Chapter 496: Rural Absurd Past Events Chapter 496: Who in Their Youth Didn't Have a Red-Sincere Heart?

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Protagonist:

Li Xiulan

This meal was eaten in harmonious joy; everyone was happy, congenial, and thoroughly satisfied.

The fire safety department counts as settled.

However, Wang Erhai also bled quite a bit.

That box of mooncakes sent to Wang Zhiyang contained twenty thousand yuan inside.

Someone would ask: just a trivial fire inspection — is it really necessary to send this much money?

Don't you say it — it really is necessary.

This kind of matter is best handled in one clean stroke, feeding those pixiu until they're full.

Otherwise they'll come patronizing your company every three days, and how could you stand it?

If it were another department, that would be easier to put — take taxation, for example; at most they audit once or twice, and if you yourself are clean and pay taxes lawfully, no matter how they toss you about they can't manipulate you.

But fire safety is different — the room for maneuver inside is enormous.

Fire safety standards are extremely strict, and things that are overly strict generally cannot be implemented on the ground, which leads to them being able to legitimately mess with you.

Retreating ten thousand steps — even if you do implement them, them coming to your company every three days to drink tea under the pretext of an inspection is also unbearable.

This will definitely affect the company's normal operations.

And without that regulation requiring it, they cannot come inspect your company every three days.

At first Wang Erhai also felt he shouldn't send that much money, but after Lin Xiaolong explained the ins and outs to him clearly, he instead worried — was twenty thousand too little?

But with Lin Xiaolong acting as intermediary to bridge things, this matter counts as having a guarantee.

According to Lin Xiaolong's meaning, giving twenty thousand is fine — don't give too much; giving too much would instead make them feel you're easy to manipulate.

Additionally, no matter how ugly Wang Zhiyang's eating posture, he probably wouldn't refuse to give this old classmate face, right?

The human relations in a small county town need to be maintained.

If Wang Zhiyang doesn't even give his own old classmate face, that would be too ignorant of human relations; afterward people seeking connections wouldn't look for him.

He's still very clear on this point.

So he also stopped at the right point, tasted a bit of sweetness, and promptly reined it in.

This dinner party ended with everyone delighted.

They ate until past ten o'clock at night before dispersing.

During the meal, those people Wang Zhiyang brought took turns toasting Wang Erhai; Wang Erhai had no choice but to drink, only able to brace himself and take cup after cup.

Around eleven o'clock at night, Wang Erhai, reeking of alcohol, returned to the rental house.

Wang Xiaohua had just showered; seeing his second brother swaying back, he couldn't help but be surprised:

"Second Brother, how come you drank so much?"

Wang Erhai didn't answer his words, but instead stumbled wretchedly into the bathroom and vomited wildly into the toilet bowl.

He vomited for a good while; the whole room was filled with nauseating alcohol stench.

Wang Xiaohua hurriedly went to open the windows to air out the smell.

After Wang Erhai finished vomiting and recovered his senses, he then staggered out of the bathroom, plopped his buttocks onto the sofa, and lit himself a cigarette:

"Little brother, after you graduate and come out, you must absolutely not do business — doing business and being a grandson aren't much different; if you're going to do something, go be an official — that's the real superior person!"

Wang Erhai sighed a sentence from the bottom of his heart.

These days of personal experience in this small county town made him realize that no matter how much money he earns, in the eyes of those officials, he's still nothing but a fart.

In this official-centric society, the "scholars, farmers, artisans, merchants" hierarchy has been drawn since ancient times; the humanistic atmosphere here was long ago destined — doing business makes it very hard to gain social status.

"Second Brother, what's wrong with you?"

Wang Xiaohua's brows furrowed slightly; looking at his second brother's appearance, he was somewhat worried.

Wang Erhai didn't answer this, and said again:

"Even if you do business, absolutely don't come back to a small county town — if you're going to start a venture, go to a big city; a small place fundamentally isn't a place for people to live."

Wang Erhai, when it comes down to it, is only twenty-something years old; returning to the rental house and complaining a few sentences to his own little brother is perfectly normal.

He could forcefully endure the anger in his heart, go eat with Wang Zhiyang, give Wang Zhiyang a red envelope — that's already doing very well.

If he were still that ignorant hothead from before, he would've directly slapped Wang Zhiyang across the face.

One can only say society is a giant grinding machine; soaked in society, a person's edges will ultimately be ground smooth, becoming slick, becoming worldly.

Even if this isn't what your heart wants, wrapped in society's giant waves you can only become like this — otherwise you'll be eliminated.

This is also why so many people in this world, as they age, all feel they've become the very appearance they once despised.

Who in their youth didn't have a red-sincere heart?

But who, facing reality, can keep from bowing their head forever?

"Second Brother, did you run into some difficulty?"

Seeing Wang Erhai's dejected appearance, Wang Xiaohua asked caringly once more.

Wang Erhai shook his head:

"No difficulty — the difficulty's already been settled; it's just that my heart can't help but hold some resentment, can't help but sigh — why must this world be like this? If everyone acted according to regulations, with no need for those messy human relations, how good that would be!"

This is the world everyone yearns for, right? No one wants to play human relations, but human nature has a stubborn vicious side, so that everyone hopes they themselves can have connections, go through the back door, get special treatment, be a superior person — so that in the end no one can avoid playing human relations.

"Little brother, you say — is there such a world, with no human relations, no corruption and bribery, no superior persons?"

Wang Erhai looked at Wang Xiaohua; alcohol made his head float, and he asked an impractical question.

"There was once an Englishman named Thomas More who conceived a perfect world called 'Utopia.' The world you speak of should be the world of Utopia, right?"

Wang Xiaohua said thus.

Wang Erhai smoked a cigarette:

"If only I could live in Utopia."

Wang Xiaohua shook his head:

"If you think about it carefully, Utopia is impossible to exist. In Utopia, everyone acts according to the law, and those who do not act according to the law will be severely sanctioned by the law. This is on the premise that the law's sanctions are completely fair and just, but who holds the power of legal sanctions? And those who hold the power of legal sanctions—are they not actually a form of people above others?"

Wang Xiaohua had read more books after all; he was not the kind of dull and stupid bookworm others saw him as. That kind of bookworm could at most get an undergraduate degree, and could not possibly get into Tsinghua University like Wang Xiaohua.

Who among those who can get into Tsinghua or Peking University is not a master of independent thinking?

Wang Xiaohua's thinking about things was far deeper than that of ordinary people.

His insight into the essence of things was also far more thorough than that of ordinary people.

Although he had not yet truly entered society, he was already able to see through the surface and understand the underlying logic of human relations and social graces.

So when he previously followed Niu Chunsheng to attend a dinner party and first came into contact with that whole set of wine-table customs, he did not have inner anger and rejection like Wang Erhai does now, but rather humbly learned, trying to figure out the underlying logic behind it.

However, he did not blindly believe in these things either.

He was very clear in his heart that these were indeed dregs, stumbling blocks to the progress of human civilization.

But people cannot live only in pure essence, just as they cannot always live in a sterile environment.

The world is not black and white; the world has shades of gray, and it is the existence of shades of gray that constitutes this complex world and builds true human nature.

"Second Brother, don't think so much. When we encounter problems, we solve the problems. If we really can't solve them, we'll go find Uncle Chunsheng for help. I'll go brew you a cup of hangover tea."

Wang Xiaohua comforted Wang Erhai with this sentence.

Wang Erhai said nothing more, just wearily waved his hand:

"Then you go. Don't put so much tea leaf."

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