A whirlwind marriage with a high-ranking official: Lights out, don't force me to take the initi

"Really? So fast!" Ye Wenxi was genuinely excited when she heard this.

Nothing is more important than good news that will put your life at ease.

"Okay! I just received it and forwarded it to you as soon as I got it, thinking you must be anxious."

"I figured it should be arriving around today, so... I just wanted to give you a call to let you know."

Ye Wenxi had a light smile on her face. She had originally planned to leave the money with Liu Xiuyun and just read the letter herself.

Unexpectedly, Liu Xiuyun was quick and forwarded the letter as soon as she received it.

"Wenxi, are you comfortable staying here? Is there anything you need?"

"I'm adapting quite well. Aunt Zhang and the others here are taking good care of me. Mom, don't worry about me."

The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law chatted for a few more minutes about everyday things before Ye Wenxi hung up the phone.

Walking back to the counter, I said to Wang Guifen, who was assisting me, "Sister Wang, do you have any mail for me?"

"Hey, wait a minute, let me check it for you."

Wang Guifen turned around and rummaged through the wooden mailbox and stacks of letters against the wall, quickly taking out an envelope and a package.

"Here they are."

There are two?

Ye Wenxi was taken aback.

She thought the package Zhang Yunxia mentioned was this letter.

She took the items, thanked them, carefully placed the package and envelope into the bicycle basket, and then rode her bicycle to the service center.

After buying the materials for the floor lamp, such as wire, burlap, light bulbs, and electrical wires, I leisurely rode back to my house.

When she got home, the first thing she did was take out the envelope, which felt quite thick.

The sender was listed as Harbin No. 1 Food Factory.

She tore the brown paper envelope along its edge and poured the contents into her hand.

They pulled out a royalty settlement sheet, a receipt stamped with the factory seal, a stack of brand-new banknotes, and thirty kilograms of nationally valid grain coupons.

I counted it roughly and there was a total of 160 yuan in cash!

Ye Wenxi was so shocked by the money notes in her hand that her eyes almost popped out.

This...this is almost equivalent to Lu Weidong's two months' worth of subsidies.

What does 160 yuan mean? A skilled worker in an ordinary factory only earns 30 or 40 yuan a month.

How can this food factory be so generous? It's just two design drafts, why are they giving so much?

She originally expected that she would only get a maximum of 20 yuan per manuscript.

She drew two, and she would be happy if she could choose one.

I didn't expect to be selected for both.

What Ye Wenxi didn't know was that in the late 70s, large state-owned factories were clustered together in Northeast China.

Harbin No. 1 Food Factory was the first one among them.

The factory was large-scale and highly profitable, so it was never short of money. In those days, it had already achieved an annual revenue of one million, and it was doing high-end business.

The products are not only sold all over the country, but many customized pastries and finely packaged canned goods are also supplied to leaders and military families in various regions.

For a state-owned enterprise that is not short of money but cannot lose face, it is natural to pursue top talent.

Back then, the factory's graphic designers only knew how to draw old patterns like red peonies and the character "福" (fortune), which were all the same and couldn't keep up with the tastes of high-end customers.

When Ye Wenxi sent his design drafts, they immediately caught the factory's eye.

Who knew a food gift box cover could be designed like this?!

Her work is not flashy, but has clean lines and a fresh feel.

It's far superior to the factory's graphic designers, making it a perfect match for the factory's high-end products.

The factory leaders agreed to a high fee for the manuscript without much hesitation.

They genuinely valued Ye Wenxi's abilities and wanted to win him over.

These days, it's impossible to find a designer with this level of skill; they've never even seen one.

Therefore, they offered the maximum remuneration for submitted articles.

They just wanted to leave a good impression on Ye Wenxi and try to win him over for long-term cooperation.

Ye Wenxi put down the thick stack of grain subsidy coupons and 160 yuan in cash.

He opened the envelope that came with the money and quickly read the contents.

