Chapter Twenty-Five: Spring Chill

  People on the street gradually took off their thick winter clothes, beautiful girls and young women have worn pretty skirts, the change of clothing colors is like the change of seasons, from heavy monochrome to a hundred flowers blooming, with purple and red.

  Tang Yi was counting down the days, with only two or three months left until the Soviet Union's 819 coup. He had also begun to make preparations in earnest, but hadn't expected an unexpected turn of events to befall him. Just as he had finished work that day, Chen Ke received a phone call and came to find Tang Yi with a pale face. Tang Yi asked repeatedly before finally understanding: his father, Chen Fangyuan, was in trouble. He had been caught gambling with others in another town, and the county bureau's joint defense team had taken action. As for Chen Fangyuan, he wasn't a big problem, just that he liked to drink and gamble. However, most rural people didn't have much to do during their free time, so they would often drink a little wine or gamble on cards - this couldn't be blamed on Chen Fangyuan.

  Tang Yi immediately hung up the phone with Chen Dahe, and Chen Dahe began to agree to release him immediately. However, after a while, he called again, hesitantly saying that this matter was personally handled by Director Ma, and he would think of another way.

  Tang Yi knew immediately that Ma Penghua was behind this, and Chen Daxin had no choice but to assume that the crackdown on gambling was all orchestrated by Ma Penghua. Why? Of course, it's not about the wine, but about the fact that the canning factory has become a rare bird in the Yanshan enterprise, with economic benefits almost as good as those of the county fertilizer plant. Tang Yi also rose to prominence through this, and at the organizational meetings held by the county committee in several towns, he gave reports one after another, making a big splash. Moreover, just recently, Chen Fangyuan was reported to the county as a new Long March assault hand, but now Chen Fangyuan has been caught gambling, what does that mean? That's a slap in Tang Yi's face.

  Seeing Chen Ke's disheartened appearance, Tang Yi smiled and said: "It's okay, the bet wasn't big, at most it'll just be a fine! I'll go to the county now to bring him back!"

  "Really nothing?" Chen Ke looked at Tang Yi with small eyes, Tang Yi smiled and patted her on the head: "Where did your usual cleverness go? Which law stipulates that small bets are punishable by imprisonment? You still want to study law." Speaking of which, Tang Yi didn't know why Chen Ke wanted to major in law, she was supposed to like literature, had he changed her professional orientation himself?

  When going to the county town, Tang Yi didn't bring Chen Ke with him. Sitting in the Jeep of the town government, Tang Yi's face turned stern. It had been a few months since he and Ma Penghua had fallen out. He thought that Ma wouldn't want to get entangled with him again, but who knew that he was actually a dormant poisonous snake, waiting for the right moment to strike at him.

  Tang Yi slowly closed his eyes and thought for a moment about how to get Chen Fangyuan off the hook in the county.

  ……

  Contrary to Tang Yi's expectations, Ma Penghua reported the matter to the county government and made a report to County Mayor Cheng Jianjun. In the mayor's office, Cheng Jianjun criticized Tang Yi, "Little Tang, you tell me yourself, the New Long March Vanguard is the model for party members. Can this be given to someone who loves to gamble? He can make all the money he wants, but it's still a smear on the party!"

  Tang Yi sat on the sofa, silent and speechless, there was nothing good to say, now responding with a single sentence was just an excuse.

  Behind the large office desk, Cheng Jianjun slowly sat back in his chair, picked up his teacup and took a sip of water, saying slowly: "Of course, young people want to make a career, it's okay to be a bit impatient, but you also need to pay attention to the impact! Some things you handled are not quite proper, encountering tricky things without timely reporting to the organization will lead to losses."

  Tang Yixin said when did I encounter problems and didn't report to the organization? Handling problems is not quite proper? And now, you've only made this one mistake.

  Ideas flashed through his mind like lightning, thinking about what would trigger Cheng Jianjun's dissatisfaction. Tang Yi suddenly remembered the case of Ma Penghua's nephew, which he had directly reported to Xiao Rihui without informing Cheng Jianjun. It seemed that Cheng Jianjun felt that he was leaning towards Xiao Ri and was sounding an alarm for himself. From this, it can be seen that the contradictions within the county leadership team are quite severe and have intensified to the point of "taking sides".

  Tang Yi couldn't help but smile wryly in his heart, was he really going to stand in line again?

  Jingjun Cheng was silent for half a moment, seemingly waiting for Tang Yi's response.

  Tang Yi thought for a moment and said, "County Magistrate Cheng, I understand what you mean. Sometimes I act without thinking things through. In the future, when I encounter something, I will definitely communicate more with the organization and exchange ideas."

  Jingjun Cheng looked into Yitang's eyes, seemingly wanting to see through what was on his mind. After a while, he chuckled softly and nodded: "Little Tang, I've made arrangements with the county bureau. Whatever fine is due will be paid, but you must be released today. If there's nothing else, you can go back now. The issue of Xin Changzheng's assault team still needs to be discussed further at the county level."

  Tang Yi stood up and bid farewell, walking out of Cheng Jianjun's office and closing the door behind him. At the end of work hours, the corridor was eerily quiet, with not a single person in sight. Tang Yi let out a long sigh, slightly alleviating his pent-up emotions.

