Chapter 24 23 "Go down to the crowd"

The street was quiet, there were two women sitting at the entrance of the alley, chatting twitteringly, when they saw Comrade Wen Cai approaching, they all stopped, their four eyes fixed on him.Comrade Wen Cai thought to himself, women always like to gossip, why do they come to talk in the alley in broad daylight, and don't work?As soon as the two women waited for him to pass by, they began chattering again, Wen Cai couldn't hear clearly, and couldn't understand, as if they were talking about himself this time, so he had to pretend that he didn't know at all, turned around the alley, and walked north .He went out into the street and saw no one he knew.Under the locust tree in front of the stage, there is a watermelon stand, where four or five old men are squatting. They are not buying watermelon to eat, as if they are waiting for someone.A young woman's head stuck out from inside the tofu shop, just to see him, then turned around and said something to the inside.Wen Cai didn't know where to go for a moment, and it was not good to buy watermelon, so he walked to the blackboard newspaper.He had read the manuscript above that morning, so he read it again from the beginning.The handwriting is very neat and tidy. Li Chang once said that the teacher surnamed Liu is very good and has a good handwriting.While he was reading the manuscript, he thought that those old men must be watching his back, and that the tofu shop might have two heads sticking out.He was not afraid that these people would look at him and talk about him, but it was always uncomfortable.He left this place again and went to the elementary school.Perhaps Hu Ligong was there teaching songs and arranging the whips for them.This young man who had worked in a troupe would not hide his interest. He thought it would be good to find Hu Ligong.He walked into the school gate.The yard was also quiet, when suddenly a man in short clothes came out from a small room beside the door, he gave way to the intruder very humbly: "Come in and have a seat, hey, hey, please ,Please……"

"Are you still in class?" Wen Cai could only ask. "Yes, yes, get out of class is over yet, class will be over in a while." Wen Cai followed him into a room that looked like a guest room.A square table was placed by the window, and an octave bell was placed in a glass case on the table, with a cap on one side.On the opposite wall hangs a lithograph of Sun Yat-sen, next to a portrait of Chairman Mao.On both sides of the portrait, two slogans on glossy paper were pasted: "Serve the people" and "Carry out cultural education of new democracy".There are many compositions and pictures of elementary school students pasted in colorful colors below.On the left is a long low cabinet with a bed rolled up on top of it.On the wall on the right, two rows of Overlord whips are densely hung, and there are bright red and pink paper flowers on the whips.The host was busy inviting Comrade Wen Cai to sit down, and was busy pouring a cup of tea on the table next to the cabinet.

"Tea please, tea please, hey, it's very simple, hey, it's very simple." Wen Cai asked again: "Are you from this school?" "Yes, yes, my sire is here. Hey..." "What's your last name?" Wen Cai had to ask again. "My surname is Liu." Comrade Wen Cai remembered that he was the teacher, so he asked again: "Then you wrote the blackboard newspaper?" "Don't dare, dare not, it's outrageous to write." Comrade Wen Cai looked at him again. He was about forty years old, with a long face, narrow eyes, a bit nearsighted, a big nose, long hair, and a dirty white coat.His overly reserved appearance made Wen Cai very unhappy, he thought: "Why are you doing this?" Wen Cai asked him a few more questions, and he always respectfully agreed.Wen Cai became a little impatient, so he could only say: "Aren't our comrades here with you? I'm here to find them."

"Just left, Comrade Hu just left. Or, I'll find it for you." "No, no." Wen Cai walked out.At this time, the get out of class was over inside, and a group of children rushed out like wasps dividing their nests, shouting and singing.Some rushed forward to see him.A lot of people crowded behind him, laughing and imitating his tone of speech in a meeting: "Fellows, do you understand? Is it precise or not?" Wen Cai was not used to this kind of chaos, but he could only pretend not to care, and walked out again and again.Teacher Liu sent it out anxiously, chasing after him, muttering: "Please advise, please advise..."

Wen Cai jumped out of the school gate, feeling a burst of relief.He walked back with his head held high, but suddenly someone called him at the window of the cooperative: "Director Wen!" This is security officer Zhang Zhengdian. For some reason, he calls him Director. Wen Cai hurried over, and Zhang Zhengdian continued to shout: "Come and visit our cooperative." Looking in from the window, there are two cabinets of goods inside, all of which are daily necessities, as well as a noodle cabinet, a chopping board, and a stove for making sesame seed cakes.Zhang Zhengdian seemed to have just had a drink, his face was a little red, and a small man inside hurried out to greet him.Zhang Zhengdian introduced: "This is the director of our cooperative, Ren Tianhua, he is a good businessman and has a lot of skills."

Comrade Wen Cai felt that he should talk to him about the business of the cooperative, so he asked him a few words.Ren Tianhua didn't look like a businessman, he was very honest and agreed to him sentence by sentence.Wen Cai remembered that Zhang Yumin once said that he would come to the cooperative to find him for something, so he asked: "Is Zhang Yumin always with you?" "Yes, he is often here." Wen Cai looked at Zhang Zhengdian's face, then at a wine jar on the cabinet, and felt that he understood a lot. Seeing that Comrade Wen Cai refused to come in, Zhang Zhengdian jumped out of the window and asked casually, "Director, are you looking for Zhang Yumin? His home is not far from here, just west of here."

"No, I just asked." "Zhang Yumin is busy with both public and private affairs, and I only see people looking for him all day long. Ha..." "What?" Wen Cai felt that there was something in that remark. "Director, if you want to share the fruits of victory this time, you can share three good north rooms for our third brother. The east room that Zhang Yumin lives in now is not good, and there are other brothers. what……" "What do you mean? You mean—" "Oh, that's right, right! Director, you have to drink his wine before leaving!"

"Whose house? What's the matter?" "Then I have to ask, she is a widow, and her family has a lot of land, that is, she lacks a house. what……" Wen Cai was very upset when he heard these words, but he also felt a little complacent, after all, his vision was not bad.He then walked north again, wanting to talk to Zhang Zhengdian again. Zhang Zhengdian followed, and Zhang Zhengdian told him that he himself joined the party before liberation, just because he was honest and could do nothing. done.Later he expressed his estimate that the liquidation struggle would not cause trouble.Wen Cai repeatedly asked him why, but he always hesitated to explain, and finally said: "Director! Look, why are the common people afraid to fight with the feudal landlords? The relationship is all with the cadres! You say, We all grew up in the same village, either relatives or neighbors, alas——, it is always difficult to get things done if there is an affair... Director, do you still not understand?" As for who has the affair, he doesn't know. Ken said, and they walked up to the village entrance.

When they walked back again, Wen Cai saw a young man standing on the side of the street, black, holding two fists, looking at them coldly.Wen Cai felt familiar, so he asked him, "Didn't you go to the ground?" The man didn't agree, but Zhang Zhengdian said: "I'm leaving, director, you go back." He turned to nowhere after a moment behind him. But the black man raised his head and said to the people on the other side of the street: "During the day, you can see ghosts too. Well, the evil can't overcome the good. Look, um... slip away." The person across the street said: "Hey, Liu Man, go home. Your family has been looking for you for dinner for a long time. Look at you for the past two days. Oh, calm down and work." Yisa: "Well, work? Do you want to carry out land reform now!" He turned his face and asked Wen Cai again: "Comrade, isn't it?"

Wen Cai felt that this person seemed a little out of his mind, so he stopped asking and walked back.The man named Liu Man stopped again, holding his fists and watching him go back. When Wen Cai walked home, there was still no one at home.The old man Han has already opened the bellows and is making dinner.His grandson sat in the doorway, playing with a grasshopper that had lost its wings.