Chapter 208
It was not difficult to find Professor Fu. She went to the teachers' dormitory area and asked someone, and someone showed her the way.
Professor Fu's house was on the second floor. Zhou Jiani went up and knocked on the door. A gray-haired old lady opened the door for her. Seeing Zhou Jiani looked unfamiliar, she hesitated and asked, "Comrade, who are you looking for?"
Zhou Jiani smiled and said, "Hello, is this Professor Fu's home?"
The old lady's face was wrinkled, her eyes were cloudy, and she asked with caution and vigilance, "Who are you?"
Zhou Jiani was so cautious, as if she could retreat back into the room and close the door again if she said even one word.
Zhou Jiani felt a little sad. This was someone who had been tortured and frightened in those years. She softened her voice and said, "I am a student of Teacher Meng Wen."
Zhou Jiani couldn't grasp the old lady's identity and didn't dare to call her casually.
Yao Huizhen's expression relaxed, she smiled faintly, and tentatively asked, "Is your last name Zhou?"
Zhou Jiani nodded quickly: "Yes, yes, my name is Zhou Jiani."
"Come in, I've heard Xiaowen talk about you."
To avoid misunderstanding, Zhou Jiani still asked, "Are you Teacher Meng Wen's..."
"Xiao Wen is my niece, and I'm her aunt. You should follow her and call me aunt."
Meng Wen was only a few years older than Zhou Jiani, so Zhou Jiani readily called her "Auntie".
"Auntie, which school did Teacher Meng get into? We agreed to meet in the capital."
"She's enrolled at the Foreign Languages College..." Yao Huizhen asked her to sit down on a chair and reached for the thermos to pour water for Zhou Jiani. Her vein-baring hand wobbled as she held the thermos. Zhou Jiani quickly reached out and took it, saying, "Auntie, I can do it myself."
"It's okay, my hand is just like this." Yao Huizhen insisted on pouring a bowl of water for Zhou Jiani.
She didn't have Parkinson's, but was injured by a student from Laofu during her time as a sent-down peasant. She didn't receive timely treatment, leaving her with sequelae. She had gotten used to the trembling she felt when she held anything, but outsiders might be surprised at first glance, and perhaps even show a hint of sympathy.
Zhou Jiani didn't insist. She thanked him before explaining her purpose. She mentioned the time when they built the plastic greenhouse: "It was thanks to Professor Fu's notes that we farmers were able to benefit from them. They were invaluable."
Since Yao Huizhen had heard her niece mention it, she naturally knew why it was mentioned. She had even eaten the food Zhou Jiani sent her.
What's more, it also made her realize that there are not only students with ruthless hearts, but also students who are grateful.
Xiaowen, a grateful student, even sent Xiaowen a set of precious study materials after the college entrance examination was resumed.
Yao Huizhen smiled and nodded, saying, "Those notes would be the best help to you. The old man's greatest effort in his life is those piles of notebooks he kept. What a pity..."
Unfortunately, they were torn to pieces and burned by those heartless beasts and destroyed in an instant.
The old man endured house searches, parades through the streets, exiles, toilet sweeping, ridicule, beatings and scolding, but he almost died when he saw his life's work destroyed and vomited blood.
Fortunately, I hid a few books somewhere else and those beasts didn't find them.
Yao Huizhen still has tears in her eyes when she talks about it, which shows how heartbroken she is.
"Actually, we have to thank you. Knowing that the notebook can really help you, Lao Fu was so happy that he couldn't sleep all night."
That kind of happiness was different from the previous ones. It gave her the feeling that Lao Fu was "alive" again. He walked happily around the house with his hands behind his back, and hummed a few lines of Peking Opera under his breath.
Zhou Jiani hurriedly said, "Auntie, please don't say that. Under those circumstances, you and Professor Fu were willing to hand over the notes. You two elders were also taking a risk."
She was a stranger to the two old people, and given the environment at that time, she must have been full of vigilance and distrust of the outside world, but Professor Fu still gave the notebook to Meng Wen.
It can be considered as mutual achievement.
When Zhou Jiani asked about Professor Fu, Yao Huizhen smiled sheepishly and said, "I was too busy talking to you. Professor Fu is in the school's experimental fields. I'll take you there to find him."
Zhou Jiani asked hurriedly, "Will this cause trouble for you and Professor Fu?"
Yao Huizhen waved her hand: "It won't cause any trouble."
The two stood up and walked out one after the other. When Yao Huizhen opened the door, a middle-aged man and woman were standing at the door. The woman was pretending to knock on the door, but when she saw Yao Huizhen, she quickly put on a smile and called out "Master's wife."
Yao Huizhen's body stiffened, and her hand hanging by her side trembled even more violently. Her voice trembled with anger as she sternly said, "Didn't I tell you not to come? Go away, go away, don't come to my house. I can't afford students like you. Go..."
The man pleaded, "Teacher's wife, I only ask you and the teacher to listen to my explanation. I was really misled back then."
Yao Huizhen was so angry that she was shaking all over: "Please leave my house."
The female comrade seemed oblivious to Yao Huizhen's words of dismissing the others, and continued to herself, "Teacher's wife, we were truly deceived by that villain back then. We beg you to listen to our explanation with the teacher. It will only take you five minutes, at most..."
As they were talking, they even wanted to squeeze in, and Yao Huizhen staggered back slightly.
The door of Professor Fu's house was opened inward, and the door that Yao Huizhen opened was slanted to block Zhou Jiani next to her behind the door. The two people at the door did not see that there was another person in the house, so Zhou Jiani's sudden appearance behind Yao Huizhen scared the two people and made them freeze in their attempts to squeeze in.
