The 1970s: Married First, Fell in Love Later-Chapter 210 - 209: Ministry of Foreign Affairs Secondment, Xue Yue Signs Up
He Lang had gone to Shanghai, so Xue Yue came home right after her classes ended each day. With Mr. and Mrs. He at home, the three children were also quite easy to care for.
One day, the first class in the morning was with Ji Cheng.
After he came in, he didn’t immediately start the lecture.
"The Ministry of Foreign Affairs is holding an event soon and has invited many foreign guests. They don’t have enough translators, so they want to borrow three students from our university. Anyone who is interested can sign up."
As soon as he said this, the students became so excited they could barely stay in their seats. An opportunity like this to gain real-world experience was rare.
They were only sophomores. Getting some experience at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and becoming a familiar face there would be beneficial for their future careers.
Almost everyone in the class signed up, except for one or two who were a bit timid. Xue Yue was among those who registered.
Later, Xue Yue heard from her classmates that it wasn’t just their class; many people from their entire grade had signed up. It was anyone’s guess who would ultimately be chosen.
That afternoon, Ji Cheng came in and announced that the university had decided to give them a document to translate into multiple languages. It was due the next day and would serve as a screening method.
When Xue Yue returned from the university, she told Mrs. He what was happening, then disappeared into her room, not even coming out for dinner.
After everyone else had eaten, Mrs. He looked at the food that was growing cold.
"Xue Yue hasn’t eaten yet. She said she has something to translate and told us not to disturb her. But she hasn’t had a bite, and the food’s about to get cold. Do you think I should take it in to her?" 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞
Mr. He waved his hand. "Forget it. If that’s what she said, she must have something important to do. Just keep the food warm in the pot. She can eat when she’s finished."
Xue Yue divided the document into three parts, translating them into English, Russian, and German respectively. By the time she finished, it was quiet outside. She glanced at the time—it was already past eleven o’clock at night.
Xue Yue stood up and stretched her neck. She suddenly felt her stomach rumbling. ’Of course I’m hungry, it’s so late.’
She opened the door. The lights in the children’s room were off; they must have already fallen asleep.
But when she entered the kitchen, she found Mrs. He sitting at the dining table, chin in her hand, dozing off.
She pressed her lips together, walked over, and called out softly, "Mom."
Mrs. He jolted awake, opened her eyes, and saw Xue Yue.
She stood up groggily, then steadied herself by holding onto the table for a moment.
"Oh, I stood up too fast. How did I fall asleep? Are you finished with your work? The food is still in the pot. It should still be warm. I’ll go get it for you."
"Mom, please go to bed. I can get it myself."
Mrs. He waved her hand dismissively, lifted the pot lid—sure enough, steam was still rising—and brought the food over to Xue Yue. She didn’t leave right away, but slowly sat down to watch Xue Yue eat.
"You young people... as soon as you get busy, you stop eating on time. That’s not good for your health. Since coming here, I’ve realized how hard it is for you all. You’re busy running in circles every day—going to school, going to work, and still having to manage the house and the children. I get tired just watching. I wonder if He Lang has made it to Shanghai yet. If you ask me, that clothing store of his is doing just fine. Why open a supermarket? He’s biting off more than he can chew. Who knows if it’ll even make any money."
Xue Yue knew her mother-in-law was just worried about them. "Mom, it’s all right. We’re still young. Even if we fail, we can always start over. It’s not a big deal. You know He Lang. Once he’s made up his mind, he won’t be able to rest if he doesn’t see it through."
Mrs. He sighed. "Yes, he’s been like that since he was a child. He’s single-minded. He seems easygoing, but he’s actually very stubborn."
Mrs. He wasn’t wrong. He Lang was indeed very strong-willed.
After Xue Yue finished eating, Mrs. He sent her off to bed and then went to wash the dishes.
The next morning, Ji Cheng came to the classroom to collect the translated documents.
After Ji Cheng left, everyone started to chat.
"I stayed up translating until the early hours of the morning, and I still wasn’t finished. I was so sleepy I couldn’t take it anymore, so I rested for a few hours. Then I rushed to finish it first thing this morning, but I’m still not sure about a lot of parts."
"Me too. I did most of mine in English, but there were so many words that just didn’t feel right, no matter how I tried to phrase them. It was driving me crazy."
Xue Yue felt it had gone alright for her. It was true that some words were difficult to translate. The Chinese language was vast and profound; it was only natural that some expressions couldn’t be translated literally.
That afternoon, Ji Cheng announced the results. Instead of three people, five had been chosen. Xue Yue was one of them, and so was Wei Yuyang.
"Five students from our class did a pretty good job on the translation overall. But it’s not just our class. In total, twelve people from the entire grade have been selected. There will be an additional oral examination round."
Translation wasn’t just about the written word; communicating with people relied more on speaking.
"The university is organizing a foreign language debate competition. The entire debate must be conducted in a foreign language—any language is permitted."
His words caused another uproar.
"Instructor, what if we can’t understand the languages the other teams are using?"
Everyone was studying different languages, after all.
Ji Cheng replied sternly, "That’s a problem for you to consider."
A student muttered, "But they might not know the languages we speak, either."
Ji Cheng reminded them, "A debate isn’t just about language. It’s also about your adaptability and logical thinking."
’This would be Xue Yue’s first time participating in a debate like this,’ she thought. ’Twelve students, all from different language specializations, debating against each other.’
It just went to show how prestigious this opportunity with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs was.
Since the Ministry of Foreign Affairs event was just a few days away, the debate was held the very next morning in a large lecture hall filled with several hundred people.
The day’s topic was written on the blackboard: "Should language education prioritize fostering global citizenship or reinforcing local cultural identity?"
The students had only just learned the topic, so no one had prepared in advance. It would be entirely impromptu.
The twelve students were to form their own teams of three, making four teams in total.
Wei Yuyang’s speaking skills were outstanding. Based on his usual performance in class, Xue Yue guessed that he had either been speaking foreign languages since childhood or had been frequently exposed to them.
So, as soon as the instructor finished speaking, the other three students from their class immediately gathered around Wei Yuyang, wanting to be on his team.
Xue Yue also thought that being on a team with Wei Yuyang would certainly be an advantage, but she didn’t move.
Wei Yuyang glanced at Xue Yue, then called her by name.
"Student Xue, shall we team up?"
Xue Yue was taken aback. She felt she had shown some displeasure toward Wei Yuyang in the past and usually tried to avoid interacting with him. He had probably noticed.
She didn’t expect him to choose her anyway. It was too good an opportunity to pass up, so of course Xue Yue wouldn’t refuse—her chance to go to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs depended on this.
When the other three students saw Wei Yuyang choose Xue Yue, they formed a team among themselves.
This meant that Xue Yue and Wei Yuyang’s team was still short one person.
In the end, a girl from another class who hadn’t been picked was left over, so she joined Xue Yue’s team.
The girl’s name was Meng Ye. Not only did her name sound masculine, but she also had short hair, an indifferent expression, and dressed in a somewhat androgynous style that made her seem cold. If not for her distinctly feminine features, it would have been difficult to tell her gender.
