Chen Zikun asked the driver to stop on the side of the road, and watched with interest Hu Banxian being pushed around by a group of student dolls.

Liu Ting observed her words and said, "Is this the Hu Banxian you once mentioned?" ”

Chen Zikun nodded: "It's him, speaking of which, we have known each other for almost forty years, and we can be regarded as old friends." ”

Liu Ting said worriedly: "Now that feudal superstition is being cracked down, if he is sent to the police station by these children, he will have to be re-educated through labor for a few years, can we help him?" ”

Chen Zikun nodded with a smile.

Liu Ting said: "Xiao Li, you go and deal with it." ”

Xiao Li is Chen Zikun's driver, a very capable and clever young man, who immediately got out of the car and walked over, and asked kindly, "What's the matter?" ”

The Young Pioneers raised their eyes and saw that this uncle was wearing a military uniform, with thick eyebrows and big eyes, he must be a good person, so they gossiped and said: "Uncle, we caught a ***, who is here all day to promote feudal superstition, and is about to send him to the police station." ”

Xiao Li said: "It just so happens that my uncle is going to the Public Security Bureau, so it's better to leave it to me." ”

The children looked at each other, led by a little girl with pigtails, wearing a red scarf with a silk texture, and two bars on her arms, she looked at the car parked on the side of the road, this uncle got off the car, and the people who can be equipped with a small sleeper car these years are all senior cadres of state organs or troops, and they are absolutely trustworthy people.

"Uncle, then I'll trouble you." The two bars solemnly handed over Hu Banxian, who had been tied with hemp rope, to Xiao Li.

Xiao Li is very good at acting, so he pressed Hu Banxian's head and shouted: "Be honest! ”

Hu Banxian lowered his head and walked forward, Xiao Li escorted him behind, walked back to the side of the road one after the other, and got into the car.

"Commissioner Chen, don't come here unharmed, where did you come back from shooting?" Hu Banxian seemed to have expected it, and asked with a smile.

Liu Tingqi said: "How do you know that we are going to shoot targets?" I was even more surprised in my heart, Chen Zikun's schedule was not public, and only the General Office of the National Defense Commission knew about his trip to Baicheng this time, how could he, a street fortune teller and a poor guy, know that he really had some ability?

Hu Banxian shrugged his nose: "What I smelled, there was a smell of gunpowder smoke on Committee Member Chen's body, but there was no blood, so he must have gone to shoot a target and practice guns." ”

Liu Ting said in his heart that this person's nose is smarter than a dog, and it will take two or three days to take the train back from the Baicheng Weapons Test Base, and the smell of gunpowder on his body has already dissipated, and he can still smell it, which is really good.

"Hu Banxian, you have a hard time these days." Chen Zikun looked at it, Hu Banxian was wearing an old cotton robe covered with patches, a dirty melon skin hat with a circle of white flowers and sweat alkali on the brim, his fingers were black, there was dirt and dirt hidden in the nails, his cheeks were thin, only his eyes were still clear.

Xiao Li started the car.

"Salute!" The two bars shouted crisply, and the young pioneers raised their right hands to salute and watched the car go away.

The car is a Mercedes-Benz brought by Chen Zikun from Jiangdong, the closure is very good, Hu Banxian's body has a strong smell emanating, the sour smell of not taking a bath for many days and the smell of the fox under the armpit are mixed together, which is disgusting.

Liu Ting lowered the car window quietly, but Hu Banxian casually reached into his arms and caught lice.

Chen Zikun said: "Half immortal, where are you going?" I'll send you. ”

Hu Banxian said: "There is no home, no courtyard, no place to go." ”

Chen Zikun said: "Then how did you survive all these years?" ”

Hu Banxian said: "Sleep in the train station, bridge cave, and park, and tell the old man and the old lady a fortune when you see the opportunity. ”

Chen Zikun said: "Secretary Liu, did you bring any money?" ”

Hu Banxian waved his hand: "Thank you, I, Hu someone, is principled in doing things, and never takes people's money in vain, and I don't lack money." ”

As he spoke, he took off his melon skin hat, revealing his unkempt and oily hair, and there were several large-denomination banknotes in the shell, which were actually gold yuan bills issued by the Central Bank in 1949, with Chiang Kai-shek's portrait on them and the words "One Hundred Thousand Yuan".

Chen Zikun couldn't cry and laughed, and said, "If you can't survive, I'll send you to the welfare home." ”

Hu Banxian said: "Don't mind, I don't like that place, if you are really pitiful, I will invite me to a meal." ”

Chen Zikun said: "Okay, go home, I will invite you to eat and take a bath." ”

Back at the former Yao Mansion on West Chang'an Street, today's Chen Zikun's house, Liu Ting arranged for Xiao Li to go to the restaurant to order a table of wine and food, and when it was time to deliver the food, let Hu Banxian take a bath first.

There is an independent bathroom in the small western-style building, the bathtub and shower head are complete, the boiler room has water supply, 24 hours of hot water, snow-white towels, fragrant pancreas, Hu Banxian picked up the dirty clothes, first put a pool of boiling water, soaked the old ash on the body softly, and then rubbed the loofah sac, a thick dirt fell on the ground, shocking, washed for forty minutes, stunned to wash a piece of new soap only the size of a fingernail.

The clothes that he changed out couldn't be worn anymore, Xiao Li drove out to buy a set of Mao suits, along with a shirt and leather shoes, Hu Banxian put on new clothes, walked out of the bathroom, and looked new, and the dirty fortune teller just now was like two people.

