Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 446 The Strange Slope

Xiao Wei said, "Auntie, you know what, if my uncle hadn't gone back to the county and had gone directly to the city, he might have been a division-level official by now. Our place is too small, there are fewer positions and lower ranks, so it's much more difficult for him than it is for them in the city."

Uncle Wang nodded, touching the cigarette in his pocket, and said, "Xiao Wei is right. The environment has a huge impact on people. I didn't think too much about it at the time. I just wanted to go back to see your aunt and stay close to home. But I ended up delaying my own progress. I need to go to a bigger place. There are more people and more opportunities in a bigger place."

Xiao Hong said, "With more people, there are more opportunities and more competition. With your personality, hmph."

Uncle Wang patted Xiao Hong's head and said, "You make your dad sound like an idiot. Am I that stupid?"

Xiao Hong thought for a moment and nodded, saying, "That's true. I'm so smart and quick-witted, which means your genes are pretty good. Okay, it's the environment's fault, blame my mom. Otherwise, I might be the only daughter of some high-ranking official now. Sigh, another one blinded by love." She patted Uncle Wang on the shoulder.

Aunt Wang glared at Xiao Hong and said, "If your dad hadn't gone back, would he have been able to marry me? Where would you be without me? Would you even exist?"

Xiao Hong paused for a moment, thought for a moment, and said, "That's right, then I won't be here. It seems that Lao Wang was right after all; there's a reason to stick to love."

Geng Hui smiled and said, "Xiao Hong, you should study philosophy."

Xiao Hong shuddered and said, "It's feasible, but those people all seem a bit off. I don't want to become like that."

Aunt Wang and Xiao Wei placed the stir-fried dishes on the table, ladled out the stewed ribs, and took out the inner pot of the rice cooker, placing it on the table, saying, "Stop talking nonsense and come eat."

Everyone got up and sat down at the table. Xia Maosheng finished cooking, tidied up the stove, washed his hands, and sat down.

A large bowl of stewed pork ribs spilled some soup onto the table. Uncle Wang grabbed a newspaper to wipe it up, but Xiao Hong reached out to stop him: "No, no, I haven't read it yet."

Uncle Wang let go, and Xiao Hong picked up the newspaper, shaking her head as she browsed it. In this era, reading newspapers was a habit for both college students and ordinary citizens. Newspapers of this era did not have sensational headlines, nor did they try to attract attention by simply publishing hot news, nor did they publish a picture and then make up the rest. At this time, newspapers were still the main way for people to obtain information.

Even the People's Daily is sold at newsstands.

Newspapers of this period didn't have entertainment, sports, or fashion sections; they were just serious news reports, daring to speak and write.

Aunt Wang tapped the newspaper in Xiao Hong's hand with her chopsticks and said, "Eat your food, then you can read it. It's not like it'll grow legs and run away."

Xiao Hong was still looking at it, saying, "I look quickly, just a few glances. It's so uncomfortable to watch half of it." Aunt Wang stopped paying attention to her, sat down to eat, and put a piece of pork rib with lots of meat into Geng Hui's rice bowl.

Geng Hui stared at the piece of pork rib, licked her lips, and glanced at Xia Maosheng. Xia Maosheng didn't move his head, but observed Aunt Wang with his eyes. He secretly reached into Geng Hui's bowl with his chopsticks to pick up the piece of pork rib. As a result, Aunt Wang hit Xia Maosheng's chopsticks with her chopsticks and said, "Let her eat. How can she keep up with the nutrition if she doesn't eat anything all day like a cat? You have to think about the baby in your belly. Just eat this one piece."

Xiao Hong looked at the newspaper and said, "Trying to pull some tricks in front of my mom? Old Mrs. Wang is a master at seeing and hearing everything."

Xiao Wei said, "Stop looking and eat."

Xiao Hong said, "I'm almost done reading it! Hey, the Strange Slope? You don't need to pedal to go uphill, but you have to pedal hard to go downhill. Cars don't need to give gas to go uphill, but you have to floor the gas pedal to go downhill? There are such strange and unscientific places? And it's in Fengtian!" Putting down the newspaper, Xiao Hong looked at Xiao Wei: "I want to go see this Strange Slope."

Xiao Wei said, "You don't need to accelerate uphill, but you have to accelerate downhill? Where is that?" All eyes at the table were drawn to him.

Xiao Hong picked up the newspaper, looked at it, and said, "Qingshuitai Town is in Xinchengzi. It's about 30 kilometers away from here. Let me see, it's not far."

Aunt Wang asked, "What newspaper are you reading?"

Xiao Hong turned the newspaper over and showed the top of it to Aunt Wang: "People's Daily, not a street tabloid." Back then, there were already illegally printed street tabloids, all of which made up eye-catching stories and news to make money. They certainly couldn't have imagined that in the 21st century, major newspapers and websites would learn a great deal from their clever practices.

Aunt Wang nodded and said, "Then it's true, there are such strange places." She lowered her head and continued eating.

The Fengtian Strange Slope was discovered in April 1990 by two young traffic policemen while familiarizing themselves with the road. The two guys were terrified at the time, and after the news spread, they were criticized. "We are materialists and Marxists, what kind of nonsense are you talking about?"

However, once the news spread, it attracted countless vehicles of all sizes to come and test it. They found it to be true, and so it spread wider and wider. In 91, it was featured in the People's Daily and spread abroad. Various research groups, both national and international, came to study it, and they are still studying it today.

Then, to date, fifteen strange slopes have been discovered in China, Taiwan also claims to have one, the Ula Turtle in the United States also claims to have one, and of course, South Korea definitely has one.

Later, a certain organization in our country came to those bullshit people from some kind of school, stayed for a few days, did some testing and surveying, and said that this was just a visual effect, because the stone pillars on the roadside were deliberately placed at an angle to create the effect. It wasn't uphill, it was downhill.

Not to mention that the stone pillars were installed nearly ten years after the discovery of the "strange slope," which road has pillars that are not tilted? That terrible program kept trying to explain things for the sake of explanation, making me want to smash the TV. So it's not surprising that they were mentioned like that.

Xiao Hong threw the newspaper aside, picked up her chopsticks, and said, "Xiao Wei~~~~~~, Brother Guizi~~~~~~."

Xiao Wei didn't even look up: "Go, go, go after you finish eating. You eat properly."

Aunt Wang laughed and scolded, "This brat, it's numb, I have goosebumps all over my arm."

Uncle Wang said, "I'll go take a look too, but I can't figure it out."

Xiao Wei said, "Let's all go. It's not far by car. We'll call Chen Hui later, and the two of us will go. Chen Xiao can also go out for a drive."

Aunt Wang asked, "Me too? Why are you making Xiaoxiao sound like a little puppy?"

Xiao Hong looked down at her rice bowl and burst out laughing again.

After dinner, I called Chen Hui, and the group tidied up and went downstairs. The rain had stopped, but the air was still quite chilly. In Northeast China, the days are quite long in June; it doesn't get dark until after 7 or 8 pm. It was only 5:30 pm, so it was still early.

Chen Hui and Chen Xiao waited by the roadside in their car. Uncle Wang and Aunt Wang rode in their own car, while Xia Maosheng and Geng Hui got into Chen Hui's car. The two cars headed towards Qingshuitaizi.

(End of this chapter)