On the morning of the second day of junior high school, Gan Ziyi picked up Guo Xiaozhou in a Jetta car, and the two went straight to the courtyard of Song Lao in Kyoto's Xishan.

Due to the large number of permanent and temporary residents of Kyoto returning to their hometowns, the drive that used to take more than an hour is less than half an hour today.

There are several old-timers living in the alley where Song Lao lives, but they are not as heavily guarded as Guo Xiaozhou imagined, with sentry posts. It's no different from a normal alley. The only difference is that a small parking lot has been opened in the alley, which is full of vehicles with various special license plates.

Gan Ziyi parked the car, pointed to the door of an old-fashioned mansion and said to Guo Xiaozhou: "Hello! This is my grandfather's house. Usually, his old man rarely lives here, and he only returns here to meet guests during the New Year's holidays. ”

After Guo Xiaozhou got out of the car, he saw Gan Ziyi empty-handed, he hesitated a little, "It seems that you didn't bring a gift?" ”

Gan Ziyi said with a smile: "The old man has set rules for decades! Don't let anyone bring gifts to your door. After saying that, he affectionately took his arm and walked towards the courtyard with the red lantern.

On the steps of the gate stood a man in his fifties. The man was dressed in a suit and glasses, his hair was a little gray, and his eyes were calm and deep. Seeing Gan Ziyi and Guo Xiaozhou, he stepped down the steps and took the initiative to greet him, "Xiaoyi is back!" ”

"Uncle Zhuang! Happy New Year! Gan Ziyi's tone revealed a natural sense of closeness. She can be said to have grown up with Zhuang Dong, when she was a child, when she came to live with her grandfather, Zhuang Dong was taking her most of the time.

Guo Xiaozhou immediately understood who this man was, Zhuang Dong, the first secretary by Song Lao's side, commonly known as the senior political secretary in the system. I have been with Song Lao for more than 20 years, and the first ten years are at the department level, according to the procedural regulations and qualifications, it is not too much to be in the main department. The Central Office also proposed to Zhuang Dongsheng to the deputy department several times, but Song Lao sternly refused.

As one of the prime-primes in the party at the Zhengguo level, although Song Lao has taken a back seat, according to the rules, he still has a special "office", which has four departments: secretary's room, confidential room, guard room, and comprehensive room, and the staffing is maintained at about 20 people all year round. The main personnel of the office include four senior political secretaries, confidential secretaries, security staff officers, and health care chief doctors.

In other words, no matter where Song Lao goes, these four people must follow.

And Zhuang Dong is the top person in charge of the office, in a certain way, Song Lao has to listen to his arrangement, where he can go and where he can't go, who he can meet, how long he talks, recipes, etc., all have to be approved by Zhuang Dong. It must be reported to the central office in advance, and it must be filed afterwards! The details of the process are deducted every minute and every second.

Song Lao has always joked that he has revolutionized all his life, but he has lost his freedom in life when he is old!

Indeed, when an old man of his level of influence comes to him, if he says a word, there will be a huge repercussion at the central and local levels! Therefore, Song Lao set a rule for himself, retire to the end, never get involved in politics, interfere with politics, and do not open his mouth to express his position.

Zhuang Dong then looked at Guo Xiaozhou, smiled and took the initiative to stretch out his hand, "Comrade Guo Xiaozhou, I am here on behalf of the chief!" ”

Guo Xiaozhou was a little flattered, to a person of Zhuang Dong's height and status, it is precisely because of his background that speaking must be measured with a ruler, what can be said and how to say it, there are too many taboos.

He said that he welcomed it on behalf of the chief, and that was definitely Song Lao's instruction!

"Hello Director Zhuang!" Guo Xiaozhou clasped his hands slightly respectfully.

"Please come in! The chief will meet you in the study in the backyard, and I will see you later. "Zhuang Dong is calm, probably due to the reason why he has been nurtured by Song Lao's side all the year round, he is sharp and introverted, and he belongs to the type of heavy sword without edge.

Walking into the courtyard of Song Lao, it is different from the Gan family's mansion. The Gan family's house talks about the pattern, style, style, and tradition.

On the basis of the Gan family's house, the courtyard layout is stricter and the shape is neat and bright, so that people have a sense of elegance and comfort.

The main gate, the second gate, the verandah, the study, the living room, the wall, the storeroom, the kitchen, and the backyard are connected to a small garden. Close the door and stand on its own.

Guo Xiaozhou stood in the courtyard and looked around, and really felt what is the artistic conception of 'the courtyard is deep and deep'.

The middle of this courtyard is stretched, and the corridor sill is tortuous, revealing and hiding. The essence of God lies in the word "unity", which "unites" all the members of a family. Every year on the second day of the Lunar New Year, Song Lao specially chooses this compound with the word "he" to meet with family members and disciples, reflecting the meaning of "affinity".

The first time I entered the courtyard, under the eaves of the porch, stood two sturdy young men in short coats, from the harsh aura and vigilant eyes emanating from them, I knew that they were plainclothes "guards" in the guardhouse, even if they saw Zhuang Dong bring people in, their eyes did not change much, and they did not mean to say hello, as always vigilant.

When entering the first hall, Guo Xiaozhou saw more than 20 people in the hall waiting for Song Lao to receive him, among which he saw a ministerial-level senior official in the real power department, and legend has it that this session is very likely to replace the members of the Central Committee.

