Chapter 517 A Thousand Splendid Suns
Zhang Yunqi arrived in Lijin at 8:30 in the evening.

After he and Hu Xianxun finished touring Qu Yuan Wan, he returned to Lijin from Yueyang alone overnight.

As a large-scale project in southern Hunan, the 4350 project has a huge system, and the policies, personnel, and resources involved are intricate and cannot be finalized overnight. The result of his discussion with Hu Xianxun can only be regarded as a basic prototype plan for the two sections of the entire project, namely, financing and land operation. There are still a lot of details to be worked out in the subsequent implementation.

For such a large project, Zhang Yunqi plans to let his most capable person, Li Jilin, be the overall person in charge to promote it.

As for the young people of Lin's fish protection team, even Zhang Yunqi didn't take them seriously, so how could Hu Xianxun care? At that time, the group rushed over with sticks and aggressively. The security personnel took out their ID cards and flashed them in their faces. The other party almost knelt down and called him grandpa. Then the phone call was made to the Yueyang Public Security Bureau. The director almost fell on the spot. He immediately led his men to rush over and sent all the members of Lin's fish protection team to the police station.

It's just a small matter.

The really terrible thing is that the problem reflected by this little thing is huge!

The reed fields in Yueyang and Xiangyin were all state-owned, but now they have been contracted to private businessman Lin Guomin. Under the pretext of contracting the reed fields, Lin Guomin privately repaired cement dams and built low dams, monopolizing nearly 30,000 acres of lakes and completely monopolizing the surrounding water conservancy, forestry, and fishery resources. So, can this contract still be normal? How could there be no big fish behind it! More importantly, this phenomenon is by no means an isolated case. At present, Hu Xianxun attaches so much importance to the sustainable development of Dongting people's livelihood, economy and environment, can he tolerate this?
Then there is no need to start Project 4350.

Sometimes when looking at Hu Xianxun, Zhang Yunqi would think of his deceased teacher Wang Mingzhen.

In a sense, these two old men are pure idealists who have come from the old era. The biggest difference is that Wang Mingzhen, who stands on the three-foot-high podium, naively, persistently and stubbornly regards his ideals as a magic lamp, and looks forward to planting the seeds of yearning for light in the hearts of batches of Chinese teenagers below the podium.

Hu Xianxun is different.

He gave Zhang Yunqi a different feeling.

He is a person who truly understands the rules by which this world works. He knows that there is no place for tears in history books written by the strong. However, hidden in his cold and decisive killing is compassion for hundreds of millions of toiling people.

With compassion in the heart and thunder in the hands!
The heavy snow was still falling outside the window, and Zhang Yunqi realized that another big storm was about to hit southern Hunan.

Thinking about these things in his mind, Zhang Yunqi drove for more than two hours before arriving in Lijin.

He had to go back to the South Gate Villa first. He drove through the snow-covered Erban Street. When he arrived at the Xiangda Dongfanghong Square, a figure suddenly appeared on the roadside and waved under the street light. Zhang Yunqi took a closer look and found that it was Ma Rulong, whom he had not seen for a long time.

Zhang Yunqi had no idea that this idiot had been released.

He drove over and slid down the window. He saw the boy wearing a colorful cotton-padded jacket. He looked particularly cheerful and seemed to be more lively than before. He asked, "When did you get out?"

Ma Rulong held the lamb kidney skewer in his hand, put it in his mouth and chewed it, his mouth full of the fishy taste: "This morning. How about we have a barbecue together? Everyone is here."

Zhang Yunqi turned his head and saw that his buddies from dormitory 213 were having a midnight snack at the barbecue stall across the street, along with Hun Sen, the sports minister of the Student Union.

He thought about it and got off the car as it was still early.

Zhang Yunqi has not been back to school for a long time because he has been too busy recently, but the brothers are still the same. The decadent ones like Song Junxian lie in the dormitory every day, living a more primitive life than the cavemen, while the motivated ones like Zhou Dingchuan spend all day in the library reading books, feeling fulfilled.

Life is full of different things. So is university.

Zhang Yunqi and Ma Rulong walked to the table surrounded by a plastic shed inside the barbecue stall, greeted their brothers and sat down.

The main purpose of this barbecue was to celebrate Ma Rulong's return to school, and the atmosphere was particularly warm.

He was able to come out this time thanks to the efforts of the principal Jiang Ruqin.

Jiang Ruqin had already written a long report on all the violations of school rules and regulations by Su De and others, such as not wanting to fill out the visitor list, often provoking the guards, and in order to evade management, they even pushed down the wall in front of the dormitory building, and directly pointed out that the core reason for the dispute was that Su De and others had stayed with prostitutes! They also beat up the guards and smashed the school's public facilities.

