“In recent years, the whole country has been advocating thrift, so the streetlights are not often turned on. Fortunately, the moonlight is good tonight, and the moon shines down like water, barely illuminating the road ahead.” 

“This way.” After walking out of the Workers’ Cultural Palace, Lin Jing pointed to the right and said. 

Ji Mingjun hummed in agreement, walking beside her at a leisurely pace, but remained silent. 

Because of his silence, Lin Jing couldn’t help but feel a little embarrassed, not because she was dissatisfied with his attitude, but because of the anxiety in her heart. She always felt that he had agreed to escort her because of his comrades’ encouragement, and that she had taken up too much of his time tonight. 

Thinking of this, Lin Jing thanked him, “Thank you for tonight.” 

Ji Mingjun said, “Serving the people.” 

Lin Jing was stunned for a moment, and then quickly laughed, asking, “Is taking me home also serving the people?” 

“Yes.” 

After two rounds of questions and answers, Lin Jing realized that the young man in front of her was a typical soldier, upright and dignified, yet easy to approach. She no longer felt embarrassed or uneasy, and asked directly, “But won’t taking me home take up too much of your time?” 

“No.” 

“Really?” Lin Jing turned her head to look at him. In the cool moonlight, her eyes were even darker and brighter, with a hint of understanding. 

Ji Mingjun coughed lightly and said, “You should go back.” 

Lin Jing asked so many questions in the first place to liven up the atmosphere. Seeing that he was avoiding the question, she didn’t continue to press him. After saying goodbye, she turned and walked towards the gate. But after only a few steps, Lin Jing suddenly stopped, turned around, and said, “By the way, you helped me so much tonight, but I still don’t know your name,” and then introduced herself, “My name is Lin Jing, double wood Lin, quiet Jing.” 

Ji Mingjun was about to leave, but stopped when she called him, and gave his name: “Ji Mingjun.” 

He didn’t break down and explain which three characters they were, and Lin Jing didn’t ask any further questions. She just smiled at him and nodded goodbye again: “Comrade Ji, goodbye.” 

… 

In the early 1950s, when Huyang had not yet been incorporated into Anping, the garment factory had also been glorious, ranking among the top three in the city in terms of output value. But as Huyang was incorporated into Anping, the city’s units moved to Huyang, and the support given by the district gradually decreased. In addition, the styles of clothing produced by the garment factory were relatively simple, and sales could not be increased, so the garment factory gradually declined. 

This can be seen from the employees’ family housing. 

The garment factory’s family housing was built in the early 1950s. At that time, the factory’s business was booming, and the two-story buildings were built on a large scale. The front was inhabited by single employees, and the rooms were divided according to rank and family population. The last few buildings were single dormitories, with bunk beds inside, and only unmarried couples or couples who were not in the same place could live there. 

On the surface, the factory leaders had considered all aspects when dividing the rooms, and the garment factory employees should have lived quite spaciously. 

The problem was that in the past ten years, the number of garment factory employees had increased by nearly a third, but the output value had not increased much compared to the beginning, and the district’s support was not as good as before, so the factory had no money to build new employee housing.

As a result, it was difficult for employees who entered the garment factory after the division of housing to be allocated a room, and they could only squeeze in with their parents. Even those old employees who had been allocated a room faced the same problem, because their children might not be allocated a room by the unit when they grew up, and they could not change to a larger house, so they could only squeeze in with a large family. 

Because there was not enough space to live in, the residents of the family compound had to try every means to save space. Those who were too lazy to bother would put a cabinet at the door, with pots and pans inside, and a cutting board or cast iron stove on top, so they could cook directly. Those who were willing to bother and lived on the first floor simply built a soil stove against the wall, and then surrounded it with wooden boards to build a small kitchen. 

Lin Jing’s family was the latter, but because the stove was above the window of another small room, her father only surrounded the lower half and added a roof when building the kitchen. 

Therefore, Lin Jing could see the steaming pot lid on the stove without entering the kitchen when she walked to her door, which obviously meant that meals were being warmed inside. 

