Yan Xue was indeed attending a blind date, accompanying Lang Yue'e.
Lang Yue'e had been divorced for nearly two years, and Secretary Lang's wife, seeing her still at home, had grown increasingly anxious, practically nagging her every day recently.
Her own conditions weren't bad—though divorced, she had no children, and her father was the secretary of the forestry center. Quite a few people had introduced potential matches to her.
Unable to resist her mother's pressure and tired of constant matchmaking attempts, Lang Yue'e finally agreed to meet one of the candidates.
The man was from another forestry center, a few years older than Lang Yue'e. He had been engaged before, but his fiancée fell ill and passed away before they could marry.
Secretary Lang's wife thought the match was reasonable, though Lang Yue'e, having endured an unfortunate first marriage, held little expectation. So she dragged Yan Xue along for support.
The other party also arrived with two people—one tall, one short. The tall one, Zhao Guoquan, was in his late twenties, while the shorter one was his friend, Sun Pengchun.
Appearance-wise, they seemed fairly matched, though Zhao Guoquan came off as rather stern, clutching a book of political leader quotations.
Sure enough, right after introductions were made and they sat down in the club’s reading area, Zhao Guoquan asked Lang Yue'e about her interpretation of a particular quote from the book.
It was very much a product of the times, but it instantly turned the blind date into something resembling an interview, killing the mood.
Fortunately, Secretary Lang worked in party administration, so Lang Yue'e wasn’t intimidated. She answered calmly and logically.
Then the man rambled on about the topic for nearly ten minutes, until Yan Xue couldn’t help laughing beside them. "If you two really hit it off, is this what you’ll talk about at home?"
Playing the married woman card, she teased, "Why not discuss what kind of person you’re actually looking for?" That made both of them blush and finally steered the conversation back on track.
Whether the man was genuinely that ideologically devoted or just putting on a front, discussing such things on a blind date was pointless.
Anyone who prioritized character and ideological alignment over practical conditions was usually lacking in the latter.
Yan Xue decided to cut to the chase for Lang Yue'e. "Comrade Zhao, at your age, your family must be pressuring you to settle down, right? Haven’t they urged you to hurry up?"
"They have. I’ve met a few before," Zhao Guoquan admitted. "Just never found the right one."
"Finding the right person isn’t easy," Sun Pengchun, the more talkative of the two, chimed in. "A few young ladies were introduced before, but we couldn’t even hold a proper conversation."
That was an interesting remark—it implied Zhao Guoquan wasn’t lacking options while subtly complimenting Lang Yue'e for being able to engage with him.
"So if things work out, I’d like to marry before the mountain work season starts," Zhao Guoquan added. "I’m not young anymore. I want children soon."
When Qi Fang hurried into the club, those were the words he overheard, and his gaze immediately locked onto the speaker.
The man’s back view wasn’t particularly impressive, yet his ambitions sure were.
Then Sun Pengchun asked Yan Xue, "Comrade Yan, since you’re married, you must understand, right?"
His intention was to back Zhao Guoquan up—Lang Yue'e seemed far more approachable than her friend.
But the moment he finished speaking, Qi Fang’s stare burned into his back.
This was a double blind date, and they hadn’t even bothered to check if he was still alive.
The intensity of that gaze was almost tangible. Sun Pengchun vaguely sensed it and turned around, nearly jumping in surprise.
The man who had just entered was strikingly handsome, with an air of distinction—except his eyes were icy, as if trying to bore holes through whoever he looked at.
Sun Pengchun instinctively felt uneasy, then wondered why—he didn’t even know this guy.
His reaction drew Lang Yue'e and Yan Xue’s attention. Lang Yue'e glanced at Yan Xue, assuming the man was here for her.
Yan Xue thought the same and started to rise, but the moment their eyes met, the man averted his gaze and began inspecting a nearby ping-pong table.
The club had been built a few years ago through voluntary labor, meant for the forestry center’s employees to relax. The reading area they sat in had two ping-pong tables beside it.
