Eight

Sunrise and sunset, clouds rise and fall. Just when the residents of Yahou Street were living at their own pace as usual, several new residents moved into this small neighborhood, and interestingly, the first person to come into contact with them was Cen Huanian, who never liked to inquire about other people's affairs.

This morning, Cen Huanian, as usual, ate a little soup with chili and tempeh early, and walked to school with his bag. In the morning, the school will hold an open class on Chinese and arithmetic to welcome the teaching inspection of the Education Bureau. Although Fan Yun and Lu Chunyi, the teachers who served as teachers in the open class, had good business and were well prepared, he was still not very relieved, for fear that something would go wrong and affect the reputation of the People's Primary School and the Lichuan education community. Especially for Lu Junyi, considering that although she is very creative in teaching, she is young after all and has never seen a big scene, so she still has to relieve her psychological pressure before class. But as soon as he stepped out of the courtyard gate, he found an old gas wagon parked outside the courtyard, from which several porters were unloading furniture and other things.

New residents again? Cen Huanian's mind flashed through this thought. But before he could delve into the matter, a voice came—

"Principal Cen, you got up early!"

As soon as he heard the voice, Cen Huanian knew who it was. Sure enough, with the greeting, Jiang Yizhen, who was always coming to visit the house at the end of three days, came to him.

"You're early, too. Looking at Jiang Yizhen's hurried appearance, Cen Huanian felt a little strange. He knew that her family was all busy with her alone, and she would not go out if she didn't take care of the family's breakfast.

"I'm still late," Jiang Yizhen was a little out of breath, "Director Min told me yesterday that Li Xiaobai's family was arriving this morning and asked me to come and take care of it." ”

"Li Xiaobai, do you want to take care of it?" Hearing her say this, Cen Huanian was a little strange: Who is this Li Xiaobai, why does he come here and ask someone from the neighborhood committee to take care of him?

Looking at Cen Huanian's puzzled eyes, Jiang Yizhen took a step forward and whispered: "This Li Xiaobai used to work in Guangzhou China Merchants Bureau, but this time he was expelled for "four unclear" and sent back to his hometown from Guangdong, along with his wife and aunt. ”

I see. Hearing Jiang Yizhen say this, Cen Huanian immediately understood why she had to come over so early. He knows that if there is a political problem with the residents who have moved from other places, the neighborhood committee has the responsibility to supervise them. Somehow, as soon as he thought of this, a compassionate emotion welled up in his heart. He felt that this former China Merchants cadre named Li Xiaobai was too pitiful, he was dozens of years old, and he was expelled and sent because of a "Four Cleansing" movement. But at this moment, he suddenly felt that something was wrong with him: What's wrong with me, for an unknown person? I know who he is, what things have he committed? Even if there is anything wrong with the "Four Qings", it will not be my turn to say it!

Thinking of this, Cen Huanian felt that it was inappropriate to talk to Jiang Yizhen anymore, so he nodded to her and walked in the direction of the People's Primary School. But at this moment, the three people who came out of the courtyard stopped him again-

The leader was a man in his forties, tall and with a Chinese face. Although his face is haggard, he does not lose his elegance. He was followed by two women, one in his fifties and the other in his forties. Both of them are well-looking and well-behaved, and they know that they are very educated at a glance.

Seeing them walk out, Jiang Yizhen immediately greeted them.

It seems that they are Li Xiaobai and his wife and aunt that Jiang Yizhen just said, Cen Huanian thought. He found out that the man knew who Jiang Yizhen was and said something to her, and Jiang Yizhen nodded or shook his head. Although he didn't know what they were talking about, from the man's humble demeanor, it was not difficult for him to know that the situation of this family was not very good at the moment.

Alas-

Cen Huanian shook his head again. Jiang Yizhen just told him that the man named Li Xiaobai was fired from his job and sent back to his hometown. Everyone knows that it not only means a sudden decline in political status and serious damage to social prestige, but more importantly, there is no financial source from now on. Judging from the situation of this family, it is not a material for manual work, not to mention that it is very difficult to find physical work nowadays, and many families in Yahou Street are unemployed.

Cen Huanian couldn't think about it anymore, he knew that if he thought about it again, he would think of himself. Although he has been freed from the "Four Cleans", who knows what will happen to the next exercise? If he is like Li Xiaobai, the life of the family will really not be able to live.

