That night, the young couple lay in bed, and Lin Zhen told Song Wei that he had officially become a truck driver.
“During this long-distance trip, I brought back some goods from the south and stored them in a temporary rental house in town. So, I’ll need to make a few more trips to sell everything.”
“The policies have relaxed quite a bit now. It’s not just me—other truck drivers are also using their own money to bring back goods from the south.”
With the convenience of having a truck, who wouldn’t want to earn a little extra?
Lin Zhen kissed Song Wei’s forehead and said, “Thanks to your trust and giving me all our savings, I was able to buy a lot of goods that are in high demand up north. I’m not worried about selling them.”
Song Wei hugged him back. “Then focus on your work. We need to save more money for later when we plan to lease the mountain forest.”
“Alright!”
Both of them were bold and had some insight into the future.
Lin Zhen knew that policies were gradually loosening, so he dared to take bigger risks than others.
Of course, if anything went wrong, he could at least ensure his own safety, even if he had to abandon the goods.
After discussing their plans, Lin Zhen stayed in the production brigade for a few days.
Every day, he worked alongside Song Wei in the fields, earning full work points.
When curious villagers asked what he had been up to, Lin Zhen answered openly.
“I’ve been learning to drive a truck. I passed the exam at the transport station and am now officially a truck driver. I’ll be heading out again soon.”
This news caused an immediate uproar in Ping’an Brigade.
“You really became a truck driver?!”
Those nearby, who had been eavesdropping, dropped their work and crowded around Lin Zhen.
“Yes. The army helped arrange this before I retired. I couldn’t go earlier because of my leg, but now that it’s healed, I took the exam two months ago and started learning to drive. I passed the exam and just returned.”
Everyone was both excited and envious.
“Incredible! This is an iron rice bowl! Are you a formal employee?”
Lin Zhen nodded. “I spent the first two months learning to drive and went on a long-distance trip with my mentor. Once I got familiar with everything, the transport station formalized my position.”
“Wow, you’re something else! Getting formalized in less than three months!”
“You must be earning at least thirty yuan a month now.”
“Is the transport station hiring? Do you think my son could get in?”
Jobs were mostly state-owned at the time, and each position was considered an iron rice bowl—not only prestigious but also providing a monthly salary, housing allocation in the city, and state grain rations.
It was the dream of many.
For rural folks, even finding out about factory job openings was difficult, let alone securing one.
Job openings were often internal information, tightly guarded by employees who shared it only with relatives, who would then take the exam.
Each factory typically hired only two or three people at a time.
Even with internal referrals, hundreds would show up for the exam, making it almost as competitive as the college entrance exams.
“I’m not sure about other places, but the transport station isn’t planning to hire right now.”
Hearing this, everyone was disappointed.
But many still tried to curry favor, asking Lin Zhen to keep an eye out and notify them if any job openings arose.
Lin Zhen felt somewhat helpless—even his stern expression couldn’t dampen their enthusiasm.
Song Wei stepped in, “Uncles and aunts, even if the transport station were hiring, they’d require driving skills. Since no one here knows how to drive, it wouldn’t help even if you went.”
“That’s true. Lin Zhen, what’s it like driving a truck? Is it different from a tractor? Can you teach us?”
Lin Zhen replied, “It’s different from a tractor, but there are some similarities. Everyone should practice first. Another day, I’ll find a book about trucks and bring it back for you all to read.”
Since they were all from the same brigade, he was willing to help where he could.
Even if they couldn’t pass the exam to become truck drivers at the transport station, once policies loosened in the future, they might still find other opportunities.
“Great, great! I knew I wasn’t wrong about you—I’ve always thought you’d go far since you were a kid.”
Lin Zhen & Song Wei: (ー_ー)!!
That statement was a bit over the top.
Lin Zhen managed to disperse the overly excited crowd and went back to work.
The two quickly earned their full work points and hurried home amid the villagers’ enthusiastic pleas to stay.
“I didn’t expect a job to make them so enthusiastic.”
Lin Zhen: “After all, working in the city is a matter of pride for everyone, and there’s money to be made too.”
“When are you leaving?”
“Tomorrow. There’s a truck heading to the city tomorrow, and it’ll also go to the neighboring city. I’ll take the opportunity to sell the goods.”
Song Wei nodded: “It’s better to offload them as soon as possible. Otherwise, leaving the house in town unattended is always a worry.”
The next day, Lin Zhen woke up early as usual.
After bidding farewell to Song Wei, he set off.
When Song Wei went to work, everyone noticed Lin Zhen was absent and guessed he had gone off to drive the truck.
Song Wei confirmed their suspicions.
“In our brigade, the most successful household now is the Lin Zhen family. Both husband and wife are earning money.”
“That’s right. Song Wei’s work is practically equivalent to a job too.”
“How are both of them so capable? If my son and daughter-in-law were this capable, I’d treat them like royalty.”
“Being literate really is an advantage.”
As they chatted, the topic shifted to the educated youths at the educated youth dormitory.
“Who knows what those educated youths are up to these days. I see them reading books even during breaks from work.”
“Yeah, after work, they just go back to the educated youth dormitory and hardly ever come out.”
“Li and the others aren’t getting any younger. Why do they seem so unconcerned?”
With Song Wei setting an example, they thought it would be quite nice if their sons or daughters ended up with an educated youth.
After all, the ones who had stayed behind were all well-behaved and honest. Even Gao and Zhao, who complained daily about how tired they were from work, weren’t unpleasant. The key was that their families were quite well-off.
Unfortunately, these two didn’t seem the least bit interested in finding a partner. It wasn’t for lack of trying—people had probed both openly and subtly, but both had declined in various ways.
“Ah, the educated youths in our brigade are really hard to pursue.”
This applied to both men and women.
No matter how much they discussed, Song Wei finished her work, returned the hoe, called for the little bear cub, and headed home.
The bear cub, wearing its small backpack, stood up and insisted on holding Song Wei’s hand with one paw, mimicking a child’s walk as it followed closely beside her.
In the wild, its appearance as a wild bear would be truly frightening.
But under everyone’s watchful eyes, having been around for a while now and being so fluffy, everyone found it oddly endearing.
When Song Wei returned home with the bear cub, the wolf pack had already returned from hunting in the mountains.
They had brought back three wild rabbits and one wild pheasant.
Song Wei prepared honey water for the hardworking wolves and also milked the goat.
The nanny goat was well cared for at Song Wei’s home. Besides providing enough milk for the two kids, there was plenty to spare.
After giving some to the bear cub, there was still a little left for the wolves to taste.
But not much.
Leave a Reply