At dawn, when the first rays of sunlight shone through the cracks in the wall into the cowshed, our projectionist, Xu, had just fallen asleep.
That night, Xu Damao suffered terribly. The mosquito bites, the pain in his body, the stench inside, and the fact that he was starving and hadn't had a drop of water made it difficult for him to adjust and finally fall asleep.
Xu Damao, who had just fallen asleep, vaguely felt that his chapped lips seemed to have received some moisture.
Driven by the instinct of thirst, he opened his mouth, wanting to drink more water.
As he wished, a soft, moist object was put into his mouth, and Xu Damao immediately began to greedily absorb the moisture from it.
The soft object seemed a little uncomfortable, so it quickly took it out again and started licking Xu Damao's face again.
A wave of heat traveled back and forth across his face, which also woke Xu Damao.
Xu Damao slowly opened his eyes, and vaguely saw what looked like a bull's head swaying back and forth in front of him.
He thought to himself, "Am I dead? Is this some kind of Ox-Head and Horse-Face summoning me?"
Xu Damao then shifted slightly, preparing to kneel and beg for mercy in a more comfortable position.
But the intense pain brought him back to his senses, and when he saw the scene before him, Xu Damao was furious.
"Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey! Ugh... ugh."
It turns out that the person who had just brought him warmth was his neighbor—the old ox.
It's easy to imagine what the ox used to deliver the water to him.
Thinking about all this is why Xu Damao couldn't help but vomit.
As a result, because there was no food in her stomach, she couldn't vomit even though she wanted to.
"Waaaaah..."
Thinking about what had happened in the past two days, and fearing being sued by the police, Xu Damao burst into tears.
...
Around 8 a.m., Xu Fugui, who had just arrived at the cinema for work, received a call saying that he had a phone call.
Xu Fugui didn't pay much attention, thinking it was a call from the countryside urging him to go show movies, so he happily answered the phone.
The call was from Company Commander Wang of Xiaowangzhuang. When Xu Fugui finished the call, he was completely dumbfounded. His son had been detained. No wonder he hadn't heard any good news from him yesterday.
Xu Fugui didn't have time to think much at the moment and quickly asked the director for leave, saying that he had something to take care of at home.
Having received approval, Xu Fugui hurriedly returned home, took some money and a pack of cigarettes, and rushed to Xiaowangzhuang on his bicycle.
When he arrived at Xiaowangzhuang, he was greeted by Wang, the militia company commander.
"Company Commander Wang, what exactly did my son do wrong? Why is he being detained?"
As soon as the two met, Xu Fugui couldn't wait to ask.
“Xu Xiangying, your son’s case is no small matter. He has committed marriage fraud, extortion, and hooliganism. He has already confessed and signed the confession. He is currently being held in a cowshed and awaiting the final step in his case.”
Xu Fugui, a seasoned veteran, understood what he meant as soon as he heard this.
Waiting for processing? That means there's still room for maneuver; otherwise, they wouldn't have called him over.
"Company Commander Wang, please take this opportunity to pack these two packs of cigarettes. Could you let me see my son?"
Company Commander Wang calmly accepted the two packs of cigarettes, then looked around and pretended to be troubled.
"Just this once, we can't let anyone else find out."
Xu Fugui quickly nodded gratefully, indicating his understanding.
After they finished speaking, the two went to the cowshed together. In order to allow the father and son to reunite properly, Company Commander Wang thoughtfully removed two guards.
Once the group had walked a distance away, Xu Fugui opened the door and entered the cowshed.
Upon entering, Xu Fugui couldn't help but call out to his son, who was huddled in the corner with vacant eyes.
"son."
When Xu Damao heard that familiar voice again, he thought he was hallucinating. It wasn't until he looked up and saw his father that he couldn't help but cry out.
"Waaah... Dad, why did you take so long to get here? Do you know what kind of life you're living? Waaah~, hurry up and get me out of here!"
"Okay, stop crying. Tell me what happened."
Xu Fugui originally wanted to scold his son, but seeing his miserable appearance, he held back and decided to find out what was going on first.
Then Xu Damao began to recall his experience from the previous day, albeit intermittently.
After listening to his son's story, Xu Fugui already knew what was going on. The exposure of his son's affair was Wang's revenge.
But when you're under someone else's roof, how can you not bow your head? No matter how you look at it, it's all our fault, so it's no wonder they retaliated.
The one who tied the knot must untie it; this Party Secretary Wang is the key to solving the problem.
Having figured out the key point, Xu Fugui left the cowshed, found Secretary Wang, and spoke sincerely.
“Secretary Wang, we acted dishonestly this time. As long as you can let my son go, you can make any demands you have.”
Seeing Xu Fugui's straightforwardness, Party Secretary Wang smiled; this was exactly the effect he wanted.
“Your son has confessed, and I still have the confession. However, out of respect for your promise to show the film, I can let bygones be bygones, but…?”
"But what? Just tell me."
"First, you need to come to our village to show two movies every month. Can you do that?"
"able."
"Secondly, we mobilized the militia yesterday, and your son's accommodation and meal expenses, etc., need to be reimbursed by you."
Hearing such a shameless condition, Xu Fugui was dumbfounded.
Let's put aside the fact that the militia was mobilized, but what's with the accommodation and food expenses?
My son lives in a cowshed, and food is a joke. He hasn't even had a sip of water. How dare you ask for money?
However, in order to save his son, Xu Fugui endured it.
"How much will it cost?"
"It's not a lot, only 20 militiamen in total. At 1.5 yuan per person, and 2 yuan per person for two militiamen who were on duty all night. Plus food, lodging, etc., I'll give you a discount, so just give me 50 yuan!"
"This...? Okay, I agree, release them now!"
Xu Fugui gritted his teeth and agreed to the money, then counted out five large black coins and handed them to Secretary Wang.
Secretary Wang accepted the money without hesitation and then said...
"However, let me make this clear from the start: while I'm releasing the person, I'll be keeping the confession for you temporarily. You don't have any objections, do you?"
Only with a confession could Secretary Wang control Xu Fugui; that was his source of confidence.
"Okay! I promise you, but I want you to keep this confession safe. I don't want anyone else to see it."
Party Secretary Wang nodded, and the two went to the cowshed and released Xu Damao.
But now there's a new problem: Xu Damao can't ride his bike back, and even walking is difficult for him.
So after another round of negotiations, Xu Fugui spent another 5 yuan to hire Xu Damao's neighbor, the old ox, to help send his son to the city.
Before leaving, Party Secretary Wang suddenly had a strange idea and asked, "Xu Yingxiang, don't you want to know who betrayed your son?"
If Secretary Wang hadn't reminded him, things would have been fine. But now that he had, Xu Fugui remembered the matter and quickly nodded.
Without any hesitation, Party Secretary Wang stretched out one hand and gestured.
Xu Fugui immediately understood that this was another 5 yuan. Faced with such endless extortion, he really wanted to walk away in a huff.
But the thought of the informant made him feel like he had a fishbone stuck in his throat, and he had to speak out, so he had to spend the money.
After successfully paying 5 yuan, Secretary Wang, who was also someone who got paid to do things, said directly.
"The one who informed on us was a city woman, in her early twenties. I don't know her name. You can look it up yourselves when you get back."
Secretary Wang relayed He Daqing's instructions to Xu Fugui verbatim, thus both making money and repaying a favor.
Having received such an ambiguous answer, Xu Fugui had no choice but to take his son back to the city and then make further plans.
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