Chapter 133

He smiled sheepishly, closed the book, and put it back in its original place.

"Lend me this book for a few days."

Who knew Dong Wenxue would shake his head and say, "If you want to read it, buy it yourself. Books are never lent out here."

Li Xuewu didn't know what he thought of, chuckled twice, and picked up a Daqian Sect cigarette to pull one out. Just as he was about to light it, Dong Wenxue threw the Zhonghua on the table over.

"Taste this; you won't cough after smoking it."

"Cough! Cough!"

Li Xuewu thought to himself, "Maybe you should be the one surnamed Li."

He caught the Zhonghua cigarette thrown by his teacher and placed it to the side.

Li Xuewu said with a grin, "Don't, please. My mom slapped me twice for smoking 3-mao-5 Daqian Sect. If I get used to smoking your cigarettes, my mom will definitely beat me with a broom handle. I'd better smoke mine."

Dong Wenxue curled his lips in a 'pfft', bent down, pulled two packs of Zhonghua cigarettes from the drawer at his feet, threw them to Li Xuewu, and said, "Don't try to act pitiful here. Take them and smoke."

These Zhonghua cigarettes weren't something just anyone could scrounge up. The ones sent to Director Ma last time were bought by Wen San'er at a high price in the market. They basically couldn't be seen in the supply and marketing cooperative, and they were available in special supply stores, but they were five or six times more expensive.

Li Xuewu accepted them happily, placed them by his hand, and smiled, "I was just waiting for these words from you. I'll come often in the future."

Dong Wenxue nodded and continued, "Once you get used to smoking them, you'll know where to buy cigarettes for me."

Li Xuewu's hand holding the cigarettes stiffened, and he said with a wry smile, "Teacher, you really know how to set an ambush. But I don't have a smoking addiction. If I get used to smoking, it'll take ten or eight years."

Dong Wenxue smiled, "Hahaha! I'm still afraid of you? Tell me, why did you run here for no reason?"

Li Xuewu took out the documents sent by Shen Fang yesterday and handed them to Dong Wenxue. Seeing Dong Wenxue take them with a frown, he then said, "Teacher, do you know about this?"

Dong Wenxue opened the documents, looked at them, nodded, and said, "I haven't seen the file. Director Fu mentioned it, saying that our factory's security force is quite good and also very cooperative with local security, so they want to strengthen the connection. This kind of thing was implemented in the 50s. I thought it was just building a liaison or something. I didn't expect it to be so formal."

Li Xuewu nodded and said, "I saw the factory security team patrolling when I was a child. What I'm thinking is whether there will be other situations in this. Don't let them use us as cannon fodder."

As he spoke, he repeated what Shen Fang had said and revealed a little bit of the history he knew using speculative language.

Dong Wenxue tapped the table with the documents in his hand and said, "Wait and see. Try not to go over there, and don't get involved in their affairs. Speak less and do less, and you'll make fewer mistakes."

"Then do we need to add some manpower to the patrol team? I was almost robbed on my way home yesterday. They took me for a kid from the courtyard."

Dong Wenxue laughed and said, "It really does look like it. Your temperament doesn't look like a child raised in a crowded courtyard. You don't have that kind of politeness. You really look like a child from a courtyard who has seen the world."

Li Xuewu didn't want to get involved with those people in the courtyard at all. He touched his face and said, "I've already been disfigured, and you can still see my extraordinary temperament?"

Dong Wenxue couldn't laugh or cry, "If I say you're fat, you start panting. I'm talking about your style of doing things. By the way, you look even more like it wearing these clothes."

Li Xuewu knew what his teacher wanted to say and said with a wry smile, "Gu Ning gave them to me, saying Auntie Ding asked her to give them to me."

Dong Wenxue knew some things about Gu Ning's family, otherwise he wouldn't have arranged this marriage for Li Xuewu, so he smiled and asked, "This Auntie Ding is not a simple character. Do you know where these clothes came from?"

Li Xuewu unzipped the zipper, revealed the lining in the lower right corner, and said, "It should be a pilot's flight jacket. There's no label, but there's a clothing factory logo on the lining."

Dong Wenxue nodded and said, "It should be the new clothes issued to Gu Ning's eldest brother. The old chief mentioned it to me. Although they didn't become your father-in-law and mother-in-law, they still appreciate you very much. Auntie Ding wouldn't do this without the old chief's consent."

Li Xuewu was a little astonished, "This jacket shouldn't be easy to get in their house, right?"

Dong Wenxue smoked a cigarette and sneered, "Dream on. There are some high-ranking cadres who act recklessly, but their family is much stricter than you imagine. The old chief rarely goes to recuperate every year. Apart from family expenses, most of his 360-yuan monthly salary is sent back to his hometown."

It was also Li Xuewu's first time learning about this Chief of Staff Gu. Thinking that the Gu family really did things without a flaw, he felt some pressure from the leather jacket on his body.

Dong Wenxue looked at his silent student, sighed, and said, "I know some things about Gu Ning. I'll tell you today, and you just keep it in your heart. Don't talk about it, and don't take it to heart."

He didn't know what his teacher wanted to say, but it seemed to be related to Gu Ning, so he nodded and agreed.

"It's a thing of the past," Li Xuewu said.

Dong Wenxue narrowed his eyes and began to narrate, "When Gu Ning was 18, she was like the girls in the courtyard, worshipping soldiers and admiring warriors. At the age of first love, a dozen or so girls were chattering about who was more heroic."

"Of course, it's different from that kind of love outside. Gu Ning was in school at the time. The admiration in the courtyard was nothing more than writing letters, a bunch of kids going to the park together, or going out to climb a mountain, which counted as a date. At that time, there were even cases where a dozen or so girls liked Weimin at the same time."

"Auntie Ding knew about this, but thinking that Gu Ning was relatively introverted since she was a child and didn't understand what love was, it was good for her to go out and have fun with her peers. Plus, the old chief made special arrangements, so she didn't forbid Gu Ning from going out to play."

Seeing Li Xuewu nod, he continued, "The eldest son of the Wei family is called Weimin. He has been the leader of this group of children since he was a child. He is very intelligent, calm, and atmospheric. He is a standard military talent. His biggest advantage is that he is smooth in handling affairs and very good at speaking. People in the courtyard all say this child is good."

After praising the eldest son of the Wei family, Dong Wenxue said, "It is precisely this smoothness in handling affairs and being good at speaking that did not enter the old chief's eyes. The old chief likes this kind of person the least."

Dong Wenxue paused and said, "You should still remember the things in April 1957. At that time, 19-year-old Weimin, introduced by Director Zheng, had already been a bodyguard for Mr. Wang for 2 years. Mr. Wang even praised Weimin to everyone he met, saying he had talent and knew how to handle things. The Wei family produced a talent, and he would be useful in the future."

He shook his head and made a 'Hey' sound.

Dong Wenxue said, "In that movement, Mr. Wang was asked to go to the border to squat. Hehe, Mr. Wang naturally didn't want to delay Weimin's future, so he asked him where he wanted to go, and he would arrange it."

He extinguished his cigarette butt in the ashtray and said, "At that time, Weimin said without thinking that he wanted to go with Mr. Wang, to share weal and woe. Mr. Wang persuaded him twice before deciding that Weimin would go with him. Mr. Wang was very moved at the time."

Li Xuewu could roughly guess the ending of the matter.