When She Stops Being Dramatic

Chapter 168: Chapter 77: Top Star of the 60s Cultural Troupe (16)

Xia Zhaoyun paused, then smiled and nodded. "I understand now. Back when Tianhao was still with us, we didn’t really communicate much. It was mostly me being willful and him being patient."

"The time I spent with him was the happiest I’ve ever known in my short life."

Thinking of her nephew who had died so young, Director Huo’s heart ached with sorrow and regret.

But he had been gone for two years, after all. She quickly composed herself and got down to business.

"Here’s the situation. This morning, you went to the Women’s Federation hoping to pay for a single-person dormitory room, right?"

"We held a meeting to discuss it and then reported your situation to the leadership. Their position is that all single-person dorm rooms are occupied on a long-term basis by those who meet the qualifications. Renting one out to someone else is against regulations, and if anyone were to report it, the work unit would have to reclaim the room."

"Our factory has a lot of employees, so housing is always in short supply. Everyone’s watching for an opening; it’s hard to find even an empty bed in a shared room. Your arts troupe just happens to have good benefits, which is how you all secured dozens of rooms. So, by the book, this isn’t a question of whether you can pay. The reality is there are no rooms to assign to you."

"However," she said, her expression turning solemn, "if you have no plans to marry and have children, if you’re truly doing this for Tianhao and embrace the status of a martyr’s dependent, then the work unit will absolutely move heaven and earth to make arrangements for you!"

Xia Zhaoyun pressed her lips together and shook her head. "Director Huo, I already made it clear that my decision to remain faithful to Tianhao’s memory is a personal one. I don’t want to use his name to gain benefits for myself."

"Since it’s not possible, I’ll just stay in my current dorm room. Once I have enough seniority or get a promotion, I’ll be able to get in line for a single-person room then."

Director Huo smiled and patted her on the shoulder. "It was my nephew’s misfortune. He left our whole family, and he didn’t get to see the day you’d fully commit to him."

"Didn’t you mention you wanted to adopt a child or two? The work unit came up with a rather good suggestion. Care to hear it?"

Xia Zhaoyun grew tense and said quietly, "Director Huo, I only have about twenty yuan to my name right now. I have to budget carefully just to get through the next two weeks. I can’t afford to take on another person."

Director Huo handed her the file. "Don’t be so quick to say no. Hear me out."

"Even though we’re a garment factory, covering every process from raw materials to finished clothes, there are still dangers involved in the operations of some departments and workshops."

"In your hands are the files of some unfortunate children. For each of them, one parent has died, and the surviving parent has remarried and abandoned them, afraid of being dragged down. They get passed around between friends and relatives like a ball. The factory wants to look after them, but since we can’t keep an eye on them around the clock, we’ve had to come up with a two-part plan."

"We provide them with extra care and occasional benefits, and then, once they turn eighteen, we give them a job here. It’s the least we can do to honor their parents’ contributions to the factory."

"So, we thought you could choose one or two of them to raise. And of course, the factory would provide a separate stipend for the children, so it absolutely wouldn’t be an additional burden on you."

Seeing Xia Zhaoyun looking down at the papers, she couldn’t help but add in a whisper, "To be honest, this is also what Tianhao’s grandparents want. They’ve always felt they let him down, and now, after you said what you did in front of everyone..."

"The old folks got it into their heads... they want you to adopt two children to carry on Tianhao’s family line."

"And with that connection, the work unit is prepared to approve you for a brand-new apartment in the new staff building—a seventy-five-square-meter, two-bedroom, one-living-room unit on the ground floor with a small courtyard!"

Xia Zhaoyun blinked. ’Hasn’t my luck been a little *too* good these past couple of days?’

’One minute I get twelve hundred yuan, and the next I’m being offered a family apartment with a courtyard!’

Fearing she might refuse, Director Huo went on to list all the other benefits she would enjoy if she took in the children.

Xia Zhaoyun wasn’t actually against the idea of having children. She knew that while some children could be unfilial, if she put her heart into raising them, she might just be able to nurture them into fine young people.

Besides, she knew that society’s future looked bright. Nursing homes would only become more humane and comfortable. As long as she had enough money, she wouldn’t need to worry about her old age.

After some thought, she carefully picked out two pages from the pile of some twenty files. "Director Huo, I’d like to meet these two."

Director Huo glanced down and nodded with a smile. "Even if you hadn’t chosen them, we were planning to strongly recommend them to you."

"Their father was an exceptional artilleryman. He served on the northeastern front in support of a neighboring country and was honorably discharged to our factory after being wounded. Through an introduction from his old commander, he met the music teacher at the factory’s high school. They married and had these children."