Chapter 1135: The Egg King

Early that morning, Wang Yan returned from his exercise.

He saw Wu Zhanggui and his wife wandering around the courtyard, calling out, "Egg King!"

This "Egg King" was an old hen raised by the old Wu couple, named for its great talent for laying eggs. When Wang Yan first arrived, he had noticed it; the old Wu couple fed the chicken well, and it ran all over the large courtyard—a proper free-range chicken. It laid an egg every two days, occasionally one every day, and they could collect seventeen or eighteen eggs a month. Moreover, its rest periods were short; after laying for a month, it would recover for just a few days before starting again. It was truly the fighter jet of hens.

"Brother Wang Wang Laowu, what's the matter? Did the Egg King get lost?"

"You said it, I didn't see it when I got up this morning." Wang Wang Laowu's eyes searched everywhere.

"Wang Yan, you're the one who gets up earliest in our courtyard, have you seen it?" Wang Wang Laowu's wife asked anxiously.

As soon as she finished speaking, Wang Wang Laowu glared and scolded, "Shut your mouth, look at what you're saying. Wang Yan, don't take it the wrong way, your sister-in-law is just worried about the Egg King."

Hearing this, Wang Wang Laowu's wife also realized what she had said and hurriedly tried to make up for it: "Right, right, right, I've fed the Egg King since it was small, it's contributed quite a bit to the family over all these years, I've developed feelings for it."

Wang Yan smiled and nodded: "It's fine, Brother Wang Wang Laowu, sister-in-law, how could I not know what kind of people you two are? But I really haven't seen it."

"Tell me, where could it have run off to? Egg King, Egg King..."

The old Wu couple continued to call for the Egg King...

But in the end, they didn't call out the Egg King; instead, they called everyone in the courtyard out of their homes.

It couldn't be said that they had disturbed anyone's sweet dreams; at this time, people went to bed early and woke up early, ate little and got hungry early. Although the courtyard wasn't lively yet, many households already had cooking smoke rising and were making breakfast. It was likely that some people were still lazing in bed, unwilling to get up or move, just dozing at home.

Wang Xin also walked out: "What's wrong, Brother Wu, Sister Wu? This early in the morning, I heard you two shouting."

"Oh my, my Egg King is lost, have you seen it?"

"The Egg King is lost?" Wang Xin was stunned for a moment, then asked, "When was the last time you saw that chicken?"

Wang Wang Laowu's wife replied: "I fed it yesterday afternoon after two o'clock, it was quite full."

"Did it lay an egg?"

"My Egg King is the best at laying eggs, it laid eggs these past two days, there were so many eggs."

Wang Xin asked again: "Did you two go out in the afternoon?"

Wang Wang Laowu nodded: "We went out."

Wang Wang Laowu's wife said: "We went to see a movie, it was already dark and windy when we got back, and we didn't check the chicken coop."

After hearing this, Wang Xin immediately turned his head and shouted for Niu Dali, running to the front of Niu Dali's house...

"Old Ma, who do you think took the chicken?"

Wang Yan stood at the entrance of Old Ma's house, asking Ma Kui, who was squatting there brushing his teeth.

"Are you testing me?" Ma Kui looked up and gargled, then spat out the water in his mouth and hummed, "I've been a policeman for so many years, can't I see through a little thing like this?"

Ma Yan, who was on the side, said: "Then tell us, Dad."

"Does this even need to be said? It's obviously Niu Dali's doing. Wang Xin and Xiao Yao both look like they're in on it; it's likely the three of them ate it together."

Ma Kui shook his head and smiled, "The cause and effect isn't strange either. Didn't Xiao Yao faint from low blood sugar a few days ago? That Niu Dali is fond of Xiao Yao, everyone knows that. It must be that Niu Dali, in order to nourish Xiao Yao's body, didn't care whose chicken it was in the courtyard, and he didn't even know which one was the Egg King; he just snatched one when he saw an opportunity. I reckon if we go for a walk outside now, we can still find their crime scene."

"Then all his efforts were in vain, she didn't even fancy him at all." Ma Yan curled her lips.

"Stay put, you're everywhere." Ma Kui glared at his precious daughter, then looked at Wang Yan, "What are you still doing here? Waiting for me to treat you to a meal?"

"Aunt, bring me a bite in the morning."

"Alright, I would have made your portion even if you hadn't asked." Wang Sufang smiled very kindly inside the room.

After the Old Ma family moved over, Wang Yan stopped cooking for himself; when it was time to eat, Ma Yan would come to call him. He had three layers of connection with the Ma family: first, he was Ma Kui's apprentice; second, he and Ma Yan were the default couple everyone recognized; and third, he had done a kindness for Wang Sufang, helping her discover her illness early and prescribing medicine to nourish her body.

