In a barracks dormitory in Majiaobao, Tan Xiaoqin silently looked out the window at the playground. The trees around the playground are already as tall as a person. When she and the villagers from Yanchang Village came here to plant trees, the saplings were only as tall as a seven or eight-year-old child.
It was winter now. Although the leaves on the trees were green, they looked gray. The vegetation was not as lush as in other seasons. The playground was empty, and she felt empty in her heart.
I will be twenty-four after the Chinese New Year. Tan Xiaoqin thought silently, feeling inexplicably terrified.
Tan Xiaoqin has never read any books, so naturally she cannot recite sentimental poems, but her mood is the same as that of well-fed literary girls in ancient and modern times, full of melancholy.
At the age of twenty-four, women in the village have already become mothers of several children at this age, and even if they have no children, they are already married. If any daughter is still waiting for marriage at this age, she is a true old girl.
Since Tan Xiaoqin entered the training class of Ma Niao Nong Institute and became a women cadre, she has become familiar with many "Australian principles." When the elders trained indigenous students like them, they not only used words but also practiced the concepts of modern civilization. spread to them. Therefore, she knows that twenty-four years old is still a "good time to be young and strong" for women, and it is the time to "do a career." She still remembers that Chief Du said to them with sincerity: "You have caught up with a good era. When I was fighting like you, I could only stay at home and read and write articles. I couldn't do anything specific, let alone Not to mention being able to do a job like yours alone! You women cadres in the new era must cherish this opportunity!"
That's true. Tan Xiaoqin has been promoted since "Cong Long". From the women's committee member of the small Yanchang Village, she has been promoted all the way. Now she is the chief of the Industrial Economics Section of Chengmai County. Due to her young age and seniority, She also came from an agricultural training institute, so she has been included in the ranks of "key training". This time the Northern Expedition. The organization department dispatched cadres from all over Hainan to prepare to go north to accept power, and she was among the first batch selected. It is said that she will be entrusted with an important task and may become a county magistrate.
Her dad. Her relatives were all excited. The Tan family had been struggling to carry water and dry salt for many lifetimes, and now they were about to have a "county grandpa"! Although she is a girl, she is from the Tan family. It is said that if one person attains enlightenment, a chicken or a dog can ascend to heaven, this is still the idea among the elders of the Tan family.
But her mother had different ideas from the men. Before she was selected into the cadre training team going north, she had a vacation to go home to visit relatives. After a lot of noisy compliments, her mother pulled her into her room and asked her in a low voice: What will happen to her life?
"...You are not young anymore. Now you are a real old girl. If you want to get over it, you will only be used as filler at this age."
The reason why I say "in the past" is because there are too many young and powerful men in Lingao who have no wives.
"...Your father, your uncles, they are all eager for you to be promoted - among the people in the Tan family who want to be officials, you are the fastest to be promoted. They all point to the fact that you are prosperous and it will benefit everyone. They don't think about you. Are you planning to marry again when you are thirty? Girls can't afford to wait, as old age and old age are worthless! Don't think that your mother doesn't know what your father is thinking. He is counting on you to be an official and chief. When we meet, if there is a chief who would like you to become a young man - he doesn't even think about it. If the chief wants to marry a young man, he has to marry someone younger. How can he marry someone older?"
The words made Tan Xiaoqin's face burn. In fact, not only her father and her uncle had this idea, but she herself also had such thoughts at one time. But in the end, no leader took a liking to him. He was the one who respected and liked him the most among the elders. There is only Chief Du, but she is a woman.
Then her mother started to talk her into a marriage, saying that it was the child of a relative of her natal family, who was also twenty-eight years old. Burning boilers on the Lingao City Railway - in Lingao, this is an authentic "skilled job" and the income is considerable.
"...The family is very happy, and they have a fair face. My mother has watched this child grow up, and his parents are not picky. The two families are still related, and you will not suffer if you marry..."
In fact, she was a little excited at that time. In the past few years, she has been working as a cadre outside, and she is getting older day by day. Even if she has no thoughts in her heart, the hormones in her body always remind her of the physiological needs of a normal woman, especially when she is working alone in the field, and she is lonely during those long nights. Sleeping in the dormitory will inevitably feel empty, lonely and cold. Besides, the man's conditions are quite good: naturalized skilled workers are very popular in Lingao's marriage market.
But when I thought about the conversation in the organization office, my superiors had already made it very clear: No matter whether they were men or women, they could not get married before departure, and female cadres could not get pregnant. Anyone who violates the rules will be suspended and sent to a "study class" for "re-education."
Tan Xiaoqin didn't have much interest in the county magistrate or anything like that. But "violating discipline" is a big deal to Tan Xiaoqin. Needless to say, the consequences are very serious. Not to mention her personally, her whole family, and even the entire Yanchang Village cannot bear it. In the end it didn't work out. My mother sighed in disappointment, and she felt very bad in her heart.
