Hard times: I worked as a truck driver in the county town

Jiang Cheng finished his shift early today. He left the county government office around 4 p.m. and drove straight home.

Because they had traveled to two communes and some brigade canteens, even on sunny days, these seven or eight people had to climb up and down dirt roads, and there was a lot of dust on the back of the truck.

Jiang Chenggang had only been discharged from the army for a short time, and he had developed some habits of tidiness during his time there. He planned to ask his younger sister and her family to help with the cleaning when they returned.

While my younger sister is still unmarried, I'll use them whenever I can.

Jiang Cheng returned home carrying local produce delivered by the commune below. He saw that the door to his parents' room was open, so he went over to see who was there.

"Chengzi, you're back early today. This is Aunt Zhang, she's here to play matchmaker for you."

Jiang Cheng had just appeared at the door when Wang Lan saw him from inside the room. Wang Lan was discussing his upcoming blind date with the matchmaker, Aunt Zhang, and took the opportunity to introduce him.

"Hello, Aunt Zhang." Upon hearing that she was the matchmaker, Jiang Cheng greeted her with a smile.

Jiang Cheng was a young man who did indeed want a woman. But as a car driver, he still harbored a certain pride.

When he was bored at the transportation station, Jiang Cheng would squat by the bus station entrance, watching the various people on the street. He would see some young women who weren't particularly attractive, and he would both admire and look down on them.

It's like being vain. When he sees a girl he doesn't find attractive, he thinks to himself, "I wouldn't sleep with a girl like that even if you gave me the chance." But his thoughts are actually dirty; he's thinking about what women are like with their pants down.

"So you're Sister Wang's son? You're such a handsome young man. With looks like that, you'd be a hit with any girl you meet on a blind date," Aunt Wang said, smiling broadly as she looked at Jiang Cheng.

Jiang Cheng served in the army for three years. Even though being a truck driver was better than other branches of the military, he was still somewhat dark-skinned. Compared to the farmers in the commune, he was better off, but compared to some people in the county town, he was slightly darker.

However, Jiang Cheng has muscles and his facial features are quite defined, making him look handsome. It's only February now, so people are wearing a lot of clothes. If it were summer and Jiang Cheng were wearing a light shirt, his muscles and physique would be even more striking.

"Is this what you got from today's trip?" Wang Lan asked, standing up and smiling as she took the items from Jiang Cheng's hands.

Jiang Cheng is going to drive for the county leaders today to inspect the canteens in the communes. Everyone in his family knows that he's going to the county leaders' place for an inspection. Yesterday, everyone was talking about whether he would get any benefits from going with them.

"I went to Jinlong and Dinghu communes today and delivered gifts to both. We'll be visiting other communes after the New Year, so we can get quite a bit more," Jiang Cheng said with a smile.

Both communes gave out sweet potatoes, totaling about ten pounds. Sweet potatoes are considered a coarse grain and aren't worth much. But since they're food, you can't complain about something given to you for free.

The pickled vegetables and radishes were packaged in small jars, which is quite common. The main ingredients included garlic, dried chili peppers, eggs, and peanuts. These are considered side dishes and are not usually available for purchase.

"Xiao Zhang, I told you my son drives a car, he must get his hands on a lot of good stuff, right?" Wang Lan said to Zhang the matchmaker, taking the items from Jiang Cheng's hands and placing them one by one on the table.

"That's for sure. Whoever marries your son will be blessed with good fortune," Zhang the matchmaker praised.

Matchmakers' praise should generally be taken at face value; they're the kind of people who can make even the most coarse grains sound like fine rice. If a girl has even a little bit of beauty, she'll be described as one in a hundred.

But what Zhang the matchmaker is saying now is absolutely the truth.

Jiang Cheng exchanged a few polite words with the matchmaker, who then gave him a general introduction to the woman he was going to meet. She had only a junior high school education, which was considered quite educated in the county, especially for a woman.

I now have a formal job, working at the health center in charge of registration.

The other person is also a government employee; if she gets together with Jiang Cheng, they'll both be working. Even if they have many children in the future, they can afford to raise them.

The only thing Wang Lan wasn't satisfied with about the woman's qualifications was that she was twenty years old. These days, when men and women look for partners, it's generally considered a good match if the woman is three or four years younger than the man.

Jiang Cheng wasn't that fixated on age; he felt that if someone was good-looking, there was no need to find someone three years younger.

After finishing the discussions with the matchmaker, it was time to set off for the blind date.

For your first blind date, don't bring anything. These days, everything is precious. If things don't work out, the man will suffer a big loss, and the woman isn't really that shameless to ask for anything in return.

Bring a pack of cigarettes and offer them to anyone you meet. If you both like each other, the second visit is basically to start a formal relationship. At that point, showing up empty-handed would be disrespectful.

Also, for the first visit, only Jiang Cheng and the matchmaker should go. If the parents also go, it will put pressure on the other side.

