Chapter 141: Second Brother Xu Hui nodded, then shook his head. ...
Xu Hui nodded, then shook his head.
Dong Taohua couldn't stand his dithering the most, and her mouth was about to chatter in anxiety: "Whether it is true or not, just tell me quickly."
Xu Hui: "My second brother's name is indeed Ji Weimin, but I'm not sure if the admissions director is my second brother. After all, my second brother didn't originally work at the Education Bureau."
Dong Taohua: "So what did he do originally?"
"Teacher, physics teacher." Back then, they were all still very young. His second brother had only been working for a short time, still an ordinary physics teacher in a new middle school.
Dong Taohua: "The physics teacher and the director of the Education Bureau's admissions office are both in the education system. If you do your job well, it's possible to be seconded there and then stay at the Education Bureau."
She glanced at her husband and said, "You also had an opportunity like this!"
In 1986, their county education bureau seconded several teachers from the No. 1 Middle School in the county where Xu Hui worked to help. Xu Hui went with three colleagues.
They were seconded for half a year. After the expiration of the period, the Education Bureau wanted to let them stay because they saw that they were serious and responsible in their work. At that time, the establishment would be changed from teachers to civil servants.
However, Xu Hui preferred teaching and educating, so he refused the Education Bureau's requests to stay and insisted on returning to No. 1 Middle School. Three of his colleagues stayed, and one thrived, rising to the position of deputy director in just four years.
Occasionally, when the couple chatted, Xu Heye would tease Xu Hui, asking him if he regretted it. After all, of the four people at the time, Xu Hui was the one the leader appreciated the most. If he had stayed, his promotion might have been just as fast as his colleague's.
Xu Hui himself is quite open-minded, but Dong Taohua only sees the good things and not the bad ones.
He prefers to get along with students, and is not so good at interpersonal relationships in official circles. If he goes to the Education Bureau, even if the leaders appreciate him, his subsequent development may not be good if he cannot establish himself.
It would be better for him to go back to school and do what he likes.
Taohua was right. Although his second brother had been a teacher, it wasn't impossible that he had gone to the Education Bureau after twenty years. They were both in Hucheng, both had the surname Ji, both were called Weimin, and their ages matched. If they weren't the same person, it would be too much of a coincidence.
"So what do you think now?" Dong Taohua asked him, "If Director Ji is really your second brother, do you want to meet him?"
Xu Hui shook his head: "I don't know either."
"They were the ones who cut off contact with me. I don't know if they are still willing to acknowledge me as their brother."
"Besides, it's not certain yet!" Xu Hui smiled self-deprecatingly.
Dong Taohua glanced at him and said, "My younger brother called me last night and said they invited the children from Zhangshu Lane to dinner the day before yesterday."
"Originally, they wanted to invite Captain Yu, the enthusiastic teacher Zhu from Jingye School, and the director of the admissions office to have dinner together. They were very helpful in getting He Ye's lost certificate successfully removed."
"But they all refused, saying it was their duty and they didn't need to be thanked. But I thought that even though they refused, we couldn't just pretend nothing happened and do nothing.
"Before school starts, and we still have time, I'll prepare some local specialties for you to take with you. I'll give one to each family. A little food isn't a bribe, but it's a token of our appreciation." Dong Taohua finished, looking at her husband. "What do you think?"
Xu Hui looked at his wife, tears flashing in his eyes, "Taohua, thank you."
Xu Hui knew that his wife was giving him a way out, a reason to go to Hucheng and let him resolve the doubts in his heart.
He wanted to know if Director Ji was actually his second brother, Ji Weimin, and why the Ji family had left in such a hurry. Perhaps only by knowing the truth could he finally let it go.
Dong Taohua quickly prepared the gifts, which were all local specialties - fermented fish with lees, rice wine, cloud tea, and yam noodles, in triplicate, each identical.
Xu Hui had a lot of things to carry with him, and it was inconvenient for him to carry them all with him after getting off the train alone. After sending Xu Hui on the train, Dong Taohua immediately called the factory and asked Dong Fuyun to pick him up.
