The operator called the phone number provided by Zhou Fugui several times before finally getting through.
"Bingchen, Bingchen, is that you?" Zhou Fugui took the phone and asked tremblingly.
It was Zhou Fugui’s first time making a long-distance call, and he even held the receiver upside down at first.
Whenever Zhou Fugui thought about the phone bill of more than one dollar per minute, he felt extremely distressed.
"Hello, this is the XX Regiment of the XX Division of the Southern Military Region. Who are you looking for?" The person on the other end of the line was Zheng Shengli, the commander of Zhou Bingchen's regiment.
Zheng Shengli's voice was very stern. Even through the telephone line, Zhou Fugui could sense a murderous aura.
"Hello... comrade, I am Zhou Bingchen's father, and I have something to discuss with him," said Zhou Fugui.
"Zhou Bingchen is out on a mission and is not here," said Zheng Shengli.
Zheng Shengli was feeling a little anxious.
Three days ago, Zhou Bingchen led his team to carry out a routine mission.
Normally, he should have returned yesterday evening.
As a result, there was still no sign of him this morning and no news.
Zheng Shengli was a little worried.
"Out...out on a mission? Comrade, when will Zhou Bingchen come back? I have an urgent matter." Zhou Fugui asked anxiously.
"It's confidential, so I can't tell you. Do you have anything else to say?" Zheng Shengli asked.
"Comrade, please tell Zhou Bingchen that something big has happened at home and ask him to call back immediately." Zhou Fugui said.
"Okay, I'll pass it on." Before Zhou Fugui could say anything else, Zheng Shengli hung up the phone.
"Comrade, you called for one minute and three seconds, so I'll charge you two minutes, for a total of two dollars and sixty cents," said the salesperson, Xiao Li, as he lowered his head to write out a receipt.
"What? How much?" Zhou Fugui thought he had heard it wrong.
"Two dollars and sixty cents, comrade, please pay the fee quickly, there are people waiting to make a call behind you!" Xiao Li was impatient.
"How can you, young comrade, charge so much? One dollar and thirty cents a minute, and five seconds is about one cent and one eleven cents. I should pay one dollar and forty-one cents." Zhou Fugui "argued with reason."
"Where does this come from? Aren't phone calls charged by the second? It's 1.3 yuan a minute, and everything between one and two minutes is counted as two minutes. Even if it's one minute and one second, it still counts as two minutes." Xiao Li explained impatiently.
Xiao Li was very unhappy about Zhou Fugui's unreasonable charges.
"It's really a robbery! They should charge 1.1 cents for five seconds." Zhou Fugui muttered as he reached into his pocket for money with trembling hands.
"Who told you to calculate it this way? If you have any objections, go to the bureau and report them to our leaders. Don't vent your anger on me here. If you can't afford the money, just learn from others to make long-distance calls. It's much easier to send letters! With just a few cents of stamps, you can write on several pages of letter paper!" Xiao Li glanced at Zhou Fugui and said sarcastically.
Zhou Fugui didn't dare to say anything else. After paying the money, he left the post office dejectedly.
I'm really unlucky today.
I spent a lot of money on the phone, but I couldn't find Zhou Bingchen.
Ding Ermei's matter cannot be delayed.
Forget it, he should go to Zhao's house and let Zhao Qingshan think of a solution.
After Zhou Fugui made up his mind, he walked towards Zhao's house.
When Zhou Fugui arrived at the Zhao family, the Zhao family had already had lunch.
Wu Meiyun takes a nap after lunch every day and takes the children into the house to rest.
Zhao Zhenzhu is working in the workshop.
Zhao Qingshan and his son Zhao Tianyu were talking in the main room.
Liang Xiaohe went to open the door.
Seeing Zhou Fugui empty-handed, Liang Xiaohe couldn't help curling her lips and asked, "Who are you looking for?"
"You are Jiakai's aunt, right? I am Jiakai's grandfather, and I have something to ask my father-in-law." Zhou Fugui said with a smile on his face.
