Chapter 131 - 130: Balls Shattered
For last night’s dinner with the transportation team, Zhao Wendong had gone in walking upright and come out carried horizontally. He could hold his liquor, but he was no match for a whole crowd of people toasting him. In the end, he was spectacularly taken down. Luckily, he was a good drunk; when he’d had too much, he didn’t cry or cause a scene, he just passed out. By the time he groggily opened his eyes the next day, it was already bright outside.
"Holy shit!"
Zhao Wendong shot up and looked around. The room was a little familiar—it seemed to be the west room of Wang Defa’s house.
Just then, the door opened. Having heard the noise, Lin Zhiyin came in holding the tiger cub, Zhuangzhuang. Wang Defa’s two children trailed behind her, trying to pet the cub.
"You’re awake?"
"Yeah. How did I get back last night?"
"Brother Wang and the others carried you back..."
"Where’s Brother Wang?"
"He went to work!"
Zhao Wendong still felt weak all over. After pushing himself up, he just sat there in a daze.
Lin Zhiyin looked at his sorry state, somewhat amused.
"Want something to eat? I kept breakfast warm for you in the pot!"
"No, I can’t eat!"
Zhao Wendong waved his hand. Memories of last night started flooding back in disconnected fragments.
"Where’s Xiaojin?"
"I left him at the purchasing station, just like last time. I’ve already fed both him and the horse."
"Th—"
Zhao Wendong started to say "Thanks," but he caught himself and immediately stopped.
Lin Zhiyin gave him a look with her star-like eyes, as if to say, ’Good, you finally get it.’
"Let’s get going, then. We have to head back to the village today, and there’s still a lot of shopping to do. We should leave early to avoid traveling after dark."
Zhao Wendong put on his padded cotton jacket. After saying goodbye to Wang Defa’s wife, the two of them left. The children could only watch with teary, longing eyes as Zhuangzhuang was carried away.
When they arrived at the purchasing station, they saw Niu Yuesheng and Wang Defa huddled together.
"Hahaha, Wendong’s here!"
"Sobered up? Did you have a good time drinking yesterday?"
The two men greeted him enthusiastically, but Zhao Wendong could only manage a wry smile.
"I admit defeat this time. It wasn’t fair, you all ganged up on me. Just wait until you’re all in Dragon King Pond—I’ll show you the might of the Zhao Brothers!"
"Hahaha, sounds good!"
The two men accepted the challenge with a hearty laugh, not at all intimidated. In those days, a chance to eat meat, drink liquor, and smoke filtered cigarettes was an enviable good time that nobody would refuse.
"Brother Wang, did you manage to put aside those things I asked you about?"
"Yep, all set aside. Come on, I’ll take you!"
"Alright, let’s go. We need to get back to the village soon."
Hearing this, Niu Yuesheng, who was standing to the side, laughed.
"Wendong, I’ll drive you back later! No need to rush."
"Huh? Brother Niu, didn’t you drink a lot yesterday? Can you drive?"
"What? Why can’t I drive after drinking? You need a little booze in you to have the energy to drive."
Niu Yuesheng’s retort left Zhao Wendong speechless. ’I’d forgotten what era this is,’ he thought. ’The hangover has made me a bit slow. In these times, forget about driving after drinking; nobody would care if you drank while you were driving.’
"Alright, then thank you, Brother Niu!"
"Hey, we’re like family. I’ll get annoyed if you keep being so formal!"
The group chatted and laughed as they walked toward the supply and marketing cooperative. Along the way, Wang Defa spoke with some frustration.
"Wendong, for the things you wanted, I had the cooperative set aside everything they had in stock. For the items they didn’t have, I got their director to file a request. That’s all fine. The problem is the bricks you asked about. That’s a bit tricky."
"The leadership didn’t approve?"
"Not entirely. Secretary Weimin is very supportive of your idea and even brought it up for discussion at a meeting. But Vice Secretary Li is against it. He says it’s a step backward and that you absolutely cannot be permitted to privately own and use public materials."
After saying this, he glanced around. Seeing no one nearby, he lowered his voice.
"His son is Fatty Li from your Commune’s agricultural technology station. The last time, Fatty Li led a group to demand fish from Old Zheng and got injured when the crowd trampled him. And what a coincidence—someone stepped right on his balls. I heard they were completely crushed."
HISS~
Hearing this, Zhao Wendong sucked in a sharp breath, a phantom chill running down his spine. Niu Yuesheng, who was also listening, shuddered and instinctively clutched his own crotch.
