Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 852 The Zhang Bing Incident

(PS: Some readers have mentioned the word "耽" in "耽心" (dān xīn), but this is not a typo. In fact, "担" is the incorrect word.)

Xiao Wei said, "Aren't traffic police tired? They stand on the road all year round, squatting there every day for a task, and they're full of exhaust fumes."

Li Zhongguo said, "That's still better than risking your life. Just look at those few things you did last year. It's only because your parents don't understand that we're worried about you so much that we'd lose several years of our lives. As for me, I don't expect him to be successful. I'd be happy if he had a job, got married, and lived a stable life."

Xiao Wei said, "Okay, let's go to the traffic police station then. It's definitely safer there. Let's see if we can get into the main team. We'll have to ask around; I don't know if they're short-staffed."

Li Zhongguo laughed and said, "That's great, that's great. Getting into the brigade is definitely good. I'll be waiting for that."

Xiao Wei said, "You insist on asking me for things you could easily do yourself. Fine, I'll go ask."

Li Zhongguo asked, "What's wrong with Xiao Fu? What happened? That kid shouldn't be afraid to fight. He's only been here a few days, right? I remember your uncle only moved here a few days ago, right after me."

Xiao Wei said, "He wanted to make money, so he came to Fengtian to help those pager shops behind the post office sell used pagers. I told him not to, but he wouldn't listen. As a result, we ran into them catching him red-handed. Sigh, I hope he'll learn his lesson. This kid is a real worry."

Li Zhongguo said, "Xiao Fu should be easy to manage. Give him some tasks, set a goal and a deadline, and give him ten or twenty thousand yuan if he does them well. Anyway, he's not a stranger, so you can control him in no time. Just throw money at him; a few tens of thousands of yuan is nothing to you anyway."

Xiao Wei said, "The problem is, I don't dare give him money because of his personality. He's like this even when he's broke; who knows how arrogant he'll become when he has money? Wouldn't that ruin him?"

Li Zhongguo said, "Keep him close by, or find him a job to keep him occupied, have someone watch over him, and if that doesn't work, beat him a few times. Alright, I have things to do with Sun Suo here, I can't chat with you anymore, you should go back too."

Xiao Wei said, "Okay, I'm off then. You guys get back to work. Goodbye, Brother Sun. Thanks." He opened the door, got into the car, waved, and drove out of the yard.

Sun asked Li Zhongguo, "Captain Li, are you acquainted with Director Zhang?"

Li Zhongguo said, "I've watched him grow up since he was a child. His father-in-law and I were comrades-in-arms. There was a guy named Sun Chuansheng in the criminal detention area, right? His nickname was 'Chopping Board.' Chopping Board, even if you're chopped a thousand times, life won't stop."

Director Sun said, "Where can we find this record? There are so many people every day, we need to check." The two men went into the building.

Xiao Wei drove back to the yard, parked the car in the garage, and was about to leave for the office when he heard his mother's voice yelling from afar: "I'll beat you to death, you good-for-nothing! You want to be the boss? Do you still want to be? Do you still want to be? Do you still want to be, do you still want to be?"

The soldier's cries came over: "Ah, Mom, Mom, I was wrong, I won't do it again. Ah, boohoo, ah, I won't do it again, Mom."

The big yellow dog, ears tucked in, trotted over from the pavilion, glanced back with lingering fear, and carefully went back to its kennel. It didn't even come over to greet Xiao Wei, its ears twitching with the sound of Xiao Bing's cries.

The goose standing at the edge of the woods tilted its head, sized up Xiaowei a few times, and then let out a honking.

Xiao Wei smiled, took his car keys, and walked towards the pavilion.

Turning past the largest lakeside rock, I saw my dad, grandpa, Xia's dad, and fourth uncle sitting in the pavilion. My mom was fixing up a little soldier by the pavilion, holding a willow branch, twisting one ear with one hand and whipping it with the other, really whipping him.

