Chapter 37

Red and professional

"Auntie Huang, there is no such thing as you. Dadan is only six years old. How can you be called a reactionary?"

"Yes, he is just a child. You can't put such a big hat on him."

"Our base is not used to the practices outside. We are all good people in the base. Is there no one to stop this old lady from coming in?"

As more people gathered, the shy and thin-skinned Nie Weimin's face became redder and his neck became thicker, and he slammed towards Sun Duoyu fiercely.

Chen Lina grabbed the child.

"Okay, take Erdan home quickly. I'll take care of this matter." She said to comfort the child.

Nie Weimin didn’t know what he was feeling after beating someone for the first time. His face was red and hot. He ran into Chen Lina’s arms and started crying. “I didn’t mean to do it. I’m not a reactionary.”

"I know you are not a reactionary, and I also know you didn't do it on purpose. In the law, there is a provision called legitimate defense, which means that if someone hits you, you are not wrong to fight back. This is legitimate defense." Chen Lina said, and pushed the child behind her.

Nie Weimin still refused to leave. "I, I'll watch you from behind."

"There is fire everywhere in the house. Sandan is still young and doesn't understand anything. What if he starts a fire? Go back quickly," she said.

When Nie Weimin thought of his brother, he turned around and ran away.

When Huang Huacai saw Chen Lina, he was really jealous. "You bitch, don't you think I don't know that you are just a stinking old ninth who ran to the base to avoid the revolution? I will defeat you, the stinking old ninth, today."

"Stinky, stinky old nine." Sun Duoyu opened his mouth and it turned out that he was a stutterer.

"Shut up. Listen to me, everyone. This bitch named Chen has a purpose. She is a college student who came to the border. Do you think she can be okay? She came here because she couldn't make it in her hometown. I tell you, your base has recruited her, which is a risk. She is a cancer. This cancer must be removed, otherwise, your base will be closed sooner or later."

Of course, there are many highly educated people in the oil base, but those who are able to work here have to go through political review again and again.

To put it bluntly, one must be from a poor family or a nobleman to get a salary of more than 100 yuan a month.

Otherwise, no matter how high your academic qualifications are, you still have to work and live in the cowshed.

After hearing just a few words from Chou Laojiu, all the family members gasped.

In particular, Chen Lina is currently driving the only sedan in the base, and even Chief Engineer Wang cannot drive that sedan.

Chen Lina thought to herself, well, no wonder she dared to come, it turns out she was trying to strangle me?

She said directly, "You're talking nonsense. My family has been poor for three generations. I have a red heart, and it can't be redder."

This is not wrong. Apart from the fact that her great-grandfather was a scholar, the Chen family had been poor for three generations. Before the old lady was exposed last year, there was nothing wrong with her background.

"Hey, do you dare to take out your file and show it to me?" The reason why Huang Huacai insisted that Chen Lina was a stinking ninth grader was that she asked her second son-in-law Wang Fusheng, who was in charge of personnel in the mining area, to find out.

But things like personnel files are top secret.

Besides, the documents of Nie Bozhao's family were locked in Chief Engineer Wang's safe. It was impossible for Huang Huacai to get them out.

Therefore, Huang Huacai had no choice but to use the method of provoking Chen Lina. She first poured dirty water on her and then provoked her. Since Chen Lina could not produce the files and could not prove her innocence, she won.

But Chen Lina had experienced this era once and was not someone who could be easily fooled.

She said, "I am not afraid to tell anyone about my files. I, Chen Lina, was born in 1950. My father was a primary school teacher and my grandfather was a poor man. As for myself, I have been both a red and a professional since I was young.

When I was in primary school, I presented flowers to the March 8th Red Flag Bearer of Hongyan Province. When I entered junior high school, I was even better. In every school performance, I was Li Tiemei in "Red Lantern" and Xier in "White Haired Girl". There was no semester or school year when I didn't receive a certificate of merit. My family used my certificates to cover the walls instead of other things."

This is the truth. Chen Lina's personality is such that she always strives to be the best in everything. Especially at that time when China and the Soviet Union were friendly, and she could speak Russian, she was extremely proud when she was a child.

Whenever there is an event, she is always the one who presents flowers on behalf of the students.

Huang Huacai didn't believe it. "You are talking nonsense. If you have the guts, take out your files and show them to everyone. If you don't have the guts, you are just bragging."

