Chapter 116
Xie Jinxuan smiled helplessly and said, "Li Rui and I found out something. We wanted to go to a place to continue our investigation last night, but we ran into the special investigation team. It was quite dangerous at the time and we almost got into a fight. However, there were many of them, so Li Rui and I told them who we were and they immediately detained us. Later, we were taken to a place and locked up for questioning. Fortunately, Li Rui and I both had legitimate jobs and our family backgrounds were clean. Plus, there was an old subordinate of my grandfather there, so we were fine. But because the matter was very important, they couldn't let us leave. Instead, they asked us how we found out about that place. I told them the truth. In that situation, I couldn't help but tell them."
"That's right, you should tell the truth. There's nothing to hide from them. Besides, you are here to expose bad things. However, it's really too dangerous. If you had known you would meet them, you shouldn't have touched this matter. Jinxuan, I'm sorry, it's all my fault. If I hadn't been brooding over the Kong family, you wouldn't have investigated that matter." Xia Qingtang hugged his big hands tightly, his face full of guilt.
Xie Jinxuan quickly comforted her: "We are fine. They are the investigation team, not the fan-making group. Although they detained us, they did not do anything to us. Moreover, after knowing that we have found out a lot of things, they asked us to cooperate with them. Because we found out the place yesterday, we can take action. They did not let us go home, nor did they send us letters, mainly because they were afraid that the news would leak out. Li Rui and I are also good at fighting, so we cooperated with them. Mom was indeed right. We waited until it was dark before we took action. We arrested people, found some things, and then brought them back. After they locked up the people over there, Li Rui and I were driven back by the investigation team."
Xia Qingtang asked: "So is this considered a success?"
"Of course it worked."
"So what can I ask? Or, what can you say?"
Xie Jinxuan pondered for a moment and said, "There's nothing I can't tell you. I can tell you everything I've found out. Anyway, Kong Liangchao and the man with the mole are going to get into trouble, and the Kong family is not immune from it. At this time, someone has probably gone to the Kong family to arrest people and search the house. Because there must be more than one person in the Kong family involved in this matter."
Xia Qingtang was still confused. She asked, "What do you mean? Then who are you going to catch tonight?"
"We arrested several very important people tonight who are closely related to Kong Liangchao. One of them is the man with the black mole we saw last time."
Xia Qingtang then said, "Are all our previous guesses correct? Are Kong Liangchao and the man with the black mole definitely doing something bad? What bad things are they doing? Can you tell me?"
"Yes, I found this out, and you are right, they are indeed doing something bad. Kong Liangchao and the man with the black mole got together and discussed doing something big. If they succeed, they will become rich overnight."
Xia Qingtang already knew what was going on, but she still covered her pounding heart and whispered, "What on earth is going on?"
"You know Li Dan, right?"
"Who wouldn't know this? Everyone in the entire provincial capital, from three to eighty-three years old, knows this. Wasn't he locked up? How could this be related to him?"
Xie Jinxuan whispered, "I didn't think it had anything to do with Li Dan at first, but my friend found out about the man with the black mole and discovered that he often went to a small town under Hongxing County to look for a lesbian in her twenties. The lesbian was a barefoot doctor who worked in the town. She had a husband before, but he died of illness, leaving behind a five-year-old boy who depended on the female doctor for life. We initially thought that the female doctor was the partner of the man with the black mole, but after further investigation, we found some clues."
"What's the clue?" Xia Qingtang deliberately widened his eyes and pretended to be very curious.
"It turns out that the female doctor is actually Li Dan's man, and the five-year-old boy is most likely Li Dan's son. Our people went to see him and said that his eyebrows and eyes are very similar to Li Dan's, but he doesn't look like her ex-husband at all, so he can't be wrong. At this point, the matter is very clear. It's nothing more than Kong Liangchao can't find a job, and Mr. Kong doesn't give him money, so he can't live his previous life of drinking and partying, so he and the man with the black mole set their sights on the female doctor. But it's not clear how the man with the black mole knew that even the investigation team couldn't find out. How did he know that Li Dan had an illegitimate child in the town?"
"Let the investigation team interrogate this. It has nothing to do with us anyway. Let's talk about the main point. Since we have found Li Dan's woman and son, Li Dan must have left money for them! It was said before that only half of the gold and silver treasures hidden by Li Dan were found. Is the remaining half in the hands of that woman? This is the opportunity to get rich overnight!"
