“No.”
Xu Qiaoqiao shook the folder in her hands and said, “I’m actually working at the Military Transfer Office now. I just came over to deliver a meeting notice to the Educated Youth Office, didn’t expect to run into you right outside.”
As she spoke, she gave Wei Nan a little tug. “Hey, let’s move a bit inside, don’t let our section chief see me. That woman’s always causing trouble, if she spots us, I’ll get scolded later when I get back.”
Hearing this, Wei Nan hurriedly followed her toward the corner.
Once they stopped, Wei Nan spoke, “Qiaoqiao, I won’t take up too much of your time. I just wanted to ask, do you have any connections with people at the Educated Youth Office? If so, could you help me ask if there’s any work available? Even temporary work is fine.”
Xu Qiaoqiao looked a bit surprised at her request. Then she smiled and patted Wei Nan on the shoulder. “Sure, little girl. Look at you, finally speaking up! I remember when I left, you couldn’t even get a single word out!”
“…”, Wei Nan had no idea how to respond to that. She just pressed her lips together, smiled faintly, and stayed quiet.
Xu Qiaoqiao clearly understood her temperament and, fearing a few teasing words might scare her courage away again, quickly added, “I’m praising you! From now on, just speak up when there’s something to ask. How can anyone know what you’re thinking if you keep it all inside?”
“Then… could you help me ask?” Wei Nan quickly steered the conversation back, worried Xu Qiaoqiao would digress.
Xu Qiaoqiao shook her head and sighed. “Xiao Nan, I’d help with anything I could, but this one’s out of my hands. It’s not that I don’t want to ask, but the Educated Youth Office simply doesn’t have any vacant positions.”
“No temporary work either?” Wei Nan asked, disappointed but still unwilling to give up.
“Temporary work?” Xu Qiaoqiao let out a self-mocking laugh. “I’m basically a temp myself! My parents begged and pleaded for years just to get me this position. My brother even gave up a bike he had bought for his fiancée just to get me in.
I’ve been here over a year now, and all I do is serve tea, run errands, and do odd jobs. I don’t even have a desk, let alone a permanent post.
Even my situation is good, I came back early and managed to get assigned some work. Now it’s much harder!
These days, forget city jobs, even the positions down in the county, hauling coal at the mines or carrying goods at the vegetable market, they get snatched up like crazy.”
These were also temporary jobs, paying just twenty or so yuan a month, not even enough to cover the travel costs. But even these jobs were nearly impossible to get; many required bribing someone or sending gifts.
And that was for men, women had even less chance. Nowadays, female educated youth couldn’t even get street-sweeping jobs.
“Didn’t you see the newspaper a few days ago? There are educated youth selling big bowls of tea right outside the Forbidden City now!
Who would do that if they weren’t desperate? That’s basically announcing to all your relatives and friends that you have no skills, no future!”
Xu Qiaoqiao’s words left Wei Nan silent.
She actually already knew about all this, but had never connected it to herself, it had slipped her mind.
In modern times, her parents were both university professors. Her father taught history, and her mother was an expert in the food industry.
Although she studied Chinese, her father would constantly talk in their ears, with her and her brother, discussing events past and present, just for fun.
Five thousand years of history, Wei Nan couldn’t claim to know it all, but she could easily summarize major events year by year.
She remembered the return of the educated youth to the city. She even had some recollection of Xu Qiaoqiao mentioning the educated youth selling big bowls of tea outside the Forbidden City. She had even seen a photograph of it once.
But looking at photos or hearing about history was a far cry from experiencing it herself.
Thinking that she might not even be able to find a temporary job, Wei Nan’s mood plummeted.
Seeing her like this, Xu Qiaoqiao felt uneasy too. She tentatively asked, “Why don’t you ask your parents if they can find you some work at the textile factory? They’ve been there a long time, they should be able to figure something out. They wouldn’t really just ignore you, right?”
Only then did Wei Nan remember that she hadn’t told her about what had happened at home.
“My parents are gone… I only found out after coming back. And after the whole mess I caused at the factory, they were already fed up with me. Arrange work? That’s impossible.”
Xu Qiaoqiao was completely stunned by this. She stayed silent for a long moment, staring at Wei Nan before finally blurting out, “Xiao Nan, you really have grown up!”
Her eyes were full of admiration, concern, and an uncontainable hint of pity.
She reached out and hugged Wei Nan, then said, “Xiao Nan, don’t overthink it. You didn’t do anything wrong here.
Even I wouldn’t be doing as well as you are now!
Seeing you stand on your own, planning for the future, it really makes me happy!”
Xu Qiaoqiao was two years older than Wei Nan.
Although she had always been angry at Wei Nan’s parents for being irresponsible and sending such a young girl out to fend for herself, Xu Qiaoqiao herself had only been sixteen when she went to the countryside.
Two girls, not yet adults, had truly relied on each other, supporting one another through five harsh years in that difficult environment.
In Xu Qiaoqiao’s heart, her bond with Wei Nan was even stronger than with her own siblings back home.
Hearing earlier that Wei Nan had lost contact with Jiang Sirui, Xu Qiaoqiao had blamed herself, feeling she had harmed this girl who was like her little sister.
Now, hearing about everything Wei Nan had gone through after returning home, Xu Qiaoqiao felt even more distressed.
She felt that Wei Nan had suddenly grown up, suddenly changed, and that she herself bore an inescapable responsibility.
This thought left her unable to even apologize.
What use would an apology be? A few light words couldn’t solve anything.