Therefore, it was naturally accepted that he would eat at the Old Ma family's house; they were looking after him.

"Don't tire yourself out, Aunt, take your time, no rush."

Then Wang Yan raised his eyebrows at Ma Kui and left leisurely. Watching Wang Xin, Niu Dali, and Yao Yuling whispering in the distance, he shook his head and smiled, not paying much attention, and went home to wash up.

Just as Old Ma said, this was the plot from the original drama: Niu Dali was nourishing Yao Yuling's body, Yao Yuling didn't fancy Niu Dali, and it just so happened that Wang Xin passed by. Yao Yuling, whose eyes and heart were now full of Wang Xin, directly pulled Wang Xin to enjoy the chicken Niu Dali had given her, and even said Niu Dali made beggar's chicken well—it would be a pity if he didn't become a beggar...

After the incident this morning, Niu Dali hurriedly went to buy a chicken to replace it, but unexpectedly, it was a sick chicken, which ended up killing the other chickens in the old Wu family. Later, he bought ten chicks to make up for it and admitted his mistake to Brother Wang Wang Laowu.

Unexpectedly, Brother Wang Wang Laowu had long discovered it was all Niu Dali's doing, but he didn't pursue it too much. Through this episode, the human touch between people was fully displayed...

A lively morning passed. Wang Yan had breakfast at the Old Ma family's house, chatted and laughed for a while, and when the time was about right, everyone went out together. Almost half the courtyard was mobilized; a whole carload of people, along with their family members, gathered together and went to the municipal government's auditorium, laughing and joking.

There was a big event today: a commendation meeting was to be held. Representatives from various units of the railway system, as well as various units of the municipal government, and representatives from all walks of life, and even student representatives, were attending; it wasn't just an internal matter of the railway system.

The main commendation was, of course, for Wang Yan, because his performance was a bit too awesome. In less than two months, he had run more than a dozen round trips, and he had managed to catch over a hundred people. The passengers' reviews were extremely good, and many people had written letters to the Ningyang station to praise Wang Yan, all of which were stamped with official unit seals. The most important merit, of course, was that human trafficker.

Because he had struck a large gang, the evil deeds of trafficking children and women, molesting women, and murder were all dug out step by step, and many children were saved, and the addresses of previously trafficked children were found, and so on.

It belonged to the cumulative explosion of many small merits and one big merit; this big merit played a decisive role. Of course, the satisfaction of the passengers was even more indispensable; without the recognition of the people, it wouldn't work.

With so many things added together, he became a representative figure of the Ningyang railway system, and the important thing was "representative."

As for the others in the crew, including Ma Kui and Wang Xin, they all belonged to the "chickens and dogs" category of "when one person attains the Dao, his chickens and dogs ascend to heaven." That is, whenever someone said Wang Yan was awesome, he often said the merit wasn't his alone, but the collective's.

The commendation meeting started at nine o'clock in the morning. The second-in-command of Ningyang attended and presided over the meeting, commending the train crew of the Ningyang-Harbin line. He delivered a relatively down-to-earth speech, encouraging comrades from all walks of life to love their jobs, serve the people, and strive for the Four Modernizations, and only then did the formal commendation begin.

That is, issuing a certificate, giving a title like Advanced Worker, and so on.

At this time, there were no later first, second, or third-class merits, or hero models, that was a matter for a few years later. This was a bit of a pity, but there was still plenty of time, not like the police honor before where there were only a few years; unlocking the achievement of the medal armor was still no problem...

As for the leaders above like Old Hu and others, that was the merit of leadership; these were all work achievements, increasing the possibility of promotion.

It could be said that everyone was happy.

"Oh my, this time we've really basked in Wang Yan's glory. You really are my own brother; I never thought before that we could also win merit."

After the meeting dispersed, having received the leaders' condolences and reporters' interviews, a bunch of people were eating the meal provided by the government. Cai Xiaonian looked at the certificate in his hand, full of emotion.

Old Lu also smiled: "You said it."

He was in a leadership position and had more possibility of promotion. Although he was old, he always wanted to make some progress.

"That..." he said loudly, attracting some attention, "Today is a good day. I propose that tonight, each of our families chip in and have a good meal, and also thank Wang Yan. If it weren't for him, we wouldn't have this honor."

"Forget it." Wang Yan waved his hands repeatedly, "None of us are rich, so don't be extravagant. Besides, we're just getting started; won't I still be catching people later? It's all the result of everyone working together, there's no need to thank anyone. Let's just keep it as it is. If you want to eat something good, buy two jin of meat yourself and stew it at home. If you want to drink, you can drink half a jin with some peanuts. Let's not do anything useless."

