Chapter 20
Because the factory is so large and the relationships are so complicated, the children working in the factory use the same names their parents used when addressing people.
In other words, it depends on the relationship between the parents.
If this person is a colleague of the parents, then no matter whether the other party is young or old, the factory workers should politely call him uncle or aunt.
So, when Ye Manzhi accidentally heard Zhou Mu calling "Uncle Wu" last time, although she felt awkward and funny, she was not surprised.
Deputy Director Zhou and Wu Zhengrong are colleagues in the same team, and he deserves to be called "Uncle Wu".
However, Ye Manzhi is different from Zhou Mu.
She and Wu Zhengrong had a blind date, so the generational relationship cannot be determined from the father's side.
When Ye Manzhi heard the other person say "that kid Xiaoye", she felt that this person not only took advantage of her, but was also a mischievous hypocrite!
She really couldn't hold it back, so she stood behind Director Mu and secretly glared at him.
Wu Zhengrong glanced at her and smiled, then said to Mulan, "It's quite hot, let's go inside and talk."
The ceiling fan whirred. Qin Xiang added another chair to the office and asked attentively, "Director Mu, would you like tea or soda?"
"What do you even have to choose? Haha, everyone in our neighborhood office drinks big leaf tea."
"Well, we usually serve large-leaf tea. Since we knew you were coming, the boss specially ordered some iced soda!"
"Oh, Captain Wu, you're so polite. Don't spend money. Let's just have tea."
Mulan has never received such courtesy when doing business!
The street director is a section-level cadre.
There are so many directors and section chiefs in the 656 factory that she would not be qualified enough to work in that factory.
If the two units did not cooperate closely and she was not the head of the street office, she would have basically had no chance to enter or leave the offices of the factory director and the military representative.
She wanted to drink tea, and Qin Xiang had no objection. He then asked, "Comrade Xiaoye, how about some soda? Our leader specially arranged this for you. Drinking soda helps you cool down!"
Wu Zhengrong couldn't stand Xiao Qin's attentiveness, so he said, "Get two bottles of soda for Director Mu and Xiao Ye. You can leave now. We have something else to discuss."
Qin Xiang saluted and said yes, and as he walked out he complained in his heart, "The last time it was Comrade Xiao Ye, it was Xiao Ye this time."
There must be something going on with his team leader!
After exchanging pleasantries and drinking soda, Mulan came here for serious business today. Taking advantage of the good atmosphere, she briefly introduced their plan to invite Soviet experts.
Wu Zhengrong took the application form, glanced at it, and put it aside. He asked, "Director Mu, do you have a specific target you want to invite?"
"No, no, we don't know these experts at the factory, and we've never met them. We definitely can't contact them without going through Factory 656!" Mulan said straightforwardly. "We're not picky. We'll take whoever the factory assigns us, as long as they're Soviet."
Wu Zhengrong frowned slightly, then spoke thoughtfully, "These experts are here to support the construction of Factory 656. They're not affiliated with us, so the factory has no right to assign them. Furthermore, this event you're organizing involves public speeches, and there will likely be a large audience. This isn't just a matter for Factory 656, so I need to report this to my superiors."
"Ah, so can I expect a reply before the weekend?"
Wu Zhengrong shook his head.
Today is already Thursday.
Mulan compromised and asked, "What if we only invite the family members to introduce the Soviet Union? Do we need to report to the higher authorities as well?"
She heard that the experts and the family members were not in the same unit.
Wu Zhengrong didn't say whether it needed to be reported, but only asked: "Do you have any candidates?"
Mulan couldn't even speak Russian, so how could he know any Soviet family members?
But before they came, they studied two plans. The best result, of course, was to invite a Soviet expert, but if the factory's review was strict, they would invite family members.
"Xiao Ye, don't you know a Soviet girl? Tell Captain Wu the details."
Ye Manzhi said hurriedly: "The girl's name is Olya, and she said she is the daughter of Shigchov."
Wu Zhengrong nodded. There was a person named Shigchov in the expert group.
"Olia plays the cello. She seems to like our folk music and often comes to our amateur Chinese music concerts to watch rehearsals..."
