Cassandra's Quest Through the Gorges Chapter 8

If what Aunt Mabel said was basically true, even if it was the fact that she and Lao Chen had seen, assuming it was only a partial truth - Cassandra Liu thought, then her entire life was too dirty, too violent, too cruel, and not only that, it contained a basic injustice, a basic inversion. Even the bloodshed that was inevitable during the revolutionary era, even if there had always been wrongful and false cases in every movement, could not justify this kind of evil.
 
Aunt Mabel said, "The detention center where you are being held today was previously where the Liang County Armed Forces Department held prisoners."

Cassandra Liu looked at Aunt Mabel and asked nervously, "Are you talking about the place where Honglian and Master Yutong were imprisoned?"

"Yes," Aunt Mabel replied, "it's just that there wasn't a parking lot before. Old Chen worked there."

Cassandra Liu held her face with both hands, and kept saying in her heart, "It's terrible, it's terrible." Although she didn't figure out what went wrong, her hands couldn't help shaking, but she controlled herself and didn't make a sound, so as not to let Aunt Mabel see. Aunt Mabel seemed to know what she was thinking, and held her head and gently stroked her hair.

No one spoke in the house for a long time. There were sounds of firecrackers in the distance. It was unclear whether it was a wedding or a funeral. The sound of firecrackers lasted for a long time, as if the entire city had become quiet just to listen to the sound.

It was Aunt Mabel who said, "It's too late, let's go back, it's almost eleven o'clock." As she spoke, she pulled open the mosquito net.

Cassandra Liu nodded. She had so many questions she wanted to ask that she didn't know how to ask them.

She found a pair of shoes on the ground and put them on. If anyone should repent, it was not her, nor her Mother Evelyn, but her father. However, her father was no longer in this world, and had become a soul beyond the rivers and mountains.

Cassandra Liu was very sad. She looked at the darkness outside the window and shouted in her heart: Father, if your soul is here, will you understand why I refuse to cry? Have you atone for your sins and paid off your debts?

Cassandra Liu suddenly felt that if there was anyone who died with a soul, then her father might come and lead her to see clearly some things before she was born, knowing that she was now in Liang County.

The father in her memory was not a cunning politician at all. On the contrary, in the province and in the complicated struggle of the cadre system of the Southwest Bureau, he always tried his best to avoid it, and his political career seemed to avoid all disputes.

My father did not rise step by step. In the early 1950s, he seemed to rise very fast, from Liang County to Chongqing City, and then to Chengdu, the provincial capital. After that, he honestly worked as the deputy director of the Propaganda Department of the Provincial Party Committee. He did nothing with a sharp edge, without edges and corners, and was a gray figure. The position of the Propaganda Department was indeed the most dangerous. He felt like he was on the edge of an abyss and treading on thin ice. Because he pretended to be deaf and dumb, he was not the first to fall.

There is a photo at home of my parents taken in Chongqing when they got married. My father is wearing a military uniform, looking a bit rustic and honest, while my Mother Evelyn is handsome, with revolutionary short hair, and can be cut elegantly. She is wearing a Lenin uniform with double rows. The button type was rarely seen later. It's really eye-catching. Judging from the photos, my father should love my Mother Evelyn very much.

Later, she was born. There is another photo taken in Chongqing. Her Mother Evelyn is holding her and her father is standing behind her. The family looks very happy. Her Mother Evelyn still looks so quiet and elegant. She doesn't show any tiredness on her face. She is smiling. On the contrary, her father looks stiff and old-fashioned. The seams of his Zhongshan suit are straight, as if he has just been starched and ironed and hung on the hanger. His hair may have just been cut. Too much hair has been cut on the temples. The hair on top is straight, as if it was drawn according to the measurement. In today's society, my father's appearance would be considered too rustic. He definitely doesn't look like someone who is capable or ambitious and can play political tricks.

In Cassandra Liu's memory, his father doted on his Mother Evelyn and he obeyed his Mother Evelyn in everything at home. She didn't have many opportunities to see her father when she was a child. The school for the children of cadres was very strict and they were only allowed to go home on Sundays. Her father didn't have many days at home on Sundays, and even less time when he wasn't reading documents at home. The opportunities to go out and play with her were extremely rare.

When she was a child, she always believed that her Mother Evelyn had taken away her father's love and all his time. At night, she sneaked to the door of her parents' room, but she couldn't push it open because the door was closed tightly. She was sitting on the ground at the door. One time she caught a cold and her father asked her, so she told her. After hearing this, her father hugged her tightly. That night, he crawled on the ground and let her ride.

She wanted to go to the park with her father and ride in his car. On her birthday, her father came to the school, asked for leave for her, and took her to Du Fu Thatched Cottage. It was rainy in Chengdu that year, and everything was wet. When she and her father walked into the teahouse, the rain poured down. The lotus pond was full of lotus leaves, but no flowers had bloomed. Her father asked her to recite Du Fu's poems, and she recited one after another. The sound of rain hitting the lotus leaves, there was no one around, and the whole Du Fu Thatched Cottage seemed to belong to them.

