Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 406 Sleeper Bunker

Chen Hui took it, pulled out his large wallet from his pocket, and said, "I know, I've taken the checks." He carefully put the cardboard box into his wallet.

Director Liu tidied up the things on the table, locked the various stamps and checkbooks in the drawer, and said, "Kids these days are something else, a million dollars!"

Director Liu said, "The money belongs to this kid, Xiao Hui's buddy, and he's also acquainted with the bureau chief." She pointed to Xiao Wei, and Director Liu turned her head to look at Xiao Wei carefully, then nodded. Xiao Wei quickly greeted her, "Thank you for your trouble, Director Liu."

Director Liu thought for a moment and said, "If it's for buying something, we can delay payment until we've confirmed that the item is fine. If you're worried, just let us know. It's no trouble at all."

Xiao Wei said, "Thank you. That's my brother's workplace, in the Fengtian Military Region. It won't be bad."

Director Liu nodded, and then said, "Director Liu, you go ahead with your work. We'll be right there. Thank you for your help." He led the three people out of the finance office, saying as they walked, "One million is no small sum. Be careful, don't fold or lose the checks. Someone else could take them and cash them, and the losses would be huge."

Chen Hui said, "Don't worry, Aunt Liu, everything will be fine. We're off then. I'll ask my mom to wire the money." In those days, private savings couldn't be directly transferred to public accounts, and even private accounts couldn't be directly transferred to each other, including within the same bank. But it wasn't realistic to withdraw and deposit such a large amount. With no other option, Chen Hui had to resort to his ultimate weapon: asking his mother.

I went downstairs and drove towards the pedestrian walkway.

There are few cars these days, and no traffic jams. It was almost five o'clock by the time the six of us arrived at the pedestrian crossing.

We went straight up to the seventh floor and arrived at Chen Hui's mother's office. In typical Chinese officialdom, in buildings with four or five floors or less, the leaders usually have their offices on the third floor; in buildings with more than ten floors, the leaders' offices are generally on the seventh floor—a concept known as "seven up, eight down." The Chinese language is truly profound.

Chen Hui's mother was almost ready to leave. She was supposed to get off work at 5:30. Usually, the boss would leave a little early, otherwise the employees would have to leave late. Who would dare to leave before the boss left?

Pushing open the door, Chen Ma looked up and paused, then asked, "Why did you all come here?" She glanced behind the three people and asked, "Where's Xiaoxiao?" Chen Hui replied, "Xiaoxiao and the others are downstairs. They need to talk to you." He handed over Xiaowei's bankbook and the slip of paper Liu had given him, saying, "Transfer one million yuan from Xiaowei's account to my dad's workplace's Bank of China account. If I hadn't asked you, I would have worked myself to death to finish this."

Back then, the maximum amount a private individual could withdraw in a day was 20,000. If it exceeded that, they had to apply for a withdrawal. It was impossible to say how many times one would have to withdraw a million; it all depended on the bank's mood.

Chen Hui's mother took the bankbook, flipped it open, glanced at Xiao Wei, and said with a smile, "A millionaire! What's this for?"

Xiao Wei has two bankbooks, one in Longcheng and one in Fengtian. The amount of money in the Fengtian book is actually less than that in the Longcheng book.

Xiao Wei said, "I exchanged a check with Uncle Chen. We need to go to Xingcheng for business, and it's inconvenient to carry too much cash."

Chen Hui's mother took the bankbook, walked back to her desk, sat down, and went to get the phone. She asked, "What do you need so much money for?" She looked at Xiao Wei. Xiao Wei replied, "I've already reported it to Uncle Chen. We're going to buy a few buildings from the Fengtian Military Region."

