My 1995 Small Farm.

Chapter 59 Recruitment
Seeing this, Chen Ling smiled modestly and said, "I just got lucky, it doesn't count..."

Those slogans are now ubiquitous in later generations, and even young children can recite a few lines of them, so he didn't really take them seriously.

"Really? I don't believe it!"

Qin Qiumei glanced at him lightly: "Wang Jusheng told me in private that you went to high school, and even finished your senior year, so your knowledge is no worse than his, that college student."

Chen Ling couldn't help but laugh out loud: "Director Qin, Brother Jusheng is just praising me on purpose to make me look good. This is just good brothers flattering each other. Don't take it seriously, don't take it seriously."

Qin Qiumei, however, did not laugh.

She simply stared at him intently with her round, bright eyes and said, "Whether Wang Jusheng is flattering you or not, he has mentioned you several times at the dinner table. Now the township leaders also know that you came up with the slogan and they admire you quite a bit."

"Before coming to the county town for the meeting, he told me to go to Chenwangzhuang and ask for your opinion, whether you would be willing to work in the township..."

These words left Chen Ling somewhat stunned.

He then began to understand why Qin Qiumei had stopped him.

I thought to myself, Jusheng is really something...

Although I know he meant well, the current Chen Ling is not the same Chen Ling as before, and I have no interest in developing in this direction.

So he hurriedly waved his hand and said, "No, no, Director Qin, I don't know anything. If I go to the township, wouldn't I just be a burden to the leaders?"

"It's so embarrassing to even tell anyone."

"Please pass on a message for me when you return to your hometown, Director Qin, that I, Chen Fugui, have failed to live up to the leaders' expectations."

"what?"

Qin Qiumei was quite surprised that he would refuse, and her pretty eyes widened slightly as she said, "Are you sure? This is a rare opportunity. It was only because the slogan received an award from the county that the township leaders made things easier for you."

"At other times, there's no such good thing."

"Besides, if you come to the township, you won't have to do much on a regular basis. You'll just need to help out at the township's cultural broadcasting station when needed, writing news reports or radio scripts. It should be very easy for you, and it won't interfere with your own work at other times..."

Upon hearing this, Chen Ling immediately understood what was going on.

The so-called "opening a door of convenience" probably means first letting him become an unofficial staff member, which means shouting through the loudspeaker, running errands for the station manager, writing articles, and the like.

I'm not very busy, and I have a lot of free time the rest of the time.

If it were the old Chen Ling, he might have agreed.

After all, he was working in the countryside, and he felt proud to talk about it back in the village.

But now, he doesn't want to go to the township, let alone the county or the city.

So he shook his head: "We know our own situation. I'm neither good at speaking nor at building relationships with the villagers. I'm lazy and unambitious. Going there would only ruin the village's image and invite gossip from outsiders. I'd better not..."

Qin Qiumei wasn't stupid; she could naturally tell that Chen Ling was making excuses.

She gave him a rather complicated look, genuinely unable to understand why he would refuse.

After all, such an opportunity is something many people would kill for.

But Chen Ling was unwilling, and there was nothing she could do but sigh softly, "Alright then, since you're unwilling, then forget it..."

To be honest, before this, her opinion of Chen Ling had changed quite a bit.

Although she hadn't lived in Chenwangzhuang for long, she had heard almost all the rumors about Chen Ling, especially her younger sister Qin Dongmei, who had never said a good word about him.

However, based on her own two encounters and observations with Chen Ling, she felt that Chen Ling's behavior was quite different from the rumors.

Putting aside the incident with the slogan, she could sometimes hear his laughter and chatter with his wife from her sister's house, even through the wall. She had also unintentionally glimpsed him taking his wife out, always chatting and laughing, looking like a very loving young couple.

It's not as bad as the rumors in the village say.

So before she came, she had some expectations for Chen Ling, but she never expected him to refuse her outright.

For some reason, this result left her with a slight sense of disappointment deep down.

Chen Ling, who was standing nearby, keenly noticed that Director Qin's expression was a little off, and thought that perhaps he had rejected the other person's good intentions and made him unhappy.

So they prepared to say goodbye and leave.

"Amei, Amei, have you been waiting long? Look what good things I brought you..."

Just then, a clear and sweet female voice rang out, and a petite woman with short hair came running over from Lingyun Middle School across the street, carrying several thick books.

As she approached, the short-haired woman narrowed her eyes, finally noticing that there was someone standing in front of Qin Qiumei. "Qiumei, is this comrade here with you for the meeting too?"

"No, this is a friend I know, and we just happened to run into each other."

Qin Qiumei snapped out of her daze, glanced at Chen Ling and smiled apologetically, then said to the short-haired woman, "It's not time for school to let out yet, the bell hasn't even rung, why are you out here?"

"Oh, it's alright. I've already assigned the homework to the students, so don't worry about it."

The short-haired woman chuckled, then handed the books in her hand to Qin Qiumei. "Take a look, these are some novels I've collected from my students over the past two weeks. One is 'The Return of the Condor Heroes,' another is 'Moment in Peking,' and these two are 'One Curtain of Dreams,' they're your favorite Qiong Yao novels!"

"Oh, right, I forgot to tell you, remember to bring me back the copy of 'Romance in the Rain' that you read last time. I took the wrong one; it's not a student's copy, it belongs to Ms. Liu from the next class..."

"Xiaoyun!"

Qin Qiumei's fair and pretty face flushed red instantly, and she hurriedly interrupted, "Stop talking, I have things to do this afternoon, let's go eat first."

How could a man bring up such a thing in front of outsiders?

Especially Xiaoyun, she even mentioned the book title.

Her cheeks burned instantly; it was so shameful and embarrassing!

To outsiders, she's the director of the family planning office; how could she be reading such a book? What would people think?
In this era when people's thinking was still very conservative, Qin Qiumei felt as if she had been stripped naked when her private hobbies were revealed like this.

Especially feeling Chen Ling's gaze constantly watching her, she couldn't stay a second longer, so she grabbed "Xiao Yun's" arm and left.

"Amei, Amei, what's the rush? You haven't even said goodbye to your friend yet!"

Qin Qiumei immediately quickened her pace.

……

"Novel..."

Watching Qin Qiumei's somewhat flustered retreating figure, Chen Ling didn't feel embarrassed at all. Instead, he was stirred up with some memories of his student days in his previous life.

Then I thought to myself, "Susu doesn't have much entertainment after finishing her chores at home, should I bring her a couple of novels to read?"

"I'll also buy one or two for myself, otherwise it's so boring without a TV."

After high-voltage power lines are installed in Changle Township this year, television signals will be available subsequently. If you want to watch TV at home, you'll have to wait until at least next year.

"Perfect timing. I haven't let anyone see the beads that the weasel sent yet. I'll also buy a few novels while I'm at it."

So Chen Ling got on the carriage and drove towards the city.

(End of this chapter)