Zhou Jiani supported Yao Huizhen, looked at the people at the door, and said coldly, "You two look like cultured people. Isn't it really rude to embarrass an elderly person like this? The old man's request is very simple and intuitive. I don't think you two will fail to understand. I hope you can understand. Please leave!"
Zhou Jiani was not clear about the whole story. She figured it out by combining what Professor Fu and his wife had experienced, Yao Huizhen's scolding, and the way the two addressed each other.
Professor Fu must have been persecuted by his students back then, and these two may have been involved. Now that they see Professor Fu has been reinstated, they want to come up and establish a relationship with him.
It's really despicable.
"Young comrade, why haven't I seen you before..." The female comrade was not angry even though she was confronted. She looked Zhou Jiani up and down and tried to find out her background.
There was a stranger at the scene, and the two men didn't have the nerve to continue squeezing in. They calmly withdrew their feet and stood outside the door again.
Yao Huizhen took the opportunity to slam the door shut and shouted, "Get out! Get out of here!"
He turned around and sat back in his chair angrily, his face ashen and his hands shaking violently.
Zhou Jiani hurried over and half-knelt down, holding Yao Huizhen's rough hand, and said gently, "Auntie, don't be angry. It's not worth getting angry with a clown and ruining your own health."
Yao Huizhen murmured: "I'm not angry, I'm not angry..."
Although she said that, she was still very angry. Zhou Jiani tried to calm her down for a long time before her emotions gradually stabilized.
He said rather embarrassedly: "Xiao Zhou, I made a fool of myself."
Zhou Jiani rubbed her back and said with a smile, "You mean the joke I saw about those two clowns just now? Well, the way they jumped up and down was quite funny!"
Yao Huizhen was stunned for a moment, then she laughed.
After this incident, Zhou Jiani no longer mentioned going to see Professor Fu, fearing that the two men would linger at the door or downstairs.
But Yao Huizhen invited Zhou Jiani to stay for lunch. Zhou Jiani was worried that the two people would come back and disturb Yao Huizhen. Moreover, she saw that the old man was very angry just now, so she was a little worried and decided to stay and accompany him.
Besides, this is Teacher Meng’s aunt. Since she has met her, it is impossible for her to just leave her alone.
Yao Huizhen calmed down and talked about the situation of the two people just now.
"The man's name is Lü Zhengfei, and the woman's name is Ronghua. They were classmates and both students of Lao Fu. My eldest son was working at the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry at the time, and Lü Zhengfei sought Lao Fu's help and recommendation to get a job there, becoming my eldest son's subordinate... Later, Lao Fu was reported and slandered by students, and my eldest son's work was affected. He took the initiative to go to the most difficult place for labor reform. To climb up the ladder, that villain Lü Zhengfei not only actively participated in persecuting Lao Fu, but also stepped on my son. Now that Lao Fu has been rehabilitated, my eldest son has also resumed his job. Poor Lü Zhengfei has been busy for years, and every time my eldest son returns to the unit, he is still his immediate superior..."
A higher-ranking official can crush a person to death. Lu Zhengfei is at the age of pursuing his career. Now that the senior brother he stepped on in the past is back, it would be strange if he is not killed, let alone continuing to climb up.
Downstairs in the dormitory building, Lu Zhengfei and Ronghua waited for a while at the top of the building but didn't see Yao Huizhen come out. They were both a little angry. Ronghua cursed softly, "Why didn't you two die in the cowshed back then?"
Lu Zhengfei lit a cigarette, feeling a little annoyed.
Teacher Lai Fu's family has run into obstacles several times. The couple originally wanted to take it step by step and slowly let the teacher accept them again, but recently they heard rumors that the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry seemed to be going to reform again. Lu Zhengfei was a little afraid that his senior brother would make trouble for him and kick him out during the reform.
So they planned to squeeze into the teacher's house no matter how shamelessly they wanted. As soon as they entered the house and closed the door, they would kneel down and refuse to leave. They were so shameless that they would break the ice in their relationship even if they got beaten or scolded.
Things like this have to be done in one go, but who knew that I would be so unlucky to have a stranger at home.
This time it didn't work, so Yao Huizhen became alert and probably won't even open the door next time.
The more Lu Zhengfei thought about it, the more frustrated he became. He asked, "Who was that woman just now? Was she a student at the school, or a relative of the teacher or his wife? Have you seen her before?"
Ronghua shook his head: "I've never seen her before. She looks like a vixen..."
They knew some of the nephews and nieces of Teacher Fu and his wife's family, but they had never seen the man in the room just now, who was very eloquent.
Ronghua: "Go back first and think about who you can find to mediate. As long as we can sit down and talk, there's a chance to break the ice."
The two pushed the car away.
As soon as the two men left, Professor Fu went home with his hands behind his back.
Professor Fu wasn't used to carrying keys, so he went upstairs and knocked on the door. After knocking twice, he heard someone inside cursing, "You're still so shameless, aren't you? Get out! Get as far away as you can."
Professor Fu sighed, wondering who came to harass him again.
Ever since he was rehabilitated, his former students would come to him from time to time to apologize and try to repair the teacher-student relationship. However, he had long been disheartened, and the teacher-student relationship with that early batch of students had long ended. It was impossible to forgive them. As long as this door was closed for a while, everyone would know that things could not be reversed, and gradually they would stop coming.
He shouted, "It's me!"
The door opened, revealing not the weather-beaten face of his wife, but a delicate little girl.
Professor Fu paused. If it weren't for the sound of his wife cursing someone still echoing in his ears, he would have thought he had walked into the wrong door.
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