Cassandra's Quest Through the Gorges Chapter 5

My Mother Evelyn took a boat down the Yangtze River, but she went up the Yangtze River, and they all came to Liang County. My Mother Evelyn said that at that time, the river was covered with moss, green and clear, and there were transparent peach fish floating in the water.

Cassandra Liu knew that the special jellyfish could no longer survive. The water quality of the Yangtze River had deteriorated greatly. In the summer, the water was turbulent and half of the river was filled with mud. It was hard to find any peach blossom fish. But the Commissioner's Office might still be able to find them - her Mother Evelyn asked her to take a look "by the way".

She asked the locals step by step and walked around the old city. It seems that even this is a wishful thinking. The original bungalow with corridors had long been converted into a cement building compound for government agencies. The Liangxian government agencies were the first to move into a magnificent and beautiful new government building. It is known as "the first move in the Three Gorges in a thousand miles". It seems that the leaders of Liangxian County are particularly interested in demolishing houses. positive. In fact, it is still early for the water to be fully impounded in 2009. It is just a large-scale construction project in the name of this. The cement houses of Liang County Government have been partially demolished, and the remaining part is now used as a "rodent control office". The backyard of the county government is piled with boxes of new and highly effective rodenticides shipped from ships, and the main courtyard is crowded with people. People receiving medicine: Distribution to individuals and units based on address, only a nominal handling fee is charged.

Among the noisy people receiving medicine, Cassandra Liu imagined the layout of the Commissioner's Office back then, those cloisters, the exquisite carved wooden structures of the courtyard, the flowers, trees and bonsai in the courtyard. There was rain and dew in the morning, sunshine every day, and flowers all year round.

Cassandra Liu imagined her Mother Evelyn carrying her with her big belly. Her Mother Evelyn’s face was very gentle, unlike her current Mother Evelyn, who only had elegance and grace but lacked femininity and even less maternal love.

The woman with short hair took a boat from Chongqing to Liangxian County. From a distance, she saw the gray and black hillsides. As the boat approached, she saw black tiles, moldy stone walls and wooden houses. The French church spire on the roof. Only by looking up can you see beyond those houses and see the peaks of the undulating mountains in the distance.

The commissioner's office was very grand, a bit like her Mother Evelyn's home, with a grape vine in the yard, flowers and plants everywhere, and peonies in particular. Liang County was much better than she thought, and had a long history. In the Qing Dynasty, there were small steamers passing through two or three nearby counties and towns. Soon there was a postal agency and a telegraph office, and later long-distance telephones. There were four schools, including a Catholic girls' school, which made her very happy.

One time, my Mother Evelyn accidentally walked into a street. There was a city wall there, very old but not collapsed, and the street was made of stone, but there were few people walking around. The sun set in the west, and people on the street lit oil lamps. There were more people, dressed in red and green, and the old women also wore skirts they wove themselves, with a lot of cloth in their hair. There was a courtyard that was unusually lively, with several young men wearing headscarves on their heads, dancing in a funeral dance. They walked in women's steps, and their hands danced with orchid fingers. The long-drawn tunes and the suona players were sweating profusely, and the people watching were crying and laughing.

She felt tired, so she entered a teahouse. There were many people there wearing strange costumes. An old woman came over and said to her: "Sister, you are new here. You are very happy. Have a drink."

After a while, the covered bowl of tea was served, and a young man held an iron pot with a long spout and poured water into the bowl from a distance. She drank tea while watching the crowds on the street, which looked like they were going to a market. The tea tasted like isatis root, a bit astringent, but it had a sweet aftertaste on the tip of her tongue. Looking out from the teahouse, a lot of purple jasmine bloomed on the stone wall.

It was pouring rain. She was trapped in the teahouse. There was a cry not far away. She was under the eaves of the teahouse and looked to see the monkey. The owner was the old woman, who took the monkey away. Suddenly, the sky darkened and a sound came from the primeval forest. It was very sharp and sounded very sad.

When the Mother Evelyn came home, the husband was very anxious. As a result, my husband told me that it was an old street in the Qing Dynasty, outside the city. If you are pregnant, you must not go there again. Mother Evelyn asked why? My husband said that it was a place where the Tujia and Miao people in the mountains went to market during festivals. It was uncivilized and wild. The city wall obstructed traffic and was ready to be demolished.

The Mother Evelyn was not unhappy after hearing this. On the contrary, she felt that her husband cared about her and she would not go out after get off work in the future. She said there were a lot of bamboos in the yard. She picked the bamboo cores and soaked them in boiled water to drink, which helped clear away the heat. She often takes walks there, reading several new literary and art books, and waits for her husband to come back.

The night I left Beijing, what my Mother Evelyn told me all happened the night before Cassandra Liu was born: My Mother Evelyn felt very uncomfortable during those few days while she was pregnant with the child, and her feet were severely swollen. She specially found a pair of larger cloth shoes, but they didn't fit at all. Unable to go out, she had to take leave from the Women's Federation, and her daily work was done by Aunt Mabel.

Someone knocked on the door in the middle of the night. Commissioner Liu was reading reports from various counties and districts by the kerosene lamp, his fingers tapping nervously on the paper. The knock on the courtyard gate was urgent and loud. Commissioner Liu stood up with a gloomy face: his wife had just felt better and fell asleep, but she was awakened by this. Commissioner Liu touched the pistol that he had unfastened and placed on the bedside. The person knocking on the door had entered the backyard and was talking to the guard.

Commissioner Liu opened the door and walked out.

The captain of the garrison came to report on the progress of the mission: he said that the female bully Honglian, who was ordered to be searched by Commissioner Liu, had been found and captured by the sentries who were ambushed at the pass in Nanhua Mountain.
 