"Old lady, you have no right to look at my file. If you really want to look at it, go find Chief Engineer Wang or Secretary Ah. I have to tell you that only the organization has the right to look at a person's file. Who are you to check my file?"

Huang Huacai is a big threat to the base. To be honest, Secretary A and Chief Engineer Wang will only protect her and will not stand on Huang Huacai's side.

From the day Nie Bozhao transferred her file from the provincial capital of Hongyan, Chen Lina knew that the leaders of the base were protecting her, because the file was now locked up in the base.

Huang Huacai and her son Sun Dabao are best at making trouble in the name of revolution and based on class background. When dealing with such people, whoever is bullying is always right.

You are both red and professional. My heart is redder than yours. I respect the leader more and I love the Republic more. Who is more right?

Moreover, her household registration is a collective household of the university and she had moved out of Qisi Township long ago. If the old lady wants to go to Qisi Township to check on her, won't she come up empty-handed?

What if splashing dirty water doesn’t work? You can still sprinkle it.

Huang Huacai got up from the ground, and when she saw Chen Lina was about to leave, she lay down in front of her. "You taught my eldest grandson bad things and taught him to hit people. I want you to compensate me for my losses. Look at my clothes. Oh, I still have a headache. I want you to pay for my medical expenses."

Sun Duoyu stammered, but also said, "Chicken, eggs, hairtail, hairtail, nourish, nourish the body."

"Hey, the child is crying to scare people, the old man is pretending to be dead to scare people, you want compensation, right? You want eggs with oil, right?"

Looking back, I saw Goudan's mother holding a basket of coal ash with sparks in it. Chen Lina turned around and took it, pretending to splash it. "Well, if the child accidentally touches it, it's called a beating. You have to pay for it anyway, so why don't I add some more?"

"Comrade Xiao Chen, you can't do this anymore." Everyone went crazy when they saw this.

After all, the day lily was afraid of being stunned, so it quickly got up and hid.

"Xiao Chen, that's enough. You have a point. You should know that the pensions and benefits all belong to the grandson-in-law. Even if the grandson-in-law dies, the two families are still relatives. You should just give him some symbolic relief. Aunt Huang paid for the grandson-in-law to go to college." Someone tried to smooth things over and even brought up the fact that the grandson-in-law was born in a son-in-law to play the family card.

"Then you can call Chief Engineer Wang and District Chief Gao. It doesn't matter which one of them is fine. If they say to give it, I will give it." Chen Lina was holding a basket of coal ash, looking like she would smash anyone who dared to make any more noise.

So some people who were curious took the lead and ran to the office building to look for someone.

Sun Duoyu smelled the scent. Every household had hairtail fish. In the north, although there were fish in the Baiyang River, it had been frozen for 800 years. When people smelled the scent of hairtail fish, they were very excited. “More, more hairtail fish.”

Huang Huacai also said, "You know, my second daughter married a man in the mining area, and my third daughter's son-in-law is the director of Mulan Farm. We have too much steamed buns to eat and feed them to the birds. I don't care about your things. What I am fighting for is the position of our male successor in this base. She will be honored even if she dies."

Even if she is a heroic mother, it is not a big deal if she talks about her every day. Everyone feels sad when they see her.

Chief Engineer Wang also went to Oil Well No. 2, but District Chief Gao of the mining area was currently working here to build a hospital and a school.

As soon as Huang Huacai saw Secretary Gao coming, she became even more furious. It was so cold in winter that she lay on the ground and refused to get up. "District Chief Gao, you see, this stinky old ninth child has corrupted my eldest grandson. My child, who used to be as well-behaved as a cat, now beats people. This stinky old ninth child has unhealthy thoughts, a bad attitude, and even more problematic actions."

Sun Duoyu probably also wanted to lie down, but when he was about to lie down, District Chief Gao had already arrived, so it was not convenient for him to lie down.

This District Chief Gao Feng, in fact, Chen Lina will get to know him in the future.

Not only will he be in a very high position in the future, but also, since the campaign to remove the labels began in 1971, the area under his jurisdiction had the most and fastest number of people belonging to the "five black categories" removed.

The development of an enterprise, or a region, is inseparable from people.

The fact that Umayee has truly become the pearl of the desert is of course inseparable from the vision and perspectives of these leaders.

A shrew like Huang Huacai is just playing around with Chen Lina, but when she really gets in front of the leader, what she cares about is evidence.

Therefore, Chen Lina directly gave the evidence to District Chief Gao, "Leader, I am Nian Gong's family member. My first priority is not to affect Nian Gong's research and work. You can handle the rest. However, I have to show you something."