Xie Jinxuan said, "Yes, Kong Liangchao and the man with the black mole must have thought the same, so they often went to see that woman. But even though Li Dan is locked up now, the female doctor is quite capable. She is very popular among the people in the town. Almost everyone has seen her for medical treatment, and she has indeed cured many people. So the man with the black mole only dared to go to her, but did not dare to really do anything to her, so there has been no progress so far."
"Is it true that only the investigation team can do anything to her? So did you find any gold, silver or treasure today?"
"We found it. Today, we followed the investigation team and drove to the town in advance. We took the lesbian's son away by surprise. Then the lesbian found him herself. When she saw her son was taken away, she was quite honest and said that since she had found him, she would hand over the things because she couldn't stand the pain of being tortured. After that, she took us to a place and handed over all the things."
Xia Qingtang became excited when he heard this: "What good stuff is it?"
"Gold bars, they are all quite old, or gold cakes, all in long strips. It's unclear what era they are from, but each one is genuine and heavy, and there are quite a lot of them. However, those should not be all that Li Dan has left, but this amount is a great achievement. Everyone is very excited today. After finding such a large amount of gold and handing it over, the province will also be relieved."
"After you found the gold, you drove back? And then the investigation team continued to catch Kong Liangchao?"
"Not only that, the female doctor confessed right away that the man with the black mole threatened her, so when we drove to Hongxing County, we brought the man with the black mole back as well. After that, someone sent Li Rui and I home, and the others went to Kong's house immediately. I think that everything will be resolved in a while, and today's incident will probably be reported in the newspapers. After all, tonight's operation was prepared by the investigation team for a long time, and now that the person and the evidence have been caught, the female doctor and Li Dan's son will also come in handy later. With the two of them, Li Dan might give in and hand over the rest of the stuff. If it's true, it will be a great victory." It can be seen that Xie Jinxuan is actually very happy, and his slightly tired face is shining with happiness.
Xia Qingtang said, "Congratulations to you and the comrades in the investigation team. You have all worked hard. Kong Liangchao has been arrested this time. Will he be sentenced? What I mean is that although he and the man with the black mole are accomplices, they have not yet cheated the gold bars from the female doctor. This bad thing is not really done. Will it be left unresolved in the end? Is there any evidence to prove that Kong Liangchao is doing bad things, so as to sentence him to ten or eight years?"
This is what she is most concerned about now. She is happy to find the gold bars, but she will not get a single one, so Kong Liangchao's matter is more critical.
Xie Jinxuan said: "Don't worry, the things I found before can prove that Kong Liangchao and the Kong family have been planning this for a long time. They took the gold and silver, whether they succeeded or not, it was a serious crime. And the man with the black mole is not a good brother who is loyal. He sold Kong Liangchao out in the car, so the first thing the investigation team did when they returned to the provincial capital was to arrest people at the Kong family. It can be basically confirmed that the evidence is conclusive, and I also have some other evidence that can be submitted to the investigation team for them to use. After this case is thoroughly investigated and everything is figured out, Kong Liangchao will definitely be questioned and sentenced. My grandfather and I I chatted with a subordinate for a while. According to his experience, Kong Liangchao will be imprisoned for at least ten years. This is illegal acquisition of public property. It is impossible not to be sentenced severely. As for the other members of the Kong family, it depends on how much they are involved. Kong Liangchao's parents are cadres. If they are really involved, they will probably be sentenced more severely than Kong Liangchao. So, don't worry, the Kong family is at the end of the road, and it is the worst end. The grandfather of the Kong family is old, and I am afraid he will have a hard time tonight. But he has a great responsibility, and he knows a lot of things, but he has turned a blind eye for so many years and let the younger generation make mistakes. This is what he deserves. "
Xia Qingtang suddenly had an indescribable mysterious feeling. It had been two lifetimes, two entire lifetimes, until now. With their efforts... or with the help of God, Kong Liangchao had finally embarked on the path of destruction, and even brought the Kong family with him to the ending that Xia Qingtang wanted to see the most.
She couldn't describe how she felt at the moment. She only knew that on the one hand she was very happy, but on the other hand it was very complicated, as if through this incident her life had reached a different place.