In the letter, the food factory first affirmed her design and creativity, stating that both drafts had been selected.

The payment for each article is 80 yuan, totaling 160 yuan, which has already been paid with the letter.

Subsequently, the food factory extended an invitation for long-term cooperation with her and offered two options.

First, she was invited to formally join the food factory, offered a permanent position in the technical design department, and would enjoy all the benefits of a regular employee.

The basic monthly salary is 65 yuan, plus holiday benefits, seniority allowance, and free medical check-up.

Anything designed by her will be accepted without question.

However, there were no additional royalties.

The other option is more flexible, requiring design requests for the month to be submitted before the 5th of each month.

She can choose to answer or not.

The first draft needs to be delivered within one week, and the final payment will be settled on a per-item basis, depending on the design difficulty and application scenario.

The price ranges from 40 to 80 per item. If the design plan leads to a significant increase in sales after implementation, an additional sales bonus will be awarded.

However, she needs to provide two additional revision opportunities for each manuscript.

If you choose the second option, you also have to accept the possibility that the design may not be approved.

Ye Wenxi breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing the two conditions.

At least with this source of income, I won't starve in this era thanks to my own abilities.

For her, there is no doubt that she will choose the second cooperation method.

Living in a military dependents' home now makes commuting inconvenient, and I also need to take college entrance exams, so I can't have a fixed office schedule.

Most importantly, she didn't want to stop at the food factory.

She plans to expand cooperation with more businesses and organizations in order to gain more benefits.

She wants to be a rich woman, possessing millions or even tens of millions in assets, filling her with a constant stream of money to the brim with a sense of security.

They don't need to depend on anyone; they can live freely and flamboyantly in this era.

Thinking of this, Ye Wenxi couldn't help but smile, a smug look on her face.

She immediately found paper and pen, wrote down her thoughts on long-term and flexible cooperation, and solemnly thanked the food factory for its recognition and trust.

I clearly marked the detailed address of the military dependents' home, planning to send it back to the food factory later.

She then glanced at the package of unknown origin. She had felt its weight when she was holding it, and the recipient's name was clearly written on it.

She took out her scissors and peeled away the layers of brown paper and old newspapers that wrapped the outside, finally seeing what was inside.

Ye Wenxi dropped the scissors in her hand with a "clang," her eyes filled with surprise.

It was a beige dial phone!

She and Lu Weidong had seen it before when they went shopping at a department store. It was priced at over 500 yuan, which was equivalent to more than half a year's wages for an ordinary worker.

There was a thin piece of paper pressed down next to the phone box, which she immediately picked up and unfolded.

The message contained only one short sentence: "Happy marriage to Wenxi and Weidong, and may everything go smoothly for them."

There was no signature, and the handwriting was deliberately messy.

Who sent such an expensive wedding gift?

Ye Wenxi quickly took out the package cover, and the sender's address was "Family Compound of the 28th Army Headquarters in Harbin".

She gave a cold laugh and instantly guessed where she came from.

In the family compound, besides the Lu family, only the Xu family both knew her name and had the desire and ability to do so.

Presumably, after what happened with Xu Miao, they wanted to use their wedding as an excuse to express their apology.

Ye Wenxi remained calm, not expecting that Staff Officer Xu's family would go to such lengths, but the gift was exactly what she wanted.

Her and Lu Weidong's little home is indeed missing a lot of things now.

There were no refrigerators, televisions, washing machines, or telephones—none of the most basic household appliances were available.

Life is really inconvenient.

Especially since we'll be working with food factories long-term, we'll frequently need to communicate design requirements and confirm and modify details. Having a phone will save us a lot of legwork and significantly improve efficiency.

Thinking of this, she quickly packed up the letters and packages, hurriedly went out, and rode her bicycle back to the Military Family Compound Management Committee.

"Hey, Xiao Ye, why are you back again?" Wang Guifen teased with a smile when she saw her return.