Chen Zikun said: "The demeanor of a half-immortal is still there, I estimate that you should be sixty years old, you still look like a person in your forties, you really have a good look, is there any immortal method, you might as well teach one or two." ”

Hu Banxian smiled: "I am from Taoism, these are all pieces of cake, I'm afraid you don't dare to learn." ”

Chen Zikun said: "Why don't you dare to learn? ”

Hu Banxian said: "If you don't take a bath for a year, if you can do it, I will teach you." ”

Chan smiled and said no more.

It happened that the wine and dishes were delivered, all of which were hard dishes of chicken, duck and fish, as well as half a catty of dumplings, and a bottle of two pots.

Hu Banxian went hand in hand, starting work left and right, thinking that chopsticks were not enjoyable, so he simply grabbed it, holding the chicken leg in one hand and the wine glass in the other, drinking the second pot head and gnawing the chicken leg, from time to time to take a dumpling and swallow it, smacking his lips and saying: "If you can have some mutton from Donglaishun, roast duck from Quanjude, and the stewed stew of the small intestine Chen will be beautiful." ”

Chen Zikun said: "If you want to eat, I will invite you in the evening." ”

Hu Banxian burped and wiped his mouth with his oily hands: "How can life be perfect, it is good to leave some leeway, I am full." ”

Looking at the table again, there was basically nothing left.

Hu Banxian said: "Commissar Chen, you are a good person, I won't eat your meal in vain, so let's do it, I'll give you a free sentence, and you will use it in the future." ”

Chen Zikun said: "I would like to hear about it. ”

Hu Banxian shook his head and said: "But when I saw the ancient tree of the Sad Bird, the male and the female flew around the forest. I also heard Zigui crying the night moon, and I was sad about the empty mountain. ”

After saying these headless words, the half-immortal chief smiled and swaggered out of the Chen family, walked away, and never looked back.

Liu Ting covered her nose with one hand, and walked over with Hu Banxian's old clothes with two fingers in the other hand and said, "The old clothes of your half-immortal friend smell too hot, and the fabric is also bad, throw it away, hey, what about others?" ”

Chen Zikun said: "Let's go, leave a word to repay us." ”

Liu Ting was surprised: "What words, it's worth a full meal and a hot bath." ”

Chan repeated that passage.

Liu Ting said: "Isn't this the poem in Li Bai's "Shu Dao Difficulty". ”

Chen Zikun said: "Or you are well-read and memorized, so what is the meaning of this poem?" ”

Liu Ting said: "I don't have any specific meaning, it's just a scene rendering, but when I was in college, I once participated in the lantern riddle meeting, and there is a word puzzle that is a sentence in Li Bai's poem, and I heard Zigui crying the night moon." ”

Chen Zikun said: "What is the riddle? ”

Liu Ting said: "It's better to go back." The sub-rule is the cuckoo, and the homonym of the cuckoo's call is that it is better to go back. ”

Chen Zikun fell into deep thought: "Shu Dao is difficult, it is better to go back, the words of the half-immortal have a deep meaning, but I can't go back now." ”

Liu Ting said: "Where do you go well, do you want to retire and return to Jiangdong?" I think this half-immortal uncle is a liar. ”

Chen Zikun laughed at it, pointed to the ragged clothes on the ground that still exuded sweat and fox stench, and said, "Lose it." ”

The orderly hurriedly came in and reported with a telegram in his hand: "Jiangdong urgent telegram." ”

Chen Zikun was shocked in his heart and said, "Read! ”

The orderly said, "Chief, the telegram is for Secretary Liu." ”

Liu Ting took the telegram and opened it to see that there were only five words, her father was critically ill and returned quickly.

……

Liu Xiaoyong was reading a newspaper in the family home of the Northern Thai Military Division, which said that the 20th Congress of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of the Soviet Union was held, and Khrushchev published a secret report to comprehensively deny and criticize the former leader Stalin, and this report was obtained by American spies and made public, causing turmoil in socialist countries.

"Khrushchev is messing around!" Liu Xiaoyong angrily threw the newspaper on the coffee table, as an old party member, of course, he understood the problems involved, denying Stalin is to deny the CPSU, it is to create instability, and it is a matter of doing things that relatives and enemies are happy.

Of course, Liu Xiaoyong is complaining in his own home, and political topics are not easy to talk about outside, after he submitted the application for job transfer, the above has been approved, and the general direction has also been set, and he is assigned to the director of the Jiangbei Regional Food Bureau.

The deputy commander of the military subdivision is only a bureau chief, which seems to be a little low, but Liu Xiaoyong is very satisfied, since he entered the Jiangdong Army Military Academy at the age of eighteen, he has been wearing a military uniform for 22 years, and he has worn enough.

After the liberation, Liu Xiaoyong finally got married, found a female cadre of the health team, gave birth to a pair of children, and lived a very happy life, even if he changed jobs, his wife was still in the army, and the dormitory of the military subdivision could still live, and he could not lose anything, but the most important thing was that Liu Xiaoyong felt that he had no future in the army, and could only be a deputy for a lifetime, in fact, he was only forty-one years old this year.

There was a bicycle bell outside, and the military postman shouted: "Deputy Commander Liu, your telegram." ”

Liu Xiaoyong personally went out to receive the telegram, opened it and took a look, returned to the house and said to his wife: "You go and ask for a leave, pack your luggage and take the children back to the provincial capital." ”

"What's the matter, so urgent."

"My father is critically ill."

The wife immediately went to ask for leave, Liu Xiaoyong was pacing back and forth in the room, his mood was complicated, and suddenly someone knocked on the door, it was a staff officer of the combat department, and saluted: "Deputy division commander, the military region is in an emergency, the head of the military commission is inspected, and no one is allowed to leave his post without permission." ”