Chapter 81

Qiao Wei is going on another business trip.

The county committee called to inform them about a meeting, and Qiao Wei was specifically named as one of the attendees.

This time, neither Chief Lu nor Chief Xie needed to go. Going together this time were Secretary Gao, Mayor Xie, and the director.

Traveling with three older and unfamiliar leaders, Qiao Wei behaved herself and didn’t act recklessly this time.

The early autumn sunshine was really good, making the ride enjoyable all the way.

The meeting to be held was originally about the merger of counties and towns. Yongming County was expanding this time and planned to merge the two towns closest to it, Qingshan Town and Xiahekou Town, into its two districts.

In the future, as the county expands, it will be connected to various districts.

Qiao Wei listened obediently and took careful meeting notes all along.

It wasn’t until the discussion began at the meeting about renaming after the merger that she became more attentive. Someone proposed renaming it. Based on some historical allusions in Yongming County, the suggestion was to rename it Bocheng.

Qiao Wei was stunned.

After coming into this world, she could roughly locate herself because she knew about Lin City and the provincial capital. But she had never heard of Yongming County or Xiahekou Town. She thought it might be because they were small places.

But she was a little puzzled, if Lin City existed, where was Bocheng?

Bocheng was much more famous than Lin City.

As it turned out, Yongming County was to become Bocheng in the future.

That was going to be a formidable heavy industrial city.

With this revelation, many things fell into place. Xiahekou County should be the mouth of the river district of Bocheng, and Qingshan Town, of course, would be the Qingshan district.

All of these were places Qiao Wei had traveled to in her previous life when she was still healthy and able to work.

That being said, the urban area of Yongming County should be the old urban area of Bocheng.

Okay, it all lines up.

During the break of the meeting.

It was a difficult time, and there wasn’t much emphasis on tea breaks. Everyone just went outside to smoke and get some fresh air.

Qiao Wei saw Mayor Xie and the director both going to greet people separately. She thought of finding a quiet place to stay for a while. The place where men gathered was too smoky, suffocating her.

Unexpectedly, Secretary Gao waved at her and said, “Qiao Wei, come over here.”

With Secretary Gao’s call, many people’s eyes turned towards Qiao Wei.

They had already seen this girl in a white shirt in the meeting room. Some people even inquired quietly and only knew she was from Xiahekou Town.

When did Xiahekou Town have such a beautiful young staff member?

Qiao Wei went over steadily, “Secretary?”

Secretary Gao liked Qiao Wei’s spirit very much. Calm and composed, she exuded a sense of ease. People who were composed always made others feel dependable.

“This is Qiao Wei, our newly appointed writer for the town committee.” Secretary Gao introduced her to a middle-aged man, “Comrade Qiao Wei, although young, is proactive in her work and has achieved outstanding results.”

“Qiao Wei, this is our county’s Secretary Meng.”

Qiao Wei suddenly realized that he was the county party secretary. He was the top leader of Yongming County.

“Secretary Meng, hello.” She politely greeted the leader.

Secretary Meng extended his hand and said, “Qiao Wei, right? I’ve read the articles you’ve written, very good. I approved them and sent them to the city for selection, and sure enough, they won an award.”

As Qiao Wei shook his hand, she felt his grip was firm.

As if sensing it, Secretary Meng let go of her hand and smiled, “I heard you’re a military family member, quite rare.”

Secretary Gao smiled, “Secretary Meng also comes from the military.”

At this time, it wasn’t like in the future where military personnel had the opportunity to choose their own careers. At this time, for military officers transitioning to civilian roles, undoubtedly the best choice was to enter the government and pursue an official career.

Qiao Wei smiled and said, “It’s important to have someone with a military background in important positions, it makes the people feel reassured.”

One sentence praised both secretaries.

There was a flash of admiration in Secretary Meng’s eyes.

Secretary Gao then told Secretary Meng, “Qiao Wei’s husband is Yan Lei. He led less than 200 people, broke through enemy lines, and captured two enemy positions.”

Secretary Meng was truly surprised this time, “Him?”

“So Captain Yan is your husband.” Secretary Meng smiled, “I’ve spoken with him before.”

He interpreted Qiao Wei’s composure as being because she had a captain as her husband. In the transition from military to civilian roles, the rank of a captain corresponds to that of a section chief. Yan Lei’s rank was higher than Secretary Gao’s; he was on the same level as Secretary Meng.

Qiao Wei, as a corporate worker in her previous life, was able to smoothly handle the situation. But as a frontline city person, she actually didn’t have much reverence for these county and town officials in her heart. At least not fear.

It just made her appear more composed than others.

But this lack of “fear” was something that Secretary Meng could perceive.

If she were the family member of a military officer with the same rank as him, it all made sense.

Secretary Meng praised Yan Lei, “He’s remarkable. We couldn’t compare to him when we were young.”

“You’re exaggerating.” Qiao Wei smiled, “He told me, it’s just that it happened to be him. If it were someone else, Secretary Gao or you, putting you two in that situation, you would be even stronger than him.”

They were about to continue chatting when the mayor of Qingshan Town came over with a relatively young man.

Naturally, Secretary Meng also had to exchange pleasantries with him.

“Xiao Qian, you haven’t met Comrade Qiao Wei yet, have you?” Secretary Meng said, “You’re both writers, come, get to know each other.”

It turned out that the person brought by the mayor of Qingshan Town was the publicity officer of the Propaganda Department of Qingshan Town.

He was the real propaganda officer. It should have been the publicity officer to attend this meeting. But the county is directly named Qiao Wei instead.

