Restarting life in Siheyuan

After rushing all the way and being questioned by several patrol teams, it was already past three in the morning when he got back to the compound. He felt that the two girls were still napping in the bedroom. Zhu Xuefeng was actually a little hesitant as if he had done something wrong and was afraid to face their parents. Well, he was a whole day later than expected and it was hard to explain.

He pushed the door open gently, and the damn door actually creaked slightly, startling the two women. Zhu Xuefeng sighed. The yard was really not so good without Daya's care. The door hadn't been oiled for more than a year.

"Damn it, you still remember to come back."

Xia Yuhong suddenly woke up and stood up. Lin Na carefully helped her close the door and turned up the kerosene lamp.

"You dug out all these antiques?" Zhu Xuefeng interrupted him quickly, remembering that there was a kerosene lamp in the study, which had not been used for some time since the electricity was connected.

"Aren't you afraid of attracting attention by turning on the light?"

Xia Yuhong looked at the man in the brighter light, full of suspicion.

"You reek of alcohol and look pale. Where have you been? Why did you come back just now? Did something happen to you?"

Xia Yuhong was full of questions. If he looked bad, he must have encountered something, but why did he smell like alcohol? She asked again. "I don't feel unwell. I was fine when I left yesterday."

When she heard that the man looked unhappy, Lin Na hurried over with a kerosene lamp to take a look at him, and sure enough, his face looked a little ugly.

"Why does he look like he's seriously ill? What happened?"

Xia Yuhong's words reminded Zhu Xuefeng, "It's nothing. I had a big drink with Xie Junjie and the others. I drank too much, so my face is naturally not good."

"Why did you drink so much for no reason? Take a break. I'll go get some hot water and make a cup of tea to sober you up."

The three of them sat down, and Zhu Xuefeng drank tea while briefly talking about the dynamics of the children in the compound. The two girls were also stunned.

"There's not much news this year. All the military commands came to Beijing to hold a grand military training competition, and then reiterated what was proposed last year: industry should learn from Daqing, agriculture should learn from Dazhai, and the people of the whole country should learn from the People's Liberation Army."

"That's good. It's getting late. Go get some rest. You two have to get up early for work tomorrow. Don't wait for me like an idiot next time. You two know my health condition."

Lin Na knew that there must be something going on, but it was indeed late and the man seemed very tired, so she stopped Xia Yuhong from asking questions. The three of them went to bed hastily. Zhu Xuefeng slept soundly. When he got up again, the two women had left, leaving only a breakfast covered in a basket on the dining table.

The jeep was speeding on the road. Old Yang knew that he was going back to his hometown to pick up his cousin to work, so he specially asked the car team to arrange it. It was the same jeep that Secretary Chen had used at that time. After Secretary Liu was transferred, the car became empty again.

The little sister was excitedly teasing Xiao Hei in the back seat. She was very happy about Xiao Hei's unexpected return, but Xiao Hei looked as if he had lost all hope in life and let the little sister rub him.

"Brother, why do I feel that Xiao Hei has grown a lot bigger after being outside for more than a month? Did I treat him badly before? But he doesn't like to eat even when I feed him."

Zhu Xuefeng smiled. Xiao Hei had strengthened again and naturally grown a little bigger. "Don't worry about it. It finds food on its own. It's in its growth period now. It's normal for it to grow up."

"Oh." The little sister was easy to fool. She rubbed her little face against Xiao Hei's smooth fur, her eyes full of happiness.

While driving, Zhu Xuefeng was thinking about Lao Yang's words. At the factory office meeting, Li Huaide proposed the suggestion of separating the vehicle factory and the rolling mill into separate factories. He pointed out that taking the path of a trust was the correct path for the vehicle factory to move towards specialization and to better serve national construction.

A single stone stirs up a thousand ripples, and the factory-level leaders of the steel rolling mill immediately started talking about it. Li Huaide once again pointed out that cooperation with Jinan is actually an attempt at the trust model. Everyone has seen the effect, and it has indeed played a good role in promoting the entire project. He expressed his admiration for Lao Yang's vision and repeatedly expressed his support for Lao Yang's exploration of the trust model.

Old Yang was a little frustrated for a while. Of course he knew about the exploration of the trust model, but he did not consider this when he advocated the merger with Jinan. However, it did in fact meet the prototype of the trust model. But Old Yang was also conflicted. The steel rolling mill had finally hatched a golden goose, but it was divided up like this. How could he appease the more than 10,000 employees?

In order to support the vigorous development of the vehicle factory, the steel rolling mill made huge investments. In particular, half a year ago, hundreds of technical and production management personnel were transferred there at once to support technical research and production management, which enabled the vehicle factory to explode again and develop rapidly.

Zhu Xuefeng is not clear about this period of history. He only knows that in his childhood textbooks, trust represents the monopoly model of capitalism. He doesn’t know anything else. But since the country is experimenting and exploring, there should be benefits worth learning from. Specialization and standardization can indeed give the industry a strong boost and development.

