Borrow flowers to offer Buddha

  Lin Zhenhua and others spent a night at the police station. The next day, the car had been repaired, everyone bid farewell to Lu Zhiqiang, got on the car and headed to Xiangping Province's provincial city of Tanzhou.

  As soon as they got on the car, He Lan insisted on sitting with Lin Zhenhua together. No wonder, all the others in the car were adults, and only Lin Zhenhua was closest to her age, making him the only one she could talk to. Along the way, He Lan asked questions nonstop and chatted happily with Lin Zhenhua. As a person from the future, Lin Zhenhua simply searched for some jokes online and told them to He Lan, which made her laugh out loud. The more Lin Zhenhua teased He Lan, the more she stuck to him, eventually treating him like an all-knowing big brother.

  "Lin Gege, can you recite poetry?"

  "Can I? Can you?"

  "Of course I will, I'll... twenty-five poems."

  "That's great, recite one for me to hear, okay?"

  "Alright, I've recited mine, how about you recite one for me to hear?"

  "Alright, you go first."

  "I recite a poem by Chairman Mao, With a five-foot rifle, spirited and heroic, The dawn breaks on the drill ground, Chinese sons and daughters have great ambitions, Not loving red dresses but loving military attire."

  "Recite well, recite well." The surrounding passengers all applauded together. This little girl was pretty and had a nice voice, and she recited a poem that left everyone in a state of pleasant surprise.

  "Alright, I've recited mine, now it's your turn to recite one for me," said He Lan.

  "Hmm, I'll recite one too." Lin Zhenhua thought for a moment and chose a poem from that era to recite:

  "I am your old and worn-out waterwheel by the river"

  Spinning a tired song for hundreds of years

  I am the miner's lamp on your forehead

  As you grope in the tunnel of history

  I am withered rice ear

  It is a dilapidated roadbed

  A flatboat on the shoal

  Pull the rope tight

  Roll up your sleeves

  "Oh, Motherland!"

  "I think the poem you recited is quite strange." He Lan stared at Lin Zhenhua with her big eyes, "I seem to not understand it, yet it sounds very comfortable. What poem were you reciting?"

  "This is a vague poem, comrade. You recited this one, but I've never heard it before?" asked a young passenger sitting behind Lin Zhenhua. In that era, there were many literary youths, but few literary masters, so the literary youths were all familiar with what kind of poetry was popular on the market.

  Lin Zhenhua hesitated for a moment, and finally didn't dare say it was his own writing. He muttered: "This is Shu Ting's new poem, I think it hasn't been officially published yet. I also remembered it after hearing someone recite it."

  "That's great, can you recite it again? I didn't take notes just now." The young passenger took out a notebook and began to record with a pen from his breast pocket. This brother had three pens in his breast pocket, which looked like a pen repairman at first glance.

  Lin Zhenhua finished dealing with the literary youth, and He Haifeng smiled slightly on one side: "Little Lin, not bad, I see your cultural level is not low."

  "Hehe, in the army... I also learned some things."

  "Not bad, not bad," He Haifeng said. "When I heard you reciting the poem, your rhythm and tone control were both in place, which shows that you fully understand the atmosphere of this poem. A retired soldier can do this, it's really not bad."

  Lin Zhenhua scratched his head, not understanding whether He Haifeng was praising or belittling himself. However, the cultural level of retired soldiers like him is generally not too high, which is a widely accepted view in society. He Haifeng's words are not excessive. He Haifeng is 20 years older than Lin Zhenhua and can be considered Lin Zhenhua's elder, so he has the qualifications to evaluate Lin Zhenhua.

  All the way, they were singing and dancing, and by the time the long-distance bus arrived in Tanzhou, He Lan had already become inseparable from Lin Zhenhua. She tilted her head and asked He Haifeng: "Dad, can we invite Brother Lin to our home for a visit?"

  Lin Zhenhua didn't wait for He Haifeng to speak, and waved his hand repeatedly: "No, no, I still have things to do, I need to go back to Jiangnan Province."

  "Don't be like that, I want you to come home and play." He Lan said with a pout.

  He Haifeng patted He Lan's head and said, "Lanlan, don't make trouble. Lin Gege still needs to go home. We'll invite Lin Gege over to play another time." After that, he looked at his watch, furrowed his brow, and said to Lin Zhenhua, "Xiao Lin, the train tickets are a bit tight now. Today's train tickets are probably all gone. If you want to leave, it will probably have to be tomorrow. Otherwise, why don't you really come stay at my place?"

