Chapter 456: Negotiation (2)

Wu Quanzi avoided talking about the list, which surprised me quite a bit.

He didn't mention it, I couldn't open my mouth first.

Wu Quanzi told me a story with great interest, saying that if you listen to this story, it will be enlightening, if you don't listen, it will be a wild talk.

I listened attentively, seeing what kind of strange story he was going to tell me.

Wu Quanzi was unhurried, speaking slowly.

Undeniably, his infectious power was very strong, the voice was not high, but it had magnetism.

His story started from the forties, saying there was a teenager, parents died, grew up eating a hundred families' rice. After the teenager became a young man, by chance, he became a militia battalion commander.

The teenager had never been a soldier, logically speaking, couldn't do the militia battalion commander's work. But he was willing to learn, willing to use his brain. More than fifty militia battalion commanders in the whole county competed, he actually won the first place.

The competition in the county passed, participated in the city competition, still the first place. In the province, still stood out.

His performance won the favor of the leader, making him a cadre of the County Armed Forces Department. At that time, it was the era of the big movement, politics in command, business secondary. The whole society was revolutionizing in full swing, and he was no exception, and was a fanatical element of the revolution.

Revolutionized for a period of time, besides raiding homes, it was holding struggle meetings. He felt that if this continued for a long time, it wouldn't be a thing. So he quietly withdrew from the revolutionary team and began to study and learn wholeheartedly.

It happened that a high-level leader was sent down by the province to accept mass transformation, and it happened to be under his supervision. At that time, the province had an order, the body of the cadre accepting transformation would not be destroyed, but the spirit must be destroyed.

The cadre who came down from the province to accept transformation, he didn't let others manage it, he followed every day. At the beginning, the two didn't say a word, both were cold-eyed. One day, the leader had a fever, and it was a high fever, talking nonsense.

He was afraid, carried the cadre to the hospital to find a doctor. The hospital saw it was a target of ** and firmly refused to accept it. Said the hospital of the proletariat does not save class enemies.

He said all the good words, but the hospital still ignored him. Seeing that the cadre accepting transformation was rolling his eyes, breathing roughly, and was about to die. In a fit of anger, he pulled a Mauser pistol from his waist and topped it on the doctor's forehead, saying, if he dies, you follow!

He was a famous person in the county, and his roots were red and seedlings were straight. In that era, shooting you to death, saying you were a class enemy, no one would object.

The doctor was scared to pee and urinate, gathered a group of doctors who hadn't been overthrown, spent more than ten hours of rescue, and snatched the cadre accepting transformation from the hands of death.

The cadre accepting transformation lived, learned that it was him who saved his life, wanted to be grateful, but because his situation was difficult, he couldn't express it.

But from then on, the cadre accepting transformation intentionally or unintentionally told him the truth of the revolution, and took him to learn many books on philosophy and literature.

He was also pulled down to the bottom by the county revolutionary committee because of the shooting, and returned to the countryside of his hometown to be a farmer.

He originally grew up eating a hundred families' rice in this piece of land, he came back, no one disliked him. Everyone pooled money to help him settle a new home.

With a new home, he couldn't let go of the cadre accepting transformation, as long as he had time, he ran to see the cadre accepting transformation. At this time, their relationship had become a teacher-student relationship, and he sincerely worshipped the cadre accepting transformation as a teacher.

After a while, the movement escalated, and there was news that the cadre accepting transformation was to be taken out and shot. The reason was that the cadre accepting transformation had been a Kuomintang county magistrate before liberation, belonging to a heinous person.

He heard this news, ran to the place of the cadre accepting transformation in the middle of the night, secretly brought him back, hid him in his own home, didn't show up during the day, and only came out for a walk and breath in the middle of the night.

This passed for another two years, the movement ended, and the cadre accepting transformation was rehabilitated.

Although rehabilitated, he couldn't find anyone. Someone suspected that he hid him, so the organization talked to him, but he wouldn't admit it even if he was beaten to death. At night, he told the cadre accepting transformation about this, and the cadre accepting transformation slapped his thigh and said: "Your spring is coming."