The Minister of Armed Forces, Lao Chen, who was in charge of these matters, also came a step later. It seemed that the detachment leader went to him first, and Lao Chen asked him to come to find the specialist. The detachment leader must have come to report his achievement because he had captured a wanted criminal. He had thought that it would be difficult to track down the criminal, but he had slipped through the net and became a difficult problem to solve. He was severely criticized. Therefore, he and Lao Chen came to report.

Commissioner Liu was about to say what all the fuss was about, what was the big deal about catching a prostitute, why was it necessary to report it in the middle of the night, and there was no need to use guns or force. But that place name caught Commissioner Liu's attention.

"Nanhua Mountain?" he asked, "How far is the place where the person was caught from the Shuiyue Temple?"

Old Chen said, "It's on the road where pilgrims go up the mountain."

"Then Honglian was caught at the Zen Temple!" Commissioner Liu said.

Old Chen corrected himself and said, "It's not in the temple, it's on the road outside the temple."

"Then she is coming out of the temple." said Commissioner Liu.

"I don't know," Lao Chen said, looking at the detachment leader. The excited detachment leader was also confused by this series of questions.

Commissioner Liu thought for a moment and asked, "Where is the person?"

"It's still in the mountains. We'll ask them to come back tomorrow."

"Immediately draw a squad of troops from the security platoon of the Commissioner's Office." Commissioner Liu said to Lao Chen, "The more capable ones, all party members, I will go with you."

Old Chen was a little surprised. He didn't understand how important this prostitute was.

"It's too dark," Old Chen protested gently. "Only local soldiers can walk the mountain roads. Our veterans can't. But there aren't enough Party members among the newly recruited local soldiers."

"Bring a torch," Commissioner Liu ignored his protest. "Quick, you all prepare separately and execute the order. We will set off in ten minutes."

He turned back to the room, projecting his shadow to the bedside, and saw his wife half-climbing up in fear through the mosquito net, leaning against the head of the bed, looking at him worriedly. He said to her, "It's nothing, don't be afraid, it's much less dangerous than during the war. I'll be back soon, you go to sleep first."

Commissioner Liu blew out the kerosene lamp and left.

The Mother Evelyn didn't sleep well all night, waiting uneasily for her husband to come back. She has long been accustomed to him being busy with the revolution. It is not yet a peaceful time, and the situation seems to be more complicated. She waited uneasily all night, drifting off to sleep several times, only to be awakened immediately by the slightest sound.

Commissioner Liu left for a long time and did not come back almost all night. It was dawn when he returned home, his clothes covered in mud, and he took off his pistol belt. His Mother Evelyn quickly put on her clothes and made him a cup of hot tea. After making tea, she helped her husband take off his wet and dirty clothes and find some clean clothes. Commissioner Liu asked her to go to bed, saying that he could handle it himself.

"Your eyes are a little red and you haven't rested, okay?" he asked her with concern.

He woke up the guard and asked him to go to the kitchen to get some warm water, wash himself briefly, and put on clean clothes. He ordered the guard to stand at the door and not let anyone disturb him, and to wake him up at eight o'clock in the morning so that he could catch up on his sleep. Then he lay down on the bed and rested.

As soon as her husband got into bed, he fell asleep and snored. But her Mother Evelyn did not go to bed. She felt sorry for him because he was exhausted, so she was willing to stand guard at the door for him. At this time, she heard some noise in the street. It seemed that the market was coming earlier than usual. This day was the day of the market in Liang County every ten days. Recently, peace has been restored in the countryside, but the merchants in the city have not yet fully engaged in business, so the market is very prosperous. She simply went to the outer room to wash up. The guard was talking to someone in the yard, as if he was persuading them, so she went out.

When he saw his Mother Evelyn coming out, the guard said that he had stopped several groups of people so as not to affect Commissioner Liu's rest.

"They said Honglian was captured! And Zen Master Yutong." The guard couldn't help but tell her, "The guard platoon is now escorting people outside the city. The news has spread, and the whole city knows about it. There are a lot of people going to the market today, and now they are all crowded in the street. They say they will be taken into the city soon. People on the street are cursing the Zen master who has always been so righteous. Reactionaries are just thieves and whores!"

The Mother Evelyn immediately understood why her husband had rushed to the mountains last night, and she straightened her slightly wrinkled clothes. Birds were chirping and the clouds were very low. She felt suddenly uncomfortable, her stomach churned violently, and she felt like vomiting, so she moved to the threshold and held on to the door frame.

The guard didn't see her reaction and continued talking, at which moment there was another knock on the door in the yard.

She looked at the guard and said, "Quickly stop him and don't wake up Lao Liu." She felt her mouth was dry and she wanted to take a sip of water, so she turned and walked towards her room.

The Mother Evelyn opened the door quietly and came into the room. She took the comb and walked to the mirror. She accidentally knocked the mirror over, and it slid across the chair and fell to the ground with a clang.

Commissioner Liu woke up when he heard the sound. The light irritated his eyes, and he raised his hand to block it. He looked like a big child who needed love, like the young and honest officer who was still pursuing her in Chongqing. He was secretly a little in awe of the beautiful women in the city. He later told her that he didn't dare to talk to her at that time. When they were introduced to each other for the first time, he blushed before her. This touched her a little. A man who had been on the battlefield for a long time and fought for the people to build a red country was still so shy in front of her?

The Mother Evelyn picked up the mirror. It was not broken, but it had a crack. She sat blankly in her chair and said, "I'm sorry for waking you up." But her words were in vain because people were already making noise outside.

