Chapter 7 pipe

At five o'clock in the afternoon, Comrade Wang came out of the quilt factory and went to the street. Around four o'clock, in the inspection office, the Chief Inspector, who seemed to be sympathetic to the world and looked at people with sad eyes all the time, was talking to him.Standing in front of the important person's desk, he was in a state of uncertainty. While the person was doing other things, he asked random questions, and he cautiously agreed to them one by one.Sometimes I inadvertently questioned that person, because the weight of the words was a little heavy, it often made the man wake up from a dream, and looked at him more sadly, without any answer, as if to say "Enough is enough, don't say too much "The look.He spent an entire hour in the inspection room like this, and when everything was cleared up, the chief inspector said, "Comrade Wang, we will talk about our affairs tomorrow," and he came out.

On the street, he still did not forget those questioning words.He remembered the chief inspector's questioning, and at the same time that person's ridiculous and extremely melancholy expression also reappeared in his recollection.He slightly changed his usual walking habits, because the meaning of the question was not as ridiculous as the man himself when he thought about it carefully.The situation does not seem simple. His personality is similar to that of many junior civil servants in big cities, with a few innocuous hobbies.Usually he likes to stand in front of some foreign goods shops, and he is also very satisfied with the crimson and large and small pipes displayed in the glass windows of those tobacco shops, as well as the gray ocher calfskin cigarette pouches.Although he couldn't spend three or five yuan on such things, because of his special concern, he remembered the value of each of them clearly.When he was standing outside the window, he was admiring the exquisite smoking sets, and at the same time, he clearly made out the foreign codes written in pencil on the small round pieces of paper tied to the items. Occasionally, someone else approached the window, Aroused the same interest in pipes, but with the air of wondering how much the thing cost - needless to say, it was just when the little paper tied to the goods was covered with words - he looked at this person first, Seeing that it was not a local short seller, it was like hiring a clerk for a tobacco shop to explain to another person with enthusiasm and kindness, how much is the price of a certain number, and how a certain number of pipes match a certain number of shredded tobacco pouches.He is not selfish, and just points out what he likes to others.I don't even worry that someone will buy this pipe if they are interested in it.

From these little things, we can see the cuteness of this man.But today he no longer pays attention to the pipe pipe.Although I passed in front of the shop and saw someone admiring the pipes there, I didn't stop for a while, and came to explain the price as a voluntary consultant. Thinking of the matter of being interrogated by the inspection office, his mood changed a little.Old habits have been broken. He just wanted to go back home, and it seemed that once he got home, he sat down on the only old wooden Taishi chair in the small house, facing the monochrome portrait of the prime minister, and the lithographed multicolored portrait of Hou Guanyun on the wall. And Zhou Canghan standing behind Hanshou Tinghou, showing a weed-like beard and wide-eyed Zhou Canghan, in this familiar environment, with a certain heart, there is hope for everything to be resolved.

Recalling what the inspection room said, his heart was disturbed.He is a well-behaved civil servant. He usually abides by the law and does not dare to cause trouble. In addition, he is calm and often upholds a little justice. Why did the chief inspector call him in and ask him "what party does he belong to?"Why do you still ask "what else do you do besides factory work"?Why are you still looking at yourself with those completely desperate eyes at the same time?After being questioned by the chief inspector, he naturally and honestly told the important person about his many behaviors other than doing business.Because the chief inspector didn't seem to need to know the situation on the way home from his factory, so he almost talked about everything in his life, but he never mentioned the one thing he missed outside the tobacco shop.He concealed such a little secret, so the chief inspector naturally didn't pay attention.The problem is not this.What disturbed him was that when the person asked him what party and faction he belonged to, he remembered an official document he had copied three days ago, and he knew that a comrade had been expelled. On the comment, the section chief added a line "XX is a member of XX." He knew the party department of the general manager and the vice chairman recently, and he always thought that the reason for this person's dismissal was entirely the result of the section chief's approval.Because of the different factions, although the clothing factory is state-owned, the forces of small organizations have been blatantly operating in any business or organization recently. Since they are different from the factory manager system, they are in danger of being fired at any time.As a result, he felt a little weak, as if he had to rush back to his residence, unable to think of a way to protect himself.