  Going to the county bureau to pick up Chen Fangyuan didn't cause much trouble, but Ma Penghua specially went to the detention room to see Tang Yi. Ma Penghua was over 50 years old, with some baldness and wearing glasses, looking like a meticulous person. After shaking hands and exchanging pleasantries with Tang Yi for a while, he smiled and said: "Secretary Tang, although the public security team must uphold justice, if I had known earlier that it was Secretary Tang's acquaintance, I could have made a call to let them out early! Can't Secretary Tang just waive the fine of several thousand yuan?"

  Tang Yi smiled and said thank you, without intentionally emphasizing his tone or making any clenched-fist gestures, nor did he say anything that implied a hidden revenge. He bid farewell to Ma Penghua in a warm and friendly manner, as if nothing was wrong. As he watched the Jeep drive away from the county bureau, Ma Penghua's face gradually darkened. Tang Yi's reaction didn't seem like that of a young official who had just achieved success, but rather like an old veteran who had been through many battles. Even thinking back to when his nephew was arrested, hadn't he himself sent some harsh words to Tang Yi? But how could this Tang Yi endure it so quietly? As the northern proverb goes, "A dog that bites doesn't bark, and a barking dog doesn't bite." He even had an idea - for the sake of a relative, was it worth going against this rising new noble to the end?

  Tang Yi returned to the town, Chen Ke and his father were overjoyed. Tang Yi didn't mention the New Long March Raid to Chen Ke and her father, so as not to worry them. He went back to his dormitory alone, nobody knew what he was thinking.

  ……

  The bedroom was filled with the warmth of spring, with creamy yellow tiles and delicate pendant lamps casting a soft red glow. On the spacious and comfortable double bed, Tang Yi and Qi Jie were snuggled up under the covers, laughing and playing, their bodies entwined. Tang Yi's hands began to wander again, and Qi Jie pinched his hand with her long fingernails, scolding him: "Little pervert, can't you ever be satisfied?" Before long, she had gone limp in Tang Yi's arms, her small feet curled up on his thighs under the covers.

  "Hey, what about that thing I was telling you?" Qijie asked Tang Yi breathlessly. Tang Yi, while enjoying the fullness of the jade-like woman in his arms, casually replied: "What thing?"

  "Go! I don't take what you say to heart at all!" Qijie suddenly struck Tang Yi's hand with great force, her pretty face stern, her almond eyes wide open, as if she was really somewhat angry.

  Tang Yi's mind slightly cleared as he held her tightly again, but this time without any flirtation. He said seriously: "Tell me, what's going on? You're the one who doesn't even dare to whisper secrets in my ear, so why are you suddenly talking about it now?" As he spoke, he couldn't help but burst out laughing. Qi Jie's face turned red with embarrassment, and she bit down hard on Tang Yi's chest with her silver teeth.

  After a long while, Qijie lay happily in Tang Yi's arms, closed her eyes and enjoyed the comfort of his embrace, saying: "It was Xiaohong who said she wanted to invest 50,000 yuan, right? She wants half of the shares."

  Tang Yi let out a sound, he didn't expect the nightclub business to be quite good. Yao Xiaohong had many connections and often came with his brothers and sisters to support him. Plus many customers who were reimbursed by their companies, in a month, they made a profit of three or four thousand, which was not a small amount at that time. At that time, the average salary in Yan Mountain was only over 400. No wonder Yao Xiaohong was eyeing the nightclub greedily.

  Actually, if you don't count the money spent on buying the storefront, setting up this song and dance hall only cost around a million or so. Yao Xiaohong taking out 500,000 for half of the shares is nothing, Tang Yi was just giving it to Qi Jie to play with anyway, whether they make more or less doesn't matter. If you really want to make money, investing that much and not even getting a good economic return is not as good as selling boxed lunches.

  But Tang Yi didn't like Yao Xiaohong's style, what kind of reason is it to insert a foot when seeing money, why didn't she say to invest before the business started?

  "You decide for yourself, it's your own business." Tang Yi thought for a moment and didn't object. As long as Qi Jie was happy, why bother with these small things?

  Qijie smiled and said, "Then I'll agree to it." Now Qijie's life is exceptionally comfortable. She was originally open-minded and didn't care about money. With Tang Yi supporting her from behind like a big tree, she doesn't mind earning more or less. She doesn't want to live a luxurious life either. Her current life is already very satisfying. Good friends are priceless, and she wouldn't want to hurt their relationship over money.

  "Yao Xiaohong is quite wealthy, isn't she?" Tang Yi couldn't help but admire this woman.

  Qijie pouted and said: "Yes, I'm poor, but who's more capable than me?"

  Tang Yi burst out laughing, reaching out to pinch her delicate nose: "Your skills are still immature, do you know how much skill it takes to hook me?" Qi Jie looked at Tang Yi silently, in front of her, he was becoming more and more himself, where was the humble gentleman from before? Although he was joking, the arrogance in his bones was something Qi Jie could hear, and that restrained arrogance was precisely what stirred the girl's heart.

  "Ding ding ding" The phone on the bedside table suddenly rang, Tang Yiqi said: "Late at night, who is this?" Qi Jie said: "Only my family and Yao Xiaohong know this number, could it be Junzi?" As she picked up the phone.