One summer vacation, her father gave up a meeting in another place and took her and her Mother Evelyn to climb Mount Emei together. She was still in the second grade of elementary school at that time, and she couldn't climb the stone steps for a while. She had to use her hands to climb the stone steps. Her father asked her to sit on his shoulders and carry her along. He said, "Xiao Cui, my father can still carry you now, but in a few years my father will not be able to carry you when he gets old."

"It doesn't matter, I will carry you when the time comes, Dad." She said, "I will do many things for you when I grow up."

She didn't mention her Mother Evelyn at all, and her Mother Evelyn said, "Xiao Cui is biased!"

They took a photo on the top of Mount Emei, and since then there has never been a chance for the three of them to take a photo together. In the group photo on the mountain, my Mother Evelyn was very loving and did not compete with her for her father. My father stood in the middle, holding her and her Mother Evelyn with both hands. Almost three-quarters of the entire photo is a background of rolling mountains, and the three people only occupy a little of the frame.

At the beginning of the Cultural Revolution, it was a dark and chaotic time. She had just entered high school and joined the Red Guards. She did not go home and had no intention or desire to inquire about her father's news. Perhaps she subconsciously knew that inquiring would bring no good results and she could not handle bad news.

The forces of various rebel organizations rose and fell, sometimes winning and sometimes losing power. She lived in the team headquarters all day and night, copying big-character posters and slogans. Until one day, a coup occurred in their organization. A group of children of lower-level cadres who were originally lower-level members formed a new "service team" and broke into the headquarters, saying that they wanted to eliminate the children of capitalist roaders among the leaders. After a period of beating, kicking and swearing, the people from the old headquarters were detained and called one by one to speak. In fact, the truth is the same: if this organization wants to survive, only by changing the leadership structure can it save itself. Otherwise, it will always be the "old guard" and cannot participate in the rebellion, and everyone will be finished together. Therefore, everyone from the old headquarters must withdraw from the organization, including "staff members" like her who copied the big-character posters.
 
She was called in. She said that she was not a "child of the capitalist roaders".

The girl who used to be a subordinate ran around the table to her and said with concern, "You don't know if it's true or not? Your father has been locked up in the cowshed for a long time. He was arrested two days ago. , announced that he is a monster of the Provincial Party Committee, and there are many slogans in the Provincial Party Committee compound to defeat your father. "

She said she had never been back and really didn’t know.

The girl said, "Go and see, go and see, draw the line carefully, and don't make political mistakes." She was also the son of a cadre, and her attitude was quite sympathetic. "However, today is the Provincial Party Committee's criticism meeting, and your father may be on the stage. It's okay if you don't go today."

That afternoon, she managed to resist the urge to go to her father. That afternoon, her heart was boiling like a frying pan. She walked alone on the moat embankment without a destination, crying as she walked. Perhaps her tears dried up at that moment, and she rarely cried bitterly in her life. The whole city was covered with flyers, including the flyers with ink all over her hands. Even the moat was filled with flyers, but those who hurried by did not notice her.

She also participated in criticizing people, but the "conservative" Red Guards generally criticized bourgeois intellectuals, professors and experts, etc. The female Red Guards would attack the professors' wives and capture them to accompany them in the struggle. She did the same. These "bourgeois" women were pushing and shoving, and although she had never hit anyone, she couldn't remember hitting anyone.

She could imagine her father on stage: half of his hair shaved, a heavy wooden block hanging from his neck, his name written in ink, some red bars scribbled on it, and all kinds of the most unbearable adjectives added in front. He was tied up with his arms behind his back by the rebel Red Guards and sat on a jet plane. She could imagine it all. She didn't feel pain, but she felt very humiliated.

She had known for a long time that among the cadres who resigned from the Provincial Party Committee one after another, many people hated her father, saying that he became a "roly-poly" and held great power by pretending to be stupid. The father's "not getting involved" eventually became the most important reason why he was tortured to death.

She didn't go back secretly until night, thinking that she could at least see her Mother Evelyn. But the house was sealed. She walked to the other side of the yard and looked for the old guard. That guard was considered to have joined the provincial party committee's rebel organization. Seeing that it was her who knocked on the door, the guard immediately shushed her with his finger to keep quiet.

The guard helped her open the door carefully, removed the half-broken seal, and prepared to seal it later.

Under the dim light, there was nothing in the house. Most of the "politically incorrect" books were torn and scattered on the floor, especially my parents' beloved thread-bound books. All the porcelain was smashed on the floor. The furniture was destroyed, and not even a single piece of her own room was intact. The security guard said that his room had not been raided, so some daily necessities were temporarily placed in his room.

Cassandra Liu asked where her parents were. The guard didn't know either, and he could only protect himself. But he told Cassandra Liu that her Mother Evelyn was also captured by the rebels, but her father secretly left a note.

