Chapter 107

Qiao Wei’s worry about Lu Manman was completely unnecessary.

When Lu Manman returned, her face had rounded out, her spirits were high, and she looked refreshed.

Lu Manman’s mother had worried throughout the entire New Year festival until she saw her daughter’s oily round face, finally feeling relieved.

Her mother-in-law looked at her son-in-law and found him more pleasing to the eye the more she looked at him.

Lu Manman brought a small jar of salted duck eggs for Qiao Wei: “These were personally pickled by my mother-in-law. They’re not too salty and have plenty of oil, they’re especially delicious.”

Her mother-in-law couldn’t bear to eat them herself. She only took them out when she heard her son wanted to bring some for his leader.

Qiao Wei asked how her New Year had been.

“The hygiene was a bit lacking, but otherwise, it was fine. The food was delicious, there’s plenty of winter vegetables stored in the cellar at home, and there’s also pickled vegetables,” Lu Manman said. “The other two sisters-in-law are pretty good. It’s just that one sister-in-law keeps saying nasty things, but I ignore her. I didn’t give any of the candy or chocolate I brought to their children either. She got so mad that she hit her child in front of me.”

Qiao Wei was speechless.

She really couldn’t understand this kind of demonstration of hitting one’s own child in front of others.

Isn’t that hurting your own child?

But at this time, many people really did this.

“I slept until dawn every day. On the first day, someone said a couple of words, and Li Aiguo retorted, and after that, no one said anything. My mother-in-law even brought food to my room.”

“When we were leaving, I secretly gave her ten yuan. I only told Li Aiguo about it on the train, and Li Aiguo cried.”

It was true that when you treat others with kindness, they will reciprocate, and when others feel sorry for you, you will feel sorry for them too.

Lu Manman now had many insights into marriage.

After the holidays, when everyone returned to work, there was generally no post-holiday syndrome. On the contrary, many people wore new clothes they had bought for the New Year, making them look particularly spirited.

The road between Xiahekou District and the old county town was completed before the New Year. This road was much wider and smoother than before.

There were buses, bicycles, as well as tractors, horse-drawn carts, donkey carts, and even ox carts on the road. There were also people pushing flatbed hand carts and one-wheeled chicken carts.

Every time Qiao Wei saw this from the bus, she couldn’t help but sigh.

After the New Year, the weather started to warm up. You could feel the change in temperature, the change in sunlight. The feeling of being frozen to death had passed.

On this day, when Qiao Wei took Yan Xiang to kindergarten and saw a teacher, she couldn’t help but be stunned.

Teacher Wang now liked Yan Xiang a lot. When she saw Yan Xiang, she would smile and say, “Xiang Xiang is here.”

She reached out to pull Yan Xiang, but Qiao Wei didn’t let go of his hand.

Qiao Wei lowered her voice and asked Teacher Wang, “Is that teacher not feeling well?”

Teacher Wang glanced back and said, “Are you talking about Teacher Zheng from Class Two? Yeah, she’s not feeling too well. Probably because of the change of seasons. She always complains about not feeling well.”

But Teacher Wang didn’t think much of it. She heard from the teachers in Zheng’s class that Zheng was just trying to slack off and push all the work onto them.

Qiao Wei, however, stared at Teacher Zheng and asked Teacher Wang, “Could you take a look and tell me if it’s my eyes playing tricks on me, or does that teacher’s eyes look… particularly yellow?”

Teacher Wang said, “That’s just how she is.”

Qiao Wei tugged at Yan Xiang and said, “Yan Xiang has a bit of a cold. Let’s not risk infecting the other children. I’ll take him to the office.”

Teacher Wang didn’t want to deal with a sick child either, especially one with a runny nose who was sniffling and snuffling, some even eating, which was quite disgusting.

She said, “Alright then. Remember to give the child plenty of hot water to drink.”

With a smile, Qiao Wei led Yan Xiang away.

Yan Xiang really wanted to go to kindergarten and kept looking back. Qiao Wei picked him up and hurried him away.

In the office, Secretary Huang took a look and asked, “Why did you bring Yan Xiang here?”

Qiao Wei asked, “Is Secretary Meng coming today?”

