Chapter 26

Lu Weiguo acted quickly and reported Shi Tingyu’s desire to work to the organization department.

Upon receiving Shi Tingyu’s information, the members of the organization department were pleasantly surprised.

Her resume was impressive.

Currently, there were many military spouses seeking employment, but the available positions were limited. It wasn’t easy to arrange jobs for everyone.

While some positions were in high demand, they required technical skills and capabilities.

There were also military spouses with limited education, who had only attended literacy classes in the village, making it difficult to find suitable jobs for them.

What they lacked was someone like Shi Tingyu: highly skilled and educated.

When Lu Weiguo made the report, he also mentioned the specific job direction Shi Tingyu was aiming for.

Director Wu from the organization department first called the Women’s Federation’s propaganda department.

Upon receiving the call from Director Wu, Director Liu felt a headache coming on involuntarily.

At the age of forty, every time the phone rang, she felt like she was ancient, mentally exhausted.

“Director Wu, what can I do for you?” she asked wearily.

Sensing the lack of enthusiasm in her tone, Director Wu felt a bit uncomfortable and touched his nose. “Director Liu, I just wanted to ask if your Women’s Federation’s propaganda department is still in need of personnel.”

Director Liu sighed internally; she had heard this “Is your department still in need of personnel?” line too many times and wasn’t in the mood for beating around the bush.

“I knew you were going to ask that.”

Having heard this opening line too many times, Director Liu didn’t want to engage in a lengthy conversation. “Director Wu, you’ve asked me twice today already. As I’ve said before, we don’t have any vacancies at the moment.”

Director Wu knew this would be the outcome but still felt the need to mention, “This military spouse is different; she is highly capable.”

“Even if she is highly capable, we still have no vacancies here. We can’t hire someone and pay them without tasks to do,” Director Liu stated firmly.

Realizing Director Liu’s firm stance, Director Wu sighed and said, “Alright, I’ll check with our elementary school at the office. But Director Liu, this candidate is truly exceptional. If we miss out on her, you might regret it.”

Knowing Director Liu couldn’t see her, Director Wu couldn’t help but gesture, “Even if she’s an excellent candidate, I can’t do anything if there are no openings.”

Seeing no hope, Director Wu expressed understanding and hung up the phone.

After facing disappointment at the Women’s Federation, Director Wu called the principal of the office elementary school.

The principal was indeed in need of staff. With more military spouses and subsequently more children, they were planning to add another class at the elementary school and were currently looking for teachers.

The current elementary school was a five-year program, with simple subjects like mathematics, language, music, drawing, and physical education for the first three grades. From the fourth grade onwards, natural sciences were introduced.

While it was easy to find language, mathematics, and physical education teachers, music and art teachers were hard to come by. Some high school graduates who applied for these roles could barely sing or draw.

These subjects required specialized talent.

Currently, many classes were taught by language or math teachers. Despite the desire for professional teachers, there were only three teachers for music and art, causing them to teach the entire school and stay extremely busy.

Having no choice but to juggle responsibilities, math or language teachers often filled in for music and art classes.

Therefore, Director Wu’s call was like a timely solution.

Upon hearing that the prospective teacher was a renowned artist, the principal was even more delighted.

Their office elementary school was different from others, with fewer bureaucratic hurdles, and they weren’t concerned about the background of the candidate’s family.

All they knew was that this comrade had married their battalion commander, which was sufficient assurance for them.

The fact that she married the battalion commander indicated that she had passed the political examination, and if she was deemed suitable at that level, there should be no issues at the school.

Satisfied with the outcome, Director Wu shared a few heartfelt words with the principal.

Before hanging up, the principal added, “Director Wu, if there are any more talented individuals like this in the future, be sure to contact me. We still need a music teacher here.”

Director Wu wiped the sweat from his forehead; thankfully, this matter had been successfully resolved.

Since it was personally requested by Captain Lu, they had to make arrangements for the candidate.

Shi Tingyu thought it would take a few days for the job to materialize, but she received news the next day.

Lu Weiguo said, “Our military district has an office elementary school that currently needs teachers. You have the ability, and the organization department mentioned that Principal Ren is happy to have you there.”

Shi Tingyu was relieved and asked, “Do they mention when I should start working?”

“The office elementary school is planning to add a class for each grade. Other teachers will start after the summer break, but the school urgently needs an art teacher. You can start work in a week,” Lu Weiguo explained.

From this, Lu Weiguo could see how desperate the school was for talent.

“Alright,” Shi Tingyu agreed. With a week to prepare, she planned to arrange a treat for her colleagues.

“Weiguo, since I haven’t officially started work yet, let’s organize the dinner gathering now. Delaying it isn’t ideal,” Shi Tingyu suggested.

Lu Weiguo had also been thinking about this matter.

“It’s a good idea, but will it be too tiring? Maybe we can provide the ingredients and tickets, and the canteen can help with the preparations,” Lu Weiguo proposed.

Shi Tingyu was not in favor of that idea. She remembered that Mrs. Zhang had offered to help with the gathering.

She casually asked, “Do families in the residential area usually host gatherings at home?”

Mrs. Zhang’s reaction was slightly odd as she replied, “Well… where else would we host them if not at home?”

Shi Tingyu immediately understood that the modern conveniences of catering services were not a common practice here. Doing things hands-on was the norm.

She then said to Lu Weiguo, “Let’s do it ourselves. It might not be appropriate to make an exception, especially since Mrs. Zhang said she would help.”

She calculated that inviting the three company commanders under the battalion, along with the three battalion commanders from the military district, should be sufficient, perhaps inviting a few additional close friends for a table full of guests.

In this area, most families were not wealthy, so guests rarely brought their entire families along to gatherings; it was an unwritten rule.

Except for those who volunteered to help.

Lu Weiguo thought for a moment and said, “With the weather being warm, perishable items like meat and vegetables won’t last long. I’ll take a day off tomorrow; we can buy the ingredients and arrange the gathering for the evening. I’ll assist you with the preparations.”

Shi Tingyu expressed concern, “Would taking frequent days off be a problem? We’ve just had our honeymoon.”

Lu Weiguo smiled faintly and reassured her, “Don’t worry too much. We usually save up our leave days, and most newlyweds take time off like this. The leadership understands.”

Feeling relieved, Shi Tingyu just hoped everything would go smoothly.

The next morning, Lu Weiguo borrowed a vehicle from the camp area and checked the tickets he had exchanged. He was planning to surprise his wife.

Expecting to go grocery shopping, Shi Tingyu was surprised when Lu Weiguo took her to a department store instead.

“Why are we here?” she inquired.

Lu Weiguo led her directly to the watch counter.

“I noticed that many couples have matching watches after marriage. I didn’t expect to meet you through a blind date, so I wasn’t prepared with some tickets. I exchanged some with my comrades these days to complete the set,” Lu Weiguo explained.