Xiao Wei went over to greet them: "Fourth Uncle is here. Grandpa, Grandpa Xia, Dad, what's going on here?" There was a teapot and teacups on the stone table in the pavilion, which looked quite nice.

Xiaowei's mother loosened her grip on Xiaobing's ear: "Ask him what he did at school. The teacher called me over today, he really made me look good this time."

Xiao Wei looked at Xiao Bing with a smile, who was crying with snot and tears streaming down his face, and asked, "What did you do?"

Xiaobing glanced at his mother, quietly took a step back, and said, "I didn't do anything, really. My mom didn't believe me, but she started slicing."

Xiaowei's mother said, "You still dare to talk back? Your brother is a high-ranking official, your brother is rich, your family owns a factory, and all the big shots in the underworld are afraid of your brother. Did you say that? You protect them, they have to listen to you and call you boss. Did you say that? Be the boss, I'll let you be the boss, I'll let you be the boss."

Two more willow branches snapped.

The little soldier jumped and dodged, crying, "Mom, Mom, stop! It's not what you think! Ouch, it hurts! Dad, are you just going to watch Mom hit me?"

Xiao Wei's dad poured tea for Grandpa and Grandpa Xia, and asked, "What's wrong? Do you want me to hit you?"

Seeing this, Xiao Wei, the soldier, mustered his courage and reached out to grab a willow branch: "Mom, don't hit me yet." He wiped away his tears: "Even a judge needs a chance to breathe and confess."

Xiao Wei's mother lost her composure and burst into laughter. She loosened the willow branch and said, "Tell me, let's see what kind of nonsense you can come up with. I might just beat you to death today, and you can forget about eating."

Xiaobing said, "Today, older students were bullying students in my class. I stood up for them, really. They were demanding money from my classmate, so I stepped in. The college student tried to hit me, but I said my brother is a big shot with money, and even the toughest guys in the underworld are afraid of him. That's what I said. I couldn't just wait to let them beat me up, could I? I can't beat them."

Xiaowei's mother asked, "Then what about being the eldest? What does that mean?"

Xiaobing said, "The teacher misheard. He only heard that one sentence before calling you. I was telling those college students that my classmates call me 'boss,' and I have to protect them so they won't bully me, or I'll call my brother, because my brother is a policeman. The teacher overheard only half of it and then tattled on me. What kind of teacher is that? Did I mean that?"

Xiaowei's mother said, "So, you're saying I wronged you today?"

The soldier moved to the side: "Unyielding. But... I wasn't hitting the mark."

The old man laughed heartily and said, "That little rascal, Xiaobing, will be even more cunning than Xiaowei when he grows up."

Xiaowei's father shook his head and said, "He can't compare. Xiaowei is really cunning, while Xiaobing is just pretending to be smart. Actually, that kid is stubborn and sticks to his principles."

Fourth Uncle said, "If Xiao Wei wasn't going to get a beating, he would have made up his mind long ago if he was in the right, and he would have disappeared if he wasn't. Why would he just stand here waiting to be beaten?"

Xiao Wei patted Xiao Bing's head: "Go inside and wash your face and change your clothes."

Xiaobing stared at Xiaowei's mother, then scurried around her and ran into the building. Xiaowei's mother threw down the willow branch and said to Xiaowei, "Are there still students blocking the school gate demanding money? Go check it out this afternoon."

Xiao Wei smiled and replied, then walked into the pavilion, sat down, and asked his fourth uncle, "Is this year's harvest good?"

Fourth Uncle said, "No, it will take a while. This year's harvest is more than last year's. I came to pick up the boxes and also came to check on things and ask how you're going to handle them. There are a lot of wild fruits this year, and those things are hard to store."

Xiao Wei said, "I'll wash them clean and find a place to freeze them. Is that packaging machine any good? The weight has to be accurate; every package has to be the same."

Uncle Si said, "It's easy to use, simple, you'll get the hang of it in a few tries. Don't worry, I'm keeping an eye on it. Are you really going to open that sauerkraut factory you mentioned? That stuff is all homemade, will anyone buy it?"

(End of this chapter)