He received a monthly salary of 44 yuan in the factory.My daily duty is to lower my head and sweat to copy the official records. Except for holidays, I can't come to the factory after nine o'clock every day. The disproportion between labor and remuneration is the same as that of subordinate officials in other institutions in other places.Because of the fetters of life, I can only get such a little money in January, and the place where I live is the place with the highest standard of living.As usual, although many of these people were well-educated at another time, or did their best to the party, and had considerable training, but today, when the revolution is successful, they only decline day by day, turning their rebellious thoughts into It has been a very sad time to get into the idea of ​​supporting whoever can live.Under such circumstances, he is mediocre and incompetent, showing the character of a government official in the old era. When he is free, he regards a pipe worth less than ten yuan as a pursuit of happiness; A kind of uneasy panic is also very natural.

When he got home, he had nothing to do, so he waited for the meal to be delivered, so he took out a volume of "Gu Shi Xun" and read it.Zuo Taichong's "Ode to History" and Ruan Bubing's "Shuhuai" were flipped through and recited casually, hoping to get some comfort from the ancient poems and forget the official documents in their minds.While he was babbling and reading, the extremely dirty boy appeared from the stairs, stood outside his room, knocked on the door softly and shouted, "Sir, sir, dinner is here!" He who wrote the poem "Exit the Fortress" still said in the voice of reading poems, "Children, bring in the rice!" It seemed that the cold snacks brought from ten miles away were placed on the square table with a piece of "Declaration" paper in advance, and they left like a sick cat.He started to eat.As soon as the meal was over, the bowl was put away by the stairs outside the door. At this time, the second landlord had already turned on the main light switch.

He turned on the light, and under the light, he used the pipe he bought in Hankou for 60 cents two years ago, and smoked black mixed tobacco, while fantasizing about when he would change to a better pipe. His life is not different from that of other subordinates, and there is no reason to attract others' attention and his own attention.But today was a little different, he couldn't help noticing his own situation. He felt that the circle in his heart was always restless. After eating, reading was boring, and smoking seemed to be boring. The question is: If you arrive at the factory tomorrow and you are notified and you are suspended from work, what will you do next?

After thinking about it for a long time, I didn't get a solution.The Prime Minister on the wall was silent, and the Marquis of Hanshou Ting was also silent. Although Zhou Cang was famous for his recklessness, this season did not help him at all.It was as if everything was settled and irreversible. Everything really seemed irretrievable, so I took a step back.He still has sixty-five yuan of foreign money accumulated around him, which is three or two yuan a month.Because of the money, he vaguely saw a little light in his future life.He can use this money to go to Peiping.He thought, that is the old capital, not as snobbish as this place... He also thought that there or the party is just like a place, and some of the old benefits still remain.When you get there, find a couple of acquaintances and report to the district headquarters together, or you can hope to get a job that is more promising than here.At this time, I didn't think that my hope was a foolish hope, so I was a little relieved about the suspension.

...The Prime Minister died honorably, and was buried in a lively manner. Those who did not die lived for ××, for ××… After thinking about it like this, he fell asleep. The next day, because I slept very well, my body and mind were a little healthier, and I seemed to have forgotten what happened yesterday.He still arrived at the factory on time, sat in his seat, and waited for the section chief to send out the work to be done, and then started to work.The paper was ready, the ink was polished, and there was nothing else to do, so I wrapped the copper pen caps with blotting paper and wiped them. The three copper pen caps all shone with dazzling silver light.

All the colleagues in an office have arrived, except the section chief. He remembered what happened yesterday, and asked Comrade Zhou at the table next to him: "Comrade Zhou, did the chief inspector call you in for questioning yesterday?" Comrade Zhou didn't understand the meaning of this sentence, so he didn't answer the question.He said he had done nothing wrong and would not go to the Audit Unit. "Have you heard any rumors about our place? I seem to have heard about the reorganization..." "I don't understand this matter. What about you?" He thought for a moment, and smiled.

