Chapter 145: Pulling Connections

"When I was young, I had a lot of ideas. I wanted to open an agricultural machinery factory, make money, and then open a car factory. But in the blink of an eye, I am in my early sixties and have accomplished nothing. Haha."

Lin's father: "Brother, you are too modest. If you have accomplished nothing, then we who repair the earth will have to eat for nothing."

He learned this from young people.

Hou Deming laughed.

Over there, Sister Lin was preparing lunch.

She was also careful and experienced. The money and tickets she sold were hidden well and no one had looked through them.

Only the three pounds of food tickets and six yuan on the surface of the drawer were taken away.

Hou's mother also hid some of it, but she didn't hide it well enough, and 30 kilograms of grain coupons and 40 yuan were taken away. She was so distressed that she kept wiping tears and cursing those bastards.

She couldn't help but say, "My dear daughter, your son-in-law is capable, can he help us get the money back?"

Sister Lin: "Mom, it's better to be fine than anything else. Let's not think too much about whether to come back or not, just wait for the result."

Hou's mother didn't want her to deal with her relatives in the countryside before, for fear that others would take advantage of her, but she was also afraid that Hou Deming would say that she was stingy and ungrateful, so she always emphasized that she didn't alienate her relatives.

But she only expressed it in a roundabout way, and didn't say it directly, so Sister Lin pretended not to know.

Life is like this, no one is innocent and has no selfish motives, it's all testing, if it doesn't work, just pull back, and don't really make a fuss.

So Sister Lin's life in the Hou family is quite comfortable, mainly because her father-in-law and the man are clear-headed, and don't look down on her just because she is a country girl. Instead, they always praise her for being able to cook, be thrifty and manage the household, be diligent and studious, and have talents, etc. Even if the mother-in-law looked down on her at the beginning, she gradually stopped mentioning it after getting along for a long time.

But Lin Shu knows the feeling of having her money taken away, that's the feeling of cutting flesh!

Whoever steals her money and bills, she can't bite him to death on the spot, but she must bite him back!

She said to Hou's mother: "Auntie, don't worry, we will definitely get the money and the bills back, and make them compensate for the losses!"

Since Lu Shaotang is willing to take care of it, he will definitely take care of it properly, not let anyone find fault, and make compensation for the losses.

Don't forget, he has been black-bellied and vengeful since he was a child, and Panpan has completely inherited his genes.

She likes Lu Shaotang very much now.

Hearing her say this, Hou's mother was happy, and she didn't let Lin Shu do it, and she helped Sister Lin.

Lin Shu: "Auntie, go to the room and clean up, pick out the damaged ones, and let them pay for it later, and let them wash the dirty ones later!"

Hou's mother went back to the house happily to clean up.

Hou Deming was not materialistic. Even though he lived in a small building before, most of the furniture and furnishings were public property, and he did not take them with him when he moved out. Now there are not many things in the house.

Most of the books in their house are professional books of him and Hou Jianwen. There are also some foreign language books and literature books. A few years ago, he felt that the trend was wrong and donated them to the library.

Now the library is closed.

Hou's mother has the most things in the house. After all, she has saved them for decades. She still has her wedding dress, clothes, shoes and jewelry. However, she is too old to wear them, so some of them are given to her daughter-in-law and some to her daughter-in-law.

This year, she went to the trust company to sell them for money.

She counted and made a list, listing what was taken away, how much money and bills, and what was damaged, and placed the evidence at the door for people to inquire.

The family intended to send the children to the countryside, and Hou Deming said that the money and bills would be given to the in-laws to take with them, so the family had been eating worse recently.

Sister Lin took the bills and money to the neighbor's house to exchange for a few pounds of noodles, which would be faster to knead and roll.

A neighbor sent vegetables over, but left without asking for money.

Lin Shu helped her sister make hand-rolled noodles, using scallions to stir-fry the pot and boiling a pot of vegetables.

Hou Deming let Lin's father eat it, as he still wanted to eat coarse grains.

Sister Lin: "Dad, I cooked a lot. It's enough for us to have a meal. You can also eat noodles."

Hou Deming took it and asked Father Lin and Lin Shu to eat more. "I feel ashamed to say that I was so busy in the past that I didn't invite you to live here."