This voice reminded Commissioner Liu, and his childish and helpless look quickly disappeared. He immediately became the chief here and faced a critical point in the situation. He reached for his pocket watch and looked at it, then jumped out of bed and hurriedly put on his coat.

Mother Evelyn wanted to say something, but couldn't. Seeing her horrified face, Commissioner Liu understood what she was going to ask. He looked at his wife with a solemn and cold look - he had never looked at her like this before. Mother Evelyn was speechless, not knowing how to start, and she couldn't understand the whole situation. After all, she only heard a few words between him, the garrison commander and Lao Chen last night.

She brought a bowl of porridge, and before she could offer the pickled mustard, Commissioner Liu gulped it down, and he ate a second bowl. The atmosphere in the room was very depressing, he didn't speak, and his Mother Evelyn didn't speak either.
 
The garrison detachment leader called Commissioner Liu outside the house and said he was ready. Commissioner Liu walked with him to the public office.

She looked out the open door and saw their figures on the porch. She stood up, thought about it, and walked out. She couldn't walk fast, so she sat down and took a breath in front of the pool.

The cadres who were working were already in the office hall - the conference room, talking in groups of three or five. They could no longer go out to the street: the street was already crowded with people, and when they saw the cadres, they would come around to ask questions. The cadres didn't know how to respond. In this time of turmoil, they needed to listen to the instructions of the leaders first.

Seeing Commissioner Liu coming, the people rushed out of the conference room, and the courtyard was full of people. Commissioner Liu looked at the cadres and said decisively:

"The anti-counterrevolutionary team and the prostitute working group will stay here. The rest of the cadres please continue to work as usual and stick to their posts. There is nothing serious. Everything is within the normal scope of work. Don't lose your composure and give the reactionaries an opportunity to take advantage of you."

When only the relevant cadres were left in the yard, he briefly introduced the situation, laid out the propaganda points, organized the public trial meeting, drafted a report to the province and other matters.

Mother Evelyn felt very uncomfortable that day. The atmosphere in the yard was not right either. The noise on the street was getting louder and louder, and the sky suddenly turned white like the eyes of a dead fish. She walked back to the backyard, not knowing what would happen. She was nervous. Suddenly, there was a commotion in the yard, and a series of noisy footsteps. Honglian and Master Yutong were actually escorted in from the street. There were too many people, and she was worried about the baby in her belly, so she just stood in the corridor and didn't dare to squeeze forward.

She heard Commissioner Liu's angry roar, loudly: "Take it off and cover it up! How shameful!"

More and more people crowded into the Commissioner's Office, knocking over flower pots and trampling on newly sprouted daisies. Those people's faces were excited, their eyes were shining, and they were talking loudly. Commissioner Liu asked everyone to be quiet. He said: "We must pay attention to policies and must not act according to our temper. Even for counter-revolutionaries, we must pay attention to our party's consistent policy of not mistreating prisoners. The guard platoon is on guard here, and Minister Chen will go to the venue to make arrangements first. The prisoners will be put in the detention room of the Armed Forces Department first!"

My Mother Evelyn felt her chest was blocked and she couldn't breathe. She returned to her room, poured a glass of water, took a big sip, but immediately spat it out. Her mouth was bitter and astringent, probably because she didn't sleep well. Noisy shouts continued to come from outside. She wanted the guard to ask Sister Chen to come and keep her company for a while, but none of the guards were there. She thought Sister Chen must be very busy at the moment, mobilizing the masses and setting up the venue. She sat alone at the table, very hungry, and tried to eat some porridge, but it was still difficult to swallow. She went to the cafeteria, originally wanting to find some vegetable soup, but there was no one there, probably everyone had gone to watch the fun. She moved her steps back to the room, leaned against the head of the bed, took a deep breath, and felt better.

Commissioner Liu came back for a few minutes during this period and only said a few absent-minded words to her. He came to get his pistol, saying that he was going to the public trial venue to check. He didn't want to see any mistakes in this crucial move. I just had a phone call with the Provincial Party Committee and they have agreed to his handling. He did not say what the specific handling was. When his Mother Evelyn was about to ask him, he left in a hurry without even closing the door.

His Mother Evelyn stopped him and said she was feeling very unwell today and asked him to come back early.

He turned back a little angrily, but just said, this is the critical moment of the revolution, you should also cooperate, don't hold back! Then he waved his hand and left.

The Mother Evelyn looked at his back and felt that something was going to happen today. She had a hunch that something was wrong today.

The public trial meeting is in the center of the street, quite a distance from the public office. My Mother Evelyn could hear some distant thunderous shouts, but no one came to tell her the situation. She had never participated in a public trial, so she could only imagine. But she couldn't even think about this. She began to feel a sharp pain in her belly. The baby in her belly had always made some movements before, but it had never stretched out its arms and legs like this. It seemed that it was angry and wanted to be beaten out of the water prison. She felt the child's limbs and head beating her violently, and her moans turned into screams from time to time, but the child seemed to be in more pain. She was covered in sweat. At this time, the guard passed by the door, and my Mother Evelyn quickly turned sideways, called to him, and said imploringly:

"Go tell Lao Liu and call the doctor again."

The guard ran back panting and said he was looking for Commissioner Liu. Commissioner Liu was presiding over the public trial. The people's passion for accusations was in full swing and the public was boiling. At this critical moment, the commissioner was about to make a concluding speech and pronounce the verdict. Commissioner Liu asked his wife to bear with her for a while. He would come back after the meeting and asked the security guard to call a doctor first. The doctor said he would be there in a moment.

"When will the meeting be over?" she asked, lying in bed.

