It's a complete mess.
"Song Weidong, you get out here right now!"
Shi Feng threw the car against the wall, grabbed a brick, and strode aggressively toward the clinic.
"What happened to my wife? Did you do this?"
Song Weidong glanced at him from the doorway, then went back inside without a word.
Enraged, Shi Feng strode into the house, cursing under his breath, "You cripple, still throwing a tantrum at me!"
No sooner had he finished speaking than someone suddenly grabbed him from behind, snatched the brick from his hand, and tossed it lightly over the courtyard wall.
"Who are you? Want to fight?" General Shi Feng took off his coat and threw it on the ground, looking impatiently at the stern-faced man in front of him.
Yu Chunsheng dusted the brick dust off his hands and stretched his limbs: "Want to fight me? Come on, let's find out where the last guy I beat up is now."
A kind bystander explained to Shi Feng, "Liu Peng from the fourth team is still in jail."
"Oh, so you're from that supply and marketing cooperative." Shi Feng said dismissively. "I have no grudge against you, get out of my way! Otherwise, don't blame me for squatting outside your workplace."
"Go squat down then," Yu Chunsheng said nonchalantly. "I'm unemployed right now, and I'm really bored."
Shi Feng knew that this man was somewhat educated, and that if he made the first move, he would be in the wrong. It would be a waste if he ended up in jail like Liu Peng. So he stayed put and continued to make threats: "Call that cripple out. He messed with my wife. I need to have a talk with him."
"Move aside." Song Weidong's rational voice came from behind Yu Chunsheng.
When Shi Feng actually saw Song Weidong come out, he showed fear instead. Yu Chunsheng was wondering why someone who had been so arrogant just moments before would be afraid, as this was completely illogical. He turned around and saw that Song Weidong was holding a syringe used for injecting pigs, with the needle pointing upwards and spraying water twice.
"Your wife is inside. I didn't treat her. But if you want to fight, come over. I'm ready to fight you to the end."
The syringe contained some kind of brown medicine, and even Yu Chunsheng couldn't help but swallow hard and take two steps back, afraid that Song Weidong might accidentally hurt his teammate.
"I...I came to see my wife, are you crazy?" Shi Feng deliberately took a long detour to enter the clinic.
Song Weidong didn't follow them inside, but instead glanced at Yu Chunsheng with a somewhat confused look in his eyes.
"Song Weidong!" someone else called out to him.
Yu Chunsheng looked up and saw Xu Tangmian parked her car; it seemed she had brought Li Yutao over.
"Xiao Tao?" Song Weidong looked pleasantly surprised. He took difficult steps to pull her along, and the two went to a secluded spot in the backyard to talk.
Xu Tangmian walked over to Yu Chunsheng, giving him a resentful look, "Why are you here? I was wondering why I couldn't see you when I came out."
Yu Chunsheng asked her, "How did you end up here? Did Xiao Tao ask you to bring her here?"
Xu Tangmian nodded, then looked up and saw Yan Xianglan and another man in the clinic. Still confused, she asked, "What's going on? It seems like Shi Darong's mother and Dr. Song know each other."
Yu Chunsheng also glanced back at the "ill-fated relationship" inside the house and recounted to Xu Tangmian everything he had overheard at the entrance of the convenience store.
In the backyard of the clinic, Li Yutao stood with her arms crossed and her back to Song Weidong, her eyes red and swollen.
"I can see that. You have something going on with that woman. You care about her, don't you? Tell me who she is!"
Song Weidong never expected things to turn out this way, so he had no choice but to honestly confess that the two of them had been in love ten years ago.
Li Yutao turned around, gritting her teeth, and said, "Ten years! You still can't forget me after ten years! Haven't you ever seen how good I've been to you?"
"Of course I saw it," Song Weidong said urgently. "Are you jealous? I have nothing to do with her anymore!"
