Chapter 041: Have fun wherever you go
Zhou Zhixing and Jiang Nan left, and Zhou Zhidao, who had been so cheerfully riding his bike, was dragged home by his mother, Huang Yuxiu, by his ears. Even then, the silly boy was still humming a song. His brother had told him yesterday to ride his bike today, and he had indeed kept his word!
"Xiaoxing, don't spoil him too much. A bicycle is such a precious thing, how can you let him make it like this?"
Look, that's the charm of bicycles. Huang Yuxiu might say this, but her eyes and eyebrows are all smiling. Zhou Zhixing is also a good person. Living with someone else, he may not be particularly kind to his aunt, but he will definitely be kind to his cousin. Isn't it obvious? The effect is obvious. His aunt is very satisfied.
Behind them, Old Lady Liu and Grandma Fang were still arguing. Old Lady Liu was throwing such a tantrum because she was afraid Grandma Fang would ask her for compensation. After all, Grandma Fang's leg was really swollen. She was so old, there was no way she was healthy. Going to the hospital would probably cause a massive hemorrhage, so she wouldn't do it. Since Little Geology's face was already red from the beating, she just goaded him into crying. Who was afraid of who?
Seeing no one to help, Grandma Fang and her daughter-in-law gave up their fuss. After all, going to the hospital was unpredictable. It was hard to pinpoint a child's ailment. If he kept complaining of a headache, how could a doctor not check him out? All this trouble was too much for their family to handle.
Everyone quieted down, and Courtyard No. 1 finally quieted down. Upstairs, Jiang Mancheng stared deathly at his future son-in-law, but was persuaded by Chen Jinhua.
Compared to Jiang Mancheng, Chen Jinhua was very satisfied with Zhou Zhixing. She was a hero admirer, and Zhou Zhixing's achievements on the battlefield were primarily due to his good character and his skill. Otherwise, he wouldn't have achieved such feats. Although he was injured, a lean camel is still bigger than a horse. Well, that's not quite the way it was said, but that's the point. Chen Jinhua felt that Zhou Zhixing was at least skilled enough to protect her daughter.
Her daughter seemed smarter than she was, but she could be impulsive sometimes. Like the last time she caught someone cheating, she rushed forward even though she had a knife. How could she be at ease if no one was watching? Zhou Zhixing was different; he could definitely help her keep an eye on her daughter.
She told Jiang Mancheng everything she had thought about. When she saw Jiang Nan coming upstairs to eat, Jiang Mancheng finally stopped talking bad about his son-in-law.
On the other hand, Fang Nanshan was holding back his anger. He couldn't understand why his grandma had the leisure to spread rumors about a girl instead of paying attention to his marriage. The only person his family could control now was Cheng Meijuan. His grandma and his mother really couldn't figure out the priorities. However, his character has always been gentle, filial and sensible. No matter how angry he was, he always looked concerned. He said distressedly: "Grandma, are we really not going to the hospital? Don't you want to check your legs?"
"No need. That kid is only four years old. How strong can he be? I just wanted to extort some money, but that old bitch Liu Daya saw through me." Grandma Fang looked gloomy. Thinking of what her grandson had told her in the past two days, she said, "Don't worry, Nanshan. Tomorrow I'll go to the supply and marketing cooperative with your mother and see if we can help Cheng Meijuan. You're such a good person, she'll definitely marry into our family wholeheartedly."
Sun Qiaolian also felt that her mother-in-law had been acting unkindly these past few days, but since she was her elder, she couldn't say anything. Seeing her mother-in-law trying to curry favor, she also chimed in, "Yes, let that girl see that our family is reasonable. She will definitely agree."
Fang Nanshan smiled, and the family started to eat lunch.
After taking a nap, Jiang Nan went to work refreshed. Of course, she met Zhou Zhixing again downstairs, as well as several old ladies who surrounded and chatted with Zhou Zhixing. Zhou Zhixing still looked affectionate, with eyes that could shed tears. He kept saying "my little Nan" and "love at first sight" left and right, which made those who wanted to poach her turn green with envy.
