Chapter 10: The River Reaches the Canal, Yet the Work Remains (Part 6)
Tonight is the push for the rankings. There will be another chapter at 12:10 AM. Friends, please continue your support.
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Xiaojia’s actions were remarkably bold. Hou Weidong had never imagined she would make such a move in this situation. His body went rigid, and he whispered softly, “Xiaojia.”
On the small hill at Shazhou College, Hou Weidong had tried several times to coax Xiaojia into this act, but her shyness always caused her to shy away at the last moment. Now, in this scene, blood rushed to his head. He gazed at Xiaojia’s slender, pale neck, feeling the softness beneath his touch, and silently vowed in his heart, “If I betray Xiaojia, may I be struck by five thunders and never find peace in the afterlife.”
Chen Qingrong, seeing that the two had been in the small room for a long time without emerging, walked to the door of the inner room and called out, “Xiaojia, hurry up. If you’re any later, there won’t be a bus back to Yiyang.”
Hearing Chen Qingrong’s voice, Hou Weidong felt a sudden panic. “Xiaojia, no, they’re right outside. Get up.” Though he said this, he was powerless to resist the wild fire of Xiaojia’s passion. He pressed his back against the door, turned his body, and gently slid the bolt into its socket.
Seeing no response from the inner room, Chen Qingrong said again, “Xiaojia, hurry.” Her tone had grown somewhat stern.
With a tremor, Hou Weidong gripped Xiaojia’s shoulders tightly, pressing her firmly against his body. All his wildness and essence poured out in that moment.
Xiaojia lifted her head, her lips pursed. Seeing a roll of toilet paper on the bedside table, she tore off a piece, spat what was in her mouth onto it, and wrapped it up. She looked around for a place to discard the paper bundle but found none, so she placed it in Hou Weidong’s trouser pocket.
Once Xiaojia had tidied up, Hou Weidong said firmly, “Xiaojia, we cannot give up. Wait for me. I will definitely find a way to come to Shazhou.” Xiaojia had full confidence in Hou Weidong. She nodded vigorously and said, “It’s inconvenient to receive letters here, so keep sending them to the old address. Remember, write to me every two days. You must write, no slacking off.”
When the two stepped out, Hou Weidong no longer felt sadness. A faint smile even played on his face as he said to Chen Qingrong, who was standing outside, “Auntie, I’m leaving.” Chen Qingrong replied, “Zhang Yuanzheng, accompany Xiao Hou to the station.”
Hou Weidong said, “The midday sun is too harsh. Uncle Zhang need not come out.”
During their time at the college, Hou Weidong and Xiaojia had conducted over three years of underground work. They had long mastered the art of concealment and now acted as if nothing had happened. Chen Qingrong noticed none of the passion that had just occurred between them.
Hou Weidong then said to Zhang Yuanzheng, “Uncle, I’m leaving. Sorry for the trouble.”
Zhang Yuanzheng stood in the middle of the living room. Seeing Hou Weidong’s demeanor was normal, he simply grunted, “En,” as a reply.
The sun, like a woman with fluctuating moods, burst through the clouds as Hou Weidong stepped out of Xiaojia’s home. The naked sunlight plunged down, melting the earth. Sweat soaked Hou Weidong’s front and back, making him look as if he had just been pulled from water.
At the corner, there were several large, leafy trees. Beneath them lay a patch of thick shade. A few old women sat under the trees, fanning themselves and chatting idly. There was a grocery store by the road. Hou Weidong slowed his pace, entered the store, and bought a bottle of iced mineral water. Buying the water granted him the right to sit on the long bench in the store. He sat down, looking back toward Xiaojia’s residence. The residential building followed a uniform pattern, and after searching, Hou Weidong could not identify which unit was Xiaojia’s home.
A gulp of cold water brought a wave of coolness.
He sat expressionless in the grocery store for a while. The old women were secretly watching him. This area was the factory’s residential compound, and these women knew everyone’s business inside out. This young man was a stranger, with a close-cropped haircut and a tight, serious expression, looking as if he bore deep grievances. Having lived in the compound for decades, these women possessed high revolutionary vigilance. Exchanging glances, they began to watch Hou Weidong closely.
Hou Weidong’s mind was entirely on Xiaojia. He did not notice that the old women had already listed him as a key person to monitor. After sitting for a while, drinking a few sips of the icy mineral water, and searching for Xiaojia’s window again, he stood up and walked out of the residential area. A few steps later, he saw a broken trash can. He took the toilet paper Xiaojia had placed in his pocket. His hand was damp; inside the paper were Xiaojia’s saliva and Hou Weidong’s essence.
The toilet paper did not go into the trash can. Instead, like a gymnast, it flipped over the rim and landed lightly on the ground. The old women had been watching Hou Weidong. After he walked away, one particularly curious old woman approached the trash can, picked up a small twig, and used it to flip through the paper.