"It's okay, but you can forget your leg injury and hug her? You're so reluctant to even hold hands with me in public." Li Yutao got angrier the more she thought about it. "What do I lack compared to her? Aren't I younger and prettier than her? I have a good job and a good family background, so why can't you see her?"
Song Weidong was extremely anxious, but Li Yutao, being a very eloquent teacher, gave him no chance to speak at all.
"I really don't understand, does something that's delivered to your door have to be considered inferior?"
"You're a piece of trash!" Song Weidong finally managed to interject, but it was still wrong. He hurriedly explained, "What I meant was, I didn't think you were lowly."
"So what do you mean? You won't kiss me, you won't hold my hand, you can't even find time to go on dates with me. Just how busy are you? I used to think we didn't seem like a couple in love at all. Now I understand, it's because your heart has never been with me!"
"I…"
"Shut up!" Li Yutao glared angrily. "You're really going too far! Don't you think it's enough that I, a young woman in my twenties, am pursuing you? Why do you have to go after that rural woman who can only give birth, right in front of me and my colleagues!"
“She’s not the kind of person you’re describing!” Song Weidong couldn’t help but speak up for Yan Xianglan. “She has her own reasons. You can’t say that about her.”
“She has her reasons, and I have mine!” Li Yutao was even angrier when she saw him speaking up for that woman. “If you’re so understanding of her, then you should date her! Why did you agree to date me in the first place? Do you know how much you’ve embarrassed me today?”
Upon hearing this, Song Weidong became somewhat rebellious, saying in a self-deprecating tone, "Did I embarrass you? Yes, I'm a cripple, I'm lame. I was lame when you were pursuing me. Why didn't you feel ashamed back then?"
"You!" Li Yutao said angrily, "I didn't mind that you're a cripple, but your leg could clearly be healed, so why didn't you go? Was it because of her? Your leg was injured because of her, wasn't it?"
Song Weidong was speechless.
"I guessed right, didn't I?" Li Yutao sneered twice. "What a devoted person she is. She already has two children and she still can't forget him. Did you see that? Her husband is inside. They are a loving couple."
"What do you know!" Song Weidong couldn't help but retort, "She's not happy at all, she's too stupid!"
"Yes! You think you're so smart! Women will only be happy if they marry you!" Li Yutao was so angry that her spittle almost flew out. "Some women are unhappy even after having two children, and you want to interfere; Sister Tangtang is unhappy after marrying Brother Yu, and you want to help her go to another place. Are all married women unhappy, and you have to save them all?!"
"Yes!" Song Weidong was furious. "They're just unhappy, so I have to save them! So what if I love her? I love more than just her, I love Xu Tangmian, I love every married woman in the world, even those with children, I just don't love you, is that enough?"
"Slap!" Li Yutao couldn't help but slap him, then ran out crying: "Swordman!"
In the front yard, Shi Feng had the new doctor remove the needles and forcibly took Yan Xianglan home. Seeing that no fight had broken out, everyone had already dispersed on their own.
Xu Tangmian was frowning as she listened to Yu Chunsheng's story when she suddenly saw Li Yutao running out crying, followed by Song Weidong, who was limping and had a bright red handprint on his face.
She quickly caught up with Li Yutao, grabbed her arm, and asked with concern, "What's wrong, Xiaotao? Did you two have a fight?"
"It's none of your business!" Li Yutao still remembered Song Weidong's angry words, and she couldn't stand Xu Tangmian either. She pushed her away and threw her to the ground.
Yu Chunsheng was supporting Song Weidong when he saw the situation ahead and quickly let go to help his wife. However, he couldn't scold Li Yutao, so he just glared at Song Weidong and said, "What are you doing? Why are you taking your anger out on her?"
Song Weidong knew he had spoken recklessly, but he was too proud to say anything at the moment. After being yelled at by Yu Chunsheng, he unleashed all the anger he had been holding back against Li Yutao: "Why are you yelling at me? Don't you know manners and respect?"
Yu Chunsheng was already feeling sorry for Xu Tangmian because she had cut her skin even through her gloves, but when she heard Song Weidong's words, she got angry.
