Chapter 305 Brother Long got into trouble, and it happened in this way?
I was driving back to Sunrise when I received a call from Director Shen on the way.
"Teacher Wan, my matter has been finalized and will be announced tomorrow." Although he lowered his voice, his voice was full of joy.
"Then wait quietly for seven days. Don't move around, don't visit anyone, keep a low profile. Oh, and Old Ding has been transferred, right?"
"Yes, Lao Ding is gone."
"Warm congratulations first. We'll talk later when we meet. I'm driving."
After several twists and turns, the dust finally settled. The days ahead will be easier once you understand this.
I returned to the room and was just about to make tea when Lao Zhou came in and put down a gift box.
I frowned. "What is that?"
"Just two cigarettes."
Then he let out a long sigh: "Teacher Wan, I'm glad I listened to you. I drove back home overnight and took care of the matter. They didn't hold me responsible for anything."
"Okay." I brought him a cup of tea.
"I have a book. I wonder if it would be of use to you."
"What book?"
Lao Zhou said, "This book does have some history."
"Okay, tell me."
Lao Zhou said: "My father's generation lived in an old house that belonged to a wealthy family."
"I know this. In the 1950s, the large courtyards of the landlords were all distributed to the peasants."
"Yes, that's the kind of house. Dozens of families moved in, lived there for decades, and then the house gradually became deteriorating, and everyone moved out one after another. My father was also preparing to move out. He followed others and took blue bricks from the walls of the old house.
As he was taking things out, he found a secret compartment where he had hidden some silver coins and a small wooden box. Inside the box was a book.
My father, who was not well educated, couldn't understand it. But the rich man had put it in such a beautiful box, so he couldn't bear to throw it away. So he left it to me after he died.
I kept it too and showed it to my son who is in college. He said that a personal diary is useless, but the box is made of sandalwood, so I can keep it. I can just throw away the book. But I never threw it away.
I joked, "Oh, if you think it's useless, give it to me. If I don't, I'll help you throw it away."
"Okay, okay, then I'll go get it."
"Just bring it to me when you have time."
"I'll get it now."
At this time, the phone rang again. It was Xiao Liming calling.
"Brother Long is in trouble."
"Ah——" I screamed.
He quickly asked, "What happened?"
There was no sound from Xiao Liming's side, so I guessed he was moving around. After a while, a voice came out:
"You won't believe this. He's having an affair with a woman who's three years older than him.
And the woman was not good-looking. Her husband broke her leg, and now she has become a big joke in Wu Township and is spreading everywhere.
"How could this happen?"
"I can't tell."
Xiao Liming didn't have any more truth to tell me. I asked him a few questions and he said he would tell me when he knew the truth.
As soon as I hung up the phone, Lao Xiao called again and talked about the same thing.
I asked, "Do you know more?"
Lao Xiao said: "I'm driving, I'll meet you later to talk."
I sat there in a daze, thinking: It's understandable that Brother Long had some romantic affairs. It wouldn't be difficult for him to find a young, beautiful woman. Why would he choose someone who's three years older than him and not very pretty?
After a while, the doorbell rang, and I jumped up. Lao Zhou came in, wrapped the book in a piece of silk, and tied it again and again with red satin.
I carefully opened it and looked through it, but I couldn't tell whether it was valuable or not.
Lao Zhou asked, "Is it useful?"
"I can't tell now, let me read it first." I offered him a pair of wine, but he refused.
"It's a matter of reciprocity. Otherwise, you can just take the cigarettes and go back, and I won't give you any wine."
This provocation made him accept the drink and leave.
I sat down and began to read this notebook.
The three characters "Zuo Ye Lu" were written on the cover, and below them was the author's name: Danlu Sanren.
I like to speculate. Looking at the two lines on the cover, I imagined the following.
Imagine more than a hundred years ago, there was a scholar wearing a long robe and with a small tuft of beard on his chin.
In the summer, I sit in front of the window with the breeze and bright moon, and write quickly under the candlelight.
In winter, I sit by the small red clay stove and read books enthusiastically.
Opening the preface he wrote, it was indeed true. He was not the rich man himself, but the "Xi Xi" in the rich man's family—the private school teacher. This book is the private school teacher's study notes.
I began to read it page by page. Fortunately, I had a basic understanding of traditional Chinese characters and was good at punctuating sentences.
The contents were diverse: records of daily life, jokes I'd heard, excerpts from books, and so on... As I read, I realized this notebook was becoming more and more complex. The content gradually became richer, with traditional Chinese medicine prescriptions for treating illnesses. Each prescription had detailed records of how it worked.
Could he be a doctor?
This is very likely. Books like "Yellow Emperor's Internal Classic", "Treatise on Warm Diseases" and "Treatise on Febrile Diseases" cannot be understood without some knowledge.
Ancient China was very open-minded and anyone could be a doctor. Unlike today, even if you can cure a disease, you are considered to be practicing medicine illegally if you don’t have a medical license.
It was very common in his time for private school teachers to also serve as doctors.
In the later narrative, there are a lot of descriptions of medical treatment and his experiences.
I was halfway through reading, feeling a bit tired, and thought to myself, those diary entries in the notebook aren't very useful, but those medical records might be useful.
A light bulb went off in my head. Yes, I should ask Mr. Xipo, he knows the business.
After a while, Lao Xiao arrived and gave a detailed account of Brother Long's story. It turned out that the woman had been beautiful when she was young, but she fell in love with Brother Long after she got married, and they had been secretly dating. Later, the woman fell seriously ill and became pale and thin.
Brother Long wanted to let go, but the woman refused.
After listening to this, I sighed and said, "Oh, so even a seemingly glamorous figure like Brother Long is controlled by others."
"Yes, when the woman was young and beautiful, Brother Long had a secret affair with her. When she grew older and less attractive, Brother Long was blackmailed by her, saying that he was completing a mission."
When I heard the words “mission accomplished”, I couldn’t help but burst out laughing.
At this time, Xiao Liming called again, and the additional information was similar to what Lao Xiao said. Finally, he said something that surprised me:
"That woman's surname is Xiang. She's the cousin of Village Chief Xiang, who had a dispute with you."
I almost fainted. Past events flashed through my mind:
When Xiang Xi and I got into trouble, the first person I called was Brother Long, but he didn't show up. He later said he went to the police station.
When I called him for the second time, he advised me not to fight with local tyrants like Xiang Zhucun. It would be better for me to apologize to Director Xiang so that a big thing could be made small and a small thing could be made nothing.
After that, when I fought against the Xiang family, he never showed up again. He didn't come to my wedding, but asked Xiao Liming to bring him a favor.
…
Thinking about it this way, everything has a cause and effect relationship. He didn't cut off contact with me because Master was still here. However, he was clearly distancing himself from me.
Perhaps it wasn't his original intention, but rather his relationship with the woman surnamed Xiang. However, the once chivalrous Brother Long has disappeared from my heart.
"What are you thinking about? You haven't said anything for a long time."
I was stunned for a moment and replied, "Nothing serious, I just felt uncomfortable. After all, we used to be good friends."
Lao Xiao comforted me: "We can't call us close friends. He didn't even come to my wedding."
I said, "Tomorrow is Saturday. Are you free to go back to Wuxiang with me?"
"To see him?"
"After something like this, wouldn't it be humiliating to go and see him? No. I want to see Mr. Su Xipo."
"If you want to go, leave now. I haven't been back to Wuxiang for several years."
After I called Mr. Xipo, I selected a few gifts, took the notebook, and said to Lao Xiao:
"Walk!"
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