Chapter 167 Past Tense All she wants is a sincere, frank and brave heart...
Zhu Yingning understood the meaning of his words and was shocked for a long time at first. She didn't understand what the matter between her and him had to do with Xu Sirui. Then she felt offended and angry.
"...Are you insulting me or yourself?" she asked in a restrained tone.
However, Zhang Jiacheng on the other end of the phone seemed to be possessed, repeating the question over and over again, as if it was Xu Sirui instead of him who was on the other end of the phone, and she would never break up.
"Listen carefully," she said, swallowing her anger. "He's truly important to me. Without him, I wouldn't be who I am today. If he were in jail, I would go and help him, but it has nothing to do with love; it's simply out of gratitude."
"I did like him once, but that's all in the past. Zhang Jiacheng, ask yourself, have I been in contact with him in the past few years? Have we been intimate or something? Have I made you feel insecure? Before you say something like that, have some sense."
"No one can force me to be with someone I don't like. Since I chose to be with you, it must have been out of my own free will. You are not a substitute for anyone else. You are you."
"So you like me?" he asked stubbornly.
"I loved you," she said.
She used the same expression, "I liked him" and "I liked you", but with "I had" instead of "I am".
She no longer likes them.
He didn't need to compete with anyone, because it was pointless; his opponent wasn't any specific person from the beginning. All she wanted was a sincere, open, and courageous heart. If he had it, she'd love him; if he didn't, she wouldn't force it.
"Let's break up." He heard her say on the other end of the phone, "Thank you for staying with me for so long. I have learned a lot from this relationship. I wish you a bright future and great success."
**
It is impossible to say that you are not sad about the end of a relationship. What Wen Wenxu said was not entirely right. After he came out, she did ask him nonchalantly why he was still awake so late, but whether she cried or not, only the crumpled draft paper in front of her knew.
She was afraid that if she had some free time, she would uncontrollably recall the little moments they had spent together. She was afraid of remembering the pot of jasmine that she had fostered with him before he went abroad but had already killed. She was afraid of remembering his eyes that were so close to her when she woke up at the library desk. She was afraid of remembering the sour plum juice that melted from the ice in the middle of summer. She was afraid of remembering Xiao Ran saying to her, "My brother misses you a little."
In order to avoid having random thoughts, she could only suppress her thoughts with actions.
Chen Fei spoke up for Zhu Yingning: "Do you really want me to tell you all the details of our relationship? Now that your curiosity is satisfied, take me to drive, Comrade Wen."
Wen Wenxu sighed: "Then I'll go change my clothes. I feel like I stink now."
**
Zhen Yuhua's feces attack lasted for three whole days. The reason why she failed on the fourth day was that Shen Fei was unable to bear it and felt that she would become mentally ill if she continued to endure it. For the sake of her own mental health, she found Wen Wenxu and stayed at the door of her house with him all night. She successfully recorded the video of Zhen Yuhua's "crime" with her mobile phone.
They took the video to Wang Shengju to report the situation. After watching the video, Wang Shengju nodded and said he would talk to Zhen Yuhua. Then he changed the subject: "However, Xiao Zhu, Xiao Wen, you have been here for a while, but your relationship with the villagers doesn't seem to be very close yet?"
Wen Wenxu said, "Secretary, I have tried my best. You know what happened before. I am like a mute eating coptis root, unable to express my suffering."
When he arrived in the village, his size and strength meant he was often called upon to help out at the villagers' homes. Carrying manure was a minor task; the challenge was finding electrical appliances. Wen Wenxu, an accountant by training, had only a limited understanding of electronics, playing games, and he was a fairly novice at them. How could he possibly know how to fix a broken electric fan? But the villagers said it was too much trouble to find a repairman, saying they would have to wait until the next day. If they couldn't fix the fan today, they would be too hot to sleep tonight.
Now that things have come to this, it would be unkind not to help. In order to leave a good impression on the villagers, get close to the masses and gain their trust, Wen Wenxu had to bite the bullet and do it.
He didn't know if it was just pure luck, but he actually managed to fix it. When the fan started working again, Wen Wenxu was very proud and boasted to everyone that he had a talent for being an electrician.
"Oh, if I had known this would happen, I should have given up liberal arts and studied hardware instead." He leaned against the door railing, brushed his bangs, and pretended to be vicissitudes of life.
"Be careful not to get too complacent or you might end up in trouble." Zhu Yingning reminded him calmly at the time.