"I don't know when I can come back." Tan Xiaoqin thought about her lifelong events, and Gu Ying couldn't help but feel sorry for herself.
"Xiao Qin, what are you talking about?" The dormitory door opened, and in came Lu Cheng, her roommate whom she met during this training camp. According to the content of the training, she guessed that Lu Cheng's job after arriving on the mainland would be similar to hers.
Lu Cheng is younger than her, but very mature. Tan Xiaoqin was even more serious about her work. Tan Xiaoqin heard that she originally worked in the finance and taxation department - no wonder she was mature and mature beyond her age.
"It's a holiday these days, why don't you go shopping in Dongmen City?"
The training session ended yesterday. Starting today, the cadre training team heading north will have a week off. The team members can go home and take a look, or buy some things they will need after landing on the mainland. Then it will enter a state of combat readiness, ready to go at any time.
"I'm too lazy to go." Tan Xiaoqin said boredly, "I don't want to buy anything. Besides, everything I need is given away."
"Don't you want to go home and have a look?"
"My home is in Ma Niao. You can get there just by walking out of the base gate." Tan Xiaoqin didn't want to say that she would inevitably have to listen to the nagging of her parents and other elders when she went home. She had been a cadre for several years, and she had no respect for the Tan family. He Shi already felt very strange, and even felt impatient.
"It's so convenient for you. When I go back home, I don't have to take the subway, but I have to transfer to a carriage." Lu Cheng took out a bag of things wrapped in wide leaves, "I bought melon seeds and just roasted them. Let's eat them." "
The custom of eating melon seeds was also initiated by the chief minister of Australia. In the past, few people in Lingao ate melon seeds—it was a pastime of the wealthy and leisurely class, and most people did not even have enough to eat. Now that living standards have improved, snacks like melon seeds have become popular among naturalized people.
The two of them sat on the bed and nibbled on melon seeds. In order to change the subject, Tan Xiaoqin asked: "What caused such a big commotion last night? I think the ambulance has arrived."
Lu Cheng is the trumpet of the training team. He is well-informed and knows everything.
"A man from the Fourth Squadron committed suicide," Lu Cheng knew as expected. "I didn't want to go to the mainland, so I hid in the training ground during self-study at night and stabbed myself in the instep with a bayonet for training. I said it was the bayonet that fell and stabbed me - this is not true. It's so fake that it doesn't even need a doctor's visit. The nurse will tell you it's wrong at the first glance. The wound was all healed before the wound was stitched at the health center..."
"This is serious, I should be fired from public office."
"Not only will he be fired from his official position, I heard that he will be exiled to the south to do hard labor." Lu Cheng sighed, "His family members are all confused now - I heard that they have only been married for half a year. His wife didn't know why she cried when she found out. Sample……"
Tan Xiaoqin's heart moved, and after a while she lazily said: "So that's it, no wonder he was confused for a moment."
"Who says it's not the case," Lu Cheng said, "A great future is ruined..."
"He is quite smart. He thought of using self-mutilation to escape. Last time, the guy from the second team cried and shouted and refused to go without saying anything. The whole family ran to the chief's door and knelt down and cried and begged. That's called stupid. "
Since the start of the training team, there has been an undercurrent among the cadres who were mobilized and selected to go north. Although most people are eager to try the upcoming mainland strategy and hope that they can jump over the dragon gate, there are also many people who have a negative attitude. It was not that they doubted the Senate's ability to win, but that they were unwilling to leave their families and familiar surroundings. I'm even more afraid of losing my life while trying to conquer the mainland - these good times haven't been around for a few years yet.
So since the class started, there have been people who pretended to be sick, people who deliberately failed exams, people who looked for connections to find a way to become seniors, people who asked their wives and children to come to the training team to cry for help... and so on.
"My horizons are shallow." Lu Cheng said, "My father also told me that there is nothing to worry about in a big girl's family, so it is better to live a peaceful life as a small cadre. I am too lazy to tell him. .”
Neither of them continued to speak. Every naturalized cadre in the cadre training team going north knew that this move to the north would be the beginning of the Senate's "capture of the world", not to mention what they, the ministers of the Chonglong, would do like this in the future. For now, everyone who comes to Guangdong will be promoted to at least one official level. When the whole province of Guangdong is finalized, it will be possible to become a small clerk in Hainan, or a village chief to become a county magistrate - there are a lot of official positions waiting for them.
For these people, most of whom were hungry and ragged a few years ago, being able to catch such an opportunity is a blessing that cannot be achieved in several lifetimes! The senators changed dynasties and sat in the Dragon Court. They, the naturalized citizens, were all meritorious ministers. Not to mention their own, even the wealth of their descendants was guaranteed. (To be continued.)
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