In fact, it was not until this moment that she realized how deep her hatred for the Kong family was. It was not until the Kong family became like this that she felt she had let it go.
Her eyes suddenly became hot. Because she didn't want Xie Jinxuan to notice that something was wrong with her, she quickly adjusted her breathing and said softly, "If you do too much evil, you will eventually perish... Even if this incident didn't happen to the Kong family, something bad would have happened sooner or later..."
Xie Jinxuan said: "But if they don't touch this matter, even if something happens sooner or later, they won't go to jail. At most they will lose their job."
Xia Qingtang sighed and said, "People should be good and down-to-earth. People like us, although we are not rich, we have enough food and clothes. It's good to work hard and support ourselves with the wages and food coupons we earn normally. Even if we want to eat delicious food, we will find a way to buy it with money instead of thinking about using our status to do something privileged."
Xie Jinxuan nodded and said, "In fact, after we took away the gold bars today, we all said the same thing. Everyone wants to live a good life, but a good life must be obtained in a down-to-earth and legitimate way. In fact, there are not many of us participating in this mission today, especially when the gold bars were found, there were only a few people on the scene. If someone had some selfish motives, it would be normal to discuss with a few people and secretly hide a few bars, and no one would find out. But no one on the scene would do this, and everyone just wanted to hand over this batch of gold to the higher-ups. I think it is normal for such people and such things to happen. There are definitely people like the Kong family, but they are definitely not the majority."
"But the Kong family has lived a good life for so many years, and no one has ever thought of investigating them. This is really ridiculous." Xia Qingtang said in a low voice.
Xie Jinxuan smiled and said, "It's a bit absurd, but if there is no definite evidence, or if there is no very strict evidence, even the higher-ups can't do anything. The Kong family is full of smart people, and of course they all know how to hide their crimes. Fortunately, this time, their family was found out. This is all thanks to you. You were the first one to discover that Kong Liangchao was sneaking around with the man with the mole."
"No, we should thank Teacher Guan. If we hadn't accompanied him to find his son, we wouldn't have met those two people... That's not right. We should thank you. It was you who helped Teacher Guan find his son. You are the one who should be thanked the most for all this. Xie Jinxuan, thank you so much. I am relieved now! From now on, I will feel refreshed whenever I think about the end of the Kong family. Besides, Kong Liangchao may not know that his adopted son is someone else's child!" Xia Qingtang sneered, "When he goes to jail, will Comrade Fang Manman tell him the truth?"
"That's unclear. It depends on how the Kong family treats Comrade Fang. But given Comrade Fang's personality, he will definitely take advantage of the situation."
Xia Qingtang rolled his eyes and said, "Did you really see that batch of gold?"
Seeing her cute expression, Xie Jinxuan couldn't help but gently pinch her little face and said, "I saw it, I saw it with my own eyes. Under the light, it was golden and dazzling. It was very shocking."
"Wow, I wish I could see it with my own eyes someday. I wish I could take a look at the remaining treasures of Li Dan when they are found. Oh, can you find the remaining things? It would be such a pity if you can't find them."
Xie Jinxuan said: "If we really can't find it, there's nothing we can do. We have tried our best now. This special investigation team has been busy for so long and finally made a breakthrough. Even if we can't find the rest of it later, these comrades have an explanation."
Xia Qingtang nodded and said, "Hey, who is that man with the black mole? What does he do in Hongxing County?"
Xie Jinxuan said: "The man with the black mole is called Zhang Qiang. He was an unemployed vagrant in Hongxing County. He had been to the countryside before. Later, when the first batch of educated youth came back from the countryside, he also ran back to the county. But you know the world, he couldn't find a job in the county, and his family didn't have much money. His father and mother were just small workers in the printing factory, and he had younger brothers and sisters to support at home. Life was very hard. Zhang Qiang had problems with food and drink, so he relied on his strong body and some martial arts to do some cheating on the street. I also heard that the crime he was going to be sentenced to was much greater than Kong Liangchao. Because he had committed a lot of robbery alone, but these still needed to collect evidence one by one, and the details would have to wait for some time to know."
Xia Qingtang said: "So Kong Liangchao is really not a good guy. Look at the people he knows, they are all scammers. And his men in the city, even the group that blocked us on the street before, are not good people either."
