Ordinary World: Starting with a divorce from Tian Runye

Meanwhile, the county cultural center.

Du Zhengxian, carrying a stack of documents, strode into the courtyard. His face was full of excitement, and he nodded and smiled at everyone he met.

Old Wu, who was in the reading room, was coming out of the cave dwelling with a teacup in his hand. Du Zhengxian immediately nodded and smiled to greet him. Just as Old Wu was about to return the smile, he saw Du Zhengxian already walking briskly towards the studio.

"Old Yang, let's start a meeting."

Du Zhengxian stood at the door of the studio and looked inside.

Only Lao Yang and Xiao Zhao were there. Lao Yang was writing materials on the table, while Xiao Zhao was drawing behind the drawing board.

"Where is Comrade Xiangqian?"

Xiao Zhao pursed her lips, pretending not to hear.

Old Yang looked up, his face expressionless.

"He's in the business office. He's with Lili," Old Yang said.

Du Zhengxian's smile vanished instantly, as if he had never been there.

He took a deep breath and turned up the corners of his mouth again.

"Alright, stop busying yourself. We have important business to attend to. Xiao Zhao, come over here, we're having a meeting in the business office."

Du Zhengxian turned and walked towards the business office, just stepping into the business office door.

Du Lili was sitting at the desk with Li Xiangqian, laughing as she wrote something on a piece of paper. Li Xiangqian sat beside her, his face filled with unbearable pain.

Sister Sun sat in the corner. When she saw Du Zhengxian come in, she pursed her lips and continued to bury herself in her work.

Du Zhengxian, breathing heavily through his nostrils, pulled a stack of documents from under his arm and slammed them onto the table.

"Meeting!"

Upon hearing those two words, Li Xiangqian felt as if he had been granted a pardon and jumped up from his chair.

"Good, let's start the meeting."

Du Lili grabbed his arm and pressed him back into the chair.

"Everyone's not here yet, what's the rush? You just said popular literature is different from serious literature, and that we should discuss them separately..."

"Meeting."

Du Zhengxian's voice grew even louder.

Du Lili raised an eyebrow and pursed her lips.

"Okay, I know. It's such a small place, you can hear someone swallowing their saliva, why are you making such a loud noise?"

Old Yang and Xiao Zhao stood at the door of the business office, looking at each other in bewilderment. Du Zhengxian turned around and glanced at the two of them.

"Come in."

Several people gathered around the desk, which was a makeshift arrangement of two tables, making it look more imposing and like a meeting. Du Zhengxian stood in front of the desk, his hands resting on the surface. Although his expression was displeased, his tone betrayed his excitement.

"I just went to see Director Ma. Director Ma was very satisfied with the proposal put forward by our cultural center and told us to move forward with it as soon as possible."

After saying that, he straightened his back.

"Now we will begin to deploy the specific division of labor."

Du Zhengxian looked around and began calling out names.

"Comrade Yang Shulin, you are in charge of the written work. Organize the documents and write the exhibition descriptions."

Old Yang nodded.

"Comrade Zhao Leli, you are in charge of the illustrations. Create text illustrations based on the collected revolutionary stories."

Xiao Zhao nodded.

"Comrade Li Xiangqian."

Du Zhengxian looked at Li Xiangqian.

"You are responsible for collecting stories of Old Gao's revolutionary activities in Yuanxi. Visit veteran comrades, take notes, and bring back the materials."

Li Xiangqian's brows furrowed instantly.

"Are you kidding me? With this scorching sun, where am I supposed to collect revolutionary stories?"

Du Zhengxian snorted coldly, disregarding Li Xiangqian's father, who was the deputy director of the Revolutionary Committee. He just wanted Li Xiangqian to stay away from the cultural center and Du Lili.

"There's an old boiler operator at Chengguan Elementary School who used to be Gao Lao's subordinate. You can go find him first."

Du Zhengxian paused for a moment, then added another sentence.

"Oh, it just so happens that Runye also works at Chengguan Elementary School. With this connection, it'll be more convenient for you to go."

Li Xiangqian stared at Du Zhengxian for two seconds.

Do you really need connections to find an old man to boil water?

Old Du is targeting me.

Seeing that Li Xiangqian looked troubled and in pain, Du Lili went up to him and grabbed his arm.

