Chapter 113
Qiao Wei did not know that while she was with Yan Lei and district leaders discussing the Xiahekou matter with Military District leaders, several people in the County Government Residential Compound were also mentioning her name.
“This Qiao Wei, she’s as slippery as an eel!” someone said with annoyance.
He was the Standing Committee member who had been in a political struggle with Secretary Meng, and his surname was Guan. Standing Committee Member Guan felt very unhappy about today’s general meeting.
Of course, Secretary Meng could not make a comeback, but today’s meeting just rubbed Standing Committee Member Guan the wrong way.
Originally, this should have been a satisfying meeting for him, a spirited and uplifting meeting, a meeting where he would raise his arm and everyone would respond.
It had all been spoiled by Qiao Wei taking the lead.
She was challenging his authority!
“Zengyue, does she have any weak spots?” he asked. “Any dirt on her? You’re in the same office as her, do you know anything?”
“No,” Huang Zengyue answered without hesitation. “She has no issues in her work, has never made any mistakes, and there’s no other dirt on her.”
Standing Committee Member Guan said, “She used to write so many articles…”
“Not a single one had any problems,” Huang Zengyue continued, shattering his fantasy. “Her choice of words and phrasing is extremely cautious. You can’t find any fault in them.”
He had actually realized this a long time ago.
When people read them, it was easy to get caught up in the emotions. That was because she was a good writer.
When Huang Zengyue read them, he would step back from those emotions and read with a critical eye. Then he was surprised to discover that although Qiao Wei was so young, her writing was so cautious. He bet that after she finished every article, she reviewed it strictly herself and only submitted it to the leaders after there was no risk at all.
Huang Zengyue’s initial good impression of Qiao Wei came from the prudence hidden beneath her passionate words.
This was very close to his own style; there was a sense of being kindred spirits.
“She doesn’t eat from the same pot as us,” Standing Committee Member Guan said with certainty.
Today at the meeting, he had felt it from the look in her eyes. Meng Zuoyi had fallen, yet she showed no panic or fear; she even dared to feign compliance while acting in opposition. Her speech seemed like she had said something, but in reality, she hadn’t said a damn thing.
Others were just following the trend, but she was the one who made Standing Committee Member Guan the angriest.
“We must get rid of her,” he said. “The office is a place we must control.”
Theoretically speaking, it was very easy for them to get rid of someone at this time.
But Huang Zengyue calmly reminded him, “She is a military dependent.”
Standing Committee Member Guan’s excited mood was instantly doused with cold water.
Right, she was a military dependent. There weren’t many military dependents in the county, and she was the first one, as well as the one who was most highly regarded. She was also a benchmark-like existence in the hearts of the Military District leaders.
She could not be easily touched.
But when people became wicked, they always had ideas. Soon, Standing Committee Member Guan thought of a way: “Make her into a ‘loose woman’!”
“If she becomes a ‘loose woman,’ her husband won’t want her anymore, and they will definitely divorce!”
Through this method, he could strip her of her status as a military dependent and make her lose the protection of the Military District and her husband.
Huang Zengyue’s fingers holding the cigarette paused, and he lifted his eyelids to look at this despicable man.
Just as Standing Committee Member Guan thought “this is a brilliant idea,” he said coldly, “If you really do that… her husband might not want her.”
“But…”
He said, “But that doesn’t mean her husband will let you off. If you use this kind of tactic against a military dependent, the Military District won’t let you off either. Otherwise, wouldn’t military dependents become the soft underbelly of the Military Unit? To be squeezed by anyone? Which of the Military District leaders is a pushover?”
The military at this time was a military that had truly seen blood and killed enemies. The military’s leading cadres all had a fierce spirit, and their style of doing things was very tough and iron-fisted.
The local authorities really dared not provoke them.
Moreover, the hatred of having one’s wife insulted was almost the same as the hatred of having one’s father killed for a man.
Standing Committee Member Guan also couldn’t help but be wary.
This Qiao Wei was really difficult to handle, Standing Committee Member Guan hated deeply.
