Chapter 92

Yesterday, Wu Aizhen was looked down upon by her colleagues for being too soft on Qiao Wei, the person she had borrowed. She had originally planned to be tougher and colder towards Qiao Wei today.

But Qiao Wei had finished the task assigned to her by Wu Aizhen before eleven o’clock.

She didn’t drag it out until noon when it was time for lunch.

Then, when it was time to eat, everyone greeted each other as usual, but no one called out to Qiao Wei.

Naturally, Wu Aizhen also took out her lunchbox, preparing to eat with everyone else.

At this moment, everyone seemed fine, just like before. However, the person who had criticized Wu Aizhen for being too soft yesterday couldn’t help but cast a glance at Qiao Wei and then at Wu Aizhen.

People have rebellious hearts.

This glance made Wu Aizhen feel ashamed and angry.

“Qiao Wei,” Wu Aizhen called out proactively, “let’s go, it’s time to eat.”

“Sure.” Qiao Wei came over with a smiling face.

The two walked together.

“I told you Wu Aizhen isn’t capable,” the person sneered.

Everyone found it rather uninteresting.

In reality, most people don’t have the energy to maintain a specific emotion for a long time. Most people just follow the “collective.”

When the “collective” treated Qiao Wei coldly, naturally one couldn’t be warm towards her.

Going with the flow wouldn’t go wrong.

But now, the “collective” was broken by Qiao Wei through Wu Aizhen. The cohesion against her had been shattered.

The overall atmosphere was no longer there.

If someone continued to insist, it was driven by their own personality. Others didn’t have such a strong drive.

A few perfunctory nods followed.

As they walked, some people joined Wu Aizhen and Qiao Wei.

Qiao Wei walked side by side with her two colleagues, smiling and chatting.

She was beautiful and generous, with a strong personality yet a soft touch. There was no sign of weakness that could invite bullying. On the contrary, she had the type of charm that drew people in involuntarily.

Once she found a breakthrough, the cohesion against her from before was dissolved like sand.

In the afternoon, when she returned home, Qiao Wei told Yan Lei about the incident.

“It’s quite amusing,” she described it. She used the word “amusing.”

Hearing this description, Yan Lei knew she could handle it herself.

But he still felt unhappy.

Qiao Wei tiptoed to kiss him. “Once you step out of the door, you can’t avoid these things. Who can stay at home and be a baby forever? Without experiencing storms, how can you see rainbows?”

What does that have to do with anything? All muddled up.

But Yan Lei, intoxicated by her allure, ended up getting carried away with her in the kitchen.

The meal almost burnt.

After dinner, Qiao Wei called Yan Xiang, “Go and see if Gangzi and the others are on the street. If they are, call one of them over, anyone will do, except Junjun.”

Yan Xiang rushed out and brought back Huazi.

“Aunt Qiao, what’s up?” Huazi asked.

“Do you know the family of Lu, the broadcaster at the radio station? It’s Director Lu’s family from the Supply and Marketing Cooperative,” she asked.

Huazi didn’t know, but Qiao Wei told him the street.

“I’ll go and find out,” Huazi said.

“Great, here’s a penny for you. Help me out,” Qiao Wei gave him the money and the items, “Give this to Lu, the broadcaster. Tell her it’s from me.”

Just a few sheets of paper, light as a feather, could earn him a penny. Huazi went off without hesitation.

“What’s this about?” Yan Lei asked.

“It’s almost National Day, and we need some things,” Qiao Wei said, “I wrote them in my spare time.”

In fact, it wasn’t just for National Day. With the improved atmosphere in the office, the Propaganda Department people weren’t forcing her with extra work anymore, and she wasn’t as busy. During her free time, she wrote several templates, all filled with clichés, leaving blank spaces for specific events. She could fill in the events later. She wrote multiple sets of templates, enough for Lu Manman to handle the radio broadcast at the radio station.

The town was small, and boys ran fast. Huazi quickly returned, beaming.

“Lu the broadcaster told me to tell you that you’re her forever sister!” He showed her the sweets he got, “She’s very generous, giving me so many candies.”

This trip was a big win. He generously shared two pieces with Yan Xiang.

Qiao Wei burst into laughter.

Next, Qiao Wei’s work at the County Committee entered the right track. She integrated into the Propaganda Department.

On Thursday, Secretary Meng remembered to ask Secretary Huang, “How is Qiao Wei doing in the Propaganda Department?”

It had been a week since she joined.

Secretary Huang said, “I saw her having a good time with the staff from the Propaganda Department at the canteen.”

Secretary Meng nodded, “She seems like someone who can quickly integrate into the collective.”

Secretary Huang smiled.

Secretary Meng continued, “It’s good for her to gain some experience in the department. If everything goes well by the end of October, we’ll transfer her to the office.”

Secretary Huang replied, “Understood.”

Qiao Wei’s article was published on Friday. Wu Aizhen called her over to see it, saying, “It’s your article.”

Someone sighed, “Did mine get rejected?”

“It’s probably been screened by Secretary Huang.”

“How do you know mine was screened? Normally, they send three articles over for consideration.”

“Ha ha, yours wasn’t as good as mine, so it must have been screened.”

“Shame!”

Qiao Wei didn’t know about Secretary Meng’s arrangement. But she remembered clearly when Secretary Huang told her to aim for around the 27th or 28th to publish it, and it was only the 25th.

Not quite understanding, she consulted with Section Chief Zhou.

“Usually, it’s fine to arrange like this,” Section Chief Zhou said. “But during National Day, every county is vying for space. It’s all about ability.”

“What day would be better then?”

“The closer to the actual day, the better. The actual day is reserved for the city and provincial levels. Counties like ours want to grab the days closest to the actual day.”

So this time, they missed out.

