The Great Dream

  As they were chatting and laughing, Zhao Guozhu saw Han Dong and Fangzi Quan, Wang Fei walking over with the young man who had just turned pale.

  "Zhao Ge, you probably don't recognize me anymore? I'm one grade lower than you."

  He was wearing a very trendy T-shirt, and it seemed that Gu Zhi, the deputy factory director in charge of logistics and infrastructure, was indeed a fat job. He wore 3A leather shoes on his feet, and there was a sunflower logo on the chest of the T-shirt, which looked like the French brand Montagut. The only thing was that it was a bit thin, like a bamboo pole with a piece of clothing hanging from it.

  "Is that Gu Xiao Feng? I vaguely remember him, it's been a long time since he came back to the factory and many people don't recognize him anymore." If it weren't for Wang Fei's introduction earlier, Zhao Guotang would definitely not have remembered this person, but now his old man is the deputy director of the factory, so Zhao Guotang thinks it's not necessary to offend him.

  That young man was obviously delighted that Zhao Guozhuang could remember him, and he hastily poured a packet of Longteng Red Tower cigarettes into his hand. "Brother Zhao still remembers me? Just now it was all thanks to Brother Zhao."

  "What's going on here? We're all from the factory, how can we let outsiders run wild in our place?" Zhao Guocong waved his hand to indicate that he didn't smoke, but suddenly heard a commotion at the entrance of the dance hall, and several tall figures rushed in.

  Several people's hearts were tight, and upon closer inspection, they saw that the leader was Zhao De-shan, holding a large steel pipe in his hand, running up with a fierce momentum. "Brother, it seems that someone from Jiang Miao Street has come to find you and cause trouble?"

  Zhao Guotong's face suddenly sank, "Get out! With me here, do you think you can take my place? What are you trying to do with this attitude? Are you trying to cause trouble for me?"

  Zhao De Shan only then remembered his own brother's identity, a detective from the criminal police team, who dares to be presumptuous? He himself was holding a club and bat, wasn't it to make things difficult for his brother?

  Zhao Deshan was about to leave with his companions, but Gu Xiaofeng had already come forward, and the Red Tower Mountain scattered like raindrops. "Brother Zhao, Brother Er is also here to help you."

  Ma Zhengkui also walked over, "Guo Song, De Shan is also kind."

  Zhao Guotong's face looked slightly better, "Help? He doesn't need to help me, as long as he doesn't get in the way. This is a world of ***, wielding knives and rods is what one wants to do to drill into the classroom."

  Lit a cigarette, took a sip, the taste of Hongtashan was indeed not comparable to that of Jiuxi Huangguoshu. Zhao Deshan knew it was time for him to leave and quickly bid farewell to the others before slipping out.

  "Guo Dong, your family's De Shan can only be controlled by you now. Even your dad can't control him sometimes." Ma Zhengkui saw Zhao De Shan behaving like a tame cat in front of Zhao Guo Dong, not even daring to say an extra word, and couldn't help but sigh: "You must keep a tighter rein on your family's De Shan. This year, he has nothing better to do than take the factory's younger generation on wild goose chases, socializing with those people from Jiang Miao Street."

  Zhao Guotong nodded, "Thanks, Brother Ma. Now that I'm back, I have time to deal with him. With me around, he dares not!"

  "Alas, the factory isn't hiring either. If De Shan could get into the factory and have a shift, it might be settled." Ma Zhengkui shook his head, "Guo Tong, why don't you arrange for him to join your local defense corps instead?"

  "He hasn't even been a soldier, I'm afraid it won't work." The factory only has a few military recruitment quotas every year, and people fight for them with all their might. Without some solid connections, it's impossible to get in, after all, coming back to the factory means having a stable job.

  The originally harmonious atmosphere was ruined by Zhao De Shan and his gang. When Kong Yue and Han Dong said goodbye to Zhao Guo Tong, he was a bit reluctant to part with them. But thanks to Fang Zi's cleverness, he invited Kong Yue and Han Dong on behalf of Zhao Guo Tong to come and play with him again. Kong Yue and Han Dong both readily agreed.

  After saying goodbye to a group of classmates, Zhao Guotang also returned home. Back at home, Zhao Guotang was somewhat excited and lay in bed for a while unable to fall asleep. The factory allocated only three rooms to his family, one for his parents, one for his older sister Zhao Lingshan who although had her own single dormitory rarely stayed there, so she also occupied one room, leaving the remaining large room as the bedroom for the four brothers.

  Luckily Zhao Guozhu was always studying abroad, and after graduating and working, he spent more time living in his unit, while the fourth brother Zhao Changchuan and the fifth brother Zhao Yunhai were both boarding, so they just got by like this.

  This weekend, Zhao Changchuan and Zhao Yunhai both came back. The four beds are still high and low as before. Zhao Guotang and Zhao Changchuan share one bed, while Zhao Deshan and Zhao Yunhai share another. However, the lower bunk of the bed next door is still empty, and it's unknown when Zhao Deshan will return.

  Zhao Guoding didn't know when he fell asleep, he only felt that this sleep was especially sweet and long, so long it seemed like dozens of years. Countless dreams appeared in his mind that night, flashing by like a fleeting glimpse.

  In a daze, Zhao Guodong heard someone talking, "Isn't Guodong up yet?"

  "Let him sleep a bit more, anyway it's Sunday, he probably didn't get much sleep at the criminal police unit."

  "It's almost lunchtime, why don't we let him eat and then continue his nap?"

  "Wait a little longer."

  After a burst of footsteps, the room fell silent.

  Zhao Guodong suddenly sat up, his underwear was wet and uncomfortable. Who were those women in his memory? Besides Tang Jian, there seemed to be many other women. It had been a long time since he had this physiological phenomenon. Zhao Guodong shook his head, what's going on?

  The room was dark because the curtains were not open, and Zhao Guo sat on the bed in a daze. Was it just a dream or what? He carefully examined his body, strong and full of energy, and his underwear was still the old-fashioned white briefs he remembered. Oh no, am I dreaming now?

  In a daze, fragmented memories seemed to slowly link up, and everything in last night's dream was like a long and delicate scene that gradually emerged in his mind. Zhao Guodong was somewhat surprised to find that this dream was so realistic and profound, as if every event had happened to him personally.

  Zhao Guotang tried hard to make his memories clearer, but the dreamlike reality seemed to have only left a thread that linked up memories, with fragmented memories hanging on the thread, and more things were like appearing and disappearing in the mist.

  He took a deep breath and tried his best to calm himself down so that he could recall everything in the dream, but it seemed not that easy.

  Zhao Guotang looked at the colorful painting with a calendar on the wall, and then looked at his watch. It was a Japanese Double Lion automatic watch with a calendar function, which cost him two months' salary. Nothing had changed, had I really just dreamed it all?

  Zhao Guoding patted his heart and asked himself, he didn't know if everything in the dream was true, but like a memory carved in stone, this was something that had never happened before when he dreamed. What's going on? Was it just a legendary South Ko dream?