Thinking in her heart, Lin Jing pushed open the half-closed door and entered the house. 

Inside was a not-so-wide passage. On the left, against the wall, was a low cabinet with toothbrushes and cups on top, which was used to temporarily store the grain bought back at the end of the month, and the bottom was used to store shoes. Next to the low cabinet was a washstand, and a rope was pulled over the washstand, with personal towels hanging on the rope. 

However, Lin Jing’s towel was not hung here, because after she hung it for a while, she found that someone would touch her towel. And she was not used to sharing towels with others, so after a few times, she pulled a rope in the corner of the room where she slept and hung her things separately. 

Not only towels, but also her washbasin, foot basin, bath basin, and even toothbrushes and shoes, she would not put them outside if she could. 

Opposite the washstand was a door, and inside the door was a small room separated by wooden boards. Lin Jing lived in it for nearly ten years, until her brother got married two years ago and had no place to live, so she moved to her parents’ room. 

Although the Lin family had four people when the room was allocated, compared with those with seven or eight people, the Lin family was still small, so the house they were allocated was only a little larger than those of young couples who had just married and had no children, only about thirty square meters. 

The place was so small that any disturbance in the entrance could be heard in the main room, not to mention that Lin Jing had specially worn a pair of small leather shoes when she went out, which made a clattering sound when she walked. 

It can be said that Zhang Xiumei, who was doing needlework in the main room, heard Lin Jing as soon as she entered the door, and hurriedly put down her work and got up to open the door and ask, “You’re back?” 

As soon as she finished speaking, Zhang Xiumei saw the dirt on her daughter’s clothes, and her face changed. “How did you get your clothes like this? Did someone bully you?” 

Lin Jing shook her head and said, “No, a colleague accidentally spilled tea on me.” 

“It’s good that you’re okay.” Zhang Xiumei breathed a sigh of relief, and couldn’t help but ask, “Which colleague did it? They’re too careless. You haven’t worn this dress many times.” Lin Jing took over her job at the garment factory, and she knew all her colleagues. 

Although she suspected Fang Yalan’s intentions, Lin Jing didn’t want Zhang Xiumei to worry, and smiled, “It’s okay, she didn’t do it on purpose. Anyway, it’s just tea, it should be clean after washing.” 

“You’re just too kind.” Zhang Xiumei said helplessly, but she didn’t continue to pursue the matter, and only asked with concern, “Are you hungry? There’s food warming on the stove. Do you want to take a bath first or eat first?” 

The shirt had already dried, so it was about the same whether she washed it sooner or later, so Lin Jing said, “Let’s eat first.” 

“Okay.” Zhang Xiumei responded and went outside to bring the dishes and rice. 

The Lin family’s dinner was relatively simple, just a plate of shredded potatoes and a plate of stir-fried green beans. Actually, there was also a plate of cold dressed Houttuynia cordata, but because Lin Jing couldn’t stand the fishy smell of Houttuynia cordata, Zhang Xiumei didn’t leave any. However, she left a lot of shredded potatoes and green beans, as well as a large bowl of rice. 

“This is too much.” As soon as Lin Jing saw the amount of food, she knew that she couldn’t finish it. She took a small bowl out of the low cabinet and scooped out half a bowl of rice. 

As soon as Zhang Xiumei saw the rice she scooped, she said, “This is too little. You’re so thin because you eat too little.” 

In fact, Zhang Xiumei knew Lin Jing’s appetite, but as a mother, she hoped that her daughter could eat and drink well and grow round and plump, so she would say a few words to her daughter about eating from time to time. At this time, Lin Jing usually didn’t argue, and said in a half-coquettish way, “My stomach can’t hold it, and Mom’s cooking is so delicious, I want to eat more too.” 

Her daughter’s words were pleasant to hear, and Zhang Xiumei was also happy in her heart, nodding and saying, “Okay, I’ll fry the remaining rice with eggs for you tomorrow morning.” 

