Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 355 Discovery

The man Qin had called arrived quickly, driving a green jeep that sputtered and chugged to a stop in front of the restaurant.

Around the same time, a Jiefang truck arrived. Several people got out and silently went into the restaurant, then carried out some tattered blankets, broken bedspreads, pickaxe handles, and other such items, loading them onto the truck, along with the placards used for criticism sessions in the meeting room. Xiao Wei didn't see the bayonet; he guessed it was rolled up in the tattered blanket.

The man Qin called to repair the house was named Xie Zhiqiang, who was in his thirties and worked for the street construction team. It was a small collective enterprise, and he usually repaired houses, walls, and roads for people, and he was able to get paid.

Director Qin briefly explained the situation and introduced Liu Sui and Xiao Wei to Xie Zhiqiang, implying that they had some kind of relationship.

Xiao Wei said, "Get rid of all the broken doors and windows. Open up all the sealed-up openings and replace them with new ones. Open up the first, second, and third floors. Remove everything inside except the load-bearing walls. Then repair the walls, plaster them, check the roof frame, replace the tiles, and lay tiles on the entire floor. Brother Xie, can you estimate how much this will cost?"

Xie Zhiqiang, carrying a large flashlight, led two people inside and looked around. They came out and said, "It'll probably cost at least 18,000 yuan, a little over 10,000. What kind of doors and windows do you want to replace?"

Xiao Wei said, "Let's switch to aluminum alloy; wooden ones aren't durable." Aluminum alloy doors and windows became popular in the early 90s, but to be honest, they weren't very practical. After a few years, they were full of problems and deformed severely.

Xie Zhiqiang said, "Aluminum alloy? Actually, you might as well use PVC windows. They say they won't deform for fifty years, and they have excellent insulation."

Xiao Wei was stunned for a moment and said, "What kind of steel is PVC? What is it?" PVC doors and windows only really became popular after 93. They were only available on the market in 91 and were not as good as aluminum alloy.

Xie Zhiqiang said, "It's just a kind of plastic, right? I don't really know much about it, but it works quite well. I've replaced it for other people before. It fits perfectly, unlike aluminum alloy which has big gaps. They said it won't deform for fifty or sixty years, and it's much cheaper than aluminum alloy."

Xiao Wei said, "Okay, let's use this kind of steel then. What about the main gate? Should we use this kind of PVC too?"

Xie Zhiqiang said, "I'll make the front door glass for you, it'll look nicer. We'll use PVC for the back, since you can't see it anyway."

Xiao Wei said, "Okay, there are a few rooms behind the kitchen on the first floor that are locked. We don't know what's inside. Let's tear them all down."

Liu Sui asked, "Behind the kitchen? Right behind here?" He stood up and looked into the kitchen. Xiao Wei stood up and said, "Let's go, let's just pry it open and see what's inside. These rooms have probably been used by the restaurant all along, so there shouldn't be anything."

Director Qin thought for a moment and nodded. Then Xiao Wei, Xie Zhiqiang, and the others took their tools and went to the back of the kitchen to pry open the rooms one by one. There was really nothing there, just some broken tables and chairs, and a few broken beds. It seemed that people had lived there before. The outermost room was the restaurant's office, and everything had been moved out.

Xie Zhiqiang looked around and said, "Why don't you come upstairs with us and take another look? Tell us how to do it, just in case we make a mistake."

Xiao Wei licked his lips, swallowed, thought for a moment, and nodded, saying, "Alright, let's go in and talk." Liu Sui didn't say anything and went straight back to sit at the restaurant entrance. Director Qin followed her, and neither of them wanted to go inside anymore.

The four of them went from the first floor to the back. The door to the side room was already open. Xiao Wei said, "If we can tear these things down, we should tear them down. I see over here, the original windows have all been bricked up. We should tear them all down and install windows, and we'll also have to run electrical wires and stuff. We should also tear down the main door, repair the entrance, and install a new main door."

Xie Zhiqiang listened to Xiao Wei's explanation, nodding as he held up his flashlight. There was only one room and a large hall on the first floor, nothing much to say. The four of them went up to the second floor. Several policemen came out of the house carrying two boxes and, seeing Xiao Wei, said, "Alright, it's cleared out."

Xiao Wei nodded and said, "Thank you, thank you for your trouble. I'll have Director Qin invite you out for drinks tonight."

The policeman said, "Okay, we need to have a drink." He glanced at Xie Zhiqiang and the other two, then walked away without saying anything more. Xiao Wei said, "Tear down everything that can be demolished in this house. Open all the windows on this side, and if there are any windows at the back, open those too."

Xie Zhiqiang held up a large flashlight, looking back and forth and nodding.

Xiao Wei didn't dare go into those two rooms. He went straight to the first room, and the four of them went in to take a look. Sure enough, there was a window on the back wall. Two old-fashioned solid wood desks were placed in the middle, a few chairs were leaning to one side, and two wooden filing cabinets were placed against the wall. The files had all been moved away, so they didn't know what was written inside.

Xie Zhiqiang and his two companions, armed with flashlights, crouched down on the back wall, trying to gauge the size of the window by looking at the brickwork. Xiao Wei turned and glanced at the two old-fashioned desks. Actually, these old-fashioned solid wood desks were quite nice, and being made of pure wood, they were sturdy and durable. Reaching out, he pulled open a drawer. Inside was a fountain pen and a small notebook. He took them out and looked at them. The pen was long gone, but the notebook was a treasured book—the kind everyone used to hold up to their chest when taking pictures back then.

The drawer had three drawers. Pulling out the second drawer, there were several magazines and a stack of letter paper with the words "Revolutionary Committee" printed on it. Pulling out the third drawer, which was probably too old and very tight, Xiao Wei pulled hard and pulled it out. Then he was dumbfounded.

The police must have checked it, but the drawers of this old-fashioned table are very deep, and this drawer is also very tight. I guess the police opened it a little, shone a flashlight on it, found it was empty, and then didn't care. Xiao Wei just pulled the whole drawer off. There were a few things inside the drawer.

There was a white cardboard box, somewhat like a chalk box but rectangular; a black leather bag; and a triangular leather bag, which Xiaowei recognized as gun holsters.

He glanced up at Xie Zhiqiang and the others, but none of them paid him any attention. He reached out and flipped the lid of the cardboard box open a little. Inside, the bright yellow bullets were neatly stacked. He picked up the holster and felt its weight. Damn, it wasn't empty.

Xiao Wei broke out in a cold sweat, his heart pounded so hard he could hear it pounding, and his breathing became heavy.

After a moment of hesitation, Xiao Wei gritted his teeth and said, "Don't any of these rooms have windows? Are they all the same size?"

Xie Zhiqiang took a step back and said, "I don't know, let's take a look." He took the flashlight and walked out. Xiao Wei said, "Let's go from room to room, you two take a look at those rooms." The three of them went out. Xiao Wei reached into the drawer, took out the holster, bullets, and the leather bag, put them into his backpack, took a deep breath to calm his tense emotions, swallowed, and followed him out.

Xie Zhiqiang, emerging from the room whose walls were completely peeled off, said, "This room has one too, the same size, they should all be the same. What's that smell in this room?"

(End of this chapter)