Siheyuan: Starting from Building a Village

Liu Guozheng and his car were stopped at an intersection not far from the department store.

A roadblock was set up at the intersection, and a dozen young men with sticks and red armbands were guarding it, prohibiting anyone from entering the department store and its surrounding areas.

There was an overturned donkey cart on the side of the road, and an old farmer with an angry face was muttering the word "bandit". The cart was overturned, but fortunately the donkey didn't run away, otherwise the unfortunate old farmer would be so sad.

There were also two bicycles with crooked handlebars and broken bicycle chains on the ground.

Some people had bruises on their faces, some were covered in dirt, and some had messy hair. It was obvious that a conflict had already broken out here.

Conflict between passers-by and roadblockers.

The passers-by were completely defeated.

"Comrade, this place is forbidden now."

When facing Liu Guozheng's jeep, the people who stopped it certainly wouldn't speak so harshly. In their opinion, people who could ride in a car should not be ordinary people, so they would try not to offend them if possible.

"I am Liu Guozheng, director of the Revolutionary Committee of the New Hope Food Factory in Jingxi Hope Village. I am going to the department store to pick someone up. Now I order you to remove the roadblocks."

Liu Guozheng revealed his identity directly. It’s not that this identity is very impressive, but he was setting a trap. He wanted to see how these people would react and then decide how to deal with them.

"Director Liu, we are not subordinate to each other. You have no right to order us around."

A tall and thin man wearing a somewhat worn military coat and a locomotive hat stood up and looked at the jeep behind Liu Guozheng with envy. Then he said, "Besides, Director Liu, you don't have the power to enforce the law."

Liu Guozheng looked at the tall and thin man in front of him with interest and asked, "Oh? I don't have the power to enforce the law, do you have it?"

"Neither did we."

"If you don't have any, get out of the way and don't delay my work."

"Director Liu, even if we get out of the way, you can't get in. The department store is now under the control of the Employee Liaison Committee. All you have to do is wait until our riot committee takes over the department store."

"You want to seize power?"

"Director Liu, we are just following orders. We don't know the reason."

I didn’t expect the tall and thin guy to be so tight-lipped and didn’t reveal any useful information.

"I won't ask anything else. Now get out of the way. I want to go in."

"No, the order I received is to defend the place strictly and not allow anyone to enter. Our duty is to stop as many reinforcements from the workers' union committee as possible."

"There are only three of us. We can't really be called reinforcements, right?"

"Who knows? If we put three people in at every intersection, there will be too many people. So Director Liu, I'm sorry, I really can't let you in."

"I can't go in, what about them?"

Liu Guozheng had already heard the sound of cars. He turned around and looked. He saw several military trucks in the distance, and two dilapidated jeeps leading the way.

"No one can come."

"We are the vanguard of the movement. We responded to the call to overthrow some hostile elements and all the evil spirits. Now the movement is leading everything."

The tall and thin man's tone was firm and his eyes were determined.

When Liu Guozheng saw the look in the tall and thin man's eyes, he knew that he couldn't get in without some tricks.

However, let’s not rush. Let’s wait until the military vehicles and the two old jeeps arrive. Maybe there are important people sitting inside.

The jeep and military vehicle stopped behind Liu Guozheng's car. The road was narrow and could not accommodate two cars side by side, so they had no choice but to stop.

The people who got off the military vehicle were soldiers armed with live ammunition.

The person who got out of the jeep in front was a middle-aged man wearing a leather coat, with a pale face and a thin physique.

The next person to come down was a soldier, standing straight, with thick eyebrows and big eyes, and a serious expression. Perhaps he knew that this mission was very difficult and not easy to handle.

"Who gave you the right to set up roadblocks at will? Remove the roadblocks immediately."

The soldier with thick eyebrows and big eyes spoke in a loud voice, full of power and shock, with an unstoppable momentum.

"The intersection near the department store is under the control of our Riot Committee. No one is allowed to enter."

The tall and thin man's tone was still firm, his eyes were still determined, and he waved his hand while speaking. The people behind him formed a human wall and actually stood in front of the roadblock to prevent anyone from entering.

“I say again, remove the roadblocks and disband on the spot, otherwise you will bear the consequences.”

The soldier with thick eyebrows and big eyes was also angry. These people were so bold that they became more and more excited as they talked.

"Captain He, you can't say that. I think they did the right thing and did a good job. A movement requires an unstoppable momentum and firm belief. I have seen all of this in them. If everyone was like them, those evil spirits would have been driven away long ago."

The thin middle-aged man spoke in a shrill voice and there was a light in his eyes, but the light was floating and uncertain.

"Director Yao, my mission is to ensure the safety of the people and rescue those trapped in the department store."

"Captain He, our missions do not conflict. My mission is to resolve this matter peacefully. I believe you also received orders when you came here. This mission is mainly carried out by our 49th City Revolutionary Committee, and you are the auxiliary."

Captain He said coldly: "Director Yao, you'd better ask them to remove the roadblocks as soon as possible and restore traffic order."

"Haha." Director Yao chuckled, then turned to look at Liu Guozheng and asked, "Who is this comrade?"

"It doesn't matter who I am. What matters is how you, Director Yao, can resolve this matter as quickly as possible."

Liu Guozheng really couldn't muster any good feelings towards Director Yao in front of him, especially when he saw his hooked nose, he wanted to punch him.

"I'm waiting for people from both sides to come and see me."

Director Yao said confidently that he had already called the department store when he came, and the leader of the Employee Liaison Committee also agreed that he could act as a peacemaker to completely resolve the matter.

"You mean we should continue to wait here?"

"Correct."

"How long do we have to wait? What if they don't want to negotiate?"

"They will. In theory, they are all under the management of our Sijiucheng Revolutionary Committee."

Director Yao seems very confident.

"Captain He, what do you think?"

"I.."

"Captain He, you are soldiers of the people. Your existence is to protect the masses. Now there are people trapped in the department store. Do you want to wait here too?"

"The order we received was to follow Director Yao's command."

"I understand."

Liu Guozheng looked at Captain He and the soldiers behind him, smiled silently, turned back to look at Director Yao and said, "Director Yao, why don't you send someone in to pass on the message?"

"No, I believe both sides are willing to negotiate, and someone should be here soon."

“How fast is it?”

"Why are you talking so much? Just wait patiently."

Director Yao looked at Liu Guozheng with dissatisfaction, and his face darkened.

"That skinny guy, why don't you go and notify the leaders of both sides?"

"Our job is to guard this intersection and prohibit anyone from entering."

The tall and thin man seemed to be determined.

"Okay, this place is about five minutes away from the department store. I'll give you all face and wait for thirty minutes. After thirty minutes, my people must go in."

Liu Guozheng looked at his watch, returned to his car and waited patiently.