Go back to the prosperous days and become a layman

Chapter 503 Chapter 502 Return to Beijing
At noon, Tang Zhitong ate the salted goose eggs prepared by Tang Ting.

It's really salty! And the fishy smell is a bit strong. Goose eggs are better paired with fried vermicelli.

After dinner, I went to the director's office. When Director Ding saw Tang Zhitong coming in, he enthusiastically took his hand and kept saying thank you.

"Director Ding, we are all class brothers. If I don't help my own people, who else can I help?"

"Comrade Xiao Tang is very conscious! This is the final payment, five hundred and six, just count it." Director Ding praised Tang Zhitong for his ability to speak, then took out a thick stack of money from the drawer and handed it over.

"Manager Ding, we agreed that there would be 2% ice, so you have to deduct this money." Tang Zhitong counted out seventy yuan and handed it back.

"Hey~ This fish is very good, there is no need for ice. It's such a good product, and you can get it for us at a reasonable price. I'll be grateful, but I can't take this money." Manager Ding refused to accept it and pushed it back.

"I have already discussed this 2% with them. It should be deducted. I cannot go back on my word." There were some things that Tang Zhitong could not say directly. Director Ding would bear all the risks. This part of the money was equivalent to a hush money for him.

"I know that you must have used a lot of favors to get this price. I have to thank you for considering our forestry workers and helping us get a fair price. Consider this as a token of appreciation from our forestry workers. In addition, if Comrade Xiao Tang needs help from me in the future, just let me know. I will never refuse." Director Ding stood on his own standpoint. Tang Zhitong had already helped him a lot, and he had not given him any substantial benefits except a blank check for corn next year. He felt a little guilty, so he added another item.

"Oh, that's great. I'll make a note of it." Tang Zhitong responded cheerfully, counting out half of the seventy yuan and handing it to Director Ding again: "How about this, we'll each take half!"

As the saying goes, there are four irons in life. Since Director Ding is interested, I have to "deepen" it.

Tang Zhitong established good relations with the forest farm mainly for the sake of his uncle and aunt.

As for deepening, just play the next chess game casually. In six or seven years, the wind will pick up. The probability of your friends being demoted is not high, but this relationship can be used to pull younger relatives and friends.

At that time, if there are no suitable job opportunities in the city and you don't want to go to the countryside, then coming here to work "temporarily" for a while may be a good choice.

"Well... okay! Let's do it!" Director Ding hesitated for a moment, then took it over happily.

Next, the two had a polite, frank and friendly exchange.

When Director Ding learned that Tang Zhitong was leaving early the next morning, he took the initiative to suggest setting up a table for him tonight.

Tang Zhitong agreed and went back to tell Tang Wenbang about it.

"It's okay, come on, it will be more lively with more people." Tang Wenbang responded happily. Although Director Ding helps people with things privately, he will not easily accept invitations. This is to give face.

In the evening, Tang Wenbang prepared three dishes, a pot of pork head, a few fried mackerels, and a pot of large intestine stewed with sauerkraut.

Tang Ting prepared a plate of salted goose eggs, with each egg cut into four pieces. It looked like there were at least three eggs.

Su Xiao brought two bottles of loose liquor, and Director Ding brought two bottles of Fengcheng Laojiao.

At this time of ration reduction, this meal can be said to be very sumptuous.

With the dishes prepared by Xiaowei Nao Nao, Director Ding was so happy that he got drunk and insisted on asking Tang Zhitong to become his sworn brother.

He patted his chest and promised that as the eldest brother, he would definitely not be vague as long as Tang Zhitong had any problems.

Now the seniority levels were messed up and the scene became very festive.

After the drinking party, Tang Wenbang and his son Tang Gang sent the drunk Director Ding home. Tang Zhitong took advantage of the dead of night to help Su Xiao transport the 300 kilograms of mackerel and lard he brought home.

Since the two sets of pig heads have not been cooked yet, they are temporarily placed at Tang Wenbang’s house and will be taken back after they are cooked.

As for spices, that’s not a problem. I have the old soup from last time, and adding a little salt will be enough.

A hunting dog also went there.

For a long time afterwards, the hound was on "secondment", guarding and escorting Tang Ting's family.

After waking up, it was December 12th, the day Tang Zhitong returned to Beijing.

Early in the morning, before dawn, Tang Ting came to Tang Wenbang's house, carrying the dumplings she had made overnight.

"Eat dumplings when you go out and noodles when you get off the car. Eucalyptus, this is your home too. Let's have dumplings this morning." The dumplings were wrapped yesterday and were frozen hard at this point. They needed to be cooked here and eaten.

