◎ Second update ◎ 

Liu Nianhua looked serious. She looked at Liang Baozhen and saw that she hadn’t figured out how to start the conversation yet. She just pretended to be casual and said, “There’s something I need to take care of. I have to go out for a while.” 

Looking at Liu Nianhua’s departing back, Liang Baozhen was a little puzzled. Why were they leaving one after another? Brother Zhou didn’t even bother to wait for Sister Hua. 

Liu Nianhua hid under the cover of the night, holding the key in her hand and following her husband in front of her step by step with a serious face. 

She didn’t dare to follow too closely, for fear of being discovered by Zhou Guoping. Even so, her heart was in turmoil as she trailed behind. 

Liu Nianhua had always followed the rules for most of her life, so she felt uneasy following someone quietly for the first time. 

Zhou Guoping was obviously in a good mood. Even though they were about eight or nine meters apart, she could still hear him humming a little tune. He walked unsteadily and looked impatient. 

After turning down two alleys and taking a shortcut, Liu Nianhua finally recognized the area when a row of tube-shaped buildings came into view. This was near Zhou Guoping’s home. 

Across another street was the tube-shaped building where Zhou Guoping’s parents lived. Liu Nianhua visited there once a week but had never known about this shortcut. 

There was also an acquaintance living in the tube-shaped building on this street, Wang Fang, the cousin of Zhou Guoping’s eldest aunt. She was close to the Zhou family and had always had a good relationship with them.  

Liu Nianhua sat in the corner, watching Zhou Guoping go up from the tube building. She remembered that Wang Fang lived in the last room on the second floor. 

Wang Fang’s husband is also a driver, but he is a long-distance truck driver. He spends most of the month driving outside, mainly transporting goods for the steel factory. Long-distance driving is quite tiring, but they earn a lot. Wang Fang has been to Liu Nianhua’s home in the courtyard, and she has also talked about how much money her husband earns from each trip. 

Liu Nianhua remembered that Wang Fang had been somewhat reluctant about her marriage, but later seemed to have settled into a stable life. 

As she thought about the past, Liu Nianhua saw Zhou Guoping go up to the second floor and walk all the way to the last room. Her heart tightened… 

Perhaps he had something to discuss with her, or maybe he wanted to tell her something on behalf of his parents. 

But Zhou Guoping took out a golden key from his pocket and inserted it into the door lock. In a flash, Liu Nianhua watched the door open and saw Wang Fang. The two of them were so close that they seemed to be hugging each other. 

Once the door was closed, she couldn’t see anything. 

The weather has turned cold recently, especially at night. Liu Nianhua just leaned against the wall, staring at the wooden door. Soon, the kerosene lamp in the room went out… 

Without a watch, she didn’t know what time it was. Liu Nianhua just felt cold all over. It was probably because winter was really coming. It was so cold that it chilled her to the bone. She remembered that when she got married, it was also winter. It was a happy day. She wore a red dress but didn’t feel cold at all. She felt warm in her heart. 

After some time, a figure appeared on the second floor of the tube building. Zhou Guoping walked out of the house while tying his belt. He looked around and saw that there was no one, so he quickly went downstairs. 

Liu Nianhua just watched as the man came out of the building and quickly headed toward Crescent Alley.

The night was long, and the cement road seemed difficult to walk on. When Liu Nianhua got home, Zhou Guoping was already lying on their bed. 

Seeing his wife coming back, he pretended to open his eyes in a daze and asked cautiously, “Where have you been?” 

He had just arrived home five minutes ago, and when he saw that there was no one on the bed, he quickly lay down, fearing that Liu Nianhua would find out that he left to go somewhere. 

Liu Nianhua looked at Zhou Guoping intently. He looked almost the same as when he was young, just a little older. How did he end up like this? 

“I got up to go to the bathroom. My stomach hurts a little.” Liu Nianhua made up an excuse and went back to bed. She wanted Zhou Guoping to ask her something, no matter what it was; it would be best if he could question why she got up in the middle of the night so that she could ask him a few questions in return. 

