sinovels Chapter 1692 The Violent Horse's Coffin
Chapter 1692 The Violent Horse's Coffin
Chapter 1692 The Violent Horse's Coffin
The secretary who was assigned to an outlying area is incredibly motivated at work.
Zhao Jun originally said that Xie Zhong would be bringing his men tomorrow, and since he was giving a speech and assigning tasks today, it would be better to wait until everyone was there tomorrow before making any further plans.
Yu Quanjin, who was at the new workshop, was in high spirits and was talking to the workers for twenty minutes straight, showing a style reminiscent of Li Dazhi.
Zhao Jun, along with Li Baoyu, Li Ruhai, and Zhao Jinhui, strolled around the yard. They hadn't left yet because Zhao Jun still wanted to say goodbye to Huang Gui.
Huang Guiye and his two brothers, along with Jiang Weifeng and the Chen brothers, are all old friends. They've come all this way today, so Zhao Jun should at least invite them home for a meal.
Of course, Huang Gui is now the leader, leading a bunch of men across the ridge to work. Today is the first day of work, and there's a 90% chance Huang Gui won't accept the invitation. But even if he doesn't come, Zhao Jun still has to show him courtesy.
"When will this ever end?" Zhao Jinhui was the first to get impatient, as he had been craving the Zhao family's braised pork.
"It should be soon," Zhao Jun said with a smile. "Jin Hui, don't worry, just wait a little longer."
"Hehe." Li Baoyu laughed from the side, "Brother Yu is just making a big splash as a new official."
As Li Baoyu finished speaking, Li Ruhai chimed in, "It's easier to deal with the King of Hell than with his underlings..."
"What are you saying!" Zhao Jun's expression changed, and he smacked Li Ruhai with his pestle. Li Ruhai instinctively covered his mouth, then quickly changed his words, saying, "Even a third-rank official has to serve the prime minister. My brother Yu has finally made it."
Zhao Jun glanced at Li Ruhai, and then saw workers coming to the front yard one after another, so Zhao Jun hurriedly went to greet them.
At this moment, Yu Quanjin was talking to Huang Gui, Zhang Xinglong and Xu Fangman. When he saw Zhao Jun coming over, Yu Quanjin quickly raised his hand to greet Zhao Jun.
Although being in charge of Xinlengchang wasn't a high-ranking official position, it wielded considerable power. However, Yu Quanjin remained humble; he knew Zhao Jun was someone he couldn't afford to offend.
"Brother Yu," Zhao Jun called to Yu Quanjin with a smile, "Come home with me for a meal."
"I'm not going, brother." Yu Quanjin said, somewhat flattered. "Secretary Zhou has handed this whole thing over to me. I'll straighten it out before I leave this door again."
When he said the last sentence, Yu Quanjin raised his hand and pointed to the gate of the training ground.
"Wow!" Zhao Jun grinned upon hearing this and said, "Brother Yu, your serious and responsible attitude towards work is something we should all learn from."
"Haha..." Yu Quanjin laughed at Zhao Jun's praise. He spent most of his time in the office building with Zhou Chunming and was unaware of the situation on the ground. In his eyes, Zhao Jun was a model worker in the forest farm and an advanced worker in the county. Zhao Jun's praise of his hard work made Yu Quanjin feel very proud.
"Hehe..." Zhao Jun chuckled, then looked at Huang Gui and said, "Brother, why don't you call Brother Jiang and come with me?"
“We’re not going either.” Huang Gui pointed to the shack and said, “We just arrived today, and our shack is still in a terrible state. We’ll go down there to visit you when we’re less busy.”
Hearing Zhao Jun and Huang Gui's conversation, Yu Quanjin hurriedly asked Zhao Jun, "Brother, what's the relationship between this Chief Huang and our family...?"
“This is my older brother.” Zhao Jun knew that Huang Gui had a bad temper, so he said to Yu Quanjin, “Brother Yu, my older brother has a very straightforward temper. But he’s a really good person. You two should get along well.”