His knowledge was not much, and he didn't take this sentence to heart. But after one day,

Suddenly one day, people from the province arrived, forced him into a jeep, and drove away.

He was so scared he nearly wet his pants, yet he didn't dare ask why. He assumed his secret involvement in reforming the cadre had been exposed.

Upon arriving at the province, several people helped him groom and dress up, and then the Provincial Organization Department announced that, from that moment on, he was appointed as the Provincial Governor's secretary.

This sudden stroke of good fortune left him dizzy; it wasn't until he met the Provincial Governor that he realized the Governor was the very same cadre he had risked his life to save.

Faced with such extreme highs and lows, he couldn't adapt all at once; he could only gape with his mouth wide open and wail.

A year later, the Provincial Governor personally acted as a matchmaker, marrying off his youngest daughter to him as his wife.

Over a decade later, the Provincial Governor retired, and he transformed from the Provincial Governor's secretary into an Assistant to the Provincial Governor. Later on, his career path remained smooth, and he rose step by step from assistant to Vice Provincial Governor. Given his current career trajectory, taking another step forward in the future would not be a difficult task.

Finishing the story, Wu Quanzi smiled and asked me, "Did you understand?"

I asked blankly, "Is that it?"

"Of course it's not over. But for now, this is as far as it goes."

"The story you told, is it about Provincial Governor Lin?"

Wu Quanzi looked at me deeply and said, "It seems you understand."

I shook my head and said, "I don't."

Wu Quanzi was stunned, sighed for a long time, and said, "Do you really not understand, or are you pretending not to?"

I said earnestly, "Secretary-General, does this story tell us that as long as we are sure of what we see and persist to the end, the clouds will eventually part to reveal the sun?"

He nodded approvingly and said, "If the person saved back then hadn't been a Provincial Governor, but a County Magistrate or a Mayor, history would have taken a different turn."

I nodded thoughtfully and asked, "So, Provincial Governor Lin's wife is the daughter of the former Provincial Governor, Lin Xiaoxi's mother?"

Wu Quanzi nodded in agreement.

"But I heard they had a strained father-daughter relationship. What is the reason for that?"

"Provincial Governor Lin's wife was a reporter for the provincial newspaper. She passed away in a car accident while covering a case."

I couldn't help but sigh.

"How many years ago was that?"

"She passed away when Xiaoxi was five."

"Does she have a stepmother now?"

"Yes. Provincial Governor Lin is a young talent; he couldn't remain a bachelor his whole life. The organization would consider that. His current wife is a director at the provincial television station."

After the exchange of questions and answers, I fell silent, wondering whether I should hand over the list.

Wu Quanzi broke the silence and said, "Actually, being in officialdom is the same as being in the world of martial arts. Officialdom is the world! How many people, ancient or modern, domestic or foreign, can remain untainted in the world? By the same logic, those who can remain untainted in officialdom are even rarer."

I echoed, "Secretary-General, you are absolutely right."

Wu Quanzi smiled and said, "We are both walking toward the same goal; if a car comes along halfway, riding is always faster than walking. Think of how much more one can accomplish with the energy saved."

I smiled along and said, "Having a ride is certainly good. The fear is that if the driver's skills aren't up to par and there's an accident, wouldn't it be a case of 'haste makes waste'?"

Wu Quanzi looked at me deeply, stood up and walked to the window, looking outside, and sighed, "Since ancient times, those who are soft-hearted and indecisive have never achieved greatness."

This sentence was a hint to me; if I didn't make a decision on this matter, the difference between walking and riding would be what awaited me.

"Secretary-General, can I take the night to consider?" I asked tentatively.

"No problem."

"I will definitely give you an answer early tomorrow morning," I said, standing up to take my leave.

It was a lie that Wu Quanzi kept me for a night talk, and it was impossible for me to stay with him at the Xinlinyin. Although our conversation along the way was subtle and obscure, outsiders wouldn't understand what we were talking about at all. But in our own hearts, it was as clear as a mirror.

"Good, I'll wait for you," Wu Quanzi said meaningfully. "Provincial Governor Lin is still waiting for my news."

My heart skipped a beat, and my thoughts became as tangled as a mess of hemp.