"Oh dear, you just can't stand the slightest hardship. So what if it's scorching sun? It's not like I'm asking you to work in the fields."

Then, his eyes darted around, and he said seriously.

"I happen to be free. I'll go with you."

Upon hearing this, Li Xiangqian's expression of pain deepened.

But no pain could compare to that of Du Zhengxian.

Du Zhengxian just wanted to smash his head against the cave entrance and die. What kind of drug did Li Xiangqian give Du Lili? How did they end up so inseparable? He sent Li Xiangqian away to separate the two of them. But look what happened, Du Lili insisted on going with him.

They lifted a stone only to drop it on their own foot.

Meeting adjourned.

Du Zhengxian gritted his teeth and spat out two words, then turned to look at Du Lili.

"You, come to my office."

"Dad, what's wrong? Tell me here."

Du Lili glanced at Li Xiangqian and saw that he had already run back to the studio in a flash, and she was getting anxious.

"Come when I tell you to."

Du Lili reluctantly gave an "oh" and dragged herself out.

Du Zhengxian entered his office, and Du Lili had just stepped across the threshold when the door behind her was slammed shut by Du Zhengxian.

In the business office, Sister Sun was startled.

"If you're so capable of controlling your own daughter, why are you taking your anger out on the door?"

The door to Du Zhengxian's office was tightly shut.

Du Zhengxian sat in the chair, pursing his lips and remaining silent, his eyes making Du Lili feel uneasy.

Du Lili looked at the closed door, then at her father's face.

"Dad, what's wrong? Tell me quickly."

Du Zhengxian wiped the mask of pain from his face with both hands.

"What could I say? What could I possibly say?"

"If there's nothing else, I'm leaving."

Du Lili turned around to pull the door open.

Du Zhengxian tapped his fingers on the table with a loud thud.

"What's your hurry? Where are you going?"

"I have something to discuss with Li Xiangqian."

Du Zhengxian let out a long breath, his wispy hairs standing on end in the wind.

"What am I supposed to say to you, young lady? Li Xiangqian is married, and you're engaged. You're always glued to him; what do you want?"

"I have something to do."

"What's wrong? There's not even a clear plan for the former Western Literature Club, why are you in such a rush?"

Du Zhengxian stared at her.

"What's so great about Li Xiangqian?"

Du Lili crossed her arms in front of her.

"Dad, you don't understand."

Du Zhengxian was so angry that he stood up abruptly, and the chair slid back half a foot with a creak.

"What? How could I not understand? The current situation is that the man is married and the woman wants to marry. I just don't get it. You, when you were in school, you didn't like any of them. I thought you were holding back for the highest bidder. You finally found a good guy like Huiliang. In what way is Huiliang not better than Li Xiangqian?"

"I don't care. I just enjoy chatting with Li Xiangqian. He knows a lot."

"What does a truck driver know? Okay, I admit he's a bit clever, but cleverness doesn't equate to greatness. Most importantly, he's already married. What makes him comparable to Huiliang?"

Du Zhengxian's voice was low, but his momentum was not diminished at all. He then glanced at the locked wooden door and muttered a complaint under his breath.

"You even had Huiliang transfer Runye to Huangyuan? How could you even think of that!"

Du Lili panicked when she heard this.

"I had Huiliang transfer Runye to Huangyuan for Runye's own good!"

Du Zhengxian interrupted him urgently.

"You know perfectly well who it's for!"

Du Lili was stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized.

"Oh, it was you who spoke to Huiliang. You told Huiliang not to transfer Runye to Huangyuan."

Du Zhengxian was furious.

"It's me. They're a perfectly fine couple, why would you rush off to break them up?"

"Dad, that's wrong of you. You're hurting Runye. Runye doesn't want to be with Li Xiangqian at all."

"Nonsense! I don't care who Runye wants to be with, you just stay with Huiliang and don't get any funny ideas."

Du Lili tilted her head to look at him, and suddenly smiled.

"Huiliang called me yesterday. I've already told him to transfer Runye over as soon as possible."

Du Zhengxian was so angry that his face turned purple, and he swayed as he braced himself on the table.

"I'll call Huiliang again!"

"It's no use. Huiliang, listen to me. Hehe."

After Du Lili finished speaking, she opened the door and went out.

Du Zhengxian stood up, wanting to call out to her, but he opened his mouth and didn't say anything.

……