"It must have ended with the execution of the man..."

When she heard this, she couldn't help but moan in pain, almost roaring. "Is it going to end if I'm shot?" She burst into tears in pain, looking at the guard with her eyes fixed on her face and asked, "When will I be shot?"

"After the public trial, they will be shot on the spot immediately. The venue will be filled with sandbags to form an execution ground."

The Mother Evelyn then remembered that her husband had repeatedly said he wanted to check the scene. She said in a hoarse voice, "When will it be over?"

"It'll be over soon!" the guard said, "It'll be over soon!"

Suddenly, she woke up, stopped crying and asked, "Who to shoot?"

"Counterrevolutionaries."

"who?"

"Aren't they the monk and the prostitute we caught yesterday?!"

She was stunned. She was totally inexperienced. When her husband told her at noon that everything had been arranged, she had never guessed that this would be the result. She suddenly couldn't hold it anymore. She vomited like a jet and screamed, "Doctor, doctor!"

The soldiers from the guard squad ran in, sweating profusely, and said:

"Doctor Qi is busy. Sister Chen is about to give birth. She said the birth canal has opened. He said it will be ready soon. Come over right away!"

Another "right away"! The Mother Evelyn burst into tears. This child was really in trouble. She reached out and grabbed a corner of the mosquito net wrapped around the bed, pulled hard, and the mosquito net slid down, covering her face and body.
 
"The doctor said that Sister Chen's sudden labor was unexpected, and she was not due yet." The guard said, "He rushed here as soon as possible. Sister Chen fainted during the public trial and suddenly went into premature labor."

My Mother Evelyn couldn't listen to other people's affairs at this time. She could only deal with the situation by herself, but she calmed down. She opened the mosquito net and could only think about how to survive the life-or-death situation for herself and the little life in her belly.

At this moment, a roar like a tsunami came from afar, coming over the walls, doors and windows of the courtyard. The roar gradually weakened, as if the increasingly thin air could no longer carry the noisy voices.

Mother Evelyn only felt that her chest was getting heavier and heavier. There was just such a momentary pause, and the child in her belly began to twist and bite her intestines again. Her hair and clothes were all wet with sweat. In her hoarse shouts, she did not hear the slight sound of gunfire like firecrackers at the venue. , people shouted emotionally. Later there seemed to be a few more gunshots.

She was trying hard to control herself. "You have to hold on!" she said to herself. "You must hold on!" She bit her lips until they bled.

Boring conversation

Several restaurants had hot pots on the tables, and business seemed good, with some tables full of people eating. People were talking about how bad the rats were, saying that there were too many rotting dead rats in the old city, and flies would bite and infect people, causing red spots on their hands and feet and making them ill-tempered.

Some people say that the current poisonous rat medicine is not very powerful. In the past, if a rat took the medicine, he would fall to the ground within ten steps. Some people objected, saying that a month ago, farmers in the Tianshan Mountains used this "Ten Steps Down" rat poison to poison a greedy village chief to death. When the police arrived to arrest him, he had already poisoned himself. How miserable!

It seems that the whole city agrees that hot pot is absolutely safe after high temperature sterilization, so hot pot restaurants have been doing a booming business recently. Cassandra Liu doesn't think rats are a problem. It's not necessarily just rats that can spread diseases here. But she didn't dare to be careless. She felt that she was not very hungry. Even if she was hungry, she still didn't dare to try those hot pots that were spicy and numbing. A pot of soup, so many pairs of chopsticks stirring in it.

Some shops have signs with chalk writing: Fresh puffer fish, a famous dish in Xiajiang. My Mother Evelyn told me that the best time to eat puffer fish is during the Huangming Festival after the Qingming Festival. Liangxian chefs are actually the best at cooking puffer fish, but they are very particular about it. They cut open the puffer fish in the street and take out the most poisonous parts: the liver, the roe, and the eyes. They carefully remove them one by one. If any of them is damaged, they cannot eat it. The people in the shop saw Cassandra Liu watching curiously and advised her to try it once.

She smiled, which was a refusal. It would be more hygienic to eat at the hotel.

I passed by a small bookstore that looked well decorated and advertised "50% off new books" in a grand manner. She walked in and saw that they were all best-selling books across the country, but they were all pirated copies. She had heard in the newspaper that piracy was more rampant in the south than in the north, but she didn't expect it to be so blatant. She avoided the fashionable stuff and chose a novel from Akito's Notes that had no copyright.

The shop owner was very happy to have people come to visit him. He said that there were very few readers in this place, and he was thankful to meet one of them in a day.

She walked along the large glass window of the post office, and as she turned the corner, she saw the eye-catching sign of the Jinyue Hotel.

Everything here seems to be waiting for the completion of the Three Gorges Reservoir. Everything hangs on this hope. Time seems to have stopped. There are slogans everywhere saying "Start the countdown to water storage". On the 30th floor of the Jinyue Hotel, on an "Oriental Pearl"-style iron tower, there is a large neon countdown sign with the seconds flashing non-stop. It really seems like a race against time. In the old city, people seem to be sleepwalking while working. Everything is waiting. When the time comes, the mouse crossing the street suddenly turns into a prince in a fairy tale.

Cassandra Liu came to the western restaurant on the second floor and ordered a pasta dish and a beef and mushroom soup. She looked at her watch and saw that it was already half past one in the afternoon. No wonder there were no customers. But the two rows of waitresses stood there as usual, wearing traditional girl's cardigans, standing respectfully. They may have been standing there for two hours during this lunch.

Cassandra Liu was not used to the feudal style of China's new rich. In Beijing, whenever she saw such a grand restaurant, she would turn around and leave. But here she had no choice but to endure these "maids" standing for her. She was lucky that they did not adopt the kneeling service popular in coastal areas.