However, Zhou Guoping, feeling that he had gotten away with it, was obviously relieved and turned over to sleep. 

Liu Nianhua kept her distance from him, lying alone on the edge of the bed. If she moved any more, she would probably fall down. After being exposed to the cold wind all night, she shivered uncontrollably. She sniffled and shed tears quietly. 

Tears slid down from the corners of her wrinkled eyes and dripped onto the pillowcase, which was bought when the two of them got married. After so many years, the big red “happiness” character on it had faded, and now it was soaked with tears. 

*** 

Liu Nianhua was in a daze for a few days and suddenly became silent. She didn’t seem to respond when people in the courtyard spoke to her. When Zhang Rong saw her, she thought she was sick. 

“Nianhua, do you have a cold? The weather changes so quickly these days; it’s easy to catch a cold. You should get some medicine.” 

“I’m fine, Aunt Zhang,” Liu Nianhua said as she took out the pickled vegetables and began preparing to serve them. 

“Sister Hua, do you still need the work gloves?” Liang Baozhen, who was in a hurry to get to work at the radio station, asked. Yesterday, Sister Meng had told her that a batch of old work gloves could be redistributed, and everyone could get some. She asked if Liu Nianhua wanted any. 

Who wouldn’t want to get free things? Winter was approaching, and it would be great to unstitch and knit a few pairs of gloves to keep them warm! 

“Didn’t you say last time that you wanted to knit for Brother Zhou? It’s just that you didn’t have enough thread.” 

Hearing this, Liu Nianhua remembered the half-knitted gloves and looked at Liang Baozhen, as if she had made up her mind. “No, I won’t knit anymore, never again.” 

“Okay, then I’ll go first.” Liang Baozhen didn’t have time to figure out what Liu Nianhua said. She ran to the entrance of the alley with her bag on her back. Xu Shengjie was waiting for her on a bicycle. 

“I’m going to be on the radio today, so please listen carefully at noon.” Liang Baozhen poked the man on the back and gave him a special reminder. 

Xu Shengjie was pedaling his bicycle and thought it was a bit novel that she would hear his wife’s voice on the factory’s loudspeaker. “What are you reading?” 

“Director Xue asked me to read the Selected Quotations this week.” 

Since Liang Baozhen was new to this work, Xue Lijun assigned her the leadership quotations that were most familiar to everyone and least likely to cause mistakes. She would broadcast the quotations at noon to reinforce ideological education. 

“Well, I’ll be waiting for it,” Xu Shengjie recalled that the broadcast happened during lunchtime, “So when are you having lunch?” 

“I’ll eat a little earlier to have something in my stomach. But I can’t eat too much before doing the broadcast,” Liang Baozhen remembered the previous broadcast announcer’s advice. “Sister Liu said that the broadcast announcer at the neighboring towel factory ate a big bowl of rice and then went to read the broadcast. He ended up burping several times while reading.” 

“That incident became a joke at the towel factory for a long time, and the broadcaster was too embarrassed to show his face.” 

Liang Baozhen wrapped her arms around Xu Shengjie’s waist, thinking of the funny and embarrassing scene. She accidentally scratched him due to her excitement and hit Xu Shengjie’s ticklish spot. 

Xu Shengjie felt a tickle on his waist, but Liang Baozhen didn’t notice it at all. Still, she was worried. “I can’t afford to make that kind of mistake; otherwise, I won’t be able to stay in the factory.” 

After arriving at the factory, she went directly to the factory office. The previous broadcaster’s desk was in the corner by the window. Liang Baozhen put her bag down and took out the prepared enamel cup, towel, notebook, and pen, as well as a book of leadership quotations that she had read several times. 

A few minutes later, other people from the factory office arrived one after another. There were only four people in this office: the publicity officer Huang Cuie, the administrative officers Song Ming and Zhu Jinyu, and the broadcaster Liang Baozhen. 