In the end, Zhu Xuefeng was unable to answer Lao Yang's question. He could only say that this was not something that could be determined in a short period of time. The superiors had not yet made any requirements, and the push from the bottom up would not be too fast. He could learn more before making a decision, and asked Lao Yang to seek the opinion of Deputy Minister Chen again.

"Brother, what are you thinking about? There's a big truck ahead!"

The younger sister thought the car was going very slowly and looked up in surprise, only to see that her older brother seemed a little distracted. There was a truck struggling to climb the hill not far ahead, so she quickly reminded him.

"Oh, I see, that doesn't slow things down."

Zhu Xuefeng quickly collected his thoughts and drove seriously. Fortunately, his younger sister reminded him, otherwise he would have to crash into the car before he reacted. However, he would never admit it.

"Oh, brother, just don't be distracted."

The little sister didn't say much and continued to play with Xiao Hei with her head down. Zhu Xuefeng blushed, as if the little sister had noticed that he was distracted.

"Brother was thinking about something and was distracted. Brother was wrong. Brother, please correct it."

"Brother, where were you the past few days? I hope your two sisters didn't say anything to you." The younger sister did not dwell on what her brother was thinking, but was concerned about the fact that he did not come home for two days and one night.

"I ran into some problems and had a drink with some friends. By the way, little sister, after we finish our senior year of high school, I will find a good university for you abroad, and you can study abroad directly, okay?"

Zhu Xuemei shook her head in the back, "No, I've made up my mind. I'm going to study in Beijing, at Tongji University. Our teacher said that as long as I keep up my current grades, there will be no problem."

Zhu Xuefeng shook his head. There was nothing he could do. He would talk about it when the time comes. Otherwise, he could look for an opportunity after his younger sister went to college.

Zhu Xuefeng didn't know that the jeep behind him was also talking about Vice Minister Chen. "Yes, the jeep in front belonged to Secretary Liu from the steel mill. The one in front should be the one left by Secretary Chen. I don't know who was driving in front to drive this car out."

"Brother Ma, do you want to chase after them and see who it is?" asked the jeep driver.

Ma shook his head. "That's not necessary. We are here to do something for Director Guo. Don't make any unnecessary trouble. Drive your car steadily and hurry to the place to arrange everything. The director is here to do something and doesn't want anyone to know. Keep a low profile."

If Zhu Xuefeng saw these two people, he would be very surprised, because they were Section Chief Ma, who had had a dispute with him over sesame cakes, and He Facheng, a policeman at Xizhimen Railway Station. They should have been in prison, but he didn't know how they were released.

The ravine was indeed a good place to escape the summer heat, and it was just right for Zhu Xuefeng to recuperate. In the middle of summer, his second uncle was reluctant to let him go to the fields to work, and the key point was that there was not much work to do. Occasionally, he helped to go to the fields to harvest some melons and pick some vegetables, but was always sent back by his second aunt.

"Xiao Feng, you are a foreign student now, you are very valuable, don't do this rough work, you can just accompany Xiao Mei to the mountains."

"Second aunt, look at what you said. I am still your eldest nephew. I should do whatever I should do. We are people from the mountains. We should not forget our roots. Please don't say that again. I feel embarrassed." Zhu Xuefeng expressed his attitude with a smile. It would not sound good if people said that he was ungrateful.

"That's right, my brother is not that spoiled. And, Second Aunt, my brother is an international student, not a foreign student." The younger sister reminded seriously, which made everyone laugh.

"Whether they are overseas students or foreign students, they are well-known in our area. Everyone says that they are specially trained by the country. Isn't that precious?"

No matter what, my uncle and aunt never let me go to the fields again, even though there wasn't much work to do.

"Xiaofeng, you don't need to help in the fields today. You can take a few kids to the mountains. It just rained the day before yesterday, so there should be a lot of wild vegetables. Just pick some and bring them back. Auntie will make you some wild vegetable dumplings."

"Brother, let's go. We haven't eaten wild vegetable dumplings for a long time." The younger sister became interested when she heard it. The three siblings all loved to eat wild vegetable dumplings. The so-called wild vegetable dumplings are actually wild vegetables stuffed with corn bread. Although they are not expensive, they taste really good. It is difficult to have the opportunity to eat them in the city.

"That's fine. Let's walk further away today. The hills around here have probably been plucked long ago."

When my younger brothers and sisters heard that they were going to go into the mountains, they were also very excited. After two years of large-scale cleanup, there were no wild beasts in the mountains. But their parents still didn't let them go. It would be easy to get lost in the mountains without an adult. With their eldest brother accompanying them, there would naturally be no problem.

"Hongying, take a few more bags. Weiguo, take the machete. Weihua, you are too young, just follow me."