Ma Kui said: "Wang Yan is right, there's no need for this. Today is indeed a happy day, let each family celebrate on their own; we're all neighbors, and we work together, why all these formalities?"

"Right, Old Ma makes sense." Wang Yongge expressed his support, "It's been so many years, there's no need for all this messy stuff. If you want to drink, come to my house; my treat today, everyone come to my house tonight for a drink."

"Right, right, right." Wang Xin nodded repeatedly on the side, "Everyone come to my house, Uncle Ma, Uncle Lu, Uncle Cai, Brother Wang Wang Laowu..."

This proposal was approved by everyone, only Ma Kui didn't express his stance, and Wang Yongge looked at Ma Kui intently.

Everyone agreed, and Ma Kui had just been released and had just moved into the courtyard, so what could he say? He had no choice but to agree helplessly, and Wang Yongge let out a long sigh of relief...

"Congratulations."

Returning to the courtyard, Ma Yan ran to Wang Yan's house, and only then did the two of them have a chance to talk.

"Small matter." Wang Yan smiled, "There will be plenty of these things in the future, too many to be happy about."

"Not humble at all."

"This is what Old Ma said; he said if you have the strength, you have the strength, and excessive humility is annoying."

Wang Yan looked at Ma Yan, who was speechless, and smiled: "Alright, it's no big deal. Stop doing useless things, while I have time, hurry up and study, I'll explain what you don't understand."

"I don't even want to go to college myself, how come you guys are all so concerned?" Ma Yan helplessly put the pile of books in her hand on Wang Yan's rosewood long table.

"Going to college broadens your horizons and increases your knowledge; this is a rare experience. And just like I told you before, when the time comes, your college classmates will all be assigned to work in various units, and some will even go abroad; by then, they will be doing all sorts of things, and it will be more convenient for you to do things. On the other hand, you can also learn knowledge, enrich yourself, and improve your own realm.

Right now, you read few books and see little. What you see is this courtyard of ours, the goods in your state-run store, and the people coming and going to buy things; you don't have an accurate concept of other things. When you go to college, that's when you'll see our country, that's when you'll see the world we are in; this is a world of difference."

"You have so many reasons. Study, study, study, study me to death. My brain is unclear all day long..."

Listening to Ma Yan's complaints, Wang Yan smiled but didn't say much. Learning is a forced thing; few people really love learning, and it's normal to be tired of learning. However, it couldn't be said that the intensity of learning was very high.

Ma Yan was also quite leisurely at the state-run store; although people came to buy things from time to time, it never reached the point where she was so tired that she would fall asleep as soon as she got into bed, without any energy at all. She was just lazy...

Just like this, the two of them, one teaching and one learning, were in Wang Yan's study.

Ma Kui would wander around outside when he had nothing to do, staring at Wang Yan like he was a thief. He wasn't afraid of anything else, just afraid of some ugly things happening. This was an era that was about to happen and about to change; Ma Kui was a traditional person, and everyone around him was a traditional person, obviously unable to bear those things...

That night, the men of the crew were all eating and drinking at Wang Xin's house, but Ma Kui brought things, added dishes, and even added wine, not eating Wang Yongge's for free. Others knew more or less about the two of them, of course, they didn't know the truth, was it all Ma Kui's one-sided words? But they didn't say much, and no one mentioned this.

Although they said they wouldn't chip in to celebrate together, the men's side was Wang Yongge's treat, but the women and children's side wasn't forgotten. It was managed by Old Lu's wife, who bought a lot of things at noon, which was a real expense. People from other families knew about this, and since people had already bought things back, they all went out one by one and bought things back, and no one lost out to anyone.

In the end, it was just as Old Lu proposed, it counted as everyone chipping in to celebrate...

Of course, there was also a result for the Egg King incident that had been shouted about all morning. After the commendation, Niu Dali ran to buy an old hen and hid it. After everyone finished drinking and went home, he sent the chicken into the old Wu family's coop; as for whether it was a sick chicken, that was hard to say.

After all, there must have been a discrepancy in the time of buying the chicken, and Niu Dali might not have been that unlucky...

Sure enough, half a month passed, and the old Wu family's chickens were still fine, and this matter just passed.

This was just a seasoning in life, and Wang Yan and the others finally ushered in a new challenge.

Because the previous commendation was published in the newspaper and sent to all parts of the line, after such a period of fermentation, it was just as Wang Yan had thought before: there were rebellious thieves who wanted to find achievements on the train they were on.

The train, which was already very lively because of the transportation artery of the Northeast, suddenly became even livelier...