Chapter 168 Literary Youth
Generally speaking, Wu Erlaizi's father is a well-known suona player in the village, and he is always present at weddings and funerals in the surrounding area.
Because of his father's skill, Wu Erlaizi lived a very wealthy life when he was a child and was brought up in a pampered manner. In order to ensure that he would not have to worry about food when he grew up, his father passed on the skill of playing the suona to him.
No one knew how well Wu Erlai played the flute, but he had developed the arrogance of an artistic person since he was a child. He looked down on the weddings and funerals in the village. After attending a few weddings, he felt that weddings were too noisy and funerals were too depressing, which did not suit his pursuits, and he was unwilling to follow in his father's footsteps.
It just so happened that in order to enrich the cultural life of the working people, the higher-ups wanted to set up a propaganda team in each town and look for young people who could play various musical instruments and sing. Although there was no formal organization, they would be paid, which was a great thing.
Wu Erlaizi showed off his ancestral craftsmanship and was actually selected!
Good fellow! Wu Erlaizi was now even more arrogant.
The first performance after the propaganda team was formed was for the county leaders to check and approve the results. Only with results can the work be finalized.
The propaganda team members practiced day and night for half a month, and even Wu Erlaizi had blisters on the corners of his mouth from playing the suona. Everyone was very satisfied with the results and felt that their jobs were now secure.
The town allocated a room to the propaganda team, euphemistically calling it the Cultural Room. There is no funding yet, and the musical instruments are all brought from everyone's homes, all kinds of new and old, and some are said to be heirlooms. No one has any complaints, and they are just waiting to get through the leadership before they can ask for funding in a serious manner.
To show our importance, the cultural room assigns someone to be on duty every night.
The night before the performance, it was Wu Erlaizi's turn to be on duty. Coincidentally, his friends invited him to have a drink, saying that they wanted to celebrate for him in advance.
Wu Erlaizi was a simple-minded man to begin with, and after being flattered by everyone, he became confused and got drunk.
When he returned to the cultural room, he was already unconscious. He didn't even realize that he had knocked over the kerosene lamp in his sleep, which ignited the red curtain used for the scenery and burned the entire room to ashes.
Wu Erlaizi was still drunk when he was pulled out of the fire, so he was lucky enough not to be burned to death.
But the performance was completely cancelled. Not only that, the cultural room was also burned down. Fortunately, the wall had not collapsed. There were only a few red brick houses in the town, such as the town government, which were almost burned down. Fortunately, the fire was put out quickly...
When the county leaders came and saw it the next day, they were dumbfounded!
Furious!
The propaganda team of Qingfeng Town was cancelled with just a wave of the hand!
Just because of Wu Erlaizi's drinking, everyone's stable work was burned, and all the food they had to eat was burned too!
Not to mention the county leaders, the town leaders were furious when they saw them, but these people were so poor that they could not afford to pay compensation. When they were reported to the police, they said it was an accident and there were no conditions for arrest. In the end, they only arrested the culprit, Wu Erlaizi, and took him to the police station for education for more than half a month before releasing him.
Sun Qiang was also crying as he spoke.
"Big sister! We have no other choice! We were originally happy to join the propaganda team to make a living, but Wu Erlaizi has cut off our livelihood! If not him, who else can we ask for money? Now my mother is lying in the hospital waiting for me to give her money to save her life!"
Su Tong didn't expect to hear such a story. She took a look at the people in front of her. Some had long bangs, some had a middle part, and one wore bell-bottom pants. No wonder they looked a bit out of place, they turned out to be a group of "literary youths".
"Tongya! Tongya! Don't listen to them. The town leaders didn't ask me to pay compensation. They are the ones who are asking me for compensation every day..."
"How dare you say that! Other towns have propaganda teams, but our town still doesn't have one. It's all your fault!"
"My sanxian was handed down from my grandfather's grandfather. It was burned just like that. Who can I cry to?"
"It's all because of him! Not only did I lose my job, but my girlfriend also changed her mind! She still hasn't asked for the betrothal gift back!"
“…”
It would have been fine if the past had not been mentioned. As soon as it was mentioned, these people became indignant and surrounded Wu Erlaizi, grabbing him and accusing him.
Su Tong knew the whole story, but he couldn't help for a while. This Wu Erlaizi was really a man who could not do anything good but made trouble. He originally had a bright future as a "craftsman", but his confused temper ruined his future, making him the person that everyone hates now.
I don't know if it was because Su Tong was confident or because the force was too strong, but Wu Erlaizi somehow swung his elbow on the head of a small guy.
The little guy let out a strange cry and swung his fist back.
The original tug of war immediately turned into a beating. Not only was Wu Erlaizi surrounded in the middle and screaming in pain, but many people were also accidentally injured and couldn't help cursing.
Su Tong saw that something was wrong and rushed forward to stop the fight, but they were both so angry that it was impossible to stop.
There was really no other way, so Su Tong had to do the same thing, kicking them one by one with great force, and it took him seven or eight kicks to separate the group of people.
Wu Erlaizi had learned his lesson from the beating. He held his head, hunched over and lay on the ground groaning. Su Tong gave him a final kick and he got up.
"Alright! I understand your story. Regardless of who is right or wrong, you have seen Wu Erlaizi's situation. He won't be able to pay you back even if you ask him to. If you really beat him up, you will have to pay for his medical expenses. You might as well go find the town leaders and try to get more opportunities."
After Su Tong took action, Sun Qiang didn't dare to make trouble anymore. He climbed up with a sad face, rubbing his thigh.
"Sister! We have gone to the leaders so many times. At first, they would just talk to us, but later they would just ignore us and say that we missed the opportunity and it would be hard to get it again!
These days, leaders are focused on how to make sure everyone has enough food to eat, and have no energy to care about us.”
"Yes! The boss said that it was good enough that we didn't have to pay to repair the burned-down house."
"Originally, this matter was under the jurisdiction of the county, and the town had no say. We have lost everything, and the town cannot compensate us. We have no choice but to look for Wu Erlaizi."
Su Tong lowered his head and thought for a while, then said:
"Even if this is true, the police station and the town government have not ordered Wu Erlaizi to compensate you. It is illegal for you to block him privately, and he can sue you!
What's more, even if he is willing to compensate, he can't afford the loss of so many of you. Instead of wasting your time here, you might as well spend some time on the propaganda team and find a way to make a living, and don't waste this craft."
Everyone else is fine, they all understand the truth!
I've blocked Wu Erlaizi so many times in this year, but apart from beating him up to vent my anger, I didn't get anything in return. The main reason is that Wu Erlaizi is really poor!
Plus, Su Tong’s kick really hurt!
But Sun Qiang wanted to cry:
"Sister! Big sister! I really have no other choice! My mother is still in the hospital! I went to find Sanlangzi this morning and wanted him to help me think of a way. After all, we can at least have some kind of relationship. But I didn't expect that I would be beaten out by you twice..."
Su Tong thought about it, lowered his head, rummaged in his pocket, and took out ten dollars.
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