"It's all the same."
Constable Zhu simply tossed the cigarette to him, lit it himself, took a drag, and said, "Two possibilities. First, he has no home to go back to, or doesn't want to go back. Second..."
He tapped his head, "...he might really have lost his mind, and can't remember certain things."
Captain Yang was stunned for a moment, then asked, "Which possibility do you think is more likely?"
Constable Zhu shook his head, "It's hard to say, it's hard to say."
After taking two more puffs of his cigarette, he whispered, "I suspect it's more likely that he has lost his memory. You said he was only wearing an undershirt in the winter, and he was in the water. Think about it, if you hadn't gone to fetch water, or if you had gone half an hour later, would he still be alive?"
Captain Yang shook his