Back to 1978

Chapter 173: Han Hongbing's First Encounter

The old traffic policeman was frightened by these young men from Bingyang. He was relieved when he saw that he had scared people away and these young men put away their weapons on their own initiative.

Without waiting for him to speak, Yang Limin took out his work ID and handed it to the other party:

"They are armed militiamen from the Zhongping Production Brigade in Bingyang County. They accompanied me and Director Xie to the Metallurgical and Mining Administration Bureau to make purchases according to the arrangement of the commune's armed forces department and the brigade's steel rolling mill."

Yang Liming is the only one among them who has a certificate. Having this thing is very useful in this era and can avoid a lot of unnecessary difficulties.

The policeman took it, looked at it carefully, and handed it back to Yang Liming. The other party was a commune cadre, and there was no need for him, a traffic policeman, to get hung up on the other party over a conflict that did not happen. If a fight really broke out, the commune would come to Yaoshan City to question him, asking why they arrested these armed militiamen who helped the commune purchase supplies, and why they let those provocative vagrants go. How would he answer?

It is enough for him to remember the other party's background. If both sides are unlucky and encounter a fight somewhere, and the superiors ask about it, he can just report truthfully. There is no need to get involved in everything.

He tore up the stamp-sized fine receipts in his hand, counted them, and handed them to Xie Hushan, speaking as if to himself or to the young men:
"After the Yaoshan earthquake, there were many more young people on the streets. Although many of them were still in school or working in factories, their families had passed away in the earthquake. They lacked supervision and walked around in groups of three or five, becoming more and more like vagrants."

"They don't have the guts to do anything bad, they just have a bad mouth. If they see people bickering with each other, or see a pretty girl whistling, they will run away if you glare at them or act tough."

Xie Hushan took the fine receipt handed over by the traffic police, turned around and got on the sidecar motorcycle, and asked everyone to get on the motorcycle and prepare to leave:

"Leader, with people like you, they will become more and more daring sooner or later."

The traffic policeman looked at the sidecar motorcycle and Xie Hushan's figure roaring and rushing forward, opened his mouth, and finally sighed dejectedly.

What’s the point of taking care of things yourself? Can you take care of so many young people without parents?

When Xie Hushan and others arrived at the Metallurgical and Mining Administration, they were shocked by its scale. It occupied a much larger area than the Bingyang County Party Committee compound, and the building was also grand. Although it was newly built after the earthquake, it still had the tough flavor of the old Russian buildings.

It was from Yang Liming that Xie Hushan learned that the Metallurgical and Mining Administration was one of the earliest government agencies established in Yaoshan area. It was established just after the founding of the People's Republic of China. It was originally called the Mining Company and was not under the management of Yaoshan. It was directly led by the State Metallurgical Bureau. It was only renamed the Yaoshan Metallurgical and Mining Administration a few years ago.

The specific work is to be responsible for the supervision, management and audit of all state-owned metallurgical mining areas, subordinate smelters, slag plants, etc. in Yaoshan area.

It can be regarded as the Yaoshan Branch of the State Metallurgical Bureau. In a word, all issues related to metallurgical mines in the Yaoshan area, such as geological surveys of mining areas, ore mining, purchasing related machinery and equipment for various mining areas, issuing various licenses, etc., are all under the jurisdiction of here.

It would be inappropriate for a group of people to rush in, mainly because Lu Yuan said that her mother's office was occupied by a group of people, and it would be inconvenient for people to see so many people, so Xie Hushan left Han Laoer to greet the other militiamen to wait outside the gate, and he and Yang Liming followed Lu Yuan inside.

Lu Yuan greeted the people in the duty room at the door in a familiar manner, and took Yang Liming and Xie Hushan into the main building of the Metallurgical and Mining Administration.

There are many departments here, and without Lu Yuan leading the way, Xie Hushan felt that it would probably take him dozens of minutes just to look at the nameplates of each department's office in the corridor.

Taking Xie Hushan up to the second floor, Lu Yuan pushed open the wooden door of an inconspicuous office on the second floor of the mine, poked her head inside, and then smiled:
"Mom, Limin and I brought our nephew here."

"What are you talking about? Where did your nephew come from? Come in and talk." A gentle female voice sounded in the office.

When Lu Yuan invited the two to come in, Xie Hushan looked up and glanced at the nameplate of the office: Mineral Processing Review and Evaluation Management Office.

The entrance looks inconspicuous from the outside, but the space inside is quite large, with seven or eight office desks and rows of old-fashioned wooden filing cabinets against the wall. The light bulbs hanging overhead are not incandescent bulbs, but long, white tube lamps.

The government agencies in Yaoshan City really have better treatment than the districts and counties below. When Xie Hushan was cheating people out of food at the county committee, he never saw the county leaders using this kind of light bulbs for lighting.

