Chapter 69: Preparing for a Business Trip

Wen Jiajia told them which newspapers she wanted to order, and nearly all departments in the factory subscribed to these newspapers.

However, Bai Ying seemed a bit embarrassed about the magazines.

She said, “Jia Jia, you have to go to the post office to order the magazines yourself. We don’t have the budget for magazines here.”

Wen Jiajia was surprised. “Does anyone in other departments subscribe to magazines?”

Bai Ying shook her head. “Currently, your department is the first to request a magazine subscription.”

Wen Jiajia frowned. “Can I go and apply for it?”

If the factory doesn’t allow it, she would have to order them from the post office. Whose money would be spent then?

Bai Ying thought for a moment and asked, “How about this? I’ll ask for you. Which magazines do you want to subscribe to?”

Wen Jiajia handed Bai Ying the slip of paper with the magazine names, and Bai Ying understood immediately. “Director Gao asked you to subscribe, right?”

“Yes,” Wen Jiajia smiled. “I’ve never seen or even heard of these three magazines.”

Bai Ying sighed. “Director Gao also wanted to subscribe to magazines when he was at the chemical plant. He went to the post office in person to order them. There was one magazine that wasn’t even available at the post office, so Director Gao took the train to the newspaper office to order it.”

Wen Jiajia was shocked. “There are magazines that can’t be ordered at the post office? How rare must they be?”

Bai Ying laughed. “It’s not so much about rarity. It’s just that Director Gao is the only customer for that magazine in the entire city, and the cost of sending it separately every month was deemed too high, so they refused to provide it.” Who would have thought that Gao Yi would travel so far just to order a magazine?

Wen Jiajia thought to herself that Director Gao must be a very serious person.

In this case, she couldn’t rely on Bai Ying; she had to visit the post office herself.

The city post office was quite far, so Wen Jiajia decided to go back to the office to inform Director Gao first.

Director Gao asked, “Did the factory not provide you with a budget?”

Wen Jiajia nodded.

Director Gao was speechless. “It’s just a small amount of money. Either they don’t want to give it to you or they’ve simply forgotten.”

He frowned and said, “Then go to the post office and ask. Try to order as much as you can. You can ask the factory to reimburse you later.”

Wen Jiajia nodded again, grabbed her bag, and rode her bike towards the post office.

The largest post office required crossing almost half the city, so Wen Jiajia opted for the post and telecommunications branch a few blocks away.

The post office was busy, and even the smaller branch had people coming in and out frequently.

Wen Jiajia approached the counter and said, “Hello. I’d like to order a few magazines. Can we place an order here?”

“Of course. Which magazines would you like to order?”

“The ‘Mechanical Workers’ and ‘Chlor-Alkali Industry’.”

“How many copies per issue?”

Wen Jiajia thought for a moment and said, “Two.”

“… Two copies might be difficult to handle. We can order ‘Mechanical Workers’ for you, but no unit in our city has ordered ‘Chlor-Alkali Industry’. You might need to write a letter to see if they are willing to fulfill the order.”

Wen Jiajia pinched her head and said, “Then please help me subscribe to ‘Mechanical Workers’ first. Oh, and I also need all the issues published this year.”

“Okay, but it will take about half a month to get them. If you’re in a hurry, the machinery factory might also have them.”

“Don’t worry, thank you!”

Finally, Wen Jiajia managed to place the order and breathed a sigh of relief.

After returning, she discussed this with Bai Ying and then spoke to Director Gao.

Director Gao didn’t make it difficult for her. After all, he had once had to visit other people’s doors to order a magazine. It was clear that ordering magazines back then was not an easy task.

The weather was hot, and Wen Jiajia had been running around all morning, which left her unusually lacking in appetite.

She went to a state-owned restaurant and ordered just a bowl of mung bean porridge.

Lan Lan brought the porridge and a dish of side dishes to her and whispered, “Why do you seem so drained after every shift? It wasn’t like this at the pharmaceutical factory. It seems working there was more comfortable.”

Wen Jiajia leaned back in her chair and said, “Young comrade, this is the normal state of going to work. Working in a pharmaceutical factory was more like enjoying life.”

Lan Lan curled her lips. “You’re only one month older than me. Who are you calling ‘young comrade’? But if you keep up this pace, it’s not unreasonable for me to call you old comrade.”

“Go away! Are you saying I’m old?” Wen Jiajia stood up, picked up her chopsticks, and ate the porridge angrily.

After a moment, she looked up and blinked. “You really think I look older?”

“Yeah!” Lan Lan covered her mouth and laughed.

Wen Jiajia’s eyebrows drooped. “It’s okay; just get through this period.” She thought she should start using some skincare products.

“Oh, by the way,” Wen Jiajia swallowed the porridge in her mouth, “Have you written the list? What do you want to buy?”

Lan Lan exclaimed and quickly took out a piece of paper from her pocket, saying with a smile, “Not much, just these!”

Wen Jiajia’s eyes widened. The list was quite long and almost filled half of the paper.

She took it and looked it over carefully.

