Chronicle of the 70s-Chapter 321 - 310: Advancing the Changes

During the day, everyone was busy with their work, and during all the leisure time, they began to enter all the customers’ data by typing with both hands on the keyboard. Of course, Wubi typing system hadn’t appeared yet, only a combination of pinyin and numbers, and not all customers’ data was entered, only data from state-owned enterprises and some companies needed to be entered.

After a month of hard work, by early June Li Xianglu no longer needed to work overtime. Her weight had also reached 110 pounds, but she was still heavier than before her pregnancy, when she was only 94 pounds, despite being tall with a small frame.

In order to get back to her pre-pregnancy weight, Li Xianglu ate very little at night, while Qin Xi was valued by her leaders and had recently been taken to review work at the lower levels.

The twins were growing fast under the care of the newly arrived Aunt Ma. She was very good at looking after children and loved the two kids dearly, often humming songs to them and paying special attention to changes in the weather to add clothing accordingly.

The six-month-old twins now weighed nineteen pounds each, especially loving to make the motion of kicking their legs. Su Yan, who held them in her arms, would soon get quite tired.

As soon as Li Xianglu got home from work each day, the two boys would scramble to break free from whomever was holding them to be picked up by her, but Li Xianglu could only hold one child at a time. After holding Ba’er, Ba Yi would look on with pitiful eyes without getting upset. However, if she held Ba Yi first, then it would spell disaster. Ba’er would watch his mother holding his brother in a daze, then his mouth would slowly crack open and he’d cry as loud as thunder.

If someone then playfully teased, "Oh, you poor thing, mommy doesn’t want you anymore, huh?" it would make things even worse. The lad could understand, so he’d cry even more sadly, while Ba Yi, held by Li Xianglu, would tilt his head to look at Ba’er, not understanding why his brother was so upset.

Such scenes would repeat almost every two or three days, but everyone still found it amusing, especially Su Yan, who would laugh for quite a while at the sight of Ba’er feeling aggrieved, exactly like a mischievous great-grandma bullying her great-grandson.

Li Xianglu didn’t fuss over these little things; it was good for the children’s physical and mental health to cry and make a fuss every now and then.

In the middle of June, Qin Xi returned from the county-level work, tanned all over. Ba’er cried a lot when held in her arms, so Li Xianglu had no choice but to comfort him from the side: "It’s your daddy, Ba’er, it’s your daddy. Daddy, remember? Daddy."

Only after repeating this several times did Ba’er look at Qin Xi teary-eyed, and then he started crying again.

Qin Xi had no choice but to hand the child back to Li Xianglu and instead, he picked up Ba Yi who was in Su Yan’s arms. This little guy was clever. He looked and looked again in Qin Xi’s arms, then scrunched up his little nose as if trying to recognize whether it was indeed his daddy or not. He was adorably cute.

Qin Xi then shared some information about the implementation of the household responsibility system at the grassroots level.

It was like this: a month after starting official work, Qin Xi had also submitted a detailed plan for the household responsibility system.

In fact, the household responsibility system had been proposed as early as 1979, and some villages had even begun to implement it gradually.

Qin Xi provided a plan that was more detailed and rational, improving upon what others had proposed, fitting the reality very well.

Also, he advocated for the development of agriculture and brought up the issue of fertilizer use.

As early as 1974, some high-yield areas in China had already started using chemical fertilizers, and the yields were indeed high. However, Qin Xi raised the issue of the physical fitness of the Chinese people over the next fifty years, arguing that food should not only fill people’s stomachs but also consider the impact on future generations, or else it would be a loss at more than the gain.

Qin Xi’s advanced proposal shocked many people, but there were also strong opposing voices. People were struggling to get enough to eat; they weren’t concerned about chemical fertilizers. The top priority was to fill their bellies.

Calm and collected, Qin Xi laid out several agricultural science projects on the table, including hybrid rice, which could at least quadruple yields. If that didn’t solve hunger, what would? And with yields increased, could we then dispense with industrial products like chemical fertilizers? For the sake of our children, for the future of our country.

Of course, resolving the fertilizer issue was not something that could be done overnight. Only with a substantial increase in grain production could more people be convinced to stop using chemical fertilizers, or else it all amounted to empty talk.

In terms of education, Qin Xi couldn’t make major changes himself but could only use some contacts to submit suggestions to the higher-ups, asking the state to place greater importance on education, especially at the primary and secondary levels, as well as on teaching resources and other aspects.

At the end of June, Li Jianqing and his group returned. The assignments had been given out. Thanks to the old man pulling some strings, Li Jianqing was transferred directly to the Beihai Military Region.

Qin Xi was to go to Shandong, arranged by the Lu Family. The couple would have to live apart again, but now, having been assigned to a post, they could have leave from time to time or Lu Anna could visit during vacations. It was different from their military school days when they couldn’t stay out overnight.

Before joining the military, the couple had a month’s leave, almost like an extended summer vacation. It was an unavoidable situation.

So, Lu Anna moved into the courtyard house with little Qin Huimin.

Now there were three children in the house. Qin Huimin was a nine-month-old baby. She could not only sit and crawl but also say a few simple words, such as "mom," "want," "give," and "eat."

So the house became even livelier.

Ba Yi and Ba’er were now seven months old, but oddly, these alert-looking babies could not speak yet. Li Xianglu remembered that in her past life, her neighbor’s child could call "mommy" at six months. Why couldn’t her own babies speak yet? 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

Su Yan wasn’t in a hurry. John didn’t start speaking until after his first birthday. He began speaking late, but clearly; by the time he was one and a half, he could speak three-word phrases distinctly, no more foolish than those who started speaking early.

Qin Zhen was bursting with pride. Holding his daughter, he said, "Minmin, call daddy."

Minmin was still unfamiliar with the daddy before her, as he had left when she was only three months old, but his voice was somewhat familiar. This was why Lu Anna, fearing the child would grow estranged from her father, often had Qin Zhen call out the baby’s name over the phone.

Obediently, Minmin called out sweetly, "Daddy!"

Qin Zhen wore a triumphant smile as he looked towards Qin Xi, who was feeding watermelon juice to the twins: "Brother, look, Minmin can call daddy now."

Qin Xi didn’t even glance up, continuing to feed his sons, who especially loved to eat fruits. Every time he fed them, they were ever so well-behaved, and even Ba’er stopped fussing, eagerly watching the spoon in front of him, as if worried his brother might get an extra mouthful.