Chrysanthemum tea is served. While waiting for the food, she took out the map and looked at it, but she felt something on her back: someone was looking at her at the service desk. She looked over there, and there were several people, but none of them looked at her. It seems that most of the guests staying in this hotel are businessmen or engineering technicians. All of them are well-dressed and imposing figures. The female guests are all exquisite characters who pay attention to their appearance. There is nothing special about her. , except that they don’t know how to dress up.

Cassandra Liu likes primary colors, rejects clothes with bright patterns, and hates lace underwear. Unlike my Mother Evelyn, she designs her own clothes, which is close to the 1930s and 1940s. Most of them are made of silk, cotton and linen materials and are made by a tailor. They fit perfectly. Regardless of whether she wears pants or a skirt underneath, Cassandra Liu wears a loose black windbreaker on the outside. In her Mother Evelyn's words, Cassandra Liu hid her good figure and became a flat career woman.

She is not so proud as to refuse any makeup, but she always makes sure that people can't tell what she has painted on her face. Every time she puts on lipstick, she uses a tissue to wipe it off until the lipstick is no longer visible, in order to be simple and elegant. She never draws eyebrows, she has natural eyebrows, not too thick or too thin, not too scattered or messy, just as if they were carefully drawn.

Maybe she was dressed too casually, so she attracted attention, she thought.

After the meal, she took a nap for a while, half asleep and half awake. Oddly enough, when she opened her eyes and felt it was okay, and just when she stood up and stretched out her feet to find her shoes, the phone rang.

"It can't be Lu Sheng again," she thought. "I have already given in too much. This person should know better and give me some space."

She let the phone ring for a while before picking up it. It was not her husband's voice but a strange man's. He spoke in the local Mandarin blue and green. He said that he was disturbing Mrs. Li and asked her to forgive him. He was the manager of the Jinyue Hotel. He wondered if the lady had any special requirements for their service, but they would do their best to meet them.

What "Mrs. Li"! Cassandra Liu glanced at the green hills outside the window. There couldn't be anyone crawling on the glass window. Could it be that her conversation with Victor Li in the morning was overheard? What were these people doing here? Is there any privacy in this warehouse area? It's also possible that Director Elliott has a group of minions who do this kind of thing. But Victor Li already knew she was here, so why would these people reveal their true colors?

She couldn't figure out the logic behind it. The man's attitude was too humble. She was confused and didn't know what to say, so she thanked him and said that she had no request for the time being. She would bother him again when she thought of it.

She was just about to hang up the phone when the manager said, "Madam, could you please go downstairs to the lobby if it is convenient? He would like to meet you."

Cassandra Liu felt that something was going on, and she suppressed her unhappiness. "Is this what Victor Li asked you to do?"

The other party hesitated and did not answer directly.

She couldn't help but be a little curious. Was Victor Li going to show his kindness to her this time, to soften her heart and "subdue" her? Starting with sending her perfume, the entire team came out to attack her? He had never used such a clinging skill when he was in love before.

"Then I'll come down right away." Cassandra Liu said. She wanted to see what these people could satisfy her. She took out the room card and the room suddenly became dark. She was very angry, but she didn't know who to be angry with. After all, the other party just found out her "background". It didn't affect her in any way, but she had reason to be angry and annoyed. This trap made her very uncomfortable.

She rushed into the elevator. "Special service request"? Although this hotel is a four-star hotel, the facilities and decoration are very good. There is a shadowless projection light in the ceiling of the elevator, and the frames on the side are posted with tempting pictures of food, sauna, massage and beauty salon, gym and swimming pool. It's a bit tacky, but all hotels are like this, and the interest of five-star hotels is not much better. Everything is polished to a silvery shine, and the carpet is spotless.

Also, there is a red rose in the room and in the bathroom, which is quite elegant. The manager of this hotel must be a thoughtful person. I don't know why it is only rated 4 stars.

There were several men and women sitting on the brown leather sofa in the lobby. Some were reading newspapers, some looked like they were waiting for someone, and some were chatting. The manager who wanted to see her was among them. She walked straight towards the revolving door, deliberately ignoring it to see what was going on. But she was immediately stopped, and someone said softly behind her:

"Dr. Cassandra Liu, please wait."

Fortunately, there was no "Mrs. Li" this time, and this person knew her academic qualifications and titles. She turned around and saw two men and one woman. The woman leaned back tactfully. She didn't know if she was a secretary or something else. The men were all young, well-mannered, wearing suits and ties that matched their colors. They were all modern people who were in high spirits.

"I'm the manager here," a thin-faced man came up and stretched out his hand, "My surname is Zheng." He took out his gold-plated business card holder, picked up one with both hands, and handed it to Cassandra Liu respectfully. Another man wearing glasses walked up, and he quickly introduced him, saying that this was his friend, Director Wang from some office of the Liang County Government.

"Professor Cassandra Liu, I have admired her for a long time." Director Wang inquired in more detail, even knowing her title as a part-time lecturer at the Graduate School of the Academy of Sciences. "Can you ask Professor Liu to sit in the coffee shop for a few minutes?" Director Wang said. "It's over there. A few steps away."

Cassandra Liu looked at the quiet coffee bar at the other end of the lobby. She didn't know how to deal with this polite director. It wouldn't be a bad idea to sit there for a few minutes. She hasn't heard clearly yet, who is this person and the director of what office? She nodded.

The two gentlemen led the way very gentlemanly, while the lady followed half a step behind and accompanied Cassandra Liu. She didn't say a word, but had a gentle smile on her face.

