Chapter 210 Complaint
He hesitated to speak.
"I know the consequences." Zheng Kaihe smiled bitterly. "I'm afraid my tenure as deputy director will be over when I return. But some things, concerning principles, cannot be compromised."
The middle-aged man with glasses suddenly said, "Comrade, are you going to the Canton Fair?"
Zheng Kaihe nodded.
"I'm also going to the Canton Fair. I will truthfully report the behavior of that woman to the organizing committee. I will not allow comrades who uphold principles and care for the people to suffer any injustice."
"Let's get ready to change cars. No matter what, let's wait until the Canton Fair is over."
Zheng Kaihe and Jiang Haitang looked at each other and saw hope in each other's eyes.
In the distance, the train whistle sounded as it entered the station; they were about to get off.
Zhao Kai hurriedly asked his family to prepare to move the samples.
Their transfer time was only over two hours. The platform at Shangdu Station was crowded with people, and the voice of the female announcer on the radio was intermittent in the noise.
Jiang Haitang and his colleagues from the textile factory were busy loading sample boxes onto the train heading south.
"Be careful with that wicker box!" Jiang Haitang reminded the workers moving it. "It contains blended wool samples. It can't get wet."
Kang Xiaoxia wiped her sweat, leaned over and whispered, "Sister Haitang, why don't you see that crazy Yan Peiwen?"
Jiang Haitang continued to move her hands: "Don't worry about her, let's do our own thing. The train will leave in half an hour, let's check the sample list again."
In the distance, Zheng Kaihe was negotiating with the conductor with a frown on his face.
Jiang Haitang walked over and heard him say, "...The hard seat compartment is too crowded, and the samples are easily damaged..."
"Director Zheng, what's wrong?" Jiang Haitang asked.
Zheng Kaihe turned around, his face not looking good: "This train is more crowded than expected, and we have no place to put our sample boxes."
As he was speaking, the middle-aged man with glasses came over and said, "Comrades, I just discussed with the conductor and can vacate half of the luggage car for you to store the samples."
Zheng Kaihe and Jiang Haitang looked at each other in surprise. This person who could coordinate a carriage to store samples in such a crowded carriage must be no ordinary person.
Zheng Kaihe hurriedly said: "Thank you so much! You are..."
"My last name is Zhou, and I work in the Foreign Trade Department." The middle-aged man smiled. "We'll be in the same carriage for the rest of the trip."
Hearing this person say that they were still in the same carriage, Jiang Haitang, Zheng Kaihe and Zhao Kai did not think much about it. After all, the person sitting in the hard seat carriage was definitely not a person of high status.
The train was about to start, but no one saw Yan Peiwen.
In fact, after Yan Peiwen got off the bus, no one knew where he went and no one saw him.
Zheng Kaihe didn't ask. Anyway, in his heart, he just pretended that this person didn't exist.
When the whistle sounded and the train slowly started, Jiang Haitang finally breathed a sigh of relief and leaned back in the hard seat car to close his eyes and rest.
Yan Peiwen got off the train and walked quickly across the crowded platform towards the outside of the station.
On the roof of the small red brick building on the east side of the station square, the four faded characters "People's Post and Telecommunications" look particularly old in the setting sun.
"Comrade, I'm making a long-distance call." Yan Peiwen slammed his work ID on the counter, his nails tapping rapidly on the glass surface.
The female salesperson behind the counter slowly flipped through her ID and looked up at the smartly dressed young woman. "Where's the letter of introduction? I need to register for long-distance calls."
Yan Peiwen impatiently pulled out a piece of red-stamped letterhead from his inner pocket: "Hurry up! I have something urgent!"
The salesperson caught a glimpse of the company name on the letterhead and moved noticeably faster.
She handed over the registration book: "Fill in the number and reason."
The tip of the pen poked a few ink dots on the paper.
Yan Peiwen wrote down the number that she knew by heart, and wrote "official business report" in the "reason" column in a flamboyant manner.
"Room 3." The salesperson pointed to the small wooden door painted in military green at the end of the corridor.
The musty smell of the telephone room mixed with the smell of cigarette smoke hit me in the face.
Yan Peiwen frowned in disgust, but still slammed the door shut.
The moment she grabbed the black microphone, tears welled up in her eyes - this was a skill she had acquired since childhood. As long as she thought of her father's serious face, tears would come to her eyes.
"Hello? Revolutionary Committee Office." It was a young male voice on the other end of the phone. Yan Peiwen was also very familiar with this voice. It was his father's secretary.
"I'm Yan Peiwen, looking for my dad!" The crying tone in her voice was just right.
The waiting tone for the transfer was like a blunt knife cutting my nerves.
When the deep male voice finally rang out, Yan Peiwen's tears immediately burst out: "Dad! They bullied me!"
"What's going on? Tell me slowly." Father Yan's voice was filled with his habitual majesty.
"That bastard Zheng Kaihe wanted to kick me off the train for a country girl!" She sobbed and exaggerated the conflict on the train, naturally omitting the part where she threw water and cursed. "That Jiang Haitang relied on her reputation at the textile factory and didn't take you seriously at all! And Zheng Kaihe said that even if you were here, I would say the same thing..."
There was silence on the other end of the line for a few seconds. "Jiang Haitang? Is he the technical backbone of Jincheng Textile Factory?"
