What Bai Jiu didn’t know was that because of this incident, her reputation in the courtyard was essentially ruined.
Did she care, though?
Soon enough, rumors began spreading through the family courtyard that Gao Zhijun’s wife looked down on people, had capitalist tendencies, and was a hedonist.
Bai Jiu asked Gao Zhijun if this would affect him. Gao Zhijun shook his head and told her that times were different now; such rumors wouldn’t impact him. However, they couldn’t just let it slide either—they still needed to have a word with the leadership.
Bai Jiu was quite surprised to hear this. Were these kinds of accusations really not considered serious anymore?
"You’re not lying to me?" she asked, worried that he might be hiding the truth.
Gao Zhijun touched her face and leaned in to steal a kiss. Seeing this, the two children immediately covered their eyes and squealed, "Daddy, shame on you!"
"Be serious, I’m talking about something important here."
Seeing her still acting so shy, he had no choice but to explain a bit more.
"Yeah, it’s fine. Regardless of the cause and effect, I still need to go and report it. Leave it to me, don’t worry."
He truly hadn’t taken it to heart. He just hadn’t expected her to actually refuse people who came to borrow their toilet; he had previously been worried she was too thin-skinned to say no.
"Things are much looser now than before. Plus, the higher-ups are planning to rehabilitate those people, so this is nothing. As long as we don’t go too far, it’ll be fine."
"That’s good." Hearing this, she genuinely breathed a sigh of relief.
However, they couldn’t let these rumors continue either. It seemed she would have to go out for a good stroll tomorrow.
"Alright, don’t worry about this. Leave it to me. I need to tell you something." Gao Zhijun seemed to be in a very good mood today.
"What is it?" Bai Jiu couldn’t figure out what news he might have. "Are you going to start your research?" That was probably the only thing that could happen here.
"The research isn’t urgent; it won’t happen that fast." Gao Zhijun shook his head. "It’s about your job. The logistics department arranged a position for you. If you’re willing, you can start working."
Bai Jiu really hadn’t expected them to actually arrange a job for her. Back in the day, she had suffered so much just to buy a position. Now, thanks to him, a job had practically delivered itself to her doorstep.
"What kind of job?" She had to ask clearly first. It would be troublesome if it was something she couldn’t handle.
"The back kitchen." Originally, this shouldn’t have fallen to his wife, but there were only so many positions available here. Getting arranged into the kitchen was considered quite good. "It’s only a temporary worker position, though."
Upon hearing it was kitchen work, Bai Jiu’s entire being resisted the idea. Doing some chores at home was fine, but making her deal with a kitchen every day? She’d rather die. Her hands were far too precious for that.
"Can this job be sold?" She didn’t want it.
Seeing her reaction, Gao Zhijun understood. "No. If you don’t want it, it will be arranged for someone else." In this place, jobs couldn’t be resold, nor was there any rule about children inheriting their parents’ positions.
"Does everyone get a job arranged for them?" Bai Jiu actually wanted to ask if there were any other options besides this one.
"No, it depends on the husband’s position. Only the families of those at the level of researcher director and above get this privilege. However, most people who can reach that position don’t need a temporary job for their families."
It was only because she had just arrived and he came from a rural background that they had arranged it for her.
"Looks like I’m riding on your coattails. But let’s just forget about this job; I don’t need it." She had no desire to go. The back kitchen might sound like a good place to others, but they didn’t think about the reality: waking up earlier than the roosters, sleeping later than the dogs, and still having to take care of the family. It would exhaust her to death.
Gao Zhijun had no intention of forcing her. If she wasn’t willing, so be it. He had another arrangement in mind anyway.
"Alright then. It just so happens I’ll go over and tell the logistics department tomorrow."
"You’re not angry?" Bai Jiu felt a bit apprehensive.
An ordinary family would be overjoyed to get a job. Yet not only did she look down on it, she refused to go to work altogether.
"What’s there to be angry about?" He had only been asking and was already prepared for her to refuse. Besides, he had other plans.
"It’s even better if you don’t go." Gao Zhijun leaned close to her and whispered something in her ear.
Bai Jiu’s calm face unknowingly underwent a dramatic change.
"Are you serious?"
"Yeah, that’s what my teacher told me. If conditions permit, he wants me to pursue further studies as well."
His elementary school diploma was a bit too low. Even though he had been self-studying all these years and learning from his teacher, without that piece of paper, he was always considered a step below others. Even now that he held this position, there were too many people who refused to accept his authority, not to mention those who had been eyeing his spot from the beginning.
"You want me to seize the time at home to study, don’t you?" This man hid things too deeply; she had almost been fooled by him.
Gao Zhijun smiled and squeezed her small hand. "That was the idea."
"That’s wonderful! I want to study; I want to go to university." Bai Jiu was ecstatic.
"Keep your voice down. This matter cannot be spread outside." Gao Zhijun laughed, seeing her so excited.
"I understand." It was a special period, after all.
"Right, can I tell my older brother and the others about this news?" She had originally wanted her family to start preparing. Now that Gao Zhijun was taking the lead, she naturally had to get her brothers to start studying too.
"You can’t write it in a letter." Because of his status, all their outgoing mail had to be reviewed, so writing about it was out of the question.
"Why?" Bai Jiu didn’t understand for a moment.
Gao Zhijun tapped her forehead and said dotingly, "Look at where we are. All paper items need to be inspected when they leave the main gate."
Bai Jiu finally realized.
"Oh, right. No wonder there are people checking every time we go in and out. So that’s how it is." She blamed herself for forgetting such basic common sense. The national scientific research department was the most classified place in the entire country; it was only natural for it to be like this.
"Then I’ll go out and make a phone call." That was the only way.
"Mhm. But after you notify your brother and the others, ask him to make a trip to Gaocun Village to deliver a message to Aiguo and Weimin." This was all he could do.
"No problem." Even if he hadn’t said anything, she would have told Aiguo anyway.
She always kept Aunt Peng’s kindness in her heart. Having been here for so long, it was about time she sent a letter there to report that they were safe. It was her fault for actually forgetting about this.
"Then I’ll go write a couple of letters. It’s been so long since we got here, and I completely forgot to let Aunt Peng know we’re safe." Bai Jiu felt a bit embarrassed. She had reported her safety to her maiden family the moment she arrived in Beijing City, but had forgotten about Aunt Peng in the village. It was her mistake.
"Hm?" Gao Zhijun was confused. "Didn’t we just say we can’t write letters?"
"I don’t mean about that. I just want to report that we’re safe. Did you forget? We’ve been here for so long and still haven’t told Aunt Peng." In the village, Aunt Peng was probably the only one who still cared about her.
Hearing her say this, Gao Zhijun’s expression changed; he had forgotten too.
"Alright, you write them then. I’ll take them to be mailed tomorrow." It would be more convenient for him to mail them.
"No problem, it’s just a few words anyway," Bai Jiu said casually.
That night, Bai Jiu was incredibly excited. She tossed and turned for half the night, and it wasn’t until Gao Zhijun helped her exhaust herself that she finally fell asleep.
The next day, after eating breakfast, Bai Jiu sent the two children to Aunt Xu’s house. Pushing her bicycle, she left the compound. She wasn’t just going to make a phone call; she was also going to buy books.