Chapter 70: The Professor from the Capital City

When Xie Cheng came to his senses, he rolled up his sleeves in a rage and was about to rush out, but Xie Zhao was quick and held him back.

“It’s not worth it,”

he said. “If a dog bites you, are you going to bite back? If we push him too hard and he bites us in return, it’s not worth it. It’s only a few yuan anyway. We’ll have plenty of chances to deal with him later.”

Xie Cheng’s face was dark with rage.

“That bastard dog!”

He cursed, glaring outside a few times in frustration. Only after confirming that Wang Erlaizi had vanished without a trace did Xie Cheng walk back into the yard.

Over on the side, Xie Tian had already cooked the wontons and brought them over.

Wei Qingzhi was so hungry his vision was swimming and his stomach was cramping. At the sight of the steaming bowl of shepherd’s purse wontons, he couldn’t help but swallow hard.

But the upbringing bred into his bones made it impossible for him to just accept it.

He took a deep breath, shook his head, and said, “I have already accepted your kindness with the brown sugar water. I cannot take this bowl of wontons as well. Thank you all.”

With that, Wei Qingzhi stood up unsteadily, preparing to leave.

Xie Zhao stopped him.

“Teacher Wei, if I let you leave like this, my conscience will trouble me for the rest of my life.”

He smiled, took the wontons from Xie Tian, and stepped in front of Wei Qingzhi.

“Just think of it as a loan from me. Eat first, so you’ll have the strength to earn money and pay me back. What do you say?”

Wei Qingzhi swallowed with difficulty.

He was filled with shame and embarrassment, but in the end, he yielded to his body’s craving.

“Then… thank you very much!”

With that, Wei Qingzhi took the wontons from Xie Zhao, walked over to the square table nearby, sat down, and began to eat.

Even though he was starving, his manners remained polite and proper. He ate them one by one, chewing slowly and swallowing carefully, carrying himself with the poise of a scholar.

Meanwhile, Xie Cheng and Xie Tian had already started buying the river snails.

They kept accounts and settled payments.

Some people also brought wild rabbits, rabbit pelts, pheasants, and other wild game.

The yard was bustling and noisy.

By the time the crowd dispersed, Wei Qingzhi had finally finished his bowl of wontons.

He stood up in embarrassment and bowed deeply to Xie Zhao. “I owe it all to you today. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have made it back. I will definitely remember this kindness, and I will pay you back for the food.”

Xie Zhao quickly helped him up and said with a smile, “It was nothing. Go back and rest first. There’s no rush to gather river snails for money. Taking care of your health is what’s most important.”

Wei Qingzhi thanked him repeatedly once more before turning to leave.

“Where is this Teacher Wei from? How come I’ve never heard of him?”

Xie Zhao had only heard others call him Teacher Wei, so he had followed suit.

But thinking about it carefully, he had lived here for several years in his past life, yet he didn’t recall hearing about such a teacher.

Could he be from Xiangyang Town?

But why was he so destitute?

Xie Cheng shook his head.

He had spent all his time working at the mine and hadn’t gone to school much, so how would he know anything about Wei Qingzhi?

“Second Brother, I know!”

Xie Tian, who was washing the dishes, perked up and blinked at Xie Zhao.

“Teacher Wei is so pitiful! He used to teach in Xiangyang Town a few years ago, but then he was kicked out!”

Xie Tian tilted her head, thought for a moment, and her eyes lit up. “I remember now! My teacher told us that Teacher Wei was investigated because of his bad class background, so the Xiangyang Town Primary School didn’t want him anymore!”

A bad class background.

In this day and age, those words were enough to crush a person to death.

Suddenly, a thought flashed through Xie Zhao’s mind.

He suddenly asked, “Wei Qingzhi isn’t a local, is he?”

“No! He’s from the Capital City! He’s highly educated! He used to be the best teacher in the primary school. It’s such a pity!”

Wait.

The Capital City?!

Xie Zhao remembered!

In his past life, this matter had caused quite a sensation for a time.

At that time, Xie Zhao had already gone to the provincial capital, but the story had made the front page of the provincial newspaper, so it was hard for him not to know about it.

Rewinding the timeline by ten years.

In 1973, Wei Qingzhi was first sent down from the Capital City to Shishui Village.

A village famous throughout the surrounding area for its poverty.

He was assigned to the Second Production Team of Shishui Village, undergoing reform through labor at the No. 1 Farm during the day and sleeping in a cowshed at night.

He was a target of close monitoring.

He was also the only intellectual from the Capital City.

Over the years, as orders to return to the cities were issued one after another, the intellectuals and young people in the farms around Shishui Village all returned. Only he was left behind.

It wasn’t until his death, when the news was splashed across the Provincial Capital Daily, that Xie Zhao learned a university professor from the Capital City had died in Shishui Village.

The article in the newspaper had been very formulaic, not even saying much about his background.

It only mentioned that he had countless students, but had unfortunately made political errors and the like.

Xie Zhao couldn’t remember the details very clearly.

An idea popped into his head.

He quickly stood up, washed his hands, thought for a moment, and turned to ask Xie Tian, “Little Sister, is there any meat left at home?”

Although Xie Tian was puzzled, she still nodded.

“Yes. Tomorrow is the Lantern Festival, so Mom went to Xiangyang Town this afternoon to buy meat. Quite a lot, actually!”

Xie Zhao walked into the kitchen and opened the cupboard. Sure enough, he saw a large slab of pork sitting inside, weighing a good five or six catties.

Taking a kitchen knife, he cut off half of it, retrieved a dozen eggs from the rice urn, and finally grabbed a jug of peanut oil and half a bag of rice that he had bought from the Supply and Marketing Cooperative a couple of days ago.

“Brother, Little Sister, I’m going out for a bit!”

After putting all of these into a vegetable basket and covering it with a cloth, Xie Zhao turned to say to the two of them.

Without waiting for their response, he walked out the door.

Once outside, he first went to find Liu Cuihua to ask for Wei Qingzhi’s address.

When he walked all the way to the west side of the village and saw a dilapidated cowshed before him, he froze.

He actually lived here?

This was a cowshed used by the village to raise livestock in earlier years.

The intellectuals had lived and eaten alongside the cattle. It was only after the massive wave of returns to the cities began that they were finally liberated.

Wei Qingzhi was a university professor from the Capital City.

Even if he hadn’t returned to the city, he shouldn’t have to live in a place like this!

He frowned deeply, took a deep breath, and walked toward the cowshed.

The cowshed had already half-collapsed, and the cattle had long since been moved to other places.

As he walked over, he realized that this half of the cowshed was kept very clean. The area near the collapsed section had been cleared, and underneath it sat some chipped clay pots and pans, catching a bit of leaked rainwater.

Further in, in a slightly drier spot, was where Wei Qingzhi cooked.

There was only a clay stove, which was completely empty. In the only intact enamel basin nearby, there was nothing but some murky water.

In this room, the best-preserved spot was actually the bed furthest to the south.

It was a bamboo bed.

A thick layer of straw was spread over it, topped by a heavily patched mattress. It was obvious that Wei Qingzhi only slept on one side, because the other side was piled high with books.

Xie Zhao took a quick look and was instantly stunned.

My goodness!

There were quite a few antiques among these books!