Yanjing in 1982 has undergone obvious changes compared with last year. The city that seemed to be still silent suddenly became noisy, and there were construction sites everywhere.
Those building roads, those pushing dilapidated courtyard houses to rebuild, or those planning rectifications in the LC area. In short, everyone seemed to be busy. A large number of farmers were prompted to do voluntary work in Yanjing City during the less busy period after the beginning of spring. .
Although voluntary workers are not paid, they are responsible for the food. Therefore, these farmers are very active. After all, it is not the busy time for farming, and they are idle at home. If they can use their energy to make a living in the city, they can also leave a mouthful of food for the family, right?
What is very conspicuous compared to the busy scene are the young men and women wandering on the streets. If there was such a call for food in the past two years, these people would definitely try their best to make ends meet.
But in the past two years, they have become familiar with each other on the street, and they have also made a name for themselves. They have food and drink every day. You want them to work hard on the construction site? This picture is too beautiful to think about.
"Boss, can I get credit for the tape recorder?" In Wu Aibing's shop, several young men and women walked in, casually carrying a tape recorder, plugged it in, and put in a tape.
Listening to the songs in it, I pressed some buttons on the recorder and found that there was nothing wrong. I nodded with a satisfied look on my face.
"Small businesses don't use credit." Wu Aibing raised his eyebrows and stood up from his chair.
Yang Dongxu, who was nibbling an apple next to him, didn't pay attention here, and so did other customers in the store.
"How can I take care of your business if you don't give me face?" The young man felt very humiliated. He had a cigarette in his mouth and some of his companions looked a little unkind.
"The deputy director of the intersection police station is my childhood friend. If you don't let him come over and sign, I'll give you some face." Wu Aibing folded his arms and sneered on his face.
"Bah, if you do this, the business will be shut down sooner or later." The young man spit on the ground and snorted, then turned and left with his few followers.
Although there is a bit of chaos on the streets now, it does not prove that the police are just for food. It is better not to be caught. If they are caught, they will have to shed their skin.
"Are there many such gangsters now?" Yang Dongxu frowned. Not only in Wu Aibing's store, but also in Yang Jiayan's store, he occasionally encountered a few people who wanted to pay.
However, compared to Wu Aibing's Yang Jiayan's, it is better. After all, there are now several stores selling recorders, tapes, and even televisions in Dongcheng, so his place is not very conspicuous.
But there are only a few restaurants as big as the Yang Family Banquet. More importantly, there are some leaders and foreign guests eating at the Yang Family Banquet from time to time. This naturally makes these gangsters not dare to do too much and don't hang around there from time to time.
"Every day, there are always a few people who feel that they are too shameless and want to give credit to Mianzi, and they almost get into fights a few times." Wu Aibing glanced at Yang Dongxu, still frowning.
Although Wu Aibing didn't say anything, Yang Dongxu heard a bit of dissatisfaction in his tone, because after listening to Yang Dongxu's words, Dongzi faded away from the street last year and An Xin became a big boss.
In addition to some old gangsters, his reputation has given him some face. These new people, or some people who feel that they are doing well, no longer take Dongzi seriously. This makes the store sometimes often criticized. Some people harass.
"Just be patient for a little longer. The higher-ups must take control of this chaos, otherwise economic development will be empty talk."
Before his rebirth, Yang Dongxu lived in the countryside most of the time, and he was not very old. Therefore, apart from hearing about some village tyrants in Shiliba Village, he did not have a deep understanding of the chaos in society before Yanzhao. I didn't expect that these gangsters on the street would now look like the Young and Dangerous guys in the movie. Fighting for territory and killing people was not common, but it had happened several times.
"Hey, what's going on over there?" A customer suddenly said at the door of the store.
Rumbling, all the customers in the store ran out. It wasn't that there were fights and stabbings on the street. When encountering such a thing, everyone couldn't move away enough to move up. Instead, there was thick smoke billowing in the sky in the east.
"There's a fire. It's such a big fire."
"Looking at the distance, it seems to be on Jianguomenwai Street."
"The weather has been a bit dry recently, so it's hard to put out the fire."
Wangfujing is less than four kilometers away from Jian'anmenwai Street, which is Yonganli. At this time, thick smoke was billowing in the sky, and it was clearly visible from a distance of four kilometers, showing how big the fire was.
"Don't be embarrassed, don't be embarrassed. It's closed early today. If you want to buy something, come back tomorrow. I have relatives there, so I have to take a look." Wu Aibing and Yang Dongxu, who came out of the store, looked at each other and left.
"Then you should hurry over and see and help."
"Let's go later. It's too dangerous to go at this time."
Many people began to persuade Wu Aibing to go, some were allowed to go, and some were not allowed to go. However, Wu Aibing obviously had his own ideas. He kept closing the store door with a smiling face and was about to go there on his bicycle.
