Chapter Eleven: Boyhood Friends

  At noon, a family of five had a simple meal. In the evening, Lu Zhong's uncles and aunts all came. Although Lu Zhong was raised by someone else's family and was particularly cold to them before, some of his uncles and aunts would scold him as "wild child" behind his back, but on the surface, they were all very concerned about Lu Zhong. This is because Lu Zhong's father, Lu Tianhe, was the second-generation helmsman, and Lu Tianhe's younger brothers and sisters had been afraid of this older brother since childhood, while Lu Zhong was Lu Tianhe's only son.

  After dinner, Mother said that Grandfather was not in Beijing, so Lu Zhong gave up the idea of going to his grandfather's house for a walk. For the past two years, due to different views on the development direction of the Republic, the relationship between the Han and Lu families has not been harmonious. If it weren't for Mother's relationship with them, they might have become even more hostile.

  After the relatives left, Lu Zhong chatted with his parents for a while. Of course, except for calling Han Jing "Mom", Lu Zhong didn't have any other special behavior, after all, he couldn't be too obvious, as if he had become a different person. He just looked at his parents' youthful appearance, which was more than 20 years younger, and felt waves of emotions in his heart, with an indescribable taste.

  The desperate and painful gaze of his father on the sickbed in his past life, his mother's indifference that was more heartbreaking than death, seemed to be a needle that pierced Lu Zheng, making him unable to breathe.

  Sitting in front of his father and mother from over twenty years ago, Lu Zhong's heart ached repeatedly. He could only hope that everything in his past life was an illusion, that the world didn't exist, and even more so, that these two elderly people had never been hurt by his coldness and ruthlessness for their entire lives.

  From now on, I must be good and filial to them, so that all tragedies will no longer happen.

  In the living room, a spirited young maid brought in fruit and drinks after dinner. She was also curious to secretly take a look at Lu Zhen. Having just been assigned to the Lu family for a few months, she had not even heard that Old Master Lu had such a grandson.

  A family of three sat around the coffee table, chatting.

  Actually, whether it's Lu Tianhe or Han Jing, they are both introverted people who don't show too much emotion.

  The little servant was tongue-tied in his heart, this is also too unlike a family, it's really like entering a deep sea.

  But she didn't dare listen more, after serving tea and snacks, she retreated.

  The topic of father-son and mother-son relationships gradually increased after Guangning.

  Du Xiaohu had already reported the process of solving the strange case to the two leaders with a big mouth. Lu Tianhe and Han Jing, although their feelings were not easy to reveal, actually cared about Lu Zhen's work and life in Guangning, so they asked around this case, asking about Lu Zhen's recent situation in a roundabout way.

  Lu Zhong also calmly talked about his past experiences, "Hong Dong" and "Cui Hong Yi" became topics of conversation.

  Lu Tianhe couldn't help but smile when Lu Zhong mentioned leading the "Red Devils" to wreak havoc in Heaven.

  Lu Zhong didn't like to mention the hardships he had endured in the past, so he also didn't mention Lu Guobin's wrongdoings towards him. He only talked about Aunt Cuihong's kindness towards him, which was very natural and allowed Lu Tianhe and Han Jing to sense Lu Zhong's feelings towards his adoptive parents who had raised him into an adult.

  Lu Tianhe let out a soft sigh: "When there's an opportunity, I'll invite them to Beijing and express my gratitude in person. Thank you for giving me a good son... No, when I have time, I should go to Guangning, that's what I should do..." As he spoke, he looked at his wife with inquiring eyes.

  Han Jing's words were always concise, and she nodded in agreement, saying: "We should go."

  Three people have been chatting about family matters, Lu Zhong has been a person for two lifetimes, plus his rich experience, he has already formed his own unique insights on future political and economic changes. His father is also in a high position, and he can take the opportunity to speak out, but Lu Zhong said nothing. He knows that no matter how much his parents love him, if they talk about politics now, his words will not have any weight at all, so there's no need to stir up trouble.

  At night, Lu Zhong slept in the guest room. In the middle of the night, he knew that someone had come into the room and quietly watched himself for a while, it was his mother.

  But Lu Zhong just closed his eyes and pretended to be asleep.