Liang Baozhen had met Huang Cuie several times and had also gone to Song Ming to collect her new work clothes, but this was the first time she met Zhu Jinyu. 

“Welcome!” 

“Please take care of me in the future.” Liang Baozhen had just arrived, so she put a candy on everyone’s table. Zhou Yun had put the candy in her bag early that morning. 

She had worked in the factory for a long time before and knew the ways of the world. There were few people in the office, but they all had a lot on their minds, so it would be a good idea to establish good relationships in advance. 

After all, it’s always better to be on good terms. 

“You’re too polite!” 

“Baozhen, this is the key to the radio station. Keep it safe. There are two keys in total. You can keep the first key at your desk as a spare and now that you’re here, you can keep the other one.” 

Liang Baozhen took the two old keys, tied one to the keychain she carried with her, and put the other into the drawer of her desk, where there was a book with the key tucked inside. 

At eleven o’clock noon, Liang Baozhen took the collection of quotes to the broadcast station to prepare. 

The radio station was on the third floor of the old office building of the State Cotton Factory, in a small room on the corner. The third floor had a separate door lock, so others could not enter easily. The two rooms next to it were archive rooms, both of which were locked. 

The radio station is about eight square meters in size. When you enter, you can see the radio station as soon as you look around. There is a microphone on it and operating knobs next to it. 

There was a glass cabinet in the room, which mostly contained books and newspapers. The broadcaster often looked for books and newspapers in it to read. Through the tall microphone stand, the broadcaster’s clear and pleasant voice was transmitted to all parts of the State Cotton Factory. 

*** 

The workers who got off work at noon took their lunch boxes to the canteen to get food. The food in the canteen today was average, with no big dishes. There was just stir-fried cabbage, boiled cabbage, stir-fried potatoes, boiled corn… As the weather got colder, there were fewer and fewer dishes. Everyone knew that they were about to live a life of stir-fried cabbage. 

Ding Xiaoxia was serving food with an iron ladle at the window. In front of her were several large pots of dishes. The canteen chef was quite skilled. Cooking in large pots was quite challenging and it requires careful control of the heat and seasoning. 

She was good at cooking at home but struggled with large pot cooking. 

“Xiao Xu, are you coming to eat after work?” Ding Xiaoxia smiled when she saw Xu Shengjie, “What would you like? The eggplant and green beans are pretty good today.” 

If the chef doesn’t cheat, the crops will not be harvested well. The chef can only tell if the food is good by tasting it, and today’s best dish was the eggplant and green beans. 

What Ding Xiaoxia reported was important information. 

“Aunt, two lunch boxes, one with eggplant, beans, and cabbage vermicelli, and the other with shredded potatoes, leeks, and fried eggs, and four steamed buns.” Xu Shengjie handed over two aluminum lunch boxes. 

Ding Xiaoxia was very generous to her benefactor. She filled an iron spoon with more food than she gave to anyone else and poured it all into the two lunch boxes Xu Shengjie had brought. 

In the factory canteen, food was usually distributed evenly, but it depended on how steady the serving worker’s hands were. If their hands shook, they served less, but they could use sweet talk to get people to hold their hands steadier. 

“Aunt Ding, I’m Hong Saner. Please give me some more food later.” Hong Saner followed Xu Shengjie in the line. He was very excited to know that his friend had a real relative in the canteen. Getting a full meal was more important than anything. 

Ding Xiaoxia had met Hong Saner several times and knew that he was Xu Shengjie’s friend, so she naturally agreed. She handed the second lunch box to Xu Shengjie and asked casually, “Where’s your wife? She didn’t come for lunch today?” 

Xu Shengjie took the lunch box and was about to speak when he heard a pleasant voice coming from the loudspeaker outside the canteen. 

The author has something to say: 

Xiao Liang the broadcaster is officially on air~