1988: Back to the human world for a few years

Chapter 46 Housewarming Night
Getting promoted, getting a house, and getting married are the three most important things in the lives of employees of state-owned enterprises today, so the newly built family quarters is particularly lively tonight.

Some people light fire pots to invite the Kitchen God.

There are people who spray talismans and water to determine the door gods.

There are incense arches,

There are people pouring candles to line the walls.
There are people handing out red envelopes at the door to invite people to come and have a good time...

In short, the huge family quarters was filled with smoke and firecrackers, and a thick layer of red shredded paper was piled up in the aisle. If it hadn't been for the hasty preparations, the dragon lanterns would probably have danced for you.

Of course, as native people of Qi and Lu, the newbies in the general office certainly don’t understand these house-setting ceremonies that are full of southwestern mystery, but this does not prevent them from celebrating this important moment in their lives as young people.

………………

"Dear, little sister, please don't cry~"

"Where is your home? I will take you back~!"

In the courtyard of No. 4, Row 7, West District, more than ten pots of various dishes were placed on four folding low tables that were obtained from somewhere, and a charcoal basin was considerately placed in the middle with a few red bricks.

A 24-inch color TV was moved directly to the small courtyard of less than ten square meters. Next to the messy electrical wires, there was a VCR, which was considered a luxury item at the time, and two small speakers.

Su Yu, who was usually a taciturn person, got together with a few people and sang heart-wrenchingly into the microphone. The song he sang was naturally the popular "The Girl Under the Streetlight".

It was not quite the same as planned. Originally, they were only planning to entertain colleagues in the department, but as they were tinkering around in the afternoon, Zhang Lin from the service team and two other friends who got along well with Su Yu Lao Si and the others joined in, making the already small room even more crowded.

Fortunately, we were all young and didn't care about so many things, so we just moved the dining place to the small courtyard, spread two layers of picked up cardboard on the ground, and sat on the ground in the cold weather.

Since they were dining outside in the middle of winter, they naturally had to drink to keep warm. So in less than an hour, there were more than a dozen bottles scattered on the ground. As everyone drank more, they became more and more unscrupulous, and the atmosphere became even more lively.

"Hey, Lao Si, where is Yang Mo? Why hasn't he come yet? Today is such an important day, is that guy not going to give me face?"

After drinking two ounces of wine, the extremely repressed comrade Bao Shuxian was inspired to write some poetry. Just when the few lines of poetry brewing in his stomach were about to burst out, someone suddenly patted him on the shoulder, completely dispelling the inspiration that he had finally captured.

As we all know, for a poet, having his inspiration interrupted when he is in the mood for poetry is a matter of life and death. If it were someone else, Bao Shuxian would have pounced on him viciously and used his lean body to fight the other person to the death.

But after looking at the big hand on his shoulder, Comrade Lao Si's lips trembled a few times, but he still couldn't get angry - the owner of the big hand was Cai Zhaofeng, a bastard who was at least twice as strong as himself.

"How should I know what Yang Mo did? If you have the guts, go ask Director Zhang yourself. It was Director Zhang who took him away... Besides, Su Yu, the host, is not anxious at all, so why are you so anxious?" Bao Shuxian rolled his eyes and nudged him while still being drunk.

As an expert in workplace gossip, Comrade Four Eyes naturally knew that this guy was an idiot who regarded Yang Mo as a potential love rival.

Brother, if Yang Mo was interested in Tu Lili, he would have captured her long ago. Is it your turn to hang around the little girl all day?
A love rival?
Do you deserve it?
Hearing this guy bring up Director Zhang, Cai Zhaofeng, who had almost no experience in workplace struggles, was at a loss for words. He laughed twice and said, "It's almost half past eight. It's freezing cold. If he doesn't come, we'll have to leave... It doesn't matter to us boys, but the girls are not that hardy!"

In the north these days, when winter comes, people usually start eating at 5:30 in the evening, and after 8 o'clock everyone stays indoors, so 8:30 is indeed a very late time for a dinner party - plus, it's freezing cold, so even if there's a charcoal grill, it's not a good idea to keep it in the yard all the time.

Seeing this guy showing his gentle and considerate attitude in front of Tu Lili again, Bao Shuxian curled his lips and was about to say something back at him when Zhang Lin's voice suddenly came.

"Huh? Yang Mo was supposed to come today? This morning I saw him chatting with Director Zhang in our Section Chief He's office for a long time, and then he hurried to the Geological Brigade. I thought he didn't have time to come today."

Zhang Lin sat back on the cardboard, put his hand next to the charcoal brazier and leaned towards the fire, then looked at everyone strangely, as if wondering why these people, who were all from the same department, didn't know where Yang Mo had gone.

Chatted with Director Zhang for a long time in Section Chief He’s office?
After all, they had worked in the drilling company for more than half a year, so they had at least some basic sense of smell and immediately looked at each other in bewilderment.

You know, unlike the second-in-command who is responsible for the daily work of the department, small fry like them rarely have direct contact with the top leader like the section chief at work on weekdays - even if they do, they often just get a "hmm" from the other party at the moment of handing over the documents.

Think about it, even the heads of ordinary departments are so difficult to contact, let alone a key department like the service brigade with unspeakably lucrative resources?

