It's been a month and a half; the dog's gunshot wound should be almost healed by now.
Ning Yuan made up her mind, sat down at the table with her legs crossed, and said to Yan Yangyang, "I'll be going to Beijing the day after tomorrow, or at the latest the day after that. Is there anything you want me to bring to Uncle Yan and Aunt Yan?"
The last time she visited Yan Yangyang's house, she received an incredibly warm welcome, and she was asked to eat and take things with her, which made her feel quite embarrassed.
Yan Yangyang looked at her with some surprise: "Ningning, didn't you just come back from Guangzhou? Why did you go to Beijing again?"
Ning Yuan waved her hand: "Well, there are still injured people... The men are lying in the hospital, and I've been out having fun for more than half a month, so I have to take care of the left-behind children."
Yan Yangyang scratched his head: "I don't have much to bring. I didn't go back to Beijing this summer, but my brother came last month and brought back a bunch of Shanghai specialties."
She paused, then suddenly remembered something: "Oh right, Captain Ying Gang mentioned you last time he came, saying that you and Instructor Rong are back and he's inviting you to dinner."
As Ning Yuan unwrapped the snacks she had brought back, she asked in surprise, "Huh? Why is Brother Ying at school? Did some theft or robbery happen?"
Yan Yangyang got angry just thinking about it, grabbed a Cantonese wife cake and took a big bite: "You have no idea how unlucky that delicate girl has been ever since she got the job that your older brother took..."
As she spoke, she rattled off a whole story about Chu Hongyu and the Su family.
"...Luckily, Li Sidi was arrested and is still locked up. Her homeroom teacher even tried to threaten the spoiled brat to go to Young Master Ning to get her released. Pah!" Yan Yangyang said indignantly.
Ning Yuan pondered for a moment, then asked thoughtfully, "Is there any statement from the department about Li Sidi and the student council members colluding with the Su family?"
Something about what she was hearing didn't quite click.
Yan Yangyang stuffed the snack into her mouth with annoyance and took a swig of water: "What's most infuriating is this. The spoiled brat was almost kidnapped from school by the Su family, but Li Sidi took all the blame. Now they say she only made things difficult for the spoiled brat because of personal grudges. The department just told Lu Jingui to strengthen management, and that's it!"
Even if Li Sidi was jealous of the spoiled brat, she still harbored so many bad intentions and planned so meticulously that she deliberately staged this scene at the school gate, ruining the spoiled brat's reputation.
Ning Yuan narrowed her bright, deep eyes: "Lu Jingui... it's our Chairman Lu again."
Yan Yangyang rolled her eyes: "Yeah, she's a special student contributor to some evening newspaper, she's published books, and she's the deputy editor-in-chief of the school newspaper. Her articles are full of grand principles!"
Ning Yuan thought for a moment and then said, "If you read more books, you'll find that the articles and novels she writes are just garbage stuff that likes to pile up slogans and fancy words."
Yan Yangyang said irritably, "To put it bluntly, she's just a gullible newbie who hasn't read enough books, but there are so many fools who idolize her name, saying that her articles are inspiring and uplifting!"
She sighed, "Teachers also like these 'outstanding students' who bring honor to their families, and they give them special treatment."
Ning Yuan frowned slightly. In the 1980s, there wasn't much entertainment.
Poetry, prose, and novels, when written well, can easily create cultural stars; otherwise, we wouldn't have produced such popular "spiritual idols" as Hai Zi, Gu Cheng, and Bei Dao.
This is one of the reasons why Lu Jingui is so popular; her honors do seem impressive, and she used to be invincible during major political movements because of them.
But her attempt to outmaneuver her cheap older brother was nothing short of a farce.
Given Ning Bingyu's environment and his own level of expertise, he could easily see through Lu Jingui's incredibly pretentious and empty style.
Ning Yuan thought for a moment and asked, "Why isn't Sister Hongyu in charge of the Ning Family Scholarship anymore? Did she mention it?"
Yan Yangyang shook her head: "The spoiled brat didn't say anything specific, she only said that the department said someone else would be in charge, so she didn't ask any more questions and said that she was going to leave anyway."
Ning Yuan found it a little strange: "Really..."
Strangely, Chu Hongyu isn't the type to remain silent if her credit is stolen halfway through her work.
Hongyu got into some trouble with Zha Ge, so she didn't want to continue working there and, going along with it, stopped being in charge of scholarship coordination.
