased our Sixth Workshop to the entire country.”

He was a well-known figure in the report. When Team Leader Wei saw his name, his head turned red, his face flushed like a boiled shrimp, and his ears buzzed. He couldn’t hear what anyone was saying.

It wasn’t until someone nudged him that he came to his senses.

“Well, it’s just a name…” Wen Jiajia attempted to be modest, but before she could finish, Team Leader Wei interjected:

“Just a name? Do you realize that this is the Workers’ Daily? There are tens of thousands of workers in our country, but how many of them can have their names in it?”

Team Leader Wei became excited again as he spoke, his voice so loud it made the nearby glass vibrate.

Sha Yue smiled and said, “Uncle Wei, why don’t you buy a newspaper and put it up at home? That way, anyone who visits will know about this.”

She was joking, but Team Leader Wei took her suggestion seriously!

“Very good idea,” he said enthusiastically, and hurried to the newspaper store near the pharmaceutical factory to buy a copy.

Most workers these days were simple and honest, and they didn’t even take a newspaper from the factory.

After Team Leader Wei left, more people arrived, and the office floor became wet. The office only returned to silence when Wen Jiajia was called away.

Where did Wen Jiajia go?

She was summoned by the deputy factory director, Cao Fang, who was in charge of production. Cao Fang was Wen Jiajia’s highest-level supervisor besides the factory director.

In many cases, Cao Fang and the factory director were the top leaders of all the workshops. The factory director had too many responsibilities to handle, and after delegating power, he usually didn’t pay much attention to the workshops unless something major occurred.

Cao Fang greeted Wen Jiajia warmly, asked her to sit down, and inquired if she had any difficulties in life or work.

What difficulties could Wen Jiajia have?

She honestly said that she had none. As long as there was food and drink at home and her relationship with her husband was good, she truly had no difficulties.

Unexpectedly, Director Cao was moved: “Good comrades like you endure all the difficulties yourselves and don’t trouble the factory. It’s because of comrades like you that our factory can develop, grow, and achieve continuous success!”

“…”

Wen Jiajia was at a loss for words. She smiled dryly, realizing why he was called the factory director. He was indeed skilled in speaking.

Because they were of opposite genders, Cao Fang did not keep her long. After a few more words and giving her a bonus, he let her go.

Of course, Wen Jiajia accepted the bonus.

The pharmaceutical company was generous. Instead of money, the bonus was a radio ticket, likely because they knew Wen Jiajia had a bicycle.

Wen Jiajia was extremely satisfied, feeling her hard work over the past two months was truly worthwhile. A radio ticket was worth at least 40 yuan and could sometimes be hard to find.

In the evening, Wen Jiajia left work promptly at five o’clock.

She was really tired from the day’s events. Not only had there been many visitors, but even people from the Propaganda Department had come seeking “advice.”

Although they genuinely wanted advice, Wen Jiajia could only write and not teach. She tried to decline but couldn’t, so she shared some of her writing thoughts.

People from the Propaganda Department came in waves, until Wen Jiajia finally had to firmly refuse, telling them to consult the front office. Only then did the office return to quiet.

Feeling sorry for the three colleagues still in the office, Wen Jiajia left immediately, bag in tow.

On the way home, she briefly stopped at the supply and marketing cooperative, bought two kilograms of white sugar, and then hurried home.

The house was quiet. Wen Chun and Wen Xuan were not back yet, and Wei Dai was also absent.

At that moment, the clouds had cleared, and the rain had stopped, revealing a fiery red sunset on the horizon.

Wen Jiajia took the clothes hanging under the eaves to the yard to dry. The rain had continued intermittently until mid-afternoon, and the clothes were still a bit damp from being blown by the wind. They needed to be hung out to dry.

She looked up at the sky. It didn’t seem like it would rain tonight.

After hanging up the clothes, she went to steam some rice. She regretted not buying another piece of meat. If not, they would have to settle for eggs. Just then, Sister Bao arrived with something in her hands.

Sister Bao entered the room and said, “I heard the sound of your bicycle and knew you were back.”

“Sister Bao!” Wen Jiajia was surprised and added, “Earlier, a group of children blocked the door to Xu’s house. They only moved after ringing the bell three times.”

“Oh, those children are so naughty. They pick flowers from one house and vegetables from another, and they even dare to poke beehives. You don’t know, at the beginning of the year, when they poked a beehive, Bai Ying happened to pass by with her one-month-old granddaughter. If Bai Ying hadn’t protected her, the child would have been stung! The naughty children were so frightened that they hid in the water. In the middle of winter, several of them fell and caught colds, and were sent to the hospital that day.”