The 70s Novel: The Supporting Character Just Wants to Lie Down-Chapter 121: Received Notice of Promotion

Besides, Liu Yulan and her family went to Liu Yuxiang’s home and were naturally warmly welcomed. Because Liu Jianmin received tutoring from Wang Miaomiao, his exam results were quite good this time. Wen Jing was very pleased and became even warmer towards Wang Miaomiao, almost overwhelming her with enthusiasm.

Wen Jing is a person who warms up slowly; with the foundation laid over the past half year, she was not as aloof as she was during her first visit. She even exchanged some polite praises with Liu Yulan.

One said, you’ve taught Miaomiao well, all of the kids have promising futures.

The other replied, Jian Min and Jiandang are good kids too, polite and courteous, and both are very filial.

Haha...

Wen Jing gave each of the three Wang children a red envelope containing five yuan, which was quite generous.

Wang Miaomiao secretly opened her envelope after receiving it and quietly told Liu Yulan about it.

As they were leaving, Liu Yulan gave each of the Liu brothers a red envelope, with ten-yuan bills inside each.

Her family wasn’t short on money now and didn’t want to take advantage of Second Uncle Liu’s family. After all, her family has three kids, while Liu Yuxiang’s family has only two. Giving more in return was only proper etiquette.

After seeing the Wang family off, Liu Yuxiang and Wen Jing went home and learned about the amount in the envelopes. The two of them looked at each other for a while before Liu Yuxiang said, "Let’s keep it. My sister and brother-in-law are official workers now; they don’t care about this amount of money."

They had already learned about the Wang family’s situation from their eldest son, so accepting this money didn’t make them feel burdened.

After the second day of the new year, everyone returned to their normal routines, and the little bit of festivity was gone.

Before the new year, Liu Yulan and Wang Pandi cooked five large pots of dishes: one of lion’s head meatballs, one of braised fish, one of stewed pig’s head, one of bean sprouts stir-fried with bean curd sheets, and one of pork with preserved vegetables.

In winter, there’s no fear of the food spoiling.

Goodness, these few days, it’s been the same dishes every day, with a small bowl of each steamed over rice each time. No matter how good the dishes are, eating them continuously every day would get tiresome, right?

Anyway, Wang Miaomiao looked at the table full of fish and meat, smacked her lips, and found she wasn’t very hungry. Everyone else was swallowing mouthfuls of meat, eating so much that grease dripped from their mouths, enjoying it with relish.

Sigh... Wang Miaomiao bowed her head in silent guilt, realizing she was being picky. She’s living the good life and has developed fussy eating habits.

It was just that their family life had improved recently, which is why they could afford to cook such luxuries for the new year; in the past, even a dish with fish was rare, and there was very little meat, usually cut into strips and stir-fried with bean sprouts or celery.

It was all thanks to having a good son-in-law in the Wang family that they could procure pork and pigs’ heads, all with the help of Yang Zhigang. After all, in this era, money and ration coupons didn’t guarantee availability.

Wang Miaomiao simply ate a few bites of rice with bean sprouts to call it a meal. Next to her, Liu Yulan asked in bewilderment, "Miaomiao, why are you only eating vegetables and not the meat?"

Wang Miaomiao smiled and said, "Eating meat every day gives me too much oil in my stomach. I need to cleanse my intestines for a couple of days. Sis, can we have egg drop soup tonight? I’m craving eggs."

"Hehe... Sure, I thought you grew tired of eggs and wouldn’t ever ask for them again," Wang Pandi readily agreed, recalling when Wang Miaomiao got injured. There weren’t good dishes at home, only eggs for nourishment, which led her to eat eggs every day until she grimaced at the sight of them.

Everyone, reminded of this, laughed along.

Wang Miaomiao protested innocently, "Is it that funny? No matter how good something is, you can’t eat it every day. Otherwise, how can its rarity be appreciated?"

"That’s just your twisted logic... Alright, if you don’t want to eat, then don’t." Liu Yulan noticed her point and turned to Wang Pandi, "Pandi, let’s make two fresh dishes every day from now on. Your sister is getting picky again."

"Alright." Wang Pandi agreed smiling.

"Third Sister is the fussy one; I’ll eat it if she won’t." Wang Jia Bao took a large piece of meat and deliberately stuffed it into his mouth, chewing happily as oil dropped into his bowl.

He ate with great relish, though Wang Miaomiao frowned at the sight, "Jia Bao, I don’t mind you eating more meat, but you should mind your manners. Slobbering oil everywhere, judge, it’s embarrassing if seen outside, like you haven’t eaten in centuries."

"Got it..." Wang Jia Bao reluctantly wiped his mouth, intending to tease Third Sister, only to be lectured by her instead. Truly, Third Sister was a formidable presence.

"Dad, Mom, Pandi..." Yang Zhigang came rushing over on his bicycle, calling out before he had even come to a full stop...

The folks at the table put down their bowls and chopsticks to go out, thinking something happened, "What’s going on?"

Seeing Yang Zhigang’s smiling face as they stepped out eased their concerns. Liu Yulan said with a laugh, "Why are you here at this time? Come in, have you eaten? Pandi, get a set of tableware..."

"I’ve eaten, no need to bother." Yang Zhigang parked his bike, took off his gloves, and rubbed his somewhat stiff face with hands that were still warm. The southern winter’s north wind cut like a knife; despite feeling warm on the road, his exposed face had been numbed.

Without comment, Liu Yulan said, "Even if you’ve eaten, you can still have a bite."

"Hehe..." Yang Zhigang chuckled and followed her in.

Wang Pandi brought tableware over and couldn’t help but ask, "What’s so joyful?"

"It’s something big, something good..." Stars seemed to light up in Yang Zhigang’s eyes as he beamed at Wang Pandi.

Feeling shy under his gaze, Wang Pandi teased, "What good news? Tell us quickly."

"I’ve been promoted to plant manager at the steel factory." Not keeping them in suspense, Yang Zhigang relayed that after receiving the transfer order, he felt stunned for quite a while. During his last return after discharge, there was an unseen mission involved. Once completed, his superior asked about his future plans: would he like to return to the army or stay out for good?

Thinking it over for a day, he eventually decided to stay. He and Wang Pandi had been engaged by then, and he wanted to live a good life with her at home. Without Wang Pandi, without any attachment, he might still be wearing his military uniform today.

But meeting her was perhaps fate, a realization that he couldn’t bear having her leave her home to follow him around, worrying for their safety.

Besides, he was doing well in the Armed Forces Department, having earned merit and a promotion, overseeing many soldiers, which wasn’t so different from army life.

"What?" Liu Yulan remarked in shock, "What about Xiao Jiang? Isn’t he coming back?"

"The old chief took on a new mission and won’t be returning." Yang Zhigang said after receiving the transfer order, tasking him to sort out the Armed Forces Department’s affairs before directly seeking Jiang Yan’s communications officer, Xiao He.

As for picking his replacement, he had the liberty to promote someone, naturally choosing a trusted confidant, ensuring there would be connections in the Armed Forces department.