Zhao Jun's words were a direct message to Yu Quanjin: Huang Gui has a bad temper, but he has a good relationship with him. He asked Yu Quanjin to be more tolerant of him in the future.
"Oh, we're on the same side, so everything's easy to talk about." Yu Quanjin and Zhao Jun exchanged a smile.
Just then, Zhao Jun saw Zhang Xinglong wink at him. Zhao Jun pursed his lips slightly and said to Quan Jin with a hint of helplessness, "Brother Yu, who is this old man..."
At this point, Zhao Jun paused, because he didn't know how to introduce this person.
“This is from my mother’s village.” As soon as Zhao Jun said this, Zhang Xinglong immediately followed up, “Director of the Public Opinion Survey.”
"Ah!" Yu Quanjin looked Zhang Xinglong up and down. What kind of poll director was he? He wasn't even as important as his secretary. The key point was that Zhao Jun said this guy was from his mother's village, so Yu Quanjin assumed Zhang Xinglong was a relative of Wang Meilan's family.
The three have already introduced themselves, so one more won't make a difference.
Zhao Jun pulled Xu Fangman over and said to Yu Quanjin, "Brother Yu, this is Uncle Feng's son-in-law from Kaoshantun!"
"I know, I know!" Yu Quanjin laughed upon hearing this, "The one who was on TV with you last year!"
"Yes, yes!" Zhao Jun replied with a smile. This Xu Fangman was Feng Jingui's son-in-law. In Zhao Jun's previous life, it was this Xu Fangman who stole Huanglong from his father-in-law's house and then delivered the dog to Zhao Jun's house overnight, crossing mountains and valleys.
“These three groups are all from the same village, and none of them have ever done loading and unloading before.” Zhao Jun said to Quan Jin in a very sincere tone, “Brother Yu, please take good care of them.”
"Oh dear," Yu Quanjin laughed, "My brother has already said so, what else is there to say?"
Yu Quanjingang did Zhao Jun a favor, and then they saw some movement at the gate. When they turned around, they saw a Jiefang truck driving into the forest farm.
"Huh?" Zhao Jun was taken aback, and Li Baoyu and Li Ruhai also looked surprised.
That's Jiefang truck belonging to Jie Chen. Didn't they say it wouldn't be able to come back until tomorrow?
As soon as the truck stopped, people started getting off in the back. The brothers Jie Zhong and Jie Chen also got off and walked towards Zhao Jun.
"Why did they come back so quickly?" Zhao Jun asked. Xie Zhong waved his hand behind him and said, "They were in a hurry. When Xiao Chen and I got to the bridge, we saw them coming this way with big bags and small bags."
"Perfect!" Zhao Jun pulled Xie Zhong over to introduce him to Yu Quanjin. Yu Quanjin didn't recognize Xie Zhong, but he already knew Xie Chen. Upon hearing that Xie Zhong was Xie Chen's older brother, Yu Quanjin knew what to do next.
With all four groups of workers present, Yu Quanjin decided to address them one more time. This time, Zhao Jun wouldn't listen. He called Li Baoyu, Xie Chen, Zhao Jinhui, and Li Ruhai to get on the bus and head back.
The jeep was in front, followed by the Jiefang truck. They drove out of the mountain area and arrived at Yong'an Village around 3:30 or 4:00.
The days were getting longer, and it wasn't dark yet. When the car arrived home, everyone was there except for those going to work or school.
The new house had a large outer room, where the women chatted while cooking dinner. When Zhao Jinhui entered the house, Wang Meilan, Jin Xiaomei, and others greeted him warmly, and Zhao Youcai even pulled Zhao Jinhui towards the west room.
Just then, Xie Chen, who had parked his car, came in. Everyone was quite surprised to see him.
"Little Er," Xie Sunshi said with a surprised look, "Why are you back?"
After saying that, without waiting for Xie Chen to reply, Xie Sun called to Wang Meilan and said, "Sister, quickly tell Xiao Chen about that matter."