However, after she came to work at the street office, she had activities almost every night. She turned down several rehearsals this month, and I haven't seen that girl for a long time.
Wu Zhengrong listened to her introduction and tapped his knuckles on his legs. After a moment of silence, he stood up and walked out of the office, saying a few words to Qin Xiang outside.
After sitting back down, he suggested to the two of them, "Let's first confirm whether Comrade Olia is willing to attend the event. We can discuss the rest later."
This was exactly what Ye Manzhi was waiting for. She took out the address book from her bag, and after getting permission, she borrowed the phone on his desk and asked the switchboard to help connect her to Mr. Shigchov's dormitory.
Wu Zhengrong sat beside her and could vaguely smell a very light fragrance. As far as he could see, he could also see a few strands of wet hair sticking to her fair neck.
He coughed lightly and looked away, letting his shoulders lean against the back of the chair.
The call was connected, and Ye Manzhi asked a series of crisp and cheerful Russian questions. From the tone of her voice, it seemed that she was very familiar with the person on the other end.
Wu Zhengrong studied English when he was in school, and his Russian level was not even half-baked. Although he could not understand much, he could still tell whether the accent was pure.
Xiaoye's foreign language level does not seem to be something that can be taught in high school, and her accent is relatively soft. Her teacher may be Belarusian or Ukrainian.
A faint fragrance lingered in his nostrils, and Wu Zhengrong analyzed it endlessly.
Ye Manzhi, standing beside him, was incredibly efficient. She quickly put down the phone and said with a smile, "Olia is willing to participate in Sunday's event and present the true situation in the Soviet Union. I told her there might be a large audience, and if she gets nervous she'll easily forget her words, so it would be best if she wrote a speech in advance. She's already agreed. After the event, I can translate it and leave it with our military representative office for record. Commander Wu, is that okay?"
Before Wu Zhengrong could reply, Qin Xiang, who he had assigned to verify the information, poked his head in and gave him a thumbs up.
This is military sign language for safe to continue operations.
Wu Zhengrong retracted his gaze and said with a smile, "Okay, Xiaoye has considered everything."
Ye Manzhi felt a little uncomfortable when he called her Xiao Ye.
She didn't think anything of it when she called him Comrade Xiao Ye before, but this time when she changed it to Xiao Ye, she felt like the other party was taking advantage of her.
"Do you agree to our application?" Ye Manzhi confirmed with him.
Wu Zhengrong looked at Mu Lan with a smile and asked, "Since this is an event to celebrate the establishment of the Sino-Soviet Friendship Association branch, it should be very lively. Director Mu, do you mind if our military representative office joins in?"
"Of course I don't mind, you're most welcome!"
Mulan guessed that he would send someone to follow up on the content of the event on site, so he naturally would not refuse without any courtesy.
The matter was settled, and she exchanged a few polite words with the other party before taking Xiao Ye away.
The founding ceremony is scheduled for the weekend. The preparatory group needs to invite leaders and members, set up the venue, and there is still a lot of preparatory work to do.
Ye Manzhi followed Director Mu out of the office building. As she walked down the stairs, she suddenly exclaimed as if she remembered something.
"Director, my address book is in the military representative's office!"
"Then hurry back and get it. I'll wait for you here!"
Ye Manzhi agreed, turned around and went back, walked through a long corridor, and returned to the military representative's office.
As if he knew she would return soon, Wu Zhengrong was waiting at the office door with his hands behind his back.
When she came closer, he handed over the red address book in his hand and asked, "Who is Lai Ya?"
"I, me, what's wrong?"
Ye Manzhi felt a little embarrassed. The other party must have seen the name she wrote on the cover of the address book.
She started using this address book before she graduated from elementary school, and has been using it ever since because it can only record a few people.
But the name on the cover was still written when she was in elementary school. The handwriting was round and plump, which was far worse than it is now.
Beautiful handwriting is equivalent to half a face, and Ye Manzhi felt a little embarrassed.
"Nothing's wrong, I'm fine." Wu Zhengrong asked, "You came back because you have something else to say, right?"
Ye Manzhi nodded quickly. "I don't know what time the event will end on Sunday. I'm worried that it will delay our dinner appointment. Should we change the time?"
