Chapter 94

At noon, Captain Pan had to have lunch in the county.

Captain Pan said, “Qiao Wei…”

Qiao Wei directly said, “Captain, I won’t go. I still have work to finish.”

After all, being the only woman at a table full of men wasn’t very convenient. Captain Pan nodded, encouraging her, “Keep up the good work.”

Qiao Wei glanced at Yan Lei.

Yan Lei also glanced at her.

The couple engaged in a silent eye battle for several rounds.

Everyone knew they were married and watched them with smiles.

One was tall and masculine, the other was bright and graceful.

Strength and intellect, how well-matched and pleasing to the eye.

When Qiao Wei returned to the office, the atmosphere was different.

“Qiao Wei’s back.”

“The meeting lasted so long.”

“What did they say?”

Everyone greeted her with smiles on their faces.

Wu Aizhen, who had the best relationship with her, came over and said, “I never expected your husband to be Yan Lei.”

Qiao Wei chuckled. “Is he that famous?”

“Of course,” Wu Aizhen said, “He’s a war hero.”

Wu Aizhen didn’t tell the whole truth; she should have said he was a young war hero who looked so spirited. If he were older or less handsome, he wouldn’t have left such a deep impression on them.

She felt even more embarrassed to mention that they had attended a military district social event where personnel from various units attended. She and her colleagues all went, dressed up nicely, and had some expectations in their hearts.

But after not seeing Yan Lei, they returned disappointed.

Never did she expect to one day work with Yan Lei’s spouse.

They all went to the cafeteria together for lunch, and everyone greeted Qiao Wei with smiles.

The spouse of a regimental-level cadre corresponded to an administrative level, the same level as Secretary Meng. If Yan Lei were to retire now, he could be arranged to be a county party secretary or a county magistrate, definitely remaining within the standing committee’s range.

However, he was still young, so obviously he couldn’t retire now. When his rank was higher in the future, if he retired, he would be a higher-level cadre.

By then, he might be out of reach.

But as soon as it was time to start the afternoon work, the phone rang in the propaganda department.

Section Chief Zhou informed Qiao Wei, “Pack up your things and go to the office. You’ll be working there from now on.”

Qiao Wei said, “I haven’t finished my work yet.”

“Hmm,” Section Chief Zhou beckoned to someone, “Xiao Zhang, take over for Qiao Wei. You don’t need to worry about it. Just pack up your things.”

Qiao Wei readily handed over her work in the propaganda department.

There wasn’t much to pack up, just her lunchbox, notebook, pen, which she put in her bag, and her own small lock, which she tucked into her bag and slung over her shoulder.

The military water bottle was hung on her body.

Ink was provided by the office, so she didn’t need to bring any. There would be some in the new office too.

Qiao Wei carried her enamel tea flask. “Well, everyone, I’m off.”

Everyone stood up to see her off.

“Come visit often.”

“Remember to drop by.”

With this temporary secondment ending at the propaganda department, Qiao Wei reported to the new office.

Secretary Huang smiled when he saw her.

Secretary Huang’s smile was flawless from every angle, and he pointed, “That desk is yours.”

The desk was already neatly arranged, with nothing on it, completely empty.

Qiao Wei went over to put her things away, pulling open the drawer to place her lunchbox inside. She wiped it with her fingers, finding that even the drawer was clean.

The clerk surnamed Pan, who came to this side for the first time, had already interacted with her and sat across from her. He handed her a brand new bottle of ink. “Here.”

The daily work in the office was all about writing, and in this era without printers, they consumed ink from pens.

Qiao Wei smiled as she accepted it, sat down, and took a glance around.

The county party committee office was a large space.

Secretary Huang’s position was separate and different from others. She was diagonally across from him, separated by others and the aisle for walking, able to see his face directly.

At the end of the aisle was Secretary Meng’s office door. Secretary Meng’s office was a suite within the large room.

Secretary Huang was the closest and could receive instructions at any time.

Administratively, the office should have an office director, usually held by a standing committee member. Qiao Wei had been shuttling between the office and the department recently and had learned some things. Secretary Meng was quite powerful, so although there was an office director in title, they rarely got involved in specific affairs unless it was something major.

In essence, this position was marginalized.

Secretary Meng’s instructions were directly conveyed to various departments through Secretary Huang. Part of the office director’s role was actually taken up by Secretary Huang.

So, in the county party committee office, elevating Secretary Huang was particularly effective.

Secretary Huang was practical and belonged to the category of administrative secretaries. In fact, there was another secretary who handled leadership schedules, life services, and so on.

That secretary was the nephew of another standing committee member and was just average in terms of capability.

Secretary Meng, constrained by face, had placed him in this position. After a while of not being very useful, he was left in the office.

The daily specific affairs of the day were often handled by another clerk, namely Pan, who essentially served as the administrative secretary.

Secretary Meng placed him under Secretary Huang, so although Pan handled specific affairs, he listened to Secretary Huang’s arrangements.

With Secretary Huang alone, she essentially carried the burden of the office.

