The Fiery Era: Becoming an Industrial Giant

Chapter 31 The Wife's Fake Best Friend
After returning home in a huff, Zhou Zhiqiang's wife ignored her husband and went back inside after putting down her bicycle.

I don't know what happened, but it doesn't seem like he was bullied; he was just angry about something.

Zhou Zhiqiang didn't go up to ask, but went back to the kitchen to make dinner. After steaming the buns, he also stir-fried two dishes.

Fried chili oil, braised potato slices, and homemade chili sauce make for a very hearty dinner.

After preparing the meal, Zhou Zhiqiang went to the main room and saw Guo Yuting lying on the bed.

After Zhou Zhiqiang sat down on the edge of the bed, he asked, "What troubles you today?"

Guo Yuting moved her shoulder slightly, but did not speak.

Seeing this, Zhou Zhiqiang said, "I've already prepared the food. If you don't have an appetite, I'll save it for you. But I'm going to eat now."

Hearing that Zhou Zhiqiang was about to leave, Guo Yuting sat up and grabbed his arm. She then said unhappily, "Gu Jiayu made things difficult for me again today. She even brought you up."

"Gu Jiayu? Isn't she the one who asked you to go to that dance party last time? Isn't she your friend?"

Zhou Zhiqiang found the name somewhat familiar, so he asked, "What did she want with me?"

Guo Yuting impulsively voiced her dissatisfaction, but then hesitated to say it aloud.

She glanced at Zhou Zhiqiang, shook her head, not really wanting to say anything nice, but it made her feel very upset.

Zhou Zhiqiang said helplessly, "It's not good to only say half of what you mean. If you encounter someone with a short temper, they'll definitely start arguing with you."

Besides, we're husband and wife. What can't we talk about between husband and wife? Especially since this concerns me. Tell me, Yuting.

Guo Yuting hesitated for a moment after hearing this, but finally said, "Gu Jiayu said her family introduced her to a guy, who seems to be some kind of outstanding young man. This has nothing to do with me, and I don't envy her."

But today she had another episode and insisted that my marriage was arranged by my parents, that I just married anyone, and that it violated the principle of freedom of marriage. She was just deliberately causing trouble, which made me lose my temper and we ended up arguing.”

Guo Yuting was too embarrassed to go into details about what happened next, but Zhou Zhiqiang guessed it.

It's nothing more than an argument that went too far, and then the boss found out, and both of them got criticized.

Guo Yuting probably couldn't stand being provoked and was the one who made the biggest scene. She received a relatively severe punishment, so she was resentful and sullen when she got home.

Zhou Zhiqiang had a general understanding of what had happened, and then he said, "I didn't expect Gu Jiayu to be this kind of person. When you talked about her last time, I thought you two had a good relationship."

Let's not go to that "laozi dance party" either; it'll only make us angrier.

Guo Yuting said matter-of-factly, "Of course I'm not going. I never want to have anything to do with her again. How come I never realized Gu Jiayu was such a bad person before?"

If she had just said my father arranged my marriage, I wouldn't be so angry, but she doesn't know you at all, yet she casually says you're useless."

When Guo Yuting heard Gu Jiayu talking about her husband at the hospital, she became furious and almost hit him.

Fortunately, she was stopped and didn't actually hit him, otherwise she would definitely have been punished, and it wouldn't have been just a simple reprimand.

However, Guo Yuting did not regret it. She now felt that her husband was very good. Who was Gu Jiayu? How dare he say such things about Zhou Zhiqiang? That's why she couldn't help but step forward and take action.

Zhou Zhiqiang burst out laughing upon hearing this.

Seeing that Zhou Zhiqiang was still laughing, Guo Yuting couldn't help but slap him twice in annoyance: "I'm angry for you, and you can still laugh."

"I laughed because I was happy, because you got angry for me the first time, but there's no need to hold a grudge over this."

Zhou Zhiqiang smiled and comforted him, "I just graduated from university and haven't even worked for a year yet. Although I'm doing very well compared to the average person, people like them, whose parents have some power, naturally look down on ordinary people."
However, I've already made plans. I just became a project leader today, and if I do well on this project, I should be able to get promoted three levels.

"Twenty years from now, her father might not even have the right to speak to me as an equal; however, this isn't a good thing to say, so don't say it outside, or you'll get into trouble." After saying the last sentence, Zhou Zhiqiang suddenly remembered that this was an era in which the people were the masters of the country, and some phenomena might exist, but they couldn't be said openly.

Zhou Zhiqiang knows the future, so he is more careful than anyone else.

However, he was still very confident that he would surpass Gu Jiayu's father in twenty years. Even without the [Collection and Deduction Assistant], Zhou Zhiqiang was still confident.

Not to mention Zhou Zhiqiang has a golden touch; he'll have no problem becoming a tech giant in the future. Gu Jiayu is just a nobody; her father has some connections in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, so she's nothing special.

"You can really be promoted three ranks in one go?"

Guo Yuting didn't hear much else, but after hearing this word, she immediately knelt down happily.

"Of course, it's very likely that the people at the Second Steel Rolling Mill still want to poach me today, and the factory leaders are already helping me get a permanent position."

Zhou Zhiqiang's words seemed to give Guo Yuting a shot of adrenaline, instantly making her feel cheerful and full of energy.

"I can't tell you exactly what I'm doing, and don't brag to others. Wait until things settle down and I'm promoted before you brag to Gu Jiayu."

"Then we can even use a megaphone to shout."

Upon hearing this, Guo Yuting immediately slapped her hand sheepishly and said, "Get lost! I would never show off like that."

Just now, she was indeed thinking that once Zhou Zhiqiang was promoted three times, she would show off to Gu Jiayu.

However, after hearing what Zhou Zhiqiang said, she felt that showing off this was quite silly, and she immediately gave up the idea.

Zhou Zhiqiang patted Guo Yuting and said, "Alright, come and eat, the food will get cold."

"Just live your own life. Next month when you get your salary, I'll take you to the supply and marketing cooperative, buy you some clothes, and maybe a box of face cream?"

Upon hearing this, Guo Yuting smiled and said, "Frost cream will do. The clothes are too expensive. Let's save money."

After talking with her husband, Guo Yuting felt no anger at all. Besides, she didn't lack material things now. Gu Jiayu was just jealous of her!
After dinner, the couple took separate showers and then lay down on the bed in the main room, talking about their future life together.

Zhou Zhiqiang plans to renovate a shower room in the front yard. He can also make water heaters; all he needs to do is find the materials and make a few pipes.

This will make taking a bath much easier, and you won't have to go through the trouble of boiling water.

This courtyard is still their own home, just the two of them, so they're not afraid of being reported for their extravagant lifestyle.

After listening, Guo Yuting immediately nodded in agreement, and then they discussed when to finish the installation.

The cost of materials and hiring workers to renovate the house would only be a few dozen yuan at most, but Zhou Zhiqiang needed to ask his connections at the factory to see if he could buy some unplanned 'scrap materials'.

However, in the end, the two still talked about buying a house.

This house belongs to the father-in-law. Guo Linhua can't stay in the Northwest forever, and Zhou Zhiqiang's brother-in-law might be transferred back.

He had never met his brother-in-law, only knew that his name was Guo Kaizhong, and that he was apparently the deputy commander of a construction corps in Northwest China.

When my father-in-law and brother-in-law return in the future, this two-courtyard house will have to be returned to them.

Zhou Zhiqiang plans to buy a house for himself and his wife in the future, a large one, at least three stories high.

And there's no need to rush. Before 1990, the price of courtyard houses didn't increase much. The couple could wait until after 1980 to buy one.

(End of this chapter)