After laughing, he was at a loss again, because he seemed to have been suspended from his job, and today was the last day to come here.He suddenly said to the colleague, "I'm leaving." "Do you want to be promoted?" "No. I'm afraid I have to leave. Because I was introduced by XX, you know. XX is not in the same department as the boss, and our boss is always XX. The ancients said: "If the way is different, don't seek each other,'do not cooperate with each other. If there is no conspiracy, then each will go his own way.I'm not leaving, okay? " "Where are you going?" "It's far away, I want to go to Beiping, because Yu Shuyan and Yang Xiaolou are still singing there. I haven't listened to the opera for several years, and I will go to listen to it for a few years. " "Do you have to go? Then I'll come for a farewell party. Tomorrow or the day after tomorrow, I'll eat at Fuxingju. You can decide for yourself." "Not busy. Not necessarily!" "Isn't it approved yet?" "I'm not taking a leave of absence." "But I don't hear who is going to be replaced, so don't be nervous." "Yesterday someone called me to the inspection office and questioned me for a long time." Because according to the custom, people who have no problems will not be called to that place for interrogation and confession.So when he heard that he was asked a lot, Comrade Zhou also felt that something was wrong, so he began to pay attention to the meaning of his words about going to Peking. As usual, Comrade Zhou used a junior clerk to make pitiful useless arguments about the little complaints the Party could make about everything, such as "there are too many useless bureaucrats, they should be completely reorganized", "we should support certain Comrade, return to the country", "We should overthrow such and such deteriorating forces", these are all empty words of scholars.Saying this, on the one hand, it seemed to comfort Colleague Wang, and on the other hand, his mind became clear. After a while, the section chief came.Take off the hat.The coat is off.Smoking a light yellow President brand cigar in his mouth, he strode to the table, flipped through the manuscripts on the table, and started working.The young section chief followed the old bureaucratic manner, yelling loudly at the workers who responded later, and pushed a stack of official documents that were properly drafted and should be sent to the painting department of the boss to the workers.Gong Ding, who embraced the official document with both hands, stooped and left the room without saying a word. (This gentleman is different today than usual, and what remains in Comrade Wang's mind is a gray and haggard shadow.) He still has to wait for the gentleman to turn around before he can copy official documents. The antipathy towards the section chief.It seems that I have seen everything from the front to the side. This section chief should not treat the workers in the factory with the temper of the bureaucratic capitalists of the old era.What's more, it is said that he came back from a foreign country with a good education, and he often regards himself as a leftist, so it is especially unreasonable to have such a temper. But the section chief's behavior was not just like this today, it was only today that he noticed it.Although he sent out the worker who was insulted by the section chief with sympathy, he still had to listen carefully to the section chief's call.He guessed that the section chief must have something to say to him today, and what he said must be related to his position; he sat in his seat a little reservedly, and prepared how to respond in a sentence when a problem arises. In the confrontational words, it was as if a blow made the section chief feel embarrassed. These wordless anger, these foolish and unwise plans, on the side of the section chief, were of course accidents, never expected. One of the colleagues was called over by the section chief "Comrade Zhou, Comrade Zhou", took the stack of the section chief's treat list, returned it to the original place, and rubbed his ink, while the inkstone was on the table saying monotonous and extremely boring words sound.There seems to be a special reason for not wanting him to do things, and he still puts this reason on the matter that he wants to suspend his job.He understands that the section chief is ×××× but he is ××.The section chief called him "comrade", as if out of reluctance. After a long time, the man who delivered the documents has not returned, and the situation seems to be slightly different from the past. The section chief walked through the deputy director's room on the third floor. Hearing the sound of the section chief's leather shoes, he had already climbed the stairs, so he called out to the colleague sitting in front: "Comrade Zhou, another invitation post?" "Comrade Wang, ha, here's a stack!" When he said that, the clerk held up the unwritten invitation card, and frowned