Chapter 195

Zhao Mengyun's gaze fell on the cart, and her husband's colleague introduced it with a smile: "This is a holiday gift distributed according to the treatment of cadres of the 10th National Congress of the Communist Party of China—four bottles of Moutai, three cartons of ** cigarettes, ten catties of refined white flour, half a pig's carcass, and five cans of fruit."

Those supplies, rarely seen in ordinary times, were displayed quietly, gleaming with an oily sheen under the dim light. Zhao Mengyun felt a slight ripple in her heart: these generous rations silently spoke of her husband's importance at work, yet they also gnashed at her heart like a dull knife—he hadn't returned yet, the end of the year was approaching, and she wondered if they would be able to set an extra set of chopsticks and a bowl on the reunion dinner table.

After the comrade from the Ministry's Logistics Department finished tallying up the welfare benefits and engineer allowances, he didn't leave in a hurry as usual. He straightened the collar of his dark blue Zhongshan suit, solemnly took out two red-paper-bordered certificates of merit from the inner layer of his briefcase, and handed them to Zhao Mengyun with both hands, his tone unconsciously rising a few decibels: "Comrade Zhao, these two are honors specially awarded to Director Liu at the Ministry's year-end meeting. Please accept them carefully."

Zhao Mengyun reached out and took it, her fingertips touching the firm texture of the coated paper, the crisp scent of freshly printed ink filling her nostrils. She lowered her gaze, the gold-embossed lettering reflecting tiny golden glints in the dim light of the bulb. As she pulled out the inner pages, her gaze suddenly froze.

The first certificate read, "[Research Department Awarded Advanced Collective of 1962]", with the bright red seal of the First Ministry of Machine Building at the bottom. The collective honor already carried a heavy weight, but when her gaze shifted to the second certificate, her breath hitched slightly—"[Comrade Liu Guangqi Awarded the Title of National Model Worker of 1962]", with the seals of the superior institute committee and the Ministry of Labor listed side-by-side at the bottom.

The five characters "National Model Worker" are like a gold seal branded into the back of paper, faintly warm to the touch. This transcends ministerial-level commendation, becoming the highest recognition of an individual's contributions at the national level.

Seeing her lost in thought, the officer next to her smiled and explained, "Comrade Zhao, this honor is extremely valuable. The selection process involves repeated screening from top talents, requiring individuals to have made outstanding contributions by working on the front lines. The key point is—it's not awarded annually!" He excitedly held up his finger, "The last selection was several years ago, and there were fewer than ten people selected nationwide."

Zhao Mengyun gripped the edge of the certificate, her heart churning with emotions. She knew her husband was exceptionally talented, but she hadn't expected that such a young man with so few years of work experience could achieve such national honor. Of course, she didn't know that behind this honor were two major achievements Liu Guangqi had made in 1962—achievements that even high-ranking officials considered worthy of commensurate recognition.

Just as his heart was pounding with emotion, the finance department clerk, who had been standing quietly to the side, stepped forward with a smile: "Comrade Zhao, we've prepared a copy here as well." The certificate he took out from his briefcase was made of thicker paper, with intricate intertwined floral patterns printed along the edges. "The logistics department sends spiritual nourishment, but our finance department is more practical—this is a special technical achievement award from the ministry for the four-roll mill project, specifically to recognize Chief Engineer Liu's outstanding contributions."

"This award was issued by our department, but the bonus was actually paid by the Ministry of Metallurgy."

"The other party explicitly requested that this honor be awarded to Chief Engineer Liu. All the relevant certificates are here, but it's inconvenient to publicize them, so I sent them over as well."

After saying that, he not only handed over the certificate of merit, but also took out a heavy envelope.

Unlike purely honorary awards such as "Advanced Collective" and "National Model Worker," this award for technological achievements comes with tangible material rewards.

Zhao Mengyun unfolded the envelope, inside which was a neatly stacked stack of tickets and certificates:

Twenty industrial vouchers!

Five feet of cloth ration coupon!

One ticket for the washing machine!

At the very bottom were ten brand-new "Great Unity" banknotes, exactly one hundred yuan each.

This demonstrates the substantial amount of rewards offered by the ministry.

More importantly, the technology for the four-roll mill was provided by Liu Guangqi, and there was no team contribution involved, so the reward naturally belonged entirely to him.

