After filling up the tank, the taxi took Zhou Yang on the road. From the city full of high-rise buildings to the suburbs full of woods, as time went by, there were fewer and fewer vehicles on the road and the roads became narrower and narrower.
Zhou Yang fell asleep and woke up joltingly from his dream. When he opened his eyes, he saw that everything was dark. The young driver in front noticed that Zhou Yang was on his way and said with a smile: "We have just passed the downtown area of Liushui City, and there are still more than six hours."
Mountain road.”
Looking at the time, Zhou Yang suddenly felt his eyes darken. Damn it, he was on the road before he had lunch. It's already dark now, and there are still six hours of mountain road left. He's already so hungry that he can't even feel it!
At nearly ten o'clock in the evening, Brother De stepped on the brakes. Looking at the ground in front of him which was more bumpy than the surface of the moon, Brother De apologized: "Brother, there is no way to go on the road ahead, but it is only a few steps away from Jishan Town.
If you are not afraid of the road, just walk over it."
Zhou Yang knew that the brother here was also worried that the car would be damaged in such road conditions. If it died in the middle of the mountain in the middle of the night, he would be frightened half to death.
After getting off the bus, the taxi quickly turned around and left. Zhou Yang lit a cigarette, and a scarlet fire flickered in the dark night. The mountain breeze blew, bringing a bit of icy chill into Zhou Yang's neck.
There were several gentle barkings in the distance, as well as some unknown sounds in the mountains. I picked up my backpack and started walking forward.
After walking for about twenty minutes, Zhou Yang saw a few faint lights in front of him, and he felt happy. He finally saw a place with people, how could he not be happy, so he quickened his pace and walked over.
When Zhou Yang came to the lighted house, he saw a low bungalow in front of him. The outside was covered with a layer of yellow mud, and the windows were actually covered with white oil paper.
Walking to the door, Zhou Yang knocked on the old wooden door and shouted: "Is there anyone there?"
After a while, there was a sound of shuffling footsteps inside, the wooden door opened, and a rickety old man appeared at the door. The old man was wearing a worn-out navy blue tunic suit, a pair of linen nylon pants underneath, and a pair of common outside pants on his feet.
sandals.
Seeing the strange young man standing at the outer door, the old man was stunned for a moment and looked at Zhou Yang warily: "Who are you? Where do you come from!"
"Oh, I'm a foreigner. I came here to see Wang Shu...I came here to see Wang Changyun. It's the same town in your town!"
Upon hearing Wang Changyun, the old man's eyes lit up, and then he said warily: "What are you asking our mayor to do? At this point, the mayor has already taken a break!"
Zhou Yang reached out and handed over a cigarette, and said with a smile: "I am a fellow villager of Mayor Wang. His family asked me to bring him a message. Old man, can you take me to find him?"
The old man took the cigarette, thought for a moment, turned and shouted into the room: "Old lady, bring me the flashlight, I'll go to the township government."
The old-fashioned flashlight emitted a dim light, shining on the bumpy stone ground. Within two cigarettes, Zhou Yang and the old man became familiar with each other. As soon as he mentioned Wang Changyun, the old man showed a pious look on his face and said softly:
"The mayor is the best parent-official we have ever seen in our lives. Although our mountain town is very poor and biased, we have been working hard."
The old man said and pointed to the gravel road underground: "Before Mayor Wang came here, there were dirt roads here. Every time it rained, this road was impassable. After a trip, you have to change your clothes when you go home. Especially those who
One or two young men riding motorcycles fall to death every year. As soon as the mayor came, he led everyone to pave the road with gravel. He said that in two years, he would ask the county leaders to allocate funds to cement the road.
Only if you pass it can you make a fortune!"
Zhou Yang nodded, with mixed feelings in his heart. The former top leader of Beijiang City was actually transferred to such a remote place. But he thought Wang Changyun was hiding for some reason, how ridiculous!
The flashlight shone on the two large stone pillars in front, on which were engraved several large characters: Jishan Town Township Government.
The old man looked inside and said in surprise: "The mayor hasn't rested yet and is still working so late. He is such a good official!"
Zhou Yang looked up and saw that there was a light on in a room on the second floor of a three-story building in front of him.
The office building of the township government was still cemented, but Zhou Yang could feel the rough ground under his feet when he stepped on it. There were no handrails on the stairs going upstairs, and the walls were painted with rough cement.
The old man came to the door of the lighted room with ease, knocked on the door, and shouted: "Mayor Wang, have you had a rest?"
Soon, there was a "bang bang" sound of a chair being dragged inside, and the door of the room opened. Wang Changyun, who was wearing a white shirt, saw the old man and said with a smile: "Old Yu, you are still up so late, are you following me again?"
Did the old woman quarrel?"
"Well, it was this young man who said he was looking for you, so I brought him here. He said he was from your hometown, look..." As he said that, Zhou Yang stepped forward to the door of the room and smiled at Wang Changyun.
Seeing Zhou Yang, Wang Changyun opened his mouth wide, obviously very surprised. After regaining consciousness, he glanced at Zhou Yang, who had a dusty face, and said quickly: "Zhou Yang, you... hurry up, come in and sit down first!"
