Chapter 51
Who wouldn’t want to wander around when visiting the provincial capital?
But Zhang Baosheng was so focused on giving birth that his mind was completely distracted.
After dinner, they took a bus back and went straight to the police station after getting off.
As soon as she entered, a young police officer spotted Zhou Jiani and said, "Hey? You're the comrade Zhou who came to report the case the other day and was maliciously reported, right?"
Zhou Jiani smiled and said, "Yes, our Forward Brigade's captain even came here specifically for this matter, fearing I'd be misunderstood."
Zhang Baosheng had finally managed to calm down at the department store, but he subconsciously tensed up again when he met the police. He hurriedly explained, "I'm sorry to trouble you, police officers. Our comrade Xiao Zhou is here on a business trip for our brigade. She didn't stay in the city on purpose..."
The police officer smiled and waved his hand, saying, "Comrade, don't be nervous. The neighborhood committee has already proven that Comrade Zhou Jiani's stay was not intentional. We are only handling their report."
Qiu Zeming stepped forward, shook hands with the police officer, and asked, "Comrade, how is the case progressing?"
"Speaking of which, we went to the Second Spinning Mill today to investigate. The employee who answered the phone said the whistleblower was a male educated youth who went to the countryside with Comrade Zhou, and that he made the report anonymously. If that's true, the person should be in your brigade. So, why not go back and investigate? If it's true and you don't want to resolve the matter on your own, then hand it over to your local police station."
The trip was not in vain, it finally came to light.
"The educated youth who went to the countryside with me?" Zhou Jiani took an exaggerated breath and looked at Zhang Baosheng and Qiu Zeming in surprise. "Among the male educated youth... the only one I had a conflict with was Zhao Weiguo. But it wasn't a particularly deep conflict. We just had a few arguments over a disagreement. He wouldn't have gone that far, would he?"
Qiu Zeming bit his cheek to hide his expression, then frowned thoughtfully as he said, "Zhao Weiguo? The other day, after I finished talking to you on the phone at the post office, I bumped into Comrade Zhao Weiguo on my way out. I was leaving when he came in."
Zhou Jiani spun around in anger, her face filled with disbelief. "Could it really be him? Just because I refused to participate when he organized a riot and advised them not to cause trouble in the team, and we argued in public, he holds a grudge against me to this extent? Oh my God, how could he be so ignorant? He repeatedly reported me at the critical point of delivery."
Zhang Baosheng's old face was gloomy.
When he learned that Comrade Xiao Zhou had been reported, he was so worried that he couldn't sleep the whole night. He thought of many possibilities, but he never imagined that the damn pest was in their brigade, and it was he who issued the letter of introduction for Zhao Weiguo to go to the town.
Zhou Jiani shook hands with the police. "I'm sorry to bother everyone in the station. Thank you so much. Otherwise, I would never have thought it would be the comrades who went to the countryside with me. We will go back and investigate this matter. If we confirm that the malicious informant is the comrade I suspect, we will call you to let you know how to deal with it. Our local leaders should have a plan for how to deal with it. Thank you again, comrades in the police station."
"Okay, we will also conduct further investigations. If we find any new clues, we will promptly communicate with your local commune."
Who knows whether the person who reported it is lying? Let’s wait until they go back and investigate thoroughly.
Zhang Baosheng walked in front with his hands behind his back, his steps hurried, and he looked like he wanted to go back and strangle Zhao Weiguo to death.
Qiu Zeming helped Zhang Baosheng carry his things and followed closely behind, saying, "Captain, don't be too angry. Perhaps Comrade Zhao Weiguo was just mad at Comrade Xiao Zhou for publicly insulting him, so he took this opportunity to play a prank and give Comrade Xiao Zhou a hard time."
Zhang Baosheng: I didn’t feel comforted at all, I was even more angry!
Zhou Jiani sighed and said, "You said this guy, he's just causing trouble for me, so why would he choose any other time? But he had to do this at such a critical juncture in our cooperation with the department store. If anyone knows, it's a prank, but if anyone doesn't, they might think he's deliberately stabbing our Qianjin Brigade in the back. If this really goes wrong, won't the efforts of our village's Fourth Uncle and others all be in vain?"
Zhang Baosheng's face turned even darker.
Qiu Zeming looked at Zhou Jiani and said sternly, "Go back and apologize to Comrade Zhao Weiguo and try to shake hands and reconcile. We can't let this kind of situation where we almost lost the big picture over the small details happen again."
Zhou Jiani nodded and said in a low voice, "I see. If I had known earlier, I wouldn't have argued with him."
Zhang Baosheng could no longer tolerate this and turned around and said, "You two silly kids, is this Comrade Xiao Zhou's fault? He's just a rat's shit. A grown man's heart is as narrow as a needle hole. I'll deal with him when I get back."
I completely forgot that there has been no formal investigation to confirm it.
