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墨書 Inktalez
After school in the afternoon, Hu Ruoyun went straight home with Mao Jie. Since it was Saturday, Mao Jie’s mother, Zhang Xiuzhen, and sister, Mao Na, were both at home. They greeted Hu Ruoyun warmly as he arrived and prepared for dinner.
Hu Ruoyun had something on his mind and absentmindedly ate a couple of steamed buns and drank a bowl of porridge before putting down his chopsticks. Earlier at lunch, Mao Jie had briefly mentioned him to his father, Mao Weiguo. Noticing that Hu Ruoyun had stopped eating, Mao Weiguo also put down his chopsticks and said to his wife and children, “You all eat; I need to discuss something with Xiao Hu.”
Seeing his serious demeanor, Mao Na refrained from gossiping about the two female classmates with Hu Ruoyun. The two of them sat down on the sofa, and Hu Ruoyun took out a stack of manuscript paper from his pocket. “Uncle Mao, please take a look at this…”
Mao Weiguo took it with both hands, found his glasses from the drawer, and began to read carefully.
The first page listed several outlines:
1. Go out: Collaborate with enterprises to help workers find jobs abroad and earn money.
2. Bring in: Align with local agricultural characteristics, actively connect with relevant enterprises, and introduce cooperative projects.
3. Adjust rural industrial structure: Guide related industries to develop and integrate into the larger industrial chain.
The details further explained that southern and coastal cities were developing rapidly and urgently needed a large number of production workers. Annan was relatively underdeveloped; thus, it was suggested that Gaoqiao Town create a plan to report to the County Committee, government, and relevant departments for targeted labor export.
It emphasized the development of deep processing enterprises for agricultural products and encouraged active connections with them. The "Four Complete Food Factory" in the Provincial Capital was about to be established and would require a large supply of conventional vegetables; it was recommended that Gaoqiao Town engage in negotiations to form a good long-term supply-demand relationship.
In Hohhot’s Hui District in Inner Mongolia, there was a cattle breeding cooperative that later became the Red Flag Cattle Farm, which would undergo restructuring next year… The autumn corn here could provide silage feed, and negotiations could be initiated to establish a breeding base in Gaoqiao Town…
With the adjustment of rural industrial structure, the breeding industry would experience explosive growth, and related feed and equipment would have promising market prospects. It was suggested to conduct market research in the Provincial Capital's livestock breeding market for targeted production…
While labor export could be understood, how could people trust these predictions?
Mao Weiguo looked at the stack of papers before him, feeling shocked but still raised his doubts.
Hu Ruoyun remained calm. “Uncle Mao, you can confirm the accuracy of this information through the county’s relevant departments tomorrow!”
After a moment of thought, Mao Weiguo said to Hu Ruoyun, “Let’s go discuss this in my office!”
He then turned to Mao Na and said, “You and your mother stay at home tonight; I’ll stay at the office. Let Xiao Hu stay in your dorm for one night; we might be talking late.”
Mao Na’s face turned red. “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 get over the school walls.”
Mao Jie chimed in, “Hu Ruoyun can squeeze in with me!”
At this moment, Mao Na also recovered from her embarrassment. “You guys go ahead to the office; I’ll tidy up my dorm after dinner and then bring the keys over to Xiao Hu.”
This statement holds true.
In the office of the Mayor's Office in 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 were engaged in an animated discussion over 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, their excitement grew, and they completely forgot about their identities and the passage of time.
Uncertain how many cups of tea they had consumed, Mao Na finally arrived. Mao Weiguo glanced at his watch; it was nearly midnight. Though they were still eager to continue, it was time to wrap up.
Mao Weiguo stretched widely and instructed his daughter, "I'll take Xiao Hu to your dormitory; you head home."
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. We'll come back and keep each other company."
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 handle eight people by himself?"
Having spent half the day in meetings and now talking late into the night, Mao Weiguo felt quite fatigued. He yawned deeply and said, "Alright then, let Xiao Hu make one more trip."
As Hu Ruoyun and Mao Na exited Mao Weiguo's office, they stepped out of the Town Government compound where there were no streetlights. Mao Na seemed a bit frightened and leaned closer to Hu Ruoyun, their shoulders occasionally bumping against each other.
Hu Ruoyun remarked, "It's really dark tonight."
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, the pitch-black surroundings and uneven ground made their walk take six or seven minutes before they finally spotted a dim yellow light at the entrance of the Post Office yard.
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 bitterly and replied, "Hehe... she said we come from different worlds."
Mao Na followed up with a question, "Is social status really that important?"
Hu Ruoyun did not respond as they reached the gate of the Post Office's backyard. Mao Na fumbled for her keys to open the iron gate when suddenly a shadow more than a foot long pounced at her from the darkness with a loud "meow."
In the dead of night, with silence all around, a shadow suddenly appeared with a shriek, startling Mao Na so much that she cried out 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 midair. At the same time, his right foot kicked out fiercely at the approaching shadow. The shadow let out a howl of pain as it flew three or four meters away and lay still on the ground.
Hu Ruoyun wanted to check on it, but Mao Na trembled and clung tightly to him, preventing him from moving forward.
Reluctantly, Hu Ruoyun complied and guided the nearly paralyzed Mao Na through the gate. With 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 neatly folded 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 of the bed 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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