  ……

  The next morning, elder sister Lu Jiajun and her husband Hu Deli drove over, saying they would take Lu Zhong to tour Beijing, which was readily agreed by Lu Tianhe and Han Jing.

  Hudeli's business was not small, apart from his innate business acumen, it would be impossible to say that he didn't benefit from the Lu family's influence. Although Hudeli never actively flaunted the Lu family's flag outside, it couldn't be denied that the golden sign of being Lu Tianhe's son-in-law still had an impact on many things.

  Lu Zhong and his elder sister sat side by side in the back seat of the car, admiring the scenery of Beijing's streets.

  Compared to later generations, the not-so-prosperous Beijing city is more likable to Lu Zhen. Perhaps the current Beijing city is more authentic, while twenty years later, domestic prosperous cities, more or less, seem to come from the same template, everywhere are sky-high steel and concrete, crisscrossing overpasses, only in small corners can you find the humanistic charm of these cities in the past.

  Hudeli is "tracheitis", not only obedient to Lu Jiaju, but also has a few subtle and reverent restraint towards Lu Zheng. As an ordinary cadre family background, he was able to pursue the proud princess in the campus at that time, which took a lot of thought.

  In the afternoon, Lu Zhong asked his sister and brother-in-law to take him to Peking University. He then told them that he was going to find some classmates to chat with and would return home by himself in the evening. Lu Jiaju and Hu Deli wouldn't interfere with him, so after reminding him to come back early, they drove off in their lover's small car and disappeared into the traffic.

  The campus of Peking University is elegant and solemn, a sacred place for scholars. As soon as you enter the campus, you can't help but feel a sense of reverence for learning.

  Lu Zhong let out a soft sigh in his heart, his past self, although he later studied abroad and earned an MBA, and was proficient in several foreign languages, but after all, had passed the age of seeking knowledge, really didn't truly experience the joy of student life, which must be filled with laughter and tears, and was a very interesting life.

  After inquiring with students in the campus, Lu Zhong found Changchun Garden 19th Building, where Bi Xiaoguang lived. Before coming to Beijing, Lu Zhong had asked Liu Xiaohui for this young friend's address.

  The stone path under the willow trees by the lake, students strolling in twos and threes, boys and girls, dressed simply, all looking very spirited. A boy student reciting poetry on the lakeside with a clear and stirring voice, applause erupting from time to time around him.

  Lu Zhong nodded slightly, this is the campus atmosphere, the style of the school.

  It was easy to find Little Light, no classes in the afternoon, this guy was wearing shorts in the dormitory, snoring under the quilt.

  The dormitory with upper and lower bunks was a bit messy, with maps, posters of American beauties, etc. stuck on the walls, completely different from the monotonous military-style student dormitories of later generations, full of life.

  Bai Xiaoguang's classmate suddenly pulled up the quilt covering his head and kicked him in the butt: "It's on fire!"

  While the dormitory was filled with laughter and chatter, Bi Xiao Guang rubbed his sleepy eyes and sat up, Lu Zhong also smiled, it was clear that these brothers who slept on the upper and lower bunks had a very good relationship.

  "Xiao Guang, don't you still recognize me?" Lu Zhong smiled slightly as he looked at him.

  Bai Xiaoguang was a little chubby, stared at Lu Zhong for a few eyes, and then jumped up from the bed with a strange cry. He stretched out his hand and gave Lu Zhong a punch in the chest: "Zhongzi, you rascal, where have you been running these years?!" As he said that, he also gave Lu Zhong a big bear hug.

  Lu Zhong smiled and gently patted his shoulder.

  Having been in this world for a long time, Lu Zhong sometimes felt that his previous life was more like a dream, and now he was just a young man in his early twenties, with youthful blood flowing through him, having the unique passion of youth.

  "Zhuangzi, where have you been all these years? Do you know that sometimes I even dream of you." Bi Xiaoguang pulled Zhuangzi to sit on his bed, the intimacy made Zhuangzi's scalp feel numb, this kid, he didn't think they had a close relationship before.

  "I joined the army and was transferred back to our county public security bureau last year." Lu Zhong didn't hide it from him.

