The farmer truly worked hard, using a hoe to dig water eight times, waiting until the water was dug to eighteen tea leaves, the harvest season had arrived. Xiaomo stood in the wheat field, poetically shouting: “Transplant green rice seedlings, lowering head to see water and sky, six roots pure, square as retreat.”
Ah Rongzhi urged him: “Quickly dry out! Even the land can’t be planted well, you’ll only do some desperate things outside all day!”
As the sunlight turned golden, dusk approached. Xiaomo thought the land was still okay, but compared to Ah Rongzhi, he was far behind. He just realized that since childhood he had never truly done farm work, just rushing about with commission and livelihood.
Yanbei stood on the ground calling Xiaomo.
Xiaomo told him to come down. Yanbei had nothing, only taking off his shoes and walking down, Ah Rongzhi saw Yanbei coming, tentatively handing him the hoe, herself returning home to prepare dinner.
After Ah Rongzhi walked away, Yanbei’s face instantly changed: “Gai’e is quite pitiful, she’s been troubled. This matter will be pushed to a clear and clean state.
Sister asked, “Wu Zhen?”
“Wu Zhen wanted to catch Gai Yao, but if he couldn’t, he would rely on him and could barely hold onto the old man. However, there’s something better – this matter Gai Yao probably doesn’t know about Su Se.”
Sister frowned, her face turning pale, and said to Bei Zhang, “She’ll be fine after a while. What else can be done? I want to tell you something else. Recently, she’s been considering taking the civil service exam, but her original work was not stable.”
“Where is she taking the exam?”
“As the deputy director of the Tourism Resources Development Office.”
Sister heard this. She had been to a county below the previous year. The county had various preferential policies, and the investment below that county was easy to grab a good name. First, they excluded most female candidates, then had high-ranking officials preside over the interview to show fairness and block the election officials’ children. The city had already issued documents, specifically arranging senior and above female cadres who had graduated and worked in professional and middle-level positions to enter the event compilation unit. After the incident was exposed, the city government responded that this was “to stabilize the female team.”
Bei Zhang said, “This position is actually not very good. Only two thousand yuan per month, and now it’s getting harder to find a job. With such a broken position, even the scientific level can’t be counted, and they’ve brought in a group of people to fight over it. The personnel bureau, the bureau chief, the deputy secretary of the party committee, the industry and commerce bureau chief, the personnel bureau editor, the deputy director of the supervision bureau, the deputy director of the police station, a clean official, only one is the daughter of a city leader’s machine, who has probably spent a lot of money.”
“This looks interesting,” Summer smiled, “The officials are discussing swords on Huashan Mountain.”
“Zha Tou wants to find a way.”
“Finding the principal is also very helpful before Wu Lin, helping the principal’s children is also appropriate. I’ll bet the last card that the principal is your father. Think about it, they only have a specialty, but your father is an eighteen-level cadre, finding the principal is a matter of course in this world. Don’t worry, Zha Tou, this deputy director has been decided.”
“She has nothing to do with me, and I don’t feel anything about her,” Bei Zhang said again in that flower interval, Sister couldn’t help but ask Gai Yao how to find Zhou Mingze.
Bei Zhang said, “Wu Zhen hasn’t left, Gai Yao sent him to the hospital. He’s trying medicine and can’t go for treatment. Gai Yao went to catch people, just when Old Zhou was there. Old Zhou is definitely playing the role of selling friends for glory. At that time, he said that because you were holding an injector to give a two-year-old girl an injection, the little girl’s mother had left you, but you still wanted to touch someone’s body. Then Wu Zhen saved the little girl from Old Zhou’s mouth, and then you hit Wu Zhen’s body.”
Sister was a bit stunned: “I didn’t expect this. This is almost like the impression I had of the person. Old Zhou seems to want to sell Wu Zhen for glory. Wu Zhen would never admit this in front of the old man. He would say he didn’t hit anyone.”
“No problem. Wu Zhen just said he didn’t hit him. Gai Yao asked him who hit him, and he couldn’t even speak.”
Sister was silent for a moment and said, “Old Zhou is quite clever. Just say it’s good. By the way, the best thing is you, why don’t you help me explain?”
“I’m afraid Gai Yao would know the truth and tear Wu Zhen’s meat off. So I’m negotiating with you. The best thing is to have a big court that can clear his body.”
Sister said angrily, “Then let Su Se investigate the room when someone dies, and he’s now a critically ill patient. Let Gai Yao rush to leave him.”
Bei Zhang just sighed.
Summer took his phone to call Zhou to jump, and Bei Zhang listened to him and Old Zhou chatting.
In the scorching summer heat, Fang Bei used her hand to pull her hair, feeling uneasy. Looking at Lu Bei again, she seemed to be staring at Fang Bei.
Song Yanru stood on the dirt road.
As the evening wind rose, her hair strands danced lightly in the breeze, falling back after passing through. The wind made her face slightly blurry, and she did not tidy her hair. She just stood there with her small bag, looking somewhat lonely.
Fang Bei approached her.
Fang Bei was somewhat hesitant but followed along.
Song Yanru’s eyes were still red, and she said, “I just wanted to chat with you.”
Fang Bei and Lu Bei did not speak.
Song Yanru’s voice was low: “It was his own doing. Even if he doesn’t speak, I understand.”
After saying this, her tears flowed again, and she covered her mouth to suppress the sound. Her trembling shoulders looked particularly fragile.
Fang Bei said, “Let’s go to Fang Bei’s house for a meal. A-Pu’s milk is already prepared.”
Fang Bei raised her hand to touch her hair, reached out halfway, and then withdrew.
“Let’s go, let’s eat,” he said.
The Tibetan ethnic group has a famous dish called “Yak Butter Tea”, which is made by mixing yak butter into tea, steamed and then consumed, with a fresh and delicate taste. There were also clear boiled vegetables, hen eggs, and celestial chicken. Especially the celestial chicken: wash the celestial chicken, place it in a pot, steam it. Fry the chicken pieces with oil, add soup and seasonings, cook on a slow fire, add celestial chicken pieces, continue cooking, stir, and drizzle with chicken oil. When served, the fragrance filled the room, attracting people’s appetite. After “Yak Butter Tea” was served, A-Pu used a spoon to pour milk for Song Yanru, saying, “Eat more, it’s good.”
This area had high alkalinity in its water, which was good for weight loss, so there were very few fat people. Tibetan people considered being plump beautiful, and someone like Song Yanru, who was thin, would make older people feel distressed.
“Look, she’s gotten thinner compared to before,” A-Pu’s wife said, “That child won’t get sick, right!”
Song Yanru took out a small notebook from her bag, along with a small signed note, and handed everything to Fang Bei: “Burn this, make something good for him to eat, write it for me. Director Zhou told me not to let him drink cold drinks. Actually, he doesn’t eat anything.”
Fang Bei began writing but then stopped to think.
A-Pu’s wife was quiet but did not interrupt, just holding a spoon and adding vegetables for the three of them. Lu Bei softly told Fang Bei, “It seems the meal is about to be prepared, you write.”
Fang Bei wrote while occasionally looking up.
