Chapter 38: The Reputation of Bravery (Part 10)

Chapter 38: The Reputation of Bravery (10)

Seeing this, Mayor Qin shifted his target. "Xiao Hou, you studied political science and law. Director Qin is your senior in the field. Please drink this glass on his behalf."

Director Qin covered his wine glass with his hand and remained silent.

Hou Weidong observed the situation and proactively stood up. "Director Qin, I’ll take this drink." He lifted his glass and addressed Mayor Chao. "Mayor Chao, Xiao Hou offers you a toast."

Mayor Chao had lost face due to Director Qin’s behavior, and with Mayor Qin present, he could not afford to lose his temper. Instead, he silently harbored a grudge against Director Qin. He clinked glasses with Hou Weidong, sat down heavily, and said nothing, focusing solely on eating his food.

By the middle of the meal, under Mayor Qin’s continuous stream of jokes and the active cooperation of everyone present, the atmosphere gradually warmed up. The earlier minor unpleasantness was forgotten.

Director Qin of the police station was the first to leave. Hearing the roar of a jeep outside the door, Mayor Chao couldn’t help but mutter, "Director Qin is a sycophant; he only has eyes for that Zhao."

This remark inadvertently dragged Mayor Qin into the conversation. Seeing that there were still clerks at the table, Mayor Qin said, "Mayor Chao, let’s drink. Don’t talk nonsense. The matter in Dushi Village was handled well. Let us brothers clink glasses."

Recalling Secretary Zhao’s demeanor earlier, Hou Weidong became even more certain in his mind: "The two top leaders of Qinglin Town are definitely not united."

Having reached this conclusion, he carefully re-examined Secretary Zhao’s expression from earlier and felt a pang of regret. How could he, having just arrived in Qinglin, get entangled in the struggle between the two top leaders? It seemed Secretary Zhao held a grudge against him. What should he do in the future?

After finishing this meal with complex flavors, as they were leaving, Director Huang pulled Hou Weidong aside. "Hou Weidong, I just spoke with Mayor Qin about transferring you to the Family Planning Office. Although the work there is hard, the benefits are quite good. I wonder if you would be willing."

Hou Weidong was delighted. During his days in the working group, he had gained a certain understanding of its basic situation. If he could be transferred away from Shangqinglin Mountain, it would certainly be a good thing. He immediately put on a grateful smile. "Director Huang, I am willing to join the Family Planning Office. Once I’m there, I will work hard and won’t let you down."

During this trip to Dushi Village, Director Huang had heard about a brave college student who had taken the lead and tackled the bandit to the ground. Therefore, when handling the matter of "Madman Guo" in Dushi Village, he had suggested to Mayor Chao that Hou Weidong be selected to join the operation. Hou Weidong had indeed lived up to expectations, bravely charging forward again to subdue "Madman Guo" together with "Madman Xi." On the way down the mountain, Director Huang had felt a lingering fear: "If it hadn’t been for those two, who knows what might have happened."

Violent incidents were common in the Family Planning Office. Li Hui from the office could talk his way out of things, but in situations where courage won the day, he couldn’t hold his ground. The other member, Duan Hongxiu, was a female colleague handling technical work and was considered a protected individual, unable to charge into the fray. With a shortage of personnel, Director Huang had set his sights on Hou Weidong.

The Family Planning Office was an important department of the township government and also a significant source of revenue. Mayor Qin, who controlled the town’s financial power, attached great importance to it and readily agreed to Director Huang’s request.

Upon learning of the transfer news, Hou Weidong was secretly pleased. His efforts had not been in vain; he had received a generous reward. Therefore, when returning to Shangqinglin Township, his steps were light. The scenery along the mountain path was picturesque, and he couldn’t help but sing Zheng Zhihua’s "Sailor": "The bitter sand blows pain into the feeling at the edge of the sky, like a father’s scolding and a mother’s crying, forever unforgettable."

Back at the small courtyard in Qinglin Town, Yang Xinchun happily announced, "Hou University, the post office has installed the telephone."

For Hou Weidong, this was news no less significant than his transfer to the government. He quickly walked over to Yang Xinchun. "Where?"

Next to the conference room, a sign had been hung, reading "Qinglin Post Office Agency." Yang Xinchun smiled. "This is the specially cleared office. Newspapers, telephone calls, and parcels are all handled here. Letters are sent down the mountain every two days. The telephone is a program-controlled phone, very convenient."

"How much is a long-distance call per minute?"

"One yuan for long-distance, fifty cents for local calls within the district."

Hou Weidong, dizzy with love, didn’t care whether the phone rates were expensive or not. "Sister Yang, let me make a long-distance call."

Xiaojia’s phone number was already memorized in his mind. His fingers flew across the keypad. When the other party’s ringtone sounded, he was so nervous he could barely breathe.

"Shazhou Garden Management Office, who are you looking for?"

Xiaojia’s voice was like heavenly music, tracing a beautiful curve and flying deep into Hou Weidong’s heart. He spoke softly, "Xiaojia, it’s me."

"Ah, it’s you. Why haven’t you called me these past few days? And you didn’t write a letter either."

Hou Weidong felt every pore in his body relax. "This is the new program-controlled telephone installed by the working group. The number is XXXXXX. Write it down. Call me anytime. Sister Yang is the one who answers the phone; she will transfer it for me. You must contact me whenever you have time."