An octavo notebook made of kraft paper with the word "DIARY" written in large letters on it.

District Chief Gao took it, but because he saw the words "Sun Zhuan Nan" written on it, he didn't dare to read it any further and turned directly to the page where Chen Lina had put the bookmark.

After flipping through it briefly, he said directly, "Okay, okay, Sun Gong's mother, I'll take care of your problem. Let's go, I'll send a big truck to drive you home, okay?"

"That stinky old nine, she has to compensate me for the money and the hairtail."

With a flick of the brush, a basket of coal ash fell over, which scared District Chief Gao.

Isn't the family of the worker Awarguli from the base? This is simply a shrew.

"Old lady, if you dare to call me stinky old ninth again and slander my reputation, I will kill your whole family." Chen Lina's roar actually frightened the old lady so much that she really dared not speak. The coal ash had suffered in vain.

Chen Lina's confidence was not due to any other reason. The leaders of the base, no matter what else they did, were all highly educated and naturally sour. To call them the "stinky ninths", they seemed to be of the same mind and in harmony with the Tao, so she dared to act like a spoiled brat.

This made it difficult for District Chief Gao. He was not as hot-tempered as Chief Engineer Wang, nor as bitter and vengeful as Secretary A. He was patient and had to appease Huang Huacai.

"I still have some hairtail. I came to the base alone and can't eat it all. Can I give mine to you?"

Huang Huacai didn't understand what was going on yet. He clapped his hands, complained to District Chief Gao, and described how bad Nie Weimin was.

In short, she had a heart-to-heart talk with the leader, who kept nodding his head to show that he understood. He even shook her hand before she left and gave her a few bags of fish and a basket of eggs. But Day Huacai still didn't understand what was going on.

But he felt that his superiors would deal with Chen Lina seriously and that he would receive compensation, so he left with great satisfaction.

Unexpectedly, District Chief Gao waved and watched Huang Huacai leave, then asked someone to find the security captain Qin Sheng and said earnestly, "Captain Qin, from now on, our security must be improved. Outsiders must be picked up by their families, otherwise they cannot be allowed into the base, especially this old lady, you can't let her in anymore."

Qin Sheng looked puzzled. "Why?"

"It's their family's affairs, but the old lady and her daughters, especially Sun Ainan, the wife of the director of the personnel department of the mining area, must not be allowed to enter the base unless the workers and their families agree."

Qin Sheng was confused, but he took out his little notebook and carefully wrote down the numbers of people.

Nie Weimin, who had just fought with someone for the first time in his life, had not yet recovered from the shock.

Erdan is really heartless. He is eating fish very carefully. "Brother, come on, eat fish. It's delicious."

Nie Weimin's hands were still shaking, but what was even more sad was that his beautiful, white marine uniform was torn, and not in any other place, but on his chest.

Just like when Goudan broke his knee, his military uniform no longer looked good from then on, his clothes would no longer look good from now on.

The children found the smell of hairtail fish quite fragrant. Erdan ate one mouthful of white rice and another one of hairtail fish. Especially today, the mung bean sprouts that Xiao Chen had been growing for a long time had also grown. He stir-fried them into a plate. Just looking at Erdan eating them was so delicious.

But Nie Weimin was sad. Just one look at his clothes made him feel like his life was hopeless.

After finishing the meal and washing the dishes, Chen Lina deliberately said, "Comrade Xiao Nie, bring me the dirty water and pour it out."

Well, he usually always wanted to negotiate conditions, but today he was so sad that he didn't even bother to talk about conditions. He just went out with the bucket in his hand without even wearing a cotton coat.

She served him a bowl of white rice and picked up two neat pieces of fish meat with bones removed. Chen Lina asked, "Do you want to eat it?"

Nie Weimin shook his head and said with a frightened look, "I won't eat it."

"Is it because of the torn clothes or because of the beating?"

…

"Just for the clothes? I'll fix them for you."

"It's wrong to hit people. My mom said that children should only obey and not hit others."

Chen Lina placed the navy uniform on the sewing machine, looked around, and decided to mend the torn parts.

But she suddenly had an idea, so she cut another piece of cloth, folded it, fixed the surface, and then sewed it on.

Okay, Nie Weimin is willing to eat.

Oh my god, Chen Lina thought, can boys also be so vain?

But there's nothing we can do about it. Who said he's the most handsome guy in the base? His round head isn't that big, and his nose is as straight as his father's.

