The setbacks I suffered during my two days in the countryside made me a little sluggish for a while after returning to Beijing.

Beijing and the county seat are two very different environments.

Just as a person has experienced two different worlds, one belongs to you; One is related to you, but belongs to someone else.

In Beijing, we can see fairness, justice and light. Even if there is competition, it is transparent and legal, and anyone doing business has a relatively fair business environment.

In the county seat, I saw too much ugliness and darkness, fighting openly and secretly, and fighting for power. The struggle for interests in the countryside is mostly a contest of power.

After a few days of rest, the heavy work gradually faded into the unpleasantness of returning to his hometown for a few days.

After work on weekend evenings, I was invited to have tea at Langu's clubhouse.

I haven't seen her for more than ten days, Lan Gu changed her hairstyle, she cut her hair short, and she looked energetic and capable.

As usual, I had tea with her and had a good conversation.

When Lan Gu asked me about my recent whereabouts, I told her what I had seen and heard after returning to my hometown for a few days, and by the way, I told her in detail about the grievances and grievances between the two brothers, the good company and our mining farm.

I also did not shy away from telling her about the rumors about me and Ah Hong in my hometown, and for the first time I told her about my past with Ah Hong since the Yellow House period.

Lan Gu listened to my narration quietly, interrupting me from time to time to help me analyze and sort out the details and ins and outs of some events.

When I talked about Guangtou Group, I mentioned Xuan, who was released after sentencing, and Xuan's current situation, and I had a brief exchange with her in the brothers' mansion a few days ago.

She listened intently, and when she listened to my conversation with Xuan at the Brothers' Mansion, and my sympathy for Xuan's plight, and my feelings about the impermanence of the world, she interrupted me.

"Big country, do you feel that this woman is very important, she should know the inside story of many things you want to know?"

Lan Gu is right, Xuan is an insider of many people and things in Ah Hong, county government officials, Guangtou Group and even the brothers' good companies, I rashly looked for her a few days ago, but found nothing, and now I think the other way, people don't know you at all, how can they tell you so much? Moreover, now people have a strong sense of self-protection, Xuan has just come out of prison, and she has become a frightened bird, keep her mouth strict, and do not cause trouble, which is currently the best strategy for her to protect herself.

When I came out of the Langu Club, it was already late at night.

Chatting with her about all the past in the county gave me a deeper understanding of many things in the past.

The people and things in the county town and the countryside seem absurd, but they have their own laws of development, and everything, including struggles and contradictions, is superficial, and at a deeper level, the balance of interests, the compromise of various forces under the law of symbiosis, seeking common ground while reserving differences, and the overall improvement is also a kind of progress.

Another week passed.

I came to Langu's club again, and as soon as I sat down, she smiled and motioned to me, saying, "If you come to me today, there will be a little accident for you." ”

I looked at her confusedly, Lan Gu smiled mysteriously, and said, "Accident is not unexpected, I'll avoid it first, and you'll know for yourself in a while." ”

She made her tea and turned to leave.

After a while, the curtain of the tea room door was lifted, and a familiar figure flashed in.

When I looked up and saw someone, I was taken aback.

It seems that the person who came didn't know me, and sat directly in front of me, looking very calm.

"Sir, the boss said you have something to ask me, you can tell me."

I looked at her in a daze for a long time, and I didn't know where to start for a while.

Lan Gu is very efficient, I only talked to her about the people and things in the county last week, and she immediately arranged for Xuan to be taken from the county club to Beijing and turned into her employee.

I am grateful to her again, it seems that she is really caring and meticulous.

I saw that Xuan, who was sitting opposite, had a significant change in her mental state, put on light makeup, looked very decent, and most importantly, she regained her spirit and was full of confidence again.

I was silent for a long time, and decided to ask her about Ah Hong first, so I asked softly.

"I don't really have much to know, mainly to know a little bit about Ah Hong."

At the mention of Ah Hong, Xuan's expression shook greatly, and she looked at me carefully.

"I remember your voice, you are the gentleman who asked me last time at the county brother good mansion club?"

I nodded, and continued:

"The reason why I asked you to learn about Ah Hong is because I know that you and Ah Hong used to be very good friends, and I also had a deep relationship with her."

When I said the second half of the sentence, my expression was a little unnatural, thinking of the harm I had done to Ah Hong, I don't know if she still hates me, and what is even sadder is that I still don't know where she is.

Xuan sighed, picked up the teacup and took a sip of tea, "You said that I am very good friends with her?" I don't think I'm worthy to be Ah Hong's friend. ”

With that, she lowered her head, as if caught in a painful memory.

