Go back to the prosperous days and become a layman

Chapter 629 Chapter 628 To the Creditor

"You're back late again today." When Tang Zhitong returned to the guesthouse and opened the door of the room, Zhao Xin was lying on the bed staring at the ceiling without even moving his eyes.

"I was stuck for something. Is this the lunch you prepared for me?" Tang Zhitong asked, looking at the lunch box on the table.

"Yes, Team Leader Huang paid for it." Zhao Xin was so hungry that he spoke weakly. He was now looking forward to going back quickly and having a good meal on the train!
"Okay, thank you. I'll give the ticket to Team Leader Huang later." Tang Zhitong divided the food into two lunch boxes as usual, added hot water, and ate the rice and water together.

After eating, he washed the dishes and put them on the table, prepared the money and food coupons, and got up to give them to Huang Ruifeng.

After coming out of Huang Ruifeng's room, Tang Zhitong did not go back, but went outside the guesthouse.

After running around outside all day, this little bit of double-steamed rice can't satisfy the body's energy needs. I have to find a chance to have a snack!
The food at the guesthouse has been maintained at the same level recently. After a few days, my stomach feels more craving for carbohydrates than a diet meal.

Zhao Xin had finished his snacks long ago, so he was lying on the bed like a dead body.

Although Zhao Xin occasionally did not avoid Tang Zhitong when eating snacks, Tang Zhitong had never eaten them and was not envious, so he avoided Zhao Xin when he had a snack to avoid causing trouble.

Today is the fourteenth day of the first lunar month. The moon in the sky is very round, like a big pancake, making people drool.

Tang Zhitong found a shady corner, took out a steamed bun, and ate it happily with some pork head.

The steamed bread Zhang Guifang prepared for him was almost finished. Tang Zhitong was eating the steamed bread made by his mother, but he was thinking about how hard life would be if he didn't have this hook...

The bright moonlight splashed on the ground like water. Tang Zhitong sighed while eating a steamed bun and looked up at the moon.

The moon often represents lovesickness. Tang Zhitong missed his family, especially his classmate Xiao Wang.

Student Xiao Wang must be missing himself, right?
I didn't send her a telegram to report my safety this time, and I don't know if she will blame me when I return.

Calculating the date, when I go back, it will be the time when Xiao Wang will have her period. It’s really a distressing thing!
When Tang Zhitong was daydreaming, a man walked past him late at night.

The man walked a few steps and then turned back, holding a knife in his hand, and gestured to Tang Zhitong: "Hey, young man, hand over the dry food, quickly!"

In the moonlight, Tang Zhitong looked at the man, then at the knife, then turned to look at the gate of the guesthouse not far away. If he directly snatched the knife from the man's hand and called the police, would the act of "taking the knife with bare hands" be exposed?
"What are you standing there for? Hurry up! Don't think I don't dare to stab you!" the man threatened in a stern voice.

"That's all." Tang Zhitong squatted on the ground without getting up, and handed over the only remaining steamed bread in his hand.

"Where's the meat? I can smell the aroma of meat!" The man immediately stuffed the steamed bread into his mouth and started to eat it voraciously. The knife moved one step closer to Tang Zhitong.

"Where is the fucking meat? I still want to eat meat! I think you are crazy about meat!" Tang Zhitong was so annoyed. What happened every day? Wasn't it just that he was distracted by thinking about his wife?
"Spit out what's in your mouth!" The man didn't care about Tang Zhitong scolding him. Seeing that Tang Zhitong was still chewing, he became more demanding.

"Go away! Don't you find it disgusting?" Tang Zhitong felt a little disgusted by this request. He chewed it a few times and swallowed it directly.

"Turn around, I want to search!" Compared to food, the man didn't care about Tang Zhitong's insults at all. Seeing that Tang Zhitong was not cooperating, the man did not give up and planned to do it himself.

"Fuck you!" Tang Zhitong was already feeling annoyed. He got up and snatched the knife from the man's hand, then grabbed the man's arm and threw him over his shoulder. Not satisfied after the throw, he kicked him twice: "You have hands and feet, why don't you do something else? Are you trying to block my way? Is this road yours?"

"Please spare my life, sir! Please spare my life, sir! I have an eighty-year-old mother above me, and... " The man was not tough. After seeing Tang Zhitong's ferocity, he quickly knelt down and begged for mercy.

"Bullshit! Get out!" Tang Zhitong felt indescribable disgust for this kind of person. He was dressed much better than the boy in the afternoon. If he hadn't found it troublesome, he would have gone to the police station long ago.

"Hey! Hey! I'll get out of here right now, right now." After Tang Zhitong showed mercy, the man crawled away for a distance in a panic, stood up, but stopped again.

"That knife..." The man still wanted to fight for his own weapon.