The coffee table and chairs were all made of bamboo, but there was glass in the middle of the table, with gorgeous Miao embroidery. After they sat down, the man with glasses made it clear that he was the director of the Liang County "Relocation Office".

Migration Office, what does it have to do with her?

"Well, Professor Liu rarely comes here, and I don't want to waste your precious time," Director Wang said sincerely, without beating around the bush or speaking in a humble manner. "There is a more serious situation here: someone wants to use the issue of relocation fees to cause trouble."

Cassandra Liu looked at him in surprise. She has never cared about the relocation issue, but has only heard about this: the total static budget of the Three Gorges Project is 50 billion, but half of it is relocation costs, which costs an average of 30,000 yuan for each person who moves out of the reservoir area.

"Now some people, mainly farmers from the suburbs, are instigating people to come to the relocation office to ask for cash."

"Give it to them as much as the country has agreed to give them," Cassandra Liu said simply.

The two men looked at each other and Director Wang said, "Professor Liu doesn't seem to understand. This 30,000 yuan per person includes the cost of relocation infrastructure, house construction, moving expenses, travel expenses, new area development expenses, etc. The national policy is , we can settle accounts with the relocated residents one by one after the relocation is finalized. We believe that the people understand this. Many people have never received so much cash in their lives, and we are very grateful to the government."

The coffee was served, emitting a strong aroma. There was a staircase in the coffee shop pool, on which three girls in green silk clothes appeared and started dancing. Under the soft light, a singer appeared and sang the song "I Love the Country More than the Beauty" from the TV series. Cassandra Liu glanced over there and saw the girls twisting their waists.

Cassandra Liu added sugar cubes and slowly stirred them with a spoon. She said:

"So what's the fuss now?"

"Some bad people instigated that the Liang County government misappropriated the money for investment in stocks and bonds, and that the funds could not be recovered if the investment failed. People from several nearby districts and towns are gathering and preparing to take to the streets," said Director Wang with a frown.

"Liang County government embezzled funds?" Cassandra Liu was no fool, and immediately understood what was going on. "Who in the government could embezzle funds? You are the director of the Relocation Office, you know best." Her words were sharp, and she knew that she was up to no good, so she stood up. "I am really an outsider, I won't waste your time."

Director Wang was also anxious. "Mr. Li said: The Three Gorges Project raised funds through multiple channels and in multiple ways. If you deposit cash in a bank, the regular interest rate is only 2% per year. Investment can generate profits, and wasting the interest is wasting the people's money!"

Cassandra Liu suddenly turned around and said to him sharply:

"Go talk to Mr. Li. I never ask about this kind of thing, and I won't get involved now."

Director Wang stood up, and Cassandra Liu thought he was really going to block her way. But he was still very polite, and he just said, "Mr. Li knows about the flow of funds of the Liang County Relocation Office."

After hearing this, Cassandra Liu didn't leave. She looked Director Wang up and down. "You mean," she said word by word, "Victor Li worked with you to speculate on the relocation costs? Can you provide evidence?" She pressed again. The next step is, "If you have evidence, why don't you show it to the people and tell them not to cause trouble in Liang County?"

Director Wang panicked and said hurriedly, "No, I don't mean that at all. Professor Liu, please listen to my explanation. A few bad guys are making trouble, and we have enough power to deal with it. And we have already done the explanation work. We just hope that Mr. Li will do it tonight." Come, there won't be any misunderstanding."

"What's the misunderstanding?" Cassandra Liu felt that Director Wang was getting more and more ridiculous as he spoke, so he simply sat down and said, "Please tell me clearly, what's the misunderstanding?"

Seeing that Cassandra Liu was serious and ready to listen, Director Wang calmed down and patiently explained to Cassandra Liu.

"First, Mr. Li is coming to Liang County for inspection. Tomorrow, all the branches of the foreign financing group will gather here. No one knows about this, but these bad guys just chose this time to cause trouble. How much loss do you think it will bring?"

"It's not like I told the people in Liang County, right?" Cassandra Liu still didn't want to let him off, but she already understood why this man was so anxious.

"Of course not. But Professor Liu happens to be here, and Professor Liu can see that we have tried our best."

Cassandra Liu said "Yeah" in her heart, and understood the details. These people had tried their best, but they still had to deliver a sentence.

She looked at the two people, and the hotel manager deliberately hid behind: This should not be the hotel manager's business, he was just helping a friend. But when Cassandra Liu heard this and saw Director Wang's knowing smile on his face, she became even more annoyed.

"I won't say anything! I don't understand the situation at all. Saying that A and B may be misreporting military information; I repeat for the last time, I never care about his business." She stood up, "I am passing by here alone to meet friends. "It has nothing to do with Victor Li." She was a little annoyed with herself, why she got involved in such an inexplicable thing. "I don't think I'll remember today's meeting, and you'd better forget it too."

Director Wang nodded in agreement to her words and said, "When Professor Liu comes to our Liang County, we should try our best to provide convenience - maybe Professor Liu is interested in the widespread sowing of the improved genetically modified Nanqing No. 3 rice here? Last year, we screened the hybrid progeny, used isotopic markers as probes for the transposable elements, and then screened the target genes with homologous transposable elements, achieving a large-area planting and a 25% increase in yield. "

Cassandra Liu was shocked. This director did a great job in the investigation. He found out everything. To be honest, she was really interested in the planting situation of Nanqing No. 3. She had just seen an internal report that challenged the actual planting value of this improved gene variety. She rarely met grassroots cadres who were interested in genetic engineering, and even fewer who could explain it clearly. It seemed that this kid surnamed Wang was a man with a heart.