Zhu Xuemei assigned tasks to her three younger brothers and sisters without any hesitation, and she happily followed with Xiao Hei. Zhu Xuefeng smiled and led his younger brothers and sisters into the mountains.

There are quite a few small animals. You can always see squirrels jumping on the trees, standing on the branches and looking at the intruding humans with curiosity, without fear. There are also hares and hedgehogs, and occasionally snakes and pheasants.

Several younger brothers and sisters were searching excitedly in the front, while Zhu Xuefeng was hanging behind. Several eagles had been released silently. It was a rare opportunity to practice the "Eagle Eye Technique" with the master.

The harvest on the nearby hills was indeed very small, as they had indeed been cleared out by the children in the village. The group walked deeper into the mountains. Xiao Hei had disappeared. After being strengthened again, Xiao Hei was at the top of the food chain in this mountain without any ferocious beasts. There was nothing to worry about.

Zhu Xuefeng held a bamboo leaf in his mouth, whistled from time to time, and admired the beautiful scenery of the mountains. Occasionally he picked some wild vegetables that had escaped the net. It might be that the rain water brought by last year's flood was absorbed by the mountains, or it might be that the light rain the day before yesterday awakened the mountains. The mountains seemed full of vitality. Several small pits that were usually dry still had a little water. It was a pity that there were no signs of animals drinking water. It was really clean.

After climbing over several hills, Zhu Xuefeng finally got a wild rabbit in his hand. This was another achievement of Xiao Hei. Unfortunately, after catching a wild rabbit, Xiao Hei was unwilling to hunt again no matter how Xiao Mei tempted him. He was a cat, and this was not within his business scope. He could only catch one because he was forced by his master. Xiao Hei, who had been strengthened again, no longer cared about wild rabbits.

"Brother, Xiao Hei is getting lazier and lazier. He's grown bigger and more arrogant." The younger sister pouted, no longer feeling the joy she had just had when she harvested the rabbit, nor the pride she had when her younger siblings envied her.

"Well, it's a cat after all, not a dog. You've never seen anyone take a cat hunting. Let's go. There are a lot of wild vegetables here. Let's pick some. We can ask Second Aunt to make a lot of wild vegetable dumplings for us. If we can't finish them, we can take them back."

The younger sister then let Xiao Hei go and happily took her younger brothers and sisters to hunt for treasure. There should be few people coming here, as all kinds of wild vegetables are everywhere, such as wild onions, wild garlic, monkey legs, ferns, wild spinach, cucumber fragrance, day lilies, wild lilies, etc. There are many varieties and they are too numerous to count.

These wild vegetables can be eaten cold, stir-fried or pickled, and they are all delicious and you will never tire of eating them. In the north, there are not many vegetables in winter, so there is a tradition of making dried vegetables. If these wild vegetables are prepared into dried vegetables and stored, they are delicious to enjoy in winter. In later generations, they are also rare and precious gifts for relatives and friends.

"Come quickly, Hongying, I found a treasure. There are wild vegetables underneath."

The younger sister stood on a big rock again, pointing at the slope below and shouting. The younger brothers and sisters naturally listened to the call of the "third sister" with laughter. The joy of finding good things in the mountains made them forget the time, and they filled two large bags unknowingly, weighing almost thirty kilograms.

"Brother, these are too much. We have enough vegetables in our vegetable garden. You really have to carry them all down." The fourth brother, Zhu Weiguo, was frightened when he saw the two bags of wild vegetables. He couldn't help but remind him that this time he would be taken to take over.

"Yeah, I couldn't help picking them when I saw them, and I accidentally picked so many. Let's go, I'll carry them later."

Zhu Xuefeng couldn't help but be happy. The mountains were full of treasures, especially these deep mountains where few people came. His younger brothers and sisters were quick-handed and there were all kinds of wild vegetables everywhere in the mountains. They were so tempting that they could not stop and they could get a good harvest without being careful.

"Brother, let me do it. My mother said that I will do the rough work. Brother is precious. Brother, I have plenty of strength." The fourth brother is actually only 160 cm tall now, just turned , and is shorter than the younger sister. The family's situation has improved in the past two years. He is not as skinny as before and seems to have gained some weight.

"Jin Gui, you don't need that." Zhu Xuefeng gave the fourth brother a slap without any hesitation. The fourth brother covered his head and smiled foolishly.

"You should go with your third sister and the others to find some fun things."

The fourth brother, however, was so naive that he just took a small rope, tied the two bags together, connected them with a rope, turned over and put the bags on his shoulders, hanging them one in front and one behind, without even feeling the tightness on his shoulders. What a fool he was.

"Brother, it's not heavy, I can do it."

Zhu Xuefeng smiled at his fourth brother, who had a good temper. He pointed to a hill not far away and said, "Let's go over there and take a look. If we are lucky, there should be a lot of hazel mushrooms and mountain mushrooms."

(End of this chapter)