My father's letter said that after Cassandra Liu read the letter, she should leave Chengdu and go to Beijing to find her old boss, Uncle Li, who was still in the army and the situation would be much better. The guard took out two hundred yuan and said it was left by my father.

She held the money and the letter in her hands, her nose felt sour, and she almost started crying, but she turned around and left resolutely.

She has never returned home since then. Even if she received news of her father's suicide, Uncle Li would not let her return to Chengdu. However, the Mother Evelyn was sent to work at the provincial party committee cadre school hundreds of miles away, and she did not let her daughter return to Chengdu. At that time, Cassandra Liu had become Uncle Li's "adopted daughter". She went to the grassland of Inner Mongolia to work on a military farm, and became half a soldier. Later, she joined the army directly. Joining the army was the first choice for the children of cadres at that time. She was grateful from the bottom of her heart that her father gave up his life and gave her a lucky path.

Later, the faction in the province that persecuted my father collapsed, my father's problems were "rehabilitated", my Mother Evelyn resumed her work, and since my father was "no longer problematic", Cassandra Liu also entered university that year. In Cassandra Liu's memory, she never lived well with her Mother Evelyn. It was only very late that her Mother Evelyn found a way to transfer to Beijing.

Their real "reunion" as a family was when a formal memorial service was held for their father at the New Provincial Party Committee. A total of one thousand people attended, and Uncle Li's family also made a special trip. But at that time, she still didn't dare to ask her father what political problems he had encountered, and he was so desperate.

Throughout his life, his father was nothing but a victim of political struggle. Even before the Cultural Revolution, he was always cautious in his words and deeds, and never got angry. When he had a chance to talk to his daughter, he would just repeatedly teach her to "be obedient." Who should she listen to? Cassandra Liu certainly knew.

How could my father be the kind of person Aunt Mabel described?

However, she had no reason to suspect that Aunt Mabel would lie to her: there was no motive at all - everything had disappeared with the wind, and what should be forgotten had long been forgotten. The men of this generation have gone to the grave, and the widows are waiting at the edge of the grave. , why is it necessary to re-weave such a complicated and terrifying story?

She remembered that her Mother Evelyn had repeatedly asked her to go to Liang County to meet Aunt Mabel, someone she had not wanted to have any contact with for decades. Could it be that her Mother Evelyn must have some feeling about the truth and the suffering of the Chen family, but was afraid to face it herself, leaving her, her daughter, to bear the burden of the past?

At this time, Cassandra Liu thought of the direct purpose of coming to Aunt Mabel's house tonight, and felt very embarrassed: "What's the point of taking out money at this time?" What kind of debt can be redeemed, what kind of favor can be shown? She didn't want to hear Aunt Mabel say, "Put the money away. Aunt Mabel will starve to death, and she won't come to your door to beg for rice soup." Of course, Aunt Mabel has never said such a mean thing so far. She tried her best to talk about the suffering she suffered during the years, except that she blamed her own fate.

But why not give it out? It's not about who owes whom, and no one should repay the favor. This is hers, and has nothing to do with the previous generation.

But she couldn't say anything. When she left, she still took the briefcase with her.

With her husband

As soon as Cassandra Liu closed her eyes, she saw a group of teenagers beating a man in his 40s or 50s, pinning him against the wall and punching and kicking him. The man fell to the ground, begging for mercy. They still kicked him in the face, leaving blood and flesh, and the sound of bones breaking. In the end, there was a large blood pool on the ground.
 
During the Cultural Revolution, she saw many tragic scenes of people hanging themselves or jumping off buildings, but she never connected them with her father's death. She never imagined what her father looked like when he died. Although she always regretted not seeing her father for the last time. Uncle Li did not tell her immediately after her father committed suicide. Of course, if she rushed back to Chengdu, she might not be able to see her father's body.

My Mother Evelyn didn't want to talk much about that period of time, and she was never willing to mention my father's death. My Mother Evelyn said that after my father was subjected to continuous criticism, he finally couldn't bear it mentally, and he jumped off the building and committed suicide after becoming confused.

The father who remained in her heart had gray hair on his temples, spoke in a low voice, and was careful and patient in his work. The look in his eyes when he looked at his daughter was always full of love and kindness. The last time she saw her father was when she was returning home from school. It suddenly rained heavily and blew strongly, and she hid in the corner of the street. At this time, her father appeared with an umbrella in the wind and rain, and said to her that he knew she was blocked here by the rain. His smile was kind, his steps seemed a little clumsy, he wore a wrinkled short shirt, his back was a little hunched, and there were wrinkles at the corners of his eyes, but he looked more like her father. She would rather keep this memory.

