Chapter 712 Worry
He remembered that rainy night when Wang Jianguo was holding a crumpled banknote and bargaining with the other party under the dim street light. Raindrops kept dripping down the brim of his hat, soaking the medicine box that he was holding tightly in his arms.
"But he..."
Zhao Shuzhuo was hesitant to speak. The risks of black market transactions were like a heavy stone weighing on his heart.
“Are you sure you can trust me?”
"Brother Shuzhuo, I'm sure."
Wang Jianguo's voice suddenly became firm. He reached into his pocket and took out a brown paper envelope, the edges of which had become soft due to sweat.
Zhao Shuzhuo watched Wang Jianguo carefully fold the letter, and suddenly remembered that this brother who always loved to grin once covered a sick educated youth with his quilt late at night in the cold winter.
Perhaps it was this stubborn kindness that made him willing to look beyond the dark past and choose to trust a stranger he met under special circumstances.
Zhao Shuzhuo dug his fingers deeply into the rubber handlebars of the bicycle, and his knuckles turned blue and white.
In the distance he could faintly hear the shouts of the production team, mixed with the roar of the tractor, but it could not cover up the sound of his pounding heart.
He looked at Wang Jianguo, his eyes sweeping over his tanned face. The collar of his work clothes was still stained with engine oil from repairing farm tools this morning. These familiar details could not ease the uneasiness that was surging in his heart at this moment.
"Founding of a Nation,"
His voice was as hoarse as sandpaper on rusty iron.
“It’s not that I judge people by appearance.”
Before he finished speaking, memories came flooding back: that humid autumn night, when the city’s neon lights twisted into strange spots of light in the rain.
Their bicycles rolled over the puddles, and the splashing water wet their trouser legs.
In an alley filled with a foul smell, the man wearing a gray cloth mask walked out of the shadows.
His eyes were as alert as a frightened bird, and the medicine box in his hand was tightly held, as if it was something more precious than life.
Zhao Shuzhuo wiped his face, trying to dispel the lingering images in his mind.
"Although I bought medicine from him last time to save Xiaohua's father, they asked you for four small yellow croakers."
His voice rose unconsciously, scaring away the sparrows foraging on the roadside.
"Think about it, black market transactions are shady. How risky is it to deal with such people?"
His eyes fell on the crumpled envelope in Wang Jianguo's hand, as if he could see through the brown paper and see the unknown hidden dangers inside.
The wind blew sand and dust in his face. Zhao Shuzhuo narrowed his eyes and continued:
"He is a stranger, why did he suddenly come to our unfamiliar village? What's his purpose?"
He thought of the changes that had taken place in the Great Northern Wilderness over the past few years. The goods in the supply and marketing cooperatives had gradually become more abundant, and the chimneys of the brick factories were emitting smoke day and night. These hard-earned achievements must not be destroyed by a man of unknown origin.
"This place is different from the city. We are all brothers whose lives are tied together. If something goes wrong..."
His voice stopped abruptly, his Adam's apple rolled with difficulty, and he didn't dare to think about the terrible consequences.
Wang Jianguo opened his mouth and was about to refute, but Zhao Shuzhuo raised his hand to stop him.
"I know you value friendship,"
Zhao Shuzhuo's tone softened slightly, but still revealed unquestionable determination.
"But the clinic is the hope of the whole village and it affects the safety of hundreds of people. We can't just bet everything on it because it has saved people."
His eyes swept over the hunched backs of the villagers who were tilling the land in the distance.
Those faces, filled with wrinkles from the years, now turned into heavy responsibilities weighing on his heart.
"I'm not saying I won't let him come,"
Zhao Shuzhuo took a deep breath.
"But we must speak out in advance and do the ugly deeds in advance. His background and his abilities must be carefully investigated."
He reached out and patted Wang Jianguo's shoulder, and felt the warmth of the coarse work clothes on his palm.
"We, the people of the Great Northern Wilderness, are not afraid of hardship or fatigue, but we will never let anyone point fingers at us and say we are stupid."
Wang Jianguo reached out and took off the straw hat on his head, fanning the stuffy air vigorously, and the straw debris on the brim of the hat fell off.
He looked at the fields in the distance where waves of wheat were rolling. There, several villagers were working with bent backs, their figures looking small and tough under the scorching sun.
After a long time, he turned around and looked at Zhao Shuzhuo firmly, with a bit of earnestness and persistence in his eyes.
"Brother Shuzhuo, I understand your concerns."
His voice was low and powerful, with a hoarseness caused by the wind and sand of the Great Northern Wilderness.
"After all, we met him in a place that is not open to the public, and our understanding of him is just a glimpse."
As he spoke, he bent down and picked up an angular stone, rubbing it repeatedly in his palm. The rough stone surface rubbed against his skin, making a slight rustling sound, as if telling the story of that unusual encounter.
Memories came flooding back like a tide. On that rainy autumn night, the city streets were wet and the neon lights were blurred in the water.
They rode their shabby bicycles, carrying Xiaohua's father, who had a high fever and was unconscious, and twisted and turned through the narrow alleys.
Finally, in a dark and damp corner, they saw the man wearing a gray cloth mask.
His eyes were alert and indifferent, but after learning about the patient's condition, he took out the precious medicine without hesitation.
"do you know?"
Wang Jianguo suddenly spoke, with a hint of emotion in his voice.
"That night, I saw a lot of medical books piled up in his room, and the pages were all flipped and frayed."
"During our casual chat, I learned that he was originally a top student in medical school, but because his family was poor and he encountered misfortunes, he had to live in the black market."
He threw the stone far into the wilderness, startling a group of sparrows foraging on the edge of the field.
"And his partner, the one who is in charge of liaison, used to be a salesperson at a state-owned drugstore. He lost his livelihood after being laid off, so he started this career."
Zhao Shuzhuo frowned and remained silent. His eyes fell on the back of Wang Jianguo's tanned hand, where there was a new scar left from working in the brick factory a few days ago.
Over the years, he knew too well how difficult life was, and had seen too many people who were driven into desperation by fate. But even so, he still couldn't completely let down his guard.
“I know what you’re worried about,”
Wang Jianguo continued, his tone becoming more sincere.
"But not all people who make a living in the black market are bad people. They are forced into this risky path because of their desperate situation."
His voice trembled slightly.
"Look at our Great Northern Wilderness. When I first came here, wasn't this also a deserted land with no inhabitants?"
"But what about now? The supply and marketing cooperative has been built, and the brick factory is also thriving. Aren't these all achieved through our hard work bit by bit?"