The two of them walked for nearly an hour in the thick fog formed by the dust rising under the hot sun, and their mouths were dry and their eyes were full of stars, and when they went up to the top of the mountain, their eyes lit up, and they saw a village in front of them, presumably Panling Village, and immediately accelerated their heavy pace and rushed to the village.

Panling Village is located on top of a hilltop that is not very smooth, and the surrounding terraced fields are all white wheat stubble, without a single green leaf. There are forty or fifty households in the village, and the road between the houses is a newly built cement road, although it is twisted and turned, up and down, but it is very smooth and smooth. This is a village with relatively good economic conditions, most of the houses are flat-roofed houses with brick walls, scattered and scattered, the courtyard walls are neat, and the gate is shiny, which is completely different from ordinary villages.

Wu Xiaojun said with a smile, "This kind of village is very different from the one I visited yesterday, it is really rare in the local area, there are almost no dilapidated old houses, if the children here can receive the assistance of the Hope Project, I think 80 or 90 percent of the children in the town meet the rescue standards." ”

Bai Lingyan said suspiciously, "Yes, every household in this village is decent, and they are not ordinary. The strange thing is that there is indeed a child from our village named Zhang Baiyin on the list in our hands, since we are here, it is better to verify it on the spot. ”

found Zhang Baiyin's house, his parents and younger siblings were having breakfast, and directly revealed their identities to explain their intentions.

Zhang Baiyin's father was very enthusiastic, hurriedly pulled over the chair, beckoned the two to sit down, turned on the electric fan and TV, poured two cups of boiling water, and said in a strong rural voice, "Two classmates, it is more than 30 miles from the town, it is indeed not close, and they must be tired and hungry." You blow the fan first to cool down, drink saliva, rest your feet, and I'll let Baiyin Niang make you a bowl of noodles. ”

Wu Xiaojun got up and said, "Master Zhang, we have already eaten in the town, so we won't bother Auntie." ”

Master Zhang insisted on saying, "It's so hot, come all the way here, don't eat a meal, please rest for a while, it will be fine soon." ”

When you go out, you rely on your fellow countrymen, and you have no home everywhere. Along the way, the two of them did feel a little hungry, and seeing that Master Zhang was very hospitable and sincere, they didn't say any more kind words. Compared with the families he has visited, the conditions of his house are really good, the house is clean and tidy inside and outside, all kinds of furniture are complete, and there are many household appliances. On the east wall, more than a dozen certificates of Zhang Baiyin's awards over the years were pasted, Wu Xiaojun got up and looked at them carefully, and there were actually three of them issued by the middle school of Sishi Town, and he suddenly became suspicious.

Wu Xiaojun looked at the certificate, turned around and sat down, picked up the cup and asked while drinking water, "Master Zhang, how is your Baiyin doing now?" ”

Master Zhang said very proudly, "I won't tell you anything, Baiyin's child is a child who is very worry-free in all aspects, he has just finished his second year of junior high school in the town, and he will be in the third year of junior high school next semester." My child is not the same person you are looking for at all, and I have never heard of any child in our village who has received assistance from the Hope Project, let alone a second person named Zhang Baiyin. ”

Wu Xiaojun said hesitantly, "The list provided to us by the county and the town does have Zhang Baiyin, and the address is this village, so it shouldn't be wrong." ”

Master Zhang said unremittingly, "The name and address are correct, our family really doesn't know about such a thing, so let's go to the school later and ask what's going on, the school should know." Let me remind you that this kind of situation of inconsistency between people and things is more common in rural areas, maybe the school reported the name of Baiyin, and the above approved it, as for who took the money, it is difficult to say. ”

Wu Xiaojun heard that Master Zhang had something to say, so it was inconvenient to ask again, and said with a smile, "Master Zhang, it's okay, let's go to the school in a while and get to know each other briefly." ”

While talking, two bowls full of noodles were already ready and served, and the two of them felt very embarrassed.

Looking at the enthusiasm of their family, and truly seeing the hospitality and traditional virtues of the villagers in the simple and honest rural people, this scene cannot be expressed and described in words, but can only be buried deep in the bottom of the heart, as a permanent memory.