Huang Zengyue said, “Just transfer her to another post later.”
Standing Committee Member Guan recalled how Qiao Wei had let his highly anticipated scene today fall through, and said bitterly, “Make her go scoop manure!”
But he was only talking. With Qiao Wei’s status as a dependent of a regimental-level cadre, it was impossible to assign her such a position.
Qiao Wei did not know that the malice from others had been blocked for her by Huang Zengyue.
She herself actually really wanted to transfer positions. Secretary Meng had fallen, so the county would only become more chaotic in the future.
Qiao Wei did not want to get caught up in this chaos. On the way home in the car, she was actually considering whether she should find a way to return to Xiahekou.
But the young men and women in green military uniforms and red armbands she saw after getting off the car made her sober up again—at this time, there was no pure land.
But she still wanted to do her best to protect the small town.
“A crackdown,” she suggested to Division Commander Pan. “Cleaning up the bad elements in the revolutionary ranks is certainly good, but it won’t do for some opportunists to take advantage of the situation to disrupt social order. I don’t know if you’ve heard about what happened to Regimental Commander Zhao’s daughter, but this kind of thing must never happen again around the Military District.”
Regimental Commander Zhao’s Yingzi was thirteen years old and was already blossoming into a beautiful young girl.
That day she went to learn farming as usual, but she had a bit of a stomachache and spent a little too long in the latrine. By the time she finished, everyone else had left, and she was walking back by herself.
It was getting dark by the time she reached the town, and she encountered two or three young men. She didn’t know if they were students; nowadays, everyone wore green military uniforms, and they didn’t really go to school, just wandering the streets all day.
The young men took advantage of the darkness to have evil intentions.
Yingzi, however, was not someone to be trifled with. She had learned a few tricks from Regimental Commander Zhao and managed to crack one of their heads open with half a brick. All three of them were scared off.
It was just that it was pitch black, and she hadn’t seen their faces clearly. Regimental Commander Zhao later took people out to chase them, but didn’t catch anyone, and was so angry he stomped his feet.
For Qiao Wei, this incident was a ready-made reason.
“I propose that the District Government Armed Forces Department and the Military District form a joint security team to severely crack down on criminal activities, work together, and strengthen security management in the areas surrounding the Military District.”
Crack down on crime, maintain public order.
This was just the surface reason she gave; everyone in the room understood what she actually wanted—she wanted military control.
This was definitely beneficial to the Military District. Division Commander Pan nodded: “Good.”
Returning home, Qiao Wei told Yan Lei many details of the day.
“I always treated him as a revolutionary partner who would face these things together with me,” she said.
This was the point that hurt her the most.
A backstab.
Yan Lei patted her back comfortingly.
Qiao Wei was an optimistic and positive person; she was always able to adjust and control her emotions well.
Yan Lei rarely saw her so unhappy.
It showed that Huang Zengyue had truly disappointed her.
Qiao Wei vented her emotions and regained her calm. She said, “I want to return to the district.”
Yan Lei naturally agreed. The district was full of acquaintances, and it had closer contact with the Military District than the county, which meant it was right under their noses and would be much safer.
But he frowned: “Who is in charge in the county now?”
Counting Secretary Meng, three of the county’s standing committee members had already fallen.
“The Organization Department leader is still there. I’ll go find the Organization Department leader to pull some strings,” Qiao Wei said.
But the next day, the Organization Department leader refused Qiao Wei: “It won’t work now. Qiao, it’s not that I’m not giving you face, but all personnel matters are frozen now. No one can come in, and no one can go out.”
Qiao Wei asked: “Who is actually in charge now?”
The Organization Department leader said: “The old structure is now completely suspended, and a new Revolutionary Committee is being built. If you want to transfer, you have to wait a while. Hey, let’s not talk about this, let’s go, let’s go to the auditorium together.”
Even if Qiao Wei hadn’t given Standing Committee Member Guan the climax he wanted yesterday, it couldn’t stop Secretary Meng from being convicted.