She turned over, her whole face sunken into the soft pillow. The monk and prostitute who were unjustly killed that Aunt Mabel mentioned kept flashing in her mind. The firing squad raised their guns, their eyes filled with nameless terror. Dark red blood flowed down a large slope. I don't know why there was so much blood, it was like turning on a tap. The two bodies were wrapped in broken straw mats, thrown into the pit, covered with soil, and buried. Aunt Mabel said that people here always take a detour and don't pass by the dam halfway up the mountain. They said it was the place where people were killed. Even the sun doesn't shine on that piece of land, for fear of bringing bad luck. Later, it became a middle school playground. The slope was flattened and covered with cement, and a fence was erected to become a basketball court. The locals, the older generation, had long forgotten the case, and the younger generation had heard of it but it was like wind in their ears. No one remembered it. But she still didn't want to go there.

Last night, Aunt Mabel accompanied her back to the hotel and stopped at the entrance of the hotel, saying that it was inconvenient for ordinary people to enter the hotel dressed like this. She said to Cassandra Liu, "Have a good sleep. You also make me worried, just like worrying about Yueming. Yueming has a meticulous personality. Although he can't take care of himself, he is very filial. He is the greatest comfort in my life!"

"Could it be..." Cassandra Liu's doubtful words almost burst out of her mouth.

Aunt Mabel looked at Cassandra Liu, held Cassandra Liu's hand, and suddenly said, "Honglian is here to repay my kindness - I helped her escape back then, but I didn't expect to send her to death. I never knew she hated her. I still appreciate me. Now, I know she appreciates me."

Aunt Mabel's words made Cassandra Liu shudder with fear: It seems that Aunt Mabel firmly believes that Yueming is the reincarnation of Honglian. According to this reasoning, she should have thought of herself... But this is too absurd.

Just when she was about to speak, Aunt Mabel had already walked away.

Her father's ashes were later sent back to his hometown of Anyang, Henan. After the burial, Cassandra Liu never went there to visit the grave again. All her memories of her father are associated with Sichuan.

She felt that it was already daybreak, although the curtains of this kind of hotel were always so thick that not a single bit of light could penetrate. She knew that it was finally daybreak, but she could not open her eyes, as if they were glued shut. Someone should knock on the door, or the phone should ring, or the hotel staff should knock on the door. Then she could completely end this painful sleep of cold sweats.

But it never came. She was still lying on the bed. The water was full of rotten things, and more of them were hair strands, tangled together. She didn't know whether they belonged to the dead or the living. Those black hairs were on the water. She wanted to separate them. To surface. But she failed to do it, and she fell into the water again. Those details, which were chaotic and illogical, came to her again, asking her to go in and see clearly.

She felt that there was only one person who could understand her troubles. Who could it be? After much thought, she found that only Victor Li was her protector, the man who had been her brother for many years and later became her husband. She tried it and shouted with all her strength, "Lu Sheng!"

She heard an echo.

Finally I opened my eyes and touched the pillow, my cheeks were covered with tears. Victor Li was indeed at the other end of the room, sitting sideways with a desk lamp on, probably reading some documents.

For the first time, she noticed that Victor Li was wearing glasses, which must have been reading glasses. Has this everlasting young man lost his vision? The question brought her back to reality easily.

She sat up, "Lu Sheng, are you here?"

Victor Li quickly took off his glasses and said, "When I came in last night, you were already asleep and I didn't wake you up." He was wearing underwear but put on a nightgown.

She felt her throat was hoarse, as if she had burped something. She rubbed her eyes.

"What time is it already?"

Victor Li looked at his watch. Say, "It's almost nine o'clock. You must be exhausted yesterday."

"Yesterday?" Cassandra Liu thought, "What happened yesterday?"

"You were detained in a detention center by the people of this d@mn place." Victor Li sat down beside her bed. "I'm so sorry, I haven't asked you what's going on yet."

"Oh, that little thing!" Cassandra Liu jumped up from the bed, "I forgot about it!" She walked into the bathroom, turned on the hot water to take a shower, and washed her hair again. She felt that her whole body was smelly, and it was not from the smelly detention center yesterday. She had washed it carefully before going to bed last night. She let the water wash down, trying to wash away the blood that had just surfaced in her mind. She poured out several small bottles of shampoo, leaving a thick layer of white foam on the soles of her feet, and turned on the water. After two minutes, the sound of rushing water stopped.

She wrapped a large clean towel around her chest, tied it, and went to the bathroom to blow dry her hair.

His wife's lack of care made Victor Li happy. He stood at the door of the bathroom, smiled and said to Cassandra Liu, "Really, I don't care about this kind of seventh-grade sesame official."

"A commoner like me has forgotten, how can a high-ranking official like you still remember." Cassandra Liu turned off the hair dryer and combed her hair with a comb. She combed her hair back without leaving any bangs, which made her forehead look quite high. .
 
"You are so generous." Victor Li pretended to be angry and walked back to the table to look at the documents. Cassandra Liu looked at his back, wondering how many hours he slept last night. It was almost twelve o'clock when she returned to the hotel. Because there were no taxis or buses, there were motorcycles, but she didn't dare to call them. She felt that the motorcycles were wild at night and it was obvious that she was an outsider. If she walked back to the hotel, she might not be able to find the shortcut in the dark. There was a drunkard who was singing and cursing and throwing stones at the house under the stairs. When she was hesitating, Aunt Mabel caught up with a flashlight and sent her to the hotel before walking back by herself. She opened the room and was very tired, so she fell asleep. Victor Li might not come in until after one o'clock, when she would be fast asleep.