After a moment of silence, Zhao Mengyun's gaze swept over the three certificates of merit laid out on the table and the thick envelope, snapping her out of her brief daze.

She resealed the envelope, her face regaining its usual composure, and smiled faintly:

"Okay, I'll accept these certificates and bonuses on behalf of Director Liu and hand them over to him when he returns."

Such a generous reward was glossed over with a single, casual remark, leaving the logistics officer and finance staff who came to deliver the document momentarily stunned.

Is that all?

They had anticipated that the other party might be excited, even overjoyed, but they never expected that Director Liu's partner would remain so calm in the face of stacks of honors and real money.

I had heard earlier that she worked at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs—is this the composure and demeanor unique to diplomats?

If it were anyone else, seeing such a large amount of cash and tickets, they would probably be overjoyed.

As the two were pondering to themselves, their gazes inadvertently passed over Zhao Mengyun's shoulder and landed on the study behind her.

The next moment, their gazes were locked on, unable to look away.

On the cabinet against the wall in the study, dozens of framed certificates of merit were neatly hung.

A rough count revealed more than twenty of them.

What a magnificent wall of honor!

The certificates, with their red backgrounds, gold lettering, and yellow backgrounds with black characters, gleamed under the light, almost dazzling.

In fact, all of this was arranged by Zhao Mengyun, and it was all the awards that Liu Guangqi had received in recent years.

Liu Guangqi once felt that displaying the award certificates in this way was a bit ostentatious and did not match his low-key personality.

But Zhao Mengyun insisted on this approach—now that both children have been brought to live with her, she believes that the home needs such a shining wall so that the children can know from a young age about their father's excellence and what makes him worthy of emulation.

In the end, Liu Guangqi could not go against his wife's wishes and had no choice but to let her make the arrangements.

At this moment, the wall of honor that he considered "tacky" brought an unprecedented visual shock to the two visitors.

The finance department employee opened his mouth, but remained silent for a long time.

It was a staff member from the logistics department who managed to squeeze out a remark:

"Director Liu... is truly remarkable!"

He leaned over for a closer look and found that only six or seven of them came from other ministries, while the rest were issued by the Ministry of Machine Building or higher-level institutes.

The Ministry of Machine Building had the most, and the Academy Committee also had quite a few; each one carried significant weight.

The two exchanged a glance, both seeing a deep shock in each other's eyes.

People only see that Director Liu is young and promising, but who knows that the commendations he received unintentionally were more than the lifetime accumulation of many senior leaders in the unit!

Such achievements are truly admirable.

They came with honor, but standing in front of this wall, they suddenly felt that the award certificates they had just handed out didn't seem so dazzling anymore.

After all, Director Liu has never lacked honors.

After exchanging a few more pleasantries, the two ministry officials took their leave.

Afterwards, Zhao Mengyun called over the childcare worker and the life assistant to sort and organize all kinds of welfare subsidies and year-end bonuses.

After the two left, the room finally quieted down.

Soon after, the knocking sounded again.

Thump, thump thump.

The door lock made a slight turning sound, like a pebble thrown into still water, breaking the silence inside the room.

Zhao Mengyun's heart skipped a beat. She put down the child in her arms, walked quickly to the door, and her fingers trembled slightly as she placed them on the doorknob.

Standing outside the door were Liu Haizhong and his wife. Liu Haizhong's face was turned to the side, his gaze drifting into the depths of the corridor, his expression somewhat uneasy. His wife carried a blue cloth bundle in her hand, her knuckles slightly white.

"Dad, Mom?" Zhao Mengyun paused for a moment, then stepped aside to make way.

Hearing the noise, the two children ran out from the inner room, their small figures gliding lightly across the living room.

"Grandpa and Grandma!"

The child's innocent shouts eased the tension in the air slightly.

The second aunt put the package on the table, squatted down and hugged the two children, reaching into the bag to take out some pastries wrapped in oil paper: "I brought brown sugar cakes. Their grandfather went to the supply and marketing cooperative to queue up yesterday, and they're still warm."

A sweet fragrance filled the air.

The girl took the cake and took a bite, but the boy held it up and offered it to Liu Haizhong, saying, "Grandpa, have some."

Liu Haizhong took the pastries and gently ruffled his grandson's hair. His gaze swept around the room before finally settling on Zhao Mengyun's face. His lips moved a few times, but he ultimately remained silent.

