Life in siheyuan era

Han Xue's arrangement had its own logic; the Eleventh and Fifteenth Committees were adjacent, and they would only separate after walking onto Yongji Road.

And her helping to solve Lou Xiao'e's problem also had its logic, requiring an equivalent exchange of information. "Gu Chengliang invited me to dinner on Sunday night, and I took Li Bo with me."

"According to Gu Chengliang, they went to another place to film a movie at the film studio. He was one of the crew members, and he left for two weeks, only returning the night before yesterday."

This information was of no value to Zhou Zhiyuan, but she wanted to obtain valuable information. "What did you discover last night?"

This question made it difficult for Zhou Zhiyuan to answer, and he could only reply in a low voice: "I need to report to the political commissar before I can decide whether to say it or not."

He couldn't say: "I didn't discover anything." Han Xue was also a comrade-in-arms in the same trench as him, and she would find out about the illusory figure sooner or later.

But he also couldn't tell the truth. Saying it might scare Han Xue, or it might make her curious. Neither situation was what he wanted.

But he understood Han Xue's mentality and said in a low voice: "Keeping a close watch on Gu Chengliang will definitely lead to a breakthrough. This credit will be yours."

He pointed out a path for Han Xue, able to clearly know this path originated from his intuition, Gu Chengliang must have something going on.

But Han Xue misunderstood, stopped, stared at him, and asked coldly: "Am I doing it for the credit?"

Zhou Zhiyuan also stopped, looked at those fiery apricot eyes, and replied in a low voice: "Sorry, I spoke vulgarly, it should be for duty and career."

He apologized, but Han Xue still didn't let it go, and said coldly: "That sounds nice, but that's what you really think in your heart."

Seeing her so serious, Zhou Zhiyuan chuckled and said in a low voice: "We all want to realize our own value, and credit is the superiors' affirmation of our own value. It sounds vulgar, but that's the reality, there's no need to avoid it."

"Just like me, going to the battlefield to bravely kill the enemy, from a public perspective, is to defend the country, but from a private perspective, don't I want to gain military merit?"

"That's what I say to my comrades, and that's what my comrades think. Would having this kind of thinking make me greedy for life and afraid of death?"

"Before the gunshots rang, all I thought about was military merit, so that I wouldn't be nervous. After the gunshots rang, all the military merit and future were thrown out of my mind, and all my energy was focused on killing the enemy. It was either him or me who died, there was no other way."

These words didn't have high-sounding rhetoric, and such a straightforward statement surprised Han Xue, who asked: "Are you not afraid of death?"

"Who isn't afraid of death?" Zhou Zhiyuan replied calmly: "I'm afraid that my parents will be heartbroken after I die, and my brother will be very tired to take on the responsibility of supporting the elderly alone, but as a soldier, I have no choice, I can only think about it from another perspective."

"When I bravely kill the enemy and gain military merit, my parents will be very happy; with military merit, my future will be bright, and my parents will be even happier. Thinking this way, I'm not afraid. Striving to gain credit is not utilitarianism, but motivation."

He said it, but Han Xue still wanted to ask: "You're thinking about your parents, not yourself, aren't you afraid for yourself?"

When Han Xue asked this, Zhou Zhiyuan's expression became serious, and he replied in a deep voice: "Of course I'm afraid, afraid of becoming a coward and never being able to hold my head up for the rest of my life. A person's life is not about time, but about quality."

These words made Han Xue look at him in surprise. After a long while, she shifted her gaze and said softly: "You need to report to Director Zhang, I'll go to the Fifteenth Committee."

Han Xue took the initiative to take on the work for him, but Zhou Zhiyuan replied: "When to report depends on him, not me."

Han Xue understood what he meant by saying this, Director Zhang was very busy.

But the very busy Zhang Limin knew what was important. After receiving his call, he immediately determined the meeting place. An hour later, Zhou Zhiyuan sat in a jeep and reported to him.

Zhang Limin pondered in silence, while Shen Lanbo said softly: "The illusory figure will be Zhou Zhiyuan's responsibility, I'll investigate the Anxin Hotel."

Zhou Zhiyuan objected, "Your body still needs to recuperate, and the investigation time is mainly at night, requiring parkour."

Shen Lanbo, who had taken the repair solution, had already recovered, but even Zhang Limin had to be kept in the dark about this.

Zhou Zhiyuan wouldn't say too much about Shen Lanbo's matter, and offered a suggestion: "The investigation of the Anxin Hotel doesn't necessarily have to be carried out by investigators. We can establish an external organization..."

