Chapter 76: Who Am I?
Lu Qiaoge exhorted a few words, then went to her younger brother. This time the grass carp began energetically driving the fish.
Groups of rice fish fell into Xiao Si’s net bag. The little guy happily yelled loudly, but the calico cat called even louder.
With fish to eat, they started feeling happy again.
When it was nearing noon, Lu Qiaoge carried two iron buckets of small fish and left the lakeside.
Lu Qiaoge was preparing to hang the iron buckets on the handlebars, but Xiao Si sternly stopped her.
The young boy said incredulously, “Second Sister, this is a new bicycle. It’s not even a day old, and you’re daring to hang iron buckets on it. What if the paint gets scratched? If Mom finds out, she’ll definitely scold you.”
Lu Qiaoge pinched Xiao Si’s cheek and teasingly scolded, “You’re the one who’s so concerned.”
Xiao Si touched the bicycle and said longingly, “Mom said that when you get a new bicycle later, this one will be mine.”
So, this was practically his bicycle, and he had to use it sparingly.
Lu Qiaoge didn’t find it strange. The plaid short-sleeved shirt on Xiao Si was made from her old clothes.
Lu Qiaoge followed Xiao Si’s lead. She had rope in her shoulder bag and found a sturdy wooden stick to place on the rear seat of the bike.
It formed a shoulder pole style, then she hung the two buckets of fish on both ends. Lu Qiaoge checked it, and it seemed quite sturdy.
So she asked her younger brother, “Do you want to sit on the top tube?”
Lu Xiaosi touched the shiny black bicycle top tube and decisively shook his head.
His pants were covered in mud on the butt area. What if he dirtied the new bike?
—
The 516 all-factory staff meeting hadn’t been held for several good years.
Because there were no corresponding regulations to punish Old Mrs. Zhao and Duan Xiaoxiang, they could only hold a staff meeting for criticism.
But neither of the parties involved came.
Old Mrs. Zhao and Duan Xiaoxiang had fought, and both were now in the hospital.
Only Zhao Qing was there, head bowed low, holding a self-criticism statement in his hand.
The punishment result was that Zhao Qing was transferred to the mine and became an ordinary worker.
Duan Xiaoxiang was also suspended.
The Duan family was running around everywhere, hoping to keep this job.
However, the Zhao family’s house in District 45 was reclaimed, because it was allocated to the chief technician according to standard.
You know, many engineers now don’t even have houses to live in.
With them occupying it like this, the staff wouldn’t agree.
They had no choice but to move out.
Old Mrs. Zhao suddenly looked much older.
She felt her two sons were too unlucky. Neither Duan Xiaoxiang nor Sun Qin was any good.
With nowhere to live temporarily, they could only rent a house first, and wait until her son arranged things, then she would go with him.
The whole family squeezed into such a small house. The two grandsons were not happy at all, making noise and fussing, annoying the neighbors to no end.
But Old Mrs. Zhao had no way out. This was the good days she had made for herself; she could only endure it.
The factory leaders still felt it was a pity. It wasn’t easy for the country to cultivate a chief technician.
But Li Ying’s incident reminded everyone that there might still be die-hard local special agents lurking in the military factory.
People like Zhao Qing were too easily used by others.
Because he lacked basic principles of being a person.
But they still exhorted Zhao Qing to reform well and strive to return early.
After the factory meeting, the factory director conveniently announced that tomorrow the Xiangyang Neighborhood Committee would hold a supplies trading fair, jointly hosted with Manshan Commune.
The neighborhood committee side had already contacted Director Zhu of Manshan Commune. Manshan Commune would send a vehicle team pulling fresh various vegetables and agricultural by-products for supplies exchange.
First, to solve the daily needs of the commune members, second, to solve the vegetable eating problem for the families.
The location of the market day was at the Xiangyang Night School sports field.
It was called a sports field, but it was actually a piece of abandoned sandy land.
But now it had been cleaned up by the volunteers.
Lu Qiaoge opened a classroom and moved out the broken tables and chairs.
She placed them under the eaves, serving as the temporary office for the market day.
Inside and outside the classroom, there was a large pot, which Huang Juan had borrowed from the canteen a few days ago.
It was used to boil tea leaves water to drink.
Tea leaves were now rare items too. The tea leaves Lu Qiaoge could get at present were already very good.
Shao Le and Meng Qingshan were busy here in full swing. Among the chicken thieves who had been locked up for a week, a few with less serious cases, like Da Tian, Xiao Tao, and several people, were now looking slyly toward this side.
Lu Qiaoge wore a straw hat and simple simplicity clothes, with Du Shuang following behind her, also pushing a bicycle.
Lu Qiaoge wanted to take her to Guzi Village to check the situation, and conveniently go to Manshan Commune.
Unexpectedly, just as they exited the night school main door, they were blocked by Da Tian and the others hiding in the shade.
Da Tian eyed Lu Qiaoge obliquely. It was said that among those big caps who caught them, there was also Lu Qiaoge.
He had his hands in his pants pockets and said sarcastically, “Oh, isn’t this Liang Aishu’s wife?”
Lu Qiaoge had originally intended to ride away on her bike.
Who would have thought she would be blocked like this.
Du Shuang angrily said, “Qiao Ge and Liang Aishu broke off their engagement long ago. Da Tian, what nonsense are you spouting?”
Da Tian sauntered closer to the two young women by a step, grinning as he asked, “Oh, Lu Qiaoge, you…”
He didn’t finish the words below, as he was kicked by Lu Qiaoge into the drainage ditch.
It had rained heavily the day before yesterday, and although today’s drainage ditch had no water, there was mud in the ditch.
Xiao Tao and Jie Zi didn’t react at all, and they just saw Da Tian flying backward and falling into the ditch.
The splashed mud went into Jie Zi’s wide-open mouth. It took him half a moment to react and start spitting it out.
Da Tian only felt a burst of pain in his chest, his mind blank.
This group of street ruffians usually stole chickens and dogs without doing proper work. As long as they didn’t make a big fuss, basically no one paid them any mind.
Sometimes they teased little girls, but they didn’t dare go too far, though they took plenty of verbal advantages.
Many girls would hurriedly dodge far away when they saw them.
Today was the first time Da Tian encountered someone who resorted to action without a word.
No, to legs.
Before he could react, Lu Qiaoge had already stepped forward, grabbed the collar of his clothes, and dragged him out of the drainage ditch.
Du Shuang’s eyes widened, and she couldn’t help covering her mouth, shocked at the scene before her.
She even forgot to call for people to help.
You know, they could handle group fights too.
When the other four reacted and went to grab Lu Qiaoge, she kicked each one aside with a foot.
In the blink of an eye, the five people who had blocked Lu Qiaoge were sprawled on the ground yelling in pain, some covering their stomachs, others their chests.
Lu Qiaoge’s sharp glance stared down imposingly at Da Tian under her foot.
She asked word by word, “Who am I?”
Da Tian was limp on the ground. For some reason, he felt that the foot stepping on his chest spread out countless suppressive forces.
It was as if he was bound by something and couldn’t move at all.
Lu Qiaoge continued to ask, “Who am I?”
A piercing pain almost made Da Tian pass out.
He suddenly remembered someone saying that Liu Feng had been kicked by Lu Qiaoge and hadn’t gone to work for three days.
It was said he was in full-body pain, hurting so much he couldn’t breathe, but the hospital checks found nothing.
Many people said Liu Feng was just faking illness because he didn’t dare face people.
He and his brothers had thought the same.
