An Qingbai accompanied Zhuang Zhimeng to the town post office to make a phone call to the old man.

The old man's strong voice came through the receiver: "Ya Ya, what do you need Grandpa for?"

Zhuang Zhimeng grabbed the microphone and said to the old man, "Grandpa, I'm telling you, please don't get agitated!"

"Speak up, what is it? Your grandpa has been through all sorts of storms, so speak boldly, I can handle it all! Yaya, you didn't call to tell grandpa you're pregnant, did you? Let me tell you, grandpa can't handle that!"

Zhuang Zhimeng was helpless. She said to the old man, "Grandpa! What are you saying? It's not what you think. What kind of time is this to be joking with me? Besides, Qingbai and I are very conservative, okay!"

"What time is it? Has the enemy invaded?"

"grandfather!"

"Alright! What is it? Tell me!"

"Please find a place to sit down first, and then I'll tell you!"

The old man muttered, "So mysterious!" But he still sat down in the chair and said into the microphone, "Alright, Yaya, I'm sitting down. You can tell me what's on your mind now!"

"I wanted to tell you about Grandpa Shang. He's been transferred to our brigade and just arrived a couple of days ago!"

Upon hearing this, Grandpa Zhuang suddenly stood up, causing the chair to move with a loud noise. Zhuang Zhimeng could hear the sound of the chair being dragged through the receiver.

The old man, still incredulous, asked Zhuang Zhimeng again to confirm: "Ya Ya, is what you're saying true? Old Shang has been demoted to your brigade?"

Zhuang Zhimeng nodded, and remembering that he couldn't see, she replied to the old man, "Yes!"

Hearing Zhuang Zhimeng's affirmative answer, the old man sighed before continuing, "Alas! I've been busy lately, and Lao Shang has been busy too. Lao Shang and I agreed to have tea together after we finished this busy period, but I never expected...! With his position, ordinary people can't easily touch him, so how could he have been demoted?"

"Grandpa Shang said he was framed by his deputy, who used a foreign book to accuse him of studying overseas ideas!"

"Old Shang mentioned his deputy to me. He was someone Old Shang promoted from the bottom up, but unexpectedly, he ended up ruining things! I told Old Shang to be careful a long time ago, but it seems Old Shang trusted him too much!"

Zhuang Zhimeng nodded and then reminded the old man, "Grandpa, you must also be careful. The capital is a complex place. You must be careful since you are in charge. Especially, don't let anyone into places like your study. Grandpa Shang was framed because his deputy put a book in his study!"

"Don't worry, Yaya, your grandpa isn't stupid. It won't be so easy for him to get into my study and frame me!"

"I believe you can handle this!"

"Don't worry, Grandpa will be fine!" He paused for a moment before continuing to Zhuang Zhimeng, "Yaya, since Old Shang is in the same place as you, you should help him if you can!"

“I know. I gave Grandpa Shang some food and told him I would visit him when I had the chance. Grandpa Shang said that his children have cut ties with him, so I will take good care of him!”

"Okay, with Ya Ya helping Lao Shang, Grandpa can rest assured!"

Zhuang Zhimeng suggested, "Grandpa, when Qingbai and I get engaged, how about arranging for you and Grandpa Shang to meet?"

"Alright, you guys figure out the arrangements. We haven't had a chance to meet since after the New Year, we've all been so busy. I never thought that the only time we'd see each other again would be for me to go to the village to see Old Shang! Sigh!"

The old man then asked Zhuang Zhimeng, "Ya Ya, is Lao Shang alright?"

"Grandpa Shang was slightly injured, but it's not too serious. Qingbai and I treated him! But I feel like Grandpa Shang has lost his energy!"

"He's been through a lot, so it's understandable that he'll be down for a few days. It's okay! I believe Lao Shang can get through this. If you have the chance, go talk to him and don't let him get stuck in a rut!"

"I see!"

Zhuang Zhimeng hung up the phone and sighed. "What a mess!"

An Qingbai saw her sigh after hanging up the phone and asked, "Zhizhi, why are you sighing? What was Grandpa's reaction when he heard about Grandpa Shang?"

"I sighed because I was lamenting the unpredictability of life. Grandpa said that he would be the only one who could visit Grandpa Shang in the village from now on! I told Grandpa that we should arrange for him to meet Grandpa Shang when we get engaged!"

"That's a good idea. We'll just keep an eye out for outsiders! The cowshed is in a remote area, and usually no one goes there at night!"

"That's what I was thinking, so I arranged for them to meet in the cowshed. If they really ran into outsiders, I could say that Grandpa was just out of curiosity and wandered around the village, and he didn't realize he'd ended up in the cowshed. That way, no one would suspect anything!"

"Yes, Zhizhi has thought things through very thoroughly. We can keep watch outside and send them messages."

"good!"

After finishing their phone call, Zhuang Zhimeng and An Qingbai rode their bicycles back to the brigade without stopping in the town.

A few days later, good news came from the brigade.

Before the Lunar New Year, the brigade leader applied to the commune for the installation of a telephone for the brigade. The commune considered the matter for several days before finally approving it.

A few days ago, people from the commune came and laid the telephone line. Now we're just waiting for someone from the commune to come and install the telephone.

After waiting for several days, the telephone was finally installed at the brigade headquarters. Now we won't have to travel all the way to town to make calls anymore.

The captain assigned his wife, Tian Cuie, to guard the telephone, mainly responsible for collecting money.

After the telephone was installed, the villagers all came to see it, curious about it. The telephone was chargeable, both making and receiving calls cost money, but the villagers were still very satisfied, mainly because it was convenient!

Zhuang Zhimeng waited in line for a long time before it was finally her turn to make a call. She first called her grandfather to give him her phone number, then called home and chatted briefly with Hao Caiyun, giving her her phone number as well.

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