"If Professor Liu has time, we can go and have a look. The experimental fields are not far from here. There are dozens of acres of terraced fields on the west slope. We deliberately used fields with low yields and poor conditions to see what the results are. It takes less than half an hour to drive there."

They sang English songs on the stage, such as "Red River Valley". They sang most of the words wrong, but they still sang and danced. Cassandra Liu couldn't help but frowned and looked at her watch. It was still early for dinner. Anyway, she had already made her attitude clear. I don't think Director Wang would dare to bother her with the migration fee. This opportunity is rare. Director Wang, who is from the migration office, has no motive for managing genetically modified rice.

"High-yield planting is an important part of resettling immigrants," Director Wang seemed to understand that Cassandra Liu still had doubts in her heart, "This is the focus of our work." He no longer mentioned the relocation fee.

The "rioting" crowd

Whatever Cassandra Liu's impulse was in going out with Director Wang, she soon realized that she had been duped.

Director Wang excitedly used his mobile phone to arrange the arrangements immediately. A silver Mercedes-Benz hidden somewhere drove out and parked in front of the hotel. The car was completely out of place in this half-baked city, but it fit in quite well with this hotel. The woman who had been sitting silently aside, said she was a cadre from the relocation office, also got into the car with her. She was wearing a skirt suit, but she wore a French floral silk scarf from Pierre Cardin. She wore very heavy makeup, glittering eye shadow, and the same bright red lipstick as the silk scarf. Cassandra Liu looked at this overdressed female cadre and remembered that female cadres like Aunt Mabel and her Mother Evelyn in those days were only the most elegant blue khaki Lenin outfit with a belt. She knew this was something that couldn't be compared, but she didn't want to strike up a conversation with this woman, so she sat in the front seat next to the driver.

Five minutes after the car drove out, she felt that the trip was very unlucky - their car drove along Huansha Road, the most luxurious cross-street in the new city, and was stopped by a policeman as soon as they approached the central garden square where the Liang County Government is located.

The policeman raised his hand to stop the car, lowered his head to look in the window, asked the driver what unit he was from, and said that he had to check the documents before letting him go. But he immediately saw Director Wang, saluted, exchanged a few words, and then made way. Cassandra Liu didn't understand what they said, and she didn't listen carefully, because she found that something seemed to be happening on the street ahead. Many people gathered on the street, facing the really beautiful new building of the Liang County Government.

As the car slowly approached, Cassandra Liu discovered that among the large group of people, someone was holding something in his hand, which seemed to be a large envelope with some words written on it. Nearly a hundred people were sitting quietly under the stone steps of the government office's white building. There was a row of uniformed guards in front of the person holding the letter, and there were also guards in front of the stone steps. But they didn't look like the type of police who had stopped their car just now.
 
The car stopped. Director Wang said a few words to the driver, then opened the door and walked out.

Cassandra Liu suddenly understood that they were not passing by by chance. It seemed that he had come straight to this place. This matter was directly related to him, the director of the relocation office. He just wanted to be present and "explain to the masses". He deliberately moved Cassandra Liu to this place. Bring Cui here. For what purpose, she wasn't quite sure yet. Just let her be a witness to prove that he did his job of persuasion?

She remembered that Director Wang had gone to great lengths to find her because someone was causing trouble over the relocation fee issue. Wasn't this the place where the "trouble was" happening?

Cassandra Liu regretted agreeing to go to see the Nanqing No. 3 rice with Director Wang. Director Wang would not be interested in genetic engineering for no reason, and he would not have the time to accompany her to see some experimental rice fields at such a panic moment. She knew her own problem long ago - outsiders knew too little about this profession. In her opinion, everyone should be interested in genetic engineering, and the whole world will undergo tremendous changes, but most people just rolled their eyes at her.

Cassandra Liu asked the driver where he was going.

The driver said he didn't want to go and just stopped here.

The lady in the back seat felt that Cassandra Liu might be worried, so she said, "It's okay, it's safe here. Director Wang will be back soon, and we will go to the west hillside."

Since it was a "riot", Cassandra Liu immediately thought of the picture that appeared on the TV news. If there was a disturbance anywhere in the world, the car would be smashed first, turned over, and then set on fire. By parking such a luxurious car here, aren't you looking for trouble? Should drive away as soon as possible. But she no longer wanted to find out what these people were doing - she now understood that once her "madam identity" was exposed, there would be no peace in this place.

She originally thought that Victor Li was in charge of project management, and she didn't know that he was directly involved in so many things, even "transactional" work such as reservoir relocation.

Thinking of this, she really couldn't sit down and didn't want to look at that d@mn rice. She opened the car door suddenly. Just when the female cadre was about to say something to her, she stretched out her hand as if to grab her, but she had already walked out. The female cadre also quickly got out of the car and stood on the road, but did not follow.

She just wanted to avoid this trick of Director Wang, and hurriedly walked in the opposite direction of the crowd. But after walking for a while, she felt something was wrong. A familiar face appeared in the crowd, flashing through the crowd. She stopped and looked over to the crowd. Director Wang was working there, saying something excitedly in the local dialect. Those who were sitting in silence stood up, most of them were listening, but some were refuting. Who was that face that caught her attention? Who could she know here?

In fact, as long as she leaves the circle of cadres in the Kurdistan Region, no one will know her. She is a safe bystander. Is there any need to avoid it?

She thought of that face. By the way, it was the most ordinary person from a semi-rural county. Even if he had a crew cut, he could still tell that his hair was sparse and he always had a humble expression. She remembered that it was Aunt Mabel's son, his name was Chen Yueming. Wasn't he painting landscapes in the temple?

