PDLP Chapter 33 Reunion
Chapter 33 Reunion
Chijiaopen Village, Daguang Commune. A 212 jeep bumped along the country road all the way to the village branch office.
"Comrade, may I ask where Gong Xianjin, a former educated youth from your village, lives?"
The driver parked the car and got out to ask a middle-aged female villager who was passing by the village office.
The villagers saw that they had arrived in a car; these days, only important people could afford to drive such cars.
"Wait a moment, I'll go and call the village secretary for you."
The middle-aged female villager ran off to find the village secretary.
After a while, a middle-aged man walked over.
At this moment, County Magistrate Yang and Tian Zhenshan also got out of the car.
"Hello, I am Wen Hanqing, the village secretary of Chijiaopen Village. May I ask what business you have with Gong Xianjin?"
Wen Hanqing usually only attends meetings at the commune and doesn't know County Chief Yang at all. County Chief Yang also didn't tell the commune that he would be coming today.
Since the other party came to his village to find the educated youth, he naturally had to ask about the reason. So Wen Hanqing walked over and politely shook hands with County Chief Yang and Tian Zhenshan.
County Chief Yang introduced Tian Zhenshan to Wen Hanqing and explained the purpose of their visit.
Wen Hanqing quickly invited the two into the village office to sit down and arranged for someone to go and find Gong Xianjin.
Gong Xianjin and Zhou Jiefang were tilling the land at that moment. Since Tian Zhenshan hadn't mentioned it when he came, Gong Xianjin had no idea about the transfer order back to the city.
The people sent by Wen Hanqing went to the educated youth settlement but didn't see the two. They then went to the fields but still couldn't find them. Later, they met some villagers who said they saw the two turning over the soil in the fields, and that's when they finally found them.
The village office of Chijiaopen Village.
Wen Hanqing brewed fennel tea for County Chief Yang and Tian Zhenshan.
The three chatted over tea, and County Head Yang asked about village affairs and the situation of the educated youth. He also told them that he had come today to pick up Gong Xianjin, an educated youth, to return to the city.
Wen Hanqing answered all of them.
During their casual conversation, although County Chief Yang didn't mention that he was the county chief, Han Qing had already guessed that the person in front of him must be a high-ranking leader in the county.
The person sent to find Gong Xianjin has not returned yet.
Gong Xianjin then made an excuse to go out for a while.
Gong Xianjin went out not for any other reason, but to send someone to Daguang Commune to find the commune director.
"You must get to the commune as quickly as possible and tell Secretary Mu and Director Liu that a high-ranking leader from the county has arrived."
Gong Xianjin happened to run into Yang Jiayuan, the brigade leader, at the entrance of the village office.
Yang Jiayuan quickly rode his old bicycle toward Daguang Commune.
When Gong Xianjin and Zhou Jiefang heard that someone had come looking for them in a 212 Jeep, they quickly finished their work, picked up their hoes, and headed back.
The two arrived at the village office shortly afterward.
From the open gate of the village office, Tian Zhenshan saw two thin figures carrying hoes walking weakly towards the office. As they drew closer, Tian Zhenshan recognized one of them as Gong Xianjin. Excitedly, he stood up and ran towards the gate.
"advanced."
Tian Zhenshan choked out a cry and ran forward to hug Gong Xianjin tightly; both of them had tears in their eyes.
"Xianjin, I'm late. I've come to take you home." Tian Zhenshan hugged Gong Xianjin, patting his back repeatedly. Tian Zhenshan's tears dripped onto Gong Xianjin's shoulder, and Gong Xianjin's tears soaked Tian Zhenshan's clothes.
Everyone stood at the entrance of the village office watching the two of them. Tian Zhenshan suddenly realized his loss of composure, hurriedly let go of Gong Xianjin, and wiped away the tears from the corners of his eyes.
Everyone went to the village office together.
County Chief Yang said goodbye to Wen Hanqing and then followed Gong Xianjin and Zhou Jiefang toward their residence.
The educated youth settlement was located at the entrance of Chijiaopen Village, consisting of several low, thatched houses that were drafty.
Originally, a room could accommodate a few people at most. However, as most of the educated youth returned to the city or settled down and moved out, there are now only a few educated youth left, so each person has their own room.
Gong Xianjin lived in the second room on the left. When he opened the door, there was basically no furniture inside except for a bed. On the bed was a tattered quilt.
