The busy days passed very quickly. In the blink of an eye, it had been almost two months since Tang Momo came to the food factory. 

The two months of busy work were not in vain; she had gained the recognition of the publicity section chief, Lu Ruijun, who no longer viewed her with any doubt, which made Tang Momo breathe a sigh of relief. 

Although she was promoted to the factory by Director Wu, in the end, Lu Ruijun was her direct leader. 

The success of this mooncake reform allowed Director Wu to completely dispel everyone’s doubts. As someone who had been promoted by Director Wu, Tang Momo was receiving more and more attention. 

Wang Qian, Hu Jie and the other even discussed that this year, the recommendation quota for worker, peasant, and soldier students would definitely include her. 

Tang Momo shook her head quickly, “I’ve only been here for such a short time; how could it possibly be my turn?” 

Even if it were her turn, she wouldn’t be willing to go, so she quickly changed the topic. 

Everyone was attentive. Seeing that she was unwilling to talk more, they quickly changed to the next topic, which was about Yang Jianlin. 

With the success of Director Wu’s reform this time, more people naturally noticed Yang Jianlin. They heard that many had introduced potential partners to him recently, but he had turned them all down. 

“I wonder what kind of person Secretary Yang likes? I heard Director Li’s daughter has this intention as well.” 

After Hu Jie finished speaking, she subconsciously looked at Tang Momo. 

After receiving their looks, Tang Momo spread her hands helplessly, “Don’t look at me like that; I don’t know what he likes either.” 

Although the two worked together for more than half a month, Tang Momo actually knew nothing about Yang Jianlin’s personal affairs. 

Moreover, since Yang Jianlin was quite popular in the factory, to avoid a repeat of the previous incident with the Qingshui Brigade, she had only privately expressed her gratitude to him after buying something from the supply and marketing cooperative, and had basically had no further contact with him. 

In the dormitory, there were a total of five girls, including Tang Momo, all unmarried and without partners. While discussing Yang Jianlin, they somehow ended up talking about themselves.  

Wang Qian was the first to complain. “You don’t know; my mother was busy trying to set me up with someone again. I’ve told her I like soldiers, but she just won’t listen.” 

Wang Qian’s former neighbor’s brother was a soldier. It was at that time when the girl’s first love interest blossomed, so this became one of her future requirements when looking for a partner. 

“Although soldiers are good, they’re often not home. If the family is good, that’s fine, but if not, then you’ll just be serving a whole family of theirs once you marry in.” 

Hu Jie wasn’t optimistic about marrying a soldier and tried to wake Wang Qian up.  

Tang Momo was surprised. In this era, there were really not many people who could think so clearly. She couldn’t help but look at Hu Jie with a little more admiration. 

Others had different opinions about Hu Jie’s words, and they shared their thoughts openly. When Tang Momo listened to their discussions, she realized she had been influenced by their ideas. 

Although most people in this era are conservative in their thinking, there are also people like Hu Jie who see things through. 

“Oh, by the way, Momo, I saw you with a person in military uniform the other day. Is that person a relative of yours?” 

Since everyone knew that she don’t have a match, they couldn’t help but guess that he was her relative. 

Tang Momo hadn’t expected that when Gu Chengze came to find her that day, there would be other people who saw them together. 

Seeing everyone looking over, Tang Momo hesitated for two seconds and decided to speak the truth. “No, we’re just from the same brigade. He happened to come to find me for something that day.” 

“Then does he have a partner?” 

Wang Qian suddenly became excited. 

“He probably doesn’t. He came back this time to look for a match, but it didn’t work out.” 

Seeing the excitement in Wang Qian’s eyes, Tang Momo hesitated about whether to say a few more things. 

Wang Qian started getting excited upon hearing about it, but Hu Jie glanced at the hesitation in Tang Momo’s eyes and tugged at Wang Qian’s sleeve, “His family will definitely make arrangements for him, so don’t think too much.” 

“He should have gone back by now; who knows when he’ll come back next.” 

Hu Jie’s words made Tang Momo breathe a sigh of relief. If Wang Qian truly developed an interest and wanted her to introduce them, she wouldn’t know how to handle it. 

After all, if this matter was not handled well, she would offend both of them. 

When Wang Qian heard that Tang Momo said it would take a year for him to come back, it was as if a bucket of cold water had been poured on her, which instantly sobered her up. She glanced at Tang Momo with some embarrassment, “I’m just too excited. I’ll be fine after a while. Don’t take it seriously.” 

“Your reaction is perfectly normal.” 

Tang Momo’s tone also lightened up.  

After this conversation, everyone moved on to the next topic. Tang Momo occasionally said a few words, and the atmosphere became quite harmonious. 

At this moment, Tang Momo suddenly remembered that the book mentioned Gu Chengze would be injured after getting married. However, he was promoted because of this injury, so it could be said that he earned this promotion at the cost of his life. 

In the book, it seems that the female protagonist’s reminder not only helped him achieve meritorious deeds but also helped him avoid harm this time. 

But in their previous life, when Xu Xiaoyun eloped with that educated youth, it was the time when he was injured. 