She didn't know when this person got up in the morning. She knew that the cadres nowadays couldn't do much in the morning, so they were busy all night and took a nap in the morning. But Victor Li spent the morning reading a bunch of reports and materials.

Victor Li opened the curtains, and the room was filled with sunlight. Cassandra Liu could see his face clearly and felt that her husband had really aged. At least he looked more haggard recently, and there were two moles on his left cheek. She was probably the same in his eyes, except that she could not recognize the changes in herself.

Cassandra Liu said, "Close the curtains a little."

Victor Li smiled and pointed out the window. There was only the rapids of the Yangtze River in the sun, the layers of green hills on the other side, and the small bungalow in the shadows of the trees on the small island.

"Afraid of who will see it?" He winked mischievously. He returned to his desk and put on his glasses.

She shouldn't let the chaos of the older generation interfere with her life. She thought about it and decided not to tell Victor Li about her meeting with Aunt Mabel. She didn't want to talk to him about those old things. She didn't want to talk about them. So she said:

"Why did they let you go this morning? No one came to arrest you, and no one called to scare you?"

"I unplugged the phone line, turned off the phone, and hung up the 'Do Not Disturb' sign outside the door. Let's see what they do?" Victor Li said, turning around and looking at Cassandra Liu.

"Okay, from now on the king will not go to court early!" Cassandra Liu smiled.

"Then it depends on the imperial c*n*ub*ne taking a bath every morning." Victor Li walked up.

Cassandra Liu scratched his nose with her finger and said, "Don't be ridiculous."

But the towel on her body fell off when Victor Li touched her. She quickly got on the bed and covered herself with the bed sheet. She never liked to be naked. She didn't know about other women, but she knew herself. She liked to cover her body, as if it would make her feel safer. But when Victor Li got on the bed, her face turned red. This double bed was very big, and the bed in this room was a large double bed, different from the double beds in other rooms. But this room was what she wanted, not her husband's conspiracy.

Victor Li hugged her and kissed her. Touching her washed and scented hair, he whispered: "You left me alone and made me feel miserable. It's only been a while since I've done this."

Only then did Cassandra Liu remember that the reason why she hurried from the dam area to this Liang County was the figure of a mysterious woman. Although she had no evidence and was not interested in pursuing the matter so far, this Victor Li couldn't pretend like this - Pure as a lamb. She pushed him:

"Wait, let's be clear, are you really that clean?"

Victor Li hugged her tighter and said, "Absolutely, absolutely clean. You know, I was reading the internal report of the Xiamen Yuanhua case just now, and several vice-ministerial officials were dragged into the water. I thought to myself, in my position, I can handle billions of dollars at a time. If my wife has even the slightest selfishness, I will definitely not be able to figure it out. No matter how careful I am, I will be bitten by someone." He kissed her fiercely, "My wife really makes me convinced from the bottom of my heart!"

Cassandra Liu understood that he was not answering the question, but she didn't know whether he was avoiding the question on purpose or had misheard. Victor Li pulled away the quilt covering her.

"Look, it's clean and flawless." He suddenly saw her knees. "It's like this?"

She didn't want to say it, but he had guessed what was going on. His voice sounded very emotional and distressed: "Why are the people in this place so messed up? I'm sorry that you have suffered! But it makes you look more flawless."

His words touched Cassandra Liu. Should I continue asking? It would be too sour to continue asking. Victor Li had already taken off his clothes and got into the bed. It was important for the country's money to be clean and honest, and it was a good thing that Victor Li said that.

As for that matter, of course, she had to make it clear that she was not the kind of wife who was manipulated by her husband. But at this particular moment, she didn't know what to do.

Victor Li had entered her body, but her body was naturally excited. But I don't want to be with him - she wanted to make it clear, but she would wait until later, she said to herself, she would torture him when she had time!

Her body felt better immediately. Victor Li and Cassandra Liu reached climax almost at the same time, and when their bodies separated, they were already sweating.

Victor Li took a hot towel from the bathroom and gave it to Cassandra Liu, then took a shower himself. When the others came out, Cassandra Liu said to him, "Take a rest for a while, I'll guard the door for you."

Victor Li obediently returned to bed and watched Cassandra Liu close the curtains. "No one dares to come. You gave them a taste of it yesterday." He yawned twice and said with a smile, "I think we can leave this ghost place tomorrow."

"Where are you going?" Cassandra Liu asked. She took out a carton of orange juice from the refrigerator, poured it into two glasses, and handed one to Victor Li.

He took a big sip and said:

"Go back to our home in the dam area! Your vacation won't only be three days, right?"

"Isn't it still a hotel?" Cassandra Liu said unhappily. She held the cup and felt vaguely reluctant to leave this place so soon, although she didn't know why.

