CH 121

When Zhao Lanxiang got on the bus heading to the airport, she took out her handkerchief and wiped the traces on her face.

The familiar scenery regressed until it turned into a scenery unfamiliar to her.

Jiang Jianjun handed Zhao Lanxiang a bottle of water, but Zhao Lanxiang did not receive it.

He lowered his face, his cold brows raised slightly, and said, "If you continue like this, I can't guarantee that I won't trouble him in the future."

She looked out at the window with her head down. Suddenly the bike passed in the corner, and there was a rush of bicycle bells.

The bus braked unexpectedly. The powerful inertia caused the passengers to knock around to varying degrees, and they complained.

"What the hell!"

"Driver, look properly when you drive. What will you do if a child falls?"

"Just..."

Zhao Lanxiang inadvertently cast her gaze outside the bus. She was shocked, and her whole body sat upright when she saw the dusty figure outside the bus. The man dropped his bicycle and walked past the side of the bus. Under her watch, he knocked on the door.

The driver scolded him for his stupidity, but he also opened the door.

He strode into the bus and walked in front of her. His eyes were dark like a vortex, covered with haze.

He Songbai asked her one word, "Why?"

His voice was thick and rough, with a rapid breath after a harsh exercise. His eyes were so red, as if he had suffered wrongs, and stared at her.

This is the man she loves most. She is the most unwilling to look at him being aggrieved.

Zhao Lanxiang's heart seemed to be squeezed hard, but before she could speak, He Songbai pulled her.

He said, "Go home with me."

He walked faster and faster, squeezing her wrist with the palm of his hand, so hard as if he wanted to break her bones.

When they got out of the car, He Songbai pursed his lips in silence. His thin lips made into a straight line. He couldn't stop wiping the sweat that had oozed from his forehead with his sleeves.

Zhao Lanxiang noticed his blood-soaked trousers. Her heart was dull and painful, "I told you not to come, but you still come."

He Songbai took out the wrinkled flower in his arms and handed it to her.

"This is the first flower I saw on the way to the pig farm."

The flower he was holding was already damaged, and it was so crumpled that people could not see the original look, as if it had been hit hard by the wind and frost.

Zhao Lanxiang touched it and ripped off its incomplete petal.

He squeezed out a smile, and his breezy tone sounded like when he said good morning to her every ordinary morning.

"I haven't sent you flowers this year...I will always give you."1

"You like it very much."

---1

Gu Huaijin also returned from the city. After returning to the bullpen, he started to pack up his own things. He stayed here for a long time after all. Because the criminal "hat" on his head will be taken off soon, and he will leave this place after his grievances have been eluted.

Leave forever.

He was very happy, as if he had been infused with energy all over the body, making him a whole few years younger. But he looked at his belongings in the bullpen little by little and felt sentimental.

For many days and nights, he fell asleep here listening to the sound of frogs, and he woke up early in the morning and went up the mountain to cut the grass.

The plants and trees here are so familiar that he can draw them with his eyes closed. There are also three meals a day from educated youth Zhao. The good food accompanied by the beautiful scenery has added fun to his time in the countryside. Before he left, he already missed it.

He wanted to go to educated youth Zhao for a bowl of porridge. In spring, the girl loves to simmer the fragrant and smooth porridge to make up for his health.

Although he has suffered a lot in the past few years, he also got the blessings he had never tasted in the first half of his life. People said that the human relationship is cold and warm, but what he felt in the He family is warm.

He knocked on the educated youth Zhao's door. No one answered, but the door was unlocked. The door rattled twice and opened with a creak.

In the afternoon, the setting sun gradually converged and spread into the room. The image in the room was split between light and darkness. Some golden light was laid out where the afterglow shone, but the other side was covered with deep shadows.

And He Songbai was the one who was in this shadow. He leaned against the desk, a look of self-dejected.

Gu Huaijin asked, "How about Xiang girl? You still not coming out quickly. What is it look like to stay in a girl's room?"

He will soon become He Songbai's teacher. Gu Huaijin felt that he should discipline this kid well, so he put on a serious face.

He Songbai opened his eyes and said slowly, "She is gone and will not come back."

"What?"

He repeated it lightly, "She is gone and will not come back."

As he said this, he rolled a paper into a ball and threw it away.

"How did she go... Hey, now the colleges and universities across the country are also starting school term. So it is time that she should go. You also should get ready to prepare. After Wu Yong's case opens, I will go to City B with you."

"Wait...you..." Gu Huaijin stared at the young man's red eyes, swallowing everything in his mouth.

He seemed to understand. Judging from his life experience accumulated in most of his life, this kid was mostly broken in love.

