Ordinary World: Starting with a divorce from Tian Runye

Ma Guoxiong, deputy director of the county revolutionary committee, carefully led the way, while Feng Shikuan accompanied Miao Kai. The two top officials from the region and the county led the group, chatting and laughing, to the auditorium of the county revolutionary committee.

Du Zhengxian was already waiting at the entrance of the auditorium. When he saw Ma Guoxiong leading Miao Kai, Feng Shikuan and his group over, he immediately put on a big smile.

"Hello, Secretary Miao! I'm Du Zhengxian, the director of the county cultural center!"

Miao Kai smiled and shook hands with him.

"Thank you for your hard work, colleagues at the cultural center."

After exchanging pleasantries, Du Zhengxian led the group into the auditorium.

The chairs in the auditorium were rearranged, and a half-meter-high wooden platform was erected in front to serve as a stage, with a red banner hanging on it. The golden wheat wave background painted by Xiao Zhao stood behind the stage, and from a distance, it looked quite impressive.

There are six programs on the program list.

First, the student choir from Chengguan Elementary School sang "A Bright Red Star." About twenty children, dressed in white shirts, lined up in two rows, their voices young but clear. Miao Kai clapped his hands twice with a smile and nodded repeatedly.

Then several members of Liucha Commune performed a Yangko dance, accompanied by deafening gongs and drums.

Next, a female member sang a folk song, her voice was very bright, and many people in the audience clapped along.

The fourth performance was Old Yang's clapper talk. Old Yang, wearing a new jacket, went on stage, his bamboo clappers clanging crisply, his words flowing smoothly. The content was "The original Xizhai has undergone a great transformation," nothing particularly original, but lively. Miao Kai chuckled twice, and Bai Yuan laughed along.

The fifth piece was a short skit, performed by a few commune members to make up the numbers, and the audience's reaction was lukewarm.

The final act was the recitation.

Du Lili came on stage. Wearing a white shirt and a ponytail, she looked very energetic.

"Spring on the Loess Plateau begins with a hoe..."

Her voice was clear and bright, and her pronunciation was crisp. The recitation was short, about three minutes long. When she read the line, "The wheat fields on the hillside are layered, like pages turned in a book," the audience fell silent for a moment.

Du Zhengxian sat in the second row, near the edge, his heart pounding. After the recitation finished, he secretly glanced back at Miao Kai's reaction. Miao Kai didn't show any particular expression, only nodding slightly.

Du Zhengxian felt a sense of relief and turned to whisper in Li Dengyun's ear.

"Director Li, this recitation script was written by Xiang Qian."

Li Dengyun turned his head slightly, glanced at Du Zhengxian, and then looked up at Du Lili, who was bowing on the stage.

Written forward?

Old Du is quite politically astute; how come I never noticed before?

Li Dengyun was pleased, but he didn't say anything, only humming in response.

"Director Du, this recitation is quite good, especially the last line, 'The sweat drops on the ground, splashing up tomorrow's full granaries.'"

The speaker was Bai Yuan, the secretary. He used to be a semi-cultural worker, but now he is Miao Kai's secretary and is extremely sensitive to words.

Du Zhengxian was overjoyed to see Miao Kai's secretary take the initiative to talk to him. "Haha, if we can catch Secretary Bai's eye, then our cultural center's work has indeed made progress."

"The phrase 'granaries are full of grain' may sound rustic, but it's more solid and powerful than the currently popular Misty Poetry School."

Bai Yuan stroked his chin and began to chew.

"Who wrote this recitation?" Bai Yuan suddenly asked.

"A new colleague at our cultural center, named Li Xiangqian," Du Zhengxian said, gently patting Li Dengyun on the shoulder. "He's Director Li's son."

"Like father, like son, Director Li. This recitation is definitely worthy of being included in Huangyuan Literature and Art."

Secretary Bai Yuan smiled and whispered to Li Dengyun.

"Secretary Bai, you flatter me. Yes, Xiang Qian has loved literature since he was a child and is an avid reader."

Li Dengyun said shamelessly.

