Chapter 9: The Vicious Female Supporting Character in the 1980s (9)

“I hereby announce that the winner of this year’s promotional board activity campaign is the Pineapple Canning Team.”

The factory director’s calm and powerful voice rang out, followed by praise, “The piece they submitted is very eye-catching, it also has a spirit of innovation and promotes the Party’s correct ideology. Everyone should take a good look and learn from it.”

The results of the promotional board activity were out, and the workshop that Su Qin belonged to stood out among the rest and actually won first prize.

Although everyone had anticipated the outcome beforehand, when the result was officially announced, they still couldn’t help but feel extremely excited.

The team leaders of other workshops brought their members over to take a look. Everyone expressed their amazement and envy, and the people in her workshop had their vanity greatly satisfied.

The first prize was a big award certificate, and everyone in the workshop received an enamel mug, with a big “Award” character on it.

Everyone held it in their hands and couldn’t put it down.

Su Qin looked at the somewhat heavy enamel mug in her hand, then at her joyful coworkers, and was also infected by their happiness.

She accidentally met Zhou Xiufang’s gaze. The latter quickly turned her face away with a stiff expression, looking a little awkward.

Although Zhou Xiufang wouldn’t praise and admire Su Qin like the others, she did quite fancy that enamel mug.

After all, this was a big honor.

The workshop supervisor came to congratulate them on the award, then handed a magazine in her hand to Su Qin, “Old Chen asked me to give this to you. The magazine was released today, and he saved a copy for you.”

Su Qin accepted the magazine, “Help me thank Chief Editor Chen. I hope the magazine sells well.”

“Let me have a look.” Chen Feng curiously leaned over. She used to be close with Zhou Xiufang and couldn’t stand Su Qin’s clumsy manner, but after spending time together these days, she had completely switched sides. If Zhou Xiufang badmouthed Su Qin behind her back, she would talk back.

Didn’t they see how hard Su Qin worked for the workshop? How could they kick her when she’s down?

Besides, Su Qin got along well with Cheng Lan and the workshop supervisor. She’d have to be crazy to go against Su Qin.

Su Qin casually handed the magazine to Chen Feng, and a few people gathered around her.

“Happy Children.” Chen Feng read the title of the magazine aloud. In the upper right corner, the publication date and total issue number were printed.

It was now November, Issue No. 1.

The magazine cover featured a little girl surrounded by a group of animals. She smiled sweetly, and the animals looked silly and cute. The picture was warm and full of childlike charm, making it very pleasant.

“Which piece did Su Qin draw?”

As they flipped through, they finally found the story about a little bear reading a book, with Su Qin’s name written as the author below.

Although it was meant for children, even they felt it looked very fitting. The story was simple, and the illustrations were straightforward and pleasant.

“I feel like Su Qin’s two stories are the best in this magazine. Anyway, they just give a different feeling.” Chen Feng couldn’t describe it clearly, “It just feels relaxing!”

Relaxing and delightful.

“I read it too. The pictures she drew and the stories she wrote are very healing.” The workshop supervisor expressed it differently, “They’re somewhat different from the others.”

Chen Feng said, “Yes, exactly.”

“Bootlicker.” Zhou Xiufang looked at Su Qin being the center of attention and mumbled in a sarcastic tone, but didn’t dare speak loudly. When the workshop supervisor glanced over unintentionally, she trembled inside and quickly looked down guiltily.

That children’s magazine was passed around the workshop. Quite a few people couldn’t even recognize all the words, but they thoroughly enjoyed looking at the pictures and kept praising Su Qin’s good drawing.

Things meant for children should allow them to easily and intuitively understand things at first glance, right?

In that regard, it was a success.

Naturally, Cheng Lan read it too. After getting off work, she planned to buy a copy for her son, as a way of supporting Su Qin.

With a new magazine being published, sales volume was definitely the top priority.

After getting off work, Cheng Lan went to the bookstore. She walked around the children’s section but didn’t see the magazine. She asked the store clerk, “Don’t you sell that children’s magazine called ‘Happy Children’ here?”

“That book? It’s sold out.” The clerk replied, “It’s a newly published magazine, and we were worried it wouldn’t sell well, so we didn’t order too many. But quite a few people bought it today. Just now a man bought ten copies at once.”

“Ten copies?” Cheng Lan was speechless, “That’s way too many.”

Clerk: “There’ll be more tomorrow. Come back then.”

“Alright.”

Cheng Lan walked out of the bookstore and went a bit further. She caught a glimpse of a figure in the alley and stepped back, “Wenfeng?”