When Zhao Tianyu got married, Zhou Fugui came to Zhao's house for the banquet and remembered what Liang Xiaohe looked like.
"Come in!" Liang Xiaohe didn't respond to Zhou Fugui's words. She turned around and left.
You come to visit someone but don’t even bring a gift. How can you be so shameless?
Liang Xiaohe looked down on Zhou Fugui's stinginess.
If Liang Xiaohe hadn't thought that Zhou Fugui was here to ask Zhao Zhenzhu and the others to go home, she would not have been willing to let Zhou Fugui in today.
Zhou Fugui's face turned red with anger.
Jiakai's aunt is really unreasonable. He is also an elder, right? When the guests came, there was not even a smile on his face.
However, Zhou Fugui only dared to think so in his heart and did not dare to complain in front of Liang Xiaohe.
Liang Xiaohe sells cloth at the counter of the supply and marketing cooperative.
Zhou Fugui was afraid that he would have a falling out with Liang Xiaohe, so the next time he went to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy something, Liang Xiaohe would not let anyone sell to him.
"My dear relative, how come you have time to come to town today? Have you eaten? Come and sit down!" When Zhao Qingshan saw Zhou Fugui, he hurriedly stood up and gave him a seat, and did not forget to ask Zhao Tianyu to make a pot of tea.
Zhou Fugui didn't feel hungry until Zhao Qingshan asked.
As soon as Zhao Qingshan finished speaking, Zhou Fugui's stomach growled a few times.
"Hehehe, I was so busy running around the whole morning that I actually forgot to eat." Zhou Fugui said embarrassedly, holding his stomach.
"Zhenzhu, go to the kitchen and make a bowl of noodles for your father-in-law." Zhao Qingshan ordered loudly.
Wu Meiyun was resting in the room, and Zhao Qingshan didn't dare speak too loudly for fear of waking her up.
Zhao Zhenzhu was sewing on a "click-click-click" machine, but she pretended not to hear anything.
Zhao Zhenzhu was willing to pay compensation for Ding Ermei and clean up the mess, just because she didn't want her family's troubles to implicate innocent Uncle Jin and Aunt Jin. But it didn't mean that Ding Ermei's slander against her was over.
Let her cook noodles for Zhou Fugui?
Bah!
Is Zhou Fugui worthy?
"The sewing machine at home is old and makes too much noise when it is turned on. Pearl probably didn't hear it." Zhao Qingshan said awkwardly.
"It's okay, it's okay, my dear relative. I'm not that hungry. I came here today to ask for your help with something." Zhou Fugui was afraid of unnecessary trouble, so he had to get down to business.
"What's the matter?" Zhao Qingshan asked.
"My old woman, today at the market..." Zhou Fugui told Zhao Qingshan about Ding Ermei's arrest.
Then he said, "My dear, you have many acquaintances in this town. Please ask the chief of the police station to release Jiakai's grandmother!"
Zhao Qingshan's face turned pale.
Zhao Qingshan also heard about Ding Ermei's story today.
However, the version Zhao Qingshan heard was "the daughter-in-law refused to buy wontons for her mother-in-law, and the mother-in-law actually slandered the daughter-in-law for having an affair with the wonton stall owner." The storyteller also heard it from others, and did not mention the names of Ding Ermei and Zhao Zhenzhu.
During lunch today, Zhao Qingshan talked about this incident in front of the whole family and told the children how to deal with such an unreasonable mother-in-law.
Looking back now, Zhao Qingshan hated his bad mouth.
No wonder the smile on Pearl’s face looked a little forced at that time!
It turns out that his daughter Pearl is one of the "protagonists" of the story.
How much injustice has Zhenzhu suffered in the Zhou family over the years?
Just because a small thing didn't go her way, Ding Ermei actually went on the street and talked nonsense to destroy Zhenzhu's reputation?
The more Zhao Qingshan thought about it, the more distressed he felt. If Zhou Fugui wasn't still here, Zhao Qingshan wanted to rush to the workshop and tell Zhao Zhenzhu not to be sad.
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