At this moment, Li Xiangqian was backstage, slumped in the middle of a pile of folding chairs, covered in sweat.

His tasks today included moving props, adjusting backdrops, handing out microphones, pouring tea, and moving chairs. He's been busy since eight in the morning, and his back is completely aching.

When they were adjusting the backdrop, the two-meter-high wooden plank almost tipped over and hit one of the chubby boys in the choir. Li Xiangqian lunged forward and braced himself with his shoulder, scraping a piece of skin off his arm in the process.

Comrade Yu Hua, you've really fooled me!

What happened to the promise of not having to work regular hours? What happened to the promise that arriving at 10 AM would be considered early?

Your cultural center and my cultural center seem different.

As soon as Du Lili finished reciting and returned backstage, she saw Li Xiangqian sitting in a chair pretending to be dead.

"It's well written. As soon as I finished reading it, everyone applauded, and Secretary Miao nodded repeatedly," Du Lili praised.

Li Xiangqian glared fiercely at Du Lili.

"It's good that you passed!" Li Xiangqian sighed, then continued earnestly.

"I need to take a few days off; my old back is finally giving out."

Li Xiangqian groaned, clutching his lower back.

Du Lili curled her lip, her face full of disdain.

"How much work have you done? You're already this tired. Look at Teacher Zhao, she's been busy all day long."

"Teacher Zhao, do you need to ask for leave?"

Du Lili shouted at Xiao Zhao, who was removing the backdrop.

Xiao Zhao, carrying the backdrop, was covered in sweat. "Hey, I'm not Director Tian, ​​I can't just ask for leave whenever I want."

"Didn't Tian Fujun come?"

Li Xiangqian asked.

Du Lili nodded. "She didn't come. My dad said she's sick."

"Are you sick?"

Li Xiangqian scratched his head.

"Stop scratching, that's enough, hurry up and clean up."

Du Lili patted Li Xiangqian on the shoulder.

"Still need to clean up?"

"The chairs need to be moved back to the storeroom."

Li Xiangqian: "Huh?"

……

The afternoon's itinerary included a visit to an advanced commune. Miao Kai and his group drove to Shigejie.

The whole process was naturally filled with the sounds of gongs and drums and the crackling of firecrackers, with commune members cheering and the granary overflowing with grain.

As Miao Kai shook hands with everyone before leaving, he casually remarked to Feng Shikuan, "Comrade Fujun was originally the cadre in charge of agriculture in Xixian County. It would be a real shame to miss such a large commendation meeting."

Upon hearing this, Feng Shikuan was immediately struck by a jolt. Secretary Miao had finally brought up Tian Fujun again; he had been waiting for this moment for an entire day.

"Hey, Comrade Fujun's illness really came at a convenient time..."

Feng Shih-kuan smiled and had just begun to speak when Li Deng-yun suddenly interrupted him.

"Secretary Miao, Comrade Fu Jun has indeed not been feeling well lately. I visited him a couple of days ago, and he has lost a lot of weight."

This effectively shut down the rest of Feng Shih-kuan's sentence.

Miao Kai glanced at Li Dengyun, then looked back at Feng Shikuan, and smiled: "Comrade Shikuan, please give my regards to Comrade Fujun and tell him to take good care of himself."

After saying that, he got into the car.

Feng Shih-kuan watched the gray jeep gradually disappear into the distance, his face darkening.

Li Dengyun pretended not to see it, and just stared blankly at his leather shoes.

Feng Shih-kuan snorted coldly and returned to his office.

In the office of the county revolutionary committee, Feng Shikuan sat at the table, lit a cigarette, and remained silent.

Ma Guoxiong sat opposite him.

"Did you hear what Li Dengyun said today?"

"I heard you."

"Li Dengyun is preparing to shift his allegiance to Tian Fujun."

After Feng Shih-kuan finished speaking, he exhaled a plume of smoke.

Ma Guoxiong thought about it.

"That shouldn't be the case. I know Li Dengyun's personality; he's notoriously shrewd. He'd stay far, far away from Tian Fujun's ways."

Feng Shih-kuan snorted coldly.

"Hmph, I hope so."

……