Rebirth 1979: Hunting wild boars and saving educated youth

Chapter 171 Director Xu takes the backdoor

When the Spring Festival came, on New Year's Eve, Chen Feng, Chen Yufen, and their little sister Yaya all went to reunite with their grandfather.

As soon as she entered the door, Chen Yufen hurriedly started to get busy and went to the kitchen to prepare the New Year's Eve dinner.

In the kitchen, Chen Yufen was busy chopping meat and washing vegetables, her hands moving very skillfully.

The fire was stoked by her and it burned brightly, and the whole kitchen was filled with the aroma of food.

As for Chen Feng and the old man, one old and one young, they both acted as hands-off bosses and sat at the chess table in the living room, playing chess back and forth.

Yaya was not so lucky. She was assigned by Chen Yufen to peel peanuts in the yard. Her little face was full of reluctance, but she did not dare to disobey her mother's order. She could only peel and mutter.

The old man jumped up and down, glanced at Chen Feng, and said, "Boy, you are already an adult, why don't you think about finding a wife to help your mother?"

Chen Feng cupped his hands and replied with a grin, "It's all your fault, old man. You sent me to college, so how could I have time to find a wife?"

"Humph, national policy doesn't stop you college students from getting married," the old man shrugged. "After the college entrance exam was opened, many married people got into college. Those who are ten or so years older than you already have a bunch of kids at home."

"Oh, that's different." Chen Feng said, "Their wives aren't university teachers. If they were, you'd see they'd be drowning in saliva."

The old man persisted: "Why do you have to fall for that girl from the Ning family? Isn't Xu Xue, the girl I found for you, good enough? That girl has the appearance of a son. Look at her pelvis..."

"Hey, hey, hey, stop it, stop it!" Chen Feng hurriedly stopped him. "Old man, you are an old revolutionary. You should be more careful with your words and stop being so superstitious."

The old man was unhappy: "How is this feudal superstition? You studied Chinese medicine with your master, and you don't understand this at all?" He paused, then said, "The Ning family's daughter is indeed beautiful, but I'm not sure about her father."

Chen Feng's heart moved, and he asked tentatively, "How about you help me with Governor Ning's ideological work?"

The old man waved his hands repeatedly: "I can't do this. I'm not the political commissar. You've got the wrong person!"

Chen Feng chuckled and casually captured a pawn on the old man's chessboard. He jokingly said, "Old man, you're just going to watch your pawn die without even trying to save it?"

The old man sighed, a complex light flashing in his eyes: "Hey, there are some things you don't understand. Xiao Ning suffered a lot of shocks in those years, mainly due to the involvement of his teacher..."

"His teacher was very forward-thinking and was widely criticized for that. I also said a few things I shouldn't have said at the time, so now I really can't open my mouth to persuade him."

"Just a few words? So simple?" Chen Feng asked.

"It was really just a few words," the old man emphasized. "At the time, I was just following everyone else's lead. After all, I was in the military and knew nothing about economics. But now it seems his teacher was quite insightful. While some of his views at the time didn't hold up to scrutiny, many have been proven correct over time."

"What did he say?" Chen Feng asked curiously.

"He said... that letting values ​​spontaneously regulate the economy was more effective than state planning. He also said that large-scale planned economies would inevitably lead to shortages and poverty... Think about it, back in the 1950s, would such talk not have been met with criticism?"

After hearing this, Chen Feng secretly exclaimed in amazement: It's really amazing that he dared to say that in the 1950s.

He couldn't help but recall the conversation with Ning Hezhong that day, and was distracted for a moment, not even noticing that the old man had made several moves in a row.

At this moment, there was a knock on the door outside.

The guard came in and reported: "Commander, someone wants to see you."

The old man frowned and said, "Can't you see I'm playing chess? Who is this?" He said as he walked out.

Chen Feng also followed out curiously.

"Oh, Xiao Xu, why are you here? I can't even play chess in peace." The old man said impatiently.

Chen Feng saw that the visitor was Xu Xue's father, so he greeted him warmly: "Director Xu, hello! What brings you here?"

Director Xu responded with a smile: "Oh, Xiao Chen is here too. I'm so sorry to disturb you guys playing chess." He winked at Chen Feng while speaking, which obviously meant something special.

As they started talking, Chen Feng finally understood the meaning of Director Xu's wink at him just now.

Director Xu was obviously here to use the back door.

Now the competition for the mayor of Ninghai has entered a white-hot stage. The result will be announced after the Spring Festival, and all parties are making intensive arrangements.

Director Xu hopes that Mr. Geng can say a few good words for him to increase his chances of winning.

However, Mr. Geng refused without hesitation: "I have no say in this matter. I'm retired now, and it would be against the rules for me to interfere in local personnel matters."

Seeing this, Director Xu hurriedly winked at Chen Feng, hoping that he could come forward to help.

Chen Feng was torn. He knew he needed to be careful about how he spoke to the old man about this matter. But thinking that he had been the one who had suggested the Ninghai mayoral run to Director Xu, it would seem a bit disloyal to stand by and watch.

So, he asked tentatively: "Uncle Xu, what is the current situation?"

Director Xu sighed and said, "We're at a stalemate now. The Standing Committee has met several times, discussing and re-discussing the matter, but Secretary Peng and Governor Ning each have their own opinions, and neither side's candidate has been accepted by the Standing Committee, so it keeps dragging on. But dragging it on like this isn't a solution. We have to have a result after the Spring Festival. Now is the critical moment, let's see who will give in."

Chen Feng asked again: "So which side are you on now?"

Director Xu smiled bitterly: "I am neither Secretary Peng's person nor Governor Ning's person. I was nominated by the Organization Department."

Chen Feng was speechless. After all this time, Director Xu still couldn't get anywhere.

However, at this moment, he had an idea and said, "What if the governor and the secretary are deadlocked and the Organization Department's candidate is chosen in the end?"

Old Master Geng snorted disdainfully, "What do you know about officialdom? Xiao Peng and Xiao Ning are using this opportunity to compete. No matter what the outcome, someone has to prevail."

"This is the only way to determine who will be the leader of the province in the next few years. No matter what, one of them will be chosen. How could they choose someone from the Organization Department?"

"Is that so..." Chen Feng frowned and pondered for a while, then his eyes suddenly lit up and he said, "I have an idea, maybe we can give it a try."