Chronicle of the 70s-Chapter 401 - 376: Recruitment

The fake Chou Xue was detained and soon transferred back to the capital, personally escorted by Xu Wu, along with Gao Kang.

This Gao Kang was not a local, but someone who came from the Bay area. Right after setting foot on the mainland, he got targeted by the National Security Bureau.

However, he disappeared after a few days. After a fruitless search, people had to temporarily let it be, not expecting him to reappear within the capital’s borders.

And this Gao Kang was not the real Gao Kang, but an impostor who took the place of the real one. The original Gao Kang was in the military; after serving for five years and being due for reassignment, he was approached and befriended by the fake Gao Kang on the way.

The fake Gao Kang took an interest when he learned that the real Gao Kang was an orphan planning to return alone to his family home.

So he killed the real Gao Kang and took his place in Huai County.

Such impersonation would be difficult to pull off in later times, but in the year ’85, when ID cards had just started to be implemented in this country, an orphan in a town with no acquaintances allowed the fake Gao Kang to successfully take his place.

Along with the identity, he also took the funds given by the military unit for the real Gao Kang’s reassignment.

When Li Xianglu learned of these things, she was in a foul mood. The real Gao Kang was senselessly murdered, and Qin Miao sought to frame her as a murderer. Then, did Gao Kang indirectly die because of them?

Now that both the real and fake Chou Xue were gone, Chou Xue’s aunt came to the bank especially after receiving the news. The bank, having only received a sudden resignation letter, was none the wiser about the rest and had little to say to Chou Xue’s aunt.

After Xu Wu’s departure, the matter was temporarily put to rest.

Time flew, and soon it was June. The weather became increasingly hotter, and by ten o’clock at night, the twins had been cleaned and were soundly asleep in their little beds.

The two children grew quickly, measuring a meter twenty in height at just three years old. The two small beds were one meter forty, meaning that in at most another six months, the little rascals would no longer fit.

After showering, Li Xianglu came out, toweling her hair and asked, "What are the plans for handling Qin Miao’s case?"

Qin Xi, who was reading the newspaper, looked up at her upon hearing the question, set down the paper, got off the bed, took the towel, and helped her dry her hair before saying, "Xu Wu is planning to send him to Africa."

Africa?

Li Xianglu raised her eyebrows. That was very far. What if he escaped unhindered and came back? She had experienced Qin Miao firsthand; he was like a cockroach that couldn’t be killed, each time returning with greater savvy, even resorting to plastic surgery to set traps. Such an extensive scheme, intricately linked, would have let them make their move early if not discovered quickly, leaving them to be the reactive ones.

Seeing the towel soaked, Qin Xi picked up another dry one to continue drying her hair, then added, "Xu Wu has got some coal mines over in Africa."

Li Xianglu nodded in understanding. That meant there were their own people watching over there. That was reassuring. She could hardly muster sympathy for someone like Qin Miao, who plotted to frame her for murder. Even if it was clarified that she was not the murderer, it was like a stain that could not be completely erased and could lead people to associate her with that incident for a long time. How was she to live with that in the future?

Wang Yanan and Zhang Dahu had traveled far to Shanghai for their honeymoon and came back glowing, clearly very pleased with both the wedding and the honeymoon.

They brought little gifts for everyone, with Chou Xue, who had the most, also in mind. However, by the time Wang Yanan returned, Chou Xue had already been gone for half a month, a fact that caused her much regret. It’s rare to find someone with whom one can converse so easily, and yet in just a short time, she was gone.

Due to Chou Xue’s departure, Li Xianglu was forced to take on the task of hiring two new employees.

The threshold of her home was nearly worn down by visitors.

Nearly every afternoon, people inquired about the recruitment, prompting Li Xianglu, in her irritation, to put up a notice stating they were hiring two operatives openly from society. The requirements were a secondary education or above, with a limitation on specialization, and age between 20 to 35.

The turnout for registration was much more than expected; over fifty people came in a week, while they were only hiring two.

Li Xianglu then drew up a test paper, conducting a written test to weed some out, followed by interviews for further elimination, finally choosing from the last two or three remaining.

Li Xianglu invited Chairman Xu to serve as an interviewer, something he found quite novel. The sly Chairman commented that he would only observe and not participate in the decision-making.

Li Xianglu reluctantly agreed, basing her questions on some from her past interview experiences, resulting in a variety of tests.

The written test left fifteen people, ten men and five women of various ages.

Of the five women, three were 20 years old, one was 24, and one was 27.

Li Xianglu asked them almost the same question: Are you married? Do you have a committed boyfriend? If unmarried, when do you plan to get married and have children?

This puzzled Chairman Xu, and when he saw Li Xianglu dismiss both newlywed women, he couldn’t help questioning her.

Li Xianglu explained with a smile: "Newlyweds plan for children. Once pregnant, they’ll be barely settled at the bank before needing care and then will be out on leave for seven or eight months, with two months for maternity leave and four for breastfeeding leave. That’s half a year without personnel. Plus, there are those two newlyweds, aged 24 and 27 – what family wouldn’t push at that age?"

Having said that, Li Xianglu naturally kept the twenty-year-old without a boyfriend. This girl was from a rural area just below, with a decent appearance and passed the written test with a score above eighty, meaning she would be quick to learn and able to work independently in no time.

Chairman Xu, admiring her approach, gestured and said, "I’ve truly widened my horizons today. Is the selection of men done the same way?"

Li Xianglu replied with a grin, "No need for the men, this batch of ten men all did well. We just pick the younger and more good-looking ones; after all, customers who come to the bank don’t want to deal with an eyesore, right?"

Chairman Xu nodded, agreeing that the reasoning was sound.

Thus the selections were made: one man and one woman, officially starting their internship three days later, with the possibility of becoming regular employees after six months.

With the increase in staff, the bank was not as busy as before, but Li Xianglu still sat at the front desk, of course with an intern behind her. She not only handled business but also had to teach so that the intern could quickly become proficient.

The two children were thriving in kindergarten, and at the end of June, they got their summer break. Gu Niannian would switch to the school in the town center at the next term.