The Reborn Sidekick Rejected The Male Lead
Chapter 100 - 98: Need to Promote the Team

Chapter 100: Chapter 98: Need to Promote the Team

In the afternoon, Lu Jingqiu was cleaning the house when someone from the unit’s Propaganda Department suddenly arrived. Jingqiu recognized him; he was an uncle from her aunt’s department and the father of Yangzi, a friend Xiao Shun played with.

"Uncle Yang."

"Xiao Qiu, I have a favor to ask you this time."

"What is it?" Lu Jingqiu immediately put down what she was doing, washed her hands, and prepared to pour a glass of water for Uncle Yang.

"The unit wants your help with a propaganda task."

Uncle Yang didn’t let Lu Jingqiu pour him a glass of water; instead, he asked her to accompany him to the activity center in the big courtyard.

While walking, he described the situation there.

It was the holiday season, so the kids were off school, but the adults were either working or training and couldn’t spare the time to look after their children.

So they thought of centrally managing the children: waking up early for military training in the morning, eating lunch at the cafeteria, and in the afternoon, a room in the activity center was especially cleared for them to do their homework.

Of course, for the safety of the children, they also enforced strict requirements at the guard gate—children were not allowed to go out alone without an adult’s accompaniment.

The troop’s efforts were well-received by families with children, who praised them again and again. The troops felt that since it was a good management practice, they should publicize it well and hopefully showcase it to other military commands to see the commitment and care of their 38aa unit in the logistics support for families.

That’s why they thought of Lu Jingqiu. Her series ’My Daily Life in the Courtyard,’ previously serialized in their internal newsletter, was very popular across various military commands. They hoped she would capture the children’s daily life during the summer vacation and submit it to the People’s Liberation Army Daily.

At the activity center, Lu Jingqiu saw Xiao Shun and Xiao Yin obediently doing their homework under their teacher’s supervision. When they saw her, they stealthily winked at her.

Their supervisors were teachers from the military district primary school, who were also family members from their courtyard. There were three teachers, and they took turns overseeing the children every week.

There were many kids in the courtyard, and those in high school and middle school were relatively self-disciplined. The most difficult to manage were these primary school children.

After understanding the situation, Jingqiu accepted Uncle Yang’s request and started planning a theme for her drawing to mail to the People’s Liberation Army Daily to try her luck.

After returning home, Lu Jingqiu did not start drawing immediately but continued cleaning.

After cleaning inside the house, she still had to clear out the chicken and duck droppings, as well as her own pet Hua Hua’s.

By the time she finished, it was already late.

As she was frowning and holding Hua Hua in the yard, Xiao Shun and Xiao Yin ran over, followed by several children including Yangzi. They all asked curiously, "Sister Xiao Qiu, what did Uncle Yang want with you today? Did he ask you to draw us?"

Yangzi also asked with anticipation, "Sister Xiao Qiu, did my dad ask you to draw pictures or is he planning for you to teach us drawing?"

Lu Jingqiu laughed at the children’s curious expressions. "Uncle Yang asked me to draw your daily life during the summer vacation. I plan to watch your training tomorrow morning, so make sure you clean yourselves up before coming home today, and don’t forget to wear your red scarves tomorrow, okay?"

Xiao Yin exclaimed, "We’re going to be in the newspaper again!"

The kids chattered excitedly for a while, unable to contain their excitement. Jingqiu smiled helplessly and cautioned, "Well, that’s not certain. If your pictures aren’t selected, I’ll have to disappoint you."

"How could that be? My dad said that the drawings by Sister Xiao Qiu are very nice to look at, and we all like them. The uncles and aunts at the newspaper office will surely like them too."

Lu Jingqiu smiled, "I need your cooperation to make the drawings good. Everyone needs to perform well tomorrow."

"Absolutely, rest assured, Sister Xiao Qiu."

The children continued their excited discussion for a while before departing together, leaving Xiao Shun and Xiao Yin behind, who stayed to play with Hua Hua for a bit.

Looking at Hua Hua’s belly, Lu Jingqiu said, "Xiao Shun, Xiao Yin, how old is Ah Fu now? Could he have gotten Hua Hua pregnant? Look, Hua Hua’s belly is much bigger than it was a few days ago."

Xiao Shun replied, "Sister Xiao Qiu, could it be that Hua Hua just ate too much?"

Lu Jingqiu felt around; it seemed similar but also not, "Who knows."

Xiao Yin expressed concern, "Sister Xiao Qiu, if Hua Hua is going to have kittens, will you be able to keep them? Please don’t let them become strays, okay?"

Jingqiu frowned, "But, a litter of kittens usually has several, and our family can’t keep that many."

The two children sighed in unison at the thought of the kittens, certain their mother would never let them have a second one.

Lu Jingqiu thought that after returning from Capital City, she would ask Lih Huakun for help and have Hua Hua sterilized.

...

The next morning, Lu Jingqiu slept in, not getting up until after eight.

After washing up, she took her camera and ran to the training field where a soldier was watching over the children from the courtyard doing horse stances in a shady area.

Xiao Shun and the others were already sweating profusely, listless at first, but perked up the moment they saw her.

Lu Jingqiu smiled without disturbing them and found a good angle to take their picture.

She thought that would be it and the soldier allowed them to rest on the spot for five minutes.

After five minutes, they began another round of training.

Lu Jingqiu pretended to leave, but found a hidden spot to observe for a while and noticed a three-year-old child imitating the others, looking incredibly adorable.

A few older children followed the lead of the bigger boys, but lacking the stamina, they couldn’t keep their focus for long.

Thinking she was well-hidden, she turned around only to see Jiang Nanzhou.

She had no idea how long he had been behind her, watching her with a smile in his eyes.

"How long have you been here?" she asked.

"Since you squatted down here," he replied.

Lu Jingqiu’s expression stiffened, realizing she had been there for about five minutes too.

"Are you done with your stuff?" she inquired.

Jiang Nanzhou said, "I just brought Xiao Mu and the others back."

"Oh."

Uncle Lu has approved my vacation," he continued, "I’ll go buy tickets tomorrow and set off for Yangjiang the day after. Are you free tomorrow?"

Lu Jingqiu nodded, "I’m already off work from my unit, so I don’t have much to do these days."

Jiang Nanzhou’s smile widened, he was about to say something when Gao Qing interrupted from a distance, "Qiuqiu."

Lu Jingqiu waved at Gao Qing, then turned to Jiang Nanzhou, "You go ahead with your things, I’m leaving."

"Okay."

Jiang Nanzhou had wanted to invite her to lunch in the canteen but didn’t say anything when he saw Gao Qing approaching.

"Why are you running over? I waited for ages at your door," Gao Qing said.

Lu Jingqiu told Gao Qing about Uncle Yang’s request from the day before, "Were you looking for me for something?"

Gao Qing, seeing her apparently forgetful face, gave her a glare and said, "Didn’t we agree to go shopping together?"

Lu Jingqiu slapped her forehead with a realization, "Let’s go, we should hurry home and ride our bikes."

The weather was still very hot, so each of them wore a hat and rode their bicycles towards the department store.

Gao Qing mentioned, "My colleague bought a blouse a few days ago. It’s a new style at the department store and it looks great. Qiuqiu, you should check it out too, and buy one. You’re about to meet the parents, and you want to make a good impression."

Lu Jingqiu listened to Gao Qing’s chatter, smiling and replying, "Okay, I’ll take your advice and buy two sets."