Seeing that Zhou Yang was not lying, Old Man Yu turned around and left after saying a few words.
After Zhou Yang entered the door, he frowned when he saw the surrounding environment. The walls of the room were already stained with water, probably caused by water seeping from above. There was a five-watt light bulb hanging on it, and a long desk under the light bulb.
He was holding a book and a notepad. Next to the notepad were several boxes of plasters for treating rheumatism.
Behind the desk is an old-fashioned canopy bed with wooden poles nailed up one by one. It is also covered with a mosquito net. Behind the wooden bed and against the wall is a washstand and a flower-embroidered porcelain basin.
Zhou Yang suddenly felt something sting him on his calf. He stretched out his hand and swatted it away, and swatted away a satiated mosquito with a pointed beak.
Seeing this, Wang Changyun smiled awkwardly: "Sorry, this place is surrounded by mountains and the air is relatively humid, so mosquitoes come out earlier than outside."
"Uncle, this is a letter brought to you by Sister Jing. Please read it first." Zhou Yang said, opening his backpack, taking out an envelope from it, and then handed it to Wang Changyun.
Wang Changyun opened the envelope, held it under the light and read it. After a while, Zhou Yang heard slight sobbing, but it disappeared quickly.
After reading it, Wang Changyun touched his eyes, folded the envelope and put it in his pocket, and said with a forced smile: "I am sorry for the mother and daughter, and made them suffer!"
Zhou Yang lit a cigarette and waved his hand: "I have taken my aunt to my home. She will stay with me before you go back. Since someone is framing you, why don't you tell me? Uncle Wang, actually I have always been
I admire you because you are a good official!"
Wang Changyun then lit a cigarette, took a deep breath, coughed a few more times, and his eye circles were slightly red: "I have been an official for more than 20 years, and I can say with my conscience that I have never benefited the people at all.
.The officialdom is complicated, and if you are not careful, you will be beaten down. Even though I worked hard and had a clear mind, in the end I still ended up with a shameless end. People's hearts are not ancient."
"Sometimes I think, if I had collected money to do things like other colleagues back then, I might have lived overseas with my whole family now. But in this case, how could I stand up to those honest farmers of my ancestors?
"
"Uncle Wang, just tell me if you want to go back to Beijiang. If you want to go, I will send you back even if it makes trouble in Kyoto. Others don't know, but I, Zhou Yang, know best!" Zhou Yang was a little angry, but he didn't want to show it.
.
Unexpectedly, Wang Changyun waved his hand, shook his head and said: "No, Jishan Town has been poor for decades, and I want to leave my last energy here."
Zhou Yang was stunned and understood what Wang Changyun said.
At night, Zhou Yang found a mat and spread it on the floor, and slept in this office-bedroom room.
Early the next morning, when Wang Changyun woke up, he found that the mat on the ground had been rolled up, and Zhou Yang was gone.
Wang Yunchang got up and went to town to buy some buns, and then returned to the township government. Not long after, Zhou Yang ran into the room at a trot, and only saw Wang Changyun. Zhou Yang was stunned: "Uncle Wang, it's nine o'clock
If there are too many, you will be the only one working?"
Although he has never been in the officialdom, Zhou Yang knows that the average township government has at least five or six leaders. The party committee secretary, the town mayor, the deputy mayor, the director and so on.
"Haha, they are all locals and have houses here, so if there is nothing wrong, I will not ask them to come to work. Come and eat steamed buns. The steamed buns here are made with mountain spring water and taste good!" Wang Changyun said
He sat down and started to move.
After having breakfast, Zhou Yang realized that there were only three people in this office building. The oldest one was Wang Changyun, the party secretary and mayor, and there was also a deputy mayor and office director.
In one morning, Wang Changyun took Zhou Yang around the town twice. Along the way, in addition to people constantly greeting Wang Changyun, there were even more enthusiastic people who gave him some food and drinks. And Zhou Yang
It can be seen clearly how poor this Jishan Town is.
The best house in the whole town is the township government office building. Most of the rest are mud-brick houses, and even worse, they have roofs covered with straw. The people I see most are old and weak women, carrying
Bamboo baskets shuttled along the path.
At noon, Old Man Yu invited Wang Changyun and Zhou Yang to have dinner at his home. During the dinner, Wang Changyun drank a glass of home-brewed white wine, his face turned red, and he pointed to the road outside and said: "There are no shops or factories here.
, is said to be a town, but in fact the population of the whole town is less than 3,000. Moreover, some surrounding small villages are scattered in the mountains, and it takes a day to go there. "
"Mayor, you have done too much, building bridges, roads, and opening fields. Those who were officials in the past didn't just run away after we ran out of money. You are the only one who is the real parent official." Yu
The old man also drank a lot and looked a little excited when he looked at Wang Changyun.
At this moment, a shocking scream came from outside the door, which frightened old man Yu so much that he fell off his chair.
"Chen Dazhu is going to kill someone. Chen Dazhu is going to kill someone. Help!"