Ning Yuan seemed to be deep in thought.
The next day, Ning Yuan attended classes all morning. At noon, she went to Grandma Xia's for lunch. Before she had finished eating, Mark drove up to deliver her plane ticket.
—A flight to Beijing tomorrow afternoon.
After thinking for a moment, Ning Yuan said goodbye to Mark and went to the school office in the afternoon to find Director Chu and ask about the scholarship.
Director Chu thought for a moment and said, "About the Ning family scholarship, your department reported that they wanted to change the person in charge. The finance department notified Chu Hongyu to come and hand over the materials. I was there at the time and asked her about it. She said that she really didn't want to do it anymore."
Ning Yuan tilted her head and thought to herself that she was right after all; Hongyu didn't want to be an assistant anymore.
Director Chu suddenly coughed lightly: "Tell Hongyu to relax and not pay attention to the rumors at school."
Ning Yuan looked at Director Chu with a half-smile: "Director, are you referring to the rumors that Li Sidi slandered my sworn brother and Sister Hongyu, or are you referring to the fact that Sister Hongyu was cheated out of money and sex by a man from a poor background, and that people are spreading the news everywhere?"
“Xiao Ning, you…” Director Chu opened his mouth, but didn’t know what to say.
Ning Yuan paused, a glint of light flashing in her large eyes, and asked calmly, "Director, rumors can kill. It's not enough to just let the victims not care. The school still needs to take responsibility. Otherwise, it will make the Hong Kong government and investors think that our school has a bad reputation, right?"
Director Chu immediately nodded: "Ahem, yes."
This little girl is a real talent at school. Putting aside her status as Grandpa Tang's granddaughter, her achievements as a pioneer and practitioner of reform and opening up are even displayed on the bulletin board at the entrance to show off to other teachers and leaders from other schools who come to visit.
The honor and benefits she brought to the school far outweighed any one or two published articles. Teachers and leaders could no longer treat her like a child when they spoke to her.
Ning Yuan seemed to remember something and suddenly snapped her fingers: "Hmm, speaking of Hong Kong government investors, I also have something to report to the director about Lu Jingui from our department's student union..."
I'm flying to Beijing tomorrow, so let me give Lu Jingui a hard time first, so that the self-proclaimed virtuous older sister won't be too idle and cause trouble for others and show off her superiority.
Director Chu's eyebrows twitched as he listened, and he rubbed his temples: "I understand about this. Don't worry, the school will investigate thoroughly."
After Ning Yuan left, Director Chu immediately called his secretary to his office and whispered a few instructions to her.
The next day, Ning Yuan boarded a plane to Beijing.
Unlike Guangzhou in the south of China, Beijing, as autumn approaches in October, is already showing signs of autumn, with the leaves of the plane trees along the roadside turning yellow and a touch of coolness in the air.
As soon as I got off the plane, a cool breeze hit me.
Ning Yuan dragged her suitcase out of the airport, took a deep breath, and felt great.
Although her memories of Beijing weren't good, the fact that the dog is no longer confused and its injuries have healed is a good thing.
She deliberately didn't call him, intending to surprise him.
Ning Yuan boarded the bus, which swayed and bumped its way into the city.
Aunt Qian said that when she lived in the old compound, she never needed to make any special arrangements; they would always reserve a room for her.
She had it all planned out: first, she would go to Aunt Qian's house in the military compound to drop off her luggage, then cook two of her signature dishes, make a soup, and go to the hospital to see Rong Zhaonan and have dinner with him.
It's been a month and a half. Last week, Aheng said that his injury had improved a lot and he shouldn't have to be so careful about what he eats.
Around 3 p.m., Ning Yuan finally got a seat, happily got off the bus, and stopped by the nearby supply and marketing cooperative to buy pork belly and a fish with national grain coupons. She dragged her suitcase in one hand and carried the vegetables in the other as she walked towards the military compound.
She had a special pass, which she showed to the sentry at the gate. After registering it, he let her in.
Ning Yuan put away her documents in a good mood and walked towards Aunt Qian's yard.
As she walked, she turned a corner and saw a figure under a poplar tree talking to Aunt Qian with his back to her.
The man was handsome, with broad shoulders and a narrow waist. Even from behind, he stood tall and straight like a poplar tree.
His black hair was casually combed back, with a few stray strands falling around his ears, making him appear even more relaxed and carefree.
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