"Originally, I didn't want to tell anyone about Ah Hong, everything is the common scar between me and her now, and I, I feel that whether I go to prison or fall to today's end, it is the retribution I deserve!"

Xuan's opening statement shocked me, and I stared at her blankly, wondering what had happened between her and Ah Hong in the past ten years.

"Ah Hong and I have always been very good since junior high school, and then she was admitted to the technical secondary school, and after I graduated from junior high school, I married the butcher in the town."

I know all the stories she told about the period of the Yellow Mansion, and I nodded.

"My business with the bald head is doing well, in the years when Ah Hong was studying at the secondary school, we have entered the slaughtering market in the county, but we have been suffering from no backer, even if we make a small fuss, our life is still passable."

"A year before Ah Hong graduated from secondary school, when she came back to the town and chatted with me, she said that someone in their secondary school class had been pursuing her, but she didn't like that person at all. She said that she has always liked Huang Lou's classmates. Prepare to go to him after graduation. ”

I couldn't help but smile wryly, confessed to her, and said, "I am a big country." ”

Xuan's expression was embarrassed, she glanced at me, and then said: "That person also knows that she has a heart, and later the person who likes her also organized a Yellow House party under the banner of Ah Hong, the purpose is to find you, see what kind of person you are, and even want to compete with you, warn you, Ah Hong is his girlfriend, and ask you to stay away from Ah Hong, but unfortunately I heard later that you didn't go to that Yellow Mansion party." ”

I remembered the Yellow House party where I had just come to the provincial university and chatted with me at the beginning of the second year of college, and it turned out that there was such a background.

"I also went to the party with the bald head, and when we listened to everyone at the party, we learned that the person Ah Hong said was actually the son of the county leader."

"You know, such a person is what we ordinary people want to associate with, but we can't ask for it, so we took this opportunity to meet him, and this son, I heard from somewhere that I have a good relationship with Ah Hong, so he has been pestering me and the bald head to promote a good thing between him and Ah Hong."

"Later, I found out that a girl named Ding Ling in your class told that boy brother about this incident."

After Xuan said this, she seemed to grit her teeth a little, "The reason why Ding Ling did this was to make her good luck with our business, but these two people have been using us, and finally let me and the bald head completely become the money-making tools of the county officials." ”

"I'm sorry Ah Hong." When Xuan said this, she lowered her head, as if in repentance.

"The bald head and I were blinded by interests at that time, and for the sake of interests, I betrayed Ah Hong."

She looked in pain and seemed to blame herself for her actions back then.

"A year later, Ah Hong graduated, assigned to return to the county to work, originally she was full of good yearning for the future, during the work, it was also very smooth, in the county, she often came to me to play, for a period of time, and I was inseparable, like a sister."

"In the past few years, the bald head used the means of the moon to climb up to Brother Gongzi, he opened a song hall and a bathing center in the county, and later built a whole pig experience hall, and the business was very prosperous."

"Ah Hong's vision is not bad, that son-in-law is indeed not a good thing, eating, drinking, prostituting and gambling are all five drugs, and I know this very well." , Xuan said, tears flowing.

But he has always coveted Ah Hong's beauty, and he is bent on getting her. Ming's pursuit cannot succeed, so we need to come up with ideas and make tricks. “

"The idea came from the moon, and he asked me to trick Ah Hong into going to the club, saying that you came back from college and wanted to meet her."

"It's the first time I've lied to her, she's defenseless, and she asked for my opinion, saying what clothes to wear that works well, and she said she wants to come to see you beautifully!"

Hearing this, I was stuck in my throat, leaning back in my chair in pain, unable to speak, and now it was completely clear why Ah Hong hated me so much in the past.

Xuan's voice grew lower and lower.

"I don't want to do such a hurtful thing, but they forced me to do it." She choked up and cried.

"Ah Hong came as promised, I got *** in the water that Ah Hong drank, fascinated her, and let Brother Gongzi get her by strong means."

"I'm not human, I betrayed my best friend for profit!"

"I've been punished, and everyone involved in this has been punished!"

Xuan's emotions were a little out of control, her thin shoulders were shaking, and she was crying very sadly.

"Ah Hong never said a word to me after this incident, I know, she hates me! However, she soon married that man, and let that bastard get his wish. ”

"I know, I know that if I do this kind of thing, I will be punished sooner or later!"

Xuan covered her face with her hands and bent down in pain.

The tears that had been suppressed for more than ten years were like water bursting from the embankment, swarming out along the fingers.

I looked at her, and my thoughts seemed to be grasped by the pity for Ah Hong, and I froze for a while, and my brain went blank.

In an instant, I thought of her various misfortunes, and my heart was like a knife.