But was this man studying mechanical engineering? Why was he examining a wooden ping-pong table like it needed repairs?
Yan Xue was speechless. Sun Pengchun, too, seemed baffled—why stare at him while checking the table? His face wasn’t a ping-pong table.
Seeing Lang Yue'e glance her way again, Yan Xue gently pressed her hand, signaling to ignore it.
The blind date resumed, and Zhao Guoquan brought up his second condition. "About your previous marriage… I’d prefer to keep it from my family. My mother is old-fashioned, and I doubt she’d accept—"
Before he could finish, a loud BANG came from the ping-pong table, startling him so badly he nearly bit his tongue.
Frowning, Zhao Guoquan turned to see the young man lifting the table to inspect underneath, raising a cloud of dust before stepping back.
"Could you keep it down?" Zhao Guoquan snapped. Everyone else, especially Yan Xue, also turned to look.
The moment Qi Fang met Yan Xue’s eyes, his movements instantly gentled, though his peach-blossom eyes drooped, giving him an unfairly pitiful look.
Yan Xue refused to be swayed and redirected the conversation. "Comrade Zhao, you work in the logging team, right? What’s your position?"
No reason for him to list demands without disclosing his own situation—job position directly affected wages.
At her question, Qi Fang’s gaze sharpened on Zhao Guoquan, who hesitated before answering, "I’m currently in forest clearing."
Not a desirable position—hard labor, low pay. In Jinchuan Forestry Center, forest clearing was usually outsourced to family teams.
Sun Pengchun tried to salvage it. "Actually, Brother Guoquan is quite skilled. He can operate chainsaws, tractors, and fix things too. Just bad luck—no connections, and he never got an opportunity like your Qi Fang."
So they knew of Qi Fang. Not surprising—over the past year, he had modified logging equipment and tractors, and the road they’d taken here was one he’d helped rebuild.
But mentioning him in front of the man himself made Lang Yue'e glance Qi Fang’s way again. Zhao Guoquan, oblivious, added, "Qi Fang is talented."
"Talent alone isn’t enough without someone pulling strings," Sun Pengchun said. "If you had the same backing, you’d have risen just as fast."
A cool voice cut in, "Oh?"
This time, even Zhao Guoquan frowned. Sun Pengchun snapped, "What’s your problem? We weren’t even talking to you."
After a pause, the man replied, "Yes, you were."
Yan Xue had no choice but to stand. "Excuse me, I need to step out for a moment."
If she stayed, Lang Yue'e’s blind date would be ruined. She had no idea what had gotten into the man today.
Frowning, Yan Xue walked out of the club. Qi Fang immediately followed, prompting Sun Pengchun to ask Lang Yue'e, "Who is that guy?"
Zhao Guoquan’s expression darkened. "Is this the kind of behavior your forestry center tolerates? I actually had a good impression of you before this."
Lang Yue'e hadn’t planned to say much, but hearing this, she felt compelled to clarify, "That’s Qi Fang, Yan Xue’s husband."
A sudden silence fell. Zhao Guoquan and Sun Pengchun shared the same thought: They had indeed mentioned him, but wasn’t he just a machine repairman? What was he doing inspecting a pool table?
Meanwhile, Yan Xue had led the man to a quiet corner outside the club. "What exactly do you want?" she asked.
To her surprise, the man’s gaze dropped to her stomach. "I don’t think either of them is suitable," he said.
The answer was completely unrelated, delivered in a stiff tone that left Yan Xue baffled.
When Yan Xue didn’t respond, the man glanced up at her briefly before looking down again. "They’re not good-looking, not capable, and they blame everything on not having connections."
Yan Xue caught the implication in Sun Pengchun’s words, but what did that have to do with him? "Don’t tell me you came here just to watch Yue'e’s blind date. Do you have nothing better to do?"
At that, the man finally looked up, his expression surprised. "Lang Yue'e is the one on the blind date?"
"If not her, then who? Me?" Yan Xue retorted without thinking.