Lin Jing’s eyes lit up, and she lowered her voice and asked, “Are there any eggs?” 

“Yes, yes, and I’ll add two vegetable leaves for you, okay?” Zhang Xiumei asked. 

Lin Jing didn’t hesitate: “Okay.” 

While the mother and daughter were talking, the door of the small room was opened from the inside, and Chen Fang, with her hair disheveled, walked out, looked at Lin Jing and smiled, “I guessed it was Jingjing who came back when I heard the sound in the room.” 

“Sister-in-law.” Lin Jing raised her head and called out. 

Chen Fang responded, pulled a stool against the wall and sat down, asking, “By the way, didn’t you go to the social event tonight? Why are you back so early?” 

Zhang Xiumei had already guessed that her daughter’s trip was not going well, but the social event was just an opportunity to meet unmarried young people. If it didn’t go well, it didn’t go well, and there was no need to take it too seriously. She was also worried that asking too much would make her daughter feel bad, so she hadn’t asked about the result since Lin Jing came back. Hearing her daughter-in-law ask about it now, she said before her daughter could answer, “It’s not an important activity, it’s okay to come back.” 

“Mom is right,” Chen Fang agreed, “Actually, in my opinion, you didn’t need to go to that social event in the first place. Workers, peasants, and soldiers, workers, peasants, and soldiers, we workers should marry workers.” 

Zhang Xiumei frowned slightly when she heard that her words meant to look down on farmers and soldiers. “Workers, peasants, and soldiers are one family. Workers, peasants, and soldiers are all the same. How can you divide them into different classes?” 

Chen Fang curled her lips, feeling that her mother-in-law’s words were too hypocritical. If workers and peasants were the same, why did she let Lin Jing take over her job last year? Why didn’t she let her respond to the country’s call to go to the countryside? Wasn’t it because she didn’t want her daughter to go to the countryside to be a farmer? 

Although she was dissatisfied in her heart, Chen Fang didn’t say the complaints, but perfunctorily said, “Yes, yes, workers, peasants, and soldiers are all the same, but it’s better to find a partner who is well-matched, otherwise Jingjing will have a hard life after marrying, can you rest assured? And I heard that military wives have rank requirements for following the army. Many of them are from other places and cannot follow the army. They don’t even have a house after marriage. Can’t Jingjing still squeeze in with you two after marriage?” 

Although Chen Fang’s previous words were not pleasant to hear, the latter words made some sense. 

It wasn’t that Zhang Xiumei was unwilling for her daughter to squeeze in with herself and her husband after marriage. What she was considering was that soldiers couldn’t leave the camp casually. Even if their families lived near the troops, they could only come out once every ten days or half a month. If Lin Jing really found a soldier, even if the couple lived not far away, their relationship would be no different from living in two places. 

Seeing that her mother-in-law’s face was solemn, Chen Fang continued, “In my opinion, those soldiers are all showy. It looks like they earn a lot, but what’s the use? They don’t have a house! Our Jingjing is young, beautiful, and a formal worker in a state-owned enterprise. With such good conditions, she should of course choose a partner with good family conditions.” 

Zhang Xiumei heard the meaning in her daughter-in-law’s words and asked, “Do you mean to introduce Jingjing to someone?” 

“You’re still smart, Mom.” Chen Fang flattered Zhang Xiumei and looked at Lin Jing with a smile, “The person I’m going to introduce is not someone else, but the son of our workshop director. He’s very promising. As for the house, although he doesn’t have one now, his family lives in a three-bedroom, two-living room house. Lin Jing can have her own room after marrying him. Isn’t it better than marrying a soldier?” 

Just listening to what Chen Fang said, this person’s conditions are indeed good, but there are only so many large units in Huyang, and there are many marriages between employees. Any disturbance can spread within three days. 

Zhang Xiumei was just retired at home, and it wasn’t that she didn’t go out. How could she not know the situation of Chen Fang’s director’s son? Immediately, she sneered, “Yes, his conditions are so good, but it’s a pity that he’s a hunchback!”