"Believe it or not, if you keep talking nonsense, I'll send you to the police station?" Tang Zhitong glared at the man. What good thing was he thinking? I gave you a knife and you robbed someone else?
After making sure the man had run far away, Tang Zhitong threw the knife into the space and went back to the hotel to sleep.

Tang Zhitong knew that the right thing to do was to send the man to the police station, but there were no witnesses around who saw this scene.

We will take a bus back to Sijiucheng early tomorrow morning. If we send the man to the police station, we will have to wait until very late to get his confession, testimony, and track his whereabouts and find witnesses. This will not only increase the workload of the public security comrades, but also waste my time.

What's more, with just a knife and a steamed bread, the sentence won't last long. It's possible that he will end up trying to smooth things over after he goes to the police station...

The next morning, comrades from the Municipal Bureau came along with the car and gave the investigation team a brief farewell party. The investigation team then went straight to Hankou Railway Station.

After getting on the train, the seating arrangement changed. As if to avoid promotion or transfer, two people did not want to share a partition with Huang Ruifeng, so they used the excuses of diarrhea and snoring to hide in the partition of Tang Zhitong and Zhao Xin.

Zhao Xin did not choose the upper bunk this time because he was hungry and it was difficult for him to climb up there.

After a while, Huang Ruifeng stood between the two partitions and asked, "Does anyone want to go to the restaurant?"

When Zhao Xin heard this, he came alive, his eyes sparkled, and he stood up immediately.

In fact, it wasn't just Zhao Xin. Except for Tang Zhitong, everyone in the investigation team was staring blankly.

"I've wanted to go for a long time, but I don't know if there's still food in the restaurant." If you can work in the ministry, the salary won't be very low, otherwise the average salary in this city wouldn't be that high.

"Let's go and take a look. It's only a few steps away." Someone stood up as he spoke.

"I'll stay and watch the bags, you guys go ahead. If you have food, please bring me some noodles." Huang Ruifeng made the final decision.

When everyone set out from Sijiucheng to Wuhan, the breakfast provided on the train was noodles mixed with a few vegetables and a little soy sauce. It tasted just average at the time, but Huang Ruifeng missed it very much at this moment.

"Let's go and take a look together?" Zhao Xin was a little impatient, but he still had some brains and planned to take Tang Zhitong along.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Tang Zhitong was too embarrassed to say that he was not hungry, so he could only get up and follow them.

Two other team members from another partition went there together, each carrying two lunch boxes, just right.

Everyone tacitly chose noodles, one portion for each person, and there was no dispute over whether you ate too much or I ate too little. However, the plan was good, but the chef of the restaurant bluntly said that it was past breakfast time and there was no food.

"Master, please be flexible. We have been on a business trip for several days. We didn't have breakfast this morning. I missed you as soon as I got in the car." Also coming with them was the middle-aged man from last time. He was very sweet-mouthed. After hearing that the master would not do it, he did not leave immediately, but tried to get close to the master.

"No, no. If you eat a few more portions now, there won't be enough for tomorrow morning." The chef was unmoved. He sat at the door smoking. His eyelids lifted for a moment, then drooped again.

"Hey~ Comrade..." Zhao Xin wanted to say something but was interrupted by a voice next to him.

"Master Huo, are you busy?" A voice came from the other side of the restaurant, which was the direction of the train parking lot.

Tang Zhitong was standing on the outermost side of the four people, close to the hard sleeper car and farthest from the rear of the car. He could tell who the person who came to get the noodles was; it was an acquaintance.

"Hey, you're here? You're late today, and the noodles are all clumping together." Master Huo was as if he had seen a relative. Not only did he smile, he also stood up.

Zhao Xin was already unhappy because his conversation was interrupted, and now when he saw that someone was able to buy food, he became even more dissatisfied. He yelled at the chef: "Hey, comrade, didn't you say that there was no food left?"

"They came here early in the morning to make the reservation. How can it be the same as you coming here at the last minute to squeeze in?" Master Huo was not afraid at all and responded directly.

"You guys go back first, I'll handle it." Seeing that a quarrel was about to break out, Tang Zhitong pulled the middle-aged man who was next to him and said in a low voice.

The middle-aged man nodded and immediately pulled Zhao Xin towards the hard sleeper: "Let's go, let's go back first."

"Hey~ Why are you pulling me? I haven't finished speaking yet." Zhao Xin was still unconvinced.

Tang Zhitong shook his head. Zhao Xin’s EQ was a bit low. Maybe the higher-ups arranged for him to come here because they wanted to hear the truth?

It’s not that Tang Zhitong is overthinking, but the “information cocoon” really exists right now.

The information cocoon exists not only to the lower levels, but also to the upper levels, which is why there is the idiom "cheating the upper levels and concealing the lower levels".