This time, Qiao Wei sat in the main audience area and watched quietly until the end.
After the meeting, when she returned to the office, Secretary Meng’s office had already been cleared out, and someone was moving things inside.
Qiao Wei stopped the person and asked: “Who is coming over?”
The other person replied: “Who else could it be.”
Naturally, it was Standing Committee Member Guan. He was now the head of the radical faction, and in the soon-to-be-established Revolutionary Committee, he would become the top leader, a representative of revolutionary cadres.
Qiao Wei hated his face; he had clearly bent his waist to Secretary Meng before.
Huang Zengyue suddenly came to find her.
“You rest at home for a few days, and come over after things stabilize in a few days,” he advised her. “There’s a lot of movement these days. Don’t be stubborn and insist on going against them. They are already planning to target you.”
Qiao Wei asked in a low voice: “How do they want to target me? I am a military dependent!”
“You are a female comrade,” Huang Zengyue said. “It is easiest to ruin a female comrade’s reputation.”
The things he hinted at made Qiao Wei’s back go cold.
Huang Zengyue saw it, and he comforted her: “I stopped it.”
Qiao Wei took a deep breath.
Now, although things were still chaotic and the structure had not yet been finalized, Huang Zengyue would undoubtedly become a powerful figure.
“Zengyue, I want to transfer back to the district,” she said. “I want to go back to the Broadcasting Station.”
But Huang Zengyue did not agree to her, he only said: “We’ll talk about it later. You rest for a few days first.”
Qiao Wei was silent for a moment, but still said sincerely: “Zengyue… thank you.”
Huang Zengyue nodded and turned to leave.
Qiao Wei didn’t eat lunch and picked up Xiangxiang to go home.
On the street, she saw neat teams walking in the direction of the District Committee Residential Compound.
Someone recognized her and stopped to greet her: “Sister-in-law! Why are you back at this time?”
Qiao Wei asked: “What is this for?”
Actually, she had guessed it.
Sure enough, the other person said: “We held a meeting this morning and formed a joint security team with the District Committee.”
As expected of the military, there were no repetitive and useless meetings, and the efficiency was super high. The suggestion was given only yesterday, and the team was already sent over today.
Qiao Wei let out a long sigh: “That’s great.”
At this moment, when she had been frightened, this was a great comfort to her.
Returning to her own front gate, she saw the slogan “If people do not offend me, I will not offend them; if people offend me, I will surely offend them” outside the courtyard wall. It had been exposed to wind and rain for more than a year and had faded a bit.
She should find someone to repaint these slogans, Qiao Wei thought.
These slogans now gave her a sense of security.
The familiar loess mud walls at home gave her a sense of security.
Qiao Wei had been home for less than an hour when she heard the sound of tires rubbing against the ground.
At this time, this sound was too stimulating to the nerves.
Fortunately, Yan Lei’s voice sounded immediately: “Qiao Wei! Qiao Wei!”
Qiao Wei went to pull the bolt on the courtyard gate, and Yan Lei came in.
He was in his military uniform, his brows furrowed: “Are you okay?”
It was so good that he could return to her side at this time! Qiao Wei hugged him tightly and pressed her face against his chest.
Yan Lei hugged her tightly: “Qiao Wei?”
“I’m fine, I’m fine,” Qiao Wei said, calming down. “Why are you back?”
“They arrived at the District Committee and called me, saying they saw you on the way. I rushed back to see,” Yan Lei said.
The situation was very chaotic, so one had to be careful. Qiao Wei had suddenly returned in the middle of the day, so something must have happened. Yan Lei’s men had subconsciously called Yan Lei immediately upon arriving at the government compound.
Yan Lei looked Qiao Wei up and down: “What’s wrong?”
Qiao Wei told him what Huang Zengyue had said.
Someone had attempted, or at least had once attempted, to use such despicable means to harm Qiao Wei.
Yan Lei hadn’t shown such a sharp expression in front of her for a long time.
There was anger in his eyes!