She deliberately left her address book behind because she wanted to come back and talk to him about treating him to dinner.
Originally, the two had set the date for this Sunday, but the Friendship Association was established, and they had to hold an opening ceremony and organize the first event, so the end time could not be determined for the time being.
Captain Wu is also a very busy man, and she is afraid of wasting other people's time.
However, whether she changed the time or not, it would disrupt Wu Zhengrong's plans.
In order to prepare for her invitation, Wu Zhengrong cleared his time a week in advance.
According to his previous style, in this situation, he would usually agree to make another appointment, but would not give a specific date. He didn't like to deal with dinner invitations, so if he kept procrastinating, it would eventually fall through.
However, when Ye Manzhi looked up at him, waiting for his reply, he said nonchalantly, "It's up to the host. Let's change the time. Next Sunday is okay, right?"
"Okay, okay, then we have a deal, let's make it next Sunday!"
As he was about to leave, Ye Manzhi's eyes flickered as he turned and asked, "Captain Wu, do I need to call you uncle like everyone else in the courtyard?"
Wu Zhengrong was stunned for a moment, then asked in amusement, "Do you want to shout?"
"all right."
"Then you shout first and I'll listen."
Ye Manzhi: “…”
Wu Zhengrong was too young and looked even more handsome than Fifth Brother, so she was a little hesitant to call him that.
Wu Zhengrong was particularly understanding and said, "If you don't want to shout, then don't shout. We can't force you to do this."
Most of his colleagues are middle-aged people, and their children are only a few years younger than him.
If you allow the younger generation to treat you as your brother, then you will naturally feel a generation lower than your colleagues, and this generation lower status will sometimes affect your work.
So when his colleagues' adult children awkwardly call him uncle, he usually agrees.
However, this title is unnecessary when applied to Ye Manzhi.
Ye Manzhi smiled and said, "If you don't let me call you uncle, then I will be impolite and disrespectful!"
"If you really want to be disrespectful, stop using 'you' from now on."
"Well, I'll think about it," Ye Manzhi waved with a smile, "Director Mu is still waiting outside. I'll be leaving first. Goodbye, Uncle Wu!"
“…”
*
After successfully inviting the families of Soviet experts, preparatory work for the establishment of the branch was immediately carried out in full swing.
After get off work, Ye Manzhi took a list of members of the Sino-Soviet Friendship Association of the city and went door to door to invite members to attend the establishment ceremony of the street branch.
Nowadays, the majority of people who can join the Sino-Soviet Friendship Association are intellectuals, cadres and students.
Most of the people on this list live in military industrial compounds.
When she walked into the compound, there were a lot of people crowded in the open space behind the bulletin board, and someone drove a large truck in.
The door was open, and a group of people were sitting or standing outside the truck, listening to the storytelling broadcast on the radio.
From time to time, there would be exclamations and cheers.
Her nephew Maddox was also squeezed in the crowd.
"Maddo, come home for dinner!"
"Aunt, I don't want to eat. Listen for a while!"
Ye Manzhi ignored him and walked straight to the corridor of her own house.
Radios, bicycles, watches and sewing machines are the four major gadgets nowadays. Radios are produced in low quantities and are expensive. In the entire compound, few people have radios except for the families of cadres.
Listening to storytelling and news around the car is a common occurrence in their community.
Ye Manzhi was planning in her mind the route she would take to visit someone tonight. When she was about to reach the entrance of the corridor, she suddenly heard a shrill wail coming from the doorway next door.
She got goose bumps from the scream and subconsciously touched her arm.
I secretly complained that it was probably another quarrel between a couple, and they were not holding back.
However, as soon as she turned around, a young man with bare feet, almost naked, and only wearing a pair of loose shorts ran out from the corridor next door.
This is not the point. The point is that his shoulders and chest are covered in blood, and he is covering his bloody ears with one hand and screaming "Ahhhh".
Ye Manzhi had good eyesight and vaguely saw that his bloody ear seemed to be torn off in half and was drooping without any support.
Not only did she see this scene, but the neighbors who were originally concentrating on listening to the storytelling also looked over here.
Several men ran up and asked, "Qi Maolin, what's wrong with you?"
