Chapter 31: Let's See How Things Turn Out

"It's been a long time since I've worked this refreshingly. People, you see, just have to work, just have to sweat. Especially those in leadership; only by walking out from among the common folk and then walking back in can one understand the hardships of the common people." After working for a long time, the Big Leader propped himself up on his shovel and wiped away his sweat.

"You're right. Go have some water first, I'll handle the rest." He Yuzhu smiled; the Big Leader's words made him feel a sense of déjà vu.

He carefully savored the meaning behind them, feeling a great deal of insight for a moment.

"Hurry up, let's finish together and rest together." The Big Leader wiped his sweat, let out a long breath, and continued to swing his shovel, and He Yuzhu also quickened his pace.

Before long, the sun was high in the sky. The two men stopped, wiping away their sweat, and collapsed together onto the chairs nearby, drinking plain water in large gulps.

"I've been starved by you today. What kind of dishes are you planning to make?"

"Just wait and see, right away." He Yuzhu gave a mysterious smile, washed his hands, and walked into the kitchen.

In the kitchen, Secretary Chen had already prepared all the various ingredients for cooking in advance, and He Yuzhu put on an apron and got to work.

After a while, a large pot of spicy stir-fried chicken mixed with cornmeal griddle cakes was brought outside by He Yuzhu.

"Mm, fragrant. Secretary Chen, go, bring some wine over, oh-hoo." The Big Leader hurriedly washed his hands, used his chopsticks to pick up a piece of chicken neck and gnawed on it; even though it burned his mouth so much he was baring his teeth, he was unwilling to put it down.

"Hey, is that necessary? Take it slow." He Yuzhu took the white liquor from Secretary Chen, poured a cup for the Big Leader first, then poured a little for himself, and took a blissful sip.

"You don't know, in the days you weren't here, the cook at my house just didn't make food as delicious as yours. I found eating to be tasteless. Come, come, come, have a drink."

"Alright, then I'll come often from now on. If that doesn't work, I'll resign as Deputy Director and be your personal cook, haha."

"Oh? That's possible. Do you want me to call your Factory Director now and help you resign?"

"Don't, don't, don't, don't. I'll drink, I'll drink. Please don't smash my rice bowl. I'm a bit of a careerist; it was hard enough to become a Deputy Director. If you make me resign, out of all the generations in my family, I'm the first official."

"Haha, I knew you couldn't bear to part with your official hat. Eat. You have to admit, after finishing work, eating is just fragrant. Thinking back to those years... sigh, let's not mention it. Don't put down your chopsticks."

"Alright, you eat more, I'll take a breather." He Yuzhu lit a cigarette contentedly and started smoking it to the side. The Leader's wife wasn't home, and the Big Leader knew he only had this one little hobby, so he didn't bother him.

After eating for a while, the large basin of stir-fried chicken was visibly more than half gone before the Big Leader drank another cup and slowly stopped his chopsticks.

"Have you ever considered changing your place of work?" the Big Leader asked, seemingly casually.

"No. Please don't keep thinking about having me come here to be your cook; there's no chance of that." He Yuzhu felt a surge of joy in his heart—it was coming.

"Hi, it's not to have you come here as a cook. I went to a meeting two days ago and, on the way, went to the Propaganda Department to watch a performance. Hmm, it wasn't as good as your 'Battle of Wits' singing. How about it, do you have any thoughts of going there?"

"Ah? Go... go do what?" He Yuzhu was stunned. He had thought the Big Leader might transfer him, but he never expected it to be to sing 'Battle of Wits'. His own idea had been to become a secretary...

"What? You're not willing?" The Big Leader's face stiffened, and he asked with feigned displeasure.

"That's not it. It's just that I'm a cook, and running off to do propaganda work—isn't that a bit of a stretch?" He Yuzhu didn't believe the Big Leader was that easily angered, but as a grown man, he really wasn't very willing to go do propaganda work; it was worse than being a cook.

"Don't look down on propaganda work. Revolutionary work only has different divisions of labor; there is no high or low, noble or base."

"No, Big Leader, but, I only know 'Battle of Wits'. I can't just do that everywhere, right? How about we still talk about me being your cook."

"Pedantic, you can't build a wall with mud. Propaganda work is so good—safe, clean, fast promotion, lots of beauties. Most importantly, if you perform well, you have the chance to see... hmm, do you understand?"