The train rattled on for more than ten hours, and it was already past four o'clock the next day. Xu Heye and Dong Fuyun went to pick him up together.
When Xu Hui got off the train, his hands and body were full of things. He was wearing lighter tea leaves and yam noodles, and his hands were holding heavier rice wine and fermented fish.
"Dad, why did you bring so many things?" Xu Heye quickly reached out to take it.
Xu Hui turned sideways and dodged her hand: "These are too heavy, you can't lift them."
He put the jars of various sizes on the ground, took down the cloud tea hanging on his body, and handed it to Xu Heye: "Take this, it's light and won't tire your hands."
Xu Heye took the bag of tea bags and grabbed two cartons of noodles. "I'll take two boxes of noodles too."
Xu Heye carried the tea bags and two boxes of yam noodles, while Dong Fuyun took over two jars of rice wine and two jars of fermented fish. Xu Hui still carried the rest. It was heavy, but the three of them shared the load and were able to lift it.
As we exited the train station, the early morning bus had already started running.
The three of them got on the bus, changed several buses, and finally arrived at the rental house at around nine in the morning.
"Dad, why are you here?" There are only a few days left before school starts.
Xu Hui said, "You were able to successfully obtain the certificate of loss this time, thanks to Captain Yu and the others. I know they don't want any thanks, but we can't just not show any appreciation at all."
He picked up the jar in his hand and smiled: "Your mother specially prepared this specialty for me. She asked me to bring it here as a token of our appreciation."
"Mom and Dad, you're so nice."
She and her uncle were also considering this. They thought about buying something to express their gratitude, but they couldn't afford expensive things, and the other party might not accept them. Cheap things, the other party could buy them on their own, so it wouldn't be considered a sincere gesture.
On the contrary, it is a local specialty of Gan Province, which cannot be bought in Hucheng, so it is a novelty to eat it.
Xu Hui: "Dad will accompany you to thank me later."
The police station was nearby, so the two went there first. Yu Jianye was a little unhappy when he saw them carrying something, but when he found out it was some food, his expression softened slightly, but he still refused to accept it.
It was only after Xu Heye told him that tea could refresh the mind, fermented fish could be eaten with rice, rice wine was not too strong and could be used to make fermented rice balls, and yam noodles could be placed in the police station canteen and cooked as a midnight snack for the police officers on duty that he agreed to stay.
After leaving the police station, the father and daughter carried the things to Jingye Middle School again. They gave the same explanation and then delivered the things.
The last one is the District Education Bureau.
Xu Heye knocked on the door, "Director Ji, my father and I - why are you here again?" Before Xu Heye could finish her words, she was interrupted by Ji Weimin.
Ji Weimin frowned when he saw her, and said in a cold voice, "I've already said it's my duty, you don't have to bother with it."
He felt that his good impression of this outstanding student was almost worn away. He obtained the lost certificate for Xu Heye out of his duty and out of his cherishment of her talent.
But when Xu Heye came to treat him to a meal afterwards, his good impression of her disappeared by half. He was very disappointed that she was so young, yet so utilitarian and good at socializing. She didn't look like a student, but more like a seasoned veteran who had been working in society for a long time.
Ji Weimin was about to say something when he heard the excited yet expected voice of someone outside the door.
"Second brother." Xu Hui recognized Ji Weimin immediately. This was his second brother. Of the four brothers in the Ji family, Xu Hui had the best relationship with this second brother. When the family first replaced him in the countryside, Ji Weimin was the only one who objected the most.
Ji Weimin looked up and saw a familiar face. Compared to twenty years ago, this face was much more mature, but the old appearance could still be vaguely seen.
Ji Weimin also recognized Xu Hui, his elegant and handsome stepbrother.
Xu Hui resembled his mother, with a beautiful face and elegant temperament. Compared with the rough-looking Ji family, Xu Hui looked more like a young master born into a scholarly family.
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