Riding the wind of rebirth

"Xiao Miao, aren't you going to do anything about your pork knuckle?" Li Yijia, who was clearly the one laughing the loudest, was now pretending to help Du Wenxin criticize.

"Huh?" Mai Xiaomiao was still immersed in the delicious taro and pork intestine chicken. She had only come into contact with taro after coming to China and had fallen in love with it immediately. She was enjoying her meal when she was suddenly called on. She felt guilty, like she had been caught daydreaming in class. "Excuse me, what were you guys talking about just now?"

Li Yijia thought Mai Xiaomiao was covering for Zhou Zhi: "You're just pretending! All you know is how to favor him!"

"Stop fooling around, stop fooling around." Zhou Zhi quickly changed the subject: "Runtu, how are things on your end? Do you need any help finding information?"

For families like Xu Gang, Zhang Qianyi, Tong Xiaolin, and Li Yijia, who have resources in the local area, there's no need to worry about this aspect. Zhouzhi is more concerned about people like Huang Ruishan.

“I called my classmate at Lanzhou University. I’m going to visit him this holiday. He has most of the books in the Lanzhou University library,” Huang Ruishan said.

"Okay, that's good." Zhou Zhi smiled and said, "We can make use of our high school classmate relationship now."

The idea that "studying is useless" has been around for a while now. Social sayings like "those who wield scalpels are not as good as those who wield kitchen knives, and those who make missiles are not as good as those who make tea eggs" do have a market. However, people like Huang Ruishan, whose ancestors have been toiling in the loess gullies for generations, truly changed their fate entirely through studying.

Although Huang Ruishan only worked during a single holiday in Lianhe Township, he left a very good impression on Tu Liangzhi, Wu Renzhong, and even Li Yutang.

This kid is down-to-earth and hardworking, very serious about his work, and often does things quietly ahead of time. In other words, he is "observant". He majored in Chinese literature and has been helping Zhouzhi with the forum affairs as a work-study program. Not only is he a good writer, but he is also proficient in computer operation and even simple programming. He even learned to drive in Lianhe Township!
Being able to program and having a driver's license makes one stand out among liberal arts college students these days. It's said that Li Yutang has already expressed his intention to recruit Huang Ruishan, but Huang Ruishan has politely declined.

After witnessing the dramatic changes in Lianhe Township, Huang Ruishan felt an even greater responsibility to return to Wuwei and use his newfound knowledge and broadened horizons to make a greater contribution to his hometown.

Although Li Yutang sighed with reluctance, he still wrote a letter of thanks to the municipal party committee of Huang Ruishan's hometown, praising Wuwei for cultivating such an outstanding talent who used his holiday time to contribute to poverty alleviation and education in Liangshan Prefecture.

This is practically an open recommendation. Wuwei is a poor place, and if Huang Ruishan is willing to go back, he will definitely be treated as a key talent for development.

Huang Ruishan has also transformed from an introverted man who dared not speak to someone who can speak fluently in front of important figures. His temperament has changed, and his prestige among his classmates in his hometown has also changed. He used to be too ashamed to ask his classmates for help, but now he does it with ease, which shows that his mindset has changed.

Everyone is making progress, which is great, so Zhouzhi enjoyed this taro and pork intestine chicken meal especially.

Of course, everyone thought that Mai Xiaomiao was the one who enjoyed the meal the most. Although she ate slowly, her chopsticks never stopped moving from beginning to end.

Because of her experience of "fighting together" with Huang Ruishan and Li Yijia in Lianhe Township, and her familiarity with Lu Qiao, Mai Xiaomiao can now easily integrate into the group and share common ground with everyone.

"It's a pity that we didn't spend enough time together with Zhouzi," Zhang Qianyi sighed. "Otherwise, with you around, we would have accumulated so many more photos over the years."

"Didn't I already teach the monkey how to roll film?" Zhou Zhi asked, puzzled.

Digital cameras are still used by only a very small number of people in China. They are considered very high-end professional equipment. Most people still use point-and-shoot cameras, while professionals use professional film cameras.

The biggest expense for a film camera is buying film. Zhou Zhi knew how to roll motion picture film and taught Zhao Xing this trick. Through Chi Xueli's connections, they exchanged motion picture film at the Emei Film Studio. One roll of motion picture film could be rolled into countless rolls in the darkroom, reducing shooting costs to negligible levels and producing high-quality photos with a cinematic feel. Black and white photos, in particular, were incredibly impressive.

"They criticized my skills! They said I wasted their time and energy!" the monkey said indignantly. "Later, I had to bribe the photography studio with film to have them take pictures of everyone, but they said I wasn't as relaxed as I was in front of you. Anyway, it's all my fault!"

"Hahahaha..." Zhou Zhi laughed, "Then next semester when everyone takes graduation photos, I'll take charge. The whole class will be organized to go on a trip in batches, so that everyone can have more photos taken in Chengdu."

"That's a great idea. Those photos you took of Yijia in the hot spring forest, everyone was so envious when she brought them back." Tong Xiaolin, the school beauty who loves taking photos, picked up her glass: "Then let's thank Zhouzi first, everyone, let's have a toast with him!"

Amidst the cheers and jeers, everyone raised their glasses.

The day after the gathering, Zhou Zhi and Li Yijia accompanied Yan Zhenwei to the capital, where they planned to attend a series of events before visiting their private museum in Hangzhou.

As soon as I got off the plane and turned on my phone, my dad called: "Elbow, your godfather is looking for you. Why can't I get through to you on the phone?"

"Huh? I was on the plane just now, and I just got off."

"Airplane? Where did you go again?"

“Didn’t my mom tell you? I have a few events to attend in the capital.” Zhou Zhi said, “I told my mom yesterday.”

"You're really keeping things on a tight schedule." Dad seemed a little impressed that his son was even busier than himself. "I heard her mention it, and I was thinking you should take a few days off. You should call your godfather right away. What do you mean, he said you've found two big celebrities for our hometown?"

"Oh, yes, that's true. Two great generals from the late Ming Dynasty both had connections with our Hejiang."

"Not from the War of Resistance against Japan? Late Ming Dynasty, is it famous? How come I've never heard of it?"

“They’re very famous. If I’ve never heard of them, it means the local cultural department hasn’t done a good job of promoting them. They should criticize my godmother and godfather.” Zhou Zhi started being mischievous again.

"You've got some nerve!" Dad laughed. "Then you'd better call him back right away. It's getting cold in the capital, isn't it? Make sure Xiao Miao wears more clothes so she doesn't catch a cold."

"okay!"

After hanging up the phone, Zhou Zhi finally realized what was happening and said to Mai Xiaomiao, "I didn't even say you were with me, so why is my dad so sure? He even told me to make sure you wear more clothes so you don't catch a cold... Wait, he's never been this concerned about me!"

Mai Xiaomiao simply smiled, pursing her lips, and waved back to Mr. Ma, who was waving at her from the arrival hall. (End of Chapter)