Siheyuan: Starting from Building a Village

When Liu Guozheng and Li Dabao returned to the food factory, a lot of people had already gathered at the factory gate. It was a huge crowd. The two of them walked around before they arrived at the factory gate.

"Brother Zheng, I'm back,"

"Guo Zheng, you are finally back."

"Brother Zheng..."

".."

Except for the children, everyone in Hope Village came to the factory gate to support the New Hope Food Factory.

"Guo Zheng, is everything okay at the office?"

"Uncle Yang, don't worry, everything is fine."

"That's good. Now this little bastard actually dared to come to our factory to cause trouble. What do you say we should do? We will all listen to you."

Under the leadership of Yang Youde, the elderly people in the village took shovels, dung forks, and rakes. The most interesting thing was that Yang Youde took his own working tools, a plane commonly used by carpenters.

When Liu Guozheng saw the plane in Yang Youde's hand, he thought of the first time he met Yang Youde and Lao San, when Yang Youde was holding the plane to protect the two little girls, Zhou Meili and Zhou Yali.

Unexpectedly, today, he took out his planer again.

"Uncle Yang, although I support you, you could at least use a stick. Why did you take out this plane?"

"Guozheng, I'm very good at using this plane. If anyone dares to come up, I'll plane their faces flat."

"Hahaha, Uncle Yang, your momentum is still as strong as ever."

"Guozheng, let's not talk about other things for now. Just tell me what to do about today's matter. If you give the order, I'm willing to take the lead."

"Uncle Yang, take your people back to the village first, I will take care of it."

"No, let's protect our food factory together today."

"Uncle Yang, listen to me, this is not a big deal. The villagers are not here, and the children should be worried. You are the pillars of our village. Don't you have me and Erlang to lead the charge?"

"No, if they don't reply, I won't reply either."

Unexpectedly, Yang Youde was so stubborn. The old people in their village all had their own persistence. Since they were unwilling to go back, let them watch from the side. They would feel at ease if they saw the problem being resolved.

"Uncle Gu, Uncle Chen, please keep an eye on the people in our village. Please restrain yourself and don't be impulsive."

Now Gu Nian is the village chief of Xiwang New Village, and Chen Huwei is the militia captain and martial arts coach. Both of them have high prestige in the village and are good at martial arts. With them watching over the villagers, Liu Guozheng feels at ease.

"Liu Guozheng, do you still remember me?"

In fact, everyone is waiting for Liu Guozheng to appear.

Although Li Xiangdong brought a lot of security personnel with him and they all had weapons, he didn't dare to shoot. As a deputy director who had served as a deputy director, he naturally knew that as long as the thing didn't make a sound, everything would be fine.

If it really rings, there will be a lot of things involved.

Although the security personnel in the factory were very excited, Li Xiangdong remained restrained. Although Li Xiangdong looked rough, he had a plan in mind and knew what he could do and to what extent.

This is also the reason why Li Xiangdong was appointed as the head of the security department.

Following the voice, he saw the thin, pointed-faced man who looked somewhat familiar. For a moment, Liu Guozheng had no idea who this man was. However, it was obvious that this guy was a small leader, wearing an armband with white letters on a red background, and standing in front of people in a decent manner.

There was another person next to him, who was a decent-looking man but a little thin, as if malnourished. He was wearing a Zhongshan suit and an armband with yellow letters on a red background. It was obvious that these two groups of people had somehow come together to cause trouble for the food factory.

"Liu Guozheng, what's wrong? You don't recognize me? You are such a forgetful person."

As he spoke, the man with the pointed chin and monkey face revealed a hint of hatred in his eyes. Although the man next to him did not speak, the coldness in his eyes fully explained the problem.

"Old friends? I don't know anyone who has a bad eye. Besides, I don't need to know your names. I want to ask you, what are you doing? Who gave you the courage to wantonly attack and disrupt the normal production of the food factory?"

Although he looked familiar, Liu Guozheng did not want to get to know these people again. To put it bluntly, both the royalists and the rebels were essentially opportunists.

"Liu Guozheng, we respond to the old man's call, take the Quotations as our guiding ideology, and resolutely oppose all capitalist-roading behavior. I know that your village is full of fish and meat all day long, and everyone from top to bottom is greedy for pleasure, completely abandoning the good quality of hard work and perseverance. We are here to judge you today and help you correct your thinking."

Liu Guozheng was amused. Did you see that? It’s the same old routine again. These small groups that emerged in the storm all use the same routine. They start by trying to pressure you with words. As for what kind of words they use, that depends on their cultural background.

However, the vast majority of people are the same, and their words of speech are basically similar.

The only thing that is exactly the same is probably the Little Red Book that everyone has.

"Ah, you guys are just so unoriginal. By the way, before you do anything, you should ask, who are you?"

"I'm Lai San, and I'm currently the director of the Farmers' Action Committee. The person next to me is Zhou Zhaoming, the former deputy director of the Jingxi Mining District and the current director of the Jingxi Joint Action Committee."

Liu Guozheng took a special look at the two of them. No wonder they looked familiar. Just like Lai San said, they were indeed acquaintances, just unfriendly acquaintances.

Liu Guozheng vaguely remembered that Lai San was sentenced to three years in prison that year. He must have returned a long time ago and had been living a low-key life somewhere. It was only when the storm broke out that he couldn't bear the loneliness and took the opportunity to rise up.

Judging from Lai San’s current level of speech, it is obvious that he has not been idle over the years and has learned a lot.

It is really ridiculous that a vanguard back then suddenly turned into the leader of a small group and he is also a person with a criminal record.

Speaking of Zhou Chaoming, Liu Guozheng understood that the siege of the food factory and the trouble with the office were probably caused by him. As for his brother Zhou Chaoxian, Li Huaide's father-in-law, it is unknown whether he participated or not, but he was most likely involved. As a beneficiary in the early stage of the storm, Zhou Chaoxian must have wanted to test himself.

"Zhou Zhaoming, now that you're back, why don't you live a good life? Aren't you tired of doing this and that?"

"Liu Guozheng, when I was in the northwest, I never dared to forget. I have also been waiting for an opportunity. Not only do I want to take back what I lost, but I also want to take more. Now my chance has come. Do you think I will let you and your village go?"

"Zhou Zhaoming, it seems that I haven't reformed you in the past few years. Besides, does your brother know that you came back to participate in the movement? Or are you just a pawn like Lai San?"

"Stop talking nonsense, Liu Guozheng, we are here today to judge you."

"Why? You are a bad element who has not been reformed. Who do you want to judge? Who gave you the right?"

"We respond to the old man's call and take the quotations as our guiding ideology. This is the source of our power. See? The hundred or so people behind me are all loyal fighters of the old man. In order to safeguard the rights of workers and peasants to be masters of their own destiny, we swear to fight to the end with you corrupt bad elements."

After Zhou Zhaoming finished speaking, he raised his arms and shouted slogans. The people behind him became excited as if they had been injected with chicken blood.

Liu Guozheng shook his head when he saw this, it is true that misfortunes sent by Heaven can be forgiven, but misfortunes brought upon oneself cannot be forgiven.

(The grudges between Liu Guozheng, Zhou Zhaoming and Lai San are in Chapters 48-56, so I won’t go into details here)