Siheyuan: Sizhu starts blindly and takes a new path

Chapter 269 Return to Origin

Xu Damao walked out of the steel mill gate in a daze, with rain running down his cheeks, and he couldn't tell whether it was rain or tears. He clutched the suspension notice, and his knuckles turned white.

"Li Huaide... Shazhu..." He muttered the two names with gritted teeth, and suddenly punched a tree on the roadside, "I, Xu Damao, will never let you go!"

But the most important thing right now is to find someone to smooth things over. Xu Damao wiped his face and suddenly remembered Director Wang who brought him back to Beijing. Yes! Director Wang is now working in the Municipal Party Committee, he will definitely be able to help!

Xu Damao waited in the reception room for two hours before he was allowed in. He carefully knocked on the door of Director Wang's office with a flattering smile on his face: "Director Wang, I..."

"Xu Damao!" Director Wang slammed the table and stood up, shaking the teacups on the table. "How dare you come to me?!"

Xu Damao was frightened by the roar and almost fell to his knees: "Director Wang, I was wronged! Those are all old accounts..."

"Shut up!" Director Wang was so angry that his face turned blue. "How much effort did I put in to transfer you back from Yi County? Is this how you repay me?" He grabbed a document on the table and threw it in Xu Damao's face. "Look! This is the information transferred by the Discipline Inspection Commission! They remember everything you did in Yi County!"

Xu Damao picked up the documents with trembling hands, and the more he read them, the colder his heart became. These were clearly evidence of him reselling materials through the relationship between Director Zhang of the Machinery Bureau when he was in Yi County.

"This... This is impossible..." Xu Damao slumped on the ground, "Director Zhang promised to help me suppress it..."

"Director Zhang?" Director Wang sneered, "He was placed under double supervision last week! Who dares to protect you now?"

This sentence was like a bolt from the blue, and Xu Damao was completely stunned. He realized that he had long been abandoned.

Director Wang gave him a disgusted look and said, "The organization has decided to remove you from your position as deputy director of the Revolutionary Committee and demote you to an ordinary clerk. Report to the Logistics Department tomorrow!"

"Clerk?!" Xu Damao was struck by lightning, "Director Wang, please give me another chance..."

"Get out!" Director Wang rang the bell on the table. "Guards! Take this man out!"

Two guards rushed in immediately, picked up the limp Xu Damao and dragged him out. In the corridor, many cadres looked out and pointed at Xu Damao.

The next morning, Xu Damao reported for work, looking dusty and dirty. What made him even more embarrassed was that his new workstation was right across from Li Huaide!

"Hey, Clerk Xu is here?" Li Huaide said without raising his head, slowly sorting out the documents. "Your office supplies are all ready for you. They are in that corner."

Xu Damao clenched his fists tightly, his nails digging into his flesh. The so-called "workstation" was clearly just a temporary, broken table without even a drawer.

At this time, the office door was pushed open, and Deputy Director Ma walked in with a lunch box: "Lao Li, I brought you some braised beef..." He saw Xu Damao at a glance and pretended to be surprised, "Hey, isn't this Deputy Director Xu? Why are you sitting here?"

A burst of snickers suddenly broke out in the office. Xu Damao's face turned from red to white, and then from white to blue. Finally, he stood up and rushed out, but ended up bumping his head against the door frame, causing everyone to laugh.

Xu Damao squatted beside the waste pile, smoking fiercely. What he regretted most now was why he had to return to the capital. When he was in Yi County, although the place was remote, he had Director Zhang's protection, and he had a good life.

"It's all that Secretary Wang's fault!" He crushed the cigarette butt fiercely, "If he hadn't come to me to investigate Li Huaide..." Thinking of this, Xu Damao was suddenly stunned. A terrible thought came to his mind: Could it be that all this was a trap from the beginning?

The cold wind blew up sporadic snowflakes. Every household in the courtyard had red couplets posted and lanterns hung, but Qin Huairu's home seemed particularly deserted.

Banggen was wrapped in a half-worn cotton jacket, huddled on the kang, holding a handful of peanuts in his hand, throwing them into his mouth one by one. His face was still pale, and he coughed from time to time, and his stomach always felt a dull pain. The knife attack two years ago almost took his life. Although he survived, his body was broken.

Qin Huairu came in with a bowl of hot dumplings, with a smile on her face: "Banggeng, eat them while they're hot. Mom made them with meat filling especially for you."

Bang Geng took a quick look but didn't move his chopsticks. He just asked sullenly, "Mom, Liu Chong and the others...didn't come this year?"

Qin Huairu's smile froze, and she immediately consoled him, "They must be busy. It's Chinese New Year, who doesn't have something to do?"

Banggeng sneered and scattered peanuts on the table: "Busy? Ha, they weren't so busy before."

He knew that since he was injured, Liu Chong, Liu Baoshan and his friends had gradually distanced themselves from him. They had formed the Red Team together and made great progress in the revolution, but now that he was a sickly person, they naturally did not want to be a burden.

Qin Huairu sighed, sat on the edge of the kang, and gently patted her son's shoulder: "Banggeng, don't think too much, it's important to take good care of yourself. Mom's salary has increased a little this year, and our family will live a better life."

Banggeng didn't say anything, just stared out the window in a daze. The children in the yard were happily setting off firecrackers, chasing and playing with each other, but he could only stay on the kang, like a useless person.

Banggeng wrapped himself tightly in his cotton-padded jacket and walked slowly toward the entrance of the alley. Banggeng stood in the shadows at the entrance of the alley, watching Liuyi, his younger brother Qiyi, and Xu Damao's child Shouye setting off firecrackers at the gate of the courtyard. The three children's faces were red from the cold, but they were smiling very happily. Liuyi taught Qiyi how to light the firecracker, and Shouye imitated him clumsily. When the firecrackers "popped", the three children laughed and shouted.

The corner of Banggeng's mouth twitched, and a hint of viciousness flashed in his eyes. He wrapped his cotton jacket tightly and pretended to walk over nonchalantly.

"Hey, are you setting off firecrackers?" Bang Geng deliberately said in a casual tone, "It's boring to set off firecrackers like this."

Liuyi looked up and saw that it was Banggeng. He cautiously pulled his brother behind him and said, "Brother Banggeng, why did you come out?"

"It's New Year's Day, come out and get some fresh air." Banggeng squatted down and took out a handful of firecrackers from his pocket, "Look, I'll teach you an exciting way to play."

Shouye's eyes lit up: "What's the game?"

Banggeng smiled mysteriously, picked up a firecracker, lit it with incense, and held it in his hand, and threw it out when the fuse was almost burned out. The firecracker exploded in the air, making a crisp sound.

"Wow!" Shouye clapped his hands excitedly, "Brother Banggeng is so awesome!"

Liuyi frowned: "This is too dangerous..."

"What are you afraid of?" Banggeng sneered and distributed the firecrackers to them. "You are a real man, but you don't even dare to set off a firecracker?"

Shouye couldn't wait to take the firecracker and light it like Banggeng did. Banggeng took advantage of the children's inattention and cut off a large part of the firecracker fuse that Shouye had placed on the ground.

"Throw it! Throw it quickly!" Bang Geng pretended to urge anxiously.