But he doesn't have the European and American charm like his father. He is thin-skinned and thin-faced, with tears in his eyes from crying. He eats a bowl of rice, looking annoying but cute.

"If someone hits you again in the future, will you dare to fight back?" The sewing machine was squeaking. Erdan was feeding Sandan under the coaxing of Chen Lina. Of course, the two of them were just cooking for fun, and Chen Lina planned to have a heart-to-heart talk with her stepson.

Nie Weimin thought about it, a sly look flashed in his eyes, and then he said obediently, "I won't fight back."

"You have to fight back. For example, if Liu Xiaogang or Goudan hit you, and your punch is not strong enough, you must fight back. As long as you fight back once, they will not dare to hit you again in the future."

"What if we ask the parents to come and find us?"

"I will tell them that my son hit someone, and as long as he was not the first to hit someone, I will be fully responsible for the medical expenses."

"It's great to have you." Nie Weimin was digging into a bowl of white rice and accidentally bit into a piece of hairtail fish, which he never liked to eat. After chewing it a few times, he found it unexpectedly delicious.

"Cough, cough, cough!" Well, his father said he wouldn't come back, but it was almost midnight and he actually came back.

When Nie Weimin heard this, he ran to the kitchen with the bowl in his hand like a mouse.

"Is there any more food?"

"No, weren't you going to have a big meal at the oil well today? Why are you back?" Chen Lina said as she gave Nie Weimin her clothes and said solemnly, "We say fighting is just a game between children. If someone hits you, you must fight back. But fighting is not the most important thing for a person. I sewed a pencil case for you to hold your pens. Starting next year, you will be a primary school student, Comrade Nie. I hope you will use the pencil case more than you will use your fists."

A nice little pencil case, just big enough to hold a pen.

Nie Bozhao took out the pen from his pocket and inserted it inside. Ha, it fit perfectly.

Bending down, Dad said, "My boy, I started school when I was nine years old, and I skipped three grades in my first year. It's okay if you can't do it, but you must not embarrass me. This Parker pen was given to me by a leader personally during the National Advanced Worker Commendation Conference. I'm giving it to you now, so you must protect it well."

When it was time to go to bed, Nie Weimin was still reluctant to take off the pen.

After all, that was Dad’s most precious pen. He relied on it to write every day, and most people in the base respected Dad because of that Parker pen.

She said there was no rice, but after the three children fell asleep, Chen Lina still brought him a bowl of hot rice. "We each ate two pieces of the hairtail fish that were just distributed today. You can also have two pieces. Come on and eat."

Nie Bozhao really didn't want to eat the steamed buns found underground, but these were difficult times. Underground, everyone shared a pot of Chinese cabbage and each person had a large steamed bun. He was so hungry that he ran back to find something to eat.

Sure enough, there is still food prepared at home.

"How can you teach a child to hit others? I've always said that we should fight with words instead of with fists. We should just avoid fights. You, my friend, even dare to say that you will be fully responsible for the medical expenses. I think you really want to turn my son into a gangster." Nie Bozhao said while eating.

Chen Lina has a different view on this. "Being beaten or hitting others is inevitable for children. Your son is always beaten, and he has a strong sense of self-esteem. If you keep suppressing him, he will explode sooner or later. He may become addicted to hitting others and go astray. However, as long as he fights back, other children will not dare to hit him easily. This is the real way to establish his self-esteem. Besides, when children fight, it's good for the winner. If my son wins, I will be happy to pay for the other person's medical expenses."

"Is he your son?" Nie Bozhao paused his chopsticks and asked with a smile.

Chen Lina curled her lips and said, "I mean, what if I have a son?"

Nie Bozhao smiled and lowered his head to eat his rice.

The little princess was very enthusiastic today. After he finished his meal, she saw him turn on the desk light in the small bedroom and immediately made him a cup of black coffee and brought it to him.

There was still white smoke coming out of the enamel pot. When Nie Bozhao took the pot, he saw Comrade Xiao Chen turned behind him and started to massage his back.

"Are you tired? Can I give you a massage?"

"I dare not trouble the princess to drive, I am really terrified." Nie Bozhao was really scared. "But Comrade Xiao Chen, you didn't do anything bad today, so you are trying to please me like this, right? Why do I feel so scared?"

Under the light, the girl who claimed to be a little princess smiled shyly, which frightened Nie Bozhao so much that his hair stood on end. "Is it true?"

…