Chapter 4: Visiting the Azure Dragon at Night

  Qinglong County is a revolutionary old district. Although it also belongs to Wushan, compared with other counties in Wushan, it is simply another world. It was transferred from Wujiang District when Wushan City was established, with more mountains and less water, and hills stretching across the county. Like many other revolutionary old districts, it is closed, backward, and extremely poor.

  The Qinglong area has always been known for its rough and tumble folk customs. Last year, two villages even broke out into armed fighting over water rights, giving the local government a big headache.

  Huang Lao paid special attention to Qinglong, because he had fought guerrilla warfare here in the past and was once wounded and hidden in a fellow villager's home for a winter. He should have very deep feelings for this revolutionary old district.

  After bumping for nearly three hours, they finally arrived at Qinglong County Town. Lu Zhong's "little potato" was bumped as if it had fallen apart, and the sound of stepping on the accelerator was not right either.

  Although Guangning's economy has just started to develop, compared to the dusty Qinglong County, it is like heaven and earth. Let alone, having just come from the bustling metropolis of Wushan, the Qinglong in front of us gives people a feeling of being in a poor and remote place.

  "Xiao Lu, are you worried about the car?" asked Huang Lao, who was sitting in the passenger seat with a smile.

  Lu Zhong smiled and said: "No, safety first." He got out of the car, opened the hood, fiddled with it for a while, and found that there was no big problem.

  The car allocation quota of the Municipal Commission for Reserving was repeatedly suppressed by these old comrades. The General Office of the Commission had even borrowed a Toyota Crown from a hotel for foreign guests, but after being severely criticized by Old Huang, they had to return it.

  This time in Qinglong, seeing that Lu Zhong had a private car, Huang Lao said straightforwardly, "No need to bother with Gu De's car, let's just take this one."

  Lu Zhong had no choice but to "use his private car for public purposes".

  Sitting in the back seat of the car was a man in his 40s, An Yiming, chairman of the Wushan City Catering Industry United Service Association and also the owner of the first privately operated five-star hotel in Wushan, the Wuzhou Hotel.

  In Lu Zhong's view, the Wushan Catering Industry United Service Association is actually equivalent to the prototype of an industry chamber of commerce, just with a different name.

  An Yiming's father was an overseas Chinese in Japan, and the Wuzhou Hotel is a Sino-Japanese joint venture, but An Yiming himself is a native of Wushan, born and raised locally. He went to Japan after the Cultural Revolution and returned home last year to help his father run this newly invested hotel.

  "Everything okay, Mr. Lu?" An Yiming asked with a smile as he saw Lu Zhen get on the car. He was a shrewd businessman who knew how to read people's expressions and had already inquired about Lu Zhen's basic situation before departure - a 23-year-old deputy department-level cadre, so he wanted to be extra polite.

  Lu Zhong said: "Nothing." Started the car.

  Arriving in Qinglong County, Lu Zhongyuan is not as calm as he appears. Ma Weiguo, the second-in-command of Qinglong County, and Liu Hanshan are still suffering in the Qinglong Detention Center. Qinglong is one of the sources of the Guangning Land Movement's behind-the-scenes black hand. This time, coming to Qinglong, how could Lu Zhongyuan be as nonchalant as he appears?

  Arrived at the county committee guest house, encountered trouble, the small service staff with nose up in the air insisted that Lu Zheng show his unit introduction letter, only ID card is not useful, even Lu Zheng took out his work permit, but the service staff who looked quite pretty still had a face of impatience, and threw it back to Lu Zheng: "Consultant Committee? Deputy Researcher? You go consult with the doorkeeper outside." Obviously, he didn't know what the Consultant Committee is, thought it was some miscellaneous civilian organization.

  Lu Zhong is so helpless, in Guangning, there are Hou Jianjun and Du Xiaohu and other powerful people to help him, but now he can't even get a small service staff.

  "You call your elder brother." Lu Zhong helplessly negotiated with the little girl.

  Huang Lao walked over and patted Lu Zhong's shoulder from behind, saying: "Let's go, we'll head straight to the countryside."

  Lu Zhong nodded, and could only do so.

  This time Huang Lao came to inspect and donate scholarship funds to several primary schools under Qinglong, and it goes without saying that An Yi Ming was the host who paid out of his own pocket.

  Huang Lao is now most enthusiastic about participating in the education industry, and nearly half of his string of titles are related to education, such as "Honorary President of Wushan Normal College", "Director of Provincial Old Cadres Caring for the Next Generation Association", "Honorary Chairman of Provincial Social Science Community Federation" and so on.

  At the same time, Huang Lao also supported the emergence of private economy. For example, the Wushan Catering Industry United Service Association was able to successfully register, and it is said that Huang Lao had made a call, and Huang Lao personally accepted the invitation to serve as the "Honorary Chairman of the Wushan Catering Industry United Service Association".

  When Lü Zhēng arrived at Majiaying by car, it was already dark.

  Huang Lao seemed to be familiar with the roads here, directing Lu Zhong to turn left and right, finally stopping in front of a house at the end of the village. Huang Lao got out of the car and shouted across the fence: "Old Wang, are you home?"

  He shouted a couple of times, and an old man with white hair walked out of the house, came up to Huang Lao and punched him in the face, laughing: "Old fellow, you're back again?"

  Lu Zhong looked at the scene in confusion, and An Yi Ming laughed and explained beside him: "I was also frightened when I came last time. Later, I learned that before liberation, Huang Lao and the guerrilla fighters were active in areas such as Ma Jia Ying, Qing Wa Zi, and Yang Chuan for many years, and they had a deep affection for the people of this land. Look, this old man Wang is an old revolutionary who saved Huang Lao's life back then, and later joined the army and went to Korea."