"Okay, thank you, aunt." Tang Zhitong got up very early. He had to leave early for the morning train, otherwise he might miss it.

"Oh, we thought of the same thing. I happen to be making some too." The old lady saw the dumplings and then looked at the ones she had made and joked.

"I use the same filling, with oil residue and sauerkraut. Just add some more so the eucalyptus can eat more." Tang Ting took a look at the filling and replied with a smile. Her sister-in-law had good intentions, so she naturally couldn't refuse her.

"Then I'll try them all." Tang Zhitong didn't think it was a waste anymore. The family had enough food, fish and meat. His uncle and aunt were no longer worried recently, so it was really worth having a meal of dumplings.

Tang Zhitong was full after this meal. Although it was called oil residue, it actually contained a lot of animal oil, and the sauerkraut could relieve the greasiness. The two complemented each other and the taste was quite good.

"No, no, I can't eat anymore. My stomach will explode if I eat any more." Tang Zhitong felt that the dumplings were about to hit his throat, but Tang Ting kept putting dumplings on her plate.

"A grown man like you is full after eating just two plates?" Tang Ting replied with a little dissatisfaction.

"I'm full, really full. These dumplings are big and have lots of fillings. They fill my stomach." Tang Zhitong put down his chopsticks and decided not to eat anymore.

"Then push them aside and give them to Anzi to eat on the road." The old lady picked up the chopsticks and pushed the dumplings apart, being careful not to let them stick together and break the skin.

"Auntie, if I don't take it with me, it will be frozen into a lump of ice by the time I get to the station."

"If you're cold, just warm yourself up. I heard from your uncle that it'll take a whole day to walk this distance. It's a long time, what if you get hungry if you don't bring any?" The old lady didn't listen to Tang Zhitong's advice at all and said as a matter of course.

"Okay, then I'm really going to eat and take it this time." Tang Zhitong compromised again. Just take it, and it won't happen again.

But Tang Zhitong soon made an exception.

In addition to dumplings and barley tea, Tang Ting also prepared several salted goose eggs, and Jin Yumei also prepared a bag of frozen pears and frozen persimmons.

In addition, there was money for food, fish, and meat from two families, which seemed to have been agreed upon, and each family paid one hundred and fifty.

"Uncle, aunt, I told you from the beginning that I can take money for the corn, fish, and pig heads, but I don't want the money for the lard. It's a gift to you two." Tang Zhitong took out twenty from the share given by uncle and put it on the table. Then he took out thirty from the share given by Tang Ting and stuffed the rest back: "Aunt, there are four people in uncle's family who earn wages, so I will keep this money. Your family only has uncle's salary, so I will take a small amount first, and you can give me the rest when you are well-off in the future."

"Alas, a hundred yuan is not enough for us. If I tell you to take it, just take it. If you push it back, I will be angry." Tang Ting said with a straight face. "Anzi, your aunt and I are very grateful that you can think of helping us get so many things. We will definitely not let you down. Your aunt gave it to you, just take it. If his family is really in need in the future, don't you still have me, the eldest brother, by your side?" Tang Wenbang picked up the twenty yuan and stuffed it into Tang Zhitong's pocket.

After a fierce struggle, Tang Zhitong still only received two hundred and sixty.

After packing up his personal belongings, he put on Tang Wang's Ula shoes and started his journey home.

In addition to the dumplings, the bag also contained her cotton shoes and a bundle of Ula grass. The old lady said that the shoes had to be used with the grass, otherwise they would be useless.

The uncle and aunt accompanied Tang Zhitong all the way to the gate of the forest farm, and only turned back after watching him go away.

After getting off the carriage, Tang Zhitong packed up his personal belongings. In addition to the baggage, five or six half pieces of gunpowder, and magazines he brought with him, he also packed about fifty pounds of corn in a small sack.

It would not be appropriate to come here and go back empty-handed. I am bringing this purely for my colleagues in the escort department to see.

"Hey, Chief Tang, I thought you wouldn't be coming back today." Seeing Tang Zhitong coming over, Kong Yiqun opened the door for him wearing gloves.

In the winter in Northeast China, there is a well-known and customary ban: you cannot touch any iron products outdoors with your bare hands, and you cannot lick telephone poles with your tongue.

This prohibition applies to the vast majority of people, except for the idiots.

Once it gets stuck, it's troublesome. When hot water is hard to find, you can only untie your belt for emergency...

"Well, the road is slippery and the carriages are slow, but at least we caught up." Tang Zhitong, carrying a bag, threw the sack onto the carriage first, and then himself.

"You're quite mysterious." After Tang Zhitong came up, Kong Yiqun slammed the door of his own mail truck and locked it from the inside. All the necessary items had been loaded, and they were just waiting to start.