As soon as the words left her mouth, she paused and eyed him suspiciously. "You didn’t actually think it was me, did you?"
Under her scrutiny, his expression faltered slightly before he smoothly changed the subject. "I just got a call from Secretary Qu."
"You really thought it was me?" Yan Xue couldn’t believe her ears, her disbelief practically written in bold letters.
This time, Qi Fang couldn’t deflect. "Gao Daidi from your pilot program said you were here for a blind date."
Now it seemed the girl had either written it unclearly or misunderstood—Yan Xue was just accompanying Lang Yue'e.
But Yan Xue was still incredulous. "And you believed that? Do you really think I’d be out here dating in this condition?"
"It’s not unheard of for someone to go on a blind date while pregnant," Qi Fang said, completely serious.
But those were usually women whose husbands had died, leaving them with no means to survive. Yan Xue had a job; she didn’t need to find someone.
Besides, even if she were to "run with the ball," she’d have to get divorced first. How could she possibly be dating now? What happened to the brain of the man who got into university at fourteen?
And where was his mouth? Even if Gao Daidi hadn’t heard, he had hands—couldn’t he have asked one more question?
Under Yan Xue’s unwavering stare, Qi Fang fell silent again before finally meeting her eyes. "I panicked and didn’t think to ask."
He said it directly, his honesty cutting through her frustration.
The old Qi Fang would never have admitted to feeling flustered, let alone to caring.
His peach-blossom eyes held hers intently. "I know you’re not that kind of person, but I didn’t stop to think at the time."
Some emotions simply override reason. His voice softened. "Good thing it wasn’t you."
Those four words were like a tiny hammer, gently tapping at Yan Xue’s heart. And even though he’d thought she was on a blind date, he hadn’t lashed out or accused her when he arrived.
Looking back at his earlier behavior, Yan Xue felt a mix of exasperation and amusement. "Of course it wasn’t."
"Then can you stop being mad? Let’s just be okay," Qi Fang murmured, his voice dropping even lower.
His peach-blossom eyes had a way of looking deeply affectionate, and when he softened his voice like that, it was downright unfair.
Then she felt a tentative hand reaching for hers, clearly testing the waters.
She smacked it away. "You mentioned Secretary Qu called."
The light smack wasn’t loud, but Qi Fang looked down at his hand, then back at her, and reluctantly withdrew it. "Yeah."
She learned that the county had borrowed their excavator and wanted Qi Fang to modify another one. Yan Xue had no objections.
She never interfered with Qi Fang’s work, just as he never interfered with hers.
What surprised her was that he’d rushed over, caused this whole scene, just to tell her that.
Qi Fang seemed to read her thoughts. His gaze dropped, and he carefully touched her stomach. "Didn’t we agree I’d listen to you from now on?"
His voice was quiet. "I don’t want to leave right now either."
When Yan Xue returned, the others were still in the same positions, but the atmosphere had grown awkwardly quiet.
Seeing her, Lang Yue'e even stood up. "You’ve been talking for so long—I hope we haven’t kept you two too long?"
Clearly, she wasn’t interested in continuing. Zhao Guoquan and Sun Pengchun took the hint and made their excuses to leave.
"So? Not interested?" Yan Xue asked lightly once they were gone.
Lang Yue'e smiled back. "Just didn’t feel right."
Though Zhao Guoquan hadn’t said it outright, his friend’s comments made it clear he was just looking for a promotion.
With motives that obvious, she didn’t think she could give him what he wanted.
Yan Xue understood. "Then forget it. No point forcing yourself into a marriage you know won’t work."
She didn’t believe divorced women had to settle. If they’d left because they couldn’t tolerate the compromises, why jump into another similar marriage?
Taking a chance on the unknown was one thing; knowingly walking into misery was another.
But Yan Xue’s perspective wasn’t shared by Secretary Lang’s wife, who was visibly disappointed when she heard the blind date hadn’t worked out.
"Even if he’s after your dad’s connections, so what? Everyone who introduces you to someone knows our family’s situation," she even tried to persuade Lang Yue'e.