Secretary Meng had been feeling a bit sick with a fever these past few days and was resting at home.

Secretary Huang said, “No, he’s still not feeling well.”

Qiao Wei put Yan Xiang in her seat and randomly picked up a publication from the shelf for him, saying, “Read this first. Mommy will be right back.”

Secretary Huang felt that something was off with her, so he asked, “What’s wrong?”

Qiao Wei said, “Just wait for me. I’ll be right back.”

She looked strange.

Secretary Huang leaned over the table and teased Yan Xiang, “Why didn’t you go to kindergarten?”

Yan Xiang thought about it. His mother had taught him that if what she said outside was different from what he knew, even if he knew what she said might not be true, he shouldn’t tell anyone. In front of others, he should say the same things as his mother.

The truth could be told to his mother quietly when they got home.

Yan Xiang said, “I have a cold. Mommy won’t let me go to kindergarten.”

Secretary Huang touched his forehead. “But you don’t have a fever.”

After taking a closer look, he saw that Yan Xiang wasn’t even sniffing.

What’s wrong with Qiao Wei?

Qiao Wei quickly came back with a publication. “Zeng Yue!”

She spread the publication open for him to see. “I noticed that the teacher fits the description perfectly. Her face is yellow, and the whites of her eyes are yellow too. I didn’t pay much attention to her before, but she might have gotten worse recently, making it more noticeable.”

Secretary Huang’s expression changed drastically. “Are you sure?”

“Do you want to go see for yourself?”

This was serious. Many leaders’ children or grandchildren were attending that kindergarten.

Secretary Huang went to see for himself and came back with a grim expression.

Qiao Wei asked, “What should we do?”

Secretary Huang thought for a moment. “Follow me.”

Today, Secretary Meng was on sick leave and hadn’t come to the office. There was no one in his office. There was a direct line phone in his office.

Secretary Huang used Secretary Meng’s phone to call the director of the health bureau.

Qiao Wei listened to his conversation with the other side.

After hanging up the phone, he said, “They’ll send someone over right away.”

Qiao Wei nodded.

She glanced at him and said, “How about… you take the children…”

“No.” Secretary Huang was a bit impatient. “The children of the leaders are all in there.”

Qiao Wei had noticed early in the morning and didn’t let her child go in.

Secretary Huang had just found out, but he couldn’t just think about himself now. He’d offend too many people.

Qiao Wei remained silent.

She had known last year how ambitious this man was for his career.

In this organization, there were too many children of officials and connections. Even Qiao Wei had support from leaders in the military behind her.

Secretary Huang, as Secretary Meng’s right-hand man, Qiao Wei only found out later, had no background whatsoever.

He came from an ordinary family with no connections.

He had earned the leader’s appreciation purely through his own abilities.

Qiao Wei felt a bit nervous about how difficult his path must have been, even with her military connections.

Talented as he might be, it was all too common for people with talent to be suppressed by those with connections.

Given that it concerned the children and grandchildren of the leaders, the health bureau responded very quickly. People arrived soon and took Teacher Zheng away.

There was some pushing and shoving involved. Teacher Zheng resisted a bit, but the health bureau officials were forceful and scared her into silence, pulling her away.

Secretary Huang and Qiao Wei watched from a distance.

They waited for three hours before getting a call from the health bureau.

It was confirmed: Teacher Zheng had hepatitis B.

Just as Qiao Wei had feared.

She had suddenly noticed the yellowing of the teacher’s eyes today, remembered the information she had come across while writing an article, and realized what it could mean. That’s why she had grabbed Yan Xiang and fled in panic.

Truly worrisome.

Especially since she was a kindergarten teacher herself.

Secretary Huang called Secretary Meng. The leaders all lived in the county party committee’s compound, and several of them had phones connected.

Secretary Huang reported the incident.

Secretary Meng was furious because his grandson also attended that kindergarten.

There were no outsiders in that kindergarten.

Secretary Meng hung up first, and Secretary Huang and Qiao Wei waited for instructions. Half an hour later, Secretary Meng called back: “I’ve spoken with Director Li from the health bureau. A medical team will go to the kindergarten this afternoon to draw blood for the children to check.”

