Restarting life by going to the countryside to support medical work

Chapter 599 Amazing
While Tong Xiurong was still figuring out how to subtly and smoothly let others know that she and Luo Min had a very good relationship, someone had already come up with a solution for her.

When she got into the black sedan at six o'clock in the afternoon, she realized how her old classmate had arranged things.

Luo Min's method was very simple and direct.

Come to my house this afternoon and stay overnight in my yard. That's all. I guarantee everyone who needs to know will know by tomorrow.

There's nothing she can do; her man is the focus of many people's attention. Where did his car go? Where did he go? Who did he meet? How long did they meet? And so on. Everyone is constantly watching.

It's not that anyone is deliberately monitoring Li Yancheng; it's just that his every move is now affecting the hearts of too many people.

Especially for those generations who operate in the gray area, this Deputy Director Li is like the Sword of Damocles hanging over their heads.

Even if someone else is caught red-handed, they can still use their identity, background, money, and so on to save themselves. If all else fails, they can throw out a "scapegoat," then lie low for a while and make a comeback once the storm has passed.

But when they encountered this person, all their previously invincible methods became useless.

In terms of background, there are few people in the entire capital with a more powerful background than him, after all, his father-in-law is the top official.

In terms of status, at less than forty years old, he is in charge of the entire criminal investigation team in Beijing. Although the older men in their families may have higher ranks, in terms of real power, they may not have as much as him. You should know that there is no armed police now. Apart from the military, all security and emergency response forces in the country are in the hands of the public security.

Speaking of money, in this era where you need all sorts of special receipts to buy things, is money useful? Of course it is, you can't do without money even if you have a receipt. But compared to the future, its usefulness is not that great, because there is a shortage of all kinds of goods in the country, and having money may not necessarily allow you to buy what you want.

Take cars, for example. Private ownership of cars is not allowed in China right now. So what can you do even if you're rich? Want to buy a car and enjoy the convenience of travel? Just dream about it.

Some exceptionally skilled individuals manage to skirt the rules, spending money to assemble a car and register it under a fleet of vehicles for their own use. Even then, they still have to worry about refueling from time to time. Unlike later generations where gas stations are everywhere, these days you need special gasoline or diesel tickets to refuel your car at the fuel depot.

Don't assume that having a ticket guarantees you'll get gas. These days, gasoline and diesel are rationed. Without connections, sometimes even if you go with a ticket, they might not give you gas and just dismiss you with a "no gas" excuse.

This applies to individuals and organizations alike. Some organizations don't have a good relationship with fuel depots. When logistics staff go to buy fuel, the depot will simply say that the quota for this month is already gone and to come back next month, leaving you speechless.

What if you can't buy gas? No problem, just leave the car there and don't drive it.

This is no joke. There are many units that have cars but no fuel, especially at the grassroots level. For example, in a commune at the bottom, there are many jeeps that they have managed to get after much pleading and begging, but because they can't get fuel, the cars sit there collecting dust for most of the month.

Not to mention local units, even grassroots police stations are the same. Unless it's a major or emergency operation, they don't dare to drive their vehicles at all, for fear of running out of gas when things are peaceful and then being useless in a big operation.

This situation did not improve until the mid-to-late 1990s.

In an era when all resources were planned and supplied, money was not a panacea.

Those people are able to make money because they can obtain a lot of unplanned supplies through their connections.

However, the methods they used were irregular and even illegal, because there are explicit regulations that prohibit the private buying and selling of those special tickets for planned supply.

This area falls under the jurisdiction of the public security department.

Therefore, those generations who were involved in this matter couldn't help but care about Li Yancheng's whereabouts. They were also worried that if this guy ever got into a bad mood, he might order his subordinates to sweep them up.

Actually, the news that he appeared at Tong Xiurong's teahouse this morning and met with Chen Xiangtian had already spread throughout most of Beijing before noon.

Why did these two meet? No need to guess, it's probably because of Chen's third son. That old bastard is much wilder than those of them who deal in scarce supplies. There's nothing he wouldn't dare to do. This time, he must have done something wrong and fallen into the hands of that Deputy Director Li.

They didn't care about that. They weren't on the same side as Chen Laosan, and whether Chen Laosan lived or died wouldn't affect their business.

What they were more concerned about was that Li Yancheng left half an hour after Chen Xiangtian left, and that Tong Xiurong, whom he saw off, was wearing a cheongsam that they had never seen before.

There's a lot worth discussing here.

Most of the rumors circulating about Tong Xiurong are just sour grapes. If this woman really has something to do with Li Yancheng, then they really need to be more discreet.

Just as these people were wondering how Li Yancheng could be so bold as to have a relationship with that charming woman, they heard in the afternoon that the woman had gone to Luo Min's house again.