Wen Wenxu said: "Captain, how could you curse me!"
As it turned out, his words really came true. A few days later, the old man who asked him to help repair the fan ran to the Party and Mass Service Center with his crying grandson in his arms to make trouble, saying that the newcomer Xiao Wen obviously didn't know anything about electrical appliances, but pretended to know and broke his fan, causing his grandson to be electrocuted by the fan when he was blowing it.
After hearing this, Wen Wenxu's face turned pale: "How is that possible?!"
He looked at the raised hand of the crying child and found that the child's index finger was indeed blackened by the electric current, but at the same time, his hand was wet.
Wen Wenxu suddenly realized what was going on. He scowled and asked the brat coldly, "Did you touch the socket with your wet hand? Did you?! How come you don't have any safety awareness at all? Who taught you that you can touch the socket with your fingers? I'm telling you, you're just lucky that you didn't get electrocuted. If you do that again next time, I'll spank you!"
This caused an uproar. The child tilted his neck back, screamed, and cried even more passionately. Seeing this, the old man became even angrier. He said that Wen Wenxu had broken his family's fan, causing his grandson to be electrocuted, and even wanted to beat his grandson.
The scene was in chaos for a while. Wen Wenxu was grabbed by the ears by an old man and his hair was pulled by a child. He looked completely humiliated.
Wang Shengju had to step in to maintain order. After much difficulty, he calmed the old man down and told him, "Xiao Wen is right. You really shouldn't touch the socket with your fingers, especially wet fingers. It's very dangerous. You should remind your children to pay more attention to electrical safety at home."
Unfortunately, the old man refused to listen and insisted that it was Wen Wenxu who broke the electric fan and that was why his grandson was electrocuted. He also said that Wen Wenxu himself admitted that he could not repair electrical appliances. That day he boasted everywhere, "I didn't expect that I could repair it so well without any training." Everyone in the village heard it and could come forward to testify.
There was no other way, Wang Shengju could only ask Wen Wenxu to apologize to the old man and admit that he was indeed incapable of doing things and shouldn't try to do things he was not good at.
Wen Wenxu apologized timidly at the time, but when he got home he became angrier and angrier. He buried himself in his quilt and cried bitterly. Zhu Yingning had to work hard to calm him down.
In short, the route of integrating into the masses is blocked everywhere. Wen Wenxu, who has suffered in this regard, can empathize with Chen Fei.
Wang Shengju shook his head. "Hasn't your political science class taught you about the theory of contradiction? What kind of methodology does the particularity of contradiction require us to adopt? It depends on local conditions. Your old ways of getting along with people won't work here. If you want to truly integrate here, you have to use methods that the villagers here can understand."
"Secretary, I don't know how." Wen Wenxu said.
"...I don't know either." Shen Fei agreed in a low voice.
Wang Shengju sighed, "A rotten tree cannot be carved!" and then sent them off to work.
**
“Adapt to local conditions, adapt to local conditions…”
Wen Wenxu has been repeating this sentence recently, and Chen Fei suspects that he has gone crazy.
After being taught a lesson by Wang Shengju, Zhen Yuhua did not throw feces in front of their house again, but she developed another bad habit. Every time she met the three of them on the village road, she would spit in front of them.
When asked about it, he said his throat was uncomfortable and he had phlegm stuck in his mouth: "Are you still not allowed to spit?"
Telling her that she should spit in a civilized manner is of course not feasible. Zhen Yuhua doesn't even know how to write the word "civilized". Moreover, everyone in the village spits everywhere. If someone suddenly picks up a tissue before spitting and throws it into the trash can after spitting, they will just think that person is really pretentious.
As one of the members of the Xiumu duo, Wen Wenxu complained to Chen Fei about his deep disgust for such uncivilized behavior. After complaining, he remembered Wang Shengju's words and had to brainwash himself to "adapt to local conditions."
"I'm just looking forward to the National Day holiday so I can go home and take a break," he said.
"Don't we have to stay here on duty during National Day?"
"Ah?! Don't scare me, right? Isn't National Day a legal holiday?"
"Go ask the captain, I'm not sure either."
The two people who were chatting in the living room were about to go to the bedroom to find Zhu Yingning when they heard a strange commotion outside.
A woman was crying.
It sounded like Zhen Yuhua's voice.
Chen Fei and Wen Wenxu stood there looking at each other, neither of them moving immediately.