  He said so, but in his heart he was not very sure. His family had only two rooms, and it would be difficult to accommodate Lin Zhenhua. If it didn't work out, they could only ask the unit's guest house to find a bed for Lin Zhenhua.

  "It's okay, it's okay." Lin Zhenhua shook his head and said, "I'll go to the train station first, if not, I can just find a hotel to stay for the night."

  He Haifeng said: "Alright, I'll go with you to the train station and take a look."

  Lin Zhenhua said: "No need, you've been on the bus for two days, Lanhua must be tired too, it's time to go home and rest."

  "I'm not tired!" He Lan said, as long as she could be with Lin Gege, she didn't feel tired.

  He Haifeng smiled: "Xiao Lin, it's okay, actually we're also on the way, I'll accompany you for a trip."

  At that time, Changsha was not very big either. As the provincial capital, there were buses. He Haifeng took Lin Zhenhua to the train station by bus and asked at the window. The tickets for that day had indeed been sold out, and Lin Zhenhua could only buy a ticket for the next day.

  "Heh heh, you can only stay here for one night now." He Haifeng said, "Let's go, come to my place and sit down, I'll treat you to dinner, then find a hotel for you."

  Lin Zhenhua shook his head: "If it's convenient, just help me find a hotel. I've never been to Tanzhou before, so I'll just take a walk around Tanzhou myself."

  He Haifeng hesitated for a moment, then said: "Alright, I'll introduce you to a place, the Red Star Ceramic Factory, which is one of our Light Industry Department's subordinate units. If their guest house has vacant rooms, I think they shouldn't charge you any money."

  Lin Zhenhua said: "That's good too, thank you Old He."

  In that era, blatant corruption was not uncommon, but using one's position to help a friend get a free room at a subordinate unit's reception center, like He Haifeng did, didn't count as corruption. Although he said that going to find a reception center to stay in would only cost 80 cents, being able to save 80 cents was also a matter of face back then.

  Then the three people got on the bus again and arrived at Hongxing Ceramic Factory. He Haifeng and He Lan were both locals in Tanzhou, with a monthly ticket in their pockets, so they didn't need to pay for the ride. Lin Zhenhua bought his own ticket, spending one yuan. If staying in the guest house could really save eight cents, then Lin Zhenhua would have saved seven cents. In fact, Lin Zhenhua didn't think saving these seven cents had much significance; as someone from a later generation, he had no concept of such small amounts of money. He just wanted to experience the way people thought back then.

  "Ah, where are you from? What wind brought you here?" As soon as the three of them arrived at Red Star Ceramics Factory, Director Yu Jianmin warmly welcomed them and shook hands with He Haifeng, asking about his well-being.

  "Lao You, I'm here to trouble you." He Hai Feng said, pointing to Lin Zhen Hua and introducing him: "This is Xiao Lin, Lin Zhen Hua, the hero of the self-defense counterattack war. This time I brought Lan Lan back home for a family visit, on the way we encountered bandits, Xiao Lin bravely fought off the bandits, he's Lan Lan's lifesaver."

  "Welcome, welcome." Yu Jianmin hastily came over and shook hands with Lin Zhenhua.

  "Kobayashi is going back to Jiangsu Province, he bought a train ticket for tomorrow, but has nowhere to stay tonight..." He Haifeng said with a long sigh.

  "Live in our hostel." Yu Jianmin reacted quickly and took over, "I'll let the service staff open a single room for you. I'm a person who admires heroes the most."

  "Then thank you, Director Yu," Lin Zhenhua said with a smile. He knew that Yu Jianmin's move was entirely to give face to He Haifeng. Without He Haifeng, even if he were the hero of the self-defense counterattack war, let alone one of the founding fathers, Old Yu wouldn't necessarily know who he was.

  "Since you're here, why don't we go to the small cafeteria and grab a quick bite?" You Jianmin said with a smile. "We have some work to do anyway, might as well take this opportunity to report to Director He."

  He Haifeng also wanted this effect. When he was in Hongshan Commune, he didn't treat Lin Zhenhua well and always felt a little guilty. This time, bringing Lin Zhenhua to the Red Star Ceramic Factory is to borrow flowers to offer Buddha, inviting Lin Zhenhua to have a good meal. As the director of the Light Industry Department, coming down to the factory, there's no reason for the factory not to invite him to dinner.