Chapter 28: Is it about transportation?
Gu Siqing had started school, but she still had work to do around the house. After harvesting the crops, she had to plant the next crop. The family went to school, and those who worked went to work, without mentioning the affairs of the Zhang and Deng families.
Only those who don’t understand how to live will stare at whether others are living a good life.
When they arrived at school, Han Erpang came over to her when he saw her, smiling with his eyes narrowed. The two dimples on his face made Gu Siqing want to pinch his face.
"Xiao Si, guess what I brought you?"
"What?" Gu Siqing took out a book from her schoolbag, wondering whether she should skip a grade next year. Going to school was too hard for her.
"Here you go." Han Erpang stretched out his chubby hand in front of her, and she saw a candy lying in his fleshy palm, a White Rabbit milk candy.
Gu Siqing didn't take it, "Where did you get it?" The Han family was in a similar situation to theirs. They could make ends meet, but they were not very rich.
In the 1980s, children in cities might often eat White Rabbit Milk Candy, but it was a very fashionable thing for children in rural areas.
"My uncle gave it to me." Han Erpang stuffed the candy into Gu Siqing's hand. Gu Siqing looked at his burning eyes, took out a pencil sharpener and cut the candy into two halves, half for each of them.
Han Erpang peeled his half of the candy and put it in his mouth, looking very happy. Gu Siqing also smiled and ate her half. But in her heart, she was wondering whether she should spend her thirty cents of savings and buy some snacks to share with Han Erpang.
Alas! She still felt a little psychologically burdened about eating children's food.
"Why did your uncle bring you this kind of candy?" If I remembered correctly, Han Erpang's uncle was also a farmer and a bit stingy. Bringing ordinary malt sugar to visit relatives was acceptable, but White Rabbit Milk Candy didn't fit his personality.
"My uncle went to drive for someone." Han Erpang's casual words made Gu Siqing's eyes light up.
Driving for someone?
Is it transportation?
It's no wonder she's so excited. An eight-year-old like her couldn't possibly do business with Comrade Gu Jianguo. She needed reliable information from the outside to stimulate him.
If Han Erpang's uncle is involved in transportation, he's certainly exposed to a lot of real information, not just the empty propaganda in newspapers and on the radio. Letting Comrade Gu Jianguo talk to him might help.
Restraining her excitement, Gu Siqing asked Han Erpang, "Where does your uncle drive to?"
Han Erpang shook his head and said, "I just heard someone driving." When he saw the White Rabbit Milk Candy, his attention was all on it. How could he notice anything else?
Gu Siqing was a little disappointed, but it was normal for an eight or nine-year-old to not know about adult matters. She said to Han Erpang, "I still have thirty cents. Let's go buy something to eat after school."
Han Erpang's eyes lit up, "Okay."
After school, Gu Siqing spent twenty cents to buy ten malt candies, five for each of them, and happily waited for Han Zhengping on the road to come home.
Waiting for Han Zhengping was Gu Siqing's intention. He wanted to know if their uncle was engaged in transportation. Han Erpang didn't know about this, but Han Zhengping should know.
The two waited by the roadside for a while before Han Zhengping came over. Gu Siqing sat in the front seat again, Han Erpang sat in the back seat, and Han Zhengping took them home.
"Brother Zhengping, is your uncle driving the car here now?" Gu Siqing asked.
Han Zhengping hummed, "Did Erpang tell you?"
Gu Siqing looked back at his fair face and thought he was very handsome, but at the same time she couldn't help but feel regret for his early death in his previous life. If such an excellent boy in all aspects had grown up successfully, he would have been a brilliant person.
She was thinking in a mess, and she said, "Is your uncle doing transportation for someone?"
Han Zhengping glanced down at her from his bike. The little girl's fluffy hair swayed wildly in the wind, making him want to touch it again. He actually touched it, and it was still soft and very comfortable to the touch.
"You know about transport, and you heard about it on the radio?"
"Yeah, I heard it on the radio." Gu Siqing no longer cared that he always touched her hair. Let him touch it. It wouldn't make her bald anyway.
Han Erpang, who was behind her, listened to her words, tilted his head and looked forward and said, "How come I haven't heard of it? I often listen to the radio and the small loudspeaker."
"It's not a trumpet," Gu Siqing replied to Han Erpang, and then asked Han Zhengping about his uncle.
"I'm in the transportation business. Why are you asking this?" Han Zhengping asked back.
"I just think it would be fun to go somewhere far away." Gu Siqing said casually. She is now increasingly able to speak with a child's mindset.
Han Zhengping looked down at her again, smiled, and continued riding forward. When he arrived at the door of Gu's house, he put Gu Siqing at the door and left. Gu Siqing was thinking about how to bring up the matter of Han Zhengping's uncle to Comrade Gu Jianguo.
Don't be too deliberate, just bring it up casually.
Thinking of this, she casually mentioned during the meal that Han Erpang had given her White Rabbit milk candy, and then brought up Han Erpang's uncle and the fact that he was now in the transportation business.
Gu Jianguo had originally intended to go out and find a job, and he took his daughter's words to heart. After dinner, he rode his bike to Han Erpang's house to look for Han Deyi.
The two had been comrades-in-arms for many years and had maintained a good relationship after retiring. Gu Jianguo naturally didn't need to beat around the bush when talking to him and asked directly: "I heard that Wu Anbang went to do transportation for someone." Wu Anbang was Han Erpang's uncle.
Han Deyi handed him a cigarette, and the two sat in the Han family's living room, smoking and chatting. It turned out that Wu Anbang had saved a professor who had been sent to a labor camp a few years ago. The professor had later been rehabilitated and returned to the city. The professor, a man of great gratitude, had found Wu Anbang a job at a city transportation company once his own situation stabilized.
Wu Anbang was a smart and scheming man. Seeing that truck drivers made the most money in the transportation company, he established a good relationship with a truck driver and slowly learned how to drive from him.
At first he only ran short distances within the province, and later, after gaining experience, he started running long distances.
After hearing about Wu Anbang's story, Gu Jianguo felt the confusion of his past few years. He lowered his head, smoking a cigarette, and said, "Deyi, the policy has changed. I'm thinking about whether we should go out and take a look."
Life is like rowing against the current, if you don't move forward, you will fall behind.
In the past, they served in the military, which was considered a symbol of honor in the eyes of many people. Moreover, the army provided allowances, and although their lives were tight, they were much better than many people.
But after retiring, they settled down to being farmers, making no progress. It was clear many people had already surpassed them. If this continued, who knew what their future would be like.
Han Deyi leaned back in the big armchair and smoked a cigarette, thinking about how arrogant Wu Anbang was when he met him, and he felt a little uncomfortable.
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