Chapter 74 A Clever Idea "You didn't encounter anything on the way here, did you?"...
At the end of October, the commune's approval document came through, and the construction of the hydroelectric power station officially began.
The commune attached great importance to this, and even specially borrowed several technicians from the county's water conservancy department to provide technical assistance to the Tonggan production team; other materials, such as cement, steel bars, generators, and water turbines, required multiple trips to the commune to apply for; in addition, there was the matter of applying for loans from the commune's credit union...
Li Ming still entrusted these matters to Zhong Ying. No one in the production team was more astute and flexible than her. Moreover, she had always been in charge of building the hydroelectric power station. Li Ming understood the principle of "not bothering two people with one matter."
So Li Ming rejected his eldest son's request to get involved without even thinking about it. As a father, how could he not know what his son was thinking? Li Gangshi wanted to interfere and take credit for his son's actions.
Even if Li Gang had the ability to deal with the commune leaders, Li Ming wouldn't have agreed. Who would be happy to have worked so hard to set up the organization only to have it inexplicably removed and replaced by someone else? Wouldn't that be a disaster?
Li Ming, annoyed, told the "troublemaker" to find something productive to do: "Go to the construction site and pick up some stones. See if anyone's hoe or hammer is broken, and fix it for them. I'm busy going to see your fourth sister-in-law; I have something to discuss with her."
Li Gang left, feeling wronged and pouting.
Li Ming also found Zhong Ying at the construction site, which was actually at the foot of Ying Mountain. The hydroelectric power station was located there, and a factory building that crossed the river was to be built to store the generators.
Yu Jing and several other technicians and educated youths surrounded Zhong Ying, chattering about the materials they needed, telling her to wait and go to the commune to ask for them, and if they couldn't get them, she would go and buy them herself.
Li Ming waited for a while before Zhong Ying came out.
"Yingnier," Li Ming called to her, gesturing for her to walk towards the willow tree by the roadside.
Li Ming said to Zhong Ying, "As you can see, it's hard for Yu Zhiqing to leave again. Whether it's other educated youth or technicians, they all rely on her as the hub for technical exchanges. When you go to the commune, you'll need to find someone to accompany you. It's quite worrying for a young woman like you to go alone."
These past few days, Li Ming has been thinking about this very question: "Should I ask your mother to go with you? At least the two of you can keep each other company."
Zhong Ying almost blurted out, "Which mother am I?"
If Deng Xia goes with her, then Liu Hongyan is someone Zhong Ying now calls "Mother." As a mother-in-law, Liu Hongyan is really good; she never causes trouble. If Liu Hongyan goes with her, her own mother, Deng Xia, will definitely feel wronged...
Zhong Ying thought with distress, "It's really difficult to balance things."
"No need, I can manage on my own," Zhong Ying refused.
“How can you manage alone?” Li Ming frowned. “Why don’t you have your brother accompany you? Sigh, I wish he were a little older.”
Zhong Xin was a boy in his late teens; in the countryside, he could barely be treated like an adult, but when he went out, he was still regarded as a child.
Thinking about other people, Zhong Ying was a widow in the conventional sense, and she couldn't get too close to other men. Riding a bicycle together was too intimate; only women of the same sex or married couples would do that. If only her youngest son were still alive—
Li Ming paused, his thoughts caught up in the moment, and he looked up at Zhong Ying.
Zhong Ying indeed said, "I'm not alone."
Li Ming was speechless, his mouth moving, and after a long while he finally asked a dry, inarticulate question, "You haven't left yet?"
Zhong Ying, ever cheerful, shook her head and said, "No."
Li Ming waved his hand weakly, no longer caring about Zhong Ying going to the town commune alone.
Although he was his own son, Li Ming still couldn't understand it. "You're already dead, why don't you think about reincarnation? What kind of thing is it to just linger in the world?"
Regardless of what others thought of Zhong Ying, or whether they thought she was too reckless to venture out into the world alone, Zhong Ying still began traveling alone between the production team and the commune, accompanied by a bodyguard.
One ton of cement was "squeezed" from the planned quota for building the commune's compound warehouse;
The steel bars were "sponsored" by Deputy Director Ding, who helped obtain them from a factory in town.
Regarding the generators, Secretary Sun instructed the power supply bureau to contact the county power plant. Considering that the power supply would also be needed to support the surrounding production teams such as Liwangou and Yuqianwa in the future, the equipment was adjusted and upgraded. The county power plant will assemble two 125-kilowatt generators to "support" the Tonggan production team.
The rest, the core equipment turbines and the cost of building the hydroelectric power station... "You'll have to figure out the rest yourselves."
Zhong Ying was not discouraged. The commune had provided enough help, and her application for a loan from the commune credit union went smoothly without any obstacles. With money, nothing was a problem.
