Back to 80: My literary life.

Chapter 476: Talented people are always talented in any era

This is a very ordinary village on the edge of the northern desert, with low farmhouses, dusty roads, lonely poplar trees, and large tracts of spring wheat fields surrounding the village.

It is a bit like the small village where Fang Minghua followed Wu Tianmin to Minqin, Gansu Province to film "Hidden in the Dust" a few years ago.

In fact, villages in Northwest China, especially those close to the edge of the desert in Gansu Province and Ningxia, are like this.

"Nothing has changed in these ten years," Zhao Hongjun sighed again.

"Who said that? Look at the house at the edge of the village." Fang Minghua said, pointing to a house on the east side of the village.

"Oh my! Someone actually built a tiled house!" Zhao Hongjun exclaimed.

The houses here are similar to those in Guanzhong, all half-built. This unusual house is not made of traditional adobe, but has blue brick walls all the way to the top and a roof covered with red machine-made tiles, and it looks like it was newly built not long ago.

Just at this moment, a man riding a "Red Rooster" motorcycle came towards this side.

The official name of the Red Rooster motorcycle is Jialing 50. It was produced by the Chongqing State-owned Jialing Machinery Factory and was modeled after the Japanese prototype PA50. It is known as the "Red Rooster" for its small and exquisite body and unique red appearance.

This two-stroke continuously variable speed motorcycle is popular among the people for its excellent fuel economy and convenient handling, and is also common in the Guanzhong region.

The man riding the motorcycle was in his early thirties, wearing a slightly wrinkled suit. It was obvious that he was surprised to see the sudden appearance of an off-road vehicle. He slowed down and passed by carefully, and when he passed the vehicle, he did not forget to take a look inside.

"Jianlin, Zhang Jianlin!" Zhao Hongjun, who was sitting in the passenger seat, suddenly shouted at the man.

The man heard someone calling his name and quickly braked. He saw the glass of the car window slowly go down and a big face appeared, smiling at him.

Seem to have seen it somewhere?

"I'm Zhao Hongjun, the educated youth who worked in the countryside. I've lived in your house before."

"It's you? Why are you so fat that I can't recognize you." The man named Zhang Jianlin quickly parked his "Red Rooster" in the open space at the rear of the car. At this time, Fang Minghua and Zhao Hongjun also got out of the car.

Zhao Hongjun was just about to take out his soft Zhonghua from his pocket, but when he saw Zhang Jianlin had already taken out his own cigarettes, he put his cigarette box in his pocket and took the other's cigarette.

It is the "Ocean" produced by Lanzhou Tobacco Factory.

It is strange that although Gansu Province is located inland, the reputation of the "Ocean" brand cigarettes produced by the Lanzhou Cigarette Factory has surpassed that of the "Lanzhou" brand cigarettes it originally produced.

It is said that this is the fantasy and desire of smokers in inland areas about the ocean.
Zhang Jianlin gave Fang Minghua another cigarette, but she smiled and declined, saying that she didn't smoke.

"Fang Minghua! You haven't changed much." Zhang Jianlin looked at him and said with a smile.

"Why haven't you changed? You've gained a lot of weight too." Fang Minghua said with a smile.

"That person is not as fat as Zhao Hongjun. He is so fat that I can't recognize him." Zhang Jianlin said and then asked, "What are you doing?"

"The Red Army and I came back to take a look. We have been away for ten years and there is nothing to do recently so we came back." Fang Minghua explained.

"Let's go, let's go to my house, the one at the edge of the village. I built it myself after I got married and separated from the family." Zhang Jianlin greeted them warmly, and the two of them drove their cars and followed the motorcycle into the village.

"Zhang Jianlin is a capable man. When we first went to the countryside to work, this guy was smart and liked to work hard. He became the production team leader when he was only in his early 20s." Zhao Hongjun said with emotion while driving.

"So, talented people are always talented in any era." Fang Minghua replied with a smile.

The car drove directly into the yard. Perhaps hearing the sound of a car outside, a woman came out of the house. She was wearing a Dacron floral shirt, had a plump figure, and a dark and rosy face, which was common in this area.

"This is my wife, Cailian." Zhang Jianlin parked the motorcycle next to the eaves and called to his wife again, "These two are the educated youth who worked in the production team in our area. They came back to visit their fellow villagers. Hurry up and cook."

The woman smiled, turned and went into the kitchen without saying anything.

Fang Minghua and the other man entered the main room and saw this year's calendar hanging on the side wall, all of which were beautiful celebrities, brand new furniture, and a 14-inch color TV on the square table opposite. "Jianlin, you have changed a lot in the past few years, from a shotgun to a cannon!" Zhao Hongjun exclaimed.

"Hehe. It's just messing around." Zhang Jianlin was very humble, but his pride was still evident.

"Jianlin, I just saw you riding a motorcycle. Is there something wrong? Otherwise, you go about your business and we are just taking a walk." Fang Minghua reminded.

"It's nothing serious. I have a project in the county and I'm going to take a look. I can go there later."

"Hey Jianlin, are you the boss now?"

"What boss? I'm just a small contractor." Zhang Jianlin said with a smile: "I have more than 20 people under me, all of whom are fellow villagers nearby. Some big bosses in the county will give us some of the projects when they take them. I just drink some soup when they eat the meat."

"Good, good, you have good vision! Are you the production team leader now?" Zhao Hongjun asked again.

"The production teams were disbanded a few years ago and are now called village groups. The village asked me to be the group leader but I didn't want to. It's meaningless."

Zhang Jianlin replied and looked at the two of them again: "I heard that you returned to your hometown in Xijing, what are you doing?"

"Hongjun is now the big boss of a company in Xijing." Fang Minghua replied with a smile.

"Boss! Hongjun, you've become rich, no wonder you're so fat!" Zhang Jianlin said in surprise.

"Minghua is even more amazing. He is now a famous writer and the vice chairman of our provincial writers' association."

Zhang Jianlin was even more in awe after hearing this.

He doesn't know what kind of official position the vice chairman of the Writers Association holds, but he knows what a great writer is.

Wow, what a cultured person.

The three of them were drinking water and chatting in the living room, while Zhang Jianlin's wife was busy in the kitchen. It wasn't long before she brought in a few bowls of noodles.

"Isn't this fried noodles?" Zhao Hongjun said as he looked at the big bowl of fragrant noodles.

"Hongjun, do you remember? This thing used to be only eaten during the Chinese New Year, but now you can eat it at will. Try it and see how it tastes."

Zhao Hongjun picked up a piece of food with chopsticks and put it in his mouth and chewed for a while.

"Mm, the noodles are chewy and have a rich flavor, not bad, not bad."

"Haha, then eat more."

"Where are your kids? Just the two of you?"

"I'm still in class at the village primary school. I won't be back until later. We'll have three late meals here."

At this time, Zhang Jianlin's daughter-in-law brought another big bowl of fish, which smelled delicious.

"Try it, this is authentic Yellow River carp! I went to the county to buy one yesterday, and since you guys are here today, I killed it and ate it."

"Jingtai big bowl fish? Then we are in for a treat." Zhao Hongjun picked up a piece of fish and put it in his mouth without hesitation.

After dinner, Zhao Hongjun said he wanted to visit the brigade committee, and Zhang Jianlin agreed.

The three of them walked towards the center of the village together.

(End of this chapter)