What finally drove them was Zhu Yingning's voice. She hurried out of the bedroom and said to them, "Follow me."
Three short words.
Only then did they follow and ran all the way to the source of the crying - Zhen Yuhua's home.
Many villagers had gathered outside Zhen Yuhua's house. In the center of the house, the epicenter of the incident, Li Hengyu knelt hunched over the dining table, clutching his neck. His face had turned the color of liver, and he couldn't cough, only making "ho-ho" sounds. Zhen Yuhua wailed loudly beside him. Another elderly woman slapped Li Hengyu's back rapidly and forcefully with her broad palms, saying in dialect, "Spit it out! Have you spit it out? Spit! Spit!"
"Did you choke on the food?" Zhu Yingning quickly asked the onlookers.
"Ah, he choked!" The villagers stared at Li Hengyu with serious expressions. "Ouch, ouch, ouch... I think this kid is done for. His face... ouch."
She didn't respond and rushed forward quickly, first pulling away the old lady who was trying hard to help but her methods were ineffective, and then she used the Heimlich emergency maneuver, clenching a fist with one hand, pressing against the midline of Li Hengyu's abdomen from behind, and wrapped her fist with one hand, and quickly and continuously punched his abdomen diagonally upwards.
Zhen Yuhua was shocked when she saw this, thinking that Zhu Yingning was going to harm Li Hengyu, and she stumbled forward to stop him. Zhu Yingning was afraid that she would get in the way, so she quickly called out to Chen Fei and Wen Wenxu, who were standing at the door in a daze, "Come and take her away!"
Wen Wenxu and Shen Fei finally woke up from their dream and hurriedly grabbed Zhen Yuhua and the old lady who was about to tear Zhu Yingning's arm apart with the same hatred as Zhen Yuhua.
The two elderly women erupted with incredible strength, like two powerful bulls. Not only was Chen Fei unable to restrain them, but even Wen Wenxu nearly lost control of the agitated Zhen Yuhua. Just as they were about to break free and claw at Zhu Yingning, Li Hengyu finally coughed and spat out something the size of a fingernail.
That is a red bean.
Everyone was stunned.
After vomiting, Zhu Yingning let go of his hand. Li Hengyu held the edge of the dining table and started breathing again, coughing, gasping and crying, his face covered with snot and tears.
Zhen Yuhua hugged his head and burst into tears.
Seeing that the crisis was over, Zhu Yingning wanted to take Chen Fei and Wen Wenxu away directly. When she reached the door, a villager asked her curiously, "Comrade Zhu, what did you just do?" She realized that this was a great opportunity to popularize science, so she stopped and explained to the onlookers and Zhen Yuhua and others who were still frightened, telling them what the Heimlich maneuver was and how it should be performed on people of different ages and body shapes. After the explanation, she pulled Chen Fei and Wen Wenxu over to demonstrate it several times.
"Comrade Xiao Zhu, this move seems a bit vulgar to me! It seems that it can only be used by men on men and women on women. If a man uses it on a woman, wouldn't it be a mess?" An unknown man interrupted loudly, and after interrupting, he winked at Chen Fei and Wen Wenxu who were trying hard to demonstrate.
Chen Fei felt nauseous and almost vomited.
"Why are there differences between men and women in saving people?" Zhu Yingning frowned and interrupted sternly, "At this critical moment, if you're still thinking about those dirty things, then if you fall into the water in the future and there's a woman washing clothes on the shore, don't ask her for help. You must protect your chastity and never let a woman see your innocence."
Talking about poop, piss, farts, and yellow, everyone perked up and started laughing. A few younger mothers chimed in, "That's right!"
After the popular science lecture, she took Shen Fei and Wen Wenxu back.
On the way home, Chen Fei looked depressed, and Wen Wenxu's face was also very gloomy.
Zhu Yingning looked at their faces, each one more twisted than the last, and couldn't help but laugh. He said softly, "Okay, I know what you're thinking. Saving lives is our duty as public officials. Whether we like it or not, we must save people in this situation. We can't just sit back and do nothing."
Wen Wenxu had guessed she would say that, and he sighed deeply when he heard it.
"but……"
Unexpectedly, there was a twist. Wen Wenxu and Shen Fei looked up at her at the same time.
"Besides being public servants, we're also human beings, and as human beings we have emotions and desires. You can continue to hate them; it doesn't conflict with saving people. Hating someone isn't illegal, right?" she said with a gentle smile. "Helping them is our duty, and hating them is your right."
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