Traveler Major League

213 - An old man
Wang Zenglun was not curious for too long. In the cafeteria for lunch, Wang Zenglun saw the old man wearing a cotton and linen gown from the Ming Dynasty. The old man had white beard and hair. He was about sixty years old. He looked very good and spoke with great authority. The beard all over his face forms an inverted mountain shape, which is very beautiful, but his hair is still a little short, but it looks like he is starting to grow his hair like people in the Ming Dynasty, but he hasn't grown it for long. , a little shorter.

Before Li Kefu could speak, the old man took the initiative to say hello: "I came early today. I heard that a deer was delivered to the cafeteria this morning. We are in for a treat. Who is this?"

"This is Professor Wang, you are from the same hometown." Li Kefu also introduced with a smile. In this Spring and Autumn World, fellow villagers basically mean the same world. Then he introduced to the old man: "This is Section Chief Zhou. "

"Just call me Lao Zhou."

Wang Zenglun stretched out his hand and shook Lao Zhou's hand. His palm had no calluses and was warm and strong. It was completely different from his appearance and looked more like that of a young man.

Lao Zhou seemed to be very happy to see his fellow villagers, but he was a little reserved. When he moved and spoke, he naturally exuded a kind of dignified and strict temperament, commonly known as official air.

Wang Zenglun is very sensitive to this. His instinct in previous contacts with powerful leaders is basically the same. This is the aura brought by power, and it is necessary to invade officialdom. This has been true since ancient times, and it was the same in the Ming Dynasty.

Li Kefu, Wang Zenglun and Lao Zhou sat at a table in the corner of the cafeteria. They also ate a set meal, which was slightly richer than before at the inn and in the village. There was also a relatively sufficient supply of rice made from brown rice. This is a major feature of the military system. The food is always better than most places.

Perhaps it was because of his age that Lao Zhou's plate was mostly filled with vegetables and mushrooms, and the portion of brown rice soaked in broth was also very small. He ate most of it quickly. Only after they had time to introduce themselves to each other did they know that he was It turned out to be the same city as Wang Zenglun.

"We met before at the development zone seminar. Professor Wang, you were giving an economic situation report to us chief officials. I was very impressed." Lao Zhou said.

"Oh? When did it happen? I can't even remember."

"As long as I have met people, I can basically remember them. In fact, it is very simple. Before going to bed every night, I recall what happened that day and the people I met. I write and think about it." Lao Zhou seems to be very happy. He was proud and talking about his experience. Li Kefu on the side seemed to be very interested in this technique and listened attentively.

After Lao Zhou got over his addiction, Wang Zenglun found an opportunity to interject: "Lao Zhou, you have held that position before, why are you here?"

"Hey, I made some mistakes. I was in prison for a year. I was just released and came here after receiving the invitation. Anyway, I have nothing to worry about." Lao Zhou was very calm, and Li Kefu was not surprised. Lao Zhou's information All experiences are documented.

Looking at Wang Zenglun's expression, Lao Zhou waved his hand to interrupt his thoughts, "But it's not what you think. I'm not a big corrupt person, and I don't do much harm to the law. Otherwise, I wouldn't have been sentenced. One year is just a small amount of money, mainly as they say: life is corrupt, morals are corrupt, and serious violations of discipline are different. Unlike those people, they made more than [-] million and built shoddy projects. They were so courageous that they were even sentenced to death. "

When Lao Zhou mentioned the other fallen people, he seemed to be full of contempt and a slight sense of superiority.

"Actually, I used to be a passionate man who dedicated my youth to the motherland. When I was young, I was transferred to fight floods and provide disaster relief. At that time, construction was not as good as it is now. Floods often occurred in the middle and lower reaches. I was young at that time and thought Raising troops for a thousand days and using them for a while. I took advantage of my youth to contribute some strength to the country. I didn't think about anything else. I was away for a month or two. It happened that my wife asked someone to tell me that my daughter was born. Mother and daughter are safe. I don't need to worry about it. , go back after the mission is completed, haha.”

When Lao Zhou mentioned the past, his eyes were shining, and the smile on his face could not be hidden. He could pinch a fly to death. Those days should have been his most proud and happiest days.

