Despite the promise that they would not be allowed to see them off, there was still an endless stream of people who came to the ward early in the morning, and those who were eligible to enter the ward entered the room, and many more people were waiting in the corridor, including cadres at all levels, as well as injured miners and families of the victims who rushed to the hospital after receiving the news.

After completing the necessary examinations, especially when he heard that there were many miners and their families in the corridor outside, Qi Tianxiang could no longer sit still, and hurriedly walked out of the ward to shake hands with the injured miners and the families of the victims.

Facing the simple masses and listening to the words of sincere concern, Qi Tianxiang was full of passion in his heart, and was deeply moved, his eyes became moist, and his face was full of sincerity and emotion. As a senior cadre who has been in and out of countless crowds for many years, he has seen a lot of scenes and various crowds, but at this moment, he is moved with guilt and deep regret, which fills Qi Tianxiang's heart.

In the past few days, what have you done to deserve such gratitude from the injured miners and the families of the victims, and what have you won for them by sending them off so sincerely, including those who are still buried in the depths of the mine, and what kind of face do you have to accept the thanks? Deep self-blame and guilt locked Qi Tianxiang's heart, causing him to leave the hospital in a hurry as if fleeing, leaving the kind and simple people who were grateful to him.

Farewell to the masses who saw them off, as well as cadres at all levels, Qi Tianxiang with a gentle smile on his face, but his heart was faintly painful, this feeling was not completely relieved when he got on the car, until the highway intersection, Qi Tianxiang's mood regained calm, got out of the car and saw off Zhang Wanfu, Liang Zhixin, as well as Wang Minglun, Zhu Shouming and others shook hands and said goodbye one by one, and then got in the car and began the journey back to the provincial capital.

It's still the car I took when I came, and I basically didn't use it much after I came to Yishan County, and I lay quietly in the garage to rest, but now it comes in handy.

On the highway, the road became long and boring, from Yishan County to Hezhou City, it took nearly three hours, Qi Tianxiang although he was in a bad mood, but he still tried his best to adjust the atmosphere in the car, and slowly said to Zhou Tong, who was sitting next to him: "This journey is boring for a few hours, say something for everyone." ”

Zhou Tong turned his face to look at Qi Tianxiang, smiled slightly and said, "Say something, I really can't think of it for a while, you two young people, let's say something?" ”

Seeing Xiao Zhang, he didn't know what to say, so he said while driving: "When I'm bored, the most enjoyable thing is to say food, when I was in the army before, I will inevitably feel homesick when I am free, at this time, I will talk about food, comrades in arms from all over the world, you and I will talk about the delicious dishes in my hometown one by one, as well as special snacks, which is lively, everyone who is greedy is drooling, and the homesickness is forgotten." ”

Xiao Wang's words gave Zhou Tong a lot of inspiration, so he glanced at his watch, and said with a smile to Qi Tianxiang: "Xiao Wang's talk of eating, it really reminds me of a famous food, and I will go to Laizhou City in an hour, where is their water basin mutton is really good, when the time comes, we can go down and taste it, it can be regarded as lunch." When the time comes, I'll have a treat, and the mutton tube is enough. ”

Zhou Tong looked at Qi Tianxiang and smiled slightly, then continued: "Speaking of mutton in the water basin, there is really an allusion. It is said that there is a car shop owner outside Laizhou City, the people are honest and sincere, and the location of the car and horse shop outside the city is also good, whether it is into the city, or passing by, the merchants from the south to the north are willing to live here, not only convenient to come and go, but also to play a sharp partner is very convenient. Legend has it that during the Daoguang period, a group of merchants from outside the mouth, drove a group of sheep to stay, because of the weather some people in the caravan were sick, delayed for a few days, the shopkeeper not only invited Langzhong, but also ran into the city to catch medicine, not only to take care of the sick, but also to take care of the caravan's diet and fodder for the sheep. After the guests recovered from their illness, they were very grateful to the boss for his hospitality and care, and in addition to paying for accommodation, food, and medical expenses, they also had to leave a few sheep as a reward. ”

"In the middle of summer, the heat is unbearable, and people can't stand it, let alone sheep. Within a few days, they were all hot to death, there was no habit of eating mutton in the local area, there was no way to store it in the hot weather, the helpless shopkeeper asked someone to peel the sheep and divide it, and several sheep were put into the big soup pot, and there was no condiment, so he put some salt. After cooking, I took it out and invited the old and young people in the neighborhood and the guests staying in the hotel to taste it. Zhou Tong sold Guan Zi and said: "Originally, there was no custom of eating mutton in Laizhou, and in addition, the weather was hot, and everyone was not very willing, but it was not easy to refute the boss's face, so he reluctantly came to deal with it." The shopkeeper ate mutton in a foreign businessman's mouth, but there was no sharp knife, so he cut the mutton into small pieces and served it. Who knew that this simplest way made the neighbors who came to eat meat greatly appreciated, and the delicious mutton was greatly admired. One pass ten, ten pass hundred, the neighbors who did not eat have come to taste, the boss is afraid that the mutton will be cold and eat bad stomach, so after the cut mutton is boiled in the hot water basin, even the basin is served on the table, who knows that this crooked way to make the mutton more delicious, until a few sheep have eaten, and there are neighbors and guests who want to eat this bite. But there is no one in the local area to raise sheep, and there is nowhere to get it if you want to eat, so you still come back from doing business and ask people to bring a few sheep next time, or the same way to concoct it, which makes this delicacy passed down. ”