But that's how annoying things are. The more he didn't want to think about it, the more the situation of Li Xiaobai's family appeared in his mind from time to time, so that when he accompanied the leaders of the higher education department to observe the open class all morning, it was difficult for him to concentrate, but it was more difficult for ordinary people to observe.

"Principal Cen, are you not feeling well?"

Although Cen Huanian always kept smiling in front of the leader, his inner ups and downs were still conveyed through his eyes, which made Fan Yun, who was most familiar with him, aware of it.

"No, wow," Cen Huanian glanced back at her and concealed it, "I'm fine, especially when I see that you and Teacher Lu have had a wonderful class today." ”

Is it so? Fan Yun gave him a suspicious look. She felt that he had something on his mind, and he didn't talk about anything else, just Yao Xianxian's usual run on him made him very uneasy. In addition to restricting him at work, every time he held a department meeting, whether it was related or not, Yao Xianxian had to mock him when he spoke. Although he had never been a non-party member as a participant, he could not have been unaware of the situation. This school is so big, it is impossible for the news of the branch meeting not to reach his ears at all, not to mention that Yao Xianxian himself is not a disciplined person.

What Fan Yun thinks, Cen Huanian doesn't know. He wasn't completely perfunctory to her just now, because he had experienced enough things, and he had already exercised out, and he wouldn't be depressed forever, not to mention that he firmly believed that he was sitting firmly, and he wouldn't really end up being expelled like Li Xiaobai because of his bad background and overseas connections. It's just that he never thought that for Yahou Street, the performance of the "Four Qings" was not only the repatriation of Li Xiaobai's family from Guangdong. Just when he accompanied the leaders of the prefectural and county education bureaus to observe the open class, as if they had made an appointment in advance, three more households came to Yahou Street that morning, and two of them were escorted back by the unit where they had previously worked.

Suddenly encountering such a situation, the residents of Yahou Street could not be satisfied with the status quo. Everyone gathered in the courtyard in front of the neighborhood committee to discuss, and the place surrounded by a neatly manicured privet tree wall seemed very lively for a while.

"Do you know what's going on with the thin man who moved into the back of Tian Xingju's house?" Seeing that everyone was talking about it, Zhou Bajin, a zero-hour worker in the county slaughterhouse who had always been regarded by everyone as a gangster in the neighborhood, said mysteriously.

"You know?" of course the crowd didn't take what he said seriously, so they didn't think so.

"Look, look at people with old eyes," Zhou Bajin was a little annoyed, "to tell you, what I'm going to get here is inside information." ”

"Then tell me about it. Seeing his angry appearance, everyone thought it was funny, so they followed his words.

"Let me tell you, that thin man's name is Meng Huanren, he has been in Yunnan, when the Kuomintang was in power, he was in the county yamen, and after liberation, he was hired by the people's court, and this time he put on the hat of 'four types of elements' and sent him back for control. Seeing that everyone turned their attention to themselves, Zhou Bajin became proud and said with a big sting. Seeing that everyone was skeptical, he added another sentence -

"You know no, before this Meng Huanren was sent back to his hometown, his wife divorced him and left with the child. ”

I see! Hearing Zhou Bajin say this, everyone was a little shocked: Li Xiaobai was good enough to carry it, but this person named Meng Huanren was worse than him. Of course, some of the residents thought that something else was going on, that is, they thought that it was too unfair to face Yahou Street: Dong Youwei, who had been given amnesty, was first placed in an amnesty, and then Li, Meng, and others, who had been dismissed from the unit, were repatriated. It is said that where the crime is committed, it should be dealt with there, so why not get them back without saying hello to the people in Yahou Street, is this a garbage dump that deserves to accept bad guys? You must know that some of them are not Yahou Street people at all, and some of them have been out for decades even if they were, and they have not stayed in Lichuan since then, and not only have they lost their relatives in Yahou Street for a long time, but there are not even a few people who know them.

Seeing that everyone was speechless for a while, Zhou Bajin felt a little bored: he spent a lot of energy to find out the news, but it didn't arouse their interest. Thinking of this, he couldn't help but feel a little annoyed again. Impulsively, he said as if he was angry with someone: "I really can't see it, it turns out that the bad guys are all college students!"

