Life in siheyuan era

It was a little after nine in the evening when He Yushui walked into Han Xue's home.

Han Xue asked in confusion, "Why are you coming so late?"

He Yushui replied, "I wasn't supposed to work tonight, but a task suddenly came up when I was about to leave. By the time I finished, it was already past eight. I didn't want to go home, so I came here."

After explaining, He Yushui turned to Liu Lanying, who had come out of the room, and said, "Aunt Liu, you don't need to worry about me. I've already had dinner."

After greeting Liu Lanying and calling out a greeting to Han Yuanzhi through the door, He Yushui followed Han Xue into her room, sat down on a chair, and asked, "How's the new workplace?"

"It's pretty good..." Han Xue replied cheerfully, "New workplace, new atmosphere, new people, new look. I've met leaders with different styles, and some interesting colleagues too..."

Han Xue truthfully recounted the events of the day, with Zhou Zhiyuan's beating of Hu Biao being the highlight.

She had a terrible impression of Hu Biao. Zhou Zhiyuan beating him up made her feel so good that she didn't need to hide her elation. She described it all with gusto, then noticed a mysterious expression on He Yushui's face and asked in confusion, "Is something up?"

He Yushui smiled and said, "It's about Zhou Zhiyuan..."

She was being deliberately mysterious, only saying half of what she meant, successfully piquing Han Xue's curiosity. After Han Xue repeatedly pressed her, she finally whispered, "Zhou Zhiyuan is my neighbor..."

Han Xue couldn't figure it out, and instead focused on He Yushui's words, immediately asking, "Are you paying attention to him?"

He Yushui quickly explained, "He knows Chief Engineer Zhang. Chief Engineer Zhang's wife is his teacher, and his son is his classmate. He can help me with my work assignment."

Hearing her explanation, Han Xue thought of Zhang Yong, but she couldn't help He Yushui. She could only remind her, "Wang Aimin is quite honest. You can't be fickle."

Wang Aimin was He Yushui's boyfriend, a community policeman from the Fengxiang Police Station, and Han Xue was the matchmaker.

He Yushui smiled and said, "Am I that kind of person?"

"Yes, our Comrade Yushui has always been steadfast and unyielding."

Han Xue was just joking, praising her before switching the topic to work assignments. "Does Chief Engineer Zhang have the final say?"

He Yushui replied, "Chief Engineer Zhang has a stubborn temper. Several factory leaders have been turned down by him. Secretary Ren has made it clear that Chief Engineer Zhang will decide, so we can only rely on Zhou Zhiyuan. He should be able to do it if he steps in."

She seemed quite confident in Zhou Zhiyuan.

Han Xue nodded slightly. She had asked everything she needed to ask, and now she needed to understand Zhou Zhiyuan. "Do you know that Zhou Zhiyuan's right hand is crippled?"

"I know..." He Yushui said cheerfully, having obtained firsthand information from Auntie One, "Zhou Zhiyuan grabbed the enemy's bayonet with his right hand while fighting the enemy, and used his left hand to pull out a dagger and slit the enemy's throat. He got rid of that enemy, but his right hand was crippled too."

This answer surprised Han Xue. She had imagined several possibilities, but she hadn't expected this kind of situation. She asked in amazement, "Why did he grab the enemy's bayonet? Did he not have any other weapons?"

"I don't know..." He Yushui replied, "Auntie One forgot to ask at the time, and later didn't want to ask anymore, afraid that Zhou Zhiyuan would be unhappy. My brother said he went crazy at the time."

Listening to He Yushui's explanation, Han Xue pondered for a moment, but couldn't think of a reason. So she said, "He told us something else, 'In the heat of the moment, I mistakenly grabbed the blade instead of the handle.'"

He Yushui laughed and said, "Do you believe that?"

"I don't..." Han Xue replied, "If that were the case, the military wouldn't have given him a collective first-class merit and promoted him to deputy company level cadre."

"Deputy company level, he's a cadre?" He Yushui asked in surprise.

"You didn't know?" Han Xue asked back.

Then the two fell silent. After a while, He Yushui said sullenly, "He doesn't like to show off."

"He's good at hiding," Han Xue corrected her.

She first characterized Zhou Zhiyuan, and then pondered a question, "Is Zhou Zhiyuan someone who doesn't like to show off, or is he good at hiding?"

This question was crucial, determining whether he was a humble person or a schemer.

But before she could think about it, He Yushui characterized him: "Your evaluation of him is wrong. Zhou Zhiyuan is someone who doesn't like to show off, rather than someone who is good at hiding."

"According to my brother, he told Auntie One the truth because Auntie One is good to him. I guess he's helpless. This person should be someone who responds to kindness but not to force."

This characterization made Han Xue nod slightly. Zhou Zhiyuan was indeed someone who responded to kindness but not to force.

And He Yushui's understanding of him was limited to this. Han Xue knew that she couldn't get more information from her, so she changed the topic, "How are you and Wang Aimin doing?"

"It's alright, I've been busy recently, and he's been busy too. We haven't seen each other for two weeks."

He Yushui replied casually, then asked back, "How are you and Li Bo doing?"

"It's pretty good..." Han Xue also replied casually, "He's been busy with a case recently."

"Sigh!" He Yushui sighed and said, "Community policemen are busy, and criminal policemen are busy too."

Saying this, the two became silent again. Han Xue considered a question, "How can I get Yushui to help me find out some information?"

He Yushui was Zhou Zhiyuan's neighbor, so it should be very convenient to understand Zhou Zhiyuan's daily life.