Now the situation has been completely calmed down and the results of the handling have come out. It is unknown how the higher-ups communicated, but except for Su De who has died, the rest of the group suspected of causing the conflict were expelled from the school and sent out of the country. Jiang Ruqin also took advantage of this favorable situation to push Hunan University to revise its school rules and balance the treatment of students. He also gave feedback to the provincial department, firmly demanding that the number of Ni Ge's students be reduced starting from the next school year.

This is something that should make Hunan University students cheer.

Ma Rulong, who was detained in the detention center for this incident, is undoubtedly the main contributor. Suddenly, he became extremely popular among the girls in the department. When he went to class this afternoon, there was thunderous applause in the classroom. Yu Xiaoyu, the ugly duckling in the social dormitory, looked at him with stars in her eyes.

During his student days, there was no greater charisma than a hero who was willing to sacrifice his life for the sake of national justice. As a result, Ma Rulong's style became different. He transformed himself from a wretched little chicken into a confident fighting chicken, and he only picked lamb kidneys and lamb penises to eat at the barbecue stall.

Anyway, the one who paid the bill was the big boss Zhang Yunqi...

When talking about Su De, everyone inevitably mentioned the beauty Zhao Wenxuan in the social dormitory, because her love affair with Su De had long been known to everyone in Hunan University, and she had lost all face.

What does this look like in the eyes of Chinese people?
A virgin girl is looking for a dog to mate with!
Ma Rulong, who once pursued Zhao Wenxuan, was even more embarrassed. However, at least he looked very proud and didn't care at all. He ate lamb kidneys and drank beer and said, "There are thousands of good men in China, but you found a thing like that. Now, she's a widow at such a young age. Who will be interested in her in the future?"

Jin Shengze, the always benevolent pretty boy, said, "Don't be so mean, she's suffering enough now."

Ma Rulong said, "Cherishing a woman? If you had taken her in, there wouldn't have been any such trouble. You're pretending to be kind now!"

Zhou Dingchuan quickly interrupted the brothers' meaningless argument: "I heard that the principal Jiang Ruqin had a talk with Zhao Wenxuan. The school wants to hold her responsible for hiding Su De. She might even be expelled!"

Ma Rulong was silent.

He Lin looked at Zhang Yunqi who had been silent, and continued, "I heard from Liu Ying that Zhao Wenxuan has been going to the Yuelu Branch every now and then to make trouble, saying that you found the place where she hid Su De and then spread it, which led to Su De's death. She said that this was premeditated murder and you should be held criminally responsible. I guess she also told the principal Jiang Ruqin about this, but that's a bit silly. Jiang Ruqin is so good to you, he will definitely cover for you."

Zhang Yunqi took a puff of his cigarette and said with a smile: "There is such a thing? I didn't know that the hat is quite big." At this point, he picked up the plastic cup under everyone's slightly questioning gaze and said: "Come on, brothers, have a drink, happy new year, I have to drive back to Jiangchuan later, and I will invite everyone to get together again when I come back on New Year's Day."

Zhang Yunqi didn't drink alcohol, he just drank a beverage.

But we guys just felt that this roommate was really unfathomable.

After a brief chat, seeing that it was already late, Zhang Yunqi said goodbye and left early, returning to the East Gate Villa to get his clothes.

After finishing these things, he went to Baizhupo.

The lights in Ji Ling's duplex were off. It was probably because everyone had gone to bed at this late hour. After getting off the car, Zhang Yunqi took out his cell phone and called Ji Ling. The phone rang for a long time before it was connected. Ji Ling's voice was dazed: "You're here?"

Zhang Yunqi said, "It's downstairs."

Ji Ling said: "Okay, wait for me."

Zhang Yunqi hung up the phone and looked up to see a light on in the window of a bedroom on the second floor. Soon, Ji Ling appeared at the door on the first floor. The girl was wearing a black windbreaker with a white sweater underneath. She walked out dragging a suitcase. The diamond-studded clover pendant on her left ear swayed in the cold wind.

Zhang Yunqi smiled and said, "Have you informed your parents about your return to Jiangchuan? Don't let me kidnap a good girl in the middle of the night."

Ji Ling seemed to be still asleep: "I know."

Zhang Yunqi nodded and said okay, then put Ji Ling's suitcase into the trunk. The two got in the car. Ji Ling rubbed his eyes and handed him a bottle of coffee. He started the engine and drove out of Baizhupo.

Passing through the urban area of ​​Lijin late at night, speeding south from Litan West, passing Panlong Mountain and getting on the provincial road, Zhang Yunqi sped up and rushed towards his distant hometown. In the 90s, transportation was relatively backward, and it would take more than six hours to return to his hometown Jiangchuan. It would be a long night.