Zhou Tong said slowly, and said with a sigh: "The truth is not possible to test now, but the mutton is transmitted from outside the mouth, and it is probably more credible, and now there are more sheep than pigs in the mountains of Laizhou, and it is also because this mouth is accepted by the general public, and there is a huge market and consumption, which is also credible." ”

"Honesty, leniency, mutual help, these old generations passed down the business philosophy and rules, but it is true to enrich our business culture, nourishing the life of the people, this will not be fake." Qi Tianxiang knew that Zhou Tong's narration had a lot of fabricated ingredients, just to alleviate the loneliness of the journey, and he didn't want to expose it, but said with emotion: "Without the kindness and enthusiasm of the shop owner, without the illness and stay of foreign merchants, and even without the boss inviting neighbors to eat meat, this delicacy would not have been able to stay in Laizhou and stay on this land by chance." ”

Qi Tianxiang spoke, and then solemnly continued: "In the past, it was difficult to go out, especially for businessmen, who came and went in the wind and rain, and it was inevitable to encounter difficulties. Whether there are repeat customers, it is not based on the size of your face, but the satisfaction of the guests. It's a pity that not many people understand such a simple truth now. ”

"Yes, now people think they are smart, and they don't cherish their goodwill like their feathers, but in the end, they don't shoot themselves in the foot, and then it's too late to regret it." Zhou Tong echoed Qi Tianxiang's words with emotion, but then asked puzzledly: "What's wrong ahead, is there a traffic jam?" Why are so many people standing? ”

Zhou Tong's words attracted Qi Tianxiang's attention, and he also began to pay attention to the vehicles and crowds that appeared not far ahead.

Xiao Wang observed the situation in front of him, slowly maneuvered the vehicle, and said puzzledly: "The high-speed traffic police stopped the car in front, is it to check the car?" It shouldn't be! ”

Xiao Wang spoke, steadily driving the car, under the command of a person wearing a traffic police uniform, slowly drove down a service area from the emergency lane, and said self-deprecatingly: "It may be that there is something in front of you, the traffic police guide the vehicle into the service area to rest and wait, this method is good, but the time is too big to be afraid that it will not be able to catch up with the water basin mutton that the secretary general invited to eat last week." ”

The service area was full of large and small vehicles, as well as people who kept walking and talking loudly, Xiao Wang drove a car into the service area, and under the command of a traffic policeman, parked in the gap of several large cars.

As soon as he stopped, he saw a traffic policeman walking over quickly, looked at the window glass on Xiao Wang's side, motioned Xiao Wang to roll down the window, and then stretched out his hand to Xiao Wang and shook it.

"I really encountered a car check." Xiao Wang said to himself, cooperatively took out his driver's license and driving license and handed them to the traffic police, and asked puzzledly: "Isn't it not allowed to stop cars for inspection at high speeds?" No matter how to check the car, I found the service area. ”

The traffic police ignored Xiao Wang's questions and questions, accepted Xiao Wang's documents and didn't look at them, put them in his pocket, took out a small notebook, and said while writing: "High-speed monitoring shows that your car was on the highway three days ago, twice speeding by 40 percent, in accordance with the traffic safety law, fined Wu Baiyuan, deducted six points, in addition to the vehicle defaced and untidy shape, the annual inspection sign is not posted in accordance with the prescribed position, a fine of 400 yuan, a total of 900 yuan, pay the money and leave." ”

The traffic policeman's voice was handed to Xiao Wang along with the fine receipt, Xiao Wang was very dissatisfied with this simple and arrogant way, and was also enraged, raised his voice and said coldly: "Three days ago high-speed speeding? This car hasn't moved in the past few days, where did the speeding come from? Please bring me the surveillance records and show me what time and place, I have to see it clearly before I can pay the fine. ”

"The monitoring record is the detachment, and you need to retrieve the record, pay the fine first, and then go to our high-speed Laizhou detachment to check it." The traffic policeman seemed to be a little impatient, his hand shook, and he raised his voice and said, "You hurry up, there are still so many vehicles that I need to deal with, and I don't have the time to grind my teeth with you." ”

Seeing all this, Qi Tianxiang stopped Zhou Tong, who wanted to speak, and said coldly word by word: "Get out of the car and take a look." ”

As Qi Tianxiang spoke, he took the lead in pushing the car door and getting out of the car, looked coldly at the traffic police standing at the front door, and walked with Zhou Tong without saying a word towards the crowded and noisy place with Zhou Tong.