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Deputy Director Li gestured with his hand, signaling Vice Mayor Fang to stop. Vice Mayor Fang, his face flushed with anger, reluctantly sat down. However, Director Hu suddenly pulled out a shiny pair of handcuffs from his waist and stepped forward to cuff Hu Ruoyun.
Zhang intervened, pulling Director Hu aside. Hu Ruoyun vaguely heard him say, "Director, you need to think this through. This matter hasn't been finalized yet. It's easy to put those cuffs on, but if... taking them off might not be so simple!"
Director Hu responded fiercely, "What can he do? He's just a kid; how could he possibly turn things upside down?"
Zhang continued, "You should call Director Wang and ask him..."
Director Hu hesitated for a moment before turning to Principal Zheng. "Principal Zheng, may I use the school's phone?"
Principal Zheng agreed and then took him and Zhang away.
Five minutes later, when they returned, Hu Ruoyun noticed that Director Hu had stopped talking and was continuously wiping the sweat from his forehead with a handkerchief.
Deputy Director Li carefully chose his words. "Student Qin, well... what you've written is mostly true. However, the town also has its difficulties. This situation will require further investigation by the county... right? After all, this is our county's issue. Any concerns can be reported; the leaders at the provincial and municipal levels are very busy... bothering them might not be appropriate!"
In the end, they did not arrest Hu Ruoyun as Vice Mayor Fang had suggested. Vice Mayor Fang angrily left with Director Hu and Zhang to return to the town. Vice Minister Qin and Deputy Director Li got into a green jeep and drove away.
Only then did Class Teacher Wang and Principal Zheng let out a long sigh of relief.
It seemed that the incident had passed without causing a storm like Teacher Wang's previous article had stirred up. However, some related news still trickled in from Si Bao and Er Niu.
It appeared that no one was discussing the renovation of the commercial street in town anymore; at least for these past few days, there had been no visits from Chung Mao and his group pressuring Er Niu's family. The loud promotional vehicles that had been incessantly driving through the streets were gone as well, and it seemed that the building materials supply contact point was deserted.
Feeling uneasy, Hu Ruoyun took a trip to Third Aunt's house over the weekend. He found Uncle and his little aunt both smiling brightly; the gloom on their faces had disappeared.
With worries lifted, it felt as if all the storefronts along the street had come back to life again. It didn't matter what was happening; as long as those chaotic matters ceased, everything would be fine.
A week later, Hu Ruoyun received 38 yuan in manuscript fees sent by the provincial newspaper. However, he was puzzled that he still hadn't received any sample issues or copies of his work, leaving Teacher Wang and his classmates disappointed in their hopes of seeing Hu Ruoyun's masterpiece.
Another half month passed. One afternoon after school, before dinner bells rang, Mao Jie came to find Hu Ruoyun in the dormitory. "Come on, let's go eat together!" he said.
This left Hu Ruoyun somewhat confused. Although he had been getting along well with Mao Jie lately, it didn't seem like they were close enough to share a meal yet! Additionally, there was a lingering sense of inferiority in Hu Ruoyun; he was just a farmer's child while Mao Jie's father was a leader in town, his mother was the deputy director of the family planning office, and his sister was a formal employee at the town's post office.
If two people were to eat out together, it wouldn’t seem like much. But going to Mao Jie’s home for a meal was something Hu Ruoyun wasn’t quite prepared for. Just as she was about to come up with an excuse to decline, Mao Jie insisted, pulling Hu Ruoyun up with a grin. “Come on, it’s just a meal. It’s not like we’re eating you!”
With that, he dragged Hu Ruoyun out of the school gate, and the duty guard didn’t stop them as they left. Mao Jie was riding his sister's bicycle, which couldn’t carry a passenger, so they walked back while chatting and laughing.
On the way, Mao Jie said, “We’re having dinner at my place today.”
Hu Ruoyun felt a bit awkward. “Isn’t that a bit presumptuous? Wouldn’t it be inconvenient?”