Being busy is one aspect, and there is another aspect . On the one hand, the old wife always murmured not to have too much contact with relatives in the countryside, so as not to be relied on. Although he suppressed her constant nagging, he inevitably had the idea that doing less is worse than doing more. He thought that his daughter-in-law could help her mother-in-law with more money and food stamps.

Come to think of it, I am still arrogant.

A friend in need is a friend indeed.

If he could return to work, he would definitely be able to work closely with the countryside.

While we were having dinner, Tang's father brought Tang Bin and Hou Shuxian to the house. They were carrying large and small bags of things, including rice, flour, grain, oil and nutritional supplements.

What a rare guest!

Ever since Hou Deming was demoted last year, Tang's father had been intentionally or unintentionally distancing himself from the Hou family. After Hou Deming was completely suspended from his job and Hou Jianwen was also suspended this year, he basically stopped interacting with the Hou family. He

was afraid of being grouped as one of them and being implicated.

Not only did he not come, but his son-in-law Tang Bin also stopped coming to the house, and even had a lot of opinions about Hou Shuxian secretly going back to her parents' home.

Originally, they wanted to make Hou Shuxian and the Hou family draw a clear line, slowly create a tragic situation in which the Tang family was implicated by the Hou family, win public sympathy, and find a better wife for Tang Bin in two years so that they could divorce Hou Shuxian or whatever.

As long as the status and position are there, isn't it easy to find a partner?

It all depends on the family background.

Recently, the father and son have focused their energy on the newly established department of the provincial department.

It is said that it is a department that cooperates with the provincial department and the municipal bureau but is independently responsible.

This mysterious department has a magical power. Anyone or any unit that is found to have no problems will be given important positions.

Tang's father claims that he is a pure and innocent person from the poor family of three generations, and that he is a member of the proletariat. If he can be proven by a unit holding the imperial sword, it will be like being blessed by the Buddha, and he will definitely be the director of the ordnance factory!

The leaders of the factory party committee were all people sent by the army and the central government, so he definitely couldn't get any of them. The

only positions he could get were factory director, factory office director, deputy factory director, and union chairman. Of course, the factory director was the most important of these positions, but generally speaking, the factory director had to understand technology, and he... didn't understand it very well, at least not to the level of being proficient.

However, he thought it didn't matter. The factory had a chief engineer, engineers, and technicians, so what technology did the factory director need to understand?

The factory director doesn't need to make parts himself!

He doesn't want to be a small official in a small position, it's boring, and he wants to support his son after he retires, so naturally he has to raise the big one.

Originally, he thought that the factory director must be his son. It's okay

for the son-in-law to take over after the father-in-law retires, right? But now Hou Deming has been arrested, and his son doesn't have the qualifications. If he tries hard to find connections, he may be able to get the job.

He knows that he can't do it through normal channels, and he can't be elected as the factory committee member, so he can only take a different approach.

He wants to go the way of that magical department of the provincial government!

Unfortunately, Tang Bin went there many times before, but he didn't even see the figure of Director Chen.

This Director Chen is quite mysterious. It's impossible to find out much information about him, such as his hometown, family, spouse, children, etc., and it's impossible to send gifts.

This person is quite... arrogant. They wanted Zhao, the director of the Municipal Bureau, to recommend him, but Zhao said he had no way to do it and had no say.

They asked the Provincial Department to help recommend him, but they said they should not get close to him. Everyone was avoiding that guy, but they were still trying to get close to him. Wouldn't that be asking for trouble?

But Tang Bin's trip was not in vain. Although he didn't meet Director Chen, they spent money to get an insider information from the staff of the Provincial Department.

They said that there were two directors in that department, Director Chen and Director Lu. It seemed that Director Chen was the deputy director and Director Lu was the director.

They couldn't get much information about Director Chen, and even less about Director Lu.

God will not let down those who work hard. The big price finally worked. Today, the city bureau called and said that Director Chen was going to their unit on business, so the father and son wanted to go over and meet him.

When they were preparing gifts, they heard that a group of hooligans went to the Hou family to make trouble.

They watched coldly and found that the new factory leader did not care about it, and the security department did not dare to make a decision on its own, so they did not care.

Tang's father felt that the Hou family was completely finished.