Previously, he had always thought that Song Weidong was the nephew of his good friend Liu Xingyao, and since Song Weidong's parents had passed away early, he should take care of him like an elder, just like Liu Xingyao. Now, hearing his ungrateful behavior, he immediately scolded him:
"What manners and hierarchy? Where did this feudal remnant come from?" Xu Tangmian couldn't stop him, and he continued to talk on and on: "Just because you're a few years older doesn't mean you're so great! Don't tell me you're only in your thirties. Even if you called your uncle over, I would still scold you without hesitation!"
Having been rebuffed, and seeing Li Yutao pushing her cart and watching the commotion from a distance, Song Weidong lost all interest in arguing with Yu Chunsheng. His mind was preoccupied with what to do with Li Yutao.
Li Yutao clapped her hands and giggled, "Brother Yu, you're right! You don't know, this guy is not only feudal in his thinking, but his behavior is also quite like that of Cao Cao. Be careful, he doesn't like young girls, he only likes married women."
"Li Yutao!" Song Weidong was both loving and hating her, and he stamped his feet in frustration. "You know perfectly well that I was just saying it out of anger, but you still insisted on saying it, didn't you?!"
"I don't know!" Li Yutao said coldly, her face stiff. "All I know is that we broke up! Go after whoever you want!"
After saying that, she rode away on Xu Tangmian's bicycle.
"Hey!" Xu Tangmian called out to her but couldn't get her back. She turned her head and saw Song Weidong's disheveled appearance, with his clothes torn and the slap mark on his face still visible. She was completely speechless.
"I really don't understand," she said helplessly. "Can't they even apologize? How did things get so messy?"
——
In the following days, Song Weidong could not be found at the clinic, and Li Yutao at school took a long leave of absence, which worried Xu Tangmian greatly.
She even wondered if the two of them, arguing like that, had actually eloped.
Li Yutao's classes were assigned to other teachers on a part-time basis, which increased Xu Tangmian's workload as well. This went on for more than half a month before Li Yutao finally returned.
At the weekly meeting on Monday afternoons, Xu Tangmian saw Li Yutao. More than half a month later, she looked even thinner.
The meeting was always held in the abandoned classroom next to the principal's office. Principal Ding stood on the stage, waved his right hand excitedly, and said, "Teachers, the city is about to hold a 'Red May' singing competition. I personally think this is a great opportunity to showcase the spirit of our Red Star Primary School. Do you have any ideas?"
These competitions are usually led by relevant municipal departments. Winning schools receive preferential treatment in terms of teaching resources, such as special funds and college entrance examination quotas. For teachers and principals, these benefits are also part of their political achievements.
Music teacher and first-grade class 2 homeroom teacher Ms. Lin spoke first: "Principal, in my previous school, we would select some students with good grades and decent appearance to participate. As for the songs, we can choose some revolutionary songs."
Principal Ding looked approving. "That's great. This is the first time our school has participated in this kind of competition. Since Teacher Lin has experience, why don't we hand it over to you?"
“Sure,” Teacher Lin smiled slightly. “Then I’ll start rehearsing once the other teachers have finalized the student list and the pieces to be played.”
Principal Ding nodded. "Then let's discuss the repertoire... Hey, Teacher Xu, is there anything you want to say?"
Xu Tangmian raised her arm. "Principal, I don't think it's appropriate for the teachers to directly decide on the participating students. Could we have the teachers and student representatives vote together? There might be students who aren't academically outstanding but have great voices and want to perform."
“We can start by holding a competition within the school. Students can sign up voluntarily, regardless of grade. Teachers and student representatives will vote to select the top ten and award them certificates. The top three can be rewarded with stationery or something similar. Finally, these ten people will form a choir to participate in the city-level competition.”
These words immediately sparked a discussion among the teachers in the audience.
