Chapter 69: The Road-Building Madman (Part 23)
*Chapter 69 The Road-Building Madman (23)*
Under Xi Zhaoyong’s piercing gaze, the fortune teller crouched obediently in the corner of the wall. He stole a glance at Xi Zhaoyong and spoke cautiously, “Government official, I just arrived here and haven’t had time to scam anyone yet. I only have twenty-five yuan on me. Oh, and a pack of cigarettes. I’ll hand everything over. Please let me go. I promise I won’t come to Shangqinglin again.”
Xi Zhaoyong offered a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “Keep five yuan for yourself. Come with me. We’re going to the nursing home. Your money and cigarettes will serve as a tribute to the five-guarantee households.”
The fortune teller’s face twisted into a grimace of misery. “I haven’t eaten yet. Since the government is so magnanimous, could you let me keep ten yuan? I’d like to buy a bowl of tofu pudding set meal.”
Xi Zhaoyong’s anger flared. “You little bastard, trying to negotiate prices? If you want to bargain, I’ll lock you in a small cell.”
The fortune teller fell silent, his face turning as bitter as a gourd.
Hou Weidong couldn’t help but ask, “Since you can tell fortunes, why don’t you read mine?”
The fortune teller looked up at Hou Weidong and said, “This government official has a full and bright forehead. He is certain to be promoted within three years.”
Xi Zhaoyong kicked the fortune teller lightly. “Nonsense. If he isn’t promoted in three years, I’ll come to this ghost place to find you.”
After this commotion with the fortune teller, Hou Weidong felt somewhat relieved. He returned to his room and lay on the bed, intending to rest for a while. However, the room was filled with Xiaojia’s scent, her voice, and even the lingering warmth of her body, leaving him unsettled.
“Return to Shazhou in three years. Can I really go back?”
Thinking of Xiaojia, Hou Weidong recalled his promise to Chen Qingrong in Shazhou. Although he had spoken with absolute certainty at the time, looking at his current situation, returning to Shazhou was out of the question. Even transferring back to the Qinglin government would not be an easy task.
“What is the point of cleaning the office, building roads, and exhausting myself on these things?”
Hou Weidong felt a wave of discouragement. He lay loosely on the bed, the alcohol still affecting him, and before he knew it, he drifted into sleep.
In his dream, he was walking by the lake with Xiaojia. The lake and mountains were picturesque. But standing ahead on the path was Dean Ji Daolin, the divisional leader in charge of college affairs. Ji Daolin had repeatedly warned the main student cadres that dating during school was discouraged. Hou Weidong, being a student union cadre at both the department and college levels, was familiar with Ji Daolin. Seeing the dean standing in front, Hou Weidong immediately tried to retreat. But when he turned around, he saw Chen Qingrong and Zhang Yuanzheng behind him. Panicked and with no other way out, Hou Weidong and Xiaojia jumped into the river with a splash.
Hou Weidong watched as Xiaojia slowly sank. He swam desperately toward her, trying to save her, but his limbs were powerless. No matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t reach her side. Seeing Xiaojia’s long hair floating on the surface of the lake, he screamed in terror.
On the shore, the fortune teller, caught by Xi Zhaoyong, was jumping up and down, clapping his hands and laughing loudly. “Hou Weidong, let me tell your fortune.”
Hou Weidong woke up with a start, sitting up abruptly. His heart was still racing, and cold sweat poured down his face. Only when he saw the real objects in front of him did he regain his senses. Thinking of the dream, he paced around the room like a wounded wolf.
After walking countless circles, Hou Weidong stood by the window, looking at the lonely rockery in the backyard and the equally lonely grass growing on it. He told himself, “What’s the use of thinking so much? Just do the job at hand first.”
With a somewhat self-torturing mindset, Hou Weidong closed the door and walked alone toward Old Man Li’s place. He had racked his brains for a solution but lacked any powerful leverage. Standing on the hillside, he saw Old Man Li’s dilapidated stone house from afar. A middle-aged man was going in and out of the house.
Since there was no road up Shangqinglin Mountain, if bricks were used for building houses, the transportation costs would be almost equal to the cost of the materials. Therefore, many families on the mountain used local materials, building houses with stones. Stone houses were naturally not very neat, and their safety was inferior to brick houses.
Hou Weidong looked at the stone house and the middle-aged man, thinking, “This middle-aged man must be Li Guangzhong, the Deputy Director of the United Front Work Department in Shazhou. Since he has become a leader in Shazhou, he must be reasonable.”
