Return to 1983 Hunting Xing'an Mountains

Chapter 723 Going to the Streets to Ask Someone for a Favor: My Heart is Full of Mischief
Since his rebirth, Xu Ning has had a smooth life and has hardly encountered any trouble. But now he has encountered such a disgusting thing, and he really can't get over this!
If Xu Ning doesn't take action, others will think that he, Xu Er, is a clay puppet that anyone can poke at.

Since the two Zhao brothers are jealous, inexplicably causing trouble, and even resorting to malicious tricks, then don't blame Xu Ning for being full of bad intentions!

Either don't do it at all, or do it to the extreme, and no amount of pleading will help!

On the way to the village, Li Fuqiang rolled his eyes and said, "Brother, shouldn't we go to the town to discuss this? Just making a phone call doesn't seem very sincere."

Xu Ning shook his head: "I won't call the neighborhood yet. I need to ask Brother Bin something."

"Ah." Li Fuqiang understood what he wanted to ask.

The two entered the village headquarters, and Du Shoucai frowned and asked, "Have you found the person who stole your traps?"

"We should have found it, but without evidence, we can't be very accurate."

Du Shoucai looked up and grumbled, "Whether it's accurate or not, just find him and deal with him! Otherwise, they'll keep messing with you behind your back."

Xu Ning felt a warmth in his heart. Du Shoucai had watched him grow up since he was a child and truly treated him like a nephew. Moreover, the relationship between the two families was not ordinary. If someone dared to scheme against the Xu family behind their backs, wouldn't that be openly targeting Du Shoucai?

Xu Ning laughed and said, "Grandpa, I already have a plan in mind. Just watch how I deal with them."

Du Shoucai nodded: "As long as you have a plan in mind, that's fine. If you can't handle it, just tell me and I'll deal with him."

"Okay, I'll make a call now."

Xu Ning turned around and picked up the phone, taking two or three minutes to get through to the city's education bureau.

After two transfers and reports, Hu Zhibin finally answered the phone: "Er Ning? Your call comes at just the right time. I'll be at school in about ten minutes."

"You're quite busy with work, Brother Bin?"

"I'm busy running around. Oh dear, you guys go wait in the car for a bit, I got a call from home... Go ahead, Erning."

Hearing that he had something to do, Xu Ning said directly, "Then I'll get straight to the point. Last time, Zhou Dayong from the Hongxing Police Station in our neighborhood asked you for a favor..."

“It’s all done. His child won’t be able to come back to school until after the New Year. The final exams are coming up soon. Oh, right, after the final exams, your little sister and the others will have to go back to the village. We can just have Lao Qian send them back. I ran into your brother the other day, and he said he seems to have to go to the provincial capital.”

"Oh, going to the provincial capital? My brother didn't tell the family about this."

"Maybe it's not finalized yet. Why do you need to talk to Zhou Dayong?"

"Yeah, I was thinking of asking him to do something for me."

"Then you should go directly to him."

"Okay, you go ahead and get busy. Let's get together sometime when we have time."

"I'll be free after the students finish their exams, so we can get together at home."

"Okay."

As soon as Xu Ning looked up after hanging up the phone, Du Shoucai laughed and said, "You want to ask Zhou Dayong to handle this?"

"Yeah, this is infuriating. I didn't do anything to them. Ugh... let's talk about it after we're done. We're heading out now."

"go Go."

After leaving the garrison, Xu Ning and Li Fuqiang went straight home.

Upon entering, Xu Laonian, Wang Erli, and the others had already left, leaving only the old woman chopping radishes and kneading dough.

"Mom, is there anything we need to buy? I'm going to the market."

Liu Lizhen smiled at Han Fengjiao and the others, and said, "Look, I told you he couldn't stay at home. He's always either running around in the mountains or wandering around somewhere else."

The old woman looked up and laughed. Liu Lizhen said, "Let's buy some rock sugar and yellow paper. Is there anything else you need?"

"Just buy some yellow paper..."

"Okay, I'll take twenty more bundles of incense..."

These items were all for offerings, because it was already mid-January, and there were only a few days left until the Laba Festival. As the saying goes, once Laba is over, the New Year is just around the corner. As the end of the year approaches, every household prepares yellow paper, red paper, incense, offering bowls, and other items. In addition, they also prepare ingredients for making Laba porridge.

When Xu Ning heard that they all wanted to buy something, he asked Sun Lianfang to tear off a piece of paper and write it down. After Sun Lianfang finished writing, she added two more strokes and said, "Brother, why don't you buy some instant noodles too?"

"Okay, we don't need to buy meat or anything?"

Liu Lizhen said, "If you have time, go to the market and buy two geese and an old hen."

"Okay, we'll be back before dinner."

After saying that, Xu Ning put away the note and waved to Li Fuqiang and Wang Hu to set off.

The three of them walked to the gate of the courtyard, got into the old Dongfeng car, and then Li Fuqiang drove the car into the street.

Xu Ning arrived in the town at exactly 10:30. Instead of going to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy things, he went directly to the Hongxing Police Station.