"Secretary Li is demanding a full investigation every single day, but there were too many people there at the time. There’s not much he can do when the law doesn’t punish the masses. When he heard you wanted those bricks, he was dead set against it. He probably remembered you were the one who caught the fish, so now he’s holding a grudge against you by association. You need to be careful."
"I see."
Zhao Wendong nodded, dejected. He was fuming inside. ’This Secretary Li is so unreasonable. His son rushes to the front of the line to steal fish and gets his balls crushed for it. What the hell does that have to do with me, the guy who caught the fish? I’m just collateral damage here.’
’I haven’t even settled the score with Fatty Li for all the trouble he caused back then. Getting his nuts crushed is exactly what he deserved. Pure karma.’
"Don’t blame Secretary Weimin," Wang Defa continued. "The old county secretary is about to retire, and it could be either him or Vice Secretary Li who takes his place. This is a critical time. If Vice Secretary Li blows this issue out of proportion, it puts Secretary Weimin in a very tough spot."
Wang Defa was being more talkative than usual today, likely because he was close with Jiang Weimin. Thanks to the whole fish incident, Zhao Wendong was now unofficially considered to be on Jiang Weimin’s side. If that weren’t the case, Fatty Li’s father wouldn’t have gone out of his way to stop Zhao Wendong from acquiring those red and gray bricks in the collective’s name.
Niu Yuesheng listened silently from the sidelines. Men like him dealt with all sorts of people and situations every day; they knew exactly what to listen to and what to keep their mouths shut about.
The group arrived at the supply and marketing cooperative, and the director came out to personally receive them again. Zhao Wendong was, after all, a major customer. You couldn’t find many people in the county with more cash on hand than him, and the few who might have had more certainly didn’t dare spend it so openly.
"Here are the reading glasses and dentures you wanted. They’re all ready for you. As for the hearing aid you mentioned, they have them over in Beijing, but you have to file a special application, and it’s incredibly expensive!"
"How expensive?"
"300!"
"Uh... never mind. My grandpa’s ears can hold on a while longer!"
Upon hearing the price, Zhao Wendong immediately chose the path of filial piety that didn’t involve spending money. If he actually spent 300 yuan on a hearing aid, his grandpa would probably beat him deaf.
Zhao Wendong still had money to spend, and he couldn’t come all this way just to go home empty-handed—especially with Niu Yuesheng’s truck to haul his purchases. So, he went on a spree, prioritizing food items like vermicelli noodles. When those were sold out, he bought candied haws, pickled vegetables, and more. When he heard there were gill nets on the second floor, he excitedly followed the director to go see them.
Lin Zhiyin didn’t go upstairs, remaining on the first floor. She wanted to buy some gifts. Zhao Wendong had asked her to come home with him to meet his family, and she had agreed. He had offered to pay for the gifts, but she’d firmly refused. She was determined to use her own money; even if the gifts were small, they would be a token of her own sincerity.
Lin Zhiyin clutched her ninety cents, pacing back and forth in front of the counters on the first floor, searching for suitable gifts. She wasn’t like the free-spending Zhao Wendong, who had the huge sum of fifty yuan in his pocket to buy whatever he pleased. This was all the money she had, and with Zhao Wendong’s large family, she had to plan every purchase carefully.
A few of the young female shop clerks watched her with eyes full of envy and jealousy, muttering amongst themselves. Maybe they envied her looks, or maybe they were jealous that she was Zhao Wendong’s girlfriend. But Lin Zhiyin paid them no mind. In her childhood, she had ridden in luxury cars that these clerks would likely never see in their entire lives. Faced with their pointing and whispering, she possessed a serene detachment, like someone who reaches the river’s end and sits to watch the clouds rise.
Lin Zhiyin couldn’t afford any large or expensive gifts, so she focused on small trinkets. She eventually stopped at the counter selling hair ties and clips. ’Buying some new clips and ties for Zhao Wendong’s sister, sister-in-law, mother, and grandmother would be a good idea,’ she thought. As for the men, she couldn’t help it. Her budget was too tight. ’Maybe next time.’
There wasn’t much variety in style—only two colors were available. Lin Zhiyin recalled he also had a second sister-in-law. Including herself, that made six women. She picked out six hair clips—three red and three black—and ten hair ties. Just as she was about to ask for a ticket to pay, a strained, nasally voice spoke up.
"My, what a beautiful comrade. These hair clips are far too ugly and cheap—they don’t suit you at all!"
"I have a private collection of pearl hair clips at home that would be much more fitting. Comrade, why don’t you come with me and see for yourself?!"
Lin Zhiyin turned her head and saw a fat man standing beside her in an odd stance, a disgusting gleam in his eyes.