"Borrow me a house." Victor Li looked at Cassandra Liu. "The dam district is calling on employees to buy houses and put down roots, but I know you won't be willing."

Cassandra Liu didn't say anything, drinking orange juice. She knew Victor Li wouldn't wait for her answer. Her house in the Academy of Sciences was considered their home, although it didn't have a homey atmosphere. Books were placed in the living room and bedroom, like a library. One room was filled with suitcases of various sizes, and another small room had her bicycle. There was a set of pots, bowls, and cups, and the refrigerator was full of frozen foods from the supermarket that could be heated in the microwave. They both had responsibilities, and she might have a bigger one. But her career was not something she could sacrifice just because she was willing to. Several national research projects were linked to her laboratory.
 
Victor Li put the cup on the bedside table, lay down and closed his eyes. "Don't think about anything else for now. Tonight's important banquet, I don't know how it happened, those Hong Kong and Taiwan businessmen all know that my 'wife' is here, and they must meet her at the banquet. They all brought their families. I thought, after so many days of busy work, this is the last hurdle, please do me a favor and attend. I wonder if you can get the 'wife''s consent?"

Cassandra Liu walked to the window sill and sat on the sofa. Then she answered: "What's the big deal that I have to attend? You know I don't like banquets. I'm exhausted after eating. Is it worth it to put on a smile for several hours?"

Victor Li sat up, picked up the clothes beside the bed, and put them on. "I haven't had a chance to tell you yet. The Three Gorges Fund does not rely on the Planning Commission, because there are too many people in trouble. In fact, we don't need to rely on state investment. We issue Pinghu bonds and raise funds ourselves. We can completely borrow chickens to lay eggs. Hong Kong Two financing groups from Taiwan and Taiwan are interested in investing. In fact, the money is easy to handle, and there are other sources. The political significance is more important today. During the day, people from Liangxian County will accompany me to visit. In the afternoon, I will sign an agreement of intent to see if the intention can be consolidated. , the experience is that the banquet should be held well in the evening. "

"So you want me, your 'wife', to join in the fun for you! Did I put aside my experiment just to do something like this?" Cassandra Liu deliberately exaggerated her unhappiness.

"Just expose it for a while, a while, just once. Not to mention your appearance. I think the wives of those wealthy businessmen are more beautiful than the other, and they are far more beautiful than one of your toes." He put on his socks, but his eyes were fixed on Liu Brilliant bare feet. "The person who revealed your identity during the incognito private interview was you. Originally, I was not willing to show off my lovely wife."

Cassandra Liu jumped up and pulled the curtain cord. The curtain hung very well and the curtain almost opened automatically.

"It's okay to expose yourself once, it's not like you're going to be killed. But the manager of this hotel is a spy! He was the one who eavesdropped on our phone calls and brought in Director Wang! How did I reveal my identity myself?"

Victor Li shushed her and told her to calm down and listen.

There were footsteps outside the door, very urgent. "Someone is eavesdropping again!"

Victor Li and Cassandra Liu smiled at each other. "To open or not to open, that is the question," he said.

As if in response to his words, a gentle, tentative knock on the door sounded.

Victor Li picked up Cassandra Liu, put her on the bed, and pulled the blanket over her. "I'll be out now, you can rest for a while." He kissed Cassandra Liu on the lips. "At 6 pm in the banquet hall downstairs, I'll pick you up at 5:30 - thank you, I'll thank you again tonight."

He looked at his watch and frowned. He walked to the door and stood in front of the full-length mirror and took a good look at himself. Suddenly he turned around and said to Cassandra Liu, "Look, I don't eat Tang Monk's meat. I'm afraid I am Tang Monk, and these people want to eat me!" There was an arrogance on his face that was mocking the mediocrity, "Tang Monk also has a few punches and kicks, I'm afraid I'm just Tang Monk." It's not that easy, right?"

This was probably an answer to her statement about being a spy. He always speaks in such a mysterious manner and doesn't bother to explain clearly. There was another knock on the door. He opened the door a little and stepped out.

Chaotic situation

Being a lady, all you have to do is wait for the evening banquet. What kind of life is this?

Cassandra Liu couldn't quite understand such a woman, but such a woman could make a man happy - for example, Victor Li always said that she was a good wife material: "She can be good at both housework and work in the kitchen." It was really ideal for such a woman to be an official's wife, and Victor Li would treat her better.

But she couldn't go to the hall or the kitchen. When given a choice between cooking and eating instant noodles, she always chooses the latter. In all these years, she had never cooked a decent meal for her husband, and she had never entertained any guests at home. In her parents' house, and later in her adoptive father's house, she always had an aunt, so she didn't have to do anything. In fact, she ate in the cafeteria almost all her life. Only after arriving in the United States, living on a poor state-funded scholarship, did she have to cook by herself. Most of the time, Victor Li was the cook, and she helped him, washing vegetables and dishes. Later, when Cassandra Liu received laboratory research assistance funds, she suddenly became much richer. But they still save time and concentrate on their studies on weekdays. If they are really greedy, they usually tolerate it.