"Weidong, I miss you." Xiaojia’s voice on the other end of the line was already slightly choked with emotion.

"I’ll come over this Sunday."

Xiaojia hesitated for a moment. "The Garden Management Office is organizing an activity this week. We’re going on a group trip to visit the Yangtze River, departing on Friday."

Hou Weidong actually felt relieved. Qinglin Town had not yet issued salaries, and he had only a little over one hundred yuan left, which he needed to save for living expenses. He was genuinely worried that money wouldn’t be enough for a round trip. However, he couldn’t let Xiaojia sense his relief. He spoke with a tone of regret, "Next week, if there are no major arrangements, I will definitely come to Shazhou."

"Okay, I’ll wait for you." Xiaojia whispered again, "Weidong, I miss you." She had a belly full of words, but since she was in the office, she had no opportunity to say them. At that moment, she saw the Deputy Director walking over. "Let’s chat again at the usual time after work. I have something to do." She added, "Weidong, take care of your health. Drink less alcohol. The Director is here. I’ll call you after work."

Hou Weidong said, "See you then. I’ll come over right on time."

"Okay, I’ll be waiting." On the other end of the phone, Xiaojia hung up and asked the Deputy Director, "Director Zhou, is there something you need?"

Hou Weidong paid the bill and returned to the office, his mood sinking. During this conversation, he felt that Xiaojia lacked passion. This feeling was hard to put into words, yet it existed tangibly, like a magnetic field. It felt as if ants had bitten a small piece out of his heart, leaving him restless.

"It must be inconvenient to speak freely in the office," Hou Weidong comforted himself.

In the afternoon, with nothing else to do, Hou Weidong sat in the office reading newspapers all day. The Shazhou Daily offered little of interest, so he focused on the People’s Daily, reading carefully from the editorial on the front page, even looking at the advertisements.

He dragged on until 6:15 PM, estimating that the Garden Management Office had finished work. Hou Weidong ran downstairs to call Xiaojia. This time, Xiaojia was passionate as fire, acting coquettishly and refusing to let Hou Weidong hang up. By the twelfth minute, Hou Weidong felt the pressure. After kissing goodbye over the phone more than ten times, Xiaojia finally allowed him to hang up.

After hanging up, Hou Weidong began to feel heartache. "What is this? Fifteen yuan in one day? If I keep calling for a few more days, I’ll be penniless."

Returning to his simple but clean room, he took out manuscript paper and wrote five pages in one go, pouring all his longing and sorrow onto the paper.

Putting down his pen, he paced around the room. Since he had gone to Dushi Village with the large group in the morning, he hadn’t bought groceries. The room only contained rice, flour, and eggs. Hou Weidong, who had always been used to having meals served and clothes handed to him at home, was now forced to fend for himself. He cracked two eggs and boiled a pot of paste-like egg noodles. Although the appearance was poor, the taste was decent. In the end, he ate all the egg noodles.

At 6:30 PM, Hou Weidong arrived at Tie Bingsheng’s house.

The entire Tie family was waiting for Hou Weidong. Their solemnity made Hou Weidong feel somewhat embarrassed. "Principal Tie, during this holiday, whenever I have time, I will come over. You don’t need to wait for me specifically."

Tie Bingsheng rubbed his hands. "Hou University, why don’t you have dinner at our place tonight? Adding one person just means adding a pair of chopsticks. It’s more convenient."

Hearing Principal Tie call him "Hou University," Hou Weidong said, "Principal Tie, please don’t call me that. Just call me Xiao Hou."

Tian Duanqing brought out all her textbooks, with a cup of tea placed beside them.

"Let’s start with this. You read the text first."

The first lesson in high school English was the story of Karl Marx. Hou Weidong knew this text by heart. Hearing Tian Duanqing’s pronunciation, he couldn’t help but find it amusing: it was English with a heavy Yiyang accent. However, unwilling to dampen Tian Duanqing’s enthusiasm, he kept a straight face and didn’t laugh.

"Tian Duanqing, you read very fluently. It seems you’ve put in effort. However, your phonetics are problematic. Many words are not pronounced correctly. Let me read it first."

Without even looking at the textbook, Hou Weidong recited a large portion of the first lesson from memory.

Tie Bingsheng had been accompanying his daughter’s study like a prince attending to a scholar. Seeing that Hou Weidong could actually recite the text from memory, his face bloomed with a smile. He exchanged a glance with his wife, and they nodded lightly, then quietly slipped out of the room.

Outside the door, Mrs. Tie whispered to Tie Bingsheng, "Is Hou University really capable?"

Tie Bingsheng nodded. "He studied political science and law. I didn’t expect him to be able to recite English texts from memory. He must be quite good."

Inside the room, Hou Weidong had given up the fantasy of easily correcting her pronunciation. He picked up the textbook and taught Tian Duanqing word by word, sentence by sentence.

An hour later, Hou Weidong ended the lesson. A ring of sweat had appeared on his forehead. Tie Bingsheng approached with a spring-like smile, holding a paper package.

"I have two phonetic tapes at home. When I go back, I’ll bring them for Tian Duanqing. Her foundation is weak. Over the next twenty-plus days, I will mainly correct her pronunciation, starting from the basics. The teachers at Yiyang No. 1 High School are quite capable. After that, she can just follow their lead."

Tie Bingsheng nodded continuously. He handed the paper package to Hou Weidong. "This is wild tea from Qinglin. No pesticides were used. Take it back and drink it."