Chapter 108

Qiao Wei specifically consulted with the personnel from the Health Bureau about vaccines.

No, nobody from the Health Bureau had heard of any relevant vaccines, so it seemed there really weren’t any.

Qiao Wei vaguely remembered that in history, hepatitis had spread very severely in their country. Wasn’t it because of this that vaccines were developed later?

It was frustrating. It meant that they were currently living in a time when hepatitis was spreading rapidly.

But there was truly nothing they could do about it.

At her suggestion, not only did the Health Bureau send people to thoroughly disinfect the kindergarten, but Secretary Meng also arranged for the town committee’s staff to undergo medical examinations. Extra precautions were taken for the kindergarten and cafeteria staff; everything that could be checked in this era was checked.

Everyone supported this wholeheartedly, without any complaints.

Because this incident had nearly endangered their own children.

The reason for assigning Teacher Zheng to the manure plant was that no other unit was willing to accept a hepatitis patient.

If infected, they would face discrimination in both school and work. Others would avoid eating or playing with them if they found out. Everyone would steer clear of them.

Nobody wanted their children to experience such a life.

Captain Zhao had just turned 15 this year. It was really not suitable for him to continue attending elementary school.

Captain Zhao felt that schools nowadays didn’t focus much on academics anymore. He thought about skipping junior high and enrolling him directly in the county’s technical school. The quality of technical schools at this time was quite high.

However, Zhao was unable to bear the thought of continuing to study even at the technical school.

He really didn’t want to study.

In the end, Captain Zhao got angry and went to drink with Yan Lei.

After some thought, Qiao Wei suggested, “Either learn to drive or go to the technical school run by the factory.”

The technical school was sponsored by the factory to train skilled workers.

Captain Zhao went back and asked his son which one he preferred, but his son couldn’t decide. Becoming a worker was a well-known good job, but driving was also enviable. It was too difficult to choose; wasn’t this putting him in a difficult position?

Lin Xixi interjected, “Don’t choose to become a driver.”

The profession of driving had seen a rapid decline in status and social standing as society and the economy developed. Taxi drivers used to be highly regarded and could be picky about their passengers. But that was only for a few years; soon after, with the country’s development, taxis became commonplace.

The era of drivers being choosy about passengers was long gone.

Bringing up driving as a career was no longer respected or admired by others.

Captain Zhao said, “You don’t know anything.”

Lin Xixi said, “Just don’t choose to become a driver, anyway.”

But she didn’t know if being a skilled worker was good or not.

Because they weren’t in the same city, she didn’t know exactly what jobs her younger cousins had. She had her own household chores to worry about. She only knew that her uncle was an official and had arranged stable jobs for her younger siblings. They wouldn’t end up like her husband, unemployed and struggling to make ends meet.

Since Gangzi couldn’t make a decision, Captain Zhao simply said, “Let’s draw lots.”

After drawing lots twice and hesitating for a while, Gangzi breathed a sigh of relief and finally drew the technical school.

Captain Zhao said, “Okay, Auntie Qiao, you arrange this.”

Qiao Wei was now a trusted subordinate of the leader, and her position itself had no power. But because of the power and trust of the leader, she naturally facilitated some conveniences for her trusted subordinates.

Secretary Huang could get a lot of things done.

He was like the eunuch holding the imperial brush for the emperor.

Qiao Wei didn’t have as much power as Secretary Huang, but there was no problem arranging for Gangzi to go to technical school.

“There are many specialties, which are essentially different trades,” she told Gangzi. “I’ve already talked to the head over there. You should go try out each one on the first day, see which one interests you, and then decide which trade to study.”

Now that the future path had been decided, Gangzi no longer wasted time in elementary school and went straight to the technical school.

The factory they arranged for him to go to was in the industrial area between Xiahekou District and the old county town. The road was now smooth, and it only took a short ten-minute ride on the local bus. It was very convenient.

Gangzi might be born to be a worker. He really felt a headache whenever he saw books, but when he came back from the technical school on the first day, he was full of excitement.

He liked the technical school.

He chose to study welding.

In the midst of a crackling shower of sparks, watching two separate pieces come together into one filled his usually muddled mind with a sense of calm.

The patterns welded by the master had a kind of mesmerizing beauty that fascinated him.

Captain Zhao came to Qiao Wei’s house with a gift of thanks.

After hearing about Gangzi’s choice, Qiao Wei also thought it was good. “A unique skill makes you eat anywhere. This skill can be applied in any industry. If you learn it at an ordinary level, you can weld steel plates in the factory. If you become proficient, it’s not impossible to weld airplanes in the future.”

“I’m afraid the airplanes he welds will fall out of the sky. Let him weld steel plates,” Captain Zhao said, lacking confidence in his son.

Yan Lei burst into laughter.

At this time, a package arrived from Beijing, quite heavy. It was sent to the military.

Yan Lei carried it home. “The thing you wanted.”

“Huh?” Qiao Wei was puzzled. “What is it?”