Gu Huaijin stooped down silently and also sat beside He Songbai.

He said, "You are so young, but so many troubles. Look at your face; isn't she just not coming back? You have long legs. Won't you go find her yourself?"

He Songbai heard his words, but the man's words kept flashing in his mind.

"You don't deserve her."

He finally shook his head.

"She has a better future. The future I can't give her."

Gu Huaijin was anxious and slapped him, "Are there no prospects for following you?"

In response to this, Gu Huaijin was completely silent, and the youth sitting next to him seemed to blend into the dark night. He was silent, decadent, and depressed.

Day after day, days passed like a flash in a blink of an eye.

Gu Huaijin looked at this decadent young man, who became increasingly silent. In the morning, he would go to the mountains to pick a bunch of camellias, and when he came back, he kept it in a vase. He would watch the sunset on the hills in the evening.

In 1978, the first year He Songbai went to university, Comrade D, the national leader, visited Northeast China and Tangshan, Tianjin, and other places. He mentioned that the party's focus and the country's work should be shifted to the economy. He proposed a reform to break egalitarianism and let some people get rich first.

During the inspection, Comrade D once said, "The country is so big but so poor. It does not work hard to develop productive forces. How can we live like this? Our people's lives are so difficult, and how can it reflect the superiority of socialism?"

All of this has been faithfully recorded by the newspaper. The people of City B who are walking around and the students of University T are almost crazy when reading the newspaper. They are seriously discussed in the cafeteria. The canteen is filled with youthful spirits and discussions. After He Songbai read the newspaper, he silently sent a telegram to Li Zhong in the countryside, asking him to hurry up to City B and get his brother-in-law to send him a sum of money.

After He Songbai came to study in City B, he asked Li Dali to take care of the pig farm business. Fortunately, after the emergency transfer on the pig farm, everything was on the right track. It was not difficult for Li Dali to watch them.

After receiving a telegram from his partner, He Songbai, Li Zhong quickly came to City B with almost all his savings—he panted when he was out of the train station. He Songbai took Li Zhong's luggage and opened a hotel room for him. He invited him to have a meal at the Beijing Hotel and ordered the signature dishes.

Li Zhong was sitting in a bright restaurant in the big capital, a little embarrassed.

He chopped a few mouthfuls of rice and wondered, "City B's style is so bright, and I didn't dare to gasp just now. Burn so much money in one meal. What a boss atmosphere!" Li Zhong teased involuntarily.

He Songbai's eyes narrowed slightly, and the corners of his lips rose uncontrollably, revealing his white teeth.

He did not mention to Li Zhong that his food expenses for the previous semester only cost seventy yuan, only ten to twenty yuan a month. A few cents for each meal was enough to solve his food and clothing. He only has a few new clothes every year—all of which are made by his elder sister in the country.

A male student with a relatively good family in the same university as He Songbai just saw him ordering food at the Beijing Hotel. He saw He Songbai ordering the most expensive wine without blinking his eyelids. He almost dropped his glasses. He took a long time to dare to come and recognize Song Songbai.

"Isn't this Mr. He?"

He Songbai and his classmate greeted each other before returning to the box to continue chatting with Li Zhong.

After leaving He Songbai, the classmate thought in silence, "I am afraid that many people will be shocked. It turns out that this classmate He is actually a rich person."

When He Songbai first came, he carried a roll of broken luggage and dressed shabbily. He usually eats cheaply and saves money. It is difficult for people to believe that he is rich. He does experiments or writes papers but has suffered a lot of doubts and blows because of his background.

In the box, Li Zhong finished drinking red wine, smashed his mouth, and said, "This kind of wine is not enough for us countrymen. It is not strong enough as if it is made for women."

He Songbai smiled and said, "I will open another bottle of Erguotou for you."

Li Zhong drank the famous wine of the hotel happily. The clear liquor is filling the smooth and white porcelain glass and reflecting soft light. The mellow liquor was sweet and long.

"We should call that boy, Tiezhu, to come over."

"I don't know if he would come. It's too far away. I tell you, Tie Zhu's wife gave him a big fat boy last year, a month away from your niece."

He Songbai said calmly, "No wonder he doesn't want to come to City B. Sister-in-law will definitely scold me."

Li Zhong said, "Although he does not want to come to City B, but he said he is going to City G! Do you remember that girl you talked to before?"

"Most likely, this kid went to educated youth Zhao. I heard that he was going to do business with her. He used to love educated youth Zhao's business. He was thinking about her dessert and braised meat that was sold in our county that year."