At most, there will be more people who are unaware of the truth, but if we conceal and lie to our superiors, this will be a huge problem.

“Water cannot be poured in, and a needle cannot penetrate”, this is not just a saying.

Take the Yellow Crane Tower for example.

The reason why the Yellow Crane Tower needs to be rebuilt is not just because it is a historical site.

It's too famous, and the country doesn't have that much money, so why is Yellow Crane Tower ranked first?
Is it so easy to allocate Tie Lao Da's money? Why is Tie Lao Da so willing to allocate funds?
There were four people in the investigation team, and three of them left at once, leaving Tang Zhitong behind.

"Brother Zhang, are you running this route today?" Tang Zhitong made way for other members of the team to go back first, then smiled and greeted Zhang Jinbo who came over to get the noodles.

"Hey~ Chief Tang, the higher-ups asked us to go down to the grassroots level. I'll go to each line one by one." It was not until Tang Zhitong spoke that Zhang Jinbo noticed Tang Zhitong standing aside.

"Brother Zhang is really dedicated to his job. If it were me, I would also have to run around, but it's just for this bite of food." The two were old acquaintances and spoke casually. Tang Zhitong pointed at the lunch box in Zhang Jinbo's hand and joked.

Zhang Jinbo was also a wonderful person. When he heard what Tang Zhitong said, he immediately said to the restaurant chef, "Master Huo, this is Chief Tang from the Finance Department of our Escort Department. Would you mind working overtime?"

"Okay, then give Section Chief Tang some face." Upon hearing this, Master Huo immediately threw away his cigarette butt, put the pot on the stove, added boiling water, and asked Tang Zhitong, "Section Chief Tang, how many servings do you want?"

"Eight portions, thank you Master Huo for your help." Tang Zhitong replied with a smile.

Tie Lao Da is powerful, and the Post Office is a little weaker, but the 49th City Bureau is still more confident when facing Tie Lao Da, because the Post Office is Tie Lao Da's creditor.

The postal carriage was attached to the back of the train and money had to be paid to the railway boss. There was no such thing as advance payment in those days. Everything was counted, verified, signed and paid every month.

Zhang Jinbo was responsible for statistics, Tang Zhitong was responsible for verification and signing, and then submitting it to the Municipal Bureau for payment.

The diligent ones pay on time every month, while the lazy ones may delay payment for ten days, half a month, or even a month.

If Master Huo had not known Tang Zhitong's identity, he could have ignored the investigation team, but it would have been a bit unreasonable for him to refuse to make concessions after finding out.

"Is Tang Ke on a business trip?" Zhang Jinbo also saw those people just now, but he didn't notice Tang Zhitong. Those people didn't look like Tang Zhitong's relatives, and they ordered eight breakfasts at once, so it was easy to guess why Tang Zhitong appeared in the train.

"I'm on a business trip. There's a project in the department, so I went along for the trip." Although Tang Zhitong doesn't smoke anymore, he always has cigarettes in his pocket. He rummaged through his pocket, preparing to find a chance to give Zhang Jinbo a box. If Zhang Jinbo hadn't shown up today, it would have been really difficult to coordinate this meal of noodles.

"That's amazing! Tang Ke is participating in the department's projects?!" Zhang Jinbo was very surprised.

"It has something to do with my work before I came to our escort department. Maybe the higher-ups thought I was familiar with it, so they appointed me as the general." Tang Zhitong did not tell the details of the matter.

Tang Zhitong didn't say what it was about, and Zhang Jinbo didn't ask any further questions. The two of them just chatted casually about the escort department while waiting for Master Huo to cook the noodles.

Chef Huo was very nice. The portion of noodles was obviously larger than when they went to Wuhan. He was also thoughtful enough to prepare a cart for Tang Zhitong and didn't even ask for a deposit for the lunch box.

After returning to the partition where the investigation team was, Tang Zhitong distributed the noodles to everyone, and naturally received a lot of thanks. Some people even praised Tang Zhitong for his solution.

"Well, what can I do? You are just using the banner of our department to bully others." Then, Tang Zhitong briefly talked about the expenses but did not mention the plan to give cigarettes.

This kind of thing is not very glorious. You can do it yourself, but you cannot talk about it alone.

After breakfast, Huang Ruifeng took the lead in giving the money for noodles to Tang Zhitong, and Tang Zhitong happily took it.

Afterwards, Tang Zhitong ran to the restaurant again and returned the cart and lunch box to Master Huo. While thanking him, he also stuffed a box of Daqianmen into the bag. Master Huo did not refuse and took it with a smile.

Afterwards, Tang Zhitong did not return to the berth, but continued to walk towards the rear of the train. Since he had met Zhang Jinbo, as a colleague from the same unit, he should at least go over and show his face, right?
(End of this chapter)