Everyone carries the flowery sedan chair.

Li Jin and Liu Donglai flattered each other in front of Chen Xun.

Chen Xun was clearly satisfied. He sat in the brigade headquarters, facing an open window where a cluster of vibrant roses looked exquisite.

He took a sip of tea. "This tea is good!"

If you can get a single "yes" from him, that's truly a good thing.

Li Xiangdong sat upright on a small stool and answered respectfully, "Wild tea from the mountains of western Sichuan. If you like it, I'll pack some for you in a bit."

Chen Xun turned the cup around and said with a smile, "Then I'll just accept your offer."

What followed was perfectly logical. In fact, what Li Xiangdong wanted to say was already written in the letter he sent to Yanjing earlier; he was simply repeating it now.

We should expand and strengthen collective industries, appropriately relax regulations on ordinary people, and allow them to spend money. This will not undermine the country's basic policies and will improve the people's quality of life—why not do it?

If the economic policy were changed to one where public ownership is the mainstay and multiple forms of ownership are supplementary, then the stagnant situation could be revitalized.

"When we ordinary people celebrate the New Year, we always like to put up couplets that wish for family harmony and prosperity in all businesses. This shows that we farmers are engaged in all kinds of businesses, so why can't we have other businesses besides farming?"

Li Xiangdong recounted the story in detail.

Of course, this was based on his thorough understanding of the economic policies advocated by the old man, which is why he dared to say such a treasonous thing as "public ownership as the mainstay, with multiple forms of ownership as supplementary".

A glint flashed in Chen Xun's eyes, but he quickly concealed it, still looking at Li Xiangdong with the same smiling expression as before.

Li Xiangdong didn't miss the change in his eyes, and his heart tightened, as if someone had grabbed his hand.

After seeing Chen Xun and his group off, Li Xiangdong realized that his palms were damp with sweat.

By the way, Chen Xun didn't leave on his own; he took Xu Guangheng and the others with him.

And so, the matter concerning the provincial investigation team was dropped.

...

After dinner, Li Jin comfortably lay on the bamboo chair, fanning himself with a large palm-leaf fan while humming a model opera with his eyes closed.

Zhao Sufang lit a pile of mugwort in the yard, and wisps of white smoke rose up, repelling mosquitoes and insects.

Li Zhen rarely didn't have to review her lessons, so she sat in the courtyard chatting with everyone.

Li Zhen knocked out the open flame of the pile of mugwort, leaving it only smoldering.

She asked Li Xiangdong, "Is Uncle Liu still leaving?"

"He's going, supposedly to be the executive vice mayor of Cangshan City."

Li Xiangdong threaded a string of carrying hooks through the fire and roasted them. Once they were cooked, he gave one to each of Li Jiabao, Li Ping, and Zhang Huan.

Li Yan didn't get any, and she was so anxious that she kept tugging at Li Xiangdong. The big tabby cat also cheered her on from the side, wagging its tail and meowing at Li Xiangdong.

Li Jin opened his eyes and exclaimed, "Secretary Liu, good deeds are finally rewarded!"

He first sighed, then asked with some anxiety, "I wonder who will be the Party Secretary next?"

Li Xiangdong actually knew about this. "It's said that Mayor Zhang's secretary came down."

"oh--"

Li Jin felt relieved. "When is Secretary Liu leaving? We should treat him to a farewell dinner to properly express our gratitude!"

Li Xiangdong agreed with his view, saying that Liu Donglai was his benefactor both publicly and privately.

After talking about Liu Donglai for a while, Li Jin quietly asked Li Xiangdong, "Do you think there's any hope for the resumption of the college entrance examination?"

For the past six months, my fourth daughter has been studying day and night, neglecting to eat or sleep. Her once bright eyes are almost turning nearsighted. If the college entrance exam cannot be reinstated, what a mental blow that will be to her!

Also, well, there's something else very important: someone has proposed marriage to Li Zhen.

His fourth daughter is getting on in years, and the man is a good catch; he doesn't want her to miss out.

Li Xiangdong dismissed his idea of ​​arranging a blind date for his fourth sister, saying, "The policy to reinstate the college entrance examination will be announced in two or three months, Dad, don't mess things up!"

Li Jin lightly flicked his head with his palm-leaf fan, laughing and scolding, "Get lost! When have I ever caused trouble!"

The weather is getting warmer now. Li Xiangdong's house is quite spacious and has a cross breeze at night, so he won't wake up from the heat while sleeping.

So after the children finished dinner at Li Jin's house, they all clamored to go sleep at Li Xiangdong's new house.

At first, Zhao Sufang felt unsafe, but Li Kang assured her that the joint defense team would patrol the area and there would be no problems.

So every night, Li Xiangdong would lead a bunch of kids back to the new house to stay. Li Lan was worried and wanted to go with them to take care of them, while Li Zhen went there to study because it was quieter.

In the end, only the elderly couple and their big yellow dog remained in Li Jin's family.

Li Ping's favorite tree was the pomegranate tree in her second brother's yard. After the fiery red blossoms faded, small green pomegranates appeared. Her second brother had also planted honeysuckle, impatiens, star-shaped flowers, and trumpet vines outside the wall. All sorts of flowers were vying for attention, creating a lively and beautiful scene.

Li Lan somehow acquired alum, picked the flowers of the balsam flower, crushed them together, applied it to her fingernails and toenails, wrapped it in hemp leaves, and tied it tightly with white cotton thread.

After a short while, their fingernails were all dyed a beautiful pink.

Li Lan and Li Zhen took the little ones to the bathroom to wash and refresh them one by one. They still didn't go to sleep; they wanted to swing and play in the yard.

Li Xiangdong was training two small hunting dogs, Jasmine and Wax Plum, that he had brought back from western Sichuan, in the yard.

These two are supposed to guard his house. When Li Xiangdong is satisfied with their training, he throws them a meaty bone as a reward.

The children lay comfortably on the silk sheets and quickly drifted off to sleep.

After Li Xiangdong and the others had all fallen asleep, he went to the shower room to wash up. After washing, he lay on the bamboo recliner in the yard and looked at the stars in the sky.

At this moment, there was no pollution in the sky, and he could even see the stars twinkling.

For a moment, his thoughts were racing. He wondered if his encounter with Chen Xun would accelerate the course of history, and then he thought about how, in the future, environmental pollution would be so severe that stars would be invisible in the cities…

As he pondered the matter, his eyelids grew heavier and heavier, and soon he drifted off to sleep.

He was sleeping when he felt someone nibbling at his toes, and the tickling woke him up.

He opened his eyes and saw that it was winter plum blossoms biting him.

Li Xiangdong gently patted it and scolded softly, "What are you gnawing on?"

Little Wax Plum turned around and bit his underwear again, pulling him out.

Li Xiangdong had no choice but to follow Xiao Lamei outside, muttering to himself as they went, "Did they find a rabbit? Or is there a thief? This doesn't look like an earthquake!"

He walked into the first courtyard and saw Jasmine standing on the flower wall, calling out to the outside.

not good!

Li Xiangdong saw a flash of red light outside, piercing the deep darkness of the night.