Soon after eating, the two said goodbye to Master Zhang's family and came to Panling Primary School, because it was summer vacation, the principal was not at school. learned from a teacher on duty that Zhang Baiyin's rescue quota had already been transferred to a student named Duan Xiaoming in Duanpo Natural Village, and the specific situation was not clear.

In order to further verify the situation, according to the clues and routes guided by the teacher, the two walked for more than an hour, climbed over two hills, and found Duan Xiaoming's house.

Duan Xiaoming's grandfather and grandmother were eating lunch in the house with a bowl, looking at the two strangers with rather shocked and frightened eyes, and they were talking in a slurred manner.

Wu Xiaojun said very casually, "Uncle, we are from Pingxi, may I ask if this is Duan Xiaoming's family, I want to know some information." ”

The old man stood up slowly, his ears were a little bad, and asked loudly, "Ask Xiaoming what he knows about the situation, what do you know?" ”

Wu Xiaojun also leaned close to the old man's ear and said loudly, "I heard that Duan Xiaoming's family is particularly difficult, so I mainly want to know about the situation at home and see if I can apply for some assistance from my superiors." ”

The old man was no longer nervous when he heard this, and said, "That's the case, our family is poor, you see nothing, just these few broken houses will leak rain on rainy days." Speaking of which, I really can't live this day. The old man said sadly and shed tears.

Wu Xiaojun hurriedly persuaded, "Uncle, don't get excited, sit down and talk slowly." ”

The old man squatted on the base of the wall, choked up and said, "My son stands on his own and leans on the mine to break stones for others, although he doesn't make much money, he can still get by." Unexpectedly, two years ago, my daughter-in-law drank pesticides in a fit of anger because of a quarrel with others, and she could not be rescued. Xiaoming is my eldest grandson, and I have to stay at home to take care of my two brothers and sisters. ”

Suddenly, as soon as there was a knock on the door, a dark and thin middle-aged man came from outside, and shouted as soon as he entered the door, "Dad, mother, have you eaten?" ”

The old man hurriedly replied, "Zili is back, and he is eating, and someone from the big city knows about our family." What's the matter with your arm, why are you still wearing bandages? ”

Duan Zili said with a painful expression, "Dad, something happened in the mine this morning, my arm was injured by a stone, and I just came back from the health center after bandaging, and the doctor asked me to go to the county in the afternoon to take a film to see if the injured bones are there." ”

Wu Xiaojun hoped that the trip would be worthwhile, and when he saw Duan Zili coming back, he saw a glimmer of hope, and hurriedly stepped forward to explain his intentions.

When Duan Zili heard this, he was furious, and said scoldingly, "I've never heard of any relief funds. It is certain that the cadres of this group of turtle grandson bastard village members reported Xiaoming's name behind their backs and spent the money themselves. ”

The two of them couldn't ask anything real from Duan Xiaoming's family, so they went to the house of the director of general affairs of the school next door, and the director went to the county to do business. The director's daughter-in-law was very hearty and polite, I don't know whether it was the customs of the locals or the love for the two outsiders, so she hurriedly went to the kitchen to poke open the freshly sealed coal fire, and it didn't take much effort to cook the egg tea and serve it to the two of them. It was the first time Wu Xiaojun had seen and tasted this tea for the first time, and it was not at all what he usually called it, the eggs were evenly dispersed, covering the whole bowl, and the taste was quite good. Later, it was learned that this was a higher courtesy for rare guests by the locals.

The two of them tried their best to track it down so far, but there was still no result, Bai Lingyan sighed regretfully, "It's really an empty trip, tossing all morning, and getting a little useful information, wasting time in vain." ”

"There are all kinds of strange things in the local area, the situation is complicated, and some village cadres are bold and reckless, dare to do anything that lacks morality and conscience, and dare to be greedy for any money. As for Zhang Baiyin's matter, there must be something greasy in it, just the two of us, it is really difficult to study, and we don't have the time and energy to investigate, even if we spend more time, there may not be actual results. ”

"Let's put Zhang Baiyin's matter aside and deal with it as a case, let's stop here."