The 1970s: Married First, Fell in Love Later

Holding her tray, Xue Yue scanned the cafeteria. She finally spotted Meng Ye sitting by a window, eating alone.

Xue Yue walked over and sat down across from her.

Meng Ye looked up at her and smiled. "All done?"

Xue Yue: "Not yet. My team leader said a healthy body is essential for getting work done, so she told me to eat first and finish up afterward."

Meng Ye nodded. "Exactly. It’s hard to focus when you’re hungry. Your team leader sounds pretty nice. A man or a woman?"

"A woman. She’s a bit serious, but she seems nice. What about you?"

Meng Ye said, "My team leader is really easy to talk to, always smiling. But I didn’t get any tasks all morning. I just sat there."

Xue Yue nodded. "We’re new and don’t know anything yet. I’m sure we’ll get work eventually."

"Yeah."

When Xue Yue got back to the office after lunch, she saw that Sister Feng was already there.

Xue Yue didn’t hear her call out, so she quickly sat down and resumed her work from the morning.

A little after five in the afternoon, Xue Yue finally finished. She knocked on the door.

"Come in."

Xue Yue walked in. "Sister Feng, I’ve finished organizing everything."

Feng Yujie was writing something, her head lowered.

"Put it down and head out."

Xue Yue opened her mouth, but in the end, she didn’t say anything. She put the documents down and left.

After Xue Yue left, Feng Yujie picked up the files she had organized. They were marked up meticulously. Feng Yujie nodded. "Her handwriting is nice."

Back at her desk, with no other tasks at hand, Xue Yue tidied up her workstation and wiped down her desk.

She stood up and scanned the office area.

Slogans written by the higher-ups were hanging on the walls.

At six o’clock, which was quitting time, Xue Yue sat at her desk, unsure if she should leave, because Sister Feng hadn’t left yet.

She waited until seven o’clock. When Feng Yujie came out and saw Xue Yue was still there, she glanced at her watch.

"In the future, if I haven’t assigned you any work before quitting time, you can just leave when the day is over. When I get busy, I sometimes lose track of time. Zhao Li took the day off today, but she’ll be back tomorrow. She’ll go over some of the details with you."

Xue Yue nodded and said, "Okay."

There was another empty workstation in the office, so Xue Yue knew there was one more person on the team.

She went home that evening.

He Lang asked her, "How was your first day of work?"

"It was okay, I guess. I probably just haven’t gotten used to it yet. I feel a little nervous."

"What’s wrong? Did your coworkers give you a hard time?"

"No."

The sudden change in her role would naturally take some time to get used to.

The next day, when Xue Yue arrived at the office, she saw someone was already there.

"You must be the new colleague, right?"

Xue Yue nodded. "Are you Sister Zhao?"

Zhao Li nodded, then said to Xue Yue, "Just call me Zhao Li. We all call Team Leader Feng ’Sister Feng’."

Xue Yue smiled, nodded, and said, "Okay."

Zhao Li handed Xue Yue a rulebook.

"I had a family matter yesterday, so I took the day off. This is the code of conduct we have to memorize for our positions. Every single rule in here must be followed. Our usual work is to organize and file documents, complete tasks assigned by Sister Feng, and coordinate with other departments. Most importantly, Sister Feng doesn’t like talkative people, so try not to be chatty."

"Okay."

"Our department is pretty small. When we get in in the morning, we just tidy up the office. For everything else, we just wait for Sister Feng’s instructions."

Xue Yue nodded.

With a coworker to guide her, Xue Yue felt everything went much more smoothly that day.

If there was something she didn’t understand, Zhao Li would explain it to her.

At noon, she went to the cafeteria with Zhao Li and ran into Zheng Guofeng, who was just walking in.

Zheng Guofeng didn’t shy away from her and asked, "Is work going smoothly?"

Xue Yue smiled. "It’s going well."

Zheng Guofeng nodded. "That’s good. If you run into any difficulties, you can come find me."

"I will."

Once Zheng Guofeng was out of earshot, Zhao Li linked her arm with Xue Yue’s and asked in a low voice, "You know our deputy director pretty well, huh?"

Xue Yue paused for a moment. "I guess so."

Zhao Li pulled Xue Yue along to get their food, and once they sat down, she continued to pry about her relationship with Zheng Guofeng.

Xue Yue just said that Zheng Guofeng was a distant uncle of hers, and that was all.

Zhao Li smiled, perhaps not quite believing her, but she remained just as enthusiastic toward Xue Yue.

When Xue Yue went home, she told He Lang about it. He Lang told her, "It’s no big deal if they know. Once they know you have backing, they won’t dare to bully you."

"No one is bullying me."

He Lang smiled. "I’m just giving you an example. You and Uncle Zheng are bound to see each other at work. Since he wasn’t trying to hide your connection, it means he doesn’t think it’s a big deal. You shouldn’t overthink it either."

Xue Yue thought about it. ’He has a point. Besides, I’m just a junior assistant. I’m worlds away from people at the leadership level. I probably won’t even have much contact with them.’

What Xue Yue didn’t expect was that after only a week on the job, she suddenly received a notice from Sister Feng: one of them, either her or Zhao Li, would have to accompany her on a trip to SL.

When Xue Yue heard "going abroad," she froze for a second, then immediately looked at Zhao Li. ’After all, an opportunity like this wouldn’t fall to me; I’m just a newcomer.’

Unexpectedly, Zhao Li said, "Sister Feng, why don’t you let Xiao Xue go? She knows Russian. I don’t speak a word of it."

Feng Yujie looked at Xue Yue. "That works. Go home and pack. We’re taking the train to Moscow tomorrow afternoon."

Xue Yue had no choice but to nod.

But after she sat down, she still felt a bit dazed. ’I’m... going abroad.’

After getting home from work, Xue Yue started packing. She’d heard that Moscow was very cold this time of year, so she packed a few cotton-padded jackets and some daily necessities in her suitcase.

It wasn’t until dinner that she told her family about it.

"SL? You’re going abroad? That place is so far from here."

"How many of you are going?"

Xue Yue shook her head. "I’m not sure. My team leader just told me to get ready and that we’re leaving tomorrow afternoon."

He Lang didn’t say a word throughout the meal. After dinner, he pulled Xue Yue into their room.

Xue Yue asked him, "What’s wrong? Why do you look like that?"

He Lang’s voice was low. "I heard they’re at war with another country over there. It’s not safe. Plus, their relationship with our country has been at a freezing point for years. What are you guys going there for? Even if it’s for business negotiations, it shouldn’t be a newcomer like you going, right?"

Hearing this, Xue Yue looked at He Lang.

"Since my team leader asked me to go, I can’t refuse. Even if it’s really like you say, the leadership must have considered all that. It’s not my place to worry about it."

He Lang frowned. "Can’t they send someone else?"

Xue Yue shook her head. "I think an opportunity like this is hard to come by, and I shouldn’t back down. He Lang, the first rule in our work regulations is to prioritize the country and the people, to heed the organization’s call, and to obey all commands. So, I want to go."

Looking at such a resolute Xue Yue, He Lang didn’t know whether to feel proud or worried.

Xue Yue hugged He Lang and patted his back. "It’ll be okay. I’ll come back safely."