"Speaking of those little brothers in the city, most of them have turned over a new leaf, are working hard, and no longer associate with Kong Liangchao. In fact, it is easy for people to learn to be good, but it is a pity that Kong Liangchao looked down on the work of temporary workers and only thought about having a good time all day. Now it's good. After being officially sentenced, he will do the hard work in prison for ten years."
Xia Qingtang added: "The investigation team has made significant gains this time. You and Comrade Li Rui have also helped a lot and have made contributions to the operation. Will you be rewarded when the time comes? I mean... you have recovered so many gold bars. Is it possible to reward you with some bonuses?"
Xie Jinxuan laughed: "There won't be any monetary reward, but there might be a certificate. Of course, the premise is that this matter can be made public. After it is made public, they might write a big certificate for me and Li Rui for my grandfather's sake. If we send it to school, then... it would be a good thing."
"A certificate of honor is even better. Our family is not short of money anyway. When you get a big certificate of honor for your meritorious service, the school will also commend you."
Xie Jinxuan said: "I haven't thought about whether the school will commend me, but next semester, freshmen can also join the student union. If there is such a certificate, it should be easier for me to join."
"You are so outstanding and have good grades. Even if you don't have any awards, you can still join. I fully believe in your ability and personality." Xia Qingtang asked all the questions she needed to ask. Then she remembered that Xie Jinxuan didn't come back last night. She probably didn't sleep all night. She quickly said, "You must have not slept all night. You came back so late now. I'll go prepare a bath for you now. Take a good bath, and then we'll go to bed."
Xie Jinxuan nodded and said, "Okay, I'll drink some water first, and then I'll take a shower. But it's already so late, I can do it myself. You usually fall asleep at this time, so don't help me get some bath water today, just go and get some rest."
Xia Qingtang shook her head vigorously: "No, no, I'm not sleepy anymore anyway, it's okay. Besides, you haven't been home for a day and a night, I miss you so much, let me stay with you for a while."
Xie Jinxuan looked at Xia Qingtang's serious and cute expression, and wanted to hug her tightly. But then she felt that she was not clean enough, so she could only pinch her hand and said with a smile: "Okay, then please help me get some bath water."
Xia Qingtang prepared bath water for Xie Jinxuan, and after he drank some hot water, he went in to take a bath.
Xia Qingtang didn't go anywhere else, but moved a small stool and sat at the door of the bathroom, continuing to chat with Xie Jinxuan inside.
"Jinxuan, are you sure the people inside didn't bully you? Otherwise, let me see if you have any injuries."
"Of course not. They are a serious investigation team, and my grandfather's old subordinates are also in it. How could they bully us?"
"Have you eaten yet? Are you full? Are you hungry?"
"Of course we ate. We prepared the same food as them. When they slept, we rested too. Everything was the same as theirs. Before the operation today, we had dinner on the road. It was pretty good. It was big steamed buns with chopped bacon. It was very delicious. We had two each."
“The food is so good?”
"Yes, because the investigation team has been very busy these days, all the comrades have been working from dawn to dusk, so they eat a little better to avoid physical collapse, which would affect the operation."
Xia Qingtang sat outside the door and curled his lips, saying, "It's mainly because they have funds. This time they found so many gold bars, maybe they are rewarding them to continue looking."
"That's also possible. After all, the contribution we made this time is not small."
Before, Li Dan’s affair had spread throughout the city. Xia Qingtang remembered that Li Dan’s wife and two sons were also accomplices and would be shot when the time came. So it seemed that the five-year-old boy brought back from Hongxing County was the last bloodline of the Li family.
Li Dan persisted for so long, but no matter how he asked, he couldn't find out the whereabouts of the treasure. He must have thought that he had a son outside. Anyway, if they died, the Li family still had descendants, so it didn't matter.
But now the investigation team has brought his illegitimate son back as well. Maybe this is the best breakthrough.
If this youngest son could really be used to force Li Dan to hand over the remaining treasures, it would be a great thing for the entire provincial capital.
Now it is the 1980s. The main focus is on developing the economy, building roads and factories need to increase production. All these require money, and gold is a good thing.
Although Xia Qingtang could not get the gold herself, she hoped that the investigation team would keep up the good work and try to get all of Li Dan's hidden wealth out in one go.