Jiang Nan's mouth twitched, and without even glancing at him, she drove straight to the car. Zhou Zhixing followed closely behind, and when they left Courtyard No. 1, Jiang Nan warned him, "Behave yourself."
Zhou Zhixing complained: "I planned this carefully to stop everyone from trying to poach me. How could you accuse me like this? You don't want to be cuckolded, do you?"
Jiang Nan ignored the man's madness and rode away on his bike. Zhou Zhixing chuckled twice, feeling shy, definitely shy.
He bent down and pedaled his long legs twice. After catching up with Jiang Nan, he took out an apple from his pocket, shook it, and said with a smile, "Catch it. I didn't even eat it at lunch, so I left it for you. Take it."
Jiang Nan hadn't reacted yet, and subconsciously let go of one hand to catch it. When she saw it was an apple, she was a little surprised: "Why didn't you eat it?"
Apples aren't readily available these days. Remember, the Red Fuji apple is a Japanese hybrid, introduced to China in 1966. It's 1967 now, and Jiang Nan only saw someone selling Red Fuji apples once. Zhou Zhixing gave her Guoguang apples, but they're also hard to come by.
"I don't like these, you can eat them." Zhou Zhixing had a rogue smile on his face.
Jiang Nan naturally knew that this was an excuse, so she didn't say anything to refuse. It was just an apple, and it wasn't like she couldn't pay it back. She smiled and said, "Thank you."
She put the apples into the bicycle basket, and the two of them rode their bicycles against the wind in the afternoon with dappled shade from the trees, both with bright smiles on their faces.
After arriving at the police station, they were met with the usual flirtatious teasing from the crowd. However, the two were thick-skinned and didn't take it seriously.
There weren't many cases that afternoon. One involved honeycomb coal missing from a tube-shaped building, and another involved an iron pot missing from a fiberglass residential complex. They were minor matters, but Jiang Nan felt something was amiss. On the way back to the police station, she asked uncertainly, "Why do I feel like there are so many people on the street? Is it my imagination?"
"There are just too many." Guan Shun pushed his bicycle and explained to Jiang Nan, "Well, several large oil wells have been discovered in the oil field recently, and many people who are well-informed want to know if the oil field will recruit more workers. So, relatives are asking relatives, and many families have come to ask, so naturally there are more people."
"That's right. Two relatives came to my neighbor's house. They have been sleeping on the floor for two days and still haven't left. My neighbor is almost worried to death." Zou Li pushed his glasses and agreed.
"No wonder." Jiang Nan suddenly realized, "More people means more things to do. We'll be very busy from now on."
"Shut up."
"Shut up."
Wen Qiang and Zou Li hugged their heads and screamed, "Xiao Nan, you can't talk like that. Bah, bah, bad things don't work, but good things do."
"Then I say, I hope I can have a lot of free time in the future..." Zhou Zhixing joked.
“Ah ...
Wen Qiang and Zou Li shouted even louder. They stopped, clasped their hands together, and chanted, "The detective master heard nothing, the detective master heard nothing..."
"Okay, you two, stop messing around." Guan Shun got on his bike and waved his hand nonchalantly, "Let's go home."
Perhaps it was Jiang Nan's bad luck, as the next day their team handled several more thefts. The stolen items were varied, not valuable, yet essential to daily life. There was also a public restroom peeping case. Although the perpetrators didn't see the voyeur clearly, and the peeping Tom had already fled by the time they reported the crime, it was still quite disgusting. The elderly held Jiang Nan's hands and angrily denounced the peeping Tom for an hour.
Actually, every building has a toilet, so it doesn't really matter if it has a public toilet. But the oilfield family compound is large, and it's not all tube-shaped buildings. There are also bungalows like the fiberglass residential complex, so every community has a public toilet. This way, the elderly can go downstairs to chat without having to climb up the stairs to the toilet.
The two escaped from the encirclement of the elderly and returned to the family compound with a look of despair on their faces. As soon as they arrived downstairs, they were informed by Old Lady Cao: "There will be a meeting downstairs at 7:30 pm."
Jiang Nan nodded. Thefts have been rampant these past few days. I heard that headquarters patrols spotted some stalkers around the factory. It's normal for the oil field to heighten everyone's vigilance.
