720 Intend to Install a Phone
“The day will pass whether you’re happy or not. Uncle, you have to be happy too! These are good days! There are still more to come!” Qiao Mei said as she waved her hand.
The coachman liked this young lady very much. She was prompt in payment and was also beautiful. All the men in the surrounding eight villages felt that it was a pity that they did not come to propose marriage to her, either for themselves or their sons!
“We’re here! No need to pay me since it’s on my way. Take it as I’m giving you a lift,” the coachman said with a smile.
“That won’t do! I made you wait for so long! I have to pay!” Qiao Mei took money out from her pocket, but the coachman drove the horse carriage away before Qiao Mei could finish speaking.
The coachman shouted as he left, “Just treat me to a meal when you’re free!”
Qiao Mei smiled and put the money back into her pocket. The neighbors in the village were still the best. Everyone was nicer and warmer. In the capital, if not for Grandpa Zhou, she would not have any chance to say hello to the neighbors living in the alley.
“Uncle Zhao! I’m here to make a phone call!” Qiao Mei said as she ran into the room.
Zhao Liang was so shocked that he quickly stood up and scolded Qiao Mei, “Slow down! You’re pregnant, why are you still so rash? Don’t you know how to walk slowly!”
Zhao Liang moved his stool next to the phone for Qiao Mei to sit on. Qiao Mei smiled in embarrassment. The matter of calling Chen Hu had seemed more important to her.
“Hello? This is the armed forces department. Can I help you?” Xiaobei said calmly.
Qiao Mei immediately recognized Xiaobei’s voice and pretended to be serious as she said, “Hello, comrade. I’m from the armed forces department in the neighboring city. I have something to ask your Section Head Chen, please transfer the call to him.”
“Which… armed forces department are you from? Please tell me the area code,” Xiaobei asked suspiciously.
He had been in the army unit for a long time. All this while, from his training days until his work days now, he had never seen a woman in their unit. Even the animals reared for food were all males.
This was definitely a fake call!
Qiao Mei did not know the area codes of the other units and said defeatedly, “Alright, alright. This is Qiao Mei. I have something to discuss with Uncle Hu. Is it convenient for Uncle Hu to answer the phone now?”
“So it’s elder sister Qiao Mei! Yes, yes, yes! He’s in the office. I’ll transfer the call for you.” After saying that, Xiaobei transferred the call to Chen Hu.
After three beeps, Chen Hu’s voice came through the phone.
“Hello, who is this?” Chen Hu said sternly.
“Reporting to Section Head Chen Hu! I have an urgent matter to ask for your help! Please provide support quickly!” Qiao Mei lowered her voice and said haltingly.
“Qiao Mei,” Chen Hu did not even bother to guess and immediately said Qiao Mei’s name.
Qiao Mei asked curiously, “Uncle Hu, how do you know that it’s me?”
Chen Hu laughed confidently. The guys in their unit were all elite soldiers. They would not have transferred a call from an unknown caller to him. If such a thing really happened, then the person on duty could forget about working there and would be punished in accordance with military law.
“Xiaobei won’t dare to put through calls from strangers to me. What’s your issue? I’ll help you think of a solution,” Chen Hu said.
“Uncle Hu, it’s like this. I’m thinking about installing a phone at home, but I see that the phone lines along the road are all hung on pillars. I can’t get those pillars on my own, and I’m also not sure about the procedures for getting the phone line. Can you help me?” Qiao Mei said sweetly.
Wang Qin originally lowered her head to work quietly. She knew that Qiao Mei was here, but she did not want to look at Qiao Mei, so she kept quiet.
When she heard that Qiao Mei wanted to install a phone, she could no longer suppress her curiosity. Qiao Mei was the first person in their village to have a black and white television and also the first person to have a Beihai sewing machine.
There were no more than six sewing machines in the entire village, but the other sewing machines were second-hand junk bought from factories in the county city.
From time to time, the owners would have to go and look for Lao Fan at the village entrance to fix the machines for them. At that time, the most enviable items one could own were Beihai sewing machine, Tianlan watch, Huaniao television set and Dongying radio.
The betrothal gifts that Xia Zhe gave Qiao Mei were all from these brands and all of them were of the best quality. At that time, this matter had caused a stir in the surrounding villages.
It was not as if they did not understand why someone made such a big fuss about getting a wife.