Cheng Wenfeng’s body stiffened slightly and he slowly turned around.

“What are you doing here?” Cheng Lan asked curiously.

Cheng Wenfeng’s expression didn’t change. He slowly raised the two magazines in his hand, “I just came to the bookstore and bought two for them.”

By “them,” he meant Cheng Lan’s two children.

“Didn’t you just buy two for Linlin? You’re spoiling them too much.” Cheng Lan walked over and saw that one of the magazines in his hand was “Happy Children.” She paused slightly.

Seeing this, Cheng Wenfeng’s face remained calm as he said, “The clerk said this one sold the best. I took a look and thought the content was pretty good, so I bought one for Junjun.”

Speaking of this magazine, Cheng Lan got a bit excited, “You didn’t know, right? Two of the stories in this magazine were written and illustrated by Su Qin. That’s the same Su Qin you went on a blind date with.”

“Really?” Cheng Wenfeng replied calmly and added, “That’s impressive.”

Cheng Lan said, “Isn’t it? Although she’s just a temporary worker right now, she’s preparing for the college entrance exam. She’s truly an inspirational young woman.”

She rarely praised people, so Cheng Wenfeng was a little surprised. But then his expression relaxed.

Su Qin was indeed likable. It made sense for Cheng Lan to praise her like that.

“Our promotional board was also entirely drawn by her. Did you listen to the broadcast? We won first prize. And now she’s had her work published too. She’s got a bright future. Oh, I really like her.” Cheng Lan beamed and then raised her hand to pat Cheng Wenfeng’s shoulder, encouraging him, “You should work hard too.”

They were all young people. With a bit of effort, the future was full of possibilities.

When Cheng Lan said this, Cheng Wenfeng interpreted it as her hoping he would also work hard, and then she would find another opportunity to arrange a meeting between the two of them, to set them up again.

Thinking this, he nodded seriously. “Mm, I recently found another job, delivering wood panels for a shop.”

Now that a large number of educated youths were returning to the city and needed housing for marriage, all kinds of panels used in renovations were in high demand. Cheng Wenfeng would deliver goods for a wood panel store after his shift ended.

“You’re like Su Qin, always striving and ambitious.” Cheng Lan praised again. She liked both of them.

Cheng Wenfeng noticed she was once again pairing him with Su Qin. The corners of his mouth revealed a faint smile that was hard to detect.

Was she starting to think they were more and more compatible?

Cheng Lan took the two magazines Cheng Wenfeng had bought. She invited him to go back and eat together, but he refused.

After she left, Cheng Wenfeng pulled out another copy of ‘Happy Children’ from his coat. He frowned and carefully smoothed the crease on the cover, feeling annoyed with himself.

He had hidden it too hastily just now. He must go buy a few more tomorrow to keep.

In the alley.

The children who had just been playing marbles were each holding a book as they rushed home.

The parents saw this and asked with puzzled expressions, “Where did these books come from?”

“An uncle gave them to us! Said it was a bookstore event.”

“Yeah! They’re books for kids!”

The parents felt it was odd, took the books to check, flipped through them and found nothing wrong. On the contrary, they thought the illustrations were interesting and the stories were very suitable for children. So they gave the books back to the kids.

That evening, those few magazines were passed around in the nearby alleys. The children who hadn’t gotten one threw tantrums at home. “I want Happy Children too. Why do Tongtong and Yangyang have it? I want it.”

“Mommy, I want to read about the little bear and the little rabbit too.”

“Alright, we’ll go buy it tomorrow. Tomorrow we’ll go buy it.”

……

The parents couldn’t do anything about the fuss and, having just gotten paid not long ago, agreed.

The next day, as soon as the shop assistant put the newly arrived magazines on the shelf, parents came in one after another with their children asking, “Do you have a book called Happy Children?”

As soon as she said it was available, the children would rush in excitedly and pick up a copy of the magazine. “Mom, it’s this one!”

“We’ll buy one.”

As soon as the shop assistant finished with one customer, another came in.

By the end of the morning, they had sold quite a few copies. Compared to the sales of other magazines, the results were very good.

The magazine that Su Yue had submitted her writing to had also published her piece this month. She went to the bookstore to buy a copy and then went home.

It was mealtime. Liu Mei was enthusiastically preparing dishes. When she saw the magazine in Su Yue’s hands, she smiled and said, “Your piece got published?”

“Mm.” Su Yue smiled shyly.