Qiao Wei was just a broadcaster.

Everyone greeted each other warmly. Qiao Wei faintly felt that Xiao Qian, the publicity officer from Qingshan Town, seemed to hold some hostility towards her.

Suddenly, she remembered that she had won first prize this time, and second prize was awarded to Qingshan Town. Because she had never been to Qingshan Town before and had no dealings with anyone from there, she hadn’t paid it much mind.

But now, after recalling it, everything clicked into place.

Secretary Meng stood with one hand gripping the other wrist, resting it on his belly in a very standard leadership posture. “You writers must write well this time. The biggest thing in the fourth quarter of this year is the merger of counties and towns.”

Qiao Wei and Xiao Qian both nodded in agreement.

The meeting went on all day.

Looking at the time, Qiao Wei knew she wouldn’t make it to the town committee before they closed in the afternoon. Yan Xiang was still at the radio station.

Reluctantly, Qiao Wei called the town committee, directly speaking to the operator. The operator was just next to the broadcasting room, so as soon as she stepped out, she shouted for Hu Sui.

Hu Sui came to answer the call, and Qiao Wei asked her to take Yan Xiang to Sister Yang’s place after work.

When she rode back to the town, it was already getting dark, and the town committee had closed.

Secretary Gao spoke up, “Let’s ride our bikes home for now. We can return the cars tomorrow.”

Perfect timing, as Qiao Wei was thinking about Yan Xiang, she immediately rode off to the Zhao family’s house.

As she reached the street corner, the children spotted her and started chasing after her.

By now, you could see some bicycles in Lin City and the county seat, but in a small town like this, riding a bike was still considered rare.

Qiao Wei went to pick up Yan Xiang from the Zhao family.Sister Yang was surprised to see her, “Is this a women’s bike?”

The gleam in Sister Yang’s eyes was no different from the children chasing after the bike outside.

Qiao Wei said, “You should try riding it.”

Sister Yang quickly waved her hands and said, “No, I can’t, I can’t.”

“It’s okay, I’ll teach you.”

Riding a bike was such a simple thing. Except for those who had a severe lack of coordination, almost anyone could learn.

Sister Yang was strong and agile, and she quickly picked it up.

After riding for a few rounds, she finally got off, still amazed, “It feels like flying. Whoosh, whoosh.”

She returned the bike to Qiao Wei and casually gossiped, “That broadcaster at the radio station, Lu, seems to be quite picky when it comes to finding a partner.”

Qiao Wei: “Huh?”

“They’ve introduced her to several people from the Fang family, but she didn’t like any of them.”

Qiao Wei: “…Who’s the Fang family?”

Sister Yang thought for a moment. “Her own family seems to be surnamed Hu? It’s the one who brought Xiang Xiang over.”

Oh, Hu Sui!

“She’s been introducing potential partners to Lu Man?” Qiao Wei also joined in the gossip.

“They’ve all been from the military, introduced two or three. But Lu, the broadcaster, didn’t like any of them,” Sister Yang chuckled. “The Fang family asked me today if there were any good-looking young men, someone as handsome as Yan. They said broadcasters don’t care about rank, they only care about looks. This girl is something else.”

Qiao Wei burst into laughter.

So Lu Man is picky about looks.

She said, “If you know anyone suitable, introduce them to her. Her dad is the director of the Supply and Marketing Cooperative. She’s 19, finished junior high, and has been working for four years. Her salary is higher than mine.”

Adding at the end, “She has a good personality too, a pleasant girl to be around.”

Straightforward and not one to hold grudges. Qiao Wei liked people who didn’t hold grudges.

The middle-aged auntie’s matchmaking enthusiasm was overflowing. Sister Yang, upon hearing this, was immediately interested. “With such good conditions, it’s no wonder she’s picky. I’ll have Old Zhao look around for her.”

Qiao Wei said, “I’ll have Yan Lei take a look at her too.”

Yan Lei came home that evening and saw the bike in the yard.

He circled around the bike and put his hands on his hips, looking at it. “This is a 26-inch? It’s so small.”

“Talk is cheap.” Qiao Wei said, “Not everyone has legs as long as yours.”

The 28-inch bike was too big for Qiao Wei to ride, but Yan Lei could definitely handle it.

“This bike is old.”

“Of course, the town committee bought it several years ago. It’s not like they bought it yesterday.”

“How did you ride it back home?”

“I had to come back late, and there was no one at the town committee.”

After dinner, Qiao Wei sat down at the desk again to write.

“What are you writing?” Yan Lei leaned over to look.

“Propaganda material,” Qiao Wei said, “Not for broadcasting, this time it’s for writing newsletters.”

This should have been the job of the publicity officer. But since she was named by the county, the task fell on her.

“Is this harder than writing broadcast scripts?” Yan Lei asked cautiously.

“Of course. Broadcast scripts are only a few minutes long. This one can be quite lengthy.”

Yan Lei didn’t disturb Qiao Wei any further.

Qiao Wei was deeply engrossed in her writing until she finished. She capped her pen and turned her head, only to find that Yan Lei hadn’t left. He had been standing with his arms crossed against the door, watching her.

“What are you looking at?”

“I’m looking at you.”

“Behave yourself.”

“Look at you, not being serious about your own wife, but she’s the most serious,” Yan Lei said with a smile in his eyes.

He enjoyed seeing Qiao Wei engrossed in her writing.

Her focused expression always made him feel a little restless.

Yet he didn’t dare to disturb her, despite his desires.

In theory, this kind of situation should be uncomfortable for a man. But Yan Lei… quite enjoyed it.