Chapter 75 1/2

“It’s Xie Houlin,” Lu Manman said, “He’s despicable. He’s from the supply and marketing cooperative. What business does he have meddling with us in the town committee? Ah, right, right! He has no connection with us at all. Ah, he has to come out of his way to specifically ask me. We live on opposite ends of town.”

“Xie Houlin?” Qiao Wei rubbed her temples, trying to recall the name, “I remember… he’s related to Xie Houshan from the propaganda department…?”

“Brother,” Lu Tianming said, “He’s his own younger brother.”

“Oh.”

Lu Manman said, “Yes, he said he heard it from his brother. He was just curious.”

Xie Houlin was curious: Was there really such a venomous flower blooming on top of old cow dung? Or was it the new broadcaster in town who spoke standard Mandarin?

The mutation of rumors actually had some logic to it.

The misunderstanding was that both Chief Xie and Chief Lu thought that the regimental cadre was older. Others also thought so.

So, the new flower at the broadcasting station married the older cadre.

Since he was older, he must have been married already, right? It’s impossible for him to have been single all this time.

So, the flower at the broadcasting station married the older cadre who had been married before.

Why would a fine young girl marry an old man?

So, Qiao Wei from the broadcasting station must be very poor and unable to make ends meet.

Since they were both previously married cadres. There must be children from the previous marriage, right?

Qiao Wei thus gained stepchildren.

And then the rumors spread from one person to another, and the number of stepchildren began to iterate, eventually reaching five.

What about the little boy who came to work with her?

Oh, he was her biological child. The only biological child.

Since there was one biological child, wouldn’t there be conflicts of interest with the previous children?

The most dramatic part was that all the previous five were girls, suffering from hunger, coldness, and abuse at the hands of their stepmother every day.

Finally.

“They said, your family is in dire straits, so you married a widowed senior cadre with a high salary to live a better life. You left behind five daughters who are pitifully mistreated under your care. Xiang Xiang is your only biological child, a boy who looks like an apple of your eye, so he isn’t sent to daycare and is with you all the time.”

You know, this description actually flows quite logically.

Hu Sui burst into laughter.

Qiao Wei was speechless, “Do you believe that?”

Lu Manman swore, “I absolutely don’t believe it! You’re not that kind of person!”

People carry their own energy.

Some are warm, some are cold, some are righteous, some are dirty.

Qiao Wei, she radiates warmth.

It’s as if she has no complaints about life at all, living happily every day.

She even brings sunshine with her when she enters the office, illuminating every corner with a swish.

“Oh, these idle gossips,” the head of the station mumbled, soothing Qiao Wei, “Don’t get upset with them, it’s not worth it.”

Mainly because such rumors have spread even to the logistics department, the radiation area must be quite extensive. You can’t go around clarifying with everyone or getting into arguments.

You might end up getting angry.

Qiao Wei is still so young, she’s bound to get angry.

Who knew Qiao Wei just felt speechless, “Really… They’re just too idle.”

“Aren’t you angry?” the head of the station asked cautiously.

Qiao Wei rubbed her temples, “I can’t get angry.”

The head of the station quickly said, “Exactly, we’re all comrades in the revolution, we have to have this kind of tolerance.”

Qiao Wei told Yan Lei about this matter at night.

“The imagination of the masses is truly rich,” she sighed, “they’re just too idle.”

Yan Lei glanced at her expression and asked, “Aren’t you angry?”

Qiao Wei yawned, “Getting angry won’t do anything except mess up my hormones. I’m afraid I’ll end up with breast hyperplasia.”

She fell asleep.

But Yan Lei wouldn’t let her.

He shook her awake, “Why aren’t you angry?”

Qiao Wei: “…”

Qiao Wei was focused on the changing political winds of the country, the turmoil of the situation, how people adapt to the times and survive without being crushed by the tides of history.

As for the trivial matters of idle gossip among office workers in an era of underdeveloped communication, and even the darkest aspects of human nature that she had encountered in the hospital, Qiao Wei simply couldn’t care less.

She just couldn’t explain this to Yan Lei. All she could say was, “Getting angry affects hormone levels, the body’s hormones. Hormonal imbalance in women can trigger many diseases. Breast nodules, developing into breast cancer, uterine fibroids, developing into uterine cancer…”

Qiao Wei made up stories on the spot.

“So, in the old days, they said a person with a narrow mind dies early. Or they say someone was killed by anger. In reality, it’s most likely that emotions affected hormones, triggering some disease, leading to an early death.”

“So, there’s no need, no need. Since no one has come to my face to say it, do I have to go to each department to explain to people?”

“Go to sleep, go to sleep, don’t bother me anymore. I’ll bite you if you do.”

Qiao Wei fell asleep.

Her routine was too stable now, she wished she could just sleep at sunset and wake up at sunrise, feeling sleepy and waking up at the same time every day.

But Yan Lei couldn’t sleep, he sat up against the wall, arms crossed, feeling angry.

Qiao Wei thought she was the only one who should be angry about this rumor. She didn’t realize that there was a point in this rumor that made Yan Lei very uncomfortable.

Although the misunderstanding of “Qiao Wei’s husband is an unworthy old man” was made by those people, they clearly expressed their regret for “a flower being planted in cow dung”.

They felt he wasn’t worthy of her.

Little did they know, this was the only insecurity deep inside Yan Lei’s heart.

As the male protagonist of this era’s narrative, when he faced the original female lead Lin Xixi, he was practically flawless, from head to toe.

But that was because of his only weakness, his deep-seated inferiority complex, only towards Qiao Wei.

Now, it’s about Qiao Wei.

Couldn’t he go to each department to explain to people?

Yan Lei glanced at Qiao Wei, who was asleep.

She was sleeping on her side, giving him her back.

He leaned down and kissed her butterfly bone, gently caressed her arm, looked at her for a while, and then gently poked her cheek with his finger.

You’re just too thin-skinned.

“Humph.”

The mosquito eradication campaign was set for August 30th, six days away. This was coordinated by the city, and from there down to the county, to the town, with each commune taking unified action.

It was quite a big operation.

The insecticide powder had already been distributed to each county, and then from the county to the towns and communes.

The town of Xiahekou also bustled with activity, just distributing the powder kept everyone busy.

Several intersections in the town had distribution points where residents lined up by household to receive the insecticide powder. For public use, it also had to be distributed to schools, clinics, restaurants, various public institutions, and shops.

The distribution of the insecticide took two full days, on Tuesday and Wednesday, to get everyone in the town, both public and private, covered. Now they were just waiting for the appointed day to take action.