The man called Qi Maolin was still moaning "Ahhh", too excited to utter a complete sentence.
Aunt Qi ran out right after him, sobbing and begging, "Everyone, please help me get Mao Lin to the health center! Mao Lin's ear was bitten off by that damn Qiu Xiaoyan!"
“Wow—”
Such a bloody incident has never happened since their compound was built!
The crowd suddenly became noisy.
Ye Manzhi came to her senses and ran over, shouting, "Everyone, stop asking. Is the driver here? Hurry and take him to the hospital! Even the health center can't handle his condition. Go straight to the municipal hospital for emergency treatment!"
The street health center can give him injections and prescribe medicine, but his ears are drooping and the young doctors at the health center can't treat him.
"Oh, yes, yes, come quickly, two people, help Maolin to the car."
The driver jumped into the cab and prepared to start the car, but Aunt Qi was so scared that her legs went weak and she couldn't even climb onto the back seat of the truck.
Fortunately, Qi Maolin's elder brother arrived in time and followed the car to the hospital.
Looking at the quickly driving away truck, Aunt Qi collapsed to the ground, slapping her thigh and wailing.
"That damn Qiu Xiaoyan, how could she be so cruel!" Aunt Qi grabbed the nearest person and demanded, "Help me report to the police! I want them to arrest her and put her in jail!"
Qiu Xiaoyan and Qi Maolin were a couple. They had a quarrel but did not report it to the police. However, Qi Maolin's ear was almost bitten off, so the nature of the incident was different.
Guangming Police Station rarely handles criminal cases. After receiving the call from the security guard, Chief Liu put down the phone and rushed over on his bike.
The crying Aunt Qi, the dazed Qiu Xiaoyan, and the other Qi family members who were cursing were all taken to the police station.
Many people in the compound went to watch the fun, and Ye Manzhi also wanted to go, but she still had to go and invite the members of the Friendship Association, so she had to give up regretfully.
However, the news that a couple had quarreled and half of a man's ear was bitten off spread throughout the street in just one night.
When I went to work the next day, everyone in the office was discussing this matter.
What Ye Manzhi didn't expect was that Xue Qiaoer was involved in this case again!
The reason why Qiu Xiaoyan bit off half of her man's ear in anger was because she heard that Qi Maolin and Xue Qiaoer were having an affair.
The couple had a huge argument at home, and ended up in bed.
If we could have made up after the quarrel, this matter would not have developed to this point.
The key point is that Qi Maolin is a coachman. He is tired after a day's work and goes home to quarrel with his wife, so some things go wrong.
This further confirmed Qiu Xiaoyan's thoughts, and her anger escalated. The couple started to quarrel with each other, and Qiu Xiaoyan hated him so much that after being pushed by Qi Maolin, she bit off half of his ear in revenge.
"That Qiu Xiaoyan is pretty ruthless," Liu Jinbao sighed. "She confessed everything voluntarily. She's willing to bear the consequences, but she also asked the police to bring Qi Maolin and Xue Qiaoer to justice. She reported them for prostitution."
Ye Manzhi thought of Director Mu's investigation results and asked hesitantly, "Didn't they say they would catch the adulterers? How do we investigate this?"
"Well, these were just minor incidents before, and Chief Liu didn't put much effort into investigating. Now someone is almost dead. He definitely can't let Xue Qiaoer cause trouble to Guangming Street again!"
There are more than one or two people who have reported Xue Qiaoer for returning to her old ways.
Liu Jinbao was explaining the situation to Ye Manzhi when Chen Caixia, who had just returned from the police station, reported in real time, "Qiu Xiaoyan has completely broken off relations this time. She's completely gone all out. She directly named several rickshaw drivers inside, all of whom are related to Xue Qiaoer. Chief Liu has summoned all of them and is questioning them one by one."
Several young people were jumping up and down, and every few minutes they would make an excuse to run out to watch the fun.
Mulan saw that it was really not a good look, so she simply said, "Don't sneak to the police station anymore, just go and take a look together."
Of course everyone is willing to watch it openly.
Except for Aunt Feng who was not interested in gossip, everyone else went to the police station next door.
Chief Liu has already taken people to question the three drivers, and the situation is not ideal.
