Beginning with the Ubume Bird Chapter 267

Chapter 267: Chapter 7: One Cannot Contend with Fate

Li Yan stood under the streetlight, gazing at the red and green neon lights. He held a phone with a dialed call.

“Hello?”

On the other end of the line was a familiar male voice.

“Kun, are you home?”

Li Yan raised his eyebrows in some surprise.

“Yep, my mom wanted me to bring the kids over for dinner this weekend. It's rare for you to call my house.”

“Is uncle there?”

“He's in the study, reading the newspaper. What's up?”

Chen Kun adjusted his glasses, holding the telephone receiver in his hand.

“Oh, there's a matter…”

Dust rose and spread under the golden streetlight, and the sounds of engines and metal echoed from the factory into the night. Decorated with a few sparse weeds, the vast loess land stretched before him. Li Yan watched people sitting and smoking outside the factory gate, his lips moving slightly.

“That's pretty much the situation.”

After explaining, Li Yan laughed and said, “I guess this is me… reporting the local situation to the old cadre.”

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“Oh…”

Chen Kun pondered for a moment before speaking, “Don't bother my dad about this; I'll handle it for you.”

Li Yan didn't even blink. “Okay, then it's settled.”

Laughter came from the other end of the line, “Hahaha~ Hey, I'm just a low-level civil servant. Are you sure you trust me to handle this?”

“Hey, just do your best, that's all I ask. I can't be troubling you, right?”

“Don't give me that,” Chen Kun laughed and scolded, “Alright, I'll think it through.”

After some small talk, Li Yan hung up the call. He looked up at the emerging moon, figuring Lady Dan was probably still waiting for him to have dinner.

The idea from Mr. Liu's nephew didn't seem very reliable to Li Yan. However, since the man had promised that “Director Bing” would come to solve the issue today, Li Yan felt it wasn't his place to say much. Calling the old man was also a way to show he cared, just in case.

However, night had fallen, and there was still no news from “Secretary Bing,” who was supposed to arrive that afternoon.

Li Yan walked over to Mr. Liu's eldest son, who offered him a cigarette. Li Yan accepted it without lighting it and said, “Xuewu, I have someone waiting for dinner at home. I need to go let them know. If anything happens here, call me.” He paused, then added, “If Director Bing doesn't show up tonight, you should persuade the old man to go home. He's not young; he shouldn't be staying out late. If there's a place to speak reason, tell him to be at ease first.”

Liu Xuewu looked anxious but nodded anyway, “You head off first, big brother Dayan. I called and asked, and my cousin (Mr. Liu's nephew) said that Secretary Bing had arrived at noon and had a meeting here. According to the procedural rules, he should be at the village committee now, getting informed about the situation.”

Li Yan grinned sheepishly. “This Mr. Bing, which department director is he?”

“Oh, he is…”

Liu Xuewu was just about to open his mouth.

“Here they come~”

No one knew who shouted, but the responsible workers and the gathered villagers all brightened up, the atmosphere suddenly becoming lively. A black Great Wall car turned at the intersection, followed by several others, all heading this way. Mr. Liu got out of the car, excitedly after receiving a phone call.

There were quite a few people arriving, from the village committee, the town government, leaders of all kinds, among them a neat and dapper young man, Mr. Liu's nephew, who also worked in the bureaucracy. By his side was none other than Director Bing, who was fashionably late.

Director Bing appeared to be in his late forties, with thick eyebrows, large eyes, and a ruddy complexion, smiling very sincerely.

No sooner had Mr. Liu come over, half a year ago, the village party secretary who was delivering pork to every household, Rong Jinfei, stopped working, and he blustered loudly, “Liu Jicheng! If you have an issue, you should report it to the village committee. Causing a fuss here is illegal, do you know that? If it wasn't for our negotiations with the factory, the police would have already taken you away.”

Mr. Liu, although not highly educated, was not one to shrink from confrontation. He glared, about to scold Rong Jinfei, but caught a warning glance from his nephew and reluctantly held back. Unexpectedly, Director Bing took up the cause for him, “Well, Comrade Rong Jinfei, let me share my view; when problems arise in the village committee's work, we should look for causes within ourselves. It's understandable for the common people to act out of distress when their difficulties are unresolved. We must not avoid important issues and confuse right and wrong.”

Rong Jinfei's face turned awkward, his greasy face forced into a smile, “Right, yes, that makes sense.”

Having received such support, Mr. Liu took a different view of Director Bing, nervously wiping the sweat from his palms, as Director Bing took the initiative to ask, “You are… Comrade Liu Jicheng, who reported an issue to us a few days ago, right?”

“Yes, yes.”

Mr. Liu nodded repeatedly.

Director Bing shook her hand with a smile as warm as a spring breeze, “Hello, older brother, my name is Bing, I'm from the city, and I'm in charge of our…,” he briefly introduced himself, then looking around, turned back and said, “Here's the thing! Ah! I originally planned to visit the scene of the incident to understand the situation, but due to time constraints, I couldn't make it in time. So, how about this? I'll come to your home, and the other villagers affected by the loss can join. You can describe the incident to me in detail, is that okay?”

Mr. Liu was quite pleased and was just about to agree when Secretary Bing's meticulous young companion gave a chuckle, “Director, since we're already at the factory's gates, why don't we meet with the person in charge of the factory and sit down together to resolve the issue? It's dark and late; you shouldn't have to visit each house individually. I'll send a text message to the few households and ask them to come here, all right?”

Mr. Liu, hearing this, nodded eagerly, “It's necessary to have them included, as the factory's trucks damaged our ancestral graves.”

Director Bing glanced at the young man subtly, smiling, “You have a point. Shall we go in and talk?”

The young man, stiffening under Director Bing's gaze, felt a twinge of regret but still said with determination, “Let's go in and talk, let's go in and talk.”

Li Yan did not approach. He disliked this sort of thing. He'd listened to the conversation between the people enough to get a rough idea, and just as he was about to take a step forward, he withdrew it, pursing his lips as he fixed his gaze on Director Bing amidst the crowd.

The group first moved the large truck out of the way. The “minister” who had been scared off by Li Yan during the day came over, and after exchanging pleasantries with Director Bing and others, everyone headed towards the factory. Uninvolved bystanders mostly dispersed.

Liu Xuewu came over excitedly, “Dayan, what you said was really not wrong. There's always a place to reason in this world.”

Li Yan nodded.

“Dayan, it looks promising. Why don't you call your family? Don't go back. We owe you a lot for this. After Director Bing resolves the issue, you're invited to our place for a meal.”

“Sure, I'll come with you to take a look,”

Li Yan said with a smile.

“Alright.” Liu Xuewu, taking Li Yan with him, started to walk inside when Li Yan suddenly commented, “Also, your cousin is not a bad fellow. Regardless of how this turns out, you should keep in touch more often.”

“Of course, we grew up together.”

Liu Xuewu said with a smile. Yet, he completely missed the underlying message in Li Yan's words.

Chapter end

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