Ji Ling usually couldn't stay up late, and would feel listless after 10 o'clock. But tonight she had taken a nap in advance, and after slowly waking up, she seemed energetic and in high spirits. She sat cross-legged with snacks and talked to Zhang Yunqi non-stop. She asked, "Are you tired after driving for so long at night?"

Zhang Yunqi chewed the sour fruit Ji Ling had fed him: "What are you talking about? Anyone would get tired from driving all night."

Ji Ling said, "What did you do today? You set out so late."

Zhang Yunqi said, "What a big deal."

Ji Ling said, "How big of a deal is a big deal?"

Zhang Yunqi smiled: "It's about ideals, is it big?"

Ji Ling shuddered: "My teeth are sore."

Zhang Yunqi smiled and said, "I went to a meeting today. It was a project involving millions of farmers. Secretary Hu Xianxun wanted me to manage the operation and fund preparation of 54 mu of land for the first phase of the project. With such a large scale and so many farmers involved, to be honest, I can't imagine how difficult it is, and I don't know what to expect."

Ji Ling said: "But you will definitely do it."

Since childhood, this girl has always been able to see through Zhang Yunqi's thoughts at a glance.

Zhang Yunqi was silent for a moment, then said, "In fact, I know very well that Hu Xianxun only wants money. He needs a huge amount of funds to realize his ambitions, and he thinks I can get the money for him. This is the core reason why he asked me to participate in this project."

Zhang Yunqi paused for a moment, then continued, as if he could only say these complaints to the girl he had grown up with: "But for me, it will probably take a long time for this project to make a profit. Hundreds of thousands of farmers will need a huge amount of money to be resettled, and the project will require a huge amount of money to promote. The company I have jointly established with the province will definitely use all the profits from land operations to support Hu Xianxun's business in the short term."

Ji Ling said: "But you will still do it."

Zhang Yunqi asked: "Are you so sure?"

Ji Ling said: "You never tell me what you don't want to do. You tell me that it means you have to do it, but you are under so much pressure."

At this moment, a sharp whistle suddenly came from outside the car window. Ji Ling pointed out the window and said, "Look! There are fireworks."

Zhang Yunqi turned his head to look out the window. There were scattered fireworks falling from the sky, splashing countless fragments of light. Ji Ling next to him became happy. She slid down the window, her short hair swaying in the cold wind, and her delicate little face was breathtakingly beautiful in the flickering light and shadow.

Zhang Yunqi raised his hand and looked at the time. It was just past midnight. It was already 12. He said to Ji Ling, "Happy New Year."

The fireworks faded away, and the sky soon returned to silence. Ji Ling looked back and found that Zhang Yunqi was looking at her. After so many years, the way this boy looked at her seemed to have never changed.

She was stunned for a moment, and suddenly said, "I won't wish you a happy new year."

Zhang Yunqi was stunned: "Why?"

Ji Ling raised her head: "Because I hope Xiao Zhang will be happy all his life!"

Zhang Yunqi laughed.

Ji Ling also laughed.

Zhang Yunqi slid up the car window.

Mercedes-Benz is running on the snow-white ground.

The snow had stopped by then, but the wind was still howling in the fields. The car was warm, and the song "Walk Away with Elegance" played on repeat quietly in the dark night: "The world is vast, passers-by are in a hurry, the tide rises and falls, gratitude and resentment, life and death, how many people can see through it, the world is rolling, the love is deep..."

As the moving song played, the car went farther and farther away, and time passed slowly. At around four o'clock in the morning, Ji Ling finally couldn't bear it anymore, and curled up in the chair and fell asleep.

Zhang Yunqi drove alone and entered the Jiangchuan city at around six in the morning. The sky was just getting light and covered with a layer of dark blue cloth. He drove through the streets and alleys, crossed Xiangshan Road, crossed the Chunjiang River, and came to the Shuixie Yundu villa area.

After Zhang Yunqi parked the car, he looked at Ji Ling who was sleeping soundly in the passenger seat. There was a tranquil look on her delicate little face, and her long eyelashes left two shadows on it.

Zhang Yunqi reached out and touched the girl's face.

The girl suddenly opened her eyes and smiled.

After a while, she pointed to the sky and said, "The sun is out!"

Zhang Yunqi looked up and saw a ray of light piercing through the darkness. In the early morning of the first day of 1996, it was like a sharp blade splitting the clouds and falling on the snow-white earth. At the end of the sky, a brilliant sun was rising.

******
Volume 8: A Thousand Splendid Suns - Finale
(End of this chapter)