The old Dongfeng truck was parked by the roadside. Xu Ning got out of the car and walked to the door. Just as he was about to step inside, someone came up to him and asked, "Comrade, what's the matter?"

Xu Ning turned around and saw a young man, but he looked older than him, so he said, "I'm looking for Director Zhou. Is he in class?"

"Excuse me, who are you?"

"My name is Xu..."

Before he could finish speaking, he heard the sound of a motorcycle behind him, followed by someone shouting, "Xu Ning?!"

Xu Ning turned his head and saw a familiar face, Bian Baoguo, who had come to his house last time to investigate Yang Dong's death.

"Bian Gong'an, did you just come back from a mission?"

"Hey, Liu'er, this is Xu Pao, the tiger-fighting hero. Didn't you mention him in the newspaper last time?"

"Hey! You're Xu Pao? You look so young, I didn't even recognize you!"

Xu Ning laughed and said, "Don't make fun of me with all this 'Xu Cannon' stuff."

"This is no joke. You've been in the newspapers several times. You're quite famous in Qing'an."

Bian Baoguo's attitude has improved. He was a bit arrogant when he met Xu Ning before, but now he is very approachable.

He said, "Alright, Liu'er, did Xu Pao come to the station for something?"

"I had some free time to come to the street, thinking I'd have a meal with Director Zhou."

"Alright, let's go inside together. Director Zhou should be in his office. I've heard him talking about you these days."

Bian Baoguo led Xu Ning into the courtyard, where there were quite a few people. Once inside the house, there were even more people, mostly civilians and police officers in green uniforms, all bustling about, the buzzing sound like a market.

Zhou Dayong was mediating between the two groups of people. He turned his head and glanced at Bian Baoguo. He was stunned to see Xu Ning behind him. Then he smiled at him and nodded, indicating that he should wait a moment.

Bian Baoguo, being worldly-wise, led Xu Ning to Zhou Dayong's office. It was called an office, but it was actually just a small room with windows, from which one could see directly into the office area.

"Wait a moment, I've been so busy lately, just dealing with all sorts of trivial things..."

Xu Ning and Bian Baoguo chatted for about 10 minutes when Zhou Dayong pushed open the door and walked in, smiling, "What brings you to town today? I heard you went to Sandaohe." "I just got back. Do you have time for lunch? Let's go out for a bite."

Zhou Dayong was taken aback for a moment, then laughed and said, "Sure, it's on me! You can't try to take it from me."

"Haha, will that work? I was thinking of asking you to do something for me."

"Getting things done is one thing, treating people to a meal is another. I absolutely cannot let you pay. If you do, I won't do the job."

The two exchanged a smile, and Zhou Dayong turned to Bian Baoguo and said, "Go tell Zhang Zheng that I have something to do at noon."

After Bian Baoguo left, Zhou Dayong took off his uniform, changed into civilian clothes, and put on a thick cotton-padded coat.

Under normal circumstances, Zhou Dayong does not wear a uniform unless the institute is busy or he is frequently on missions. Wearing a uniform does have a deterrent effect, and if he wears civilian clothes, his work efficiency will decrease by 30%.

The two walked out of the courtyard gate, and Xu Ning pointed to the old Dongfeng truck by the roadside and said, "Where should we eat?"

"Let's go to the old restaurant on North Street. The owner is my best friend."

Wang Hu and Li Fuqiang greeted Zhou Dayong from outside the car, then went into the passenger compartment. Xu Ning drove, and Zhou Dayong sat in the passenger seat. They chatted all the way to North Street.

An iron pot sat outside the old restaurant, simmering what appeared to be pickled cabbage, steaming in the biting cold.

Zhou Dayong pushed open the door and shouted, "Dafeng! Hurry up and greet the guests."

"Holy crap, who am I looking for? What are you doing here?"

Zhou Dayong turned around and said, "I'm having a meal with my brother. It's inconvenient to eat out, so I came here. Quickly prepare four dishes, all meat dishes, okay? It's my treat today, so don't make me lose face."

The boss, Da Feng, glanced at the young Xu Ning, and Li Fuqiang and Wang Hu behind him, smiled and nodded: "Alright, it has to be good wine and good food!"

It wasn't mealtime, so there weren't many people in the old restaurant, but Zhou Dayong still led Xu Ning and the other two into the inner room.

The proprietress carried the teapot into the room and said with a smile, "This young man is really handsome. Where did you meet him?"

"Oh my god, sister-in-law, take a closer look. You've already forgotten me after only two or three years?"

Xu Ning was stunned upon hearing this; when had he ever seen the landlady before?

The proprietress tilted her head and examined her closely, then patted her hip and exclaimed, "Hey! Isn't this that rascal who doesn't pay for his meal..."

"What are you saying, sister-in-law? Didn't we bring you money later?"

"Yes, that's right... no wonder it looked so familiar."

Xu Ning only vaguely remembered it when he heard this. It seemed that he had eaten and drunk at many restaurants for free when he was playing in the street, but that was so many years ago.

"Brother, you've actually done this before?"

