Riding the wind of rebirth

The following morning, Zhou Zhi and Mai Xiaomiao, escorted by Ma Bing and Lu Wei, headed to Manzhou.

Mai Xiaomiao was still a little unaccustomed to sitting in the back seat. Usually, Zhou Zhi would drive and she would sit in the passenger seat, and they would switch seats occasionally on long trips.

However, she is not opposed to the current changes, because this way she can be with Zhou Zhi without any qualms.

Ma Bing and Lu Wei did change into civilian clothes, but their hairstyles remained the same—the buzz cuts couldn't be changed—and they still exuded the air of soldiers.

Before setting off in the morning, the two men hid items in the trunk of the Defender and under the driver's seat.

When they were hiding the equipment, Ma Bing and Lu Wei were surprised by the equipment on the Guardian vehicle, because the Guardian was still a mobile satellite network base station and terminal, which Zhou Zhi and Mai Xiaomiao used as a workstation, and it was quite advanced.

However, neither of them asked any further questions. Ma Bing even put a sign on the windshield of the car, and then Zhou Zhi discovered that when the car passed through the highway, the toll station let them through directly.

Zhou Zhi felt embarrassed to ask them what they had hidden or what the sticker was.

There was another car in front of the Defender, a Santana 2000 driven by Feng Xueshan and Yang He.

Both of them are now senior executives in the group and should each have their own company car. The group usually provides senior executives with official cars such as Audi, Bluebird, and Crown. However, Feng Xueshan only provided one car for Yang He's daily use. She usually rides in Yang He's car and bought the Santana 2000 for her personal use. It can be said that she is quite low-key.

Zhou Zhi once asked Feng Xueshan why, and Feng Xueshan said that your father is only driving a Santana 2000 now, and we have a car to use. If we drive a nice car back, we are afraid that it will scare our parents and Yang He's parents.

That's not entirely unreasonable. Feng Xueshan's parents are both employees of the power company. After several rounds of restructuring, their current salary is just over 1,000 yuan. Even a Santana 2000 would cost around 200,000 yuan now. It would take the elderly couple ten years to save up that amount, let alone an Audi or a Bluebird.

"But Xue Shan's idea that Old Yang would be scared is unnecessary." Zhou Zhi told Mai Xiaomiao this as a joke, and then laughed: "Don't look at Yang and his father now as ordinary farmers in the countryside. Back then, they were the first people in Jiachuan to wear leather shoes. They traded silk between Chongqing and Chengdu, and they used gold bars when playing cards with the old men of the Gelaohui."

“Yes, I’ve also seen Uncle Yang’s IOUs, there are so many.” Mai Xiaomiao said with a smile, “Brother Yang told him to throw them away, but Uncle Yang said they were used to save his life and he couldn’t bear to part with them.”

Old Yang made a fortune selling silk by running a boat back in the day. He often helped his fellow villagers, but he never pressed them for repayment of the IOUs. Later, the world changed, and Old Yang was able to survive the difficult times thanks to the protection of his fellow villagers. Therefore, Old Yang felt that those IOUs had protected his family and were very meaningful. Even though the people who wrote the IOUs were no longer alive, he still couldn't bear to throw them away.

“Yes, Old Yang is a very insightful person.” Zhou Zhi also expressed his admiration: “He is a blessed man.”

"The roads are so much more comfortable to drive on now," Mai Xiaomiao said, looking out the window. "The changes in China over the past few years have been tremendous."

The first expressway in Sichuan, the Chengdu-Chongqing Expressway, has been opened. Now you can take the expressway to Longchang, exit there, and then take the national highway.

The national highway has just been completed, and the asphalt road is in very good condition. The travel time from Chengdu to Manzhou has been reduced from ten hours during the most difficult period of road construction to four hours.

Ma Bing's driving skills were outstanding, a professional skill honed through countless trials. Zhou Zhi and Mai Xiaomiao could barely feel the acceleration from the start or the sudden braking.

"Brother Ma, how did you do that? Even the turns were so smooth, it's almost against the laws of physics." Zhou Zhi was amazed and couldn't help but ask. "It's all pre-calculated," Lu Wei explained. "We have to anticipate the situation on the curves and reduce the speed to below the maximum allowable limit in advance, so the leader riding in the car won't feel any centrifugal force on the curves."

"Isn't this a skill for driving a limousine? Do you security guards have to learn this too?"

"I would say it's a basic skill," Lu Wei said with a smile. "Our work is quite special, and having these skills will make it easier to be selected. After joining the team, we can practice together, learn from each other, and make up for each other's weaknesses."

“That’s a good idea,” Zhou Zhi said with a smile. “So, are you currently considered active duty or have you already been discharged? According to organizational affiliation, you should be considered discharged and transferred to our group, right? But it seems you’re also under the jurisdiction of the security company?”

As Ma Bing drove, he said, "Because of your special circumstances, after deliberation, the organization has decided to allow us to transfer to civilian work ahead of schedule, with our organizational affiliation transferred to the group. However, our business operations will be handled by President Jiang's security company."

"The main difference is the salary and benefits when you join the group," Ma Bing said with a smile. "Don't laugh at me or Xiao Lu for being so unambitious. When we first received the assignment, we both suspected that there was an extra zero in the salary column."

"I feel bad for delaying your continued progress in the military," Zhou Zhi said. "Actually, our group's security tasks are quite heavy, and it's not appropriate to completely outsource them. It's good that you two experts have come. I hope you can contribute more to this area in the future."

This was to plan for their future and give them a guarantee. If Ma Bing and Lu Wei weren't smart, they wouldn't have been selected to protect important officials in the first place. They immediately said, "We guarantee to complete the tasks assigned by our leaders!"

They were all good-natured people, and by the time they arrived in Manzhou, they had become quite familiar with each other.

As the car drove into the courtyard, Zhou Zhi saw a familiar figure, bowing and nodding as he backed out of the gate, with his father calmly seeing him off.

When the man turned around and saw the two cars, he seemed somewhat surprised to find that neither Zhou Zhi was in the driver's seat nor the passenger seat.

The side windows of the car had been covered with a film to prevent people from peeping, so the man couldn't see the people in the back seat, but he still nodded politely, said a few words to his father, and then turned and left.

After the man left, two cars drove into the yard. Zhou Zhi got out of the car and said, "Dad, we're back. That man just now, didn't he look like Liu Chang'an?"

Dad frowned: "You have to call him Uncle Liu, how can you just call him by his first name?"

“Calling him by his first name is too polite!” Mom didn’t come out of the next room until Liu Chang’an left. “If you ask me, we shouldn’t have let him in. We should have just dealt with him with a broom!”

Liu Chang'an was my father's old subordinate. Back then, he felt that my father was blocking his way, so he went to Secretary Hua Yuliang to stir up trouble because of the fake seed incident, which led to the later changes.

However, things are different this time. The incident was resolved by Zhou Zhi, and afterwards, my father was continuously promoted and given important positions within the system. He even became a national advanced worker. Last year, he received the National May 1st Labor Medal for his outstanding contributions to the information technology transformation within the system. He has influence in the General Administration and is far beyond Liu Chang'an's reach.

"I think Mom's right. It's his fault for hurting you so badly back then," Zhou Zhi first echoed his mother, then laughed, "He still has the nerve to come knocking? That's his own skill. What's he doing here?" (End of Chapter)