You can't say that, listening to his nonsense, everyone can't agree. They cited examples such as the eldest son of Chief Jiang, the daughter of Director Min, and the pragmatism of Zheng's mother to prove that Zhou Bajin's argument was untenable, and held that even if Li Xiaobai, who returned from studying in the United States, and Meng Huanren, who studied law at the Central University of the Kuomintang, committed crimes, college students are not all bad people, especially those who went to college after liberation.

"What does Tian Xingju's object say?" Zhou Bajin didn't want to be refuted like this, scratched his head for a while, and found a contrary example.

Everyone was speechless for a while.

"That's it. Zhou Bajin said proudly. In order to prove his justification, he gave another example that he thought was very convincing: "Didn't Hao Zhiguo go to university after liberation? He was also sent back." ”

"You don't know this," Hearing him mention the boss of the Hao family, someone immediately retorted: "Hao Zhiguo came back to recuperate because of a nervous breakdown, and he still received a salary in his original unit." ”

Listening to the insider's words, it will be Zhou Bajin's turn to be speechless. However, he didn't want to admit defeat like this, so he said forcefully: "Anyway, going to college is not necessarily a good thing." ”

"You can't eat grapes yourself to say that grapes are sour, right?" Hearing him say this, someone in the crowd immediately began to mock.

Hearing this, everyone laughed.

"You-" Zhou Bajin was very angry, but he couldn't defend himself, and his face turned red.

"It's not all like you say," just when Zhou Bajin was very embarrassed, a different voice came from the corner: "Zhou Bajin didn't go to college, it's not that he can't read, it's that the economic conditions are poor and he can't study." Even if he doesn't have a college student, he can be a worker. What is the worker, is the leading class!"

Huh, who is this? Everyone followed the prestige and found that it was Wei Wuliu, who had previously worked as a contract worker in the supply and marketing cooperative, and had been terminated from the employment relationship because of unclean hands and feet.

"What do you see?" Seeing that everyone was looking at Wei Wuliu with great disdain, a middle-aged man with dark skin and thick bones who had been standing with him was upset, "Is Old Wei wrong? In the final analysis, this country still depends on us to work." ”

By you, who are you?" and the crowd was stunned by these words. But when they found out that the person who said this turned out to be Qin Deli, who made a living by collecting waste goods and always looked at the whole world unpleasantly, they couldn't help but laugh again. The subtext is clear, what country depends on you, and it is rare for you to get mixed up in Yahou Street!

The conversation is clearly out of reach. After laughing, some people shook their heads, some slurred, and dispersed.

Looking at this appearance, Zhou Bajin, Wei Wuliu, Qin Deli and others were very angry. Especially Zhou Bajin, he was very annoyed that the neighbors looked down on people and didn't take his words seriously. But he didn't know that although the neighbors didn't like to hear what he said, Cen Huanian, the principal of the People's Primary School, who was the most literate in Yahou Street and he respected a little, heard it in his ears, although the speaker, Zhou Bajin, was one of the very few students who had studied in the People's Primary School and failed to graduate because of their poor performance and grades.

When Zhou Bajin was discussing with the neighbors just now, Cen Huanian happened to be returning home from school. He rarely participates in alley discussions, not because he is high-minded, but because he warned him when he beat his little father Cen Shilei, don't listen to gossip, and don't talk about gossip. But this time, he slowed down in the midst of everyone's discussion. He didn't expect so many people to be sent to Yahou Street this time, and he didn't know if there would be any in the future. Li Xiaobai, Meng Huanren, and others, who were sent back to Yahou Street, could not help but think of what he had encountered in the previous movements since the liberation, especially after the "Four Qings," Yao Xianxian still couldn't get along with him, and he was fighting with him everywhere, which could not help but make him feel uneasy. He felt a little depressed, though he wondered if he was a little nervous about it that way.

"Daddy!"

A childish voice reached his ears.

Cen Huanian turned his head and found that it was his youngest daughter Limin, who was standing in front of him and waving to him.

Cen Huanian walked over and stroked her head very lovingly. Although he was still restless a moment ago, when he looked at the lovely face of his little daughter, he was immediately replaced by the love of licking calves.

"Jiang's mother came to the house, saying that the neighborhood committee had something to look for, and my mother asked me to go to school and call you. Cen Limin saw her father not far away, and she was very happy.