"I worked day and night, but I didn't feel tired. I was full of energy. At the worst point, I was on the dam for 36 hours. I had nasal bleeding seven or eight times, so I just wiped it with my sleeve and continued to work. People's The safety of life and property is the most important.”

"When the flood relief work was over and I went home, my daughter could crawl on the ground. I was 26 years old that year, made meritorious service, and became the youngest officer in my unit. It stayed until the new millennium, when I was 35 years old. , and then it was transferred to the local government, to the Municipal Economic and Trade Commission, and then there was the structural reform, and the Economic and Trade Commission was withdrawn and merged into the National Development and Reform Commission.”

"After that, I was transferred to the Municipal Development Zone Management Committee and I have been working diligently. Until now, you can go to the Municipal Development Zone to find out how I was doing there."

"Professor Wang, I can responsibly tell you that this development zone was developed under my hands. I have no exaggeration for this credit and honor, and the organization has not treated me badly. Because of this credit, in 2010 I Years ago, I was still in charge of this work, and I have been working diligently for so many years.”

"Until, I met a person named Wang. I always called him Boss Wang. That person was also introduced by my old comrade at that time. You have never been a soldier, so you may not understand our comradeship. That is really life-threatening. We have a close relationship with him, so I was completely unprepared for this person. Boss Wang said he was here to invest in a high-tech R&D center project, but I didn’t do any in-depth review and directly approved nearly a hundred acres of land for him.”

"Actually, he is a coal boss who has not yet graduated from junior high school. He made his first pot of gold early by starting out in a coal mine. Since the economic crisis and the coal mine recession, he has registered a technology company that looks very high-end. In fact, Ah, it has nothing to do with technology at all, it’s just a facade.”

"It wasn't until much later that I understood his scheme. He used me to grant the land, built a shell, used the land as a shareholding for joint development, and made a profit of [-] million from the sale. Up to this point, I was just doing business. I didn’t receive any benefits from him, but he still caught me in his weak spot.”

"What's the weakness?" Wang Zenglun asked subconsciously, and then he immediately reacted and answered: "Women?" Money, power, and women, these three things are the biggest temptations. Among the three people here, maybe only The young teacher Li Kefu had not experienced it yet, and he was the only one who listened attentively, like a student.

Lao Zhou nodded: "Since Boss Wang made a lot of money through me, he has tried to repay me in various ways. Perhaps in his view, only if I accept the benefits can we become a true community of interests. So he treated me to big meals every three days, let alone gave me money and gifts, but I didn’t even ask for it. To what extent? Let’s put it this way, when I went to Yinan for a meeting and inspection, he could be there next to my guest house. I stayed there for a whole month and had three meals a day."

"Humans, as long as you keep dating for a long time, you will always find your weaknesses. Once I was invited by a power plant to attend a coal development seminar, and then Boss Wang said that his friend opened a cosmetics company and asked me to guide him. During the meal, I invited seven or eight girls to accompany me, saying they were models from their cosmetics company, to demonstrate the effects of the cosmetics for me. Each of those girls was younger and prettier than the last, and they were not inferior to the female stars in the movie."

"They are the kind of beauties I have never been exposed to. One by one, they took turns sitting next to me and asked me to comment. You should be able to imagine that scene. I was fat at that time, with a big belly, and wore the hair worn by the team when I was young. I had an old belt, but I had nothing but a job, and I couldn’t sing or have any talent. I was actually a little ashamed of myself at first, but those girls were there to compliment me and flatter me to the extreme. That’s when I After all, I am the center of attention for these people."

"It was at that time that I lost my balance in my heart. Just three words, why? Why can boss Wang and these fat bumpkin coal bosses enjoy these girls just because they have two stinky riches? Do you know? Most of those rich men who graduated from elementary school and junior high school have a hobby of collecting women, especially this coal boss who appears to be running a cosmetics company, but is actually looking for women. He uses the company's resources to audition, and every time he likes a girl I pursued her at all costs and bought her a house to raise. As the number of girls increased, I couldn’t remember their names, so I gave them nicknames according to the month, January, February, March, and so on. Row."