“Let Aunt Mei have a look.” Liu Mei wiped her hands on her apron, walked over smiling, and called into the house, “Old Su, Xiao Yue’s article got published. She even brought the magazine back.”

When Father Su heard this, he also came out. Seeing Father Zhou and Mother Zhou coming over after hearing the news, he straightened his back with pride. “It got published?”

The Zhou family always boasted that Zhou Zhiyuan was a cultured man, but their Su Yue had gotten into college and had her article published. She was even more cultured than Zhou Zhiyuan!

Su Yue being matched with their Zhou Zhiyuan was more than suitable.

“Aunt Mei, this is the one I wrote.” Su Yue thoughtfully flipped to the page and pointed it out to Liu Mei. She humbly said, “I actually submitted two pieces. Since the topics were similar, they picked this one.”

When Liu Mei saw Su Qin return, she started praising Su Yue naturally. Her smile couldn’t be hidden. “Xiao Yue is really impressive. You’re still in school and already have something published. You’ll definitely publish even more in the future. It’s amazing.”

Father Su, who could not read many words, commented on the work after seeing how well it was written: “Not bad. Your grandfather used to be the village’s cultured man. You take after him.”

Father Zhou knew the Su family’s background well.

He didn’t expose anything. After taking a look at the magazine, he turned to Su Yue with a satisfied expression. “Zhiyuan said the chief editor praised you. Keep working hard.”

“Didn’t Su Qin also have her drawings published?” Mother Zhou asked suddenly when she saw Su Qin approaching.

Father Su didn’t know about this. He looked at Su Qin and asked, “Your drawings got published?”

Of course Liu Mei knew Su Qin’s drawings were published. She also knew the promotional board activity in the workshop that Cheng Lan supervised won an award thanks to Su Qin. But she never told Father Su about it.

He was always fixing machines and wouldn’t know anything anyway.

Su Qin replied blandly, “Mm.”

“I heard it was a new magazine. How are the sales?” Su Yue asked with a look of concern. “I heard from Zhiyuan that Chief Editor Chen is under a lot of pressure.”

The magazines she submitted to had been around for a long time and were stable.

If a new magazine didn’t sell well, it would be discontinued.

Besides, it was a children’s magazine. It didn’t seem to suit them at all.

“I don’t know.” Su Qin was still thinking about the math problem she hadn’t solved yesterday and didn’t want to interact with them too much. “I’m going back to my room.”

To the others, this attitude meant her grades were probably not good, and she had likely suffered another blow. Maybe she would lose her temper again. None of them wanted to deal with it.

They continued discussing Su Yue’s published article. The smile on Su Yue’s lips grew deeper. The Zhou family’s approval gave her more confidence and made her feel more at ease staying in this house.

Zhou Zhiyuan came back. Liu Mei was the first to speak to him. “Su Yue’s back. Later you and your parents are coming over to Aunt Mei’s house for dinner.”

“Su Qin is back too?” Zhou Zhiyuan suddenly asked.

Liu Mei said, “She just came back and went into her room.”

Father Su said, “It’s settled then. Your dad and I haven’t had a drink in a while.”

Mother Zhou was still a bit hesitant. She was afraid Su Qin would start shouting at them again and make them a laughingstock in front of the neighbors. She asked Zhou Zhiyuan, “I think Su Qin’s in a bad mood. Did something go wrong with her drawing being published?”

It was just a few drawings. And they were said to be for kids. What could go wrong?

“No.” Zhou Zhiyuan looked complicated. “They sold out two days after being released. The printing factory already started reprinting. Sales are really good.”

As soon as they heard about the reprint, the first few people who came to mind definitely were not thinking of Su Qin’s contribution. Father Zhou responded, “Chief Editor Chen is that impressive? It’s a pity you didn’t follow him. Why don’t you try to find him again?”

“He already has enough people in his team.” Zhou Zhiyuan said this, his thoughts hard to express. After a while, he added, “Chief Editor Chen said this time the credit belongs half to Su Qin. She painted the cover and gave many suggestions, which is why the achievement turned out so well.”

Now everyone in the magazine agency was very curious about Su Qin, and some even asked him about her.

That feeling was hard to describe.

After all, everyone used to say he was a cultured person, while Su Qin was from a completely different world.

“What do you mean?” Father Zhou didn’t quite understand.

Su Qin could give suggestions to the chief editor? And even got praised by him?

Zhou Zhiyuan glanced at Su Qin who was walking out, twitching the corner of his mouth, “I heard some good news. Chief Editor Chen seems to want you to provide stable contributions, meaning your works can be published in every issue. Congratulations.”