Xu Qiaoqiao felt as if a weight had suddenly been placed on her shoulders.
She felt she must share in supporting Wei Nan’s life until she could find happiness.
Of course, Wei Nan had no idea what Xu Qiaoqiao was thinking.
She was happy to be reunited with Xu Qiaoqiao, it made her feel that she had gained another close person in this world.
But that was all. She still felt that she wasn’t very familiar with her.
After hearing Xu Qiaoqiao’s words, she smiled and said, “Don’t worry about me. I’ll figure something out. You should get back to work, and I need to go to the police station. Once I finish the household registration, I have to return to the hospital, I promised Xiao Pei I’d eat with her.”
“Alright, you go ahead.”
Since she had made up her mind, Xu Qiaoqiao didn’t waste any words.
“I’m busy right now and really can’t talk much. Are you free tomorrow? I’ll come to your place to visit and check out the neighborhood.”
How could Wei Nan possibly refuse?
She smiled and nodded. “I’m free. Just come over directly.”
With the household registration certificate in hand, registering the household went very smoothly.
At the same time, Wei Nan used the proof issued by the textile factory to handle Wei Damin’s deregistration.
In the end, since the old household book was too worn out, she even asked the clerk at the registration office to issue her a brand-new one.
Holding that fresh, pristine household book, seeing her own name listed as the head of the household, Wei Nan straightened her back a little.
She felt that her new life truly began at that very moment.
By the time Wei Nan returned to the hospital after finishing the procedures, it was already past eleven o’clock.
When she arrived, Wei Pei was no longer in the ward, sitting obediently in Ling Bailan’s office waiting for her.
“Sorry, sorry, I’m late. I’ll go get our meal now,” Wei Nan said apologetically.
“No need. Sister Ling already went to get the food, and so did Sister Wei. They told me to wait here for you, said we shouldn’t go anywhere,” Wei Pei replied, hopping off the chair to talk to her sister.
Sister Ling went to get the food?
Was I really too late coming back?
Hearing this, Wei Nan felt even more embarrassed.
Before she could say anything, laughter and chatter came from the hospital corridor.
And it wasn’t just one or two people approaching.
Wei Nan opened the door and looked outside, seeing Ling Bailan, Wei Qiuxia, and Mei Xiaolin walking together toward her.
All three were carrying large lunch boxes, and in addition, two big oil-paper packages and a cloth bag.
Even from a distance, the oil stains seeping through the paper packages were visible.
Wei Nan didn’t expect so many people to come, and quickly went out to greet them.
“Wei Nan, have you read Liu Qiangquan’s apology letter posted on the bulletin board?”
When she saw Wei Nan, Mei Xiaolin’s eyes lit up. Before Wei Nan could speak, she raised her voice and asked,
“Have you seen it yet?”
“Not yet.”
Wei Nan had left early in the morning, and the factory hadn’t started work at that time, so she really hadn’t seen it.
“Ah, you should’ve seen it! I’m telling you, the factory was a total mess this morning! You wouldn’t believe how many people were crowding around, and Liu Qiangquan’s expression… hahahaha!”
As she said this, Mei Xiaolin became even more animated, her eyes bright and her face full of excitement.
If it weren’t for Wei Qiuxia pulling her inside, she probably would have started gesturing wildly right there in the hallway.
“Look at you getting so worked up. Someone who didn’t know would think that apology letter was written for you!” Ling Bailan said, looking at her with a smirk.
Mei Xiaolin rolled her eyes and scoffed, “Written for me? Even if it were, it wouldn’t matter! My grudge with that shameless guy is too big; a single apology letter can’t fix it!”
“Forget it, forget it. Let’s not talk about that nonsense, it just makes me sick thinking about it,” she said, placing the paper bag she was holding onto the empty office desk and smiling again.
Then she turned to Wei Nan and proudly said, “I specially went to the old Liu household to buy pan-fried buns, steamed dumplings, and even some orange soda. Today’s too happy, we absolutely have to celebrate properly!”
After saying this, she somehow produced a bottle opener, popped open all the sodas with a bang, and handed a bottle to each person.
Wei Nan’s eyes flickered slightly.
She was a little curious about what kind of deep grudge Mei Xiaolin had with Liu Qiangquan, but it was obvious the girl didn’t want to talk about it.
Naturally, Wei Nan didn’t press.
Even without being told, she could imagine. Just thinking about Liu Qiangquan’s arrogant, self-important attitude, she felt that if he weren’t sitting in the factory director’s secretary position, it wouldn’t be impossible for him to get beaten up whenever he went out.
Thinking of that, Wei Nan couldn’t help but press her lips into a small smile.
“To Wei Nan! You’re really amazing! From today on, I unilaterally declare that we are officially best friends,” Mei Xiaolin said boldly, raising her soda bottle toward Wei Nan.
“Yeah, to Xiao Nan. You’ve really impressed me!” Ling Bailan also raised her bottle.
“Exactly, exactly. Seeing you like this makes me so happy. If our master knew, he could rest easy too,” Wei Qiuxia said, sighing in relief.
Wei Nan didn’t expect everyone to specially buy these foods for her, and she certainly didn’t expect them to celebrate her like this.
She suddenly felt a little embarrassed, her cheeks flushed red, gripping the soda bottle and not sure of what to say.
Just then, the small speaker in the corner of the office crackled a few times, and then the announcer’s clear, formal voice came over:
“Next, Comrade Liu Qiangquan will make a self-criticism regarding his rude behavior toward visiting Comrade Wei Nan during his work at the factory office.”
…