Only when the exam results are good, will they celebrate and drive to the city center to eat in a restaurant. Unlike other Chinese students studying abroad, they do not go to Chinese restaurants. Instead, they choose restaurants with different styles from different countries and try them one by one. Her favorite was the Italian grilled eggplant and red peppers, along with a prosciutto salad and freshly baked bread. It was perfect.

Thinking of this, Cassandra Liu felt hungry, and she had to go with the kimchi she had eaten at Aunt Mabel's place last night. She hurriedly looked for clothes to wear in her suitcase when she heard a knock at the door.

"Left early," she called out impatiently, and the knocking stopped.

Half a minute later, the sound came again.

This door is so pathetic, no quiet moments, always being banged on. Cassandra Liu walked over and opened the door with a bang. A strange man was at the door. She took a closer look and found out that it was Manager Zheng from Jinyue Hotel, the guy who brought Director Wang here. He had changed into a gray suit without a tie, and was far less arrogant than yesterday.

She simply said to the manager outside the door, "Left early!" and wanted to close the door.

"Professor Liu," the manager also learned to address her as Director Wang did, but in a lower voice. "Can I talk to you for a few words?" He said as he wanted to enter the room.

Cassandra Liu stretched out his hand to stop him, "I'm sorry, I made it clear to you yesterday. I don't care about Victor Li's affairs, just like he doesn't care about mine. It's useless to look for me."

The manager looked up, and she saw that his face was tired, his eyes were bloodshot, and he looked like he hadn't slept all night.

"Professor Liu, please listen to me for a few minutes," he begged.

"It's not my business, don't tell me a word. You framed me yesterday. I haven't settled the score with you yet!" Cassandra Liu's voice became louder. The manager was so scared that he looked around, fearing that the guests in the corridor might hear him.

"It's not your business, it's my business." The manager said, "It's my personal business. Can you please listen to me?" He looked pitiful, almost like a homeless puppy.
 
Cassandra Liu put down her hand that was blocking her, turned around and walked inside, saying, "Okay, please speak more concisely."

The manager carefully sat down on a soft chair. There was a round table between him and the sofa. What he said was shocking, "Director Wang has been arrested."

Cassandra Liu sat on the chair in front of the table, her eyebrows raised in surprise. She understood what the manager was going to do, so she shrugged and said sarcastically, "It's strange that the person who catches people gets caught."

"The Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection took action this morning. Director Wang was placed under double-disciplinary supervision and has been locked up."

Cassandra Liu thought, this is not the case, if there is no evil in mind, why are you making so many noises? But in this case, she still preferred to pretend to be confused. She rubbed her hands and asked, what problem could Director Wang have? If there is anything, can't we just make it clear to the organization? If you embezzle public funds, you will have to withdraw. Of course Cassandra Liu knew that things would not be that simple, so now was the time to stimulate this guy. This luxurious hotel with bright and clean windows was really dirty, so she intentionally passed the words to him:

"But what does this have to do with you? Why did you bring the man named Wang here yesterday and come to speak for the corrupt criminal today?" Needless to say, these two people must be collaborating in corruption, and now one has to pull the other out. The only big hotel manager in the city was here to welcome me, so it would be convenient for everything to pass through his hands. I don’t know how many tricks have been done to these comfortable and elegant rooms.

Unexpectedly, the manager's face flushed with excitement after being stabbed by her, and his tone became more confident and righteous, as if he was trying desperately to clear things up with Cassandra Liu. "You can't say that, we are the victims of policy changes!"

"I'm not from the Discipline Inspection Commission and I don't understand the policies. Okay," Cassandra Liu stood up and ordered him to leave.

The manager sat still, looking at the yellow roses on the table in the left corner, which reminded Cassandra Liu that the roses were sent by the hotel and placed in the room when she came back last night. This reminded her of the urine-smelling room in the detention center.

The manager said, "It was General Manager Li who changed the policy. Did he show consideration for the people below? He is a good official, and we acted according to the policy and became criminals. I know that he told the Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection to wait until he left tomorrow before detaining Director Wang, so that he could get rid of all the ties and avoid giving people the impression that he would take action just because he offended his wife. But the Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection did this right under his nose, and everyone was embarrassed."

Cassandra Liu sat down, and the manager said these words in one breath, like a machine gun. It seems like she's afraid of hearing the truth if she wants him to leave again.

"I don't have the power to arrest anyone." Cassandra Liu watched him take out cigarettes and lighters from his pocket, but immediately put them back and apologized to her. She noticed that his gums were black. "I still don't understand why you dragged me into this?"

The manager seemed relieved, and now Cassandra Liu's attitude was not as tough as before. He explained that in fact, a few sentences can make the matter clear: the relocation fee is indeed a big figure, 80,000 yuan for Quanliang County to be relocated on site and 40,000 yuan for relocation. It is impossible for such a large sum of money to be handed over to immigrants at once. It would be fine if the headquarters distributed the money in batches, but it was all sent to Liangxian County at once, saying that the funds had been received in advance and could be used to invest in local industry and commerce first, as long as we could recover them in time and complete the relocation.