"But shouldn’t the person at least be worth it?" Lang Yue'e countered. "What if I end up with another Liang Qimao?"
That shut her mother up. The Liang Qimao incident had been disgusting, and now that Director Yu was no longer in charge, he had even fewer scruples.
"Besides, I’m not even sure he liked me," Lang Yue'e added. The man had seemed bothered by her divorce, making the whole thing awkward.
She thought that was the end of it—until the matchmaker later relayed a message: he wanted to take her to an open-air movie.
Clearly, he was still interested, wanting her to see his side of things. Otherwise, why not just watch a movie in Jinchuan Forestry Station, where they already had screenings?
If he hadn’t been so persistent, Lang Yue'e might have been more open. But his insistence, ignoring her discomfort and the awkwardness, only put her off more.
She had her mother politely decline, citing the distance as a reason not to go—a gentle rejection.
Yet somehow, he took it as her mother’s interference. The matchmaker even showed up at their pilot program.
"Xiao Zhao really wants to take you to the town cinema. It’s quite a trip—just the bus fare alone isn’t cheap," the matchmaker pressed.
True, it wasn’t cheap. But Lang Yue'e still declined. "The pilot program keeps us too busy. I don’t have time for movies."
"What's so important about this pilot project? If you really end up with Zhao Guoquan, who knows if you'll even keep working here anyway."
The matchmaker tried to persuade her: "A woman still needs a home. Zhao Guoquan’s conditions aren’t bad—he’s tall, has a job, and is a young, unmarried man."
People always said a woman needed a home, but Yu Cuiyun had no job, and she’d never had one before—so which of them had actually lived well?
Meanwhile, Yan Xue, heavily pregnant, was still busy with her own career. Already a full-time employee, she could handle anything with ease, and her husband Qi Fang treated her well too.
The more the matchmaker brought up the pilot project, the firmer Lang Yue'e became. "I actually like working here quite a bit. I’m not planning on quitting anytime soon."
"Ah, why are you so stubborn?" The matchmaker hadn’t expected her, despite her gentle appearance, to be so unyielding. "Even if you keep working here, can you earn as much as a forestry worker? And besides, Zhao Guoquan is a young, unmarried man."
The matchmaker emphasized, "With such good conditions, he could easily find a young woman. If I weren’t impressed by your temperament, I wouldn’t even bother introducing you."
"What’s so special about being a young, unmarried man? Is he plated in gold or something?" Before Lang Yue'e could respond, someone nearby cut in.
Guo Chang'an stood not far from them, frowning at the matchmaker. "You’ve been hanging around the pilot project these past few days—what’s your deal? Eyeing something here?"
Without waiting for her reaction, he headed straight to where the dog was tied up. "No wonder I’ve noticed some of the wood ear mushrooms going missing lately."
The pilot project had plenty of valuable things, which was why they kept a guard dog and had someone on night watch.
His implication was clear—he was treating the matchmaker like a thief. She tried to explain, but when he actually unleashed the dog, she didn’t dare stay, leaving in a huff.
Only after she was gone did Guo Chang'an call the dog back and pick up the chain to re-tie it.
Lang Yue'e stepped in to help. "Thanks."
"What’s there to thank me for? I just couldn’t stand her talking nonsense, acting like being a young, unmarried man makes someone so valuable."
Guo Chang'an kept his head down as he worked. "I’m a young, unmarried man too, but someone still tried to set me up with a girl who wasn’t all there. When my mom refused, they went around saying I was too picky."
Aunt Guo would never have told him this directly, but in a small place like the forestry station, gossip inevitably reached his ears.
Once the dog was secured, Guo Chang'an straightened up. "Yan Xue once told my mom that as long as someone is outstanding enough, they’ll definitely find a good partner—no need to rush."
That sounded exactly like something Yan Xue would say. Lang Yue'e smiled. "She told me the same thing—not to settle."
In the end, they never made it to the movie. The matchmaker went back and spread plenty of unflattering remarks about Lang Yue'e.