At a desk farthest from the door sat a middle-aged woman. She signed a few words methodically with a pen, then folded the document and put it in the drawer. She tidied her hair around her ears, stood up with a smile and looked at Lv Yuan, Yang Liming and Xie Hushan who came in.

The woman looked to be in her early forties, with a typical "Liu Hulan hairstyle", large black-framed glasses, and a well-fitting gray-blue open-collar Lenin suit. The only accessory she had was a Plum brand ladies' watch on her wrist.

Although she dresses in an old-fashioned and conservative way, her facial features are pretty among her peers, and she is taller than other women. It is obvious that Lu Yuan has inherited all the good qualities of her mother.

"Hello, Auntie." Yang Limin greeted the woman with a smile. The woman smiled and nodded at Yang Limin:
"You have always been at the grassroots level. It is rare to see you. Are your parents doing well?"

Yang Limin said, "Very good, Auntie."

Then he introduced Lv Yuan's mother to Xie Hushan: "This is Lv Yuan's mother, my...mother-in-law."

The woman looked at Xie Hushan and nodded slightly: "I am Qiaodanni from the Mineral Processing Supervision Office of the Metallurgical and Mining Administration Bureau. You must be the Xie Hushan that Xiaoyuan and Limin mentioned?"

Xie Hushan bowed respectfully and said hello: "It's me, hello, leader."

"Why do you call me a leader? I'm not your leader. Just call me Aunt Qiao like Limin does." Qiao Danni smiled and looked at Xie Hushan's clothes, then shook her head in a helpless manner:
"Before, I was worried that the gifts you gave to Xiaoyuan and Limin were too expensive, and that you had scraped together the gifts to make them look good. Now, looking at the way you are dressed... I was overthinking. It must be that the atmosphere is more relaxed now. Otherwise, if you were wearing this in the city, you would have been stopped and questioned by the mass patrol team."

Lv Yuan was standing nearby, picking up the thermos and cup to pour water for Xie Hushan and Yang Limin. Upon hearing her mother's teasing, she handed the water to Xie Hushan and said:

"Xie Husan is still trying to be shameless? Mom, you don't know, this guy pretends to be poor every day. When Yang Limin and I went to his place for dinner, he wrote down every detail in a notebook. He is so stingy. He said that he was giving Limin good cigarettes and wine, but he took them away and used them to fool others."

"Don't make a fuss, old lady. If you bring this up now, what if my aunt gets angry and doesn't sell the car to me?" Xie Hushan took the cup and said to Lu Yuan a little embarrassedly. The word "aunt" made Lu Yuan's brain freeze up. She didn't react. After a few seconds, she came back to her senses and stared at Xie Hushan: "My aunt? My mother?"

"Look, we are real relatives. You and my uncle are younger than me. I am very particular about seniority, so we can't address each other wrongly." Xie Hushan said to Lu Yuan.

Qiao Danni laughed at Xie Hushan's words and said to Yang Limin:
"Now I believe what you said during our previous chat. This shameless guy will definitely do something like tricking you and asking you to pay for his meal."

"He's a good person, but he has a bad mouth and is never serious all day long." Yang Liming explained with a smile.

It can be seen that Qiaodanni's work is very leisurely. Everyone else in the office has gone to inspect the mining areas, but she does not have to run around. She stays in the office to take care of daily administrative affairs. She asked the three people to stay in the office to drink some water and rest for a while. Qiaodanni took this opportunity to contact the logistics and the driver of the car team. When she came back with her people, the group went directly to the parking lot of the Mining and Metallurgical Bureau to see the BJ212 for sale.

Perhaps because she was afraid that Xie Hushan would worry about the condition of the car, Qiaodanni asked the driver of the small car team to help explain the condition of the car, and explained clearly any minor problems or scratches.

Xie Hushan had no complaints about the condition of the car. Even the best car would eventually break down if it was driven on the bumpy roads of Zhongping for half a month.

He had no problem, and Jordanne had even less problem as the car was specially reserved for him. From the time he viewed the car to the time he finished the work, it took less than an hour in total. Without any hassle, the car was returned to the steel mill.

"Cousin, to express my gratitude for helping our factory, I would like to invite you to lunch on behalf of the steel mill." Xie Hushan patted the front of the 212 and said to Qiao Danni:

"You tell me where to eat. I'll drive you there. It's a good opportunity to test drive the car."

Qiao Danni shook her head, looked at her daughter who was whispering to Yang Limin, and said to Xie Hushan:
"No need. I'm the only one left in the office today. If I leave, I won't be able to find anyone if something happens, which will affect the work in the mining area. Xiaoyuan, didn't you mention that there are still some comrades from the steel rolling mill waiting outside to see the car? Don't make them wait anxiously. I just want to ask Xiaoyuan and Limin something when I go back to the office. Next time when there are other people in the office, I'll treat you to a meal."