"Don't go there now. It must be very chaotic over there. You wait here for news, and I'll go find out more." Seeing Yang Dongxu swinging his legs and sitting on the back seat of the bicycle, Wu Aibing stopped and turned his head.
"That's okay, no... don't go there yet, go to Dongzi first and ask what's going on and why it's so popular." Yang Dongxu got on the back seat of the bicycle and looked a little confused. Not pretty.
Judging from the direction of the fire, it should be over there in Yong'anli. Although Dongzi's warehouse is not there, the vendors who wholesale clothing and sell other things are concentrated there and set up stalls. Dongzi sometimes goes there to take a look. Look, if this really happened by chance, or had something to do with the fire, it would definitely be a big deal.
The fire burned from the afternoon until more than ten o'clock at night. The burning fire could be seen farther away at night, and the entire Yanjing City fell into an inexplicable panic.
"Did you get involved in this matter?" Zhou Yiren, who looked tired, returned home after the fire was extinguished. When he saw Yang Dongxu, who was fidgeting and walking back and forth in the room, he asked directly.
He didn't know anything about the things Yang Dongxu usually did, he just turned a blind eye and didn't ask, but this time the fire suddenly opened a big hole in the sky.
"I do have a few shops there, but they are basically rented out to sell clothes to others. I have never been there a few times. I am still confused about what is going on now." Yang Dongxu He said quickly.
Zhou Yiren nodded, he still knew his grandson well. If something really involves him, he will definitely say that he still has confidence in Yang Dongxu.
At this time, the sound of a bicycle sounded at the door, and Yang Dongxu ran out immediately. Wu Aibing, with a gray face, carried the bicycle across the threshold.
"How's it going?" Yang Dongxu asked directly without letting Wu Aibing rest.
"It has nothing to do with Dongzi. It was two other gangs who fought over the chassis of a clothing street. As a result, the losing party was not convinced and set a fire directly. That street was full of easily flammable clothing fabrics, so the fire was not strong at all. I couldn't control the instantaneous expansion." Wu Aibing put down his bicycle and ran into the house without being polite to Yang Dongxu, poured a cup of tea and drank it.
"Why didn't you come back until now?"
"The whole street was burned down. In the end, several courtyards were demolished to serve as isolation zones to prevent the fire from spreading. Manpower was needed everywhere. I stayed behind to help people put out the fire. I went to Dongzi after the fire was under control. I asked on the side."
This is in line with Wu Aibing's character. After all, he is a veteran who has participated in combat, so he still has this sense of responsibility.
"Uncle, it is said that foreign devils were burned to death inside, is it true?" Wu Aibing took a breath and turned to Zhou Yiren and asked.
"Based on the on-site investigation, there were indeed foreign staff in the street at that time, but I am from the research office, not the police station. The specific situation is not very clear." Zhou Yiren shook his head.
A fire killed at least nearly a hundred people, including several foreigners, and all departments in Yanjing City were affected. Even he, the director of the Reform Research Office who didn't care about putting out the fire, was dragged into a meeting until eight or nine o'clock in the evening, which shows how big this matter is.
"Wash your face and don't take a rest. Go to Dongzi's place quickly and ask him if he wiped his butt clean before. If you can, go out and hide for a while." Yang Dongxu's expression changed and he said.
"I'm sure it's clear, this matter has nothing to do with Dongzi." Wu Aibing looked at Yang Dongxu in confusion.
"You mean..." Zhou Yiren looked at his godson with some uncertainty.
"Lao Zhou, there's a call from your work unit, saying there's an emergency meeting. I want you to hurry up and have the meeting." The voice of the street office aunt rang at the door. The phone can't be installed in private homes yet, so if you need anything, just call it. You need to take a taxi to the hutong street.
"I'm going to a meeting, don't run around." Zhou Yiren got up and left in a hurry.
Seeing his godfather leave Yang Dongxu felt even more uneasy. He didn't know the reason for the severe crackdown next year before his rebirth, but this time the chaos was so great that it broke the sky and even burned a few foreigners to death. It is not impossible for the above to launch a severe crackdown that should happen next year because of this incident.
"Why are you still standing there? Hurry up and ask." Seeing Wu Aibing still sitting there in a daze, Yang Dongxu went over and kicked him.
"Oh, oh, oh, I'll go over there right away. Something is going to happen to Xuzi?" Wu Aibing reacted and looked at Yang Dongxu as if he had a premonition of something.
"It's hard to say whether something serious will happen, but once this incident happens, at least for now, a group of people will be arrested on the streets. Although Dongzi stopped hanging around on the streets last year, he is quite famous and is regarded as a typical example. It’s not impossible to catch him.”
The accident of this fire made Yang Dongxu's head full of confusion at this time. He was really not sure what kind of chain reaction this incident would cause, but one thing was certain, that is, this matter was definitely not a trivial matter.