The phoenix in trouble is worse than a chicken. Even a few hooligans who have not yet grown their hair can bully them at will.

When they packed up their gifts and were about to leave, they heard that the situation had changed. A capable relative of the Hou family suddenly came and beat all those hooligans down. Not only did he send them to the Revolutionary Committee under the command of the Security Department.

What kind of person is so arrogant?

Tang's father decided not to go out immediately and quickly went to the factory Revolutionary Committee to inquire about who the expert was. However, the committee refused to see him.

Soon they found out that someone from the Hou family's daughter-in-law's family had come. The brother-in-law was a military officer, very powerful and well-known, and the factory committee gave him face.

Of course, he knew all the relatives of the Hou family. He had never taken Sister Lin's family seriously before, as they were just a small family in the countryside. Even though her third sister's husband was in the army and her uncle was in the Capital Military Region, they were distant relatives and they would not help the Hou family.

But he did not expect that the third brother-in-law of the daughter-in-law of the Hou family could... still have face in the factory?

He did not think that Lu Shaotang himself was capable. He subconsciously thought that the leaders of the factory committee were all retired from the army, and they probably gave face to Uncle Lu Shaotang.

The father and son jumped up and down to inquire about the news. After an hour, they actually found out that a Director Chen had brought people here!

Director Chen? Is it the Director Chen they want to make friends with?

After confirming again, it is really that Director Chen!

They were trying to make friends with people they hadn't made yet. How did the Hou family curry favor with them?

Could such a mysterious and arrogant Chen Ju actually be related to the Hou family?

Great, great, Hou Deming, you are such a cunning old fox. No wonder he is so calm and relaxed every day. It turns out that he has everything planned out.

Thinking that Hou Deming might be hiding at home and watching him laugh, Tang's father felt like a pot of boiling water was poured directly over his head, making his scalp split.

He didn't care anymore. He went home to pack up the gifts and came to the door with his son and daughter-in-law.

He smiled in a very friendly and easy-going manner, as if they were family and there had never been any barriers between them. "Brother Hou, sister-in-law, are there any guests at home?"

He quickly glanced at the people in the room, and instantly locked onto the unfamiliar faces of Lin Shu and Lin's father, without leaving the food on the table.

Hou Shuxian went to work today. She didn't know that her parents' house had been smashed until Tang Bin went to find her.

Seeing the black footprints on the wall and a pile of broken things piled up at the door, Hou Shuxian's eyes turned red again.

She put down the things and ran to hug Hou's mother, "Mom."

Hou's mother quickly comforted her that it was okay, just a few things were smashed, and people were fine.

Hou Deming did not reject the Tang family. After all, the daughter-in-law was still the daughter-in-law of the Tang family. He did not even give them a cold face. Instead, he greeted them in a friendly manner, invited them in, and introduced them to Lin's father and Lin Shu.

Tang Bin looked at Lin Shu, and a flash of surprise flashed in his eyes. A country woman could be so beautiful. The key is that her temperament is extraordinary. She doesn't look like a country woman at all. You can say she is a female college student or a female cadre.

Unfortunately, he received an impolite roll of the eyes from Lin Shu, cold and contemptuous.

Tang Bin felt humiliated, so he no longer looked at her directly, but only glanced at her from time to time with his peripheral vision.

After a few pleasantries, Tang's father sighed, "Brother Hou, sister-in-law, don't think that I am alienating you by not visiting you for a while. No, I have actually been running around for you silently. Now it can be seen that I should have made some small contribution."

Hou Jianwen was writing furiously in his room before, and refused to come out to eat. He strode out when he heard the voices of the Tang family.

He pushed the glasses on his nose, and the left lens was broken into several pieces, which affected his vision a little.

He said bluntly: "I don't know what Uncle Tang did?"

Is this questioning that he lied to take credit?

Tang's father was a little unhappy.

Tang Bin immediately said, "Third brother, my father has indeed been running around for my father-in-law for the past year, and he spoke for you a while ago. We have always wanted to visit Director Chen of the Provincial Department, hoping to introduce external forces to help you."

He talked about the principles of saving the country in a roundabout way and taking an unconventional approach, and asked Director Chen to prove the innocence of his father-in-law. Anyway, he had to prove that he and his father had always been running around for the Yue family and had never ignored it.

