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After school in the afternoon, Hu Ruoyun went straight home with Mao Jie. Since it was Saturday, Mao Jie's mom, Zhang Xiuzhen, and his sister, Mao Na, were both at home. When they saw Hu Ruoyun arrive, they greeted him warmly as they prepared for dinner.
Hu Ruoyun had something on his mind; he randomly ate a couple of steamed buns and drank a bowl of porridge before putting down his chopsticks. Earlier at noon, Mao Jie had briefly mentioned something to his dad. Seeing that Hu Ruoyun was no longer eating, Mao Weiguo also set down his chopsticks and said to his wife and children, "You all eat; I need to talk to Xiao Hu about something."
Noticing his serious demeanor, Mao Na refrained from gossiping with Hu Ruoyun about their two female classmates from before. The two of them sat down on the sofa, and Hu Ruoyun pulled out a stack of manuscript paper from his pocket. "Uncle Mao, please take a look at this..."
Mao Weiguo took it with both hands and found his glasses from the drawer to read it carefully. The first page listed several key points:
1. Go out: Collaborate with enterprises to help workers find jobs and earn money.
2. Bring in: Align with local agricultural characteristics and actively connect with relevant enterprises to introduce cooperative projects.
3. Adjust: Guide the development of related industries in line with rural industrial structure adjustments and integrate into the larger industrial chain.
The specifics elaborated further: Southern and coastal cities are developing rapidly and urgently need a large number of production workers. Annan is relatively underdeveloped; it is suggested that Gaoqiao Town create a proposal to report to the County Committee, government, and relevant departments for targeted labor transfer.
Attention should be paid to the development of deep processing enterprises for agricultural products and actively engage with them. The Four Complete Food Factory in the Provincial Capital is about to be established and will require a substantial supply of regular vegetables; it is recommended that Gaoqiao Town make contact to establish a good long-term supply relationship.
In Hohhot's Hui District in Inner Mongolia, there is a cattle farming cooperative group that has since been transformed into the Red Flag Cattle Farm, which will undergo restructuring next year... Our autumn corn can provide silage feed, and we can negotiate to set up a breeding base in Gaoqiao Town...
With the adjustment of rural industrial structures, the livestock industry is poised for explosive growth, and related feed and equipment will certainly have good market prospects; we can conduct targeted production investigations at the livestock market in the Provincial Capital...
While labor export might be understandable, how could anyone trust these predictions?
Mao Weiguo looked at the stack of papers before him, feeling shocked but still raised some questions.
Hu Ruoyun remained calm. "Uncle Mao, you can confirm the accuracy of this information through the relevant county departments tomorrow!"
After thinking for a moment, Mao Weiguo said to Hu Ruoyun, "Let's go talk in the office!" He then turned to Mao Na and added, "You and your mom stay home tonight; I’ll stay at the office. Let Xiao Hu stay in your dormitory for the night; we might be talking late."
Mao Na blushed slightly. "Dad..."
Mao Weiguo didn’t notice his daughter’s embarrassment. Hu Ruoyun quickly reassured her, "It's fine; I'm agile enough; I can easily climb over the school walls."
Mao Jie chimed in, "How about I squeeze in with Hu Ruoyun?"
At this moment, Mao Na also recovered from her awkwardness. "You guys go ahead to the office; after dinner, I'll tidy up my dorm room and then bring the keys over to Xiao Hu."
The statement holds true.
In the Mayor's Office of Gaoqiao Town, a kettle was boiling on the electric stove. Mao Weiguo sat behind his desk while Hu Ruoyun sat across from him. The two engaged in a lively discussion about a stack of papers, not writing or calculating anything on them.
Mayor Mao occasionally raised questions, but each time he found reassurance in Hu Ruoyun's logical reasoning and articulate speech. As their conversation deepened, they became increasingly animated, completely forgetting their identities and the passage of time.
They lost track of how many cups of tea they had consumed when Mao Na finally arrived. Mao Weiguo glanced at his watch; it was nearly midnight. Though they were reluctant to end their discussion, it was time to wrap things up.
Mao Weiguo stretched widely and said to his daughter, "I'll take Xiao Hu to your dormitory; you can head home now."