With a glimmer of hope, Hou Weidong walked toward Old Man Li.
At the door, Hou Weidong called out, “Is Grandpa Li home?”
Old Man Li walked out of the house. Seeing it was a cadre from the town, he said angrily, “Cadre, don’t come to persuade me. It’s useless.”
After saying this, Old Man Li ignored Hou Weidong and went straight back into the house. Hou Weidong, thick-skinned, said, “Grandpa Li, listen to me explain.”
A middle-aged man walked out of the main hall and asked, “Comrade, what is the matter?”
Judging from the man’s attire and appearance, Hou Weidong determined that this was Old Man Li’s eldest son, Li Guangzhong. He politely said, “Director Li, hello. I am Hou Weidong, the grassroots civil servant stationed in Dushi Village. I have something to report to you.”
Hearing that he was a stationed cadre, Li Guangzhong’s expression did not change much. He stood at the door, took a puff of his cigarette, and said, “What is the matter?”
Hou Weidong sensed Li Guangzhong’s condescension. He replied neither humbly nor arrogantly, “Shangqinglin is preparing to build a road. According to the experts’ design, the road will go up from the Qinglin Forest Farm.” He pointed in the direction of the Li family’s ancestral grave and said, “It will go up the mountain from this direction.”
Li Guangzhong was in his forties, wearing a snow-white shirt, exuding a certain leadership demeanor. He said calmly, “Building a road is a good thing. I support it.”
Before he finished speaking, Old Man Li’s voice came from inside the house. “They want to build a road right over our ancestral grave. Qin Dajiang is no good. He’s bullying our Li family.”
Li Guangzhong said politely, “Chinese tradition respects ancestors. If the ancestral grave is to be dug up, my father will find it very hard to accept. Can the design be changed so it doesn’t pass through here?”
Hou Weidong explained with some difficulty, “The road was surveyed and designed by a formal unit. It mainly considers the mountain’s shape. Director Li, look at the mountain shape here. There are steep cliffs on both sides, and large blocks of hard rock. It is impossible to build a road there. If we change the route, it will cost at least double the workload.”
Old Man Li walked to the door and said, “Cadre, even if you talk until the sky falls, it won’t work.”
At this moment, a ringtone sounded from inside the house. Li Guangzhong turned and went back inside. He took out a mobile phone and, standing outside in front of Hou Weidong, dialed a number. “Secretary Zhao, hello. What made you think of me?”
“No need to send a car. I have my own car. Good, good. I’ll come to Yiyang tonight.”
A mobile phone cost more than ten thousand yuan. In the town, only Mayor Qin Feiyue and Secretary Zhao Yongsheng possessed such devices. Watching him make the call, Hou Weidong cursed in his heart, “Just because you have a mobile phone, you think you’re great.”
After finishing the call, Li Guangzhong said casually, “Secretary Zhao of the Yiyang County Party Committee is truly polite. His driver saw my car this morning and invited me to dinner tonight.”
Hou Weidong had hit a soft nail with the Li father and son. He returned resentfully, climbed up the hillside, and carefully looked at the Li family’s old house. Helplessly, he said, “He’s really like an old green bean—impervious to oil and salt.”
Having tried to persuade them several times without effect, Hou Weidong’s combative spirit was aroused. He went up the slope and, instead of going home, ran straight to Qin Dajiang’s house.
Qin Dajiang was wearing a vest and was carving a stone lion on the back hill. It was a semi-finished product; the shape of the lion’s head had already emerged. On the ground lay two pairs of small lions, with eyes and fur carved quite delicately.
“Why aren’t you carving big lions? Big lions might be worth more.”
Qin Dajiang put down his tools, took a big gulp of water, and said, “Without a road, these lions can only be carried down the mountain by horse teams. If the lions are too big, it’s impossible. If the road is built, I’ll start making big lions. In Guangdong, a pair of big lions is worth tens of thousands of yuan.”
Hou Weidong sat on a stone lion and said, “I went to Old Man Li’s place again. Ideological work is completely useless.”
Qin Dajiang had no good solution either. “Old Man Li sticks to his stubborn logic. He always thinks the feng shui of his ancestral grave is good. We are like a dog biting a turtle—we can’t find a place to bite. If we really can’t persuade him, I’ll just force it.”
Forcing it sounded easy, but it was actually difficult. Li Guangzhong was a cadre who had come from Shangqinglin. When he was the Director of the Agriculture Bureau in Yiyang County, he had done many good things for Shangqinglin Township. If they really dug up his family’s ancestral grave, it would be hard to bring themselves to do it.