Zhao Jun, Xie Chen, and the others looked at Wang Meilan, and then they heard Wang Meilan say to Xie Chen, "Well, today Old Xu and Song Erzhu came over and said they wanted to use your car to take Xu Changming and Song Laowai, but then I told them you weren't home."
Upon hearing this, Xie Chen immediately said, "Auntie..."
As soon as Jie Chen opened his mouth, Zhao Jun nudged him with his hand. Jie Chen was startled and looked up to see Jie Sunshi glaring at him. Seeing this, Jie Chen quickly changed his words and said to Wang Meilan again, "Auntie, now that I'm back, I'll help them deliver it. It's no problem."
After Jie Chen bought the car, everyone in his village asked him for help. They all lived in the same village, so it was hard to refuse. There weren't really any taboos; they just gave him a small fee for parking the car afterward.
The Xie family is new to Yong'an Village. They want to settle down here and get married, so they need to learn how to navigate social customs and interpersonal relationships.
So when people come to him with something like this, Jie Chen won't refuse. This morning, there was no other way; Jie Chen had indeed driven the car away, which is why Wang Meilan refused Xu Guangyi and Song Zhuzi.
When Wang Meilan refused, she said that Xie Chen wouldn't be back until the next afternoon. But now that Xie Chen has suddenly returned, it's easy for people to misunderstand.
Of course, helping is a favor, not helping is one's right. But these days, isn't the relationship between neighbors all about friendship?
"Mom, are they coming tomorrow?" Zhao Jun asked. Wang Meilan nodded and said, "Yes, both families said they won't have a banquet, they'll just invite the helpers to have a meal."
The two who died, Xu Changming and Song Laowai, lived in a makeshift shelter on the mountain year-round and had little social interaction with people down there. Xu Changming was merely Xu Guangyi's uncle, and although Song Laowai was Song Zhuzi's younger brother, accepting gifts for favors would easily raise eyebrows.
Both the Xu and Song families are respectable people, so they only invited those who came to help with the funeral to have a meal at their homes.
Hearing Wang Meilan say this, Zhao Jun then asked, "Mom, what do you think? Should I have Dad go and say something?"
Wang Meilan had previously refused the offers from the Xu and Song families because she didn't know Xie Chen was returning today. But now that Xie Chen is back, he's willing to help her.
However, no one is eager to help others, and Xie Chen couldn't go there himself; someone had to help him with this.
In the Zhao family today, Zhao Youcai is still the nominal head, so we can only let Zhao Youcai go.
“Okay, I’ll have your dad go,” Wang Meilan said, and walked into the inner room.
Soon, Zhao Youcai came out of the west hut while putting on his coat. Behind him were Xing San and Zhao Jinhui.
At this moment, Zhao Jun was talking to the old lady when he heard her say, "Song Laowai has made a lot of money over the years. He brings all that money back and puts it in his brother's hands. Xu Changming's side hasn't been able to find where he hid all that money, but you didn't send him 1,200 yuan."
We have to say, both Song Erzhu and Old Xu are quite kind and righteous. Even though there wasn't much else around, the mourning tent, wreaths, paper money, and paper horses were all arranged very well.
“Yes.” Zhao Jun said to the old lady while cracking sunflower seeds, “Before we came back, we heard someone blowing a trumpet or something on the east side. It was quite loud.”
Before the old lady could even speak after Zhao Jun finished speaking, Xing San interrupted, "Look at Xu Changming and Song Laowai, the coffins they prepare for themselves are all from prostitutes!"
"Baomazi" is actually lilac, which is the most durable wood and even better than pine for making coffins.
As the saying goes: In the south there is golden nanmu, and in the north there is wild horse.
Those who can use these two things to make a coffin are all top-notch people.
The value of the 'Baomazi' lies in the fact that this plant does not grow into a large specimen; the diameter at breast height of a 'Baomazi' plant is generally only about 30 to 40 centimeters.
The diameter at breast height (DBH) of a tree is the diameter of the trunk at a point 1.3 meters above the ground.