Sure enough, after dinner, when everyone sat down on their stools for the meeting, Old Lady Cao said, "Everyone, please be quiet. Please be quiet. You must have heard the past few days that the recent increase in the number of people visiting relatives in the oil field has brought considerable challenges to public security in the oil field. In the past few days, there was an incident of honeycomb coal being stolen in the No. 2 courtyard, and iron pots and stoves were stolen in the fiberglass residential area. Today, someone even sneaked into the toilet to peek. It's really hard to guard against them. Because the police station has limited patrol personnel, it's impossible to take care of every place. So the Oilfield Neighborhood Committee has three suggestions."
She held up three fingers and continued, "First, everyone should try to persuade their relatives to go back. There's no sign of job recruitment yet, so there's no point in them staying here. Second, everyone should take good care of their belongings. If they're lost, it's hard to find them again. Think about it, these are relatives who are living here. If they steal something and run away, where are the police going to catch them? Finally, when using public restrooms, look carefully before you go, so the thieves don't get away with it."
Mrs. Cao concluded, "In short, everyone should be careful with what they do these days. There are so many people around, and even if something is lost, it'll take a while to find it again. It's not good to always borrow from others, isn't it?"
"Xiao Nan, you're a police officer, but you can't even catch someone peeping in the toilet. How can you be a police officer?" This was Old Lady Qiu, jealous of Jiang Nan's career as a police officer. She often chatted downstairs and went to the community public toilet every day. Isn't this what she cared about most, and that's all she heard. As for honeycomb coal and iron pots, at most they could be moved into the house at night. After all, her daughter-in-law was working, so she didn't worry about it.
But before Jiang Nan could say anything, Old Lady Cao spoke up. Just kidding! Her grandson was also a police officer. This sentence could also affect her grandson. She had to stand up for her grandson. Her grandson was about to become a son-in-law. If she didn't help him, he would be bullied to death. Sob, so sad.
Old Lady Cao was in a state of confusion. It took less than a second before she clutched her waist and shouted, "Xu Dani, you're being unreasonable, aren't you? I refuse to believe you don't know. It's not that the police can't catch the guy who's lying in the bathroom, it's that by the time they get there, he's already gone. The old ladies couldn't even see who he was. Where are they going to catch him? Who are they going to catch? You think it's that easy? You're such a fool who doesn't understand what I'm saying."
"That's why we can't catch him." Old Mrs. Qiu muttered softly, "From now on, I won't be able to use public restrooms in peace."
In the corner, Old Cheng's eyes flickered. But he had no presence and no one noticed.
Some people worry about the toilet crouching maniac, while others worry about their property.
"Every household has honeycomb briquettes piled up in the corridor. Can they be moved into the house?"
Some people were also curious about the person who threw away the pot: "How could they throw away all the pots? Don't they put them away after cooking?"
"Perhaps the young wife was careless and forgot about it."
"It's possible."
The mothers-in-law all said that they still had to take care of their daughters-in-law, otherwise they would not be as reliable as the old ladies. The daughters-in-law all lowered their heads and curled their lips in agreement. These days, it is difficult to be a daughter-in-law.
Old Lady Cao clapped her hands and spoke again, "Quiet down. I haven't finished what I'm saying yet. The oil field knows that everyone is keen on catching thieves and doing good deeds recently, but you can't be too aggressive in anything. Some thieves are armed, and it's not something one or two young men can handle. Young men from the Sui family, and young men from the Sheng family, don't disobey me."
This was one of the side effects of Jiang Nan's time as a police officer. The Wang Zili brothers were both capable of keeping an eye out for suspicious individuals, and the unemployed young men in the building were even more enthusiastic. But their bad luck kept them from finding anyone suspicious, and they'd spent several days wandering around in vain.
Seeing that the young men who were named didn't make any noise or objection, Old Lady Cao continued, "Also, for the safety of everyone's property, the building has decided to close the iron gates in the corridor at night. They will be locked at 10 o'clock and open at 6 o'clock. Residents on the second floor and above must go home before 10 o'clock."