Xie Jinxuan moved quickly. After a while, he finished his shower, put on his pajamas and walked out of the bathroom.
Xia Qingtang took a dry towel and carefully wiped his short hair, and then the two of them went back to the bedroom and lay down.
It was already very late, and Xia Qingtang was so sleepy that her eyes hurt. But after lying down, she found that her mind was still very excited and she was still thinking about this matter involuntarily.
But it was too late, and Xia Qingtang finally fell asleep without realizing it.
She didn't sleep deeply, and kept tossing and turning in dreams. And it was always the same dream. In the dream, she saw Kong Liangchao's whole family imprisoned. She saw with her own eyes that they suffered a lot, especially Kong Liangchao and his mother. Kong Liangchao's wife proudly held her son to show off to them, and told Kong Liangchao that this was not his son at all, but the one she had with a man outside...
Afterwards, Kong's mother went crazy, and Kong Liangchao tried to commit suicide but failed, becoming half-human, half-ghost.
Perhaps the dream was too beautiful. The next morning, although Xia Qingtang did not get enough sleep, she still woke up with a smile on her face.
"If only this dream were true..." Xia Qingtang smiled, turned over, rubbed his slightly sore eyes, and got up to put on his clothes.
When she walked out of the bedroom, she saw Xie Jinxuan writing something seriously in the study with the door open.
Xie Jinxuan is a very hard-working student. He always says that his foundation is not as good as that of his younger classmates, so he always has to spend more time on studying.
He asked for leave yesterday, but for students, missed classes must be made up. Xie Jinxuan went to school today. In addition to completing today's learning content, he also had to borrow notes from other classmates to make up for all the content he missed yesterday.
Thinking about it this way, Xia Qingtang still felt that it was better to go to work. At least, they didn't need to go back to make up for a day's work.
As for work, except for those projects with a specified time limit, it won’t have much impact if the other parts are completed one day earlier or later.
Xie Jinxuan looked up and found Xia Qingtang looking at her with sympathy. She couldn't help but laugh: "Why are you looking at me like that?"
"You went to bed so late last night, but you still got up so early to study hard. I think... you've worked too hard."
"It's not hard. I like studying. There are so many people who want to study but don't have the conditions. I have no reason to complain. By the way, go wash up. I bought breakfast. Today it's red date porridge and corn cakes. I also brought out the fermented bean curd made by Aunt Liu. After you wash up, we'll have breakfast."
The corn tortillas made in the cafeteria are made from coarser cornmeal mixed with some flour. The taste is not that good, but it is cheap, so many people eat it. And it tastes much better if you spread it with homemade chili sauce or fermented tofu, roll it up and eat it with porridge.
"Okay, I'll be there soon." Xia Qingtang said, and went to the bathroom.
Soon, she came out after washing up, and the two of them began to eat corn cakes with hot red date porridge, and their bodies warmed up.
Xie Jinxuan said while eating: "Qingtang, I may be back a little late tonight. I missed a lot of classes yesterday, and I have to make up for all my notes from yesterday. I'm afraid I won't have enough time to finish them in one afternoon, so I may have to work overtime tonight."
"It's okay. Studying is more important for you. It doesn't matter if you come back late. I'll come back in the evening and prepare dinner for you. By the way, have you been there? Do grandma and the others know that you are back safely?"
"The time for morning exercise passed, and my parents and Xiaoyun hadn't gotten up yet. I briefly told grandma about yesterday's experience, and then accompanied grandpa to do morning exercise."
"That's fine. Grandma was also scared yesterday. Mom and Dad were quite calm, but Xiaoyun was also a little frightened. I think... you should find a day to spend some time with Xiaoyun. This child told me last time that his brother hasn't played basketball with him for a long time."
"Then I'll take him to play basketball on Sunday." Xie Jinxuan said with a smile, "But the person I should spend the most time with is you. Grandma told me this morning that you are the one in the family who is most worried about me. They said that you looked lost and pale, and that something was wrong with you. Qingtang, thank you."
"Oh, how could I care about you the most? I'm the most useless. Mom and Dad have experience and know a lot, so they know how to handle it calmly. But I can't do that. I can only panic... You're still laughing? What are you laughing at?" Xia Qingtang snorted.