At this moment, Xing San mentioned that Xu and Song's coffins were made by Bao Ma Zi, and Zhao Jun suddenly remembered something.
In his previous life, Zhang Laifa married the daughter of a former warehouse keeper in the Fuqiang Production Team, who lived 130 miles away.
Warehouse keepers are people who never have to worry about food or drink even in famine years. Zhang Laifa's father-in-law's family had been warehouse keepers for twenty years, and they were very wealthy.
After getting married, Zhang Laifa wanted to take care of his father-in-law in his old age. And wouldn't you know it, this guy was something else; his father-in-law had two sons, and the old man actually came to Yong'an with Zhang Laifa.
Zhao Jun remembered that Zhang Laifa got married in 96, and the old man came in 97.
In those days, in rural and forested areas, if an old man had a son but relied on his daughter to support him in his old age, his two sons, daughters-in-law, grandsons, and granddaughters would never be able to hold their heads high in the village.
But the old man still came with Zhang Laifa, because Zhang Laifa had promised his father-in-law that he would use a brothel to make his father-in-law's coffin.
For this reason, the old man not only gave away his life savings, but also abandoned his children and grandchildren.
But in the year Zhao Youcai passed away, Zhao Jun returned to Yong'an for the funeral and only then heard that the old man had fallen seriously ill and had been sent back to his hometown by Zhang Lai.
Zhang Laifa is a ruthless fellow. Knowing that his brother-in-law and brother-in-law couldn't handle things, he secretly dragged the old man back to the brigade, dumped him in the village, and then ran away.
At this moment, Xing San gestured with his hands to show the outline of the coffin he had seen today, and said, "I saw it today, and the coffin they made was fucking good!"
Seeing Xing San's envious look, Zhao Jun laughed and said, "Uncle, when I have some free time in the next couple of days, I'll find the forest ranger captain and ask him to find me a few thick, straight pine trees. After that, we won't need the red pine in your warehouse."
"Really?" Upon hearing this, Xing San grabbed Zhao Jun's arms with both hands and asked anxiously, "Kid, are you really going to get me a girlfriend?"
"You old man!" Xing San had barely finished speaking when the old lady scolded him, "At your age, why do you still covet other people's nice things?"
As she spoke, the old lady waved her hand and said, "That big red pine tree of yours, your son spent over a hundred yuan to buy it for you. And that day, how many people did he get to bring it back for you? And now you don't want it anymore?"
Hearing the old lady say that, Xing San felt a little embarrassed. He was about to say something when he saw Zhao Jun say to the old lady, "Grandma Jiang, it's alright. We're from the forest farm, we get the raw timber at the price of raw logs, it won't cost much to buy a few trees."
After saying this, Zhao Jun gently put his hand on the old lady's shoulder and asked, "I see your coffin is in the downstairs room. How about we sell it? After that, I'll arrange a good-for-nothing for you."
As soon as Zhao Jun said this, the old lady jumped up from the stool, startling Zhao Jun.
The old lady turned around and said excitedly to Zhao Jun, "Young man, that's made of big red pine. I had Old Jiang the carpenter make it back then. It cost more than five hundred yuan, including labor and materials. Well, if anyone wants to buy it, you can sell it to them."
Xing San: "..."
"Okay, okay," Zhao Jun agreed, adding, "I'll find someone to find us some brothels in the next couple of days, and then we'll get Old Jiang the carpenter to make them!"
Upon hearing this, the old lady excitedly grabbed Zhao Jun's hand. Her cheeks and lips trembled, and she couldn't speak, only lowering her head to wipe away her tears.
As Zhao Jun hurriedly tried to comfort him in a low voice, Xing San patted Zhao Jun's shoulder heavily and said, "Kid, your grandpa won't say anything more."
Seeing the two elderly people's excited expressions, the people in the room couldn't help but laugh. Only Xie Sunshi looked at her grinning second son with a gloomy expression.
I missed writing the chapter yesterday because I was on leave, I'll make it up tomorrow afternoon.
(End of this chapter)