The second aunt quietly tugged at his sleeve and turned to Zhao Mengyun, saying, "Xiaoyun, aren't you tired taking care of two children by yourself lately? Is the childcare worker doing a good job?"

His words were full of concern, but he carefully avoided mentioning a certain name.

"cough."

Liu Haizhong finally cleared his throat, his voice a little hoarse: "Xiaoyun, tell Dad the truth, where did Guangqi go? It's been three months, and there's not a single word from him."

Faced with the visit of her two elders, Zhao Mengyun felt a pang of guilt. Since her husband left, she had rarely returned to the courtyard house. It was incredibly inconvenient for a woman with two children to travel alone. Coupled with the busy work at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs at the end of the year, she went out even less.

She knew in her heart that if her son hadn't been missing for three months, the two elders wouldn't have come to the ministry compound in person.

In fact, this wasn't their first visit. Initially, they understood when they heard Liu Guangqi was on a temporary business trip. But as time went on and the Spring Festival approached, they grew increasingly uneasy—a temporary assignment was fine, a business trip was acceptable, but he couldn't possibly not go home for the New Year, could he?

"Xiaoyun," the second aunt pressed, "it's been three months, and not even a letter or a phone call?"

Zhao Mengyun forced a smile: "Dad, Mom, Guangqi is doing well."

Even the usually mild-mannered Liu Haizhong spoke harshly: "You're cheering that he hasn't been seen for three months? All the ministries are on holiday now, families are reuniting, and where is he? Where is he?"

He said it was a classified mission and told me not to ask any more questions.

Liu Haizhong pressed further, "What does a ministerial-level official, a researcher, need to keep secret?"

"If he doesn't tell me, I don't know either."

Zhao Mengyun had a vague suspicion that her husband might be working on something important. But she couldn't say a word, not even a single word.

"Xiaoyun," the second aunt's voice softened, "I just want to know, did Guangqi come back for the New Year this year?"

"Mom, I..."

Zhao Mengyun was speechless. The air in the room was so heavy it almost seemed to freeze.

Just then—

The door lock made a clear turning sound.

Click.

The sound was like a lightning bolt cleaving through frozen time and space.

All movement abruptly stopped: the second aunt's hand, which was feeding the child, hung suspended in mid-air; the words she hadn't finished saying were stuck in her throat, her face a mixture of astonishment and anticipation. The girl, her cheeks stuffed with pastries, abruptly turned her head to look at the doorway. The boy's eyes widened, unblinking.

The moment Zhao Mengyun heard that sound, she seemed to come back to life.

It was the sound of a door opening.

In this house, besides her, only one other person has a key.

The door hinges creaked softly as they slowly opened inward.

A biting gust of cold wind swept into the room first, carrying the chilly atmosphere unique to a winter night.

Immediately afterwards, a travel-worn figure appeared at the door.

He was still wearing that faded work uniform, his shoulders still covered in dust, and the edges of his trousers were worn rough, revealing the grayish-white color from years of washing.

The person standing at the door looked weary from their long journey.

But those eyes were dazzlingly bright.

"—Kuji!"

The first to shout was the second aunt, her voice trembling and stuck in her throat.

Just moments ago, Liu Haizhong was seething with anger, but now, staring at the tall shadow in the doorway, he hesitated for a long time before finally managing to utter a word:

"You finally decided to come back!"

Her words carried a hint of resentment, but her slightly reddened eyes couldn't lie.

"dad!"

Xiao Ruixue finally came to her senses.

She even forgot the brown sugar cake that her grandmother had left on the table, and with her two short legs, she rushed towards the door, like a bird returning to its nest, and crashed headfirst into Liu Guangqi's arms.

"Why!"

Liu Guangqi hurriedly put down the heavy luggage he was carrying on the ground.

He bent down and caught his daughter steadily, then picked her up in his arms. His rough palms brushed away the sugar stains stuck to the corner of her mouth, and he smiled as he gently tapped her nose: "Slow down, look at your little face covered in sugar, be careful not to choke."

"Dad! Dad's home!"

Liu Guangqi's son, Fengnian, rushed over, grabbed Liu Guangqi's leg, and shouted at the top of his lungs with his flushed face, as if he wanted to announce it to the whole world.

Liu Guangqi grinned.

This time.