Chapter 80 1/2

It was said that the town committee’s salaries were issued before the 15th of each month. Qiao Wei had been waiting, and finally received her August salary on September 12th.

Based on the grade of a laborer, she should have received 14 yuan for a full month, but since she hadn’t completed a full month, with allowances added, she received a total of 9.83 yuan.

She also received a prize of five yuan for winning an award, but after various deductions, she ended up with only 1.50 yuan in her hand.

Altogether, she had 11.33 yuan.

Although her job was obtained through her identity as a “military dependent,” her salary and bonus were based on her actual abilities.

Qiao Wei had been waiting for a long time. As soon as she received her salary, she immediately fulfilled her promise and treated Sister Yang’s family to a meal at a restaurant.

The two families happily gathered together again.

With many children around, Qiao Wei specifically ordered a dish of candied sweet potatoes. The children ate it with sticky teeth, laughing and chatting.

“Come, come, little brother and sister,” Captain Zhao raised his glass, “Congratulations! Congratulations! You’ve really earned face for our military region! I’ll drink, and you can have tea!”

Qiao Wei accepted Captain Zhao’s congratulations with tea instead of wine.

This time, Qiao Wei won an award in the city, bringing back a flag for Xiahekou Town. The faces of not only the Xiahekou Town Committee but also the military region leaders were glowing with pride.

The employment of family members had always been a problem. Most military family members came from rural backgrounds with low levels of education and varied hygiene habits, often causing issues in their positions.

If it weren’t for the military region forcibly arranging positions for them, they would probably have to stay at home and raise children.

Both the military region and the local authorities were troubled by this.

Suddenly, with the emergence of someone like Qiao Wei, the leaders were revitalized.

Now everyone in the military region knew that the wife of Captain Yan Lei of the 821st Regiment, 17th Battalion, was a talented writer. She worked at the town committee’s broadcasting station and her articles had won awards in the city.

Everyone had heard her article from the loudspeaker, and it was really well-written. It started with the mosquito eradication campaign, and as people listened, their emotions became stirred up.

She truly deserved the award, relying on her true writing skills.

“Next month, I’ll be officially promoted to a regular clerk. Originally, they said it would take three months, but this time, after winning the award, the leaders waved their hands and directly promoted me to a regular clerk,” Qiao Wei told Sister Yang the good news.

Sister Yang clapped her hands in excitement, “That means you’ll get 24 yuan in salary?”

Things like salary and bonuses couldn’t be kept secret in this era. Even if you won a prize and received five yuan in bonus, so many people would be watching. There were rules for deductions, and in the end, only 1.50 yuan remained in your hand.

“Yes,” Qiao Wei openly discussed her salary and bonuses with people.

Sister Yang was envious. Both Yan Lei and his wife had salaries. After Captain Zhao’s recent salary increase, his salary was higher than Yan Lei’s by one level, but now Qiao Wei had caught up again.

The couple had high salaries and only one child. They were living the life of immortals, and who wouldn’t envy that?

“I just hope that Gangzi will quickly finish junior high school. Once he graduates, I can arrange a better job for you, and then I can be relieved a bit,” Yang Big Sister lamented.

Having one child was like having one layer of shackles. She had five layers of them. She hoped that her children would grow up quickly, each with a job and salary.

For rural women, bringing their children out of the countryside and obtaining urban household registration meant that they would all be able to arrange jobs for their children in the future, which would be fair to them.

There was never any thought of cultivating children to study or raising a college student or anything like that.

She hadn’t given birth to such ideas.

Qiao Wei glanced at Gangzi.

Gangzi was happily eating candied sweet potatoes, with sugar sticking to the corners of his mouth.

Indeed, he didn’t have the brains for studying. He was 14 years old this year, but because rural children generally started school late, and he hadn’t memorized the quotations last year, he couldn’t advance to the next grade. Now he was in the fifth grade with his sister Yingzi.

Qiao Wei couldn’t recall the specific years of major events, but she knew the general trend.

She wasn’t afraid of anything else, just afraid of separation from family due to going to the countryside. It was inevitable that time would be wasted. The so-called “educated youth” at that time referred to junior high and high school students who hadn’t graduated, married, or found a job.

Yan Xiang was at a safe age. Gangzi and Yingzi were a bit tricky.

Most of the historical dramas, literature, and some related articles she had read online mainly depicted the experiences of urban youth.

She wasn’t very sure about the fate of students from small towns. Once they left the town, they would be in the countryside. Would they still need to go to the countryside? Although it was a small town, it wasn’t a rural household registration. Everyone’s household registration was under collective households, so they were considered urban household registrations.

She wasn’t very sure, but she wanted to find a way to avoid it.

She borrowed a line from Lu Manman: “Studying ultimately is to secure a job. It doesn’t matter the age or the grade level. If you can secure a good position early, then seize it as soon as possible.”

“Some positions are limited. If you miss the opportunity, it’s a pity.”

“Start working early, earn a few years’ salary early, have a longer work experience, and you’ll have more retirement benefits in the future.”

“Look at our broadcasting station’s announcer, Lu, you know her, right? Her father is the director of the supply and marketing cooperative. He arranged a job for her early on. Now she’s earning a salary and eating well every day. She doesn’t even eat at the canteen.”

Qiao Wei only found out the real reason why Lu Manman didn’t eat at the canteen from Hu Sui. It was because they ate better at home.

Well, who could compete with the director of the town’s supply and marketing cooperative in terms of resources?

“What are you two talking about?” The men had just clinked their glasses and turned to see the two women discussing animatedly.

“We’re talking about Gangzi. Should he continue studying or not? It’s worrying,” Yang Big Sister said.

As it involved their eldest son, Captain Zhao also put down his glass. “On this matter, little sister, you have more experience. What do you think about Gangzi… should he continue studying?”

Firstly, Gangzi indeed didn’t have the aptitude for studying, and he was still in the fifth grade together with his sister.

Secondly, the school focused on agricultural and technical education. They only had three classes in the morning, and in the afternoon, they went to learn about farming. The children were all taken to the fields to catch insects and weed. Captain Zhao felt that it was almost the same as his own childhood in the countryside.

After playing wildly in the fields all afternoon, they were sunburned like charcoal. They had fun, but when they came back and were asked what they had learned that day?