  Lu Zhong nodded silently.

  "Come on, come in, come in!" Old Man Wang smiled and invited Lu Zhong and An Yi Ming.

  It's unclear who informed them, but soon after Lu Zhong and the others sat down, the room was filled with villagers, all chatting warmly with Old Huang.

  Just as they were chatting, a middle-aged cadre in a green military uniform squeezed out of the crowd, smiling: "Old Huang, you've arrived! You didn't even call ahead of time..." As he spoke, he turned to the villagers who had gathered to watch and said: "All of you disperse, disperse!"

  Huang Lao smiled and didn't say a word, the villagers dispersed one after another. Before long, police officers arrived to maintain order, presumably from the local police station.

  "Huang Lao, Secretary Liu of the county committee is on his way here. Secretary Zhang from our commune just got back home and someone has gone to fetch him. What do you think? Shall we go to our commune to wait for a while?" asked the cadre in the green military uniform with some embarrassment.

  "Alright, alright, Little Zhao, you all go and attend to the proper business. Ah, General An, they've met you before, he's a god of wealth, take General An on a tour around the school, see what needs to be taken care of here. This is serious business, don't bother with this old man, I'll just catch up with my old friend and chat for a bit, that's all!" He then waved his hand at Lu Zhong and said: "Little Lu, you go too, give some ideas, people from the grassroots have more clever ideas."

  Everyone knows that Old Huang says what he means, and there's no room for argument. The green-uniformed cadre had no choice but to smile and nod, leading An Yiming and Lu Zheng out of the house. Only then did he smile at An Yiming and say, "Director An, thank you so much." He also said to Lu Zheng, "Secretary Lu, thanks for your hard work." It's clear that Old Huang had just casually called him "Little Lu", but he remembered it in his heart. As an official, he was indeed cunning and flawless.

  An Yiming laughed and said: "Lu Chu, you don't know him, this is Zhao Secretary of the Party Committee of Majiaying Commune."

  Lu Zhong smiled and shook hands with the green military uniformed cadre, who said: "It's Vice Secretary Zhao Pingfan, hello Lu Chu." When An Yi Ming called Lu Zhong "Lu Chu", he also changed his address, of course, just thinking it was a respectful title for outsiders to call an official, never expecting that Lu Zhong was indeed the real Deputy Director.

  Zhao Pingfan glanced at his watch, "Then, let's make the most of our time and go take a look at the school? It's almost dark now."

  "Is the school far away? I'll drive you there?" Lu Zhong chimed in.

  "Not far, let's go to the village over there." Zhao Pingfan pointed west.

  Looking at the potholed asphalt road, Lu Zhēn nodded, indeed it's better to walk.

  Qinglong is the only county in Wushan City that has not yet undergone commune reform and township, and even in Hebei Province, it is rare.

  The central primary school of Mahetang Commune is located at the west end of the village, claiming to be a central primary school. In fact, there are no walls around the courtyard, just three rows of bungalows in front and back. The playground is just a flat ground, and the basketball hoop has rotted away, leaving only an iron frame.

  "Director An, Director Lu, the situation is like this. Our Mahetang Commune is relatively small. After the commune and township merger, it's possible that we'll merge with Qingtun Commune. But I think this primary school can't be abolished. Children from all over the surrounding villages are relying on it to go to school and change their fate! If the school location is too far away, I'm worried that many children will drop out."

  The sky gradually darkened, and a room in the third row of small school buildings lit up. Zhao Pingfan said, "There is a teacher on duty, let's go take a look."

  Zhao Pingfan walked in front, Lu Zhong and An Yiming followed behind, walking with a deep and shallow pace.

  Just as I walked to the door, someone inside asked, "Who's there?" A crisp girl's voice with a hint of vigilance, apparently having heard the footsteps.

  The door was pulled open from inside, and a warm yellow light spilled out. A slender figure stood in the doorway, looking particularly attractive in the lamplight.

  "Ah, Secretary Zhao, how did you come?" The girl's voice sounded very surprised.

  Zhao Pingfan smiled and made a joke: "Can't you just take a look? Little Mei, are you becoming more and more overbearing? No wonder your students all call you 'Mei Chao Feng'!" With the popularity of the 83 edition of "The Legend of the Condor Hero" on the mainland last year, the martial arts craze brought about by "Shaolin Temple" has blown in once again, even to a remote mountain village like Qinglong. The children are also familiar with characters like "Jing Gege" and "Rong Er".

  Lu Zhong also smiled, looks like he's a pretty scary teacher.

  After entering the house, he could see "Little Mei" clearly without backlight. She was a pretty and lovely girl with long braids, wearing a simple yet slender flower-patterned blouse and shoes, exuding a pure and rustic aura. Lu Zhong couldn't help but think that she looked exactly like their neighbor's daughter, Little Fang.

  "Secretary Zhao, you're also teasing me!" Little Mei stomped her foot.

  Zhao Pingfan smiled and said, "Alright, let me introduce you. Little Mei, this is Director An and Lu Chu from the city, who came down with Old Huang." He then turned to An Yiming and Lu Zhong and said, "Our commune elementary school teacher, Mei Xiaofang."

  Lu Zhong almost suffocated and started coughing repeatedly.

  Mei Xiaofang looked at Lu Zhong in surprise, raised an eyebrow, and obviously had a bad impression of this city person.