“The books you wanted,” Yan Lei said. “I asked someone in Beijing, and they got so many for us.”

Qiao Wei’s eyes lit up.

Upon opening it, it turned out to be all related to mathematics, physics, and chemistry, including magazines on science and even university textbooks, things that one couldn’t find in small county towns.

Even university textbooks were included.

Indeed, the capital was different. The resources were different.

“That’s great,” Qiao Wei became increasingly delighted as she looked through them. “You must thank them properly.”

Yan Lei said, “You don’t need to worry about that.”

These were Yan Lei’s connections; Qiao Wei didn’t need to bother with them, Yan Lei would handle it himself.

Yan Xiang had already finished reading through middle school and high school textbooks.

Because they involved many symbols, Qiao Wei also taught him the twenty-six letters of the English alphabet and symbols like α, β, sin, cos, and so on.

Now he was just reading repeatedly.

Very fascinated.

Yan Lei was also reading.

Qiao Wei said to him, “You don’t necessarily need to understand mathematical formulas and such, but it’s good to have a basic understanding of physics and chemistry, and perhaps a bit of biology too.”

Yan Lei found physics and chemistry somewhat interesting.

It opened up a new world for him, the first time understanding the world from a different perspective rather than solely relying on life experience.

Qiao Wei said, “The greatest benefit of understanding these foundational knowledge is to dispel feudal superstitions. Everything in the world must have a scientific explanation. For example, the ghost lights appearing in the cemetery at midnight are actually caused by phosphorus self-igniting in the air. See, when explained clearly, it’s not scary at all.”

Yan Lei said, “Indeed.”

Qiao Wei said, “If something cannot be explained, it means our scientific theories are still insufficient, and scientists need to continue their efforts.”

Yan Lei laughed heartily.

Yan Lei got a furniture receipt and went to Qingshan Town to buy a brand new, larger desk for Qiao Wei. The old desk was moved to the outer room of the eastern section, so Yan Xiang also had his own study.

Yan Lei was thinking about teaching Yan Xiang how to draw or write.

He didn’t expect that most of the time Yan Xiang would be reading those books that he couldn’t understand at all.

The books sent from Beijing were like treasures to Yan Xiang.

But there were also things Yan Xiang couldn’t understand. He brought a book to Qiao Wei and said, “Mom, I don’t understand this.”

He also said, “This one is the same as the one in the textbook.”

He took out this book from among many books, and Qiao Wei didn’t flip through every single one.

It was only now that she opened it and found it was completely in another language.

Russian.

Flipping through, there were many mathematical symbols; it should be a mathematics book.

“Oh dear, it’s Russian,” Qiao Wei held her chin in distress.

In the teaching materials that Qiao Wei obtained from the head teacher of Second Factory Middle School, there were Russian textbooks.

Qiao Wei had never studied Russian, but in her memories, there were memories of Qiao Weiwei learning Russian. It was quite interesting; inheriting memories also meant inheriting this foreign language.

However, when Yan Xiang came to her with the Russian textbooks earlier, she considered various factors such as social situations and political trends and didn’t immediately let Yan Xiang learn Russian.

Given Yan Xiang’s intelligence, he could learn whenever he needed to when he grew up.

But she hadn’t expected that Yan Lei’s friends in Beijing could really get Russian materials, and they looked very professional.

“Do you really want to read this book?” Qiao Wei asked.

Yan Xiang nodded.

There were many symbols he learned from high school textbooks, but there were still many he didn’t recognize. What did this imply? It meant that the content covered in this book was more extensive than high school math textbooks.

He was very eager to learn.

[Feihejin Goerz’s “Calculus Tutorial.”]

[Single and multivariable differential calculus, Riemann integral theory, series theory, multiple integrals, line integrals, surface integrals, Stieltjes integrals, Fourier series, and Fourier transform… The world started to look different to me from that moment.]

[Even now, looking back, it still feels unbelievable. Because the place I lived in was a small town at best extending to the county seat. People generally only had primary and middle school education, and vocational school graduates could already be allocated to very good job positions with starting salaries higher than others.]

[In such an environment, my mother got me Feihejin Goerz’s “Calculus Tutorial.” I am very sure that even she herself didn’t fully understand the status of this book in the mathematical world, let alone what level of irrigation it was for me. That’s just how she is, unreservedly and wholeheartedly irrigating me.]

[She knew I needed it.]

[What has always puzzled me is that as I grew older, she seemed unwilling to admit this. Admit that she understood me, knew what I needed.]

[She has always tried to convince me that those books were obtained through great efforts by Dad for me.]

[But I knew, in this matter, Dad only fulfilled her request, carried out her command. Dad was just the object; she was the driver.]

[Although it has always puzzled me, I can’t get the answer now. But it doesn’t matter; it doesn’t prevent me from being aware every moment… she loves her children.]

[Including me.]

[From then on, she started teaching me Russian, quietly.]

[It’s our little secret, agreed, not to tell anyone.]