It was late at night when Gao Zhijun returned. Looking at the person sleeping soundly in bed, he felt extremely apologetic. He thought about how people in their line of work were busy day and night, leaving the women to handle everything at home and outside. It was truly hard on her. He stepped forward, gently kissed her forehead, and then grabbed his clothes to wash up.
Fortunately, he was still there when Bai Jiu woke up the next day. Otherwise, she would have thought he hadn’t come home all night.
"Today, we’ll go look at the houses and settle on one. The logistics department can’t keep a house for us forever," Gao Zhijun said. After all, Professor Mu had mentioned yesterday that quite a few people were transferred this time.
Bai Jiu naturally had no objections. "Okay," she agreed.
After washing up and getting dressed, the couple took the two kids out for breakfast. The guest house didn’t provide breakfast, so they had to go out to eat. Although this place was far from the main city, it still had all the necessary facilities. A bustling commercial area had formed outside because of the research institute. Though the population wasn’t large, relying solely on supplying the families inside was enough for the vendors to make a living.
It was Bai Jiu and the kids’ first time entering the institute, so there were quite a few procedures to go through. By the time they finished, the sun was high in the sky.
"You must be hot. Drink some water." Gao Zhijun had somehow gotten some ice water, which was perfect for this time of day.
"Where did you get this?" Bai Jiu asked in surprise after taking a sip.
Gao Zhijun pointed to a nearby building. "I asked the people inside for it. They have a refrigerator."
In this era, even semiconductors were big-ticket items, let alone refrigerators. Bai Jiu was stunned. "A refrigerator?" She wondered if they really had such things at this time.
"Yes, imported from Japan." Gao Zhijun was like a mind reader, immediately giving her the answer she wanted.
"Mom, it’s so cold!" Zhengyang said in amazement after taking a sip from the bottle his mother handed him. Then, he used the water bottle to feed his sister a sip.
"Yes, it’s cold, but our family can’t afford it," Bai Jiu replied. Imported goods must be expensive. It wasn’t that she didn’t have the money to buy one, but she couldn’t explain the source of her money, so it was better not to spend it. She would think of a way to bring her funds out when there was a chance in the future. She sighed silently, wondering why her life was so bitter that she couldn’t even enjoy the wealth she had.
After drinking the water, the family of four continued walking toward the residential area. Gao Zhijun didn’t know much about this place, but luckily, Chi was already waiting inside for them.
"Mr. Gao, Mrs. Gao, you’re here!" Chi called out, running over from a shaded area as soon as he saw them.
"Hello, Zhengyang and Xiuxiu." Chi took out two pieces of candy from his pocket and handed them to the siblings.
The two didn’t take them immediately but looked at their mother instead. Seeing her nod, they smiled and accepted them. "Thank you, Chi."
Seeing them like this, Chi liked the two even more, thinking about how anyone would love obedient and sensible children. Unlike some of the brats in the family residential area, let alone saying thank you, if they saw you had candy and you didn’t give it to them, they would just grab it. If they couldn’t grab it, they would cry.
"You’re welcome." Chi patted their heads, unable to hide his joy. "Mr. Gao, Mrs. Gao, let me take you to the logistics department first." He figured it was better to get the business done first. He would inevitably deal with these two children in the future, so there was plenty of time to get close to them.
Bai Jiu and Gao Zhijun had no idea that Chi had completely been won over by their two babies.
"Alright, thank you, Chi," the couple said. They then followed him to the logistics department.
As soon as they reached the entrance, they heard people arguing inside. The three paused for a moment before finally knocking on the door and walking in.
"Minister Wu, it’s good that you’re here. Please give me the keys to Apartment 02 on the third floor of the new district, as well as the one in the old courtyard." Chi and Minister Wu were quite familiar with each other. Although Chi was just a driver for the professor, he had the professor’s ear. Anyone would look up to such a person. Not to mention, he was an excellent soldier in his own right who had just been transferred here a few years ago.
"Chi, you’re here. I can give you the key to the old courtyard, but for the new building..." Minister Wu had just lost his temper over this very matter.
"What’s wrong?" Seeing him like this, Chi’s heart sank, hoping nothing had gone wrong. If Mr. Gao got upset and complained to Professor Mu, he would be finished. Failing to handle such a small matter would definitely make the professor look down on him. "Don’t tell me you gave the key to someone else," Chi said nervously.
Minister Wu sighed again. "Sigh, this is my fault too. I thought I had explained it clearly to the staff, but I didn’t expect so many people to arrive this time, and the wrong key was given out in the confusion." Minister Wu couldn’t bring himself to say the rest. He really didn’t have the face to explain. At the end of the day, it was his fault as the minister. If he had just taken the key with him back then, this wouldn’t have happened.
Bai Jiu and Gao Zhijun had followed him in and understood the conversation. Did that mean the apartment in the new building assigned to them had been given to someone else? The couple exchanged a glance and silently shook their heads, deciding to see how Chi would handle this.
"Then we’ll just switch to another one. There are still other three-bedroom apartments, right?" Chi didn’t mind too much. If 02 was gone, they could just get a different one.
Hearing this, Minister Wu looked even more troubled. If there were still others, he naturally wouldn’t be in a tough spot. The main issue was that there were no three-bedroom apartments left at all. Seeing his troubled expression, Chi truly couldn’t smile anymore.
"Minister Wu, you’re not going to tell me they’re all gone, are you?" his voice rose a little.
Minister Wu nodded with difficulty. "They’re exactly all gone. If I had one, I wouldn’t be here losing my temper." He wanted to cry. Even though he was a minister, here, he wasn’t really an official. At most, he was an administrator tasked with managing the researchers working here. Housing allocation wasn’t originally under their jurisdiction, but the more he spoke, the more it hurt. At the end of the day, it was his own dereliction of duty.
Chi looked back at Mr. Gao, then calmed himself down. "Does the person who took the key to Apartment 02 have high enough seniority?" If not, they could still ask for it back. Although there were two housing options, nobody would willingly choose to live in the old courtyard.
This was what troubled Minister Wu the most. "They’re just a little short, but..." He trailed off. After all, what could he do when the person had backing?
Chi understood. Even though this was the purest place in the world, wherever there are people, there are politics. Even if the researchers didn’t care about these things, their families certainly did. Everyone wanted to live a better life.
Before the two could think of a solution, a woman walked in from outside.
"Who wants to take back my family’s house?" she questioned aggressively as soon as she entered.
Minister Wu got a bigger headache seeing her, knowing she was incredibly troublesome.
"Sister-in-law Song, you’re here." Given her status, he could only put on a smiling face.
"Who wants to take back my family’s house? Why wouldn’t my husband’s status be enough to live in a three-bedroom apartment?" She didn’t give Minister Wu any good attitude. It wasn’t that no one had come to talk to her about this over the past two days. She had asked her husband, and while his previous status might not have been enough, he had been promoted a level after being transferred here, making him qualified. His professional title hadn’t been finalized over the past two days, but it was officially approved this morning. Naturally, she had to come and reclaim her dignity.
"Well, has Technician Song’s professional evaluation been approved?" Minister Wu wasn’t stupid. New housing allocations generally started with researchers. When Technician Song first arrived, he was registered as a technician, so he truly had no share in the new buildings. But who would have thought that the staff member on duty at the time would be coaxed into giving them a three-bedroom apartment. Now that they had already moved in, Minister Wu had gone to ask for it back, but they refused to move. He had no other options since everyone who came this time was a talent, and he couldn’t afford to offend a single one.