"That's right. If we miss the class, we'll have to stay for another week. Director Fang will have to count it as absent from work." Tang Zhitong took off his gloves, scarf and hat, and took out cigarettes to pass out to everyone.

"Hey, did we get some food? It's not a wasted trip." Kong Yiqun lit a cigarette and looked at the sack on the ground. He could hear the friction sound of corn kernels when it was thrown up.

"Don't mention it. The ones in the east are damn black and the price is too high. I bought this by asking for a favor from someone. It's one dollar per pound, which is more expensive than in our city." Tang Zhitong took a deep puff of the cigarette, exhaled, and shook his head.

"Then you want more?" Kong Yiqin asked in surprise.

"Since we are here, it doesn't matter if it is a little more expensive. Buying from the east will not take up our domestic quota, and it can also allow our people to eat more."

"Alas..." Tang Zhitong's words left Kong Yiqun speechless. The other two new escorts looked at each other and remained silent.

Fortunately, the train started moving smoothly after a while.

"Hey, Brother Kong, have there been any returned letters on the way here?" Tang Zhitong didn't want to dwell on this issue any more, so he asked.

"Yes, there are some every time I go, and there are some when I go back. I will find them for you when the time comes."

"That's great." Tang Zhitong agreed. One more piece of evidence would give him a better chance of finding out the problem.

"Chief Tang, why are you concerned about this?" Kong Yiqin couldn't help but ask.

"Hey, try to get some benefits for our escort department." Tang Zhitong didn't explain it clearly and said vaguely.

It was true that Hao Ren was in charge of this matter, but after thinking it over, Tang Zhitong felt that it was not appropriate to talk to Hao Ren directly about this matter. It would be better to report it upwards through Fang Yuan step by step.

If the department assigns you another job, it would be a good opportunity to discuss the conditions. There would be nothing inappropriate in saying that you are fighting for benefits.

"You want a hen to lay more eggs but don't give it rice to eat, and you want a horse to run fast but don't want it to eat grass. How can this be possible in the world?"

These words are from the original article "On the Ten Major Relationships". This article was published a few years ago, but its scope was limited. There is no paper version for the general public yet. It will have to wait until the end of 10 to be published in a second-rate newspaper.

Tang Zhitong knew this because he had read the fifth volume...

However, at this moment, Hao Ren probably knew this sentence.

At noon, Tang Zhitong did not take out the dumplings with oil residue and sauerkraut, but followed the crowd and ate the food prepared by Zhang Guifang. Since he had 50 kilograms of corn to show in front of his colleagues, he decided to keep a low profile in other aspects.

Along the way, Tang Zhitong did not do much work except helping to load and unload parcels and record information about returned letters.

On Saturday, December 12, the train pulled into the station with a whistle.

Tang Zhitong had already collected the officers' mail on the way. After helping to unload the mailbag, he went to Zhang Jinbo to return five or six pieces of money before going to say hello to Fang Yuan.

"Hey, you're back?" Fang Yuan asked happily after seeing Tang Zhitong.

"Hey, you're back." Tang Zhitong didn't make any formalities with Fang Yuan. He sat down on the chair opposite him and said seriously, "Brother Yuan, I found something a little unusual when I went there this time..."

Next, Tang Zhitong told Fang Yuan everything about the returned letter and handed over the returned letter information he had recorded.

"Are you asking me to report this to my superiors?" Fang Yuan asked, holding the papers copied by Tang Zhitong.

"Yes. If the higher-ups don't handle it, our escort department can at least be exempted from responsibility. If they ask us to do statistics and records, our workload will increase, and this is a good opportunity for us to legitimately ask for support." Tang Zhitong said as a matter of course.

"Well, I'll think about it." Fang Yuan didn't say yes or no.

"Okay. Brother Yuan, I bought some corn this time. Can I give you some?"

"How many kilograms did you buy?" Fang Yuan was a little tempted, but he had to check the quantity first.

"About fifty pounds." Yu Mai had shown his face in front of Kong Yiqin before, so it was difficult for him to lie again.

"That's just a piece of shit. Take it home quickly. I'll let you continue your holiday today." Fang Yuan cursed with a smile and waved his hand to send him away.

"Hey, then I'm leaving." Tang Zhitong didn't say politely and got up and left. If Fang Yuan didn't want it this time, then he would wait a little longer and wait for a chance to give him something else.

Tang Zhitong did not go to the Finance Department. Instead, he pushed his bicycle directly to the platform, tied his things firmly to the bicycle, and then rode back home.

I have been away from home for more than ten days. I miss home very much...

(End of this chapter)