Although he felt strange to some other people, in terms of their sitting posture and momentum, they were not inferior to the ministerial-level high-ranking official.

He also saw an acquaintance in the waiting crowd, Gan Ziyi's eldest brother Song Zijing.

Song Zijing nodded lightly at him, then turned around and whispered something to a man next to him.

When the others saw Zhuang Dong personally greeting the guests, and the guests were so young, they all showed meaningful and inquiring looks. However, when they saw Gan Ziyi and Guo Xiaozhou walking side by side, many people suddenly showed relief in their eyes.

There were several guests who knew and were more familiar with Gan Ziyi and called her name with a smile, Gan Ziyi was just about to take Guo Xiaozhou over, her sister-in-law quietly beckoned to her at the side door, Gan Ziyi could only helplessly "throw" Guo Xiaozhou and walked towards her sister-in-law and little niece.

Guo Xiaozhou sat at the end of the waiting crowd under the arrangement of a plainclothes guard. A man next to him smiled at Guo Xiaozhou and nodded.

Guo Xiaozhou owes himself, "Hello! ”

That person is not very old, about forty-five or sixteen years old, but he is majestic, and he is full of confidence and demeanor of the superior.

"You're Ziyi's friend."

"Yes!" Guo Xiaozhou rarely feels oppressive in front of people, but this man does not belong among them. Because this man still has the meaning of Ding Yi's level of "pointing out the country between laughter and talking".

The man smiled and said no more.

It wasn't until half a year later that he met the man again. At the same time, he also suddenly understood that why the Song family arranged his position next to this man was actually quite elaborate and profound.

A few minutes later, a secretary-like man entered the hall and ushered the man into the backyard.

Guo Xiaozhou immediately understood that this man's identity and status were by no means simple, at least his comprehensive strength should be ranked above the waiting crowd, or no worse than anyone present. Therefore, he is qualified to meet Song Lao in advance in the post-order position.

Ten minutes later, Zhuang Dong personally sent the man out of the hall, and when he returned to the hall, he unexpectedly named Guo Xiaozhou's name, "You come with me." ”

Guo Xiaozhou slowly got up in disbelief. If you talk about the identity of relatives, he can't catch up with Song Zijing, after all, he has not yet entered the stage of substantive marriage with Gan Ziyi, and his name is not right; When it comes to status and importance, others don't understand it, but the head of the department with real power is a planet ahead of him.

Song Zijing's eyes were slightly distracted, and he regained his composure after a long time. He didn't expect that his grandfather would actually summon this outsider surnamed Guo first, isn't this humiliating him in public, thinking that he is not as important as Guo Xiaozhou?

He even secretly wondered if it was Zhuang Dong's idea to take it without authorization?

When Guo Xiaozhou walked out of the hall, he seemed to "inadvertently" glance at Song Zijing.

The two eyes disappeared at the touch of a touch.

Guo Xiaozhou sighed secretly, knowing that no matter how much he tried to even please this eldest brother, he couldn't restore the estrangement between them.

The houses in the east, west, south, and north directions of Kyoto's courtyard houses are independent, and the east and west wings are not connected to the main house and the inverted building itself, and all the houses such as the main house, the wing room, and the inverted seat are one-story and have no buildings, and the only way to connect these houses is the verandah at the corner.

Guo Xiaozhou followed Zhuang Dong through three verandahs, and saw two tall green pines in a small courtyard, as well as unmelted white snow looming on the green pines.

Before he came to Kyoto, it had snowed several times. And God seems to be very close to the city, and the heavy snow stopped on the night of the 29th of the new year.

Between the two green pines, there is a small independent bungalow, which is very ordinary in appearance, and the people who live in the house are not ordinary.

Zhuang Dong took him up three steps, and then explained in a low voice, "The chief's body is not allowed to be excessively excited and excited, let alone stimulated, so the content of the conversation is as peaceful and tactful as possible, and the time is fifteen minutes." ”

Guo Xiaozhou nodded a little nervously.

"Don't be nervous, the chief is very kind." Zhuang Dong said as he gently pushed the door open.

Guo Xiaozhou saw a thin old man with frosty white temples. The old man was very different from the photos he had seen on television and in the newspapers.

In other words, the old man who has not appeared on the media screen for nearly ten years is really old, after all, he is ninety-six or seventeen years old, and the whole person seems to have shrunk, dried and thin, and the skin exposed outside his clothes is full of age spots.

The area of the study is not very large, the whole wall of bookcases, a desk, with air conditioning on, the temperature is suitable, and there are two humidifiers at the entrance, and the bursts of water mist are spreading, making the dry air a little moist. The old man leaned back on the couch with his eyes closed, and a paramedic gently massaged his head behind him.

Seeing Zhuang Dong bring people in, the nursing staff made a hint in their eyes to stop waking up the old man.

Zhuang Dong stopped and stood silently in place, afraid of waking up the old man.

Guo Xiaozhou also stood still, trying to hold his breath.

Unexpectedly, the old man slowly opened his eyes, looked at Guo Xiaozhou standing behind Zhuang Dong, a gleam flashed in his cloudy eyes, and said in his unique hometown dialect: "You are Xiaoyi's little friend Guo Xiaozhou!" ”

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