slightly, expressing that accepting this unexpected errand was close to a small grievance. "Who are you asking for?" "Who knows, let me read it." The man took the invitation card and read it: "Director Wang Xianzhou, head Zhou Pengfu, Song committee member Cishan... so lively, next Thursday, July At half past one, I'm afraid this scene will cost two months' salary." He listened to his colleagues counting the names on the guest list, and seeing the color on the face of this comrade and colleague, he did not know why, but he also felt a great dislike for this person.Then he seemed a little angry and said: "Comrade Zhou, you can do this or not, why don't you refuse?" Comrade Zhou smiled, as if he didn't understand the reason for his refusal.He looked at the comrade's face for a while, then lowered his head and poured a large amount of water into the belly of the inkstone. With his elbows exposed, he started grinding the ink.He rubbed the ink hard, not allowing himself to think about anything else.After a while, the section chief came back, and Gong Ding also came back.Still rubbing the ink hard. The chief of the section seemed to have just come from the vice chairman's office, so he treated him in an unfavorable manner, deliberately acting as if he was unusually friendly, and personally delivered the official documents to his desk.In the past, he would have cited this kind of thing as a kind of honor, but today he doesn't take it seriously. The section chief said: "Comrade Wang, what matters are on your mind today, it seems that you are not very happy?" He squinted at the section chief, saying that he didn't need such useless comfort. The section chief didn't take it seriously, and seemed to tease him on purpose, "Comrade Wang, I heard from the chairman that you are going to be transferred to the inspection unit. This is an upgrade, don't you know?" "Upgrade, leave as you want. My surname Wang has been following the Prime Minister's revolution for ten years, and I haven't seen anything—" There seemed to be something stuck in his throat, and he couldn't continue. He was obviously starting a kind of resistance with the section chief, with the air of "pulling everything down".But the section chief pretended to be indifferent, and said with a smile, "Comrade Wang, it's a gratifying thing to be promoted!" The colleague who was writing the invitation letter heard it, and remembered what he said before that he was leaving, so he temporarily put down his work. "Comrade Wang, the section chief said you were promoted, this should be true." He turned his head and looked at Comrade Zhou who wrote the invitation list, tried to put on a vicious look that was close to revenge, and said without restraint, "I don't know how to curry favor with others, and I have done my duty for nothing. How can I get anything?" People recommend before their bosses!" "Comrade Wang, what's wrong with you..." "What about me? What do you say about me? The surname Wang is indomitable, clean, does not smoke opium, does not rely on nepotism..." The section chief said: "Comrade Wang, what are you doing today..." "In short, leave as soon as you want , no one wants to hang out here for the elderly, and treat this job as an iron rice bowl." The air in the office suddenly became tense, making all three of them very uneasy.The young section chief felt strange about the clerk's temper today. He thought it was because he was ridiculed when he said that the promotion made him suspicious, and thought he was the result of moving others.Comrade Zhou, who wrote the invitation letter, thought that Comrade Wang was mocking him for handling private affairs on behalf of the section chief.As for himself, he thought that both of them knew that he was about to be suspended, so he deliberately brought up the matter of being called to the audit unit for questioning as a joke. The turmoil came out of nowhere, causing all three of them to misunderstand.The young section chief didn't want to explain this unpleasant matter any more. He felt that this little clerk didn't have much education and couldn't talk more than assigning official documents, so he sat down on his desk in a grand manner and went to work. He looked at the three official letters assigned by the section chief and the two manuscripts of replies to other provinces' inquiries about how to purchase woolen military uniforms, feeling very depressed.The section chief's self-important air especially embarrasses him.He thought about how to preserve his personality before the notice came.He wanted to use words to restore the dignity he thought he had lost in front of the section chief.Because he felt that he was a comrade loyal to the revolution, a person who was excluded because he could not join forces with others, and a person who got this unfairness because of his hard bones. He couldn't do it if he was asked to continue working on official documents as usual.While looking at his