Mao Na asked, "In the dark, can you even remember which room I'm in?"
Mao Weiguo scratched his head and replied, "Well then, let's all go together. The two of us will keep each other company on the way back."
Mao Na stopped him, saying, "Forget it; you should rest. I'll accompany Xiao Hu to find his way back. It's not far anyway. Didn't Mao Jie say he could take on eight people by himself?"
After a long day of meetings and now chatting through the night, Mao Weiguo felt quite fatigued. He let out a long yawn and said, "Alright then, let Xiao Hu make another trip."
Hu Ruoyun and Mao Na left Mao Weiguo's office. Once outside the Town Government compound, they found there were no streetlights. Mao Na seemed a bit scared and leaned closer to Hu Ruoyun, their shoulders bumping against each other occasionally.
"It's really dark," Hu Ruoyun remarked.
The Town Government compound was over two hundred meters from the Post Office. If it weren't for the darkness, they would have reached it quickly. However, due to the pitch-black surroundings and uneven ground, it took them six or seven minutes before they finally spotted a dim yellow light at the entrance of the Post Office courtyard.
Mao Na seemed to relax at once and teased Hu Ruoyun, "I heard from Mao Jie that the girl you had dinner with last time was flirting with you?"
Hu Ruoyun chuckled self-deprecatingly and said, "Heh... she mentioned that we come from different backgrounds."
Mao Na responded, "Is background really that important?"
Hu Ruoyun didn't reply as they arrived at the back gate of the Post Office. Mao Na fumbled for her keys to open the iron gate when suddenly a shadow over a foot long pounced at her from the darkness with a loud "meow."
In the dead of night, surrounded by silence, the sudden appearance of a black shadow startled Mao Na so much that she screamed and leaped into Hu Ruoyun's arms.
Instinctively, Hu Ruoyun reached out with his right hand to wrap around Mao Na's waist and spun her around in mid-air. At the same time, his right foot kicked out forcefully at the approaching shadow. The creature let out a howl as it flew three or four meters away before collapsing to the ground without getting up again.
Hu Ruoyun wanted to check on it, but Mao Na trembled and clung tightly to him, preventing him from moving forward.
Reluctantly giving up on that idea, Hu Ruoyun opened the courtyard gate while supporting the nearly immobilized Mao Na. Following her directions, he opened one of the room doors.
The room was small—about seven or eight square meters—with a bunk bed against one wall. A suitcase rested on the upper bunk while the lower bunk was covered with pink sheets and stacked pink blankets. A small table at the head of the bed held a mirror, combs, face cream—everything a girl might need—while at the foot stood a wooden wardrobe with double doors. The room was clean and carried a faint fragrance.
At this moment, Mao Na finally came to her senses. "You scared me to death!" She handed a bag tightly clutched in her hand to Hu Ruoyun. "Here, you must be hungry. Have something to eat."
"What is this?" Hu Ruoyun asked.
"A chicken leg," Mao Na replied.
Hu Ruoyun reassured her, "Don't be afraid. That was definitely just a cat. It probably smelled the delicious chicken leg in your hand and wanted to snatch it from you."
Mao Na nodded, still shaken. "Yeah!"
After calming down a bit, she pointed out the items around them. "That Thermos has hot water, and that basin is for washing feet, and this one is for drying..."
Finally, she pulled out a flashlight from the drawer. "Let’s go; you still need to take me back."
As they stepped outside and closed the door, Mao Na bravely shone the flashlight toward the spot where the shadow had landed earlier. There lay a large black cat, blood oozing from its mouth and nose; it seemed unlikely to survive.
"Mao Jie said you could take on eight people by yourself. I didn't believe it at first, but now I'm starting to think there might be some truth to it," Mao Na teased Hu Ruoyun.
"I didn't fight eight people; there were seven or eight on their side, but only one came at me. After I knocked him down, the others didn't dare approach..." Hu Ruoyun chuckled. "You can't trust rumors from the martial world."
With the flashlight illuminating their path, they made their way back much faster. For some reason, though, Mao Na felt a twinge of regret about bringing the flashlight along…
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