Mrs. Jia Zhang found iodine from Shazhu's house, took a cotton swab, and applied it on the stick.
"Breast, it hurts, it hurts, please be gentle."
"Oh, look, your face is disfigured. If there are scars, it will be difficult to find a wife in the future! We have to let that wild man pay more."
"...One thousand yuan is enough, darling, that guy is so awesome! We can't go too far."
The image of Wang Weidong kicking him appeared in front of Banggeng's eyes, and he couldn't help but tremble in his heart. There was a bloody aura about this kid, as if he had really killed someone.
If you push such a person into a hurry, the consequences will be serious.
"Okay, who told me that I am old and soft-hearted now! If it were before, he would not only have to pay for it, but also kneel down and kowtow to me. Do you think I, Jia Zhang, are easy to mess with?" The corners of Jia Zhang's mouth were slightly raised, and paired with her triangular eyes, she looked particularly vicious.
"Yes, Nai, you are the best!" Bangge wanted Jia Zhang to help him vent his anger, and naturally the compliments kept coming.
With a boast and a compliment, the atmosphere in the room instantly became lively and laughter continued. To outsiders, it was a warm picture of a loving father and a filial son.
But this picture was soon broken with a question.
Mrs. Jia Zhang helped Banggeng apply iodine and said casually: "Grandson, when you get the money, I won't take advantage of you. Let's give you 50-50. If you have 1,000 yuan, give me 500 yuan." Just blocks.”
Banggeng was about to stand up when he heard this and sat back down. He looked at Jia Zhang in disbelief: "No, grandma, why do you need money at such an old age? Besides, I got this money in exchange for so many beatings." Why did you get half of it when you came?"
Jia Zhang's face suddenly darkened, and she threw the bottle of iodine outside the door: "What do I need money for? Oh, don't you know? I'm so old, I have problems with my body everywhere, and I have to pay for it every day When it comes to painkillers, your mother is so stingy that she always refuses to buy them for me, so I’m not allowed to spend my own money to buy them?
Besides, you were beaten, but if I hadn't helped you ask for the money, your beating would have been in vain.
you say. Should you give me half? "
Jia Zhang's arrogance and unreasonableness made Banggeng very angry. He originally wanted to say something to her directly, but after thinking about it for a while, he gave up.
When he got the money, he would grab it and run away. Even Jia Zhang couldn't catch him.
"Okay, then go find some wild man and ask for money."
"I don't know that person, please tell me what that person looks like."
Bangge raised his eyelids, thought about it for a long time, and said slowly: "He has thick eyebrows and big eyes, a tall body, and a high nose. He is wearing a very high-end woolen coat, calfskin shoes on his feet, and English on his wrists. Gurner watches.”
"Ingner Watch? I know who it is!"
"who?"
"That man's name is Wang Weidong, and he lives in the small house next door to our compound." Mrs. Jia Zhang nodded heavily and said, "You can't be wrong. That Ingener watch is so valuable, for the big men in the capital. How many of them have it? Plus a woolen coat, yes, it’s him.”
"Then hurry up, let's go ask for money!"
When Banggeng heard this, he jumped up from the ground and pulled Jia Zhang to go outside the house.
Mrs. Jia Zhang waved her hands and said, "You kid, why are you so anxious? I don't have to change my clothes. I might have to fight with that kid later. The clothes I'm wearing are new and not suitable."
Mrs. Jia Zhang went into the back room, put on a tattered cotton jacket, tattered cotton trousers, and a pair of cotton boots with missing toes, and then followed the stick stalks to the door of Wang Weidong's house.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
After three knocks on the door, Guan Tingting opened the door.
Seeing Mrs. Jia Zhang, she frowned: "Old lady, why are you here again? Haven't you been dealt with enough?"
"Hey, hey, what are you talking about, little girl? Where is Wang Weidong! I have something to do with him!" Jia Zhang said coldly.
"He's not at home, just tell me if you have anything to do."
"You are a little girl, I can tell you!"
Mrs. Jia Zhang stretched out her head and looked around the yard a few times. She was sure that Wang Weidong was not at home, so she could only leave with the stick in hand.
Guan Tingting looked at the backs of the two people and frowned involuntarily.
What is this old woman doing with Brother Wei Dong?
.....