Tian Zhenshan's eyes were filled with tears again.
Gong Xianjin walked into the room, took a few tattered clothes from the bedside, turned around and said to everyone.
"Let's go."
Tian Zhenshan didn't ask any more questions, and saw that there was indeed nothing to take from the room.
"You must be Zhou Jiefang."
County Chief Yang asked the young man standing next to him.
"Ah."
Zhou Jiefang answered.
"Let's go together to Zhaoyuan's house for dinner. He asked me to take you there."
As he spoke, County Chief Yang walked toward the passenger seat.
"Okay, please wait a moment."
As Zhou Jiefang spoke, he went into his room. A moment later, he came out of the room with a paper bag, closed the door, and walked toward the 212 Jeep.
The driver started the vehicle and headed towards Zhaojia Village.
As we approached the bend in Zhaojia Village, we saw four people riding bicycles coming from the opposite direction.
As they approached each other, the people on the other side got out of their cars, and a middle-aged man walked over and waved to stop the car.
The driver stopped next to the middle-aged man who had flagged down the car and rolled down the window.
"County Chief Yang, it really is you! It really is you who has come to our Daguang Commune."
The middle-aged man greeted County Chief Yang with a broad smile as soon as he saw him.
Everyone immediately realized it was indeed County Chief Yang.
Two more people came up to greet County Chief Yang.
"County Chief Yang."
"County Chief Yang."
Approaching them were Liu Libo, director of Daguang Commune, and Wang Hailong, director of the Rural Credit Cooperative.
"Secretary Mu, which village are you all going to?"
County Chief Yang waved to everyone in response.
The person who stopped the car was Mu Shuitao, the secretary of Daguang Commune. Wen Hanqing sent someone to the commune to tell them that a high-ranking leader might have come to the village, so the three of them hurriedly rode their bicycles over.
“We’re going to Chijiaopen Village to take care of some business later. We’ve run into each other now, so we’ll go there this afternoon.”
Secretary Mu looked at everyone and said.
Everyone nodded.
"County Chief Yang, would you like to come to the commune for a while? I'd like to report on my work to you."
Secretary Mu said.
"We're going to Zhaoyuan's house in Zhaojia Village. If it's convenient for you, you can come along."
When County Chief Yang saw these people, he knew they had come for him, and he also wanted to introduce Zhaoyuan to the commune cadres.
Zheng Ziqi had already reported Zhao Yuan's performance in Huacheng and the situation on the train to County Chief Yang, and Tian Zhenshan also spoke highly of Zhao Yuan's abilities. Therefore, County Chief Yang knew that Zhao Yuan was a rare talent.
The messenger was the village head of Barefoot Village. Seeing so many leaders gathered together, he greeted County Chief Yang and then made an excuse to ride his bicycle back home.
The driver started the car and turned into Zhaojia Village, while Mu Shuitao, Liu Wenbo, and Wang Hailong rode their bicycles behind the car and headed towards Zhaojia Village.
In those days, you'd only see a few jeeps drive into the village a year. But now, not only has a jeep arrived, but leaders from the commune are following behind.
Zhao Beiguo, the village party secretary and village head, learned of the news from afar and rushed to the village office, instructing people to find the accountant and all the brigade leaders to gather at the village office.
The 212 jeep drove into Zhaojia Village but did not go to the village office; instead, it went straight to Zhaoyuan's house.
This immediately became major news in Zhaojia Village.
The news spread instantly in Zhaojia Village. The village was so small that even the smallest thing could quickly spread throughout the village. The news that a high-ranking leader had come to the Zhao family, a family that had never seen a man before, spread like wildfire.
Many people stood at the door to watch the excitement, and even people walking on the road stopped to watch.
The roads in the village were even more bumpy and full of potholes, making the car move very slowly. Before the car even reached Zhao Yuan's house, the village party secretary, Zhao Jianguo, had already started talking to the commune leaders behind the group. Although they knew they were going to Zhao Yuan's house, they didn't know why the county magistrate was going to Zhao Yuan's house.
Tu Chenglong wandered around the village but didn't find anything interesting or fun. He then returned and took over Lin Fangfang's job of tending the fire.
"Zhaoyuan, Zhaoyuan, the commune cadres and a jeep have arrived at your house and are already at the door."
Zhao San's voice came from outside.