Cassandra Liu deliberately avoided the Mercedes-Benz and came to a photo shop with a Kodak advertisement on the street. The shop had three steps. She walked up and looked back. The face in the crowd was obscured by the heads of the onlookers, big and small, and only appeared sometimes. Yes, it must be Yueming, still wearing his Zhongshan suit, but he washed off the ink stains, or maybe changed into another one.

How did Chen Yueming get here? What is he here for? She simply walked down the steps and walked into the crowd, and then she saw clearly that Yue Ming was also holding a letter in her hand, a large leather envelope, and she looked extremely anxious. She looked closer and saw that the people holding the letters were actually standing in a row. There were only six people in total. Some of the words on the envelope were written with a brush and some with an ink pen, but they were "Zhiliang County Government: Regarding Relocation" What's wrong with Fei Zhong?" She couldn't see clearly. The people were moving, and some of the handwriting was too small. It seems to be "deductions for foundation projects" and "deductions for housing construction". She glanced at an opening and finally saw clearly that the envelope in Yueming's hand said "Education for Primary School Students".

Aunt Mabel said Yueming was a primary school teacher in the suburbs. Cassandra Liu suddenly remembered.

Director Wang was answering him loudly, "It is the policy that the children of the relocated residents should go to schools close to the place where they moved."

Yueming said, "The policy also states that those who have difficulties in obtaining educational facilities in the place where they move to can receive appropriate subsidies."

"This needs to be discussed and resolved by both parties. Specific issues should be solved specifically. It is impossible to treat them all the time." Director Wang pushed his glasses.

"Students cannot afford to be delayed. If they are delayed for a year, they will simply drop out of school. Children in rural areas are originally from poor families and have difficulty studying, which has always been a big problem." Yueming's voice became louder, almost shouting. . The people around were also talking about it.

Cassandra Liu felt that Yueming's question was definitely reasonable, but with such a migration, it was probably inevitable that elementary school students would drop out of school. If the other school could be compensated with money, it would be a solution. The turmoil caused by the migration fee should not be entangled with the small expense of education fees. But both parties were very excited, and it was not as simple as she thought. Maybe she didn't hear the conversation in dialect clearly. She really wanted to hear it clearly, and unknowingly got closer and closer. She could already smell the sweat of the people around her. There were almost no young women among the onlookers, so people saw that Cassandra Liu looked like a woman from another place and consciously moved aside to avoid squeezing her.

Director Wang seemed very patient at this time. He did not look like the arrogant young talent she had seen when she first met him. He looked more like a local cadre, speaking in the local accent, and his posture and tone were like those of the locals in the restaurant, and he was even as loud and noisy.

Yue Ming was pushed aside early in the morning, and his question disappeared from the debate. Those people seemed to want Director Wang to deliver the letter on their behalf. He pulled back his raised hand, as if he was making excuses, saying that he could not directly receive letters from the masses and should hand them over to the relevant departments.

"The Migration Office is the relevant department."
 
"No, the Complaints and Complaints Department is the relevant department." Director Wang said, "There are many things that cannot be solved by the relocation office."

Someone in the crowd was yelling something. Director Wang waved his hand, as if to say that he could not bear this responsibility. At this moment, Cassandra Liu suddenly heard the sound of a police car behind her. She turned around and saw that dozens of uniformed policemen had surrounded the crowd from all sides, holding batons in their hands.

The Sheriff was playing his flute to tell the crowd to disperse. Only then did Cassandra Liu notice that there were at least a few hundred people gathered around to watch, and residents of the shanty towns in the lower city came with their children and their families, holding pieces of paper with their difficulties and demands written on them. The road was completely blocked and cars on both sides were waiting patiently without honking their horns.

The police chief shouted: "Disperse, go back." The siren blew, and soon after, the police pressed forward in a certain formation, waving their batons randomly in their hands, and the crowd immediately ran around with their heads in their hands. The police on the side pointed in the direction with their batons and asked the people to pass between them. When I ran outside the circle, I stopped asking. Those people stood far away, still watching.

Cassandra Liu's mind was stuck, thinking that she didn't need to leave, she was just an observer. Of course, most other people might be onlookers, but she felt that she was different. Running away seemed to mean that she had made some mistake. What's wrong with her?

While she was hesitating, before she had time to think about what to do, she found that there were only seven or eight people around her, and even the person who delivered the letter was not there. She must have seen the situation and dropped the letter and ran away. Before she could figure out what was going on, she was stopped by the police with a baton and was not allowed to leave.

She turned back to look for Director Wang. He had disappeared a long time ago. He didn't know when he slipped away. At this time, she saw two policemen on the other side of the stone staircase pressing a man to the ground and kicking him violently. Yueming was standing on the edge of the police circle. Instead of running away, he ran over to stop the beating policeman. However, the policeman behind him knocked him to the ground with a baton and pinned him down on the stone stairs.

Cassandra Liu was anxious and was about to run towards Yueming, but her arms were firmly grasped by two policemen and the police car had already driven up in front of her.

In this damned little place, the police uniforms were quite neat and modern, but the police cars were old with peeling paint and shaking iron gates. The police were also strange, young men with green hair and black leather boots polished to a shine, arresting people with all their might, her arm was pinched and hurt, and she couldn't help but scream.

"What's your name?" The policeman was about to swing his baton at her, but when he saw that she was a woman and not a local, he lowered his arm in confusion.

They shouted for a while and pushed the person into the car. Seeing the police arresting people, the crowd dispersed automatically, and the "riot" was over. But she was clearly in the police car, and the door slammed shut and bolted from the outside, leaving only the barred window.