When Secretary Lang’s wife heard about it, she was furious. After that, she hesitated to let anyone introduce potential suitors to Lang Yue'e, afraid of another situation like this.
A few days later, Jinchuan Forestry Station screened another open-air movie. Yan Xue, too far along in her pregnancy, didn’t go, so Qi Fang took Yan Jigang instead.
The boy came back excitedly recounting the film. "The fighting was so—so intense!" He also praised Qi Fang. "Brother-in-law is amazing!"
Clearly, Qi Fang had lifted him up again—otherwise, with his height, unless he climbed a tree, he’d never have seen a thing.
Yan Xue ruffled her brother’s hair. "Jigang, have you grown taller since last year? I remember you only came up to here before."
She gestured to her chest, realizing he really had shot up. Meanwhile, she kept insisting she was only eighteen and still had room to grow, but her height hadn’t budged at all…
This made her glance at the tallest person in the house, prompting Qi Fang to quickly change the subject. "The parts from the town’s machinery repair plant have arrived."
After hearing his report, the county decided to modify one of their own machines too—they couldn’t keep borrowing from Chengshui, and one excavator wasn’t enough for reservoir construction.
When Qi Fang went to the town repair plant to start the modifications, Master Hong from the county machinery factory showed up too, along with his young apprentice.
"As soon as I heard Chengshui had modified an excavator, I guessed it was you. And sure enough, it was."
Master Hong had visited Chengshui before, but always to inspect new equipment or troubleshoot problems—this was the first time he’d come to learn. "I’ve been wanting to modify one of these too, but there were a few parts I couldn’t figure out. Let me see how you handled them."
The workers at Chengshui’s repair plant never imagined the day would come when an engineer from the county factory would visit not to instruct, but to learn.
This balanced things out for the older workers. If even the county’s engineers had to come study, what was wrong with them learning from Jinchuan’s small repair shop? If anything, they were the "main branch."
Besides, they hadn’t wasted their time last go-around—they’d already made plenty of parts based on the previous specifications and were more familiar with the modifications than the county engineers.
The town repair plant buzzed with activity, and within days, the second excavator was ready, rumbling off to the reservoir to join the construction effort.
Machines worked far faster than manual labor. The county calculated that with these two excavators, the reservoir’s construction time would be cut by more than half.
Then Director Liu developed a raging toothache, a swollen abscess making it painful to speak or eat.
That Qu Mingli was too good at currying favor—the machines had barely been modified, the roads only half-finished, and he was already showing off to the county.
And what about those wood ear mushrooms he’d been promoting? The bureau’s cafeteria had them last year, but who knew how productive they really were?
In agony, Director Liu brewed some roasted dandelion root in his enamel mug.
It was good for reducing inflammation, but bitter as hell. He didn’t dare pour it out openly, afraid someone might see.
So he wrapped the dregs in paper, tossed them outside the bureau, and on his way back, happened to pass Qu Mingli’s office just as he was on the phone.
"You heard from the county that we modified tractors into excavators? Yes, we did—two of them. The city wants to see them too? Well, we’d need parts before Technician Qi can come modify them…"
Director Liu froze mid-step.
Were the county officials even better at bootlicking than Qu Mingli? They’d barely gotten their hands on the machines before reporting them to the city…
But whether Director Liu was fuming or not, the city took a keen interest in the tractor-to-excavator conversions and soon sent people to inspect them.
After all, the modifications were undeniably practical, and many forestry stations across the city had old tractors sitting idle.
Rather than letting them rust, converting them into bulldozers and excavators made sense—the costs were manageable.
Not just the city, but other counties started asking Qu Mingli about it too. After some thought, he called Qi Fang into his office.
"Honestly, I’ve been meaning to ask, but considering your history with the repair plant, I didn’t want to bring it up."
They both knew what he meant.
"Now that the person in question is gone, and it’s inconvenient for you to keep running back and forth—have you considered transferring back to the repair plant?"
