Even sitting down, Dai Xinghuo's height is evident. Although he wears gold-rimmed glasses, he doesn't exude the air of a refined scholar; instead, he seems to be possessed by Sun Wukong (the Monkey King). His clothes, while not patched, are ill-fitting and loose. Perhaps he's trying to appear mysterious, but his demeanor and gossipy expression make him look somewhat comical overall.
Dai Xinghuo said enviously, "Your grandfather lives in the city? I heard that people there earn high wages and their clothes are all unpatched, is that true?"
Zhu Fanfan sensed something was wrong: "Is Qingfeng Commune far from there? Don't you guys go to the city to play when you have free time?"
Dai Xinghuo was a little embarrassed: "I've never been to the city. Our place is quite remote. It takes five hours to walk there and a whole day to go back and forth."
Zhu Fanfan asked curiously, "Aren't there oxcarts or buses?"
Dai Xinghuo blushed: "It's quite difficult where we live; we don't have oxcarts."
Zhu Fanfan didn't believe it: "Your commune doesn't have oxcarts? Aren't you the son of the commune director? The journey by car isn't far, and it's not difficult for you to come to the city."
Nowadays, towns have been changed into communes, and villages have been changed into production brigades. It's understandable if a village is relatively backward and doesn't have oxcarts, but it's a bit much if a commune doesn't have oxcarts. The lie is too obvious.
Dai Xinghuo's face scrunched up like a bitter gourd: "Our commune is poor, the poorest in the whole of Shanghai. We're not near the sea, and the land isn't suitable for growing crops. There are only mountains, and the fruit trees we grow there are sour and have no sweetness at all. We can't even pay our grain tax every year..."
The rest of the time, Zhu Fanfan listened to how hard their commune had worked all year, but had gained nothing. It was so bitter, even more miserable than the cabbages in the field. As she listened, Zhu Fanfan got sleepy. When Dai Xinghuo finished complaining, he found Zhu Fanfan fast asleep and had no choice but to cover her with a blanket.
Sensing someone, Zhu Fanfan immediately grabbed the person with a grappling move. Opening her eyes and seeing it was Dai Xinghuo, she apologized apologetically, "I'm sorry, I'm not used to people getting close."
Dai Xinghuo's anger subsided, replaced by excitement: "You're a soldier, right? That's amazing! Can you teach me?"
Zhu Fanfan said directly, "I'm still a student, how could I be a soldier? However, I lived in Shanghai for a while, and I've never heard of a commune where you could only plant trees. Aren't there wild game in the mountains? You could catch some and sell it for money, right?"
Dai Xinghuo said resentfully, "Our commune only has three production brigades, none of which can be farmed, are not near the sea, and are far from the city. It's just us."
Zhu Fanfan: ...If it's true, that's really bad luck. She's not the mayor, so there's no point in talking to her!
Dai Xinghuo said quietly, "My heart has been deeply wounded, and only stroking a dog's fur can soothe it."
Zhu Fanfan chuckled dryly: "Then keep hurting me! My wolf king doesn't know how to comfort people."
The wolf king who wants to touch her? No way.
Dai Xinghuo was still chattering away, trying to pet the wolf king. No matter how many times he was rejected, he didn't give up. Zhu Fanfan had no choice but to chat with him: "Your place is so poor, how come I heard there are still people sent down to the countryside?"
This made Dai Xinghuo even angrier: "Who knows what the higher-ups are thinking..."
After finishing speaking, he realized he might have said too much, so he quickly looked around and saw that everyone was busy with their own things and hadn't noticed him. He said, "We can't even feed ourselves back home, so where would we get food for those who have been sent down to the countryside? But the higher-ups ordered them to do labor reform. My dad said that the criticism and struggle sessions are just for show, and they can go up the mountain to find food when they have time. If they don't starve to death, they're lucky; if they do, they deserve it."
He didn't understand why they were being sent down to their area, and why they were told not to kill anyone. They wouldn't kill anyone there, but they would starve. Their entire commune survived on relief grain. His father would submit an application report every year, so the higher-ups should have known about the situation. Who knows if they never intended for those who were sent down to live at all?
Zhu Fanfan had a sudden thought: "My grandmother is a traditional Chinese medicine doctor, and she is very interested in medicinal herbs. Since you can't grow grains where you live, could it be that you can grow medicinal herbs?"
Although she can't identify the medicinal herbs now, she still has books on medicinal herbs, which are drawn so realistically and have detailed explanations that she can compare. Besides, she can still fool the doctor Qianlai.
Dai Xinghuo was naturally interested: "If our Qingfeng Commune can find medicinal herbs, we can exchange them for grain. Hmm, what's your name? I haven't asked you your name yet."
Zhu Fanfan said, "Zhu Fanfan."
Dai Xinghuo kept praising Zhu Fanfan for his abilities. Even though he hadn't witnessed Zhu Fanfan's capabilities yet, he had already showered him with compliments. Anyone without self-control would have readily patted their chest and guaranteed that Zhu Fanfan could generate revenue.
Zhu Fanfan had no choice but to say, "What is your home address and phone number? I'll come find you after I meet up with my grandfather."
She didn't completely believe Dai Xinghuo's words. After all, if you can't buy a sleeper berth without connections, he must have other ways, he just didn't tell her.
Dai Xinghuo immediately took out a pen and paper from his pocket, quickly wrote down the address, and respectfully handed it to Zhu Fanfan, leaving Zhu Fanfan speechless. Someone who trusted another person so completely on their first meeting deserved to be protected.
Dai Xinghuo did all the talking the way. Zhu Fanfan asked about the situation of the place where Grandpa Zhang was sent down, and also talked about many other things to confuse the issue. In case he was also a wolf in sheep's clothing, she had to be careful.
Another thing is that a group of young guerrillas were making a ruckus on the way here. If you didn't know better, you'd think they were going to revolt. They kept raising their arms and shouting, which was really annoying.
Even after leaving the station, the group of young rioters were still planning where to hold a denunciation meeting. When Zhu Fanfan heard that they wanted to go to Fu Mansion, he couldn't resist the urge to go up and beat them up.
Upon seeing this, Dai Xinghuo said, "They're really bold. They want to go to the Fu mansion. They must not have all the information."
Zhu Fanfan asked curiously, "What's wrong? Is someone really after the Fu Mansion?"
Dai Xinghuo scoffed, "Some young comrades were dissatisfied with the conditions of the guesthouse and went to the rich area to criticize and denounce them. Little did they know that the area was full of high-ranking officials' offices and red capitalists, especially Old Master Fu, who was more powerful than anyone else. And let me tell you, Old Master Fu has a very powerful backer!"
The young guerrillas went to the Fu family and acted arrogantly, trying to treat them like slaves, claiming it was to suppress capitalism. However, the police chief showed no mercy and arrested them for trespassing. It is said that this police chief has a powerful background, and the young guerrillas were detained for five days before being released.
Dai Xinghuo said mysteriously, "Let me tell you, it's because Old Master Fu offended someone, and someone wants to get rid of him!"
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