At the end, he looked aggrieved, "I know Shuxian has always blamed me and my father for not doing our best and not helping my father-in-law to redress his innocence immediately. Everyone also has feelings for us..."

Hou Jianwen wanted to sneer, but was stopped by Hou Deming's eyes.

Hou Deming smiled and said, "Don't worry, I have never misunderstood you. Even if you didn't express that I didn't know what you were thinking, can I not trust your character?" Hou Deming said in a gentle voice, "I can entrust my precious daughter to you, how can I not trust others?"

He looked sincere and spoke earnestly, and Tang's father believed him. Tang Bin also had an excited expression that his father-in-law understood my family and we were still as close as a family. He

held Hou Shuxian's hand and cried with joy, "Shuxian, that's great, Dad didn't misunderstand us."

Hou Shuxian was a little confused. After her father's accident, her in-laws and her husband's dislike for her was visible to the naked eye. Now they are expressing their deep friendship here again. Why is that?

Could it be that they have been considering her family all along?

Tang's father talked to Hou Deming for a while with tears in his eyes, as if the reason why those hooligans didn't make too much trouble today was because of his face, and the reason why Director Chen and others intervened in the Hou family's affairs was the "meager" effect of his desperate efforts.

Hou Deming kept smiling gently, as if he really believed him.

Tang's father: "Brother Hou, why don't we go to the Revolutionary Committee together?"

Hou Deming: "My relative should go and take a look. My identity is sensitive and it is inconvenient for me to go in and out casually."

Tang's father: "Brother Hou, what are you talking about? You are a hero of our factory. Without you, there would be no factory today. Even if you have to go to the cadre school, your contribution can also be recorded in history."

Hou Deming refused to go.

His daughter-in-law's brother-in-law was in charge of the overall situation there, why would he go? To make trouble?

He could see that Tang's father wanted to get close to him. Even if he didn't go, they would definitely go, even if he had a falling out with him.

Tang's father had no professional ability, but he had been working hard to rise up all his life. He was addicted to power. Even if he could sit in a high position and wave his hands and say "comrades, you have worked hard", he would feel as happy as if he had become an immortal. He

had no ability, only the qualifications he had earned through hard work. If he didn't make progress, he could only retreat, because he had no way to back himself up.

If the daughter hadn't insisted on marrying Tang Bin, Hou Deming didn't want to get close to the Tang family at all.

Of course, Hou Deming also knew deeply that such people should not be offended at all. As the saying goes,

it is better to offend a gentleman than a villain.

If you offend a gentleman, the gentleman will laugh it off. If you offend a villain, the villain will grit his teeth and wish you dead for the rest of his life.

It is very easy to offend a villain. Even a look, a word, or a refusal from you can be interpreted by him. Even if you are better than him, you have offended him.

When Tang's father saw that Hou Deming was unwilling to go to the Revolutionary Committee with him, he knew that he was indeed in a difficult situation. Besides, being dismissed was still very embarrassing. Most people would not want to be seen in such a vicious state.

Tang's father thought that he still maintained a close relationship with the Hou family. If the Hou family had any relationship with Director Chen, he could also use it.

He thoughtfully asked Hou Shuxian to stay at her mother's house to accompany her mother, and he took Tang Bin to the Revolutionary Committee to find Director Chen.

The soldier standing guard had an indifferent look on his face, and the bolts of his guns swished. "All idle people, please go away!"

Tang's father smiled and said, "Comrade, I am the in-law of Director Hou Deming, and I am a relative of your army officer. Director Hou is not convenient to come, so let me come to see him on his behalf."

Until now, he has not associated Lu Shaotang with that Lu Bureau. He thinks that a poor soldier from the countryside can only have a little face by joining the army under the name of his uncle. He

can be 25 or 26 years old this year?

If there is no uncle to manage him, he is at most a platoon leader now, and he may have to retire. With his uncle to manage him, he can only be a company commander at most, right?

Tang's father thought that he must have relied on his military connections to establish a relationship with the retired Director Chen, and was able to invite Director Chen over.

Since he could establish a relationship with Director Chen, he could use him for his own benefit.

He relied on connections to get to where he is today, and he attached great importance to connections.

For him, this is the magic weapon that has enabled him to get to where he is today.