Jiang Cheng had the matchmaker take a car from his workplace, partly to save time and effort, but mainly to show off.

At noon, the matchmaker informed the girl's parents that he would bring a young man to visit their daughter after get off work in the afternoon.

They also told the parents that the young man was a driver at the county's bus station, and asked their daughter to dress up a bit after get off work.

Following the matchmaker's directions, Jiang Cheng quickly drove to the woman's house, then got out of the car, feeling quite dignified. He took out the remaining half-pack of Lushan cigarettes and followed the matchmaker to the woman's house.

~~

The woman's surname is Li, and the girl she's being set up with is named Li Xiufang, just like Jiang Cheng's younger sister Jiang Fang, both of whom have the character "Fang" in their names. These days, there are too many girls named Fang, and there are also many named Juanzi like Lao Si.

Li Xiufang is twenty years old this year. In general, girls in the county start going on blind dates as soon as they turn eighteen. Nowadays, it's considered most respectable and normal for women to get married between the ages of eighteen and twenty-one. If they're over twenty-one, they're called old maids.

Li Xiufang is actually anxious now, but she has high standards. She feels that she is educated and has a job, so she wants to find a man with good conditions, and she also wants him to be good-looking.

Today, when Li Xiufang heard her parents say that the matchmaker was going to bring a driver to the blind date, she took half an hour off work early.

Originally, Li Xiufang was in her living room discussing her blind date. Putting everything else aside, she was satisfied with all the men in the profession of car drivers. Li Xiufang had already decided that as long as the man's appearance and height were even slightly acceptable, she wouldn't be picky.

While the family was chatting inside, they heard a commotion outside. The matchmaker had brought the man for a blind date. As the woman, Li Xiufang was expected to be reserved, so her mother immediately called her into her room, instructing her to come out only when she heard her mother calling her name.

The matchmaker quickly brought Jiang Cheng to the Li family. With his looks, height, and status as a driver, Jiang Cheng immediately pleased them. Even if Jiang Cheng had personality issues, like a tendency to hit people—as long as it wasn't to the point of killing—the Li family felt they could marry Li Xiufang to him if he wanted.

Jiang Cheng offered cigarettes to the people, and then the matchmaker helped introduce his situation. Li Xiufang's parents also asked about Jiang Cheng's work.

"Xiao Jiang, my daughter works at the health center. She usually registers patients, and her job is easy," Li Xiufang's father said after asking about Jiang Cheng's situation.

"Uncle, I know about the health center. Is the health center short of medicine right now? I had dinner with Section Chief Wu of the Health Department today, and he said that our county is short of medicine for many kinds of diseases." Jiang Cheng said, showing off his "knowledge".

"Xiao Jiang, you even know the head of the health department!" Li Xiufang's father asked in shock.

Li Xiufang graduated from junior high school, and junior high and high school graduates were generally not guaranteed job placement. Graduates of vocational secondary schools were trained to become technical cadres, while university graduates were directly assigned cadre status.

But these days, a junior high school education is considered quite educated. Therefore, those with a junior high school education or above are given priority in job allocation, meaning they are prioritized over others when employers are hiring.

Needless to say, high school graduates, even without guaranteed job placement, will at most either get a job or a leadership position. However, many organizations will hire high school graduates, and many will go on to teach or work in the education sector.

The health department is the superior unit of the health center, which, to put it bluntly, is a small hospital, similar to a community clinic. Patients who need surgery or have more complicated conditions are transferred to the county hospital.

To put it bluntly, although Li Xiufang has started working, she works in the most basic level of medical unit. Only those who perform exceptionally well are likely to be promoted to work at the county hospital.

The county hospital is directly under the jurisdiction of the health department, so the health department is a superior authority to the people in the health center.

Many personnel appointments in the hospital require review and signature from the health department. Of course, for some senior positions in the hospital, the decision is usually made by county leaders, and the health department only keeps records. For those below the middle management level, without the health department's review and signature, they simply cannot be included in the staff and receive a national salary.

There is no director in the health department. Directors are only appointed in units at the level of the health bureau. Therefore, the head of the health department is the top leader of the department.

If Jiang Cheng knew the head of the health department, it wouldn't be difficult to transfer Li Xiufang from the health center to the county hospital after they started dating.

Li Xiufang, who was in the room, heard the conversation outside the door and felt a little excited. If she were to date the person who came, she could go to her workplace and tell everyone that her boyfriend knew the head of the health department.

"I wouldn't say we know each other, we've only met at work. Today, I had a meal with Section Chief Wu because I was driving the county leaders to inspect the communes below," Jiang Cheng said truthfully.

Today, I mainly met Wang Xuebing, the county's office secretary. I also exchanged a few words with Yang Wenbin, the director of the supply and marketing cooperative, during lunch.