Xu Ning chuckled shamelessly, "I did it quite a bit. Back then, I was young and naive. When I went out to play, I wanted to eat something nice, but I didn't have any money in my pocket. What could I do? I could only eat for free."

Zhou Dayong laughed and said, "It's been so many years. Besides, you were young back then. Do you even remember the first time we met?"

Seeing that they were catching up, the proprietress very considerately went out to the kitchen to find the owner, Dafeng, and said, "Boss, how come Dayong is hanging out with hooligans?"

"What hoodlum? Stop spouting nonsense. Da Yong said he's treating us to dinner as soon as we came in. What do you know?"

The proprietress retorted, "You think you know everything! Do you remember that one evening four years ago when three kids came into our house and ordered a pot of stewed meat? That handsome young man from earlier was the leader!"

Da Feng said, "It's been four years. Who doesn't grow up? Can you hold a grudge about this little thing forever? Don't talk nonsense. Have you ever seen Da Yong treat anyone to a meal? Even his supervisors haven't taken his job. Stop worrying about it and hurry up and put some deboned meat in the pot."

Inside the room, Zhou Dayong, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, chuckled and said, "That's right. You beat that kid so badly his face was covered in blood. I was thinking he might have died... But whatever happens, happens. You were pretty careful with your strength."

"Absolutely. If I didn't have a sense of propriety, would I still be alive today?"

"Haha, you're absolutely right!"

They chatted for a long time inside the house until the dishes of stewed chicken with mushrooms, stewed pork belly with sauerkraut, deboned meat, stewed carp, and stir-fried pork intestines were served. Only then did Zhou Dayong pour them three full glasses of wine.

"Director Zhou, I don't drink at all. You drink with my brother."

"Yes, my older brother is allergic to alcohol, so the three of us will drink."

"Alright... then I have to toast you with this first glass. If it weren't for you speaking up, my child's situation would be in real trouble."

"Hey, Brother Zhou, it's not a big deal, it's not that serious. I was just thinking of asking you for a favor today, but now that you've brought it up, I don't even know how to ask."

"One thing at a time. You should express your gratitude. I'll pay half first, and you can see if I'm sincere."

Seeing that Zhou Dayong had drunk half a glass, Xu Ning did not stop him, because this was a necessary step to enhance their relationship. He drank half, and Xu Ning followed suit. The two put down their glasses, picked up their chopsticks, took a few bites of food, and calmed their stomachs.

"Brother Zhou has a good alcohol tolerance."

Zhou Dayong laughed and said, "It's alright. I can make more than a pound of this millet wine. How's it doing at home? The farm is doing pretty well."

"Nothing much happened in Lengchang, but my snares at the foot of Nanshan Mountain were stolen. There were over 80 snares in total, and I only had 20 left. They weren't worth much anyway, so I thought I'd just let it go. But who knew the thief would scatter poison on the ground! They almost poisoned my dog ​​to death..."

Zhou Dayong frowned deeply: "Poisoning? This is a serious matter. Your dog is quite precious, is it alright?"

"Luckily, I was quick enough to pull it back in time, otherwise the dog would have eaten two pills and been gone."

"Oh my god, the person who used those poisoned beans is ruthless! They've wiped out the very place where you guys used to set traps!"

"That's right. Now, if my family wants to eat pheasant, they have to travel an extra 10 miles. What used to be a good piece of land has now become a dead land."

"She's quite hateful! Have you got any evidence?"

"We haven't even seen the person, where are we supposed to find evidence?"

Xu Ning changed the subject, saying, "Hey, I just heard them say when I went into the station that the higher-ups are cracking down on gambling right now?"

Zhou Dayong squinted and smiled, "Yeah, but this kind of thing is not easy to catch. There are lookouts at their gambling dens. As soon as we entered the village, they ran away from the backyard. And even if we caught them, it would be useless because we have to catch them in the act, and the amount of money on the table has to reach a certain amount."

“Then why don’t you drive a sidecar? Just find a Jiefang truck and go into the village. Who would know?”

"Oh dear, we don't have any cars. We only have two sidecars, and the rest of us ride bicycles."

Xu Ning nodded and asked with a smile, "Hey, do you know Qian Shude from the supply and marketing cooperative?"

"Yes, we know each other..."

"When he gets back, I'll have him come over and have a chat with you?"

Zhou Dayong laughed and said, "Sure! Anyway, I'm on duty all month, so you can come over whenever you want."

Xu Ning raised his glass and said, "Brother Zhou, then I'll toast you with this glass."

"No need for toasts, let's drink together. After you finish, quickly eat a couple of bites of food, or you'll get heartburn."

Now that the business was over, Wang Hu joined the fray, drinking three cups of wine with Zhou Dayong, about 5 liang (250ml) each. Zhou Dayong, his face flushed, addressed Xu Ning and the other two as brothers, and Xu Ning, also beaming, put his arm around him. Although there was a significant age difference between the two, they were of one mind, so there was naturally no generation gap.

At 2:30, Zhou Dayong, Xu Ning, and Wang Hu had sobered up and sat in the inner room, drinking tea and chatting.

(End of this chapter)