He Songbai heard the words "educated youth Zhao" and drank a large gulp of wine in silence.

"Her... I must have heard it wrong. She must be well now—not worry about food and clothing. She won't need to get dirty like before and earn enough money for her life."

Although Li Zhong was a little drunk, he knew he had hit He Songbai's scar. He quickly changed the subject while he could. "You asked me to come this time. What are you going to do?"

He Songbai approached Li Zhong and whispered a sentence.

Li Zhong listened and his eyes were shining with light, eager to try.

He said, "You dare to do it. I will dare to follow!"

The pace of reform is getting bigger and bigger. Soon after the northern talks ended, the whole country ushered like a giant thunder in spring in December. It blew up the land of China that had been sealed for ten years. There are many contents of the meeting. He Songbai is most concerned about making adjustments and changes to the existing planned economy to shift to a market economy.

In addition to state-owned enterprises and collective industries, the state has begun to encourage the development of non-public ownership, which is completely crazy!

Li Zhong bought the newspaper of the day, bought one hundred copies at a whim, and ran to T university. He threw it in front of He Songbai.

He said excitedly to He Songbai, "In the future, we will not call this speculation, but private business! Go research and study quickly, how to apply for registration!"

He Songbai pulled out the newspaper that Li Zhong brought back, and his heart was full of turmoil. He felt like a groundhog lurking in the dark ground, who just came out and breathed the fresh air for the first time.

He no longer has to feel of being strangled all the time.

Soon he sent a telegram, asking his brother-in-law in the country to follow the formal process and register the trademark for the pig farm. Immediately after that, he and Li Zhong established a humble building materials factory.

In the Third Plenary Session of the 11th Central Committee, there was content related to city construction. He Songbai, who was in the Department of Architecture, saw business opportunities. He and Li Zhong took out their savings and built factories in the suburbs, attracting many populations in the B city. They also tasted the sweetness of the policy, and the local government gave a lot of encouragement and help.

He Songbai successfully registered the trademark "Xiangbai."4

Seeing it, Li Zhong secretly shook his head silently and sighed, "Why."

In the spring of 1979, the central government issued a policy on the "problematic hat" removal for landowners and rich peasants. That day was a special day for He Songbai. He felt that his good luck in his life seemed to be used after he started college. The good news one after another is exciting.

But this is undoubtedly one of the most joyful events he has heard in recent years. It made He Songbai feel relieved, like a spring breeze.

This hat used to be so heavy that he was overwhelmed by the weight. He has to pick up his tail and unable to be a man. He even kept a low profile and was cautious when he was studying at the university. He never made a bad relationship with others, lest he missed the opportunity to study. This reminded him of the first time he started a relationship with his girlfriend. He humbled himself because of a background problem. He couldn't help smiling.

Soon he sent a telegram to his old grandmother in the country. He could foresee it almost without thinking. When the old woman received the telegram, she would drop a tear.

However, He Songbai's expectation would fail because Grandma Li had already heard the news from the Red Star radio. At that time, the old woman was in tears and excited, and she couldn't help crying. When receiving the grandson's telegram, Grandma Li was being carried by her grandson-in-law, and the family set up a tombstone for her deceased husband and son and also repair their tomb.

There was two bulging soil on the hillside behind the He family's house, but there was never a tombstone. Every Qingming festival, there would be a few pieces of white paper on the tomb. This year, a tombstone was finally erected, and the master's name was clearly engraved. Grandma wrote their epitaph after staying up late for two night.

---

In the winter of 1980, He Songbai was in a busy rush. He asked for leave from the school to expand his business in S City.

He Songbai finished the business and took out coins and tickets to take the bus. He leaned his head against the window and closed his eyes to relax.

The bus unknowingly drove to the terminal, and he got off the bus. He Songbai got out of the car and walked aimlessly, and a cold wind blew away, dispersing his alcohol. He unknowingly walked to a familiar lane.

He turned his head to the bus station in the small alley where he used to collect debts and knocked door to door. Going around, he walked to the front of a photo studio.

A girl took her mother's hand, and they seemed to be whispering and discussing something. She turned her head to see He Songbai and asked innocently, "Look, isn't this big brother the one in the photo?"

He Songbai raised his eyes and saw a picture of him and Zhao Lanxiang. At that time, they only took one photo. So this picture was obviously taken by the cameraman secretly. He was inexperienced and serious in the photo, but the woman in the photo bowed her head and sniffed the fragrant flowers, smiling quietly. This photo seemed to pass through his memory, and He Songbai suddenly felt uncomfortable.

He got the store manager and asked, "Can you sell this photo to me?"