Chapter 668 9 points true and 1 point false

Chapter 668 9 points true and 1 point false

Wang Jianguo's face flushed to his ears when he heard this. He rubbed his hands and looked out the window at the dirt road, where a few villagers were walking by with mud on their trouser legs, carrying loads on their shoulders.

"Director Song, Director Liu,"

He swallowed, his voice a little muffled.

"I... I do have something to hide. But don't worry, if you look into my heart, you will find that it is definitely good."

He suddenly remembered the year when he first arrived in the Great Northern Wilderness, when Uncle Zhang stuffed him with hot steamed bread and Aunt Li sewed him cotton shoes overnight. His throat felt like a ball of cotton was stuffed in it.

"Why did I do that?"

He stared down at the worn knees of his overalls, which still bore mud marks from repairing the brick kiln last year.

"To be honest, I just want to take root in this wasteland and do something practical."

"Do you remember? When I first came here, I couldn't even learn how to break the clay. It was Director Liu who taught me how to check the wetness of the clay. It was Director Song who told me that 'bricks must be fired solidly, and people must live uprightly.'"

His voice suddenly became brighter, like the fire in a kiln rising a few degrees.

"Now that I have some ability, I want my fellow villagers to work less and live in better houses. How much money is considered a lot in the city? But here, I feel at ease when I see the smoke coming out of the brick factory and the supply and marketing cooperative opening!"

Director Song looked at Wang Jianguo's tanned face and remembered that this kid was as thin as a straw when he first came, but now his shoulders are broad enough to carry two bags of cement.

Director Liu took the last puff of his cigarette, crushed the butt with his shoe, and suddenly reached out and patted Wang Jianguo on the shoulder:

"Don't do those empty things, little brat. I believe you. As long as it's for the good of the Great Northern Wilderness, it doesn't matter if you have your own reasons or not."

Wang Jianguo looked up at the brick kiln in the distance. Flames were coming out of the kiln mouth and red bricks were being moved out one by one, glowing warmly in the setting sun.

He recalled the first time he saw bricks coming out of the kiln, his hands were covered in mud, but he was smiling like a child.

"I just want to make a name for myself here,"

He scratched his head and spoke slowly.

"Let those who come later know that there was a man named Wang Jianguo who left something in the Great Northern Wilderness. His life was not in vain."

Director Song frowned and asked again:

"Since you want to make a name for yourself here, why don't you even want a position? Logically, it would be easier to do things if you have a title, but this seems a bit unreasonable."

After hearing this, Wang Jianguo glanced at Director Liu and opened his mouth but said nothing.

When Director Song saw this, he immediately understood something. He moved closer to Wang Jianguo and spoke in a gentler tone:

"Jianguo, Director Liu is not an outsider. The three of us have worked together in this brick factory for so long. What kind of relationship do we have?"

"Just tell me what's on your mind. It's been nearly a year since you came to our place in the early spring of last year. I know your personality like a mirror, and you know my temper too. What else is there to hide?"

Having said this, his face suddenly darkened.

"But then again, if you really have any difficulties that you can't tell me, this brick factory project is the highlight of our Great Northern Wilderness, and it involves the livelihoods of the young and old. I really feel a little uneasy."

Wang Jianguo stared down at the toes of his worn-out work shoes, the uppers still stained with dirt from yesterday's mud-mixing.

He was silent for a long time before he raised his head. His Adam's apple rolled twice under his washed-bleached collar.

"Director Song, Director Liu, I...I really have a problem that I can't get over."

He paused, as if he had made a great decision.

"Before he left, my father told me that the worst thing he had done in his life was to go against his conscience in order to make money when he was living in the city."

"Before he died, he held my hand and told me to find a place to be and be a good person no matter what."

Director Liu suddenly reached out and patted Wang Jianguo on the back with such force that he staggered half a step:

"Silly boy, what's the point of a position? We in the Great Northern Wilderness don't recognize those empty words. We only look at whether the work you do is real or not. Look at this brick kiln, look at this supply and marketing cooperative, which one is not done by you sincerely?"

Director Song looked at the tears in Wang Jianguo's eyes and remembered that last month, in order to save some money for the brick factory, this kid took people to pry off the bricks of the old cave one by one for reuse, and he never cried out in pain even though the blisters on his hands were caused.

He suddenly reached out and patted Wang Jianguo on the shoulder:

"Come on, Jianguo, I believe you. Let's not worry about the position. Just focus on getting this semi-mechanized brick-making machine done. That's better than anything else."

A few sparrows fluttered by the poplar tree outside the window, and the sunlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves, casting a mottled shadow on Wang Jianguo's face.

He touched the scar on his chest, which was left during the rescue operation at the brick factory.

"I don't want any position,"

He spoke slowly but firmly.

"I just want to bake every brick here solidly so that my fellow villagers in the Great Northern Wilderness can live in watertight houses.

Director Liu took out his pipe and took two puffs. The sparks in the pipe flickered:

"Okay, let's not talk about anything else. Let's go to the field office tomorrow to file a report and say that the three of us will take care of this matter."

Director Song said to Wang Jianguo:

"Jianguo, you still don't believe us. You are not telling the truth."

Wang Jianguo opened his mouth, then swallowed his words back. He stared down at the helmet in his hand. The "Safety in Production" sticker on the brim of the helmet was curled up, revealing the bleached fabric underneath.

The wind outside the window blew up the reports on the windowsill. Amid the rustling sound, he could hear his own heart beating wildly, like a rabbit running around in his arms.

Director Song was right. If I didn't make it clear, I would be considered a person with ulterior motives. But how could I say those words?

Director Liu coughed twice and added some hot water to the enamel pot. The steam blurred his reading glasses:

"Hey kid, we're all people who have been through a lot together, so why can't we just talk it out? If you really have a problem, we can work it out with the three of us. We can always come up with a solution."

Wang Jianguo sat there for a long time, his fingers pinching the brim of his helmet until it was deformed, and then he looked up. He looked at the wrinkled faces of Director Song and Director Liu, and said with a move in his throat:

"My two uncles, you treat me like a younger generation, so I will speak from the bottom of my heart today. I got into trouble in Sijiu City, and I came here to escape from it."

He licked his cracked lips and continued:

"Many years ago, a doctor who traveled around the streets gave my mother four pills. My mother left the pills to me before she died."

"Later, there were two old generals in the city who had been kind to my family. They happened to be sick, so I gave each of them a pill."

"I didn't expect that after they took the medicine, all their illnesses were cured and they were healthier than young people. Somehow the news got out, saying that this medicine can make people live longer and healthier."