"Ah, so early! Aunt Cao, can't you change it to eleven?" Lin Bing yelled. His generation was a little strange. He was twenty-six, so he was a generation older than Jiang Nan, but his father got married young and was only forty-four, which put him at a significant age gap compared to people like Aunt Cao and Qiu. So, Lin Bing just called her whatever he wanted, Aunt Cao, Grandma Cao, depending on his mood. He had a small family and no women to socialize with, so no one bothered with him.
"You big boy, what are you doing not coming back at ten o'clock? If it's eleven o'clock, will you let me, an old lady, sleep?"
"Then I'll close the door?" Lin Bing said tentatively.
"That won't do." Old Lady Liu started yelling. She couldn't trust Lin Bing. Who knew if he would forget? "Sister Cao is the building manager. We can trust her. Ten o'clock is the right time. I agree."
"I agree."
"Me too."
The minority obeys the majority. Lin Bing curled his lips and had to give up.
"What about the people coming back from the night shift?" Mrs. Qiu thought of her son Qiu Xiangdong, who often worked at the well. She never knew when he might come back at night. She asked, "Can we leave the door unlocked? This iron door makes noises when it's opened and closed. If there's a thief, everyone would hear it."
Some people disagree. If the lock is not locked, what’s the difference from usual?
Jiang Nan thought of the news in her past life about a fire in a building that had been locked, preventing residents from escaping. She said, "Grandma Cao, it's better not to lock the door. If something happens upstairs, no one will be able to escape."
Everyone thought it made sense, and when they finally voted, those in favor of not locking the door barely outnumbered those who did. But Mrs. Cao still emphasized, "Everyone should try to be back before 10 o'clock, otherwise the door opening and closing will disturb everyone's rest."
The meeting of all residents of Building No. 4 ended successfully. It was not yet half past eight, and everyone was not in a hurry to go upstairs. They all asked about Jiang Nan and Zhou Zhixing's marriage.
"Xiao Nan, are you and the Zhou family kid really dating? When are you getting married?"
"That's right, you have to give out wedding candy when you get married, so that everyone can share in the joy."
"Hey, Xiaonan, you're so embarrassed. Why are you running away? You're a grown-up girl, and you're still embarrassed."
Jiang Nan: It’s unfair. She wasn’t embarrassed at all. She just needed to go to the toilet urgently.
Jiang Mancheng looked unhappy. He sat on the bench and said without much interest, "Why rush? Just wait for the news. You guys will be there."
"Mancheng, I know you feel bad about marrying your daughter off, but she'll have to get married sooner or later, so just relax."
"That's right, don't be so arrogant, old father-in-law. I think the boy from the Zhou family is pretty good, and he's a good match for your Xiaonan."
Now, it was Old Lady Cao who had the bad face. She stood up, grabbed the cheerful Zhou Zhixing, and headed straight home. Zhou Zhixing waved to everyone, acting like a leader seeing them off, which made everyone laugh.
However, Zhou Zhixing did not go home, but walked towards the public toilet.
He just saw Sui Qiang from the Sui family following Jiang Nan into the public toilet, so he had to go and take a look.
It’s not that he doesn’t trust Jiang Nan, absolutely not, he just wants to see how Sui Qiang dies.
On the right side of the public toilet, as soon as Jiang Nan walked out, Sui Qiang pulled her forcefully against the back wall.
Jiang Nan wasn't someone who could be dragged away so easily. She exerted a little force, grabbed the man's arm with her backhand, and spun nimbly. With her right elbow, she pushed the man against the wall. With her left hand, she grabbed the man's collar and shouted, "Who? Sui Qiang? What are you doing?!"
Sui Qiang screamed: "Let go, let go, Jiang Nan, what are you doing? You can't even take a joke, it's really boring."
Jiang Nan frowned, dropped his hand that was grabbing his collar, and said unhappily, "What a joke! It's not funny at all! What are you doing? Are you trying to sneak attack me?"
Sui Qiang curled his lips. He didn't really like Jiang Nan. Although she was pretty, she was so fierce, who would dare to marry her? And she was having an affair with Zhou Zhixing, which he was very dissatisfied with. If he didn't have a job now, he wouldn't bother to make a move.