A female voice emerged from the crowd: "Teacher Xu, your method is good, but the competition is in May, and it's already the end of March. If we go through all this trouble to hold such an election on campus, won't we run out of time? Will the choir have enough time for rehearsals? Can we guarantee a place?"
This still shows they don't support her idea and prefer Teacher Lin's approach of directly assigning students to the same positions. Xu Tangmian looked closely and realized that it was Li Yutao who was speaking.
Why would Li Yutao refute her? Xu Tangmian frowned slightly, then comforted herself that Li Yutao's words were "about the issue, not the person".
Xu Tangmian took a deep breath and said slowly, "Teacher Li, I don't think we should compete for the sake of competition. Just like the black hole number game that Teacher Geng and I played before, the process of letting students discover the joy of learning, have a strong sense of participation, and experience the fairness of competition is more important than the rankings, isn't it?"
Li Yutao snorted, "But this ranking is related to the school's rating, the teachers' performance evaluations, and the educational resources that students can actually enjoy. Aren't these more important than letting a few students experience the fun you're talking about?"
“You…” Xu Tangmian frowned, about to retort, but was stopped by Principal Ding. “Alright, alright, you both have a point. Here’s what we’ll do, Teacher Xu, I’ll give you a chance too. You can take five spots in the ten-person choir you mentioned earlier and organize the event. As for the other five spots, we’ll follow Teacher Lin’s original idea, uh… pick one from each grade from second to sixth. Too young and they won’t understand what we’re saying, and it won’t be easy for them to rehearse.”
"Alright, alright, let's call it a day. Everyone go back and get busy."
The teachers left one by one and returned to their posts. Xu Tangmian felt something was wrong and went to find Li Yutao, but Li Yutao pretended not to see her and walked past her to talk to the principal.
Before school ended, Xu Tangmian tried to talk to her twice more. Xu Tangmian was angry. Once or twice was one thing, but avoiding her three times was clearly an attempt to avoid her!
Although she didn't understand what she had done wrong, she knew that since she genuinely wanted to communicate, the other party should at least give her a chance to explain. Li Yutao's avoidance of the topic clearly showed she didn't consider her a close friend! Since that was the case, she would ignore her!
When she got home that evening, she told Yu Chunsheng about the troubles she had encountered.
Yu Chunsheng was also worried about his own work, so when he heard this, he comforted her, "Song Weidong hasn't come back either, has he? Maybe it's because their conflict hasn't been resolved yet, and she's taking her frustration out on you. Since you haven't done anything wrong, just stay calm. She'll come to you when she's figured things out."
Xu Tangmian thought this made sense, nodded and stopped thinking about it, and then moved on to another topic.
"You've been staying at home for two months now, have you thought about what kind of job you want to look for?"
"How about this?" Seeing his silence, Xu Tangmian obediently snuggled back into his arms. "If you really have nothing to do, help me with something first before you look for a job."
"you say."
"Didn't I promise the principal I'd organize this singing competition? I'd like to give a certificate to the top five students, but I haven't seen any of these for sale around here. Could you help me check and see where I can buy them?"
As she spoke, she took out a sketch. In the center of the picture was a rectangular frame, with the words "Certificate of Merit" written in the middle of the upper half of the frame. Between the two words was a national emblem, and the whole thing was supported by two handfuls of wheat ears.
The lower half simply read "flowers" and "auspicious clouds or ribbons." Yu Chunsheng laughed and pointed to the words, asking her, "Did you design this?"
“Uh.” Xu Tangmian smiled, a little embarrassed, “My artistic skills aren’t good enough, so I need a professional.”
Yu Chunsheng narrowed his eyes, smiled, and gently flicked her nose: "Okay, I'll help you find it."
The next day, Yu Chunsheng went to several nearby shops and found that Xu Tangmian did not have the item she wanted. He thought that there might be more shops in town where he could buy it, so he rode his bicycle to town. On the way, he happened to run into several workers who came out from one direction looking dejected.
He wasn't one to meddle in other people's business, but seeing the men's simple clothes and tearful eyes, he thought they might really be in trouble. He turned his bike around and rode up to them to ask what was wrong.