The three men insisted that they were just colleagues and friends with Xue Qiaoer and that there was nothing improper going on between them.
Instead, he got some information from the fourth driver, Zhao Qiang.
"Xue Qiao'er gave you a handkerchief, didn't she?" Liu asked. "Why did she give you a handkerchief?"
Zhao Qiang said nonchalantly, "Why is that? I was sweating, and she used her handkerchief to wipe my sweat. The handkerchief smelled nice and looked pretty, but after wiping my sweat, it would become dirty, so why not just buy the handkerchief?"
"What did you buy it with? Work points?"
"Yes, I put the work I did on her account."
Liu asked in a daze, "How many handkerchiefs did you buy from her?"
Just when everyone thought he was selling sex and was about to turn into speculation, Zhao Qiang said nonchalantly, "Of course I'll only buy one. Why would I need so many handkerchiefs? I'm not stupid!"
"Someone saw Xue Qiao'er go to your house, and the work points in your account have been reduced by more than one point in the past few months."
"Oh, I asked her to come to my house to wash clothes and cook for me. She comes once a week. Every time she helps me with some work, I credit her with the work points she earned that morning." Zhao Qiang crossed his legs and spoke with considerable pride. "Although I haven't married yet, I keep my house pretty tidy!"
Liu looked at the idiot opposite him with scrutiny.
Judging from his many years of experience in handling cases, Zhao Qiang was not lying.
But this conclusion sounds ridiculous.
Zhao Qiang is a bachelor without parents. Xue Qiaoer can go to his house to clean, but what about other drivers?
The others are all married with children, so they don’t need Xue Qiaoer at all!
Zhao Qiang shook his legs and said, "Captain Liu, don't worry. I'm not married yet. If the reputation of my prostitution gets out, I'll never get married in this life. Zheng Dong and I are brothers, how could I possibly touch his wife? Not only did I not touch her, but when someone in the convoy wanted to touch and search Xue Qiaoer, I helped stop them!"
"What's the relationship between Xue Qiao'er and Qi Maolin like? Has Qi Maolin ever touched Xue Qiao'er?"
"I don't know about that. Anyway, Xue Qiao'er is quite popular in our team. Although she was born in Liushao Hutong, she was willing to work hard for the Zheng family, which is not easy. And Xue Qiao'er is so sweet and gentle. She is willing to help anyone in the team who has difficulties. She is recognized as the "talking girl" in our team. Isn't she much better than those tigresses at home?"
Liu Suo: “…”
A tricycle team, and even a flower of eloquence has emerged!
"Hehe, but," Zhao Qiang laughed a little obscenely, "it's not too unfair for Qi Maolin to have half his ear bitten off. He even fought with Old Sun for Xue Qiaoer. If it weren't for that fight, his wife wouldn't have known about Xue Qiaoer's affair."
Chief Liu raised his eyes and asked, "Why are they fighting?"
Zhao Qiang said disdainfully, "They all want to get close to Xue Qiao'er and be jealous of her. Anyway, they're not good people! Back then, in Liushao Hutong, there were so many idiots who wanted to get what they wanted but couldn't, and yet they were still jealous of her. What are these two? The more Xue Qiao'er made it difficult for them to get what they wanted, the more they rushed to show their affection. I'm different..."
Liu still agreed with these words.
Except for Zhao Qiang, all these drivers are married.
Even if he had feelings for Xue Qiaoer, he couldn't force her to buy him because of his family situation.
Liu had handled similar cases before. Most of the girls in Liushao Hutong were very good at reading people's expressions and had learned how to control customers. Some customers would spend a lot of money just to chat and touch hands.
But we cannot just listen to Zhao Qiang's one-sided statement on this matter. We also need to ask other drivers and Xue Qiaoer herself.
Liu Jinbao, who was standing outside, asked in disbelief, "Is he lying? If Xue Qiao'er didn't do anything, why would the drivers give her so many work points?"
"Who said she did nothing? Isn't she a beautiful woman?" Chen Caixia rolled her eyes at him.
Ye Manzhi thought to himself, maybe this is what the third sister-in-law meant, providing some emotional value.
The third sister-in-law always said that the third brother could provide her with emotional value. Ye Manzhi didn’t quite understand it at first, but now she understands a little bit.