As for Teacher Zheng, Secretary Meng said, “She’ll receive treatment first, and if she recovers, she’ll be reassigned.”

After hanging up, Secretary Huang asked, “What if someone has been infected? Will they be treated properly?”

Qiao Wei sighed.

In the future, there might be a cure. But for now, it was incurable.

Secretary Huang’s face looked grim. After all, his own child was also in the kindergarten.

Secretary Huang first contacted the standing committee members. Everyone’s expression was grim.

In the afternoon, the medical team arrived, and the commotion was too big for it to go unnoticed. Some parents wanted to take their children away.

Secretary Huang, inheriting Secretary Meng’s domineering style, said, “It’s been several days already. If you take them now, will they not get infected? Nobody move. First, draw blood for testing.”

Qiao Wei had Yan Xiang’s blood drawn as well.

Everyone’s hearts were in their throats.

Fortunately, the test results came back negative for all the children. None of the other teachers were infected either.

Upon inquiry, it turned out that Teacher Zheng often complained of feeling unwell, always took sick leave, and made other teachers do her work. Some of them were unhappy and reported her to the leadership.

“You have connections, and so do I. Why should you get to stay home while we work? We’re all connected here.”

The leaders found Teacher Zheng’s relatives. She had gotten the job at the kindergarten through them. Her relatives admitted that she only started working because they vouched for her.

Once on the job, she wasn’t proactive and always found a corner to slack off. Because she felt unwell, her mood was bad, and she treated the children poorly. The children were also afraid of her and avoided her.

Of course, there was another possibility. Qiao Wei and Secretary Huang speculated that perhaps she didn’t even know she had contracted hepatitis B.

Did she know she was infected and intentionally avoided others? Before today, Qiao Wei had hardly ever seen her when dropping off her child. It was only today, when another teacher confronted her in the morning, that she came out and was noticed by Qiao Wei.

In any case, it was fortunate that none of the children were infected.

The next day, Secretary Meng came to the office and gathered the relevant personnel to give them a stern lecture.

As for Teacher Zheng, hepatitis B couldn’t be cured at this time. It was certainly impossible for her to continue working at the county party committee.

However, there was no concept of “termination” in this era. She would simply be reassigned to another position.

But with Secretary Meng’s grandson nearly infected, how could Secretary Meng not hold a grudge?

Her new position would be as a sanitation worker.

During this time, all toilets were dry toilets, and being a sanitation worker was considered an honorable position in public opinion.

There was even a sanitation worker among the first batch of model workers in New China, featured in Chinese language textbooks. Just two years ago, one was even elected as a delegate to the third National People’s Congress.

However, a young girl couldn’t bear it and would surely make a fuss.

Until the future, many things could be resolved by “making a fuss” to achieve a satisfactory result.

She wasn’t even married yet. If she really became a sanitation worker, it would be difficult to find a partner. Her parents would join in the protest too.

Sometimes, this “making a fuss” tactic really worked. Even if she couldn’t return to the county party committee’s kindergarten, she would at least aim for a better position in another unit. How could a young girl become a sanitation worker?

The whole family wanted to pressure the leaders to compromise and take a step back.

But they really didn’t understand Secretary Meng at all.

Secretary Meng directly transferred her parents, older brother, and sister-in-law’s entire family to work at the manure plant.

The whole family was dumbfounded.

If they continued to make a fuss, all their relatives would come knocking. Everyone had their own job and organization, and they were afraid of being implicated.

When confronting a tough nut like Secretary Meng, the more they protested, the worse it got.

Under the pressure from their relatives, the whole family finally resigned themselves to working at the manure plant.

“Secretary Meng, oh, Secretary Meng…” Qiao Wei watched the whole process and sighed to Yan Lei.

Yan Lei didn’t think there was anything wrong with what Secretary Meng did. “In that position, if you’re not firm, many things will be difficult to handle,” he said. “Handling things in the military is also done this way.”

People who were soft-hearted couldn’t be leaders.

Often, grassroots people relied on strategy, but once they reached a certain level, they became more straightforward and forceful.

“Why do you always sigh?” Yan Lei disagreed with Qiao Wei. “Having a leader like him is good fortune. People below are willing to follow such leaders.”

Qiao Wei said, “That’s true.”