Fortunately, almost everything on the list could be bought in department stores, and most of it was also on her own shopping list, so they could be purchased together.

Besides, Haishi was not far from Linhe. Even if she couldn’t bring everything back, she could have it sent, and it would definitely arrive within a week.

“Okay, just prepare the money and wait,” she said.

Lan Lan took out a stack of bills, counted them in front of her, and stuffed them into her pocket. “I’ll refund you if there’s extra, and I’ll pay you if there’s not enough. I want to buy a lot of things, and I’m afraid you won’t have enough.”

That worked for Wen Jiajia.

She looked around and stuffed the money into her bag.

The side dishes prepared by Chef He were very good, including pickled bamboo shoots and pickled vegetable hearts. They were crunchy, sour, spicy, and very appetizing.

Initially, Wen Jiajia found it difficult to finish just the bowl of porridge, but as her appetite improved, she served herself another bowl.

After eating, she took a short rest in the office and it was almost time to start working again.

Wen Jiajia spent the entire afternoon in the workshop. Their office acted as a bridge between R&D and the workshop, so they needed to understand both thoroughly.

Seeing her dedication, Liang Mu, the leader of the next group, also followed her example and stayed in the workshop.

“Comrade Wen, do you live outside the city?” he suddenly asked.

Wen Jiajia, who was intently watching the workers, was momentarily taken aback before nodding. “Yes.”

Liang Mu asked, “Outskirts of the city gate closest to our factory?”

“Yes, why?”

“Oh, it’s nothing. You’ll have a lot of time to travel tomorrow. The train station is far from where you are.”

Wen Jiajia understood that Liang Mu was just trying to chat and build rapport.

She smiled and said, “Yes, but there’s nothing we can do about it, right?”

In fact, she didn’t have to rush tomorrow because it was Wednesday, and the logistics department of the troops would go to the train station to receive supplies every Wednesday morning.

She had been curious why most families chose to take the train on Wednesdays. After asking around, she found out that there were train services available on Wednesdays.

Liang Mu asked, “Were you from the pharmaceutical factory next door?”

Wen Jiajia nodded. “What about you?”

“Oh, I’m from the Municipal Bureau of Industry. I applied to come here,” Liang Mu said, with a somewhat smug expression.

Wen Jiajia was a bit surprised. If it were her, she wouldn’t have come.

The Municipal Bureau of Industry is considered one of the top units.

Liang Mu pointed to a man in blue clothes not far away and said, “Do you know where he’s from?”

“I don’t know,” Wen Jiajia shook her head.

“Rongshan Medical College!” Liang Mu clicked his tongue and whispered, “The bureau leaders applied eight times in total to get them. The provincial leaders were so fed up that they went to Rongshan and begged for three or four days before they agreed to send a team to help us.”

As Liang Mu spoke, he made the number eight gesture with his hand, unable to hide his astonishment.

“It’s said that this person is a sixth-level worker from Rongshan, a kind of talent that takes at least ten years to train. I don’t know how the leaders managed it, but Rongshan sent us such a gem. Sigh!”

“Oh, and there’s another team coming. Twelve people in total, with at least ten more behind them. With their support, one-third of our workshop is covered by Rongshan Medical. No wonder Director Gao is so anxious all the time. If I were him, I’d be anxious too. Once they leave, our workshop will have to stop working.”

Wen Jiajia opened and closed her mouth, her expression unnatural. She wasn’t shocked by his words but rather by his boldness.

Wen Jiajia understood why Liang Mu, despite having a bright future, was “demoted” to the Medical Glass Factory. It must be because he was too talkative.

Even someone like her, who had only met Liang Mu twice and was hardly a close friend, could hear such gossip about the leader, showing how much the leader must dislike him.

Wen Jiajia laughed awkwardly and said, “That’s good. Our factory has just started. Rongshan Medical Glass is one of the best medical glass factories in our country. With their help, we can get started faster, right? It’s just that Rongshan is a bit far away.”

“It is a bit far, but supporting the new factory is an honor. How can we give up just because it’s far away?”

Wen Jiajia replied, “… mmm.”

“But I think there’s another reason,” Liang Mu said quietly, covering his mouth with his notebook and tilting his head.

“What reason?”

“You think our place is good! Support usually goes from good places to bad places. Even though our medical institute is just starting out, what kind of place is Linhe? It’s a land of fish and rice! Rongshan is in the southwest, and the food there can’t compare to what we have here.”

Wen Jiajia rolled her eyes and said, “Don’t say that in front of others. They’re here to help out of kindness. You shouldn’t assume that about them.”

There are indeed people willing to sacrifice for the collective and the country at this time.

Once they come, they work diligently, focusing on their actions rather than their intentions. If others hear about this, they might feel very uncomfortable.

Liang Mu clapped his hands and said, “I just speak quickly; I don’t mean any harm. I think even if they come here for the good environment, it’s human nature.”

Wen Jiajia rolled her eyes at him again. It’s human nature to pursue a better life.

She decided to stay away from Liang Mu. She didn’t want her mind to be tainted by his talk.

That evening, Wen Jiajia rode her bike home with a large bag of noodles in the front basket.