However, everyone was skeptical about this result. Chief Liu wanted to call Xue Qiaoer to the police station as well, but was stopped by Director Mu.
"It's not easy for Xue Qiao'er to turn over a new leaf these years. Once she steps into the police station, it will be difficult for her to clear her name in the future. Why don't we go to her house and ask about the situation? If we can't get anything out of her, we can call her over."
Chief Liu sighed and waved his hand to let Director Mu come over to do the work.
Mulan chose Chen Caixia, who was married and familiar with the Zheng family, to accompany her, but Ye Manzhi did not dare to take the Zheng family's affairs lightly and also applied to go with her.
As soon as the three people from the street office came in, Xue Qiaoer knew why they came.
The gossip about a couple biting off an ear during an argument has been spreading like wildfire these days, even in Yueya Hutong.
Mulan asked directly: "Qiao'er, you should have guessed the purpose of our visit this time, right?"
Xue Qiaoer nodded.
"Half of Qi Maolin's ear was bitten off. You didn't see the scene at the time. It was bloody and almost resulted in a fatality. This situation is different from the previous ones. Chief Liu wanted to call you to the police station for questioning, but I felt that would affect your reputation, so I accepted this mediation task..."
Xue Qiaoer said calmly, "Director Mu, after I left Liushao Hutong, I've completely turned a good person over and never made money that I shouldn't have. Even if not for myself, I have to consider my four children. If I go back to my old ways as outsiders say, my four children will never be able to hold their heads up high."
"Then how come you have so many work points in your account? We all know that it's impossible to accumulate so many work points with your physical strength."
"Director Mu, this family of nine depends on me pedaling to support them. I really can't afford it! I used to pull jobs myself, but the money I brought back was too little." Xue Qiaoer was silent for a long time. When she spoke again, her eyes were red. "I can't just watch my family starve to death, can I? My mother said that the people in the team have a good relationship with Dongzi, and asked me to speak well of him to them more often. They might help me because I'm a woman."
Hearing this, Aunt Zheng suddenly came in through the curtain and asked, "Qiao'er, what do you mean? Did I let you do those shameful things?"
Xue Qiaoer hung her head and was speechless.
"What shameful thing did she do?" Mulan glared at him. "Go out first. I'm here on behalf of the police station to inquire about the case. You don't need to come in unless I call you."
Ye Manzhi asked Aunt Zheng to leave, and Mulan continued to ask: "Has anyone in the team bullied you?"
Xue Qiaoer nodded.
"After someone helped me, he wanted to do that thing with me. I refused, and he touched my hand a few times." Xue Qiaoer whispered, "Then I asked other people for help. With more people around, they didn't do anything to me."
Director Mu sighed and said, "They all have families, you know?"
"I know," Xue Qiao'er asked numbly, "but what can I do? I can't rely on anyone else. I can only rely on myself."
Chen Caixia asked: "Your parents-in-law and sister-in-law are both capable, why don't you try to help them make some money?"
Xue Qiao'er's weathered face showed some sarcasm. "I don't know. You can ask them. Director Mu, this isn't selling out. I haven't broken the law, right?"
Mulan was silent.
She didn't know what else to say.
It's not illegal, but it's immoral, as those drivers all have families.
However, it takes two to tango. If the drivers had no bad intentions, they would not have been controlled by Xue Qiaoer.
It wasn't unfair to him to have his ear bitten off by his wife.
After Mulan understood the general situation, he reported the results of his inquiry to the police station.
What will be arranged next depends on how the police station handles the case.
Everyone in the street office felt heavy-hearted about Xue Qiaoer's situation.
But the Sino-Soviet Friendship Association branch was to be established on Sunday, so they had to hurry up and make preparations.
The opening ceremony was held at the Zidisi Primary School. On Saturday, Ye Manzhi and other comrades from the preparatory group were busy at the primary school until after nine o'clock in the evening.
When they walked out of the classroom, Zhuang Ting suddenly grabbed her arm and pointed to the west side of the primary school.
Ye Manzhi looked back and saw flames rising into the sky and thick smoke billowing. It was the direction of Crescent Moon Alley...
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