Xie Jinxuan said confidently: "Of course I have to smile. You care about me so much that I will wake up smiling even when I fall asleep. Being flustered is a manifestation of your love for me. I will definitely remember this...for the rest of my life."
"Oh, you are so mushy so early in the morning... Okay, okay, eat quickly, we have to go to work after eating." Xia Qingtang snorted again, but soon couldn't help laughing.
After a sweet breakfast, the two young people put on thick clothes and went out together. They rode their bicycles side by side out of the compound, said goodbye at the gate, and then one went to school and the other went to the cotton mill.
The union is still very busy, with a lot of trivial things to do. Xia Qingtang forgot to return the cloth bag yesterday afternoon. He only found time to go to the cleaning class when the lunch break was almost over. He returned the cloth bag to Xia Daming and told him that he was willing to come over for dinner on Xiaonian's Day.
Xia Daming was very happy, his eyes lit up: "Really? That's great! Don't worry, we will prepare some delicious dishes. We also have wine at home, which your brother brought back. We will eat and drink together and reunite as a family."
The female colleague next to him also laughed: "Oh, Lao Xia, you are so lucky. Your son and daughter are so successful now. You live such a good life. You can treat us to some good food occasionally."
Xia Daming said: "Then I will bring some snacks for everyone in a few days."
Seeing them chatting and laughing and getting along happily, Xia Qingtang smiled and said, "Then you guys go ahead and get busy. The union has a lot of work to do. I'll go over first."
Xia Daming hurriedly accompanied her out: "It's the end of the year now, the union must be very busy, you must take care of your health."
"I know. Goodbye, Dad." Xia Qingtang waved and left.
In the afternoon, they were busy all day and night and confused. Li Yue even made a mistake in calculating the employees' New Year benefits. Xia Qingtang and Feng Xinhui started over again to check it, and it took a long time to finish.
I finally got it done, but it turned out to be past my get off work time.
Li Yue said: "I can't get off work on time again. My child is going to be hungry."
After saying that, she was the first to run away with her bag.
Feng Xinhui shook her head helplessly and smiled at Xia Qingtang.
Xia Qingtang said, "Secretary Feng, let's go back quickly. It's cold, so we should go back early to eat."
"good."
Xia Qingtang rode his bike home in the cold wind, and saw that the small courtyard was indeed locked. As expected, Xie Jinxuan had not returned yet.
She washed her hands and started to cook dinner. There were vegetables sent by Aunt Liu in the kitchen, including potatoes, taro, carrots, green vegetables and cabbage.
Xia Qingtang thought about it, took out the salted duck that Xia Qinghai gave him, chopped off a small piece, cut it, and made a stew with potatoes and carrots. He also put mushrooms and fungus in it. The big pot was stewed deliciously.
Xie Jinxuan didn't come back until after 6:30, riding a bicycle, wrapped in cold. When Xia Qingtang saw him come in, he quickly poured the vegetables that he had washed earlier into the stew, and then went out to refill Xie Jinxuan's cup with hot water.
"Drink some hot water. It's just the right temperature to warm your body."
Xie Jinxuan drank some water and went to the kitchen: "Is dinner ready? Do you need any help?"
"No, it's already prepared, just prepare to eat."
"What are you doing? It smells so good."
The vegetables that had just been thrown in were cooked quickly. Xia Qingtang picked up the big pot of stew and placed it on the dining table, then picked up another small pot from the coal stove in the living room.
"Okay, you can eat now. I made a stew today, but unfortunately we don't have pork at home, otherwise it would have been delicious. But thanks to Xia Qinghai, I cut some salted duck and put it in, and stewed out all the oil, so it's so delicious. I also made coarse flour steamed buns, but I'm not very good at making it, so I guess the taste won't be very good. But it tastes good with steamed buns, come, try it first."
As he spoke, Xia Qingtang opened the lid of the pot and took a large spoon to scoop the stew for Xie Jinxuan.
The weather was too cold, and the coarse flour buns she made did not fully rise. Fortunately, the ingredients were very solid, and she made ten in total, which was not enough for two people to finish in one night.
The stew is really delicious. The aroma and fat of the salted duck are completely melted into the various ingredients, especially the green vegetables that have just been put in. They all float on top and mix with the duck oil. One bite is full of fragrance, and it is particularly happy.
