Sail across the sea

Chapter 436 Intending to Seek Refuge with You

"You two, have you finally gotten married?"

Looking at the physical distance between Wang Hui and Peng Yueyue standing together, Gao Fan asked with ill intent.

"Hehe, it's a sure thing," Wang Hui said smugly.

"Wang Hui, what nonsense are you talking about!" Peng Yueyue kicked Wang Hui's calf lightly, then smiled and said to Gao Fan, "Gao Fan, don't listen to him. He's just deluding himself. He's always been like this since he was little."

Gao Fan, Wang Hui, Peng Yueyue, and Xu Dan, who joined the company a year ago and is now the director of the company's office, are classmates at the Canghai Fertilizer Plant's affiliated primary school.

Back then, Wang Hui was Gao Fan's underling and also Peng Yueyue's devoted admirer. For some reason, Gao Fan remembered Wang Hui saying he wanted to marry Peng Yueyue when he was in second or third grade, and this sentiment remained unchanged throughout junior high and high school.

After graduating from high school, Wang Hui and Peng Yueyue's scores were only high enough for junior colleges. So one went to Luping Teachers College, and the other went to Luping Agricultural College. Both schools were in Luping City and not far apart. Over the past few years, Gao Fan and Wang Hui had met quite a few times. According to Wang Hui, his relationship with Peng Yueyue had developed to the point where it couldn't be written about in the novel.

Just now, Peng Yueyue's kick to Wang Hui was clearly a practiced move. Gao Fan may not have eaten pork in his life, but he'd at least seen pigs run in his past life, so how could he not see what kind of relationship the two had?

Where were you two assigned?

Gao Fan invited the two to sit on the sofa, poured them water, and took out a small bag of peanuts from the drawer and placed it in front of them as a snack for guests.

Children from the same factory tend to have closer relationships than ordinary classmates, because they also share a bond from their parents' generation.

Wang Hui said, "We were all assigned to return to our respective counties. I went to the county education bureau to report yesterday, and Yueyue went to the agriculture bureau. I was assigned to teach junior high school at Suntuan Middle School, and Yueyue was assigned to the agricultural technology station in Lufu Township."

Suntuan Township and Lufu Township are two townships in Cangtang County, both quite far from the county seat. Suntuan Township, in particular, is located deep in the mountains and has very poor conditions. There's another issue that Wang Hui didn't explicitly state, but Gao Fan understood: these two townships are located to the south and north of each other, with a straight-line distance of over 40 kilometers on the map.

In those days, the quality of roads in rural areas was very poor. Suntuan Township, in particular, was located in the mountains, and the road to the county seat had to wind its way along the mountainside. The straight-line distance was 20 kilometers, but the actual road length was more than 50 kilometers.

If the two of them go to their respective workplaces, it's almost like the story of the Cowherd and the Weaver Girl. They can't possibly meet on weekdays, and if they want to see each other on weekends, it takes five or six hours to travel to and from the city.

To be honest, this was because neither of them had any connections; both their parents were ordinary employees at a fertilizer factory. When the Education Bureau and the Agriculture Bureau were assigning new staff, those with connections naturally took the positions in or around the county seat first, leaving them only with positions in remote townships.

"The county probably won't let you stay there forever, right?" Gao Fan asked.

Peng Yueyue said, "I asked the section chief in charge of job assignments at the bureau, and he said it's only temporary. There aren't many college graduates in the agricultural bureau system, and in my case, if I stay in the countryside for three years, I can basically be transferred back."

"The Education Bureau says the same thing. However, my dad says it's easy to go down but hard to come back. There are few college students in the county now, and even our No. 1 Middle School has many teachers with only a secondary teacher's diploma. As a junior college graduate, I should have a chance to be transferred back to the county."

“What you just said is very true. There are few college students now, but that’s just the current situation. In three years, things may change,” Gao Fan said.

Wang Hui smiled wryly, "That's what I think too. The county said I have to stay in the countryside for three years before I can be transferred, but who knows how many people will be sent back during those three years? If all those people fill up the positions, I'm afraid I'll have to stay in Suntuan until I retire." Peng Yueyue nodded slightly beside him, clearly agreeing with this view.

Both of them are a year older than Gao Fan, and they've already turned 20 this year. In Wang Hui's humble opinion, they should get married in two years. If they get married but continue to live apart like this, one in the south and one in the north, life will be unbearable. Even if one of them can be transferred back to the county, it will still be very troublesome if the other stays in the countryside.

"So what are your plans?" Gao Fan asked.

He started to think about whether he could use his connections to talk to the county leaders and arrange for his two friends to return to the county.

Now, Gao Fan doesn't even need to intervene; he can easily get things done in the county on his own. As a company that generates over $5000 million in foreign exchange annually, Canghai Chemical is a well-known enterprise in the province.

When the company was established, Xu Ying, as a leader of the Provincial Economic Commission, attended the founding ceremony and personally entrusted the county leaders of Cangtang County with the task of giving Canghai Chemical a good look after.

The top two officials of Cangtang County patted their chests and patted Gao Fan on the shoulder, saying things like "Cangtang is proud of this young man." They instructed Gao Fan that he could contact them anytime, whether for official or personal matters, and that they would do their best to help him within the scope of policy.

I think my own influence should be enough to put in a good word for two classmates.

Just then, Wang Hui said, "Yueyue and I discussed it and decided to come and join you. You can assign us any position you like."

"Join my company? You mean you want to come to Canghai Chemical?" Gao Fan was taken aback.

“Yes, isn’t Xu Dan working at your company?” Peng Yueyue said.

Gao Fan said, "Xu Dan's situation is a bit different... uh, are you two telling the truth?"

"Of course it's true," the young couple said in unison.

"Do your parents know?"

"Actually, it was my dad who first came up with this idea," Wang Hui said somewhat embarrassedly.

"What did Uncle Wang say?" Gao Fan asked. He knew Wang Hui's father, but not very well. Gao Yiping, on the other hand, would be more familiar with Wang Hui's father.

Wang Hui said, "My dad said that it's better to work for you than go to that remote mountain village of Suntuan. The salary at Canghai Chemical is several times higher than that at the fertilizer plant, and more than double what I earned as a middle school teacher. Besides, you're the chairman of the company, how could you possibly mistreat me and Yueyue?"

The following statement was actually somewhat inappropriate. Although everyone understood this, it was still a bit awkward to say it to his face. If you think about it in a negative light, you could even interpret it as him morally blackmailing Gao Fan.

Wang Hui, accustomed to seeing himself as Gao Fan's underling, spoke without thinking. Peng Yueyue, being a more distant relative, slapped Wang Hui on the shoulder and said, "What did you say! You still want to cling to Gao Fan?"

(End of this chapter)