When Chen Hui's mother answered the phone, she waved and said, "Hello, Manager Wang, this is Meng Fei. I need your help with something. One of my son's friends needs to transfer one million yuan from his personal savings account to my husband's work account. Yes, to exchange for a check. Um, this is the Bank of China, and this is your ICBC. It's quite urgent; they're leaving tomorrow and don't have time to come here, so they came to me. Yes. Um, thank you for your help, Manager Wang. Okay, I'll have someone send you both account numbers. Goodbye."

After hanging up the phone, Chen Hui's mother stuffed the bankbook and scraps of paper into her pocket, stood up, and said, "Let's go. It can't be done today. I'll transfer the money to you tomorrow morning. When are you leaving?"

Xiao Wei said, "I've taken the check. Let's take the train tonight and come back as soon as possible."

Chen Hui's mother checked the time and asked, "What time is the train? You haven't bought tickets, have you?"

Xiao Wei said, "It's past midnight, I'll arrive tomorrow morning."

Chen Hui's mother thought for a moment, then turned back to pick up the phone: "Hello? Station Master Zhang? This is Meng Fei from the People's Bank of China. Hello, hello. I need to ask you for a favor. My son needs to go to Xingcheng. It's urgent, and he needs to take the midnight train tonight. Yes, he hasn't bought a ticket yet. Okay, fine, I'll write it down. Okay, thank you, Station Master Zhang. Goodbye."

He grabbed a pen, tore off a note from the notebook, scribbled something, tore it off, and handed it to Xiaowei, saying, "Call this number when you get to the station later. Just say that Station Master Zhang sent you."

Xiao Wei took over and said, "Thank you for your trouble, Auntie. Actually, we can just go to the station to buy it later. We should be able to find some."

Chen Hui's mother rolled her eyes at Xiao Wei and said, "Dream on! It's already five o'clock. You think you can just buy a midnight ticket like that? You want to stand all the way to Xingcheng? Go get a sleeper berth from this guy. Fine, get lost. No, I have to go see my daughter-in-law. Xiao Hui, is Xiao Xiao coming with you?"

These days, it's practically impossible for ordinary people to buy a sleeper berth without connections.

Chen Hui said, "They're already unhappy about not letting her go."

Chen Hui's mother glared at her son and said, "You're such a spineless coward. Fine, you don't care anymore. I'll take her back to our home. Let's go, downstairs."

The four of them went downstairs, and Chen Hui's mother pulled Chen Xiao directly into her car, waving to her son from behind.

Xiao Hong hugged Xiao Wei's arm and said, "Looking at Aunt Chen like this, Uncle Chen must be so happy."

Chen Hui pursed his lips, sighed, and said, "Finally, I'm free! Ah, the air of freedom is so sweet. Come on, let's go get our train tickets and then go to a restaurant for dinner."

The five people boarded the train and headed straight to Fengtian Station. They found a public phone booth, dialed the number given to them by Chen Hui's mother, and announced the number of people. In just over ten minutes, five sleeper tickets, all lower berths, were delivered to Xiao Wei.

Geng Hui was silent now, numb, her worldview completely shattered. What she had seen and heard over the past three days made her question whether she had ever lived a carefree life. Come to think of it, Chuanzhou was really too small, a closed-off little county.

A disruption in the flow of information has ruined countless great figures in China.

After getting their tickets, the five of them drove back to Nanhu. Xiao Hong wanted to go back and tell Uncle Wang and Aunt Wang to bring some more things back. Chen Hui wanted to send Chen Xiao's things back; he couldn't bring them to Xingcheng and then bring them back.

Xia Maosheng and Geng Hui went home with Xiao Wei, while Chen Hui went to Chen Xiao's house by himself.

As soon as we entered, Aunt Wang was setting the table with bowls and chopsticks. She exclaimed with delight, "Why are you back so early? Xia, is this your wife? She's so pretty! Come in and sit down. Have you eaten?"

Xiao Hong said, "We're going to Xingcheng to run some errands and are coming back to pick up some things. You and Dad eat, and Chen Hui too. We'll eat at a restaurant later." She went inside to pack her clothes.

(End of this chapter)