On the other side, after Wang Weidong spent a wonderful night in the guest house of the textile factory, he received a bicycle from Factory Director Gong and went to the second stop for talent discovery - the Beijing Chemical Industry Research Institute.
His target this time is Professor Zhou Lanxi.
Professor Zhou Lanxi is nearly fifty years old this year and graduated from Stanford University.
After liberation, he responded to the call and returned from North America, hoping to contribute to the construction of the country.
The wish is beautiful, but the reality is cruel. Limited by objective conditions, Professor Zhou Lanxi suffered a lot, but he has not made any academic achievements.
In particular, as he got older, he was even less taken seriously in the Chemical Engineering Research Institute.
Every time I apply for experimental funding, it takes a lot of effort.
No, early in the morning, while eating, Zhou Lanxi and Mrs. Zhou had a dispute over this.
Mrs. Zhou put a bowl full of stick noodle porridge on the table, and brought a plate of hot and sour radish strips in front of him: "Old Zhou, if you ask me, you might as well stop doing this, you are so old. , my health is not good, I want to retire early at the work, and we can enjoy our retirement life, okay?"
Zhou Lan slurped the stick noodle porridge, shook her head and said: "Honey, you know who I am. Back then, I gave up the generous treatment abroad and came back just to revitalize the domestic chemical industry. Now I am doing research on crystallization issues. We already have some clues. As long as the experiment is successful, we will no longer need to import those crystalline chemicals from abroad, which will save a lot of foreign exchange."
Mrs. Zhou looked at his expression of not wanting to die until the Yellow River, and found it a bit funny. This man was a good man, highly educated, smart, and sincere to others.
It’s just that he’s a bit stubborn. Needless to say in the past few years, Zhou Lanxi’s salary in these years was not even as good as that of a worker. He could only get more than 20 yuan a month, and he couldn’t even support his family.
If it weren't for the help of her mother-in-law and the fact that she earned more than 40 yuan a month as a teacher, she would have been unable to survive.
However, he still focused on his research work.
The key is that the leaders of the institute do not pay much attention to Zhou Lanxi's project. They think Zhou Lanxi is a fantasy and the project is a pure waste of money.
Life in the research institute is not easy either. At the end of the year, one month's salary is often in arrears.
Why waste money on meaningless experiments!
....
Mrs. Zhou knew Zhou Lanxi's temperament and knew that persuasion was useless, so she could only attack in a roundabout way.
"Well, aren't you going to the institute to apply for experimental funds today? If you can apply, I won't say anything and will fully support you in continuing your research.
If your experimental funds are rejected by the leaders of the research institute, you should apply for a medical leave.
I asked my brother to help you find a job as a factory gatekeeper. You only have to work eight hours a day and you can get twenty-five dollars a month.
How about it?
"
Look at the door... Zhou Lanxi drank the sweet stick noodle porridge, and felt a burst of sadness in his heart. His eyes were a little moist in the rising white mist.
I remember when he had just graduated from Stanford University, several chemical industry groups in North America offered him a salary of US$100,000 a year, but he declined all of them.
Now he can only withdraw from the research institute to take care of the disease and help others guard the door.
He wanted to refute, but he knew that the wife was doing it for his own good, so he could only swallow a mouthful of stick noodle porridge, swallowing the heartbreaking bitterness in his stomach, raised his head and smiled: "Okay, if the experimental funds cannot be approved, I will retire.”
Zhou Lanxi believes that his knowledge is among the best in the country, and is second to none in the Chemical Engineering Research Institute.
As for being unable to apply for experimental funds? That is absolutely impossible, impossible in your lifetime!
After dinner, I rode the broken bicycle that rang everywhere except the bell to the Chemical Engineering Research Institute.
After entering the office, he put his handbag on the desk and began to sort out the documents for applying for experimental funds.
Researcher Zhang passed by the door of the office and felt a little unbearable when he saw Zhou Lanxi's serious look.
He walked into the office and said with a smile: "Lao Zhou, you go to work so early? Yesterday I saw that you seemed to have a cold. Why don't you rest at home for two more days?"
"I'm worried at home. As you know, my experiment has reached a critical stage. If I put more effort, I might be able to achieve a breakthrough."
Zhou Lanxi stapled the documents, held them in his hands and walked outside: "I won't talk to you anymore. I have to apply for project funds quickly. Director Liu should have gone to work by now."