By the end of the meal, the potatoes and carrots below had absorbed all the soup. Xia Qingtang broke the coarse flour buns apart and dipped them in the soup bit by bit, feeling extremely satisfied with every bite.
But the stew was indeed a bit too much, and after the two young men ate their fill, there was still quite a bit left over.
"It just so happens that there are five steamed buns left. We can put them together with the stew and eat them tomorrow." Xia Qingtang said with a smile, "I am so full. It is the happiest thing to have such a pot in the winter. Let me think about it. This season is also very suitable for eating braised dried tofu. I will ask Liushen to buy some dried white tofu and old tofu for me. There are also spices I have stockpiled at home. If I add more dried chilies and stew them slowly for half a day, it will definitely be very fragrant. Hey, when I make a pot of braised dried tofu, you can call Lao Luo over, and you two can have a few cups of wine. I also learned how to warm wine from Aunt Liu. Warm wine with braised dried tofu is guaranteed to make you enjoy it."
Xie Jinxuan looked at her tenderly and said, "Xiang Qian will definitely be very happy, but you will have to work hard again."
"I didn't cook it just for him. Besides, he looks really pitiful. I saw him when I got home from get off work today. He was standing alone at the basketball court. He didn't play basketball. He just stared at the people on the court. He was completely different from before. This breakup has hit him too hard. We can't do anything to help him. At most, we can invite him to come over for some good food and a couple of drinks. I hope he can get over it soon."
"Okay, let's do it this Sunday. Then we both don't have to go out. I'll study at home while you make braised tofu. I'll tell Xiang Qian in advance and ask him to come over for lunch. By the way, how is Comrade Xiao Hu? Is she feeling okay?"
Xia Qingtang said, "The factory has been too busy since New Year's Day. Besides, we don't live close to each other, so I haven't visited her yet. Now that you mentioned that, I'm thinking about her again. How about this, I'll go to her house after work tomorrow to ask her. But Yanni is a very strong girl, and I think her situation should be better than Lao Luo's."
Xie Jinxuan laughed: "Indeed, Xiang Qian looks big and strong, but he is actually very delicate and vulnerable. It seems that if Xiang Qian and Comrade Xiao Hu are put together in the future, they will target each other."
"I also hope that the two of them can be together, but it still depends on when Lao Luo can get over it. In short, as long as he is still thinking about Ding Yurou, I will not introduce him to anyone." Xia Qingtang looked very serious.
The next afternoon, when Xia Qingtang was busy in the office, a security guard suddenly ran over, knocked on the door, and said, "Secretary Xia, there is a female comrade named Ding outside who wants to see you. She said she is your friend and wants to talk to you. We don't know if she is your friend, so we asked her to wait at the door. How about...Secretary Xia, why don't you go over and take a look now?"
"A female comrade with the surname Ding? Who is she? Ah..." It took Xia Qingtang a few seconds to react and realized that it must be Ding Yurou.
Although she didn't really want to go, the security guard came over, so she could only stand up and say, "Okay, I'll go with you to take a look."
Xia Qingtang dropped his busy work and hurriedly followed the security guard to the gate. When he looked, he saw that Comrade Ding Yurou was sitting in the guard room.
She looked miserable, with a sallow face, and seemed much thinner than the last time they met. The security guard probably saw that she looked too weak, so he washed a clean cup for her and poured her a glass of water to warm her hands.
Seeing Xia Qingtang coming over, Ding Yurou immediately stood up, her face full of anticipation, and she said, "Comrade Xia, hello."
Xia Qingtang's attitude was a little cold, but she still said politely: "Hello, Comrade Ding, what do you want to talk to me about?"
Ding Yurou looked at the two security guards, as if she wanted to say something but hesitated.
Xia Qingtang said, "How about this, let's go out and talk, so as not to disturb the two brothers at work. Besides, I'm also very busy here, so let's make it quick and decisive."
Ding Yurou followed Xia Qingtang out of the guard room. The two guards were obviously very curious. One of them even stood by the window, looking outside.
Xia Qingtang led Ding Yurou to a slightly more open place. When they were sure that no one else could hear them, Ding Yurou's eyes turned red and she said, "Comrade Xia, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to disturb your work. I just have no other choice but to ask you for help."
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