"Then I'll invite you and my uncle and aunt to have dinner together another day. Anyway, we have a car now and it's convenient to go into the city." Xie Hushan did not insist. It was obvious that the other party wanted to stay in the office with his daughter and son-in-law for a while, so he should not be an eyesore here.

Seeing Xie Hushan getting on 212 and about to start the car, Yang Limin asked, "Where are you going?"

"Let's drive around the city and then go back. My master Lao Zhang is waiting for you to have fun." Xie Hushan said to Yang Liming.

Yang Limin moved closer to the car window and lowered his voice: "Don't cause trouble when I'm not here. Your steel mill is a team-run enterprise. You guys don't have work permits. If you scare people like you did when you came here, it will be very troublesome."

"Do I need to tell you? Do you think I'm stupid? Besides, if something really happens, I won't mention you. What use are you, a cadre from Zhongping, in such a big city? I will definitely tell them directly that my cousin is the leader of the Mining and Metallurgy Bureau." Xie Hushan said to Yang Limin with a smile:

"After lunch, shall I pick you up and take you home together? Or will you stay at Lu Yuan's house tonight?"

"Go back and keep an eye on Director Li recently," Yang Liming said.

As soon as Xie Hushan drove out of the gate of the Metallurgical and Mining Administration, a group of Zhongping militiamen immediately surrounded him.

Some of them, such as Han Laoer and Ma Saner, all knew how to drive, and the other militiamen were also proficient in pushing carts, all thanks to the NJ-130 in Zhongping Commune that even thieves couldn't steal.

After they had been using the car for a while, everyone split into two groups. Ma Saner took over from Han Laoer and drove the Changjiang sidecar motorcycle with Chen Daxixi, Wu Shuanzi and a few others to go shopping at the Yaoshan First People's Shopping Mall, although they didn't have tickets.

They didn't buy them, they just wanted to show off their outfits.

Xie Hushan drove Han Hongbing to the Xinhua Bookstore in Yaoshan City. He wanted to buy some books before going back. Han Laoer had seen large shopping malls in Hong Kong Island and had no interest in shopping in malls like the one in Yaoshan.

According to him, after he had visited the nightclubs in Hong Kong Island, Song Tiesheng took him to the dance hall of the Railway Workers Club to dance. He looked so smug that Han Hongbing had no mood to discourage or provoke Song Tiesheng.

The First People's Department Store and the Xinhua Bookstore are on the same street, less than a hundred meters apart. As soon as Xie Hushan parked his car in front of the Xinhua Bookstore, he saw Ma Saner whizzing past on the road next to him on a sidecar motorcycle, followed by a group of people pedaling bicycles.

Han Hongbing did not enter the bookstore. He sat in the driver's seat, fiddling with the steering wheel and smoking. Then he saw Xie Hushan walking out of the bookstore with a pile of books and putting them in the car like a mouse moving house. Then he went back in and carried out another pile.

"Commander Xie, are there any free books at the Xinhua Bookstore today?" Han Hongbing asked curiously, looking at the pile of books at the back.

The books Xie Hushan bought were varied. The ones he bought before were okay, such as Edgar Snow's "Red Star Over China", Gorky's "Childhood", "In the World" and "My University" trilogy, "Golden Avenue", "Norman Bethune", "Letters from the South", etc. Even if Han Hongbing had not read the text version of these books, he had read the related picture books.

But the books I read later became more and more diverse, such as "Concise Dictionary of Philosophy", "State and Revolution", "Is the Soviet Union a Socialist Country?" and other books on current affairs and politics, and even "One Hundred Thousand Whys", "Overview of Various Countries", "Artificial Earth Satellites", "How to Repair Lights", "How to Refine Steel", "Atomic and Chemical Protection Reference Materials"...

Xie Hushan took a breath and said to Han Hongbing, "You know nothing. The Xinhua Bookstore in Bingyang County doesn't have as many reference books as here. It won't hurt to buy more. Don't just stand there. I'll go pick out the books. You go to the counter and wait for me to check out."

"Who are you buying so many books for?" Han Hongbing asked as he threw away his cigarette, got out of the driver's seat, followed Xie Hushan into the bookstore.

"Taozi, you, me, and everyone else, reading a few pages before going to bed at night will be very helpful for improving yourself. I'm not kidding." After Xie Hushan finished speaking, he continued to select books along the counter.

Han Hongbing walked to the counter window responsible for calculating the bill and payment, and looked inside. A tall, quiet young girl in uniform had a copy of Romanian Poetry spread out on her knees, reading quietly. She seemed to have noticed Han Hongbing's gaze. The girl raised her head, looked at Han Hongbing in confusion, and smiled at him.

Han Hongbing forgot who Lin the translator was in an instant.

(End of this chapter)