"He's just a country bumpkin!" Yan Peiwen didn't notice the change in his father's tone and said through gritted teeth, "Dad, you have to decide for me! That Zheng Kaihe..."
"Okay, I know about this." Father Yan interrupted her, "Where are you now?"
"Shangdu Station! Change trains to Huacheng." Yan Peiwen wiped away his tears. "Dad, you have to make the decision for me. Fire that Jiang Haitang. I don't want to see him again. And Zheng Kaihe, remove him from his position when we get back!"
There was a sound of shuffling papers on the other end of the line.
Yan Peiwen knew that her father was looking at his schedule, as he always did when he wanted to solve a problem for her.
"Listen," Father Yan's voice suddenly dropped, "You need to go apologize to Zheng Kaihe and Jiang Haitang right now."
"What?!" Yan Peiwen almost dropped the microphone.
"The province just received a notice that Vice Minister Zhou of the Ministry of Foreign Trade will be making a secret visit to the Canton Fair." Yan's father said word by word, "If this gets out of hand, it will affect me. There's no rush to deal with Zheng Kaihe and Jiang Haitang. We'll have plenty of opportunities once we return to Jincheng."
Although Yan Peiwen was not very satisfied, since her father said so, she had no choice but to agree reluctantly.
"Dad, I promised not to cause trouble, but I may have to apologize..." Why did she have to apologize? This was unacceptable to her!
"Stupid!" Yan's father shouted, "Deputy Minister Zhou hates being treated specially! Go and restore the situation right now. If this gets me involved..."
At this time, Yan Peiwen heard a knock on the door from the other end of the phone. Yan's father quickly changed his tone, "Okay, do as I say. Remember, don't cause trouble!"
Click!
The phone was hung up.
Yan Peiwen froze in the phone room, and the busy tone in the receiver seemed to be mocking her.
Outside, the salesperson knocked impatiently: "Comrade, it's time out! There are people waiting behind you!"
Yan Peiwen mechanically took out five dollars and slapped them on the table, then stumbled out the door.
Yan Peiwen felt very aggrieved and found a place to sit and stare blankly. He knew that the loudspeaker in the square in front of the station was broadcasting: "The K*** train to Huacheng is about to depart. Passengers are requested to hurry and board the train..."
She immediately ran back, her beige windbreaker leaving a hasty trail in the crowd.
As she climbed onto the carriage in a panic, the departure whistle sounded in the distance.
Yan Peiwen slumped at the connection point and suddenly realized a terrible fact: she had to apologize to those "inferior people". No, she didn't want to.
Yan Peiwen thought that even if he didn't go to apologize, his father wouldn't know. So, he decided not to go and just say he had been there when he came back.
The comrades in the carriage also started chatting in groups of three or four. Some took out playing cards, and some women started knitting sweaters. It was very lively.
Soon, it was dinner time, and the announcement sounded: "Dear passengers, please note that the dining car is now serving dinner..."
Jiang Haitang and his friends had finished the food they brought with them, so they had to buy food on the train for the rest of the journey.
Comrade Zhou smiled and invited them to have dinner together.
"It's almost dinner time, shall we go check out the dining car?"
Jiang Haitang arranged two comrades to look after their luggage, and together with Zhao Kai, he took the others to the dining car.
The same arrangement was made on Zheng Kaihe's side.
Outside the window, dusk is deepening.
The train roared across the Central Plains and sped towards the warm south.
Jiang Haitang looked at the twinkling lights in the distance and had already made up his mind. No matter what, he must make Long Province's products shine at this Canton Fair.
While I was thinking about it, I suddenly heard the train broadcast looking for a doctor, as if someone in carriage number seven was sick.
Carriage number seven happened to be next to theirs, so Jiang Haitang thought of going over to take a look, hoping he could help.
She asked Kang Xiaoxia to accompany her, but was surprised to find that the person who was sick was the old lady who had been splashed with water by Yan Peiwen before.
Jiang Haitang hurried forward to grab the old lady's hand, but found that her hand was incredibly hot. "Do you have a fever?"
The flight attendant beside her hurriedly said, "This lady has a high fever and is about to faint."
When the old woman saw that it was Jiang Haitang, she forced a smile and shook her head: "It's okay, just a little dizzy..."
Before he could finish his words, the old man suddenly fell forward.
Jiang Haitang quickly supported her and touched her forehead, which was burning hot. "Xiaoxia, did we bring medicine? Do we have any fever-reducing medicine?"
"It seems like there is one. It's with Sister Zhiqiu. I'll go look for it." Kang Xiaoxia said as she ran towards the carriage where they were.
At this time, two doctors arrived one after another. After confirming the old lady's condition, they said, "The old lady is weak, and the weather is not hot now. She has caught a cold. Give her antipyretics first. If the fever goes away, that's fine. If not, consider sending her to the hospital for treatment."
Kang Xiaoxia had already arrived with some antipyretic medicine, and a warm-hearted passenger nearby had already poured some water over.
The doctor took care of the old lady and gave her medicine, then said, "Let's stay here and observe."
This scene happened to be witnessed by Yan Peiwen who was passing by after dinner. She saw Jiang Haitang and the old lady and sneered at the entrance of the aisle: "If you ask me, it's the tobacco that made you sick!"
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