Seeing Zhou Lanxi's hurried away figure, Researcher Zhang stretched out his hand to stop him, but opened his mouth several times, but in the end no sound came out.
....
When Zhou Lanxi knocked on the door of the director's office, Director Liu was counting the projects in the institute this year.
Looking at the numbers above, Director Liu smiled bitterly and shook his head, muttering to himself: "The ministries and commissions have only allocated such a small amount of funds, how can it be enough!"
Of course, he can also understand the ministries and commissions. Now that the domestic economic situation is improving, more of the limited funds above are invested in industrial production.
The industrial products produced in factories and the clothes and hats produced in textile factories can improve people's living standards faster.
And what about the Institute of Chemical Engineering? The research is all theoretical, and most of the results cannot be applied in a short time.
Moreover, every experiment carries the risk of failure.
Good steel must be used on the blade. Director Liu has just cut down several experimental projects that have repeatedly failed.
Hearing a knock on the door, Director Liu put the materials on the table, stood up and opened the door.
"Old Zhou, I'm looking for you! Come in quickly."
"Liu Suo, this is my application, take a look."
Director Liu took the application but did not open it. He stared at Zhou Lanxi with an embarrassed look on his face: "Old Zhou, this is exactly what I am looking for you for. This year's budget is only half of last year's. After our research, After discussion among several leaders of the Institute, we decided to cut down some projects that have not yet yielded results. Unfortunately, your crystallization project is among them. I hope you can understand the decisions we have made collectively and understand the difficulties of the institute.
Don’t worry, when the budget is higher next year, we will definitely submit your project again.
Gold will always shine! "
Zhou Lanxi's face darkened visibly, and he wanted to get angry, but he felt a little embarrassed.
He clenched his fists again and again, and finally said softly: "Suo Liu, my project has reached a critical moment. The crystallization problem will be studied clearly soon. It is of great significance to guide chemical production. We can't stop!"
Suo Liu handed the application form back to Zhou Lanxi: "Old Zhou, this is a collective decision. I can't change it alone. As for the experiment, no one knows whether it will succeed. You have two reasons for doing this project. It's been more than ten years, right? You always say that every time an experiment fails. You should know that we as leaders are under a lot of pressure. We are tired, and you are even more tired. So, just go back and take a good rest, and take sick leave. There’s no need to call him over, I’ll tell the General Affairs Office.”
Zhou Lanxi didn't know how he left the director's office.
Since he returned to China, he began to study crystals. Even when he was a member of the commune in the countryside, he was digging the ground with his head and thinking about chemical equations.
Twenty-five years, a full twenty-five years, and now he was about to achieve results, but just before the end, the institute actually canceled his project.
Zhou Lanxi stood in the courtyard and looked at the sky. He felt that the sky suddenly became dark.
His body swayed and he was about to fall to the ground, but he was held up by a pair of strong hands.
"Hey, comrade, what's wrong with you? Are you hypoglycemic? Come on, eat a white rabbit."
Wang Weidong used two large front doors and slipped in quietly without alerting the Chemical Research Institute.
Just when I was about to find an old international student, I saw a researcher in his fifties standing in the courtyard with his head raised, looking stupid.
I thought, why, even a fool can become a researcher now?
He couldn't help but slow down, and the above happened.
Wang Weidong helped Zhou Lanxi to the long stool in the corridor. He took out a White Rabbit toffee from his pocket and stuffed it into Zhou Lanxi's hand: "Come on, although I am not a doctor, I am also quite experienced. Ah, when there is a lack of sugar in the body, it is easy to faint."
Zhou Lanxi stuffed the candy into his mouth and chewed it vigorously. Two lines of tears fell down his old face.
Wang Weidong asked worriedly: "Old comrade, are you okay? I see that you are also from the research institute. Do you want me to help you call the director?"
"No, from today on, I have retired." Zhou Lanxi took out a blue handkerchief from his pocket, wiped the corners of his eyes gently, and then looked at Wang Weidong: "Thank you, comrade, I'm fine, just a little sad. .”
"Uh..." Facing a sad old man, Wang Weidong didn't know how to persuade him. He thought for a moment and decided to change the topic and said: "You are from the Institute of Chemical Engineering. Do you know someone A researcher named Zhou Lanxi."
