Chapter 50: One Year Travel

Before going to bed, Wei Dai carefully ironed the newspaper flat. To do this, he had to light a fire in the kitchen and heat the iron.

This iron, although said to be from a department store, was actually made by Wen Jiajia two months ago.

After ironing, the newspaper was smooth and pristine. Wei Dai cut it in half, keeping only the part with Wen Jiajia’s article. Wen Jiajia wondered why he didn’t cut it first and then iron it.

“Do you want to display it?” Wen Jiajia asked, crossing her legs. “It should be more low-key. Just put it between books and store it in the drawer.”

Wei Dai ignored her and solemnly placed the newspaper under glass, planning to find a piece of wood to make a frame and hang it on the living room wall.

He said confidently, “If you don’t show your achievements, it’s like walking in fine clothes at night. Didn’t you see that Sister Jiang had ‘Excellent Mediator’ almost carved on her door? You’ve achieved something significant; you must let others know.”

Wen Jiajia was a bit anxious. She stopped stretching, put her feet down, and sat cross-legged. “Don’t publicize it too much. I’m afraid of the gossip.”

“What gossip?”

“Just the usual nonsense!” Wen Jiajia replied with a snort.

Jiang Baiying had received the title of “Excellent Mediator” in June, and this led to much controversy. In June and July, Sister Jiang seemed intent on displaying her title everywhere. However, it wasn’t long before she was criticized for being too high-profile.

Wen Jiajia felt that if Wei Dai promoted her achievements publicly, it would likely cause her a lot of trouble.

Wei Dai returned to bed. “What trouble could there be?”

Wen Jiajia rolled her eyes. “What if someone thinks my manuscript is well-written and asks me to help with their writing or teach them how to write? Ordinary people can refuse, but what if it’s a leader giving the order? Could I refuse?”

It seemed Wei Dai had not thought of that. 

He finally came to his senses after Wen Jiajia’s reminder and sighed. “What a pity! For such a big achievement, if we were in our hometown, we’d have to celebrate with two tables of wine.”

Wen Jiajia was really speechless. She leaned over and pushed him. “Why set out the wine? Turn off the lights and go to sleep!”

Pah—

The lights went out, and the room was dark.

But after a while, the room was filled with sounds of excitement as both parties found no other way to express their emotions but on the bed.

The Next Day

The weather was fine, with birds chirping and carrying twigs and soil in their beaks, seemingly preparing to build nests under the eaves of the house.

This was unacceptable to Wen Jiajia—she didn’t want to risk having bird droppings fall on her all the time.

So, Wen Jiajia took a bamboo pole to chase away the little birds and even poked the nest, which was already taking shape, into the ground.

Wen Chun and Wen Xuan, the loving little girls, looked at the broken nest on the ground with tearful eyes.

Wen Jiajia felt a bit embarrassed and cleared her throat. “Ahem, it’s not that your aunt is being unreasonable, but… you wouldn’t want bird droppings falling on your head, would you?”

Wen Chun and Wen Xuan, full of sympathy, shook their heads. “Of course we wouldn’t. Only a fool would want that.”

Children living in the countryside certainly know what bird poop is.

Wen Chun suggested, “Can we put the bird’s nest on one of the trees? We have two trees in our yard anyway.”

Wen Jiajia didn’t mind as long as the nest wasn’t on her house.

However, she pointed to the broken nest on the ground and said, “But the nest is broken.”

Wen Chun pursed her lips. “It’s okay, Auntie. We can make a new nest.”

Wen Jiajia didn’t have time to make one herself. “You guys do it. I need to go cook.”

Wei Dai had left early again. Wen Jiajia didn’t even know what time he left the house this morning because she had exercised too much the night before.

She had hot rice yesterday and planned to make fried rice today.

The leftover rice steamed in a wooden barrel was perfect for making fried rice with eggs. It was a pity that there was no ham sausage; otherwise, Wen Jiajia would have added a couple of pieces.

But there were corn kernels and green beans, which could be kept for three days once peeled and were ideal for fried rice.

The fried rice with eggs smelled delicious, and Wen Chun and Wen Xuan especially liked it.

These two could eat in bursts.

Sometimes they liked steamed buns, sometimes noodles, but they got tired of them after a few meals. Even if they said they weren’t tired of it, the speed at which they ate showed otherwise.

Fried rice with eggs was their favorite, and they never got tired of it, even after two months.

If Wen Jiajia hadn’t insisted they eat slowly, they would have finished their meal in three minutes.

The fried rice was a bit spicy, so Wen Jiajia made three bowls of egg soup.

She felt happy every day, enjoying a bite of rice and a sip of soup. After all, she could count on one hand the number of times she had eaten breakfast since she started college in her previous life.

She went to work right after breakfast. Today was another day of being watched like a monkey.

The leader of the Propaganda Department actually wanted her to teach a class, but Wen Jiajia quickly refused.

Are you kidding? Can I take on this job?

Everyone knows the Propaganda Department is very particular about words. If I say something inappropriate, my entire family could be in trouble.

So she refused decisively, making her leader feel somewhat helpless. It was rare to see someone refuse a leader so firmly.