Hoho…

Only then did people remember that Tong Xiurong and Luo Min were childhood playmates, and the couple were supporting each other!
These people bullied a widow simply because their own selfish desires were not satisfied, which is truly despicable.

But now things are much better. With Luo Min's move, once the news gets out, all the rumors and gossip will soon disappear.

Nobody wants to get into trouble for being quick-witted.

"Wei Dong, where is he? Is he going to have to work overtime today?"

Not seeing her man after getting into the car, Luo Min asked.

"Uh...no, no, there's no need to work overtime today. Section Chief Luo, Director Li had the canteen purchasing department buy some mutton today. He went home early and picked up his child. He asked me to tell you that we're having barbecue tonight."

"Hey……"

Luo Min excitedly patted Tong Xiurong's thigh, who was sitting in the back row with her.

"You're really lucky. You got to see him making barbecue on your first visit to my house."

"Uh... Xiaomin, Director Li cooked himself?"

"Hehe," Luo Min chuckled sheepishly and said, "I can only guarantee that the food is cooked through, but the taste is terrible. I can't even eat it myself, and my two kids won't even touch it. So usually, unless he's busy, he cooks. If he's not around, I take the kids back over there for dinner."

She was being somewhat modest in her words. She wasn't a very good cook in the past, but she has been learning over the years and has made significant progress. She's not so bad at cooking that she can't eat, and she can definitely fill her stomach.

But as long as Li Yancheng is home, he definitely won't let her cook. That's true, when there's something delicious to eat, no one would choose something unpalatable, right?

A look of surprise flashed in Tong Xiurong's eyes. She really didn't expect that Li Yancheng, who had gone to such lengths, would still be able to cook at home. Moreover, the happiness on Luo Min's face and the slight embarrassment on her face were genuine.

“Xiaomin, back then I heard you married a bastard... uh... many people thought it wasn’t worth it, but look at it now, let’s see who dares to say it wasn’t worth it.”

Now?

Now everyone is incredibly envious.

Especially now that Li Yancheng has a biological family, and it's a wealthy Chinese family in the U.S., many people who are qualified to know about this are green with envy.

Indeed, many people didn't understand why the Luo family's youngest daughter married a divorced man. Although Grandpa Luo was idle in his factory in the Northwest at the time, even a fallen camel is bigger than a horse. If he wanted, he could easily find his youngest daughter a better match. But instead, she married a divorced man, and not only that, no one in the family helped her out...

Those who thought it wasn't worth it back then didn't consider that Li Yancheng was all alone, so his marriage to Luo Min meant the Luo family would have another son.

More importantly, this son-in-law is too capable. Not to mention others, even Grandpa Fang regrets it. When the old brothers get together, they often say that they should have introduced their daughter to Li Yancheng back then.

Every time he heard this, Grandpa Luo would laugh so hard his eyebrows and beard would dance, praising his youngest daughter for her good taste. "What's the point of talking about whether it's worth it or not? You have to bear the ups and downs of life yourself. If you want to live a good life, you still have to work hard together as a couple."

In my family, he cooks the meals, and I'm very conscientious about cleaning up afterward. He takes care of the kids, but I definitely won't let him do anything else, like laundry or cleaning.

Our family has always been like this, and I think it's fine.

"I envy you guys. I'm single now, and sometimes I can't even find someone to talk to."

For Tong Xiurong, the hardest time was at night. During the day, whether at work or in a teahouse, she could always find someone to talk to. But at night, she lived alone in her single dormitory, feeling truly lonely, isolated, and cold.

She was especially upset if the dorm next door was occupied by a couple and the room wasn't well soundproofed.

She did consider finding someone else, but she didn't like the men who wanted to marry her, and the men she liked were already married. Sigh!
Luo Min smiled and patted Tong Xiurong's hand.

“What’s there to envy? Every family has its own hardships. When he was working at the Social Affairs Bureau, he often had to travel on business. Our unit had strict discipline, and he would never tell me where he was going or what he was doing. Once he left, we would completely lose contact. Every time he went out, I couldn’t sleep for nights on end.”

Five years ago, he went away for three months without making any phone calls. You wouldn't know. During that time, what I feared most was being called to the boss's office. I was afraid that the boss would call me over to say something bad. I even avoided the boss when I saw him.

Those days were truly agonizing; looking back now, I don't even know how I managed to get through them.

At this point, Luo Min smiled slightly and continued, "I'm not afraid to admit it, but there was a time when I even considered getting a divorce."

"Huh?" Tong Xirong asked in surprise, "How did you come up with such an idea?"

"The psychological pressure was just too much. Whenever he was away on a business trip, my legs would go weak when I heard the phone ring at night. I was thinking, what is he doing this for?"

Later, I told my mom, and she almost slapped me across the face. That was the first time I'd ever seen her angry. She told me that if I dared to even think about it, there was no need for a divorce; she'd just beat me to death.