  "Alright," said Bi Xiaoguang with a smile. In fact, for students like Bi Xiaoguang from Beida, it's almost a given that they can stay in Beijing, and for those who excel academically, getting into the government is not a difficult task at all. Very few return to their home province, let alone go back to rural areas.

  In this era, a small county town is no different from rural areas for big cities.

  But when childhood playmates meet, they won't consider things like identity and status. The two of them talked about the mischievous things they did in the past, making their other dormitory mates burst out laughing from time to time.

  The warm atmosphere vanished when a young man with a clear face and neat clothes came in. When the young man entered the dormitory, his bed was piled high with Bi Xiaoguang's clothes, and Bi Xiaoguang was rummaging through them to find a set of clothes to wear out to eat with Lu Zheng.

  The young man's face turned ugly at the sight, and he ran over two steps, shouting: "What are you doing?! How dirty!" As he spoke, he threw the pile of clothes back onto Bi Xiaoguang's bed, with a few pieces scattered on Lu Zheng's legs.

  Bi Xiaoguang, although usually careless, couldn't help but get angry when Lu Zhong was humiliated by his roommate. He glared at the young man and said: "Old Second, what do you mean? Who are you saying is dirty?" The young man's name was Tian Shaohua, who was second in age among the few people in their dormitory.

  The young man hummed and said, "Not taking a bath for hundreds of years, who's dirty?"

  Bi Xiaoguang reached out and grabbed the young man's collar, shouting: "Tian ShaoHua, I think you're undertrained! Let's go outside and train!"

  The classmates next to him were busy mediating, pulling them apart. Tian Shao-hua was both embarrassed and furious, but he wasn't the kind of person who could resort to physical fights, so he just kept saying: "How uncivilized! How uncivilized!" A typical reaction from a refined intellectual when encountering an unrefined brute.

  Lu Zhong didn't think that university life would have such an episode, but it's also quite interesting.

  To be honest, although Tian Shouhua looks down on laborers a bit, but at the beginning of this matter, it's really blaming Xiaoguang. With his pile of clothes, some have been washed and some haven't, piled together, with a faint strange smell. If someone has good hygiene habits, they would indeed find it hard to bear.

  "Let's go, let's all go out to eat." Meng Xianwei, the oldest in the dormitory, was making arrangements. He was the most senior and also the most stable, seemingly having a certain prestige in the dormitory. Patting Tian ShaoHua on the shoulder, Meng XianWei whispered a few words before saying: "Old Two, you have to come today too." Tian ShaoHua hesitated for a moment, but nodded his head slightly. It seemed that although he was a bit arrogant, he still wanted to integrate into this small collective of the dormitory.

  The whole dormitory had six people, plus Lu Zhong made seven, and they went to the small restaurant at the south gate in a mighty manner, occupying the large table by the window, ordering dishes.

  Looking at the slogan "Be mindful of thriftiness, waste is shameful" on the wall of a small restaurant, Lu Zhong slowly lit a cigarette and exhaled a long breath. Perhaps it's only now that we can breathe freely, but I don't know when it started, not just ordinary people, even government officials take pride in wasting and shame in being thrifty.

  In this era, many things were not perfect. Having just gone through the Cultural Revolution, various ideological enlightenments were emerging among the people. The authorities and cadres generally had low quality, and it was common to quarrel and scold on the scene. This was also because during the Cultural Revolution, official power was in disarray, and posting big-character posters and debating each other was once a prevailing trend. Now that the Cultural Revolution had just passed, officials were still far from achieving the state of immortality or Buddhahood, especially at the grassroots level.

  Now there is no slogan of humanized management and humanistic care, law enforcement agencies are generally rough in style, and it is still a campaign-style law enforcement, for example, the current severe crackdown, even if you steal a screw, you may be sentenced to death.

  This era, in a certain sense, is very oppressive and suffocating, it's the darkness before dawn.

  But this era is also the best era, with healthy and upward ideas, people generally abhor and despise ugly phenomena. Mainstream media has never been so powerless as to think that corrupt officials are talented and can make contributions and be given light sentences.

  It's just like now, a privately run restaurant has to put up signs reminding customers not to waste food; while more than 20 years later, mainstream media ridiculed foreign minister-level officials for not staying in luxury hotels when visiting China because the country is too poor. What a difference in social atmosphere!