The excitement of National Day was still in the air.

The weather was good, so an awards ceremony was held in the auditorium.

Awards were given for advanced individuals, advanced groups, and some other categories, but Wen Jiajia didn’t catch all the details from her seat in the last row.

Although the auditorium was large, not all employees could attend. With several thousand employees in the pharmaceutical factory, the auditorium would collapse if everyone came.

Wen Jiajia was selected for recognition because of the newspaper from yesterday.

Since the newspaper arrived late and she had just started working this year, she hadn’t won any awards yet. So, she clapped the entire time, and her hands were almost sore.

As the leaders began to speak on stage one after another, Wen Jiajia thought about when to buy a radio.

It would take a long time for Wen Chun to save enough for eggs. By then, the reform and opening up would have progressed for many years, and radios might no longer be relevant.

Anyway, now that she had the tickets and the money, she could buy one early and enjoy it.

When leaders spoke, their speeches were mostly unchanged for decades.

The sunlight filtered through the back window, partially blocked by the leaves outside, making it warm but not too hot. Wen Jiajia propped up her head, feeling drowsy from the sunlight.

Finally, the awards ceremony ended before lunch.

“Hey, outstanding individuals receive 20 yuan, two tickets, and a pair of enamel cups,” Wen Jiajia overheard as she was leaving.

“Our factory is quite generous. I heard the people next door only gave 18 yuan in prize money, no tickets, and only two towels.”

“We have a total of 100 advanced collective awards in our pharmaceutical factory. Although they’re shared among the whole workshop, it’s still 100! And we also get a pair of thermos bottles, so we can drink hot water in the workshop during the winter…”

Wen Jiajia was quite tempted. 20 yuan was half a month’s salary.

Back in the office, with the curiosity of the other three people, Wen Jiajia couldn’t say much.

“I was sitting in the last row,” she said. “To be honest, I didn’t hear much.”

Sha Yue expressed regret. “I’ve never been to one. I’m curious.”

Wen Jiajia rubbed her head and whispered to her, “Don’t be curious. You’d just end up feeling sleepy.”

She needed to eat quickly and take a nap after lunch to have energy for the afternoon.

To celebrate National Day, the cafeteria has been serving particularly good food.

Since eels were still in season, the stir-fried eel Wen Jiajia craved every week was served twice.

But there were none today. Today’s meat dish was braised pork with preserved vegetables.

This dish wasn’t bad; she liked it very much. However, since it was troublesome to make, she enjoyed eating it but not cooking it.

Wen Jiajia ate quickly. After finishing her meal, she put two servings of braised pork with preserved vegetables into her lunch box to take home.

The braised pork with preserved vegetables from the cafeteria tasted very good. Even Sha Yue, who was normally frugal, couldn’t resist ordering a portion to take home for her husband to try.

“Ah, only after becoming the boss did I realize how expensive food, rice, oil, and salt are,” she sighed while holding her lunch box, then laughed. “But it feels great to be able to eat and buy whatever I want.”

Wen Jiajia patted her on the shoulder and said, “It will be more enjoyable in the future.”

Feng Yu had started receiving a high salary not long after joining the research institute, and his salary would only increase with more years of work.

The two men were still in the office.

Qiao He saw Wen Jiajia coming in with a lunch box obviously filled with food and asked, “Does Canteen No. 2 have meat dishes today?”

His usually irritating demeanor seemed less so to Wen Jiajia, so they often exchanged a few words.

As they chatted, they became more familiar with each other.

Wen Jiajia replied, “Yes, they do. It’s pork with preserved vegetables—lots of meat and preserved vegetables. It’s really delicious!”

Hearing this, Qiao He picked up his lunch box and rushed out without even putting the manuscript on his desk into the drawer.

Li Haijun also took out his lunch box and went out, but he maintained his composure, trailing several steps behind Qiao He.

Wen Jiajia burst into laughter, and Sha Yue couldn’t help but join in, laughing with her head down.

The afternoon passed quickly, and by almost five o’clock, Wen Jiajia went to the workshop to count the inventory.

Just as she was packing up to go home, someone called out from outside the office door, “Jia Jia, someone is looking for you.”

The caller was Hao Qingying, a friend from the workshop. Wen Jiajia got along well with her, and last month, Hao Qingying even invited her home for dinner.

Hao Qingying’s father, a descendant of a famous chef, worked at a high-end hotel in the city, known for serving distinguished guests. His cooking skills were exceptional, and Wen Jiajia had enjoyed some of the best dishes of her life there.

“Who is it?” Wen Jiajia asked.

“Liu Sihua from Workshop 1. Oh, and she mentioned that her aunt knows you.”

Wen Jiajia immediately recognized the name: Sister Hong’s niece!

Wen Jiajia hadn’t sought her out after starting work, not out of forgetfulness or reluctance, but because they were not familiar with each other, and there was little point in seeking her out unless they happened to meet.

However, the pharmaceutical factory was enormous, and Workshop 1 was at least fifteen minutes away from their Workshop 6. They even used different entrances to the factory, making it quite unusual.