But she couldn't say this directly, for fear of causing He Yushui to misunderstand.

While she was thinking, she heard He Yushui ask, "Are you very interested in Zhou Zhiyuan?"

He Yushui gave her an opportunity, and Han Xue immediately seized it, "There are only four people in the Urban Management Section where I work. Wan Chunfang and Wang Dagang are both old-timers, and I can't easily arrange work for them, and Zhou Zhiyuan is also a newcomer..."

Han Xue said this, He Yushui interrupted her, "You want to win over Zhou Zhiyuan?"

"Yes..." Han Xue replied, "Winning over Zhou Zhiyuan and motivating Wan Chunfang and Wang Dagang is the best way for me to gain a foothold."

She wanted to gradually guide He Yushui to gather information for her, but He Yushui misunderstood, laughing easily, "I can help you with this. I'll arrange for you and Zhou Zhiyuan to sit down together and have a good chat."

This method was not what Han Xue had in mind, but hearing He Yushui say it, she felt that she could try it. Sitting down together to chat would help her understand the situation.

Han Xue nodded, and He Yushui said, "That's settled then. I'll find some time these two days to go to the Subdistrict Office to find you and invite Zhou Zhiyuan."

As soon as she finished speaking, Liu Lanying's voice came from outside the door: "Xiaoxue, Li Bo's on the phone."

Li Bo had been busy solving a case recently, and the two could only contact each other by phone. Sometimes they didn't say a word for days. This phone call must be about something.

Han Xue got up and went out to answer the phone, while He Yushui sat on the chair thinking.

She knew some things from Han Xue, Zhou Zhiyuan's writing was very good and he was quite capable in a fight, but that's not what she was interested in.

The key was that Zhou Zhiyuan knew Zhang Xueqi, and even more important was Shazhu's saying that he would definitely help with all his strength.

Shazhu had a lot of confidence in him, but He Yushui wasn't too sure.

She knew Zhang Xueqi's temper. He wouldn't budge an inch when it came to matters of principle. Zhou Zhiyuan was only his wife's student and his son's classmate. Would a word from him be effective?

Thinking of Zhang Xueqi's wife, He Yushui's heart stirred. It should be useful for a student to talk to their teacher.

This led her to think of a legend, "Chief Engineer Zhang is a little henpecked."

Thinking of this, He Yushui's eyes lit up. Chief Engineer Zhang had gone to the Northwest, which was a good opportunity to instigate Zhou Zhiyuan to visit his teacher for help.

Coming up with this idea, He Yushui calmed down and considered the details here.

At this time, Zhou Zhiyuan was also thinking about a question, "Is Hu Feng's uncle an expert?"

He had been tracking the Hu Feng and Hu Biao brothers all the way and saw Hu Feng carry Hu Biao into a small courtyard. He climbed over the courtyard wall and leaned against the window to listen.

At this time, Hu Biao woke up, grunting for a while, and asked in a hoarse voice, "Can my uncle avenge this?"

Hu Feng replied, "It's hard to say. Zhou Zhiyuan's punch seemed to have spiral force. It was amazing how he pinched my dagger with two fingers of his right hand."

Hu Biao shouted, "His right hand is crippled."

Hu Feng replied, "It's quite strange."

Hu Biao shouted again, "He's faking it. I'm going to sue him."

Hu Feng replied in a deep voice, "How are you going to sue him? Say we discovered it when we gathered a group of hoodlums to take revenge? Zhou Zhiyuan is a veteran who has been on the battlefield, and the disability assessment was also made by the military. Can it be fake?"

As the brothers spoke, a woman's voice came from the room, "What's wrong with Second Child?"

Hearing this voice, Zhou Zhiyuan quietly retreated, climbed out of the courtyard, and ran towards Ping'an Hutong.

At this time, Han Xue, who had finished answering the phone, returned to her room.

Seeing her enter the room, He Yushui asked, "So fast?"

Han Xue replied, "The leader in charge of Li Bo's detachment has been replaced. In a moment, the newly arrived Deputy Director will hold a meeting for all of them to listen to the progress of the case investigation."

Hearing that Li Bo and the others were going to have a meeting, He Yushui looked at her watch and said, "It's so late and they still have to have a meeting. This Deputy Director's three fires are burning brightly enough."

He Yushui expressed dissatisfaction, while Han Xue sat on the bed and replied in a low voice, "I said the same thing, but Li Bo said their detachment leader was very nervous, repeatedly deliberating the case, as if he was very afraid of this Deputy Director."

Li Bo expressed his worries on the phone, and Han Xue was also a little worried. This Deputy Director was not only in charge of counter-espionage and criminal investigation, but also in charge of the political department, the department in charge of cadres.

This position was very important, and a single sentence could change their assignment direction.

Han Xue originally wanted to take advantage of the opportunity of temporary assignment to transfer to the Municipal Criminal Investigation Detachment. The original leader in charge used to be the police academy principal, and the two had a teacher-student relationship. Her idea had a chance to be realized, but with a new leader, Han Xue was not sure.

At this time, she had to think, "Who knows Deputy Director Zhang?"

This Deputy Director's name was Zhang Limin. According to Li Bo, their detachment leader should know him, but being so nervous about a meeting also showed that he was afraid of him and might not dare to speak.

Thinking of this, Han Xue carefully thought of some people again, but after filtering through them, she didn't leave anyone behind. This Deputy Director Zhang was too unfamiliar. She didn't know who had contact with him.