Jiang Ying’s comment had distracted Qin Jian, and by the time he wanted to look again, they were already getting further and further away from those few people.
The vehicle stopped at the village office, where the party branch secretary, the village head, and several village cadres all came out to greet them.
Qin Jian got out of the car and went forward to shake hands with the party branch secretary, "Leader, hello! We’re here to lay the electrical grid for you. The outdoor work this time is quite challenging; we might have to stay here for a while. Please arrange a place for us!"
The old party branch secretary, wearing a gray coat, had a face full of wrinkles as he smiled, "What’s the trouble? No trouble at all! Little Jianzi, I watched you grow up. Since you were young, I knew you were different from other kids. Just one look and I could tell you’d bring honor to us, certainly achieving great things. See, my judgment wasn’t bad, was it? You’ve become an engineer now."
"Secretary, you really have a way with words! Anyone can see that’s a high level of skill!" Jiang Ying chimed in cheerfully, the old party branch secretary having praised Qin Jian, indirectly complimented himself as well.
"This is..." The party branch secretary pointed at Jiang Ying and asked.
"My work partner — Jiang Ying," Qin Jian briefly introduced, "This is the old party branch secretary. I was naughty as a kid, but he never looked down on me for anything."
"You used to be naughty?" Jiang Ying blinked in surprise, not seeing it at all.
"Jiang... Engineer Jiang, hello, hello!" The party branch secretary came forward to shake hands with him.
Other village cadres had enthusiastically exchanged pleasantries with a few military officials, and only after some time did they begin to get to the heart of the conversation.
"The thing is, we have a considerable number of people here for the work, and I wonder if there’s enough accommodation available!" Qin Jian said.
"That’s easy. The county had already notified us before your arrival. Our village is in the midst of building a middle school, which is nearly finished; just some final touches are needed. Once the school is complete, you folks can move there. Since the school won’t start until September, there should be plenty of time."
"That’s perfect. Thank you, Secretary!"
"What’s there to thank for!" The party branch secretary tugged at his own clothes and waved Qin Jian over, "Come on, follow me to the village office. Before the school is ready, you all can stay with the villagers for a few days to ease in."
Qin Jian nodded, "Okay."
Previously, the village had been informed that the military would be coming for training and might need to stay for a few days, so the party branch secretary and several village cadres had held meetings with the villagers.
Every household with space was willing to host comrades from above for a couple of days. Considering An Hao’s family’s special circumstances, the village cadres did not consider arranging accommodation at her place.
After the tasks were distributed, the party branch secretary turned on the loudspeaker to broadcast, and then every household came to pick up a few people to take back to their homes.
Before the village names arrived, Qin Jian and those from the municipal power department discussed and set some rules, which were broadcast by the leader of the team to everyone, hoping that while not causing trouble for the villagers, they would also offer help.
By the time An Hao got home, the people who had come down to work had already been quickly assigned, so she did not see Qin Jian.
When it got dark, Qin Jian, along with the platoon leader and instructor Jiang Ying, returned to his own home. As soon as he entered, he saw Li Junping waiting at the door with an apron on.