"We've been laid off," the men said wearily. "We've worked for so many years, and now we can't get paid. We have to go back to farming."
Yu Chunsheng was puzzled. "Now that we've started reform and opening up, and the economic situation is excellent, how come we can't pay wages?"
The worker scoffed, "The situation looks great, but those orders aren't even ours!"
"Exactly! We used to be able to supply nearby schools, but now that the schools have all merged, and the schools in the city all have their own dedicated suppliers, who would bother with our small factory?"
Yu Chunsheng chatted casually with them, "So what is your factory's main business?"
"We're a printing factory, specializing in selling receipts and student exam papers, exercise books, and the like. Now that receipts are used less, all the orders have been taken by the city printing factory, and nobody wants our small factory to print anything anymore."
"A printing factory?" Yu Chunsheng asked thoughtfully, then asked for directions and headed towards the factory.
The printing factory the group mentioned was located in a suburban area, neither in a rural area nor a town, but quite close to both. The factory's name was written on a white-painted wooden board above the entrance, and there were two rows of tiled houses on either side, with a tin canopy covering the middle.
The rusty iron gate was wide open, and the air was filled with the smell of ink and dust. A few workers sat idly on benches in twos and threes. A bespectacled man was fiddling with an abacus next to a machine. Noticing that his attire was different from the others, Yu Chunsheng walked over to him.
So this is the factory manager of the printing plant.
The factory manager glanced at Yu Chunsheng, then turned and waved his hand, "The factory is closing down. Didn't you see what's inside? It's all going to be used to pay off debts. We're not doing business now."
Yu Chunsheng smiled slightly, "I'm not here to place an order. It's like this, my wife works at Hongxing Elementary School, and we need a few award certificates, but none of the nearby shops have them, so I thought..."
"Heh." The factory manager put down his abacus and was about to send them away when Yu Chunsheng continued, "So I would like to ask you all to print a few copies for me for free."
The factory fell silent as soon as he said this. Even the workers who were dozing off nearby opened their eyes and looked at him as if he were a fool.
Yu Chunsheng calmly stepped forward, casually placing his hand on a machine and brushing away a layer of dust: "I'm not trying to make things difficult for everyone, but I can see that this factory is everyone's hard work, and no one wants to give it up."
"What can we do if we don't give up?" the factory manager sighed. "These people have been working with me for over ten years. They have the skills, but we're getting old and can't keep up with the times. Now the government is gradually abolishing invoices, and textbooks in schools are being handed over to larger printing plants. Small factories like ours are doomed to go out of business."
Yu Chunsheng took out the redesigned award certificate manuscript from his bag and showed it to everyone, saying in a firm voice: "I think that since the wheels of time are rolling in, we should not stay in the same place and wait to be crushed. We should also keep up with the times and expand the scope of the factory's business."
The factory manager hesitated, "But...but we only know how to print these!"
Yu Chunsheng smiled confidently, "If you trust me, you can leave the layout to me. I will plan the new development direction of the factory for you, starting with this little certificate. We have the equipment and technology, and we want everyone to know that we can also make good products at reasonable prices."
The factory manager gritted his teeth and said, "Fine! I'll let you practice with these certificates for free!"
"Thank you!" Yu Chunsheng smiled and bowed to the workers, then whispered to the factory manager, "Manager, don't rush to sell the factory. Give me some time. Let me think of a way, and see if we can work together to revive it."
With a roar, the machine quickly printed out the award certificates designed according to the artwork.
The freshly printed certificate was still warm and had a pleasant smell of ink. Yu Chunsheng gently picked up the certificate, afraid of getting the oil stains on the surface dirty.
The factory manager chuckled. "Comrade Yu, I can see you're a young man with ideas. I won't sell this factory for now, and I hope what you just said wasn't just empty talk." He pointed to the people still busy at the machines and said solemnly, "I'm handing them over to you."
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