Others could also say they knew him in the same way, such as people from the health department, the agricultural and industrial department, and the grain bureau. Their units might also encounter emergencies and need to deal with Jiang Cheng in the future. During the meal, they were introduced to each other.

Unlike Wang Xuebing, who felt a connection with Jiang Cheng and was somewhat open with him despite their limited acquaintance, Jiang Cheng said he could chat with him when he had time after he joined the county government.

When Li Xiufang's family heard Jiang Cheng say this, they realized that although he wasn't familiar with the head of the health department, he was at least qualified to deal with him. Unlike them, they didn't even have any connections to ask for favors.

After chatting for a few more minutes, Li Xiufang's father said, "My Xiufang is shy, all young girls are like that. She's in her room, I'll have her come out and meet you."

"Okay, sure," Jiang Cheng replied. He was really looking forward to meeting his blind date.

With several calls of "Xiufang," the door to a room next to the living room opened, and Li Xiufang walked up to her parents looking somewhat embarrassed.

Jiang Cheng looked at Li Xiufang seriously for a few moments, then paused, "This...this...this..."

She was decent-looking, but not as stunning as the matchmaker had described. Jiang Cheng was arrogant; he felt he deserved to find a beautiful woman in the county, and it wasn't just about looks—she also had a stable job.

Jiang Cheng didn't like Li Xiufang. Her features were decent, but she wasn't pretty enough. So he felt his mother was right: when men look for wives, they should try to find someone younger, because younger women tend to be more pretty.

Jiang Cheng didn't want to give a direct answer. Li Xiufang's family wanted to bring them together, so after a brief conversation, Li Xiufang's mother asked Jiang Cheng to go into her room so they could talk alone.

Once inside the room, the two spoke very frankly, mostly about things at work.

Generally, the first meeting on a blind date is just a formality, so as not to interfere with the other person's meal. Nowadays, food is expensive, and it's not appropriate for the man to eat at the other person's house. If things don't work out, it would be embarrassing to have eaten at their house.

Anyway, Jiang Cheng and Li Xiufang sat in the room for a while and then came out. Li Xiufang's family wanted them to stay for dinner, but Jiang Cheng didn't like them and didn't want them to stay.

"Xiao Jiang, what do you think of this girl? Not bad, right?"

After the two got into the car, the matchmaker asked Jiang Chengdao questions, wanting to see his first impression.

"Are there any younger, prettier girls?" Jiang Cheng asked, implying that he wasn't interested in Li Xiufang.

"I haven't found anyone I like yet," said Aunt Zhang, the matchmaker, somewhat disappointed. However, considering Jiang Cheng's qualifications, she knew he was entitled to choose a girl, and she would try to pick the best.

"If you introduce me to someone and things go well, I'll give you this amount separately," Jiang Cheng said, holding up a hand.

Five yuan for matchmaking fee is a good price to pay for the matchmaker's hard work. Normally, a successful matchmaker only gets two or three yuan, and Jiang Cheng said he would give an extra five yuan privately.

"Xiao Jiang, tell me specifically what kind of person you're looking for. I've been through this before, so don't be shy. Just tell me what you want," said Aunt Zhang, the matchmaker.

Jiang Cheng smiled sheepishly. He was good at socializing, but when it came to matters of the heart, he was indeed a bit reserved. When his parents asked him what kind of person he was looking for at home, he only gave objective answers.

Now that he only has the matchmaker and Jiang Cheng at the age where he's looking for a woman, he's no longer being reserved.

People these days are generally good at managing their finances, so a strong partnership is definitely a good thing. Therefore, having a formal job or a certain level of education makes it easier to find employment.

The age requirement for starting primary school is seven, but in the county town, many girls don't start until they're eight or older, and they're already over seventeen when they finish junior high. These girls are the right age and have a junior high education; even if they don't have a formal job now, finding a stable one in the county shouldn't be too difficult.

Then there's appearance and height. Jiang's upright appearance revealed his lustful heart to the matchmaker.

Ideally, the girl should be 1.6 meters tall, but even that height requirement is quite difficult to meet. These days, the average height of girls in the county is around 1.54 meters. They don't eat well during puberty and have to rely solely on genetics to grow.

Women who are 1.6 meters tall are only about five out of every hundred people. Finding someone that tall isn't a problem, but there's also the requirement of good looks.

If we eliminate appearance, and then further eliminate education level and occupation, then it really is almost one in a hundred.

When the matchmaker heard Jiang Cheng's requirements, although they were high, they weren't impossible; it was just that it would be difficult for them to be completely compatible.

"Xiao Jiang, what you're saying reminds me of a girl, but I need to find out more about her. She's a high school student who will graduate this year, and she's really good-looking," Aunt Zhang said.

Jiang Cheng had never thought about it in that way—a high school student, or even a high school student currently in high school.

"Ding~ The Opportunity Selection System has been triggered."

~~