Tang Momo only had a rough idea and didn’t know when would it happen. Thinking of this, she couldn’t help but rubbed her temple; she actually forgot to tell Gu Chengze about this matter that day. 

Even if she couldn’t help him completely avoid it, it’s still good if a serious injury could become a minor one.  

Just when Tang Momo was wondering whether to contact Gu Chengze because of this matter, she received a letter from him. 

Tang Momo was surprised when she heard from the guard that there was a letter for her. She didn’t know who would write to her. 

After getting the envelope and confirming the sender, she became even more uneasy. Why did Gu Chengze write to her? At this moment, for some reason, Tang Momo didn’t have the courage to open the envelope because she had a guessed that it wasn’t something she wanted to know. 

As expected, Gu Chengze first talked about his current situation in the letter and then asked about her current situation. At the end of the letter, he wrote, “I have thought about your words carefully during this period, and I think what you said makes sense. Marriage is a lifelong event. It shouldn’t be taken too lightly. It’s also at this time that I realized I am resistant to marrying others, but when I think about marrying you in the future, I not only don’t resist it but actually look forward to it. I think this is probably what you mean by liking. So, can you allow my feelings for you to exist?” 

Tang Momo couldn’t help but grip the letter with her hand. She didn’t understand what Gu Chengze meant. If she said she didn’t allow it, could he just stop liking her? 

If this is true, then he is really impressive; he can even control such emotions as liking. 

It was also at this time that Tang Momo realized something was wrong. Why was she angry? If Gu Chengze could really do this, shouldn’t she feel happy? 

Tang Momo rubbed her hair, thinking that he must have been too idle recently, which was why he felt this way. 

So, Tang Momo’s reply to Gu Chengze was very simple. She suggested that maybe he was too free lately, leading to his wild thoughts. After all, they hadn’t really seen each other that many times, and he didn’t know her well, so how could he talk about liking her? 

Afraid that Gu Chengze might not understand her, Tang Momo gave a few random examples. Did he know what color she liked, what her favorite food was, what she most wanted to do, and what she hated? Did he know any of that? 

Or was his liking just because of her appearance? She ended the letter by reminding him to be careful and not to let these random thoughts distract him during training or missions. 

Looking at the last sentence, Tang Momo thought that this should be regarded as a subtle reminder from her, hoping that Gu Chengze would understand what she meant. 

Tang Momo made a special trip to the post office to mail the letter. When she came out of the post office, she unexpectedly ran into Tang Xiaoxue. 

However, after not seeing each other for more than half a month, Tang Xiaoxue looked much older. She was following Qiu Ming closely at the moment and did not notice Tang Momo next to her. 

“Qiu Ming, stop! Did you hear what I said?” 

When Tang Xiaoxue saw that he didn’t respond, Tang Xiaoxue quickened her pace and run ahead to try and catch him. 

Unfortunately, Qiu Ming ignored her, threw her hand away, and continued forward. 

Since Tang Momo’s last visit, the Qiu family had become the joke of the family compound. Qiu Ming wanted a divorce, but not only was his family against it, Tang Xiaoxue was even less willing, which made Qiu Ming quite displeased. 

Remembering how the people in the family building compound looked at him, he felt even more unwilling to go back. He never realized that his actions led Tang Xiaoxue to mistakenly believe there was someone else. She followed him every day, watching him closely, which only made him dislike her more. 

Tang Momo quickly looked away. Tang Xiaoxue’s current situation was entirely of her own making. 

After more than ten years of marriage to the Qiu family and Qiu Ming, didn’t she know what kind of people they were? Yet, she didn’t even leave a way out for herself. Now that she ended up like this, it was because she was too foolish.  

After coming out of the post office, Tang Momo went straight home. Now that Tang Jianan and the twins had officially started school. When she went back, no one was in the yard. 

After more than a month, Zhang Xiaoli took care of the backyard until it started to feel more like home. However, the vegetables she planted didn’t grow well because they were in a shaded area, which left Zhang Xiaoli feeling a bit regretful. 

Tang Momo actually inquired about the house recently, but the results were not ideal. Fortunately, everyone is getting used to living here. 

She would wait until next year to see if she could discuss with Guan Shijie and rent the front yard to them. 

Tang Momo’s birthday was the same as the original owner’s, on the eighteenth day of the ninth lunar month. It was just the beginning of September, and Zhang Xiaoli had already started preparing. 

Because the family had faced difficulties in the past two years, they hadn’t celebrated her birthday properly. So this time, Zhang Xiaoli planned to make two new clothes for Tang Momo to make up for it. 

Tang Momo didn’t mind these things. However, seeing how happy they were, her initial thoughts of stopping them faded away. 

Probably because of going to work, Zhang Xiaoli became more confident. This change made Tang Momo particularly happy. 

After all, she wasn’t the original owner, so she couldn’t enjoy her contributions with a clear conscience. 

Tang Momo had secretly inquired at the shoe factory, and someone had actually introduced a match for Zhang Xiaoli, but she had refused them all. Tang Momo thought that waiting for her birthday might be a good opportunity to talk about it. 

Before her birthday, Tang Momo received another letter from Gu Chengze. After seeing the content of his letter, she felt both angry and amused. How had she not noticed before how capable he was? 

***

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