Thinking of work, Sui Qiang cheered up and said with a playful smile: "Look at what you said. We have lived in the same building for six or seven years. How could I attack you by surprise? I was just testing your skills. Not bad, you are worthy of being a policeman. I admire you."
Jiang Nan snorted. She wasn't familiar with Sui Qiang; he was two years older than her. Junior high and high school were both two years long these days, and Sui Qiang had already graduated by the time she started. They hadn't had much in common, so she didn't have time for him.
But it was not like Jiang Nan was not willing to listen to good words. She raised her head and glanced at Sui Qiang proudly: "I don't need your admiration. Okay, it's fine, I'm leaving."
"Hey, don't go. I have something to do." Sui Qiang said with a playful smile, "There's a new movie coming out soon. Let's go see it? I'll treat you. Do you want to come?"
Jiang Nan looked Sui Qiang up and down suspiciously, thinking he was stupid. She'd just said, "Old Lady Sui was trying to introduce her to someone a few days ago, but she'd suddenly stopped wanting to. So she was waiting here." Jiang Nan turned and left, sternly refusing.
"No. No need to invite me. I'm busy."
Sui Qiang reached out to pull Jiang Nan's arm, but Zhou Zhixing twisted it away. There was a snap. Before Sui Qiang could even scream, Zhou Zhixing said, "Xiao Nan, it seems the thief who was peeping into the toilet has been caught."
"Don't talk nonsense, it hurts, it hurts, let go." Sui Qiang screamed.
Zhou Zhixing turned a deaf ear to him and kept asking, "How can this be nonsense? At your age, you're full of vigor and agility. If you were spotted, escaping wouldn't be a problem. You're also of perfect height, so you can be seen by just a stone. And you're single, which gives you a motive. You live in the residential area, so if you run away to your home, you'll definitely be nowhere to be found..."
"Stop talking nonsense!" Sui Qiang had no idea he had so many Peeping Tom-like qualities. He was furious. "Stop ruining my reputation!"
"Oh, you still have something like this." Zhou Zhixing teased, "If you care about your reputation, then stop flirting here! Jiang Nan is the one I'm going to be engaged to, you'd better stay away from her. Otherwise, if I catch you as a peeping Tom, I wonder how you'll ever be able to stay in the homework office again!"
Sui Qiang was so angry that his face turned red. He growled, "Stop threatening me. Let me go. I...I don't like Jiang Nan! If you want her, just take her. There are plenty of women who like me. I don't want Jiang Nan! Let me go!"
"Remember what you said." Zhou Zhixing threatened softly, "Otherwise you know what I will do."
As he said this, he let go of Sui Qiang. Sui Qiang felt the strength in his arm was gone, turned around and glared at Zhou Zhixing fiercely, then walked away swearing and gritting his teeth.
Jiang Nan joked: "You've only been a police officer for a few days, and you're already making random accusations against people."
Zhou Zhixing raised an eyebrow: "I used to be a guard, okay? I was tortured and used one hundred and eight torture methods, and I never used a single one of them."
Jiang Nan rolled his eyes: "Only you men can handle this kind of person. It's strange, women's words are nothing in his eyes."
Zhou Zhixing: "Don't worry, he will definitely stay away from you in the future."
"I think it's about as far away from you as you can get?"
Zhou Zhixing laughed, "It's the same thing. We know each other's secrets. Meng is inseparable from Jiao and Jiao is inseparable from Meng. It's better to stay away from either of them. Isn't that the truth?"
Jiang Nan squinted his eyes. "Is this how you treat a potential rival? You're hurting your own side, not the enemy. It's not worth it."
Zhou Zhixing laughed it off: "No, no."
The two of them walked home together. Upstairs, Jiang Mancheng, who had already gone upstairs, stared out the window and snorted, "We have raised a good daughter for so many years, and he really got away with it."
Chen Jinhua glared at the man and said disapprovingly, "I think Xiaoxing is a good person. Stop finding fault with him."
