sbdcsierra Chapter 119 witnessed the coldness and warmth of human relationships.
Chapter 119 witnessed the coldness and warmth of human relationships.
The staff living area is located near the west gate of the college and consists of three rows of single-story houses, with the experts' building behind them. Of course, the conditions here cannot compare to the experts' apartments, and even compared to the college's student dormitories, they are considerably worse. Furthermore, the residents here are relatively more diverse.
However, for Zhang Qian, this was already quite good. If it weren't for his work on the college's key experimental project, the college wouldn't have given him special consideration by allocating him a dormitory room.
Wang Jie parked his bicycle in the bicycle shed, leaving the books tied to the back rack untouched. He figured no one would steal them anyway; after all, it would be a joke if books were stolen at school.
Zhang Qian's dormitory was in the last row of bungalows. It was Wang Jie's first time here. He walked along the narrow passageway, where almost every bungalow had a small kitchen that the residents had built themselves. In the passageway, clotheslines were hung with clothes and quilts, making the place look messy at first glance.
He had just reached the door and was about to knock when the door opened from the inside, and Zhang Qian was about to walk out.
"Hey, Wang Jie, you're already here. I reckon you'll be a while before you arrive."
Wang Jie asked, "Where are you going?"
Hearing the voices at the door, Jian Zheng went to the door as well. "He said you won't be back so soon, go to the lab first."
Zhang Qian stepped back and said to the two men, "Let's go inside."
Jian Zheng asked Wang Jie, "Why are you back so soon?"
Instead of answering, Wang Jie asked, "Back? How did you know I was at school this afternoon?"
Zhang Qian explained, "When I ran into Professor Qian in the teaching and research building this afternoon, he said you had just left."
Wang Jie said, "Yes, Professor Qian just got back and sent me a message asking me to come see him."
Jian Zheng added, "Why didn't you tell me you were coming to school? I should have come with you."
Wang Jie looked at Jian Zheng without saying a word. The night he returned from the funeral, Jian Zheng had messaged him saying he was coming to see him, but Wang Jie waited all night and Jian Zheng didn't show up. Wang Jie guessed that his mother probably hadn't allowed him to come out.
During those days, when public opinion was running high, people who were unaware of the truth also joined in criticizing and questioning the government's credibility.
Wang Jie saw a media report claiming that a female leader in the municipal party committee had been abusing her position for years, accepting bribes and using the guise of environmental protection and management of Cuihu Lake to amass wealth. She even allegedly used improper channels to secure a place for her son in a talent program. Anyone with a discerning eye could see that the "female leader" mentioned in the report referred to Mayor Chang, as she was the only woman among the municipal party committee leaders.
Regardless, Jian Zheng was dragged into this mess because of his affair with Zhou Yanruo, which also implicated Mayor Chang. Wang Jie has always felt apologetic about this. For the past two weeks, Jian Zheng hasn't appeared, and Wang Jie hasn't contacted him either, fearing he might inadvertently cause him more trouble.
Zhang Qian said, "Wait at my house for a while. I'm going to the lab first. We'll go out for drinks tonight, it's on me."
Wang Jie said, "Isn't it still a holiday today? What are you doing in the lab?"
"You've met Qiu Chunliang, Professor Zhou's student. He has to go back to his hometown for some family matters and asked me to cover his shifts for a few days."
Jian Zheng asked in surprise, "Aren't you in finance? Are you also responsible for the lab work?"
"How could I possibly conduct their experiments? I'm not a materials science major. It's his turn to work the night shift this week. They don't do experiments at night, so it's just a matter of having someone keep an eye on things so that any problems can be detected immediately."
Wang Jie was still a little confused: "According to you, it's the job of a security guard, but shouldn't data be collected at night?"
“It’s not wrong to call him a security guard, but he still needs to monitor the temperature of the feed tank with instruments,” Zhang Qian said. “Professor Zhou is not here this week. If he were here, he definitely wouldn’t have agreed to let me cover his shift.”
Wang Jie felt that something was not quite right, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. He glanced at Jian Zheng, who was also looking at him, and from his expression, it seemed that he had the same idea.
Jian Zheng spoke up again, saying, "We don't know much about your lab, so if you think it's okay, then it's fine. But you have to work tonight, so how can you drink?"
Wang Jie chimed in, "Even security guards shouldn't drink during their shifts."
"Of course, you two don't need to tell me that. I'm not on duty tonight, but Qiu Chunliang's train leaves early tomorrow morning, so he'll be on duty tonight. He asked me to come over now to explain the duty schedule for tomorrow night. I'll cover for him for three nights, and then he can make it back."
After Zhang Qian finished speaking, he left the room, leaving only Wang Jie and Jian Zheng inside.
Taking the opportunity, Wang Jie asked, "I've been following the media reports these past few days. Is Mayor Chang alright?"
Jian Zheng replied with a hint of frustration, "How can you say everything is fine? The province has already sent an investigation team to investigate."
"Is the situation that serious? Is your aunt alright?" Wang Jie asked with further concern.
“My mother is fine now. She told me that many of the reports are untrue and that someone is deliberately trying to smear them and interfere with their work,” Jian Zheng explained.
Wang Jie recalled Jian Zheng mentioning that Mayor Chang was now the head of the Cuihu Ecological Guidance Group, responsible for the cleanup and rectification of the aquaculture industry in Cuihu Lake. Back when Mayor Chang was the district's director in charge of investment promotion, she spearheaded the development of aquaculture enterprises in Cuihu Lake. These enterprises generated economic benefits for the local area and helped fishermen who relied on the lake to become wealthy. Therefore, Director Chang received numerous awards for her outstanding achievements and ultimately received a promotion. However, now that she needs to personally oversee this cleanup and rectification work, she is likely to offend many people in the process, especially those aquaculture enterprises with close ties to her.
Knowing that her aunt was unaffected, Wang Jie didn't want to continue the topic.
He asked, "You're going to Hong Kong Island to report for duty in November, right? There's less than a month left. Are you all ready?"
"It's almost done. All that's left is a recommendation letter from the school. I came to see Director Zhang in the school office today. I was hoping to take advantage of the holiday when there aren't many people in the school office to communicate with Director Zhang first, so that it could be issued as soon as we start work tomorrow."
"From what you're saying, it didn't work out? Director Zhang isn't here, is he?"
“I saw Director Zhang.” Jian Zheng curled his lip and said in a disdainful tone, “You would never guess that Director Zhang, who is usually a cheerful and nice guy, used to always bow and scrape when he talked to me. I even tried to imitate him like that, and you said I didn’t respect my teacher. Today, he actually spoke to me in a bureaucratic tone, drawing out all the “uh-huhs” and “ah-ahs”, saying that he needed to report it to the school committee office for discussion and told me to go home and wait for notification.”
After saying that, he added, "Damn it! It's just a recommendation letter. Write some comments, stamp it, and that's it. What the hell is there to research? There are also snobbish people in the school who look down on others."
Wang Jie patted Jian Zheng on the shoulder to comfort him, saying, "Maybe the school really needs to go through some procedures. Don't overthink it. Anyway, there's still time, so there's no rush."
He said that, but in his heart he thought that Jian Zheng, who had always come from a well-off family, had also experienced the coldness of human relationships.