Was it because the specific handler’s capability wasn’t up to par? Was the county’s strength insufficient? Or were their leaders not as capable as those in other places? These were not easy questions to ask.

She went home and told Yan Lei about it.

Yan Lei asked about her current work situation.

“The Propaganda Department assigns me tasks, and the Secretary and the office also assign me tasks,” Qiao Wei said. “The tasks from the Propaganda Department are mostly miscellaneous. The tasks assigned by the Secretary are more specialized and relevant. Usually, after I finish the tasks assigned by the Secretary, Secretary Huang will give me some administrative tasks.”

Yan Lei listened while munching on snacks, then stopped and asked, “Isn’t there a fixed relationship or affiliation?”

Qiao Wei had also been puzzled by this.

Because she was originally a broadcaster at the town’s radio station under the Propaganda Department, she naturally assumed she should belong to the County Propaganda Department after being seconded to the County Committee.

So doing odd jobs and meaningless physical work in the Propaganda Department seemed quite normal to her.

But the Secretary directly assigned her tasks that were very relevant to her profession.

Qiao Wei said, “It might be because I’ve won awards before.”

Secretary Huang assigned her tasks in the office.

Qiao Wei remarked, “Maybe this is just how secondments work, doing odd jobs?”

People tend to give reasonable explanations if they believe there’s a reason or explanation for something. These explanations seemed plausible.

But Yan Lei wasn’t pleased, “It’s chaotic management.”

Qiao Wei reassured him, “I’ll work there for a month first, then I’ll talk to Secretary Gao and ask him to transfer me back.”

That would mean spending a month “outside,” being bossed around by these chaotic people to do odd jobs. Even if she were specifically sent there to write articles and conduct cultural work, Yan Lei wouldn’t be so unhappy.

He crunched on a piece of fruit, finishing it off.

The town received the city newspaper a day later than the county.

On Saturday, Qiao Wei was suddenly called to answer the phone, saying it was from Xiahekou Town.

She thought something had happened and hurried over, but it turned out to be Lu Manman.

“We all saw it! You made it into the city newspaper again!” Lu Manman was very happy. “You’re really something.”

The phone was in the office, and Qiao Wei had worked at the radio station before, right next to the switchboard room. She knew that all these calls would be eavesdropped on by the bored operators. She had eavesdropped on herself.

“It’s all based on the leadership’s directives. They outline it, and you just follow it,” she said.

When she spoke in an official tone, Lu Manman immediately understood, “The sunflower seeds in the county aren’t good to chew on, huh?”

Hu Sui was particularly good at frying sunflower seeds, and they were very fragrant. It was a happy time for everyone at the radio station to snack on sunflower seeds together.

“There’s no way around it. When you grab a handful of sunflower seeds, there are both good and bad ones. But they’re all edible, and you know my teeth are good.”

Lu Manman worked in the switchboard room next to the radio station. She covered her mouth and laughed, then said, “I trust you. You’re definitely capable.”

Qiao Wei said, “Remind Uncle not to forget about me. Don’t leave me out there.”

Lu Manman promised, “I’ll talk to him.”

After hanging up, Lu Manman went to find Chief Xie, who was her uncle.

“When are you bringing Weiwei back?” she pestered him. “Everyone over there is bossing her around.”

“Isn’t that what secondments are like? Otherwise, why would nobody want to go?” Chief Xie said.

“Regardless, hurry up and bring Weiwei back. Don’t let her suffer there,” Lu Manman said.

Chief Xie replied, “She’s only been there for a short time. Let her stay for at least a month.”

“You better not forget,” Lu Manman warned.

Chief Xie chuckled, “If you come over, have your dad make me some thick-skinned duck.”

“My aunt doesn’t like it thick-skinned.”

“She might not like it, but I do. How can you not feel sorry for your uncle?”

“Alright.”

In fact, Qiao Wei herself didn’t think much of it. She had been a white-collar worker who had been beaten down by capitalists in her past life. She had a strong ability to “roll with the punches,” was laid-back, didn’t sweat the small stuff, and had her own plans for big things. She could thrive wherever she went.

Even because the county government was playing away and she had no intention of settling down there, she didn’t have any plans to roll up her sleeves.

She arranged her work every day according to the situation.

Secretary Meng’s tasks took top priority. Secretary Huang’s tasks came next. The miscellaneous tasks in the Propaganda Department were arranged according to the flexibility of time.

Everything was organized. Everyone was accustomed to it.

There was a character with a mean and snobbish personality who always tried to put her down, but several attempts failed. Instead, Wu Aizhen, along with a few others, approached Qiao Wei.

Qiao Wei had originally planned to just go through the motions until the town leaders remembered her and called her back, or until the county-town merger was completed after the National Day holiday, and there wasn’t so much going on, and they would send her back.

But she didn’t expect that, as the National Day holiday approached, on Monday, September 28th, a large group of people suddenly surged into the Propaganda Department.

Seeing Secretary Meng, the head of the department, everyone in the office stood up.

Secretary Meng gestured to Qiao Wei and said, “Qiao Wei, look who’s here.”

Among the people led in by Secretary Meng were several in green military uniforms. The leading middle-aged officer, with a dignified demeanor and a refined face, smiled warmly at Qiao Wei and said, “Qiao Wei.”

He chuckled, “It’s been a while since we last met. Our military personnel have actually come to work in the county.”

This middle-aged man was none other than Mr. Pan.

“Commander.” Qiao Wei went over and shook hands with Commander Pan, “It’s the same everywhere, all serving the people.”

She smiled brightly and glanced sideways at a person standing behind Commander Pan.

Yan Lei stood tall and straight like a pine tree, with a smile playing at the corners of his mouth, looking at her.

This person was really annoying, not giving any warning at all, just launching a surprise attack like this.