Although she was young, she was highly capable and shouldn’t be underestimated.

So, Qiao Wei went from the broadcasting station in Xiahekou Town to the propaganda department of the Yongming County Committee, and then to the county committee office.

She settled down.

When she returned home, she saw Yan Lei as soon as she entered. He came back early today because he had been out.

Qiao Wei went over to twist his arm. “Can’t you give me a heads-up before you surprise me every time? It’s like a sneak attack on my life.”

Yan Lei, with his mouth, really made Qiao Wei speechless.

He was so tight-lipped.

Until things were successful, he wouldn’t let a word slip.

Of course, Qiao Wei understood very well that this was also one of the characteristics of successful people.

But, but… she still had to tease him.

Yan Lei held her hand with a smile. “What’s the point of giving a heads-up? Whether I do or don’t, isn’t it the same?”

“What’s with the smug look in your eyes?” 

“Hmph.”

“As soon as you left, they immediately transferred me to the office,” Qiao Wei said. “I now belong to the office and won’t have to do propaganda department work anymore.”

Yan Lei was still dissatisfied. “It should have been like this from the beginning.”

“You were originally nominated by Secretary Meng to be seconded there. It’s probably because you won an award and caught his eye. Now it’s a critical stage for him, and he definitely wants more talent around him.”

“You should have been directly placed in the office. He knows you’re the spouse of a regimental-level cadre. Putting you in the propaganda department itself was wrong. I always felt it was weird.”

“Well, you shouldn’t have alarmed Captain Pan,” Qiao Wei retorted.

“I was originally going there for a meeting today. It was an arrangement made long ago. I don’t have the capability to arrange Captain Pan’s affairs.”

“If you hadn’t told him, how would Captain Pan know I was in the propaganda department? He specifically came over to see me, making such a big deal out of it.”

Qiao Wei still felt it was too much of a fuss.

“Are you lacking a sense of duty as a military spouse when you’re out there?” Yan Lei teased, tapping her head. “You’re a military spouse, the family member of a soldier. You belong to the military region, so the military region leaders naturally want to protect you a bit. We’re the children of the military region, and the leaders are like parents. Whose parents don’t protect their children?”

The power of the military was very strong and was something that units from all over were reluctant to provoke.

The leaders were also quite forceful.

In those ten years, it was probably the safest place to be.

Qiao Wei deeply felt that having the identity of a military spouse was great.

Yan Lei then gave Qiao Wei some good news. “After National Day, they’ll start distributing milk.”

“Finally!” Qiao Wei exclaimed.

The matter of milk was something Qiao Wei had mentioned to Yan Lei, who then brought it up at the military region meeting. Because it benefited their own families, it was given quite a bit of attention. The leaders arranged for logistics to handle it.

To ensure meat supply, the military region not only raised pigs, sheep, chickens, ducks, and geese but also cows specifically for milk. After some logistics inspection and consideration of actual geographical conditions, they decided to raise water buffalo to produce buffalo milk.

When Yan Lei told Qiao Wei about this, she brought up concerns about the spread of brucellosis through raw milk. Yan Lei passed this feedback to logistics, and they, along with military doctors, researched a plan for virus killing and sterilization.

There were also details like procurement, building cow sheds, feed, and bottling.

In this era where various local units had a procrastinating work style, the military stood out with its efficiency. They got the dairy station built quickly.

“That’s great. After the holiday, Xiang Xiang will have milk to drink,” Qiao Wei said happily.

“The holiday is coming soon,” Yan Lei suddenly asked her, “do you have any plans for National Day?”

Qiao Wei said, “Isn’t there a big fair?”

It was said that there was a very large fair.

But Yan Lei had a different idea.

“Let’s go to the photography studio in the county and take a photo,” he suggested.

Qiao Wei had no objections. “Okay.”

As the two of them washed and prepared food, by the time Qiao Wei finished cooking, Yan Lei had gone to the living room.

There were large photo frames on the wall, containing only a few photos.

There were single portraits of him and her.

There was also a wedding photo of the two of them, taken with a red velvet flower pinned to her chest by the photography studio. Of course, the photo itself was in black and white. But with this flower, it became a wedding photo.

Yan Lei looked at the black and white photo.

He was smiling in it.

At that time, he didn’t know how their marriage would turn out. He had married the city girl he admired, full of expectations for the future. But there was no smile on her face at that time.

Another photo was of Yan Xiang at one hundred days old, a family photo of the three of them.

She didn’t smile in it either; there was even a hint of gloom between her eyebrows.

Today, Yan Lei came home early and, while tidying up the house, looked up at the photo frame he hadn’t paid much attention to for a long time. Seeing her in the photo, he froze.

It was as if…

As if…

Yan Lei stood there holding his chin for a long time, feeling uncomfortable all over for some reason.

He told himself it was all in the past.

But it seemed like it was something that hadn’t really passed.

It was a strange feeling, but he didn’t want to think about it deeply.

He wanted to take some new photos.

Perhaps with new photos, that uncomfortable feeling would disappear.