Seeing Jiang Nan push open the door, Chen Jinhua changed the subject and said, "I've told Sister Tang from the union that she's going to the Zhou family to propose marriage on Saturday. The tentative date is September 16th. Since it's a Saturday, not far from the Mid-Autumn Festival, it's an auspicious day. What do you think?"
Although people don't care about auspicious dates these days, who doesn't invite people to watch their wedding banquet? It's a secretive thing, and everyone understands it.
"Mom, I'll do whatever you say. I'm a very obedient person." Jiang Nan plopped down on the sofa, picked up the calendar on the coffee table, looked at it, and said, "September 18th is Mid-Autumn Festival. Will we have a holiday?"
"Yes, Mid-Autumn Festival is a big day, why don't we have a holiday?" Jiang Mancheng said, and asked his wife with a bitter face, "Isn't it too early?"
"You, even if it's December, you still think it's early. It's settled. Let's do it as soon as possible while Dad is here."
"Grandpa, can you stay until Mid-Autumn Festival?"
"Yes. Otherwise, why are there more and more people in the oil field recently? I estimate that the oil reserves of Xihe'an Brigade are not low, and the oil field will definitely recruit workers this time." Chen Jinhua revealed.
Jiang Mancheng lowered his head dejectedly, savoring his old father's sadness alone.
Jiang Nan, Jiang Nan didn't feel anything. You mean suddenly getting engaged to a stranger? In this day and age, it would be unusual for her not to get married. And she had a system; she knew what kind of person Zhou Zhixing was in her previous life. She'd met him so many times in this life, so she had a good idea of what she was like, so naturally, she wasn't afraid anymore.
As for whether it was a real or fake marriage, it was too early to say. They were only engaged, and the actual wedding would take two years. In two years, anything could happen, and she didn't want to worry about the uncertainty of the future.
The first thing she learned after traveling through time was to be happy. You have to be happy wherever you go. This is the true meaning of life.
Even though she seemed to be very disgusted with Zhou Zhixing just now, it was actually quite good to live happily with Zhou Zhixing having some crazy moments from time to time.
With the true meaning of life in mind, sleep was even more restful than usual. The next morning, soon after the two arrived at the police station, they were met with another meeting, but it was a meeting for all police officers.
Nearly forty people, including those working in the field and office, gathered in the large conference room. Director Shen cleared his throat and began, "Look, the case of You Aiqian, whom we arrested last time, has been fully investigated and a verdict will be announced soon. This time, not only was a woman beaten to death, but the oilfield is also involved in the resale of supplies. The oilfield is taking this very seriously and has formulated a 'Regulations on the Punishment of Resale of Supplies'. Xiao He, pass the document around."
Director Shen gestured for He Lin to hand over the document and continued, "This is the initial version of the penalty regulations. The oilfield headquarters has sent it to each police station. We hope everyone will provide more feedback over the next two weeks. After that, in the middle of next month, the Publicity Department of the headquarters will send people down to conduct a month-long publicity campaign on the regulations. Our police station will also cooperate in some legal education. At the same time, the Women's Federation will also publicize some provisions on women's protection, and we need to cooperate with them."
His eyes searched the area below and he said, "Guan Shun, you lead Group 6 to cooperate. Xiao Nan, as a female comrade, should cooperate more with the Women's Federation and strive to make sure all female comrades know their rights. Do you understand?"
"clear."
"Okay, everyone, take the documents back and take a closer look. Guan Shun, come here for a moment. I'll tell you the details."
After everyone left, Director Shen closed the door, his face heavy. He said, "There's one thing I can't say at the meeting, but you have to be clear about it. Those coming this time aren't just from the headquarters' propaganda department, but also from the security department. Lu Jiahui, Su Shuixian, and the others we arrested last time have confessed. They were actually trying to find out about the oil field reserves and then sell the information to the other side. Their initial plan was to carry out bombings and other sabotage to hinder our industrial development. The security department takes this incident very seriously and wants to conduct another investigation in the oil field to thoroughly investigate whether there are any spies lurking. You, Jiang Nan, and Comrade Zhou, cooperate, and don't tell anyone else. Cooperate with the security department, okay?"
"I understand, Chief." Guan Shun stood up and saluted, a rare gesture.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