Cassandra Liu said, "That's right. Just distribute it in time. The people and leaders have nothing to say."

"The question is what does 'timely' mean?" The manager sighed and bit his lip. "It takes a certain amount of time for an investment to pay off. Last year, Victor Li -- General Manager Li -- made a petition to the central government, saying that 'involuntary immigration' would not have a good effect. A lot of houses were built in vain in a foreign land, but the farmers still returned or migrated blindly. It would be better to directly give money to the landless farmers to start small businesses and relocate voluntarily."

Cassandra Liu thought about her previous experience as an educated youth and felt that her husband's ideas were reasonable and broad-minded, rather than sticking to the old way of 'managing the people'.

She spread her hands. "Wouldn't it be easier for everyone this way?"

"That's right," the manager looked at her. "But what about the money? Can you get it back just like that?"

Cassandra Liu began to feel that she was not cut out for politics, and there was no need for her to continue this conversation. "I'll give you some time, right?" she said uncertainly.

"You can't get back even if you give time! When the funded companies look at this situation, they understand that they can drag it out and let us people suffer first. One year of delay is one year of profit. Chinese people are now smarter than mice. Everyone is crazy about money. When they see money, not to mention their acquaintances, even their brothers will betray them. "

"That's them breaking the law."

"That was a breach of contract by us, and we demanded payment in advance."

There is such a mess inside! She said, "Don't the Liang County government know about it, and the reservoir district headquarters don't know about it?"

The manager gritted his teeth and said, "Of course I know. That's why the city has proposed to buy Three Gorges bonds this time - using the uncollected relocation fees to buy Pinghu company bonds on credit. Gilt bonds have high interest rates, and companies will be happy to accept them. With a little help from the headquarters, the money will be transferred back."

This was the second time Cassandra Liu heard the term Pinghu Bonds today. She didn't understand how the pieces of paper Victor Li produced could be worth more than banknotes.

The manager seemed to understand what she was thinking, and said, "It's nominally a company bond, but in reality it's a state guarantee, and the reservoir project is used as collateral, so of course it's valuable. But Victor Li just won't sell it to our city, and wants us to first figure out the relocation fee."

"You can't say it doesn't make sense. What are the benefits of serial debt?" Cassandra Liu said this, but she felt a little confused. There must be some unspoken tricks here.

"It just so happens that the only way to remedy the situation is by relying on bonds to pay for the relocation." The manager sighed.

Cassandra Liu was worried about his incompetence. If Lu Sheng were here, he could scare the manager away with just two words. She decided not to listen anymore and wanted to hit the point with one sentence: "You mean Victor Li harmed you."

"That's right." The manager didn't beat around the bush.

Cassandra Liu thought for a moment and said calmly, "You call me Professor Liu, which is independent of Victor Li. Since I am a professor, please don't underestimate my intelligence." She stood up, and the manager also stood up. Neither of them had any good color on their faces. Cassandra Liu said, "You are the manager of this hotel and have nothing to do with the relocation office, but you keep saying 'we', which proves that the money is going the wrong way, and you are using it to do business! The man named Wang will hand you over, and you will arrive Come here to scare me!"
 
"We will appeal and criticize Victor Li for changing policies at will, messing up the construction of the reservoir area, and inciting immigrants to cause trouble." The manager did not give in an inch, as if he didn't care since he was so angry.

As soon as he said "making trouble", Cassandra Liu immediately understood everything. What had these people been doing in the past two days? She grabbed the roses in the vase and threw them at her feet. "You just want to make business personal. You want to make a big deal out of it, just to drag Lu Sheng into it." She turned around, not looking at the manager. "I won't say a word to Victor Li in today's conversation, so you can take care of yourself!"

Instead, the manager shouted loudly, "I'm telling you, you are the one who helped Victor Li instigate the immigrants to make trouble. If you don't say it, we will tell Victor Li that we have evidence. One of the troublemakers is Chen Yueming, who is your relative and best friend! Let's see what you do. say clearly!"

Cassandra Liu suddenly picked up the vase and sprayed all the water on the man's face. She had never been so angry. Her throat was on fire with excitement and she almost couldn't breathe.

The bottle of water made the manager sober. He stopped yelling, wiped the water on his face with his hand, shook his head gracefully, and said with a smile: "Professor Liu, since you understand people, you might as well say something to Victor Li: If he gets promoted, he will leave some way for his subordinates to survive. He will be in a life-and-death situation with accusations flying everywhere. No matter how much evidence there is, he will not be promoted to minister! "

Cassandra Liu pointed toward the door and said calmly, "You can get out."

When the man walked out and the door closed behind him, she walked to the bed, lay down, turned around and buried her face in the pillow to suppress her trembling body.