Chronicle of the 70s-Chapter 396 - 371: Wedding
Li Xianglu declared that she would not give up easily; she intended to invite Old Sir Gu out of retirement by visiting him three times.
However, given that it would be Monday the next day, she couldn’t leave her post to facilitate the meeting and could only instruct Zhu Hong to keep the matter secret. If someone else caught wind of the opportunity and acted first, their plans would likely fall through.
Originally expecting to soon become wealthy, Zhu Hong immediately promised with utmost seriousness that she would tell absolutely no one.
Li Xianglu found it somewhat amusing but also expressed with equal seriousness that it was crucial for everyone to keep the secret.
The next morning, Zhu Hong was on the early shift, and Gu Niannian was brought over early. Qin Xi’s car had Ba’er seated in the front and Gu Niannian in the rear, while Li Xianglu’s backseat was occupied by Ba Yi. The three children were delivered to kindergarten in high spirits, laughing and joking all the way.
On the way, Li Xianglu chatted with Qin Xi for a while before they parted ways at the intersection.
The bank had already been rebuilt and had officially opened for business at the beginning of May. The new bank was reinforced with steel plates and was very sturdy, and the underground vault had been renovated with a new state-of-the-art code-secured door.
It was Monday, and after changing her clothes, Li Xianglu had a brief meeting with the chairman before returning to the lobby to check on everyone’s work, then she went back to her office.
Around noon, there was a knock on Li Xianglu’s door. When she called for the visitor to enter, it was Wang Yanan who came in, smiling and greeting Li Xianglu, before saying, "Director Li, Dahu and I have moved our wedding to May 16, and I’d like to request leave for the wedding."
Li Xianglu was surprised and asked, "Why the change, wasn’t it scheduled for July?" Though as she said this, she still pulled out an attendance notebook from the drawer.
Li Xianglu flipped through the notebook and, not hearing Wang Yanan reply, looked up in surprise to find Wang Yanan with flushed cheeks, looking somewhat bashful and awkwardly placing her hand over her abdomen.
Li Xianglu laughed, realizing the reason, "Oh, it’s a double celebration then. This is great news. Since you’re engaged, it’s good to get pregnant sooner."
Wang Yanan nodded shyly and sat down, a little worried, "Director Li, Dahu and I are planning a trip, at least half a month’s leave is needed. Would this affect the bank operations?"
Li Xianglu raised an eyebrow. Wang Yanan had shown significant progress in these two years, being concerned about the bank’s operations. Li Xianglu smiled and said, "You reported your marriage plans early, so the bank was well-prepared in advance. Before you leave, we will request a temporary replacement from the head office, and then I’ll step in to cover."
Deeply grateful, Wang Yanan said, "Thank you, Director Li. Please, you and the secretary must come to the wedding to have a drink."
Li Xianglu felt a bit awkward, "I will go, but I’m not sure if Qin Xi will be free."
Wang Yanan did not insist further and expressed that she would be delighted as long as Director Li could attend.
After Wang Yanan left, Li Xianglu went to Chairman Xu’s office to discuss Wang Yanan and Zhang Dahu’s plans to advance their marriage date. Additionally, with Wang Yanan now pregnant, the bank needed to accommodate a pregnant employee; it wouldn’t be fair to expect her to work overtime and stand shifts like usual, as this could lead to resentment if everyone had to share the burden over time.
Thus, Li Xianglu suggested they either hire someone new or ask the head office to assign a person.
Upon hearing this, Chairman Xu agreed it would be better to allocate a new person, so he instructed Li Xianglu to draft a report, and he would escalate it for approval.
The wedding on May 16 wouldn’t be held in the county but rather in their rural hometown. Wang Yanan and Zhang Dahu were from the same town and lived not far from each other. The family preferred a local ceremony for convenience, and Zhang Dahu’s family had even built a special house for the wedding. Overall, the guests were expected to stay for two days.
With the wedding twelve days away, Wang Yanan informed everyone at the bank after getting leave approved by Li Xianglu, hoping all her colleagues would attend her and Zhang Dahu’s wedding.
Considering they had worked together for two or three years, it seemed inappropriate not to go. Thus, everyone agreed to set off early on the morning of the wedding day. However, they needed a big vehicle for everyone.
But with so many people, where could they find such a large vehicle? Chou Xue suggested, "Would a truck be alright?" 𝒇𝒓𝙚𝒆𝔀𝓮𝓫𝒏𝓸𝙫𝓮𝓵.𝓬𝙤𝙢
Nobody balked at the idea—in those times, even bicycles were considered precious commodities.
Taking the consensus, a somewhat embarrassed Chou Xue added, "Then we’ll need to bring one more person."
Everyone had seen Chou Xue’s boyfriend, Gao Kang, before and joked that it was no problem at all, they were practically family, no need for shyness.
Between the lines, Chou Xue indicated that Gao Kang had bought a truck for hauling goods and was now engaging in business. With a little advance notice, they could borrow the truck to transport everyone.
Li Xianglu returned home and recounted all the happenings at the bank to Qin Xi in detail, including Chou Xue’s boyfriend lending his truck.
Qin Xi nodded and said, "I’ll go too that day."
Li Xianglu raised her eyebrows, "You know Chou Xue?"
Qin Xi nodded and said, "You know her too." After saying that, he turned off the desk lamp, wrapped his arms around her, and muttered, "Let’s sleep, I’m really tired."
Li Xianglu was stunned and her eyes widened. How would she know Chou Xue—whether in her past life or this one, she was meeting her for the first time, wasn’t she?
No matter how Li Xianglu shook him, Qin Xi kept his eyes closed, feigning sleep and refused to speak any further. Helpless, Li Xianglu could only let it be, knowing she would find out sooner or later.
Time flew by, and Wang Yanan’s wedding day turned out to be a Saturday. The two took leave and left on Wednesday afternoon. The new staff member was temporarily transferred from the provincial level for a month. The permanent replacement had not yet been arranged by the head office. There were no suitable candidates available, so the suggestion was for the bank to recruit independently.
Chairman Xu then assigned this task to Li Xianglu for her to recruit someone.
This was a hot potato; after all, a bank job’s front desk position paid more than forty yuan a month, not to mention additional allowances and end-of-year bonuses, amounting to, at minimum, over fifty yuan monthly—higher than a civil servant’s salary.
As for Director Li Xianglu, she received ninety-five yuan a month, which was considered a high income. Considering that the monthly tuition for high school was only three yuan at that time, as soon as this news was released, Li Xianglu’s doorstep was practically worn down by all the applicants.
Li Xianglu was truly exasperated; Chairman Xu avoided the hassle by dumping the task on her. Was this reasonable?
Fortunately, she would not be home over the weekend. Old Sir Gu and Su Yan planned to drive with the three children to visit Old Sir Gu, and see if they could renegotiate the matters concerning the ham factory. After all, they were peers and could speak the same language. Hu Zi would drive everyone over.
And early at seven o’clock in the morning, Li Xianglu was yawning as she and Qin Xi finished breakfast. Just as they stepped out of the house, they saw a large truck approaching.
Gao Kang got down from the truck and politely offered the front passenger seat to Qin Xi and Li Xianglu, while Chou Xue also came down to persuade them.
Li Xianglu, however, smilingly stated that she and Qin Xi would be fine sitting in the back.
So, the lively group set off on their journey.