business, he thought about his own thoughts. After a while, the section chief spoke to him in an unnatural and polite manner in the corner of the room, speaking to him in an unnatural and polite manner: "Comrade Wang, you have finished writing those two letters, please send them here first. That's urgent. The two you want must be sent today." I was already working on it, but when I heard this, I stopped writing.He got another chance to talk back to the section chief.He called the colleague who was bowing his head and writing the invitation card of "How many days in the month": "Comrade Zhou, let me tell you, if you don't need the invitation card urgently, how about the two of us handling one of these two official documents?" ?” The colleague heard it and looked at the section chief.The section chief heard it too, and smiled coldly with his nose moving. At this time, he was ready to break everything, so he simply crumpled up a piece of letterhead and threw it under the table, bent his elbows on the table, supported his big head, and scratched the short hair on his head. The section chief held the cigarette in his mouth silently, as if planning a way to deal with this disrespectful employee. The other old colleague was originally on the same line with him and had the same hatred for being driven. Say.It seems that he is also on the side of the section chief. Everyone had nothing to say, and they were all very reluctant to suppress their fire.Although the section chief said he was very young and angry, he didn't know how to assume the identity of the so-called boss at this time, so he had to remain silent. The person who delivered the notice from the General Affairs Unit came.As usual, when I received the notice, I should stamp the receipt book, which was done by Comrade Wang, but today Comrade Zhou did it for me.The colleague took the notice, glanced at it briefly, and passed it to the section chief without making a sound. The section chief, who had read the notice, sneered and put the notice aside casually.It took a while before he said: "Comrade Wang, you are the last here today, and you have been promoted. In the past six months, everyone has been able to work together and work together. It is really rare. You have been promoted." Knowing that the notice of punishment for his suspension had come, he put down his pen with his face burning, and walked over to the section chief to see what comments were written on the notice. After reading the notice, he was stunned. He knew he was wrong.Because it was clearly written on the notice, and it was a few words that the man accidentally said: "Comrade Wang Shijie, loyal to his post, investigating and inspecting the unit, the monthly salary will be paid according to the original amount, plus twenty-four yuan..." The writing is very clear , without neglect. Suddenly feeling excited, he looked at the section chief, "Section chief, section chief, I'm such a fool, I'm such a bastard." The section chief remained silent, turning his head to look at an official document. "I was wrong, Section Chief. I thought it was because... I was suspended!" "Hurry up and get things done, I'm waiting for you over there!" One day the situation dissipated, as if to make up for his mistake in front of the section chief, after finishing the official document, he bit his lower lip and happily wrote a part of the invitation letter for the section chief. While writing, I said in my heart, "I'm such an idiot! I'm just thinking wildly!" I didn't hesitate to find many self-deprecating stories about some past affairs, and thought bitterly about the happiness that was almost extravagant--outside the window, I also thought of all the things about lingering on pipes and pouches. The next day, his office really moved to the Audit Unit.Because he had some work in the material department, he seemed to be a guest according to the habit. When he saw the old section chief and his old colleagues, he was holding a sesame black non-ash wooden pipe in his mouth, which was very new in color.Comrade Zhou asked, "Comrade Wang, when did you buy it and how much was it?" He didn't answer, but took out a brand new gray leather bag from the pocket of his Chinese tunic, and carefully pulled the thin silver-plated chain on the leather bag. The bag opened, and his colleagues knew that it was a purse for storing shredded tobacco, which belonged to Maolong Foreign Company. street goods. To commemorate this upgrade, he made up his mind that night and bought a set of smoking sets with one-sixth of his savings of ten yuan.If this person is good at recalling his own conflicts, he will recall some stupid things bordering on the ridiculous on this pipe.How is Peking these days?Whatever it was, he never thought about Peiping again.With such fine smoking equipment, his demeanor is quite different from the previous days.He realized it himself, and his colleagues felt it too. Autumn 1929