“This young man must have asthma. The paper is full of phlegm.”
“Looks like he’s not a thief.”
“He looks quite sturdy. How could he have asthma?”
“Judging by his appearance, he came from Building Five. I wonder whose guest he is.”
“I heard Xiaojia’s mother say yesterday that Xiaojia is back today. I wonder if this young man came with her.”
Relying on their familiarity with the residential compound and an unyielding curiosity, these old women were gradually approaching the truth. This was also why every neighborhood committee had a group of such women.
By the time Hou Weidong reached the station, the bus from Shazhou to Yiyang had just departed. The next bus would not leave until 4:30 PM. Hou Weidong only had an electronic watch, but it had no battery. He walked around the station and finally spotted a dusty, gray clock in an inconspicuous corner.
It was now 1:30 PM, exactly three hours before departure. The July sun in Shahe was too fierce. The streets were empty, with almost no pedestrians. Along the street, shop doors were open, and electric fans were spinning vigorously with a humming sound.
Hou Weidong sat in the waiting room, feeling exceptionally restless. He recalled the bits and pieces of his time at the college and thought about his return to Yiyang. He did not know which township he would be assigned to. Although he had spoken confidently to Chen Qingrong, he had no idea how to navigate the path ahead.
“Listen more, watch more, speak less. Be quick with your eyes, hands, and legs.” These twelve characters were the true words his father, Hou Yonggui, had given him.
Hou Yonggui came from a rural family in Wuhai City. He joined the army at seventeen. Relying on these twelve principles, he was promoted to a young platoon leader at twenty and sent to the Nanjing Artillery School for a crash course. After graduation, he followed his unit into North Korea, but the war had already ended by then. Hou Yonggui stayed in Korea for a period before returning with his unit to the Guangzhou Military Region. By then, Hou Yonggui had become a company commander.
In the early 1960s, Hou Yonggui and his two brothers were famous in their hometown, known as the “Three Heroes of the Hou Family.”
The eldest, Hou Yongrong, was an accountant at the Wuhai Distillery. The distillery was a state-owned enterprise in Wuhai County. For a rural youth to enter a state-owned enterprise and receive rationed grain was a remarkable achievement, let alone becoming an accountant. The second brother, Hou Yonghua, had attended a private school before liberation and then a modern school. After graduating from junior high, he became a secretary at the Wuhai County Party Committee. With his foundation in classical studies, his handwriting was beautiful, and he wrote articles quickly, earning the favor of the then County Party Secretary. The third brother, Hou Yonggui, joined the army and became a company commander in his early twenties, with limitless prospects.
However, fortune is unpredictable, and misfortunes can strike at any moment. An unexpected event disrupted the progress of the Three Heroes. In the mid-1960s, the eldest, Hou Yongrong, suddenly suffered a calamity. He was denounced by his female apprentice for allegedly writing counter-revolutionary slogans on a table with water after drinking. Writing counter-revolutionary slogans was a grave offense. Hou Yongrong was immediately arrested. Although the incident could not be verified, the power of the people’s dictatorship was overwhelming. He was quickly sentenced to twenty years in prison for counter-revolutionary crimes.
The second brother, Hou Yonghua, was an active participant in studying Mao’s Selected Works and an advanced worker every year. Although he was not implicated, he was transferred out of the County Party Committee to become an ordinary cadre in the Political Department of Industry and Transportation. He remained in this position for over ten years. Only after his eldest brother was rehabilitated in 1980 was he transferred to the Township Enterprise Bureau as a deputy director.
The third brother, Hou Yonggui, served as a political instructor in the army for over ten years. Several reports for his promotion were submitted but were aborted midway due to having a political prisoner in the family. By the late 1970s, before the border self-defense war, his unit transferred a batch of cadres with family issues to civilian work. Hou Yonggui was transferred back to the Wuhai County Public Security Bureau. Shortly after returning to local work, the self-defense counterattack war broke out. His unit was a frontline force, the first to aid Vietnam, suffering heavy casualties. Over ten battalion and company-level cadres were killed. Hou Yonggui’s partner in the army, a promising young battalion commander, also died on the front lines.
Sitting in the chaotic, stiflingly hot station, Hou Weidong inexplicably thought of his father and his two brothers’ experiences. The older generation’s fate was already sealed, with little room for further development. Hou Weidong was the youngest of the eight brothers in the Hou family, the only university graduate, and the only one to become a grassroots civil servant. The responsibility of bringing glory to the family fell on Hou Weidong’s shoulders. This was a topic often mentioned by his uncles, though they said it in jest, and Hou Weidong also regarded it as a joke.
After sitting in the station for a while, several men who looked like vendors carried in several large baskets filled with countless ducks. The stench was nauseating, and the quacking was chaotic. Under the scorching sun, it was truly repulsive.