We were in a hurry this morning, and seeing that the captain was really reserved, we didn't let him go to his house to sit down. Now that we were at his doorstep, Zhou Jiani invited him again: "Captain, Comrade Xiao Qiu, please go to my house and sit down for a while. Let's settle the basket money for the individual customers, and then we'll go to the factory to get the food payment. Then we'll go directly to the station. There are photographers at the station, so we can take a couple of photos there."
Zhang Baosheng didn't refuse this time. It wasn't dinner time, so he felt relieved and nodded. "Your parents should be at work, right? Is your grandma home?"
"Yes, my grandma should be the only one here at this time."
Qiu Zeming met Grandma Zhou Jiani this morning. She was a very kind old lady.
They went to the dormitory of the Second Spinning Mill.
I met Lu Cuilan on the way.
Lv Cuilan was quite happy to know that Zhou Jiani had been reported, and she had been waiting to see her humiliated, but she didn't get it. Moreover, the goods had arrived this morning, and the people who came to pick up the baskets at noon almost crushed her door frame. She knew that reporting the incident would not affect Zhou Jiani, and she felt very regretful.
But that didn't stop him from making fun of her a few more times, so he pretended to greet her: "Jia Ni, why haven't you returned to your hometown yet? Don't let anyone really deport you. We can't afford to lose this person here in the No. 2 Textile Factory dormitory."
Zhou Jiani smiled and said, "Auntie, I'll go to the factory and copy Uncle Liu's self-criticism and then go back."
Lu Cuilan choked and was about to speak when the old man with Zhou Jiani suddenly glared at her and said unhappily, "Comrade Xiao Zhou didn't break any rules. Why should he be deported?"
Anger also increases courage. Zhang Baosheng's anger had not completely subsided. Seeing the woman speaking in a sarcastic tone, he didn't care about being nervous or not, and couldn't help but retort harshly.
It would have been fine if anyone else had said that, but Lu Cuilan felt that a country bumpkin had no right to contradict her. She flew into a rage and shrieked, "Where did you come from, you peasant? Do you even know the rules of the city? Do you have any say here?" She then snapped at Zhou Jiani, "Even though the dormitory is your home, you can't just let anyone in. If any cat or dog can come in, where will we go if someone else breaks into our house and finds something?"
Zhou Jiani narrowed her eyes and said coldly, "Aunt, why don't you apologize? It's rude to curse like that."
Lu Cuilan jumped up three feet high: "Let me apologize to him? He doesn't deserve it! Don't even think about it!"
"Oh, this is the captain of our forward brigade. Your third daughter is under the charge of Captain Zhang."
Lü Cuilan: ...
Jiang Xinfeng was sitting there chatting with a group of old ladies. She saw that the person who came in looked like her eldest granddaughter. Before she could recognize her, she heard a commotion over there and quickly tiptoed over here.
When I came over, I saw Lu Cuilan apologizing to Zhang Baosheng with a big smile on her face: "I'm so sorry, I'm just impatient, please be magnanimous..."
Jiang Xinfeng said coldly, "Lv Cuilan, what are you talking about?"
He didn't say anything nonsense, he just cursed the team leader.
Jiang Xinfeng had met Qiu Zeming that morning, the Comrade Qiu her daughter-in-law had mentioned that day. She knew he had come with their team leader. Needless to say, the one who was being pulled by Lv Cuilan's sleeve, his old face flushed as he dodged to the side, was Captain Zhang. She came over to help him escape Lv Cuilan's clutches, shook her hand firmly, and said with a smile, "Captain Zhang, I'm Jiani's grandmother. Ever since Jiani came back, she's been praising you, saying how lucky she is to have such a good team leader. She also kept praising your fellow villagers, saying how kind and honest they are, and how you've taken such special care of her. I finally got to meet them today."
"Hello, sir. Comrade Xiao Zhou is also an excellent comrade. It's thanks to your good education."
Facing Jiang Xinfeng's amiable smile, Zhang Baosheng was no longer so nervous. He shook hands with her and started to exchange compliments.
He ignored Lu Cuilan and followed her to Zhou's house.
Lu Cuilan followed and tried to save the situation, but Jiang Xinfeng didn't even let her in.
Feeling depressed, she quickly turned around and went downstairs again, planning to go to the factory to call her husband back, as it was easier for men to talk to each other.
She also blamed Zhou Jiani for not introducing her earlier and had to wait until she made a fool of herself before telling her.
Zhou Jiani prepared two bowls of honey water and brought them out. Jiang Xinfeng hurriedly invited them to drink water and chatted with them, being considerate and not leaving anyone out.
Zhou Jiani checked the bills and money collected by her parents, wrapped them in paper, rolled them up, and put them in her bag.
After a while, she came out of the house with her and Sun Ping's luggage and was about to go back.
In front of Zhang Baosheng and Qiu Zeming, Jiang Xinfeng didn't feel comfortable being affectionate with her granddaughter. She only earnestly told her to work hard, eat well, dress warmly, and not get sick.
He also took out a stack of pancakes and a few boiled eggs for them to eat in the car if they were hungry at night, including portions for Zhang Baosheng and Qiu Zeming.
Zhang Baosheng felt embarrassed, but he could only wait until he got back and return it to Comrade Xiao Zhou.
While Jiang Xinfeng and Zhou Jiani were not paying attention, Qiu Zeming stuffed a few national food coupons under the tablecloth.
Jiang Xinfeng didn't notice his little action. She looked at her eldest granddaughter with reluctance, locked the door, and sent her all the way to the dormitory entrance.
Zhang Baosheng comforted her, "Don't worry, old lady. Comrade Xiao Zhou is the lucky star of our village. Everyone there loves her very much. Don't worry."
"Don't worry, don't worry. I feel relieved to see such a good leader like you and such a good comrade like Xiao Qiu." Jiang Xinfeng said with a smile.
Zhang Baosheng felt a sense of joy at being recognized, and thought to himself, no wonder Comrade Xiao Zhou is so nice, her family members are all very nice.
Qiu Zeming's hands were full as he helped the captain and Zhou Jiani carry things. He smiled and glanced between the two of them. He finally understood who Comrade Zhou inherited the ability to speak from.
Zhou Jiani hugged her grandmother and said, "Please take good care of yourself. I will write to you when I get back."
"Okay, okay." Jiang Xinfeng suppressed the reluctance in her eyes and said repeatedly.
Zhou Jiani left, looking back every few steps, and walked towards the factory.
She went to the gatekeeper and told him to go into the duty booth and wait while she went into the factory to collect the money.
When the security guard heard that it was Zhou Jiani's leader in the countryside, he immediately became excited. Just as he was about to hand over a cigarette, Qiu Zeming had already put down his things, took out a cigarette and handed it over.
"Thank you, little comrade."
After lighting a cigarette with Zhang Baosheng, the gatekeeper talked gossipingly about the rumors the Liu family had spread about Zhou Jiani some time ago. Finally, he said, "Brother, isn't the Liu family's daughter also from your team?"
Zhang Baosheng then realized that Comrade Xiao Zhou came back not only to report the incident, but also to spread rumors against her. Alas, Comrade Xiao Zhou had really suffered a great injustice.
He was about to speak when he saw through the glass window that Lv Cuilan and a man hurriedly walked out. She quickly pulled Qiu Zeming down and squatted down, and told the security guard, "Old man, don't tell anyone we're here."
The guard watched Liu Jiefang and his wife leave, then looked at Zhang Baosheng who was trying to avoid them, and felt that there seemed to be new gossip.
After the two of them walked away, he asked excitedly.
On the other side, Zhou Jiani went to the finance department to collect money.
The accountant joked with her, "Jia Ni, next time there's that basket and dried cowpeas, I'll save some for your Uncle Zheng."
Zhou Jiani smiled and pretended to be apologetic. "Oh, I'm so inconsiderate. How could I forget about my Uncle Zheng? Next time I send something home, I'll bring Uncle Zheng two different baskets. I guarantee they'll look great too."
Zheng Kaijiang laughed and said, "I'll remember this. I'll ask your parents for it when the time comes."
"Okay."
After leaving the finance department, Zhou Jiani went to her parents' workplaces to say goodbye.
Yu Huifang was reluctant to let her daughter go, so she sent her off all the way and gave her all kinds of earnest instructions.
Zhou Jiani had something else to ask her mother for help, so she said, "Please go thank Uncle Shao and the neighborhood committee for me later. Tell them that it's suspected to be the sabotage by the educated youth who went to the countryside with me. We'll go back and investigate first, and report back to them when we have the results. We'll also remember their help this time. And Director Huang, if you run into him at the factory, just greet him warmly. You don't have to mention the information..."
Yu Huifang assured her daughter, "I understand. I won't ask him directly, but I'll use my eyes to ask him if there's anything I need to pass on to you."
Zhou Jiani smiled brightly.
When she reached the door and saw Zhang Baosheng and Qiu Zeming again, Yu Huifang enthusiastically entrusted them with something.
Knowing that they had received two large orders from department stores, he smiled and said, "Our factory still has a lot of things they want. I'll tell them later to go directly to the department stores to buy them."
She has some information resources, so at least she should know when the goods will arrive earlier than others, right?
After watching her daughter leave, Yu Huifang wiped her eyes and turned back to the workshop.
Zhou Jiani and her friends rushed to the station. They were lucky enough to buy two seat tickets and one standing ticket. They estimated the time it would take to get to the county town, and called the commune from the nearby supply and marketing cooperative, asking Secretary Li to go to the village to notify Liu Tong and go to the county town to pick them up in the middle of the night.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