Mao Jie waved his hand dismissively. “You know my sister, right? And you don’t need to worry about my parents; they’re the ones who asked me to invite you. Oh, and my uncle—you’ve met him too.”
Hu Ruoyun was puzzled. “You mean your dad asked me? And I know your uncle? What’s going on? I’m a bit lost here.”
Mao Jie didn’t bother explaining further. “Just come on; you’ll find out when we get home.”
Indeed, if she couldn’t even relax over a meal with someone else, how could she talk about change? It was just dinner—why not go?
The family quarters behind the Gaoqiao Town Government consisted of rows of single-story houses—four rows in total, each with six households. Each household had two main rooms and one auxiliary room connected to a small kitchen, with a water pipe in the yard and an independent toilet in the corner. In this era, such standards were comparable to standalone villas in later years!
Mao Jie’s home was at the far end of the second row. He pulled Hu Ruoyun into the yard, where Mao Na peeked her head out from the kitchen holding a spatula. “Xiao Hu is here! Go inside and have some water; dinner will take a little while longer.”
Hu Ruoyun smiled back at her. “Sister, I’m not thirsty; I’ll take a look around the yard first.”
Mao Na turned back inside. “Alright… feel free! Oh no, my dish is burning!”
The yard was tidy and well-kept. Directly facing the gate was a cluster of bamboo plants, and there was a large grapevine archway at the entrance of the main room, with clusters of green grapes hanging down. Along the wall were several loofah plants in full bloom with bright yellow flowers climbing up the wall.
One of the two main rooms served as a living room while the other was for Mao Jie’s parents’ bedroom. Mao Jie lived in the auxiliary room, and his sister had a place in the post office compound in town.
In Mao Jie’s room, all four walls were painted white and adorned with numerous movie posters. A desk connected to a small bookshelf served as his study area, while there was a single bed on one side with smooth bedding that clearly wasn’t made from rough fabric woven at home.
After more than half an hour had passed, there was a sound at the yard gate as someone entered while chatting. Hu Ruoyun followed Mao Jie out of the house to see three people coming in: a man in his forties with an average build and square face walked in front; beside him was a woman of similar age with short permed hair and fair skin, carrying an elegant handbag on her left arm.
Mao Jie introduced them: “Dad, Mom, this is my classmate Hu Ruoyun,” then turned to the man behind them, “Uncle, you’ve met before; I won’t introduce you again.”
Mao Jie’s father smiled and extended his hand. “Xiao Hu, you’re quite impressive!”
Mao Jie's Mom smiled broadly. "Xiao Hu, you all go sit down first. Mao Na and I will bring out the dishes shortly."
After shaking hands with Mao Jie's dad and greeting his mom, a man behind extended his hand. "Come on, it's our second meeting, so we should be more familiar with each other now."
Hu Ruoyun looked over and realized it was Zhang from the Gaoqiao Town Police Station, and couldn't help but laugh. "So you're Mao Jie's uncle!"
As they chatted, Mao Na emerged from the small kitchen carrying a plate of stir-fried fish. "Let's sit inside; the dishes are ready."
Mao Jie's uncle pulled Hu Ruoyun along. "Come on, let's go inside."
Mao Jie's dad, Mao Weiguo, was already seated facing the door and gestured to the spot on his right. "Come here, Xiao Hu, you sit here. Mao Jie, you sit next to Xiao Hu."
Mao Jie's uncle took the seat to the left of Mao Jie's dad.
With six people gathered around the table, they had four cold dishes and four hot ones—eight dishes in total. Mao Jie's Mom sat down next to her brother while Mao Na took a seat beside her mother.
Mao Jie's dad took out a bottle of Xifeng liquor and poured it into glasses. He then raised his glass. "Let's have a toast first! Mao Jie, you should drink a bit with Xiao Hu too."
The men clinked their four glasses of liquor while the women clinked their two glasses of juice before everyone drank up.
Hu Ruoyun felt a thousand questions swirling in her mind, trying to figure out what this meal was really about.
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