So you gave up on the idea?

“No, that’s really not it.” Luo Min shook her head with a smile: “It’s really not because my mother said those things that I stopped thinking about this. To be honest, I don’t have any ambition or extra thoughts. I just want my family to be safe and happy. I really feel that I can’t continue living in such a state of anxiety.”

"So what made you change your mind later?" Tong Xiurong asked, very curious.

"There was a time when a case was concluded and the bureau held a commendation and award ceremony. At that time, the headquarters leaders and the higher-ups also came."

He received a first-class merit that time, wasn't that an honor?

"A first-class merit, that's such an honor!"

"Hehe, do you know? He was shot three times – once in the leg, once in the stomach, and once in the right shoulder. I didn't know any of that. By the time he came back, his injuries had almost healed."

When he came back, I saw the scabbed scars on his body, and he broke down and cried uncontrollably. I didn't even know I could still have so many tears.

Rongrong, can you imagine what it's like to operate on yourself? I still can't imagine how he could do that to himself. Now you understand how I feel, right?

Even though it happened a long time ago, she still gets teary-eyed whenever she thinks about it.

Tong Xiurong listened for a long time without being able to say a word, and could only keep stroking Luo Min's hand.

Although her father-in-law was also a veteran revolutionary, like the old man of the Chen family, he had been working in the base areas during the war years. In other words, no one in the Huang family was in the army. She was the same age as Luo Min and was born after the liberation. She had never seen the cruelty of war with her own eyes, but had only heard stories of heroes. She had admired heroes since she was a child.

But stories are just stories. If this really happened to one's own family, I believe few people would want their loved ones to become that kind of hero.

Luo Min is just an ordinary person. He can accept the situation of his lover being missing once in a while, since that's his job. But if it happens frequently, even the most hard-hearted person will feel like they're going to break down.

Before she got married, someone had talked to her about this. At that time, she was full of hope for marriage and believed she could handle it.

But when it really happens, once, twice, three times...

When she realized that this life of fear and anxiety had no end in sight, she began to back down. To be precise, Luo Min suffered from severe depression during those years.

The external environment was chaotic; every day, you heard stories of people being sent to the countryside for labor or being dismissed from their posts. Old Master Luo was exhausted from being busy all those years, and he had to proceed with extreme caution.

Her husband often travels all over the country for work, and she raises two children alone. She has to worry about the children, care about her family, and is also afraid of her husband's trips. It is really amazing that she can manage to do it.

She was only in her early twenties at the time. Living like that for a long time would definitely cause her mental breakdown.

But how did she manage to adjust?

Luo Min's eyes were somewhat unfocused. In a daze, she felt as if she had returned to the award ceremony where her husband had earned his second first-class merit, which was also the only one he had done since they got married.

"At that conference, he gave a speech as a representative. Just as he was about to finish his speech, he said something very bold and did something that caused an uproar among all the attendees."

As she said this, Luo Min's big eyes suddenly became bright and sparkling.

"What? What did Director Li say?" Tong Xiurong asked curiously.

"As far as I can remember, that sentence was definitely not in his speech. He must have added it on the spot. I remember that after he finished reading the speech, he looked up and stared straight at me. When our eyes met, I had a very strong feeling that he was about to do something."

Sure enough, after looking at me, he continued, "The medal I'm wearing doesn't belong to me alone. At least half, maybe more than half, belongs to another person, my beloved, Comrade Luo Min."

"Wow..." Tong Xiurong didn't know how the people at the venue reacted when they heard Li Yancheng say those words, but she exclaimed in surprise, her eyes sparkling.

She never expected that Director Li, who seemed indifferent but was actually aloof, would be so bold as to speak like that in the presence of superiors and headquarters leaders.

But that wasn't all. What Luo Min said next almost made her eyes pop out and fall to the ground.

"After he finished speaking, he didn't care how surprised everyone was. He walked down from the podium, ran to me, pulled me to my feet, took off the medal that the leader had just given him and pinned it to my chest. He also gave me a very solemn salute."

He also said something at that time, not loudly, but I heard it very clearly: "Wife, you've worked hard."

Honestly, Rongrong, at that moment, it was as if a ray of sunshine shone directly into my somewhat gloomy heart, making me suddenly feel enlightened.

I feel it was all worth it. I can clearly feel that he needs me. Everything I've done at home has been worth it. He protects everyone, and I'm willing to protect our little family for him.

"My God! Xiaomin, I really didn't expect Director Li to do something so... so unbelievable."

Tong Xiurong didn't know what words to use to describe what Li Yancheng did at that moment.

"Hehe, right? So from that moment on, my thinking completely changed. I even felt that my previous self was a bit ridiculous."

(End of this chapter)