We met again this morning, why didn't I hear her talk about it? Cen Huanian felt a little strange. But when he followed Limin into the courtyard, he found that Jiang Yizhen was really sitting in the hall and talking to Wen Shu.

"Principal Shum is back. Seeing Cen Huanian walk in, Jiang Yizhen stood up from the seat.

"You sit, you sit. Cen Huanian handed the bag in his hand to Zheng Wenshu.

"I'm sorry, I'm bothering you again. Jiang Yizhen apologized before he spoke.

"It doesn't matter, as long as you can do it. Cen Huanian agreed.

"That's right, I heard that your new classroom will start soon, and Director Min said that he would like to ask you to give us a small work package. Seeing this, Jiang Yizhen directly expressed his intentions. After a pause, he said: "You know, there are a lot of unemployed people in our neighborhood committee, and this time we have accepted new repatriations, and although they have committed crimes, they still have to eat. ”

"This—" Hearing her say this, Cen Huanian groaned.

"You have already contracted it to someone else?" Jiang Yizhen was a little anxious.

"Not really. Cen Huanian told the truth.

"That-" Jiang Yizhen was a little puzzled, she knew that Cen Huanian was not a person who refused to help.

How do you tell her? Cen Huanian was a little embarrassed. To be honest, the difficulty in this matter lies with Yao Xianxian. Because the latter has to be in charge of any school affairs, he even has to intervene in which construction team is hired for the repair of the school building, and which person is hired by the canteen cook. In the past, he didn't disagree with him, but every time he made the decision, there would be problems, either the quality was too poor, or the cost was too high, and the people who arranged it were either his relatives or his acquaintances. These people rely on his face, the service is not good, and the attitude is very poor, and the teachers have a lot of opinions. But he ignored his reminders, and even thought that he was deliberately getting along with him.

"If it's really difficult, we'll find another way. Seeing this, Jiang Yizhen gave up, but he still leaked a little disappointed.

"Don't, I promise you, I'll talk to the director of general affairs when I get back. Seeing Jiang Yizhen's regretful expression, Cen Huanian hurriedly expressed his position. Although he knew that Yao Xianxian knew that he would definitely have to entangle with him after making this decision, since the leader of the Siqing team said that he was still the principal and had the right to do so, he might as well exercise it. Besides, the school is located next to Yahou Street, and a few small jobs are done for the neighborhood committee, this truth is reasonable, forgive him Yao Xianxian, no matter how difficult he is, he can't find many thorns.

"Thank you so much. Jiang Yizhen was very happy when she heard this.

"Don't be so polite, it's all neighbors, as it should be. Cen Huanian said sincerely.

"Yizhen, it's time for lunch, you will eat something here. Seeing that her husband and Jiang Yizhen finished talking, Zheng Wenshu warmly invited on the side.

"No, my old Jia is still waiting for me at home. After Jiang Yizhen thanked him again, he got up and left.

"It's really hard for her, a resident team leader, with little allowance and a lot of stewardship. Looking at Jiang Yizhen's back in a hurry, Zheng Wenshu sighed with emotion.

Listening to his wife's words, Cen Huanian felt the same way, but compared to Jiang Yizhen, he thought more about Li Xiaobai and Meng Huanren. In his view, these people are all intellectuals and well-mannered, so why should a "Four Cleanups" become people with serious problems and should be expelled or even controlled? Since the founding of the People's Republic of China, so many campaigns have been carried out, but either these campaigns have not been effective, or have they really disguised themselves and only now revealed the truth? If these truths can be established, how many people will be examined in the future? Will there be themselves among them?

"Hua Nian, what are you thinking?" Seeing him standing silently in the hall, Zheng Wenshu was faintly worried.

"Oh, I didn't think about anything," seeing his wife looking at him inquiringly, Cen Huanian covered up, "I'm thinking about how to talk to Secretary Yao about the small work package to the neighborhood committee this afternoon." ”

Zheng Wenshu glanced at him, turned around and set up the table. She didn't quite believe what he said, but she didn't want to follow it either. She didn't want to increase his psychological burden because of her concern. In her view, her husband, as much as he needed relief, was not something she could give. Instead of not opening which pot to mention, it is better to say more good news, and calm down a little if you can.

Cen Huanian knows his wife's thoughts. He didn't know what she was thinking, so he didn't say anything. He thought, everyone should pretend to be confused like this, I hope their feelings and worries are superfluous.