Siheyuan: Struggle in the Red Era

Lin Baoyan was unable to see the excitement because Wu Zhi never came back. Just Sha Zhu and He Yushui were no match for Yi Zhonghai.

It is said that Sha Zhu, Yi Zhonghai and the deaf old lady talked all night. When they left, they were furious, but when they came back, they were not so angry. At that time, He Yushui wanted to listen in, so Yi Zhonghai provoked Sha Zhu a few words, and Sha Zhu left He Yushui.

Anyway, in the next few days, He Yushui was full of resentment, which made Lin Baoyan very cautious, fearing that she would get hurt.

Wu Zhi did not show up for a whole week. According to Sha Zhu, he was not in the factory either. When he asked his leader, he said he was on a business trip.

Wu Zhi is a member of the steel rolling mill's transport fleet, so it is normal for him to go on business trips.

Lin Baoyan had originally thought so too. After all, for more than half a month, Wu Zhi had been behaving very normally, just like an ordinary resident. His door was open, and when it was time to eat, he would hold a large bowl of cornmeal, pick up a few vegetables, and make a steamed bun, then squat on the steps and eat it.

That is, every few days, I would cut two taels of meat and have a delicious meal for myself.

Of course, taking Shazhu to that alley doesn’t count.

Therefore, Lin Baoyan did not realize that there was anything wrong with Wu Zhi's business trip.

Half a month later, Wu Zhi came back. They were just friends, but he actually came to her house with a big bag of things.

"Hi, Miss Lin, good evening. Can you come in and sit for a while?"

Lin Baoyan was puzzled. Why did this person come to see her at this time?

Since guests are welcome, she politely invited Wu Zhi in.

"Brother Wu, are you back from your business trip?"

Wu Zhi put the things in his hand on the table and sat down on the stool: "Yes, I'm back from a business trip."

While pouring tea for him, Lin Baoyan hesitated: "Brother Wu, what about you?"

Wu Zhi chuckled and said, "During this business trip, I saw these things, which are quite suitable for young girls like you, so I brought some back for you two, one for you and Yu Shui."

Lin Baoyan refused several times, but she couldn't refuse anymore, so she accepted it and said awkwardly: "Brother Wu, I don't have anything good here. This, this is too precious."

Wu Zhi had been staring at Lin Baoyan, and saw that she didn't take out anything unusual to entertain the guests, and the tea was the jasmine tea that everyone usually drank. A hint of disappointment flashed in his eyes, and there was also a bit of melancholy.

The two people are essentially strangers. They suddenly sit together and want to talk about something, but they each have their own concerns.

Wu Zhi still wanted to give it a bomb. Maybe, this girl was blown out just like himself.

So, he began to tell Lin Baoyan everything he could say on the business trip.

"We are on a business trip to Harbin this time. You know that place, the eldest son of the Republic. It's a pity that we are going there too early. If we go there in winter, the ice sculpture festival there will be very beautiful."

Lin Baoyan: "What is the Ice Sculpture Festival? Do you celebrate by carving things out of ice?"

Wu Zhi's eyes twinkled, and he nodded, saying, "Yes, Harbin is very cold in winter, and the ice on the river is thick. So they take out the ice and carve it into all kinds of things, such as houses, zodiac signs, birds and animals, and flowers. Then they put light bulbs inside, and when they are lit, they are colorful and very beautiful."

Lin Baoyan showed a surprised expression at the right time: "But, the light bulb will get hot, so, will the ice melt soon?"

"It's too cold there. The temperature of the light bulb can't melt the ice."

"This is amazing! How cold it must be."

"That's right, but other places in the three northeastern provinces are not that cold. But in summer, it's still very hot there, and I encountered something on the way."

Wu Zhi picked up the jasmine tea and took a sip. The taste was ordinary and the water quality was the same as the tap water that everyone drinks, nothing special about it.

"What's the matter?" Lin Baoyan poured water for Wu Zhi.

Wu Zhi said: "On our way back, we passed Tieling and stopped there for one night. A colleague wanted to pick up some local specialties, but something went wrong."

Lin Baoyan asked worriedly, "Are you all right?" Then she said angrily, "You're sitting here well, of course you're fine."

Wu Zhi smiled and said, "My colleague got into trouble. He was out to pick up some local specialties. But he met a scammer on the way. He insisted that my colleague had smashed the Imperial Jade Wine he was holding and demanded compensation from him."

Lin Baoyan's heart skipped a beat, and she said with a worried look on her face, "Did he pay compensation? How much did he pay? The name of that wine sounds expensive, it's from the palace, could it be a tribute from the past?"

Wu Zhi didn't see anything from Lin Baoyan's face, and said helplessly: "There is no tribute now. It's just ordinary liquor, packed in a beautiful bottle. One bottle of wine costs 180 yuan."

Lin Baoyan opened her mouth and eyes wide, and after a long while she said, "180, you are robbing me!"

Wu Zhi didn't see any flaws and nodded regretfully: "Yes, the price is too outrageous. My colleague wanted to arrest the scammer and take him to the police station, but the man was so scared that he ran away without even taking the remaining bottle of wine."

"So, your colleague got a bottle of tribute wine for free?"

"Yes, otherwise, how would we know that it is filled with loose white."

Wu Zhi drank some more jasmine tea, took out a White Rabbit from his pocket, and handed it to Lin Baoyan: "This is for you, your sister Yushui doesn't even have one."

Lin Baoyan didn't answer: "Brother Wu, I'm not saying anything bad about you, but you really can't just give this thing to others. This thing came from the south, and it's not easy for us to give it to others. If it is taken away, we will be in trouble."

Wu Zhi was anxious. He felt that there was something wrong with this girl that day.

"How do you know where this came from?"

Lin Baoyan said seriously, "Someone gave it to me before. I ate it and it tasted really good. I guessed it was expensive, so I wanted to see the price. If I could afford it, I would buy some myself. As a result, I ran to all the stores but didn't see it. I asked the saleswoman, but she said she had never heard of this candy. She also said that it was not even in the special supply. They guessed it came from the south."

Wu Zhixin brought it up. Are there other time travelers like this?

I hurriedly asked, "Who gave you this candy?"

Seeing Lin Baoyan looking at him strangely, he hurriedly explained: "The production of my candy factory is very small, and the people who can buy it are regular customers. I just want to ask, or maybe someone I know."

Lin Baoyan shook her head: "He was just an older brother. He came to ask for directions and gave me one. I never saw him again and I don't know his name."

Wu Zhi was disappointed, but he still took out several handfuls of White Rabbit from his pocket, put them in a small pile on the table and said, "These are all for you. Eat more if you like."

Lin Baoyan looked at his pocket seriously: "Brother Wu, your pocket is so small, how can you hold so many things?"

Wu Zhi was embarrassed. Could he say that he was apparently taking things from his pocket, but was actually taking things from space?

I just said a few random words and then left.

On the way back, I kept regretting why I had made such a rude mistake again.