Soon Lu Shaotang came out of the room and glanced at Tang's father at the door.

Tang's father immediately smiled and said, "This comrade."

In fact, he and Lu Shaotang are not in the same system. As long as he does not break the law and has no guilty conscience, he does not need to be humble to others, but he is used to humble himself when he sees benefits.

Coincidentally, Lu Shaotang does not buy this, and Tang's father is the kind of person he despises the most.

He examined the father and son of the Tang family with sharp eyes and raised his eyebrows slightly.

Father Tang began his performance, being cordial and warm, and described the relationship between him and Hou Deming as if they were brothers, just wearing the same pants.

Lu Shaotang interrupted him: "Director Hou still has to go to the cadre school."

He was just investigating the case and couldn't redress the injustice.

Father Tang choked, and looked down on Lu Shaotang in his heart. He looked young and promising, but he turned out to be a green hand who knew nothing!

Does he really care about Hou Deming?

He just used Hou Deming to build a relationship, make friends with this young and promising military officer, and then get in touch with Director Chen.

Father Tang wanted to bring the topic to Director Chen and take the opportunity to get to know him, but he found that this green hand Lu didn't respond at all, leaving him no room for maneuver.

Lu Shaotang thought that he was just concerned about Hou Deming, and didn't accept Tang's father's overtures at all, acting in a businesslike manner.

Tang's father hit a soft nail, and looked at Lu Shaotang's tall back as he turned and left, unwillingly.

But he had no choice but to retreat temporarily and continue to think of a solution from the Hou family.

In two days, Chen Yanming and others investigated those gangsters thoroughly.

Who stole parts from the factory and sold them, how much, how many years they should be sentenced, and even the death penalty.

Who peeked at women going to the toilet from behind the toilet, and who hid in the women's bathhouse to try to molest.

Who stole money from the neighbors in the factory, who stole meat from the canteen, who hooked up with outsiders to speculate, all were clearly investigated.

The parents of the gangsters were stunned!

They couldn't believe that their children would do these things, and would rather believe that their children were tortured into confessing!

Although some parents knew some signs, such as their children had no jobs and no money from home, they went to restaurants, smoked and drank all day long, some kept talking about this woman's white ass and that woman's soft breasts, and some of them talked about their big brothers...

The so-called ignorance was just an excuse for not wanting to take responsibility.

The young man with mixed eyebrows was detained because he hooked up with suspicious people outside, and the others were punished according to their actual crimes.

There is no such thing as not sentencing minors now. As long as the crime is serious enough, they will be sentenced or punished in the factory.

After all, the current laws are not sound, and the commune has the power to execute people by shooting.

The scoundrel who secretly resold the parts of the arsenal was already 19 years old. Because the parts of the arsenal are confidential, reselling parts is a crime of treason, so he will be shot.

His parents actually knew about it all the time, and even assisted him in stealing and reselling. They didn't expect the matter to be so serious. When they heard that their son would be shot, the mother fainted directly.

In addition, older offenders were directly sent to labor camps, and they were basically charged with hooliganism, theft, speculation, etc.

These idle scoundrels are young and energetic. Birds of a feather flock together. As long as they know a bad guy, they will learn from him. Basically, they have committed crimes that shocked their parents.

No matter how shocked they are, they will also protest their children's injustice.

"Our child is still young, only 15 years old. He is just ignorant and naughty. He is not a bad person. How can hiding in a bathhouse be considered a hooligan crime? How can pinching the buttocks be considered a crime!"

"Our child just stole some scraps and sold them. He didn't know that they were important parts. Ignorance is not a crime. Don't arrest him!"

However, no one cares about them.

This is just a conservative estimate. As for the final verdict, the factory committee will hold a public trial to decide.

The security department ordered the parents of the gangsters to compensate the Hou family. They paid for the broken and damaged items, and bought the dirty items directly.

As for the stolen money and property, they were naturally returned.

The gangster who was found to have stolen money and property from his neighbor was locked up, but his parents were besieged by the neighbors.

"Damn it, I asked before if it was your son who took it, and he insisted that it was not. You are still being stubborn!"

"Thief! Thief! Thief! Bah!"

The parents who were molested and bullied by the gangsters also rushed over to fight with the gangsters' parents, and the fight was fierce.

The Hou family was calm.