"Hmm? Then I'm still not going. Please don't say any more." He Yuzhu stood up, tidied up, and refused with a firm attitude.

The Big Leader was about to be sidelined, and if he were transferred by him to the Propaganda Department where talk leads to mistakes, he wouldn't even know how he died.

"Sigh! You, oh you! How about this: tomorrow you take a leave of absence, go with me to the Propaganda Department, and cook them a meal. That's acceptable, right?"

"Fine, I'm familiar with cooking. I'll go with you tomorrow."

After eating and drinking his fill, he returned to the Siheyuan. He Yuzhu looked at the wall in his room that had already been partitioned and built, the newly painted walls, and the newly replaced wooden door. He nodded with satisfaction and returned to Yushui's room.

It had to be said that Yushui was truly miserable; even on holiday, she couldn't go home. He Yuzhu patted his head, turned around, left the courtyard, and arrived at Ma Hua's home.

"Ma Hua, here's your money back. Also, help me find someone to renovate the Family Courtyard place, put in some minimalist furniture or something. Use good materials. Try to do it after everyone goes to work during the day, keep the noise down."

"Alright, Master. You don't need to pay back the money; that was only a little bit."

"Take it. Here's the key, 14-4-601. Don't go to the wrong place."

After giving his instructions, He Yuzhu didn't look back as he returned to the courtyard. Listening to the Symphony of Fate, He Yuzhu drifted into a deep sleep out of boredom.

The sky soon turned dark.

"Excuse me, is Jia Geng at home?" Teacher Ran knocked on Qin Huairu's door. Looking at the pitch-black room, Teacher Ran recalled the terror of that night again.

"Creak." The door opened from the inside. Xiao Dang led her younger sister out, wrinkled her nose, looked at Teacher Ran, and said, "Big Brother went out with some friends, and Mom isn't home either. There's only Xiao Dang, Huai Hua, and Grandma at home. Teacher, is something the matter?"

Teacher Ran let out a sigh of relief, crouched down, patted Xiao Dang's head, took two fruit candies out of her pocket, and placed them into the two girls' small hands.

"Then Xiao Dang, when Mom comes back, ask her to go find Teacher, okay?"

"Okay, thank you, Teacher Ran."

"Mm, what a good girl. Go inside quickly, Teacher is leaving." Teacher Ran watched the two children stand up, then frowned. What was that smell?

"Master He, Master He, are you there, Master He?" Teacher Ran thought for a moment and knocked on He Yuzhu's door. He Yuzhu walked out from inside with sleepy eyes.

"Teacher Ran, come, come in quickly. Why have you come?"

"I came to check on Jia Geng, to do a home visit, to see if there's any possibility of him returning to school. Why are you asleep so early?"

"I was tired from working this morning, haha. Have you eaten? Let me treat you to a meal."

"I've eaten. That, thank you for last time. The fountain pen was also from you, right?"

"Mm, yes. A fountain pen suits a beauty, haha."

"Then thank you. I have other students' homes to visit, I'll come find you another day."

"Alright, take care."

Watching Teacher Ran leave, He Yuzhu shook his head with a sense of loss.

The flowing water has the intention, but the falling flowers have no heart...

It's laughable to say, with so many women, in the end, not one can accompany him.

Sigh, it's hard to sleep alone.

"Hiccup, Jia Geng, I'm not bragging to you, but with someone like your uncle-in-law, if we don't have money in the future, we'll just ask him for it. He definitely wouldn't dare not give it." Sheng Ge and his group found a dilapidated, abandoned bridge arch. While roasting a fire and drinking, messy bones, peanut skins, and melon seed shells were scattered all over the ground.

"He's not my uncle-in-law. Sheng Ge, let's just leave it at this one time. If we go ask again, what if he reports us to the Public Security Station?" Bang Geng was filled with worry. Who was Xu Damao? Could he suffer a loss? Maybe he had already reported it by now, and perhaps everyone was searching everywhere for them, waiting to catch them.

At the thought of potentially being caught and put back in, Bang Geng started trembling again.

"Look at that spineless look of yours. Don't worry, I won't make things difficult for you. What are we?"

"Brother!"

"We'll see how things go."

"You go back first, Bang Geng, we're sleeping here tonight, we'll go look for your uncle-in-law tomorrow, *hic*, won't let you show your face, rest assured."

Bang Geng wanted to say something but stopped, shook his head, sighed, and walked out.