This suggestion was not innovative, and had been used in the old society, but it was unacceptable to the new society.

Zhou Zhiyuan actually wanted to establish an external organization, absorbing Lao Huatou and Yuan Shi. Zhang Limin couldn't accept it.

These two people were different. The martial arts expert Lao Huatou could be accepted after verification, but Yuan Shi was a thief.

So Zhou Zhiyuan explained: "A thief is not a contradiction between us and the enemy. Even if he is arrested, he will be reformed to become a new person. A thief who becomes a new person is also a part of the people, let alone a thief with a conscience?"

"Why do we have to arrest such a thief and then reform him? Why not reform him now and make him a new person, a person who is useful to the country?"

"For us, organizational discipline restricts our words and deeds, and we don't dare to let go of our hands and feet when doing things. We have to talk about evidence and policies even to hooligans. Something that can be solved with a brick ends up being several baskets of paper in our hands."

"And Yuan Shi is not a member of the organization, without the constraints of organizational discipline, he can let go of his hands and feet. As long as we treat him as our own comrade, I believe he can do a good job."

After Zhou Zhiyuan's impassioned speech, Shen Lanbo slowly said: "It can be considered."

Zhang Limin pondered for a while and said in a low voice: "This involves many issues. Does Section Chief Luo dare to approve it? What are their identities? How is the funding solved? Do you think it's enough to make a suggestion?"

"Special affairs, special handling..." Zhou Zhiyuan suggested, "Lao Huatou sells old books, and Yuan Shi works as a laborer in the granary. This identity doesn't need to change. The current situation is different from the past. Even those gangsters have jobs. Xu Laoer and Xu Laosan are temporary workers on the railway. Being a gangster is just their side job."

"But they are illegal, while Lao Huatou and Yuan Shi can be legalized. For example, let Yuan Shi steal Bai Wenming's antiques. As long as they are not national treasures, they are allowed to sell them independently, with one part as a reward and one part as an activity fund..."

He wanted to continue speaking, but Zhang Limin and Shen Lanbo turned their heads together and shouted in a low voice: "What do you want to do?"

Zhou Zhiyuan first praised, "How uniform..."

Then he said: "It has nothing to do with me, Comrade Shen Lanbo leads."

Continuing, he said: "Self-funded, only need to be legal, and give them comrade treatment."

The last sentence had enough Jianghu flavor, and Zhang Limin shouted: "What are you saying? Don't forget your identity."

Then he said: "I'll report to Section Chief Luo, Lanbo and you are responsible for implementation. If something goes wrong, I'll chop off your head."

"Really righteous."

Zhou Zhiyuan praised again, and then said: "Send out experts to arrest two people first, Yuan Shi and Lao Huatou's grandson Zhang Quanyi, secret arrest, don't hurt them."

Hearing this idea, Shen Lanbo chuckled, and Zhang Limin looked back and said coldly: "How despicable."

"Wrong..." Zhou Zhiyuan replied sternly: "This is called care."

Shen Lanbo laughed again, and Zhang Limin replied helplessly: "Arrange it immediately after returning, and I'll give you the credit after catching them."

Zhang Limin agreed, this was also a work requirement. Zhou Zhiyuan was overwhelmed, and Shen Lanbo was not in good health and was not good at investigation. His strength was in planning, and Zhang Limin would not let him investigate the Anxin Hotel.

And Zhou Zhiyuan's words made sense. The position of informant has existed since ancient times, but the new society does not allow the existence of this profession.

The reason is simple. The informants of the old society were all local ruffians. They oppressed ordinary people. If they were allowed to continue to be informants, it would be equivalent to indirectly providing them with a protective umbrella, which was incompatible with the social management requirements of the new society.

The management requirements of the new society have a principle: whoever dares to oppress the people will be dealt with.

This management requirement made the local ruffians no longer have their previous arrogance. Scams, deceptions, and thefts still existed, but no one dared to openly engage in looting and arson.

Among scams, deceptions, and thefts, Yuan Shi was a professional thief rather than a local ruffian. His thieving skills originated from the Thief Sect, a special category of historical and cultural heritage, because the Thief Sect paid attention to rules.

And Lao Huatou had nothing to do with local ruffians. The successors of Pi Zhang would rather starve to death than become local ruffians, because they paid more attention to rules.

Lao Huatou was a martial arts expert, but Zhou Zhiyuan's main target was not him, but his grandson Zhang Quanyi.