"Later he told me, Brother Zhou, something happened to me. I recently met a girl. She is so beautiful and lively, but I have already scheduled her to December. I can't call her December." Lao Zhou imitated the appearance of the coal boss and blinked, causing Li Kefu and Wang Zenglun to laugh.

"The coal boss said again, you leaders only have the authority of a word, but don't have the benefits of having three wives and four concubines. In modern society, in ancient times, ordinary people like us would have to help you spread thin horses in Yangzhou. Well, you see, there is no chance now."

Speaking of this, it seemed that Li Kefu was offended, and his face suddenly darkened, and he said: "We are not the Ming Dynasty, it is the Ming Dynasty, and it will not be the Ming Dynasty in the future. Let's fight back!"

Only then did Lao Zhou stop. He also knew the situation, so he had no choice but to explain: "Everything was like this at that time. Eating, drinking and having fun were very common. The hotels, footbaths, KTVs and dance halls all over the city were all for entertainment. Every day It seems that a dinner party is not accompanied by a few beauties, and it has become normalized in society. As a farm boy who came from the mountains, I have grown old, and in middle age, the string in my mind has broken. .”

At this time, Lao Zhou pointed to his head and said: "When the string in my mind was broken, it really changed. Afterwards, through the introduction of Boss Wang, I gradually got to know several women. It's ridiculous to say that, I I never took any money from him, but he became known to everyone as my horse boy, running errands for me. No matter what I asked him to do, he could always do it properly. go."

"I enjoy that feeling very much, just like Kissinger said that power is the best aphrodisiac, unless you have never had it, but once you have it, it is very difficult to give up. I didn't know until I stepped down. Although I have never accepted benefits, but because of my reasons and for my sake, there are several people who have been directly or indirectly dragged into the situation by Boss Wang. They are basically my subordinates and partners. Those who work with me have received several benefits from Boss Wang. Millions, and we often eat, drink, whore and gamble with him. One of my subordinates was led by Boss Wang to the point of entering a drug rehabilitation center."

Speaking of this, Lao Zhou's eyes turned red, "I am ashamed of them, and even more ashamed of my wife and daughter. You don't know the years my wife and I have gone through when she was young. She has suffered so much with me. She is a A traditional woman, a good doctor, just wants to protect a stable home, take care of her husband and raise children. She could have retired from the hospital safely, but in the end her reputation was disgraced because of me and she had to move to a strange city to spend the rest of her life. I regret it very much. , I thought about committing suicide countless times, but in fact I should have died long ago. During my sentence, none of my brothers or friends came to see me, only my daughter, who comforted me and came out regardless of past grudges."

"I thought my life was over. Unexpectedly, God gave me another chance to change my ways." Lao Zhou shook his gown. "Here, I still have the opportunity to make some contributions to the new world." , I am content, and my lessons are worthy of vigilance, which is why I often talk about my past.”

Lao Zhou kept narrating his regrets. His crime was not serious, but he did great harm and hurt many of his closest relatives, such as his old superior. Because he cherished his talent, he always used him in high regard, but he did not believe it and did not go into details. Lao Zhou's private life resulted in demerits and penalties due to oversight, not to mention the arrest of his partners and subordinates, forming an entire chain.

Seeing Lao Zhou immersed in grief, Wang Zenglun suddenly asked Li Kefu curiously: "In their group, besides Lao Zhou, are there anyone else here?"

"No, not everyone can come here." Li Kefu replied.

"Where is his wife and daughter?"

"They won't come." Lao Zhou said, "I just want to be a new person here and ask for their forgiveness. Fortunately, maybe I still have a long time."

"Perhaps." Wang Zenglun knew that the time Lao Zhou was referring to was the speculation of cloned immortality.

"We must not repeat the same mistakes." Li Kefu said solemnly.

This aroused the approval of Lao Zhou, "That's why I joined the anti-corruption department of the alliance, just to avoid making the same mistakes again."

Wang Zenglun thought to himself: This side really has everyone, and the world on that side has also been penetrated into a sieve. If I can go back, I must pass this news back.

(End of this chapter)