The production team was working enthusiastically at the foot of Yingshan Mountain to build the hydroelectric power station plant.
Water turbines—that's a bit tricky.
A salesperson at the town's supply and marketing cooperative said, "We don't have this here. You have to order it from the county supply and marketing cooperative. Only their purchasing agents will go all over the country to purchase and order from various factories."
So Zhong Ying had to make another trip to the county town.
Zhong Ying insisted that she could go by herself.
Those who knew about the ghost remained relatively calm, while those who didn't became increasingly worried.
Yu Jing immediately put down what she was doing and said, "I'll go with you."
“This project can’t be done without Yu Zhiqing,” Zhong Ni said. “I’ll go with my cousin.”
Liu Guangtian couldn't bear to leave his wife alone, so he said, "I'll come along and help you with your luggage."
Even though Zhong Xin knew the inside story, he couldn't help but chime in, "How about I go to the county town with my sister?"
“How can you two children manage?” Deng Xia said. “I’ll go with you.”
Old Man Zhong said, "Then I'll..."
Is this some kind of Calabash Brothers saving their grandfather? A whole bunch of them together? Zhong Ying thought helplessly.
“No one needs to accompany me,” Zhong Ying said. “When I get to the county town, I can stay at my aunt’s house for one night. If you come with me, we’ll have to stay at the guesthouse. We should save that money to buy equipment.”
Then everyone remembered that Captain Li had three daughters, and Li Rou had married and moved to the county town. With her help to take care of Zhong Ying, she wouldn't be completely unfamiliar with the place.
On a bright and sunny morning, Zhong Ying took the approval document, letter of introduction, money, and grain to send to Li Rou, and set off for the county town.
She rode her bicycle to town, then transferred to a long-distance bus at the commune bus station. By the time she arrived in the county town, it was already afternoon. Zhong Ying decided to go to Li Rou's house at the address Li Ming had given her.
The journey from Tonggan Production Team to the county town was long, and Zhong Ying had no choice but to order a water turbine from the supply and marketing cooperative and head back. Firstly, there were no long-distance buses running that late, and secondly, even if she had a ghost backing her up, she wouldn't dare ride a bicycle at night.
So Zhong Ying's plan was to stay at Li Rou's house for one night and return home early the next morning.
After wandering around and asking people for directions, Zhong Ying finally found the staff compound of the county film management station. Li Rou's husband, Qian Haishen, was a film projectionist, one of the most sought-after "eight types of workers," and lived in a public house allocated by his work unit.
A movie poster for "The Red Detachment of Women" had been pasted on the wall of the corridor in the tenement building. Zhong Ying glanced at it curiously a few times before continuing to look for the door number.
Hearing the knock, Li Rou called out, "Who is it?"
"Sister, it's me, Zhong Ying."
Li Rou hurriedly dropped the vegetables she had half-cut and rushed to open the door.
She stared incredulously at Zhong Ying outside the door, glancing around to make sure no one else was there. "You came alone? Did something happen on your way here?"
Zhong Ying smiled at her, "Something happened on the way; someone tried to steal the food I gave you."
It was resolved by Li Linshi.
The long-distance buses at that time were old and the roads were not as smooth as they are now. Zhong Ying felt nauseous from the bumpy ride and, feeling uncomfortable, closed her eyes and leaned her head against the back of the seat, which was actually Li Linshi's shoulder, and dozed off.
When a middle-aged man on the other side of the aisle couldn't see Li Lin sitting in the empty seat next to Zhong Ying, he assumed that the young woman was carrying a not-so-large burlap sack by herself. Judging from her clothes and the shape of the sack, she was obviously a country girl and carrying grain.
In those days, apart from the rural people who toiled in the fields, everyone else had to carefully count their grain coupons to get enough to eat. The man stared at a sack of grain at Zhong Ying's feet, his not-so-large, upturned eyes gleaming with a greenish light that was no different from that of a hungry wolf.
He carefully looked around. There weren't actually that many people on the bus, and most of them were uncomfortable from the boring and bumpy journey. There were quite a few people like this girl who were sleeping with their eyes closed.
The man swallowed hard, then pulled a pencil from his briefcase. The pencil, sharpened to a fine point, was originally meant for writing, but now it would be convenient for him to use the tip to puncture the sacks and steal some grain.
Taking advantage of the fact that no one was paying attention, he quietly reached out his hand towards the burlap sack at Zhong Ying's feet...
No one saw his actions at that moment, but Li Linshi's clear and cold gaze had already fallen on this person, silently observing his every move.
Zhong Ying was still asleep on his shoulder. Li Linshi didn't move, but he slightly raised his long, slender fingers with distinct knuckles.
A drop of water condensed eerily on the inside of the car roof, hovering directly above the head of the man who reached out his hand.
Li Linshi's finger fell.
A drop of water suddenly fell, landing on the back of the middle-aged man's neck in the blink of an eye. The icy water felt penetratingly cold against his skin in the November weather. Coupled with the fact that he was currently committing a wrong act, he was startled.
The man raised his hand to touch his neck, cursed silently, and tried to calm himself down. He wanted to repeat the action, but another drop of water fell on him.
Having his taut nerves shattered twice in a row, this man, clearly lacking resilience, suddenly snapped and yelled at the driver in front, "What kind of junk is this! The roof's leaking and you don't even know how to fix it?"
People who were dozing off opened their eyes and looked over.
The driver wasn't one to back down either, and without turning his head, he retorted, "Open your eyes and take a good look. I checked this car thoroughly before setting off this morning. No one has ever complained about a leaking roof before today, and it hasn't even rained today. What could be leaking?"
The two started arguing back and forth, and the argument escalated.
Zhong Ying quickly realized who was behind it.
The mischievous ghost whispered in her ear what had just happened: "That man wanted to steal the grain, so I dripped two drops of water to stop him."
Zhong Ying turned her head and looked at the middle-aged man who was spitting and shouting louder and louder. His righteous and stern demeanor showed no sign that he had just intended to steal.
Two drops of water is too lenient on him. Zhong Ying turned her head and, while everyone else was watching the commotion, whispered a few words in Li Linshi's ear.
Zhong Ying felt that she must have spent too much time with the ghost, otherwise how could she have come up with such a ruthless and mischievous idea?
The middle-aged man vented his emotions to the fullest before letting out a long breath and sitting down again.
Seeing that the girl who had brought a bag of grain had woken up, he could only completely let go of his previous thoughts, and to avoid seeing her, he simply leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.
Silence gradually returned to the long-distance bus.
A thin stream of water flowed silently from under the man's seat, growing longer and longer as it meandered through the aisle between the seats, like a tiny stream.
Someone caught a glimpse of it out of the corner of their eye, immediately turned their head in surprise, and then looked along the water on the ground.
More and more people noticed the water stains flowing in the aisle, and some people disgustedly pulled their feet back to the inside of their seats, not wanting to get even a drop of the liquid on them.
The middle-aged man closed his eyes for a moment, and gradually heard the whispers of the people around him.
"He doesn't look like an old man, how old is he that he can't hold his pee..."
"How disgusting! You've made all the public facilities dirty. Be careful when you get off the bus later, don't step on them..."
"Damn it, I was already feeling nauseous from motion sickness, and now I feel even more nauseous, ugh..."
The man immediately opened his eyes. Who? Who was so disgusting as to urinate on the car?
But he found that all the mocking and disdainful looks were directed at him.
The man jumped to his feet, his face flushed with anger, and roared furiously, "It wasn't me! I didn't pee on the car!"
The middle-aged woman sitting next to him, whom he didn't know, leaned closer to the car window, clutched her bundle tightly, and muttered, "His pants are all wet and he's still being stubborn..."
The man turned his head to look behind him and saw that he was wearing gray pants with a particularly obvious wet stain. Looking at the "stream" flowing from under the seat, it seemed like irrefutable evidence.
But he knew he really didn't wet his pants! It was cold, so he wore an extra pair of long underwear. How could his long underwear be dry while his outer pants were wet if he wet his pants?
"This, this must be water that just dripped from the roof! It wet the seat, and I sat on it, which soaked my pants..." The man was speechless and couldn't take off his pants in front of everyone to prove his innocence. Any explanation he gave would sound like a desperate attempt to justify himself. In the end, he really got angry and jumped off the bus at the midway stop before even reaching his stop.
The driver stopped the car and only then realized what had happened in the back of the vehicle. He immediately became furious and yelled at the man's retreating back, "You can't even hold your pee! You dirtied my car and then ran away!"
Zhong Ying lowered her head, struggling to suppress her laughter.
Those who want to do bad things should be punished with social death.
Li Lin looked helplessly at Zhong Ying, but the corners of his lips were turned up. He gently stroked her back, afraid that she would burst out laughing.
After the man who had fled in panic had disappeared, and the driver picked up the mop to clean the floor, Zhong Ying took a deep breath and changed her expression.
"Oh, I'm so sorry," Zhong Ying said, pretending to bend down to pick up the water bottle, looking surprised and guilty. "I rolled the water bottle under the seat over there, and the water leaked out."
Everyone on the bus breathed a sigh of relief. The driver let out a long sigh and, without hesitation, pressed the mop down to cover the water stains, expressing the thoughts of everyone present: "As long as it's clean water, that's fine."
-----------------------
Author's Note: Passerby A (Man): Bah! A henchman! Enlisting in the evil! Using power to commit evil! Inhuman and depraved!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