Haven’t you seen that there are always long queues in the yard of the service brigade, all of them are leaders from other units waiting to meet them?
Being able to spend half a day in Section Chief He's office was already incredible.
He was still with Director Zhang in the middle... This is even more intriguing!
"Um...what did Zhang Lin, Yang Mo and Director Zhang talk about with Section Chief He?" Tu Lili asked under Cai Zhaofeng's somewhat jealous gaze.

Zhang Lin glanced at the girl in surprise: "How should I know that? Who has the guts to wander around the section chief's office when they have nothing to do?"

Seeing the girl's slightly disappointed expression and everyone's ears almost pricked up, Zhang Lin turned his head to look at Su Yu and found that he had also put down the microphone and was listening attentively in the back. After thinking for a while, he added: "Although I don't know what Yang Mo and Director Zhang said to our Section Chief He...but after Yang Mo and others left, Section Chief He locked himself in the office for most of the day, and even refused to see those who came to pay New Year's greetings. When he came out, his face didn't look very good." As he spoke, Zhang Lin's expression became a little strange: "But the strange thing is...in the afternoon, Section Chief He suddenly called me into the office."

Some people were keenly aware of the abnormality. Bao Lao Si asked directly, "What did Section Chief He call you in to talk about?"

Zhang Lin scratched his head: "Section Chief He asked me if I was close to Yang Mo?"

Everyone's expressions suddenly became strange, and Tu Lili asked, "Then what did you say?"

Zhang Lin shrugged. "What else can I say? Just tell the truth... I said Yang Mo is always missing. It's good enough if he shows up two or three times out of ten gatherings... Compared to this guy, you and Su Yu are more familiar with me."

Tu Lili blinked her eyes: "What happened next? Did your Section Chief He say anything?"

Obviously, Zhang Lin was a simple-minded person. When he heard the little girl ask this, he confessed directly: "After listening to me, Section Chief He didn't say anything. He just gave me half a day off and asked me to come and help Su Yu move... So, I am here!"

Hearing this, Bao Lao Si cursed with a smile: "F*ck! I thought you had a conscience and knew we were here, so you came over to help, but it turned out to be your section chief's order... Fuck you, drink a glass of wine by yourself, otherwise I won't let you go!"

After playing around for a while, everyone's faces still looked a little unnatural as they saw Zhang Lin drinking a glass of white liquor with a bitter face. Bao Shuxian, who saw all this, sighed in his heart, and there was a hint of resentment in his eyes when he looked at Zhang Lin - you have been in the service team for more than half a year after all, don't you be a little more careful?
Su Yu, who had been thinking quietly, suddenly squeezed in, sat down, and looked at Zhang Lin: "Xiao Linzi, the relationship between your Section Chief He and our Director Zhang is... very good?"

Zhang Lin thought for a moment and said, "It doesn't seem so good. I heard that although the two of them joined the drilling company when it first arrived in Qilu, and they can be considered as the same batch of veterans, their relationship is not very close."

Oh?
Director Zhang is actually one of the first batch of veteran employees?
When everyone heard this gossip which was not gossip for the first time, they were all surprised.

A veteran figure has now become a deputy section chief?
But unlike what other people were concerned about, Su Yu was more concerned about the words "the relationship between the two is not good".

Two people who don't have a good relationship actually talked for half a day in the section chief's office of the service brigade at the end of the year, and Yang Mo, who was a lot lower in rank than them, was also involved?
hey-hey……

interesting.

Su Yu showed an inexplicable smile at the corner of his mouth, and his eyes gradually brightened.

………………

Just as everyone, under the deliberate guidance of Comrade Four Eyes, gradually shifted the topic to the past gossip of Zhang and He.

Bang~bang~bang~!

Along with the knocking on the iron door, Yang Mo's extremely depressed voice came from outside.

"Lao Su, Lao Si, open the door quickly... Damn it, did you leave me any leftovers? I'm almost starving!"

Hearing the man's slightly manic voice, Su Yu raised a little arc at the corner of his mouth, stood up and walked towards the iron gate: "There is only some bone soup left, do you want to eat it or not!?"

"Damn it, bah, I knew it...eat! I want to eat the bone soup too! Hurry up, give me a big bowl of rice!" Yang Mo knocked even more urgently, as if he would faint from hunger at the door if the door wasn't opened.

Amid the laughter of the crowd, some good and some evil, Su Yu put his hand on the door lock and shouted, "You are late, so you have to drink three cups as a penalty... We have been waiting for you in the yard for more than two hours in the cold weather, and you have to drink three more cups as a penalty... Do you admit it?!"

%%￥%￥%!

After a burst of complaints, Yang Mo's extremely depressed voice came: "Damn it, I admit defeat today! It's just six glasses of wine...Hurry and open the door!"

Su Yu chuckled and unlocked the door: "Hurry up, kid..."

Before he could finish his words, they were strangled by the neck.

"Manager Mu...why are you here?"

In the eyes of the crowd who were all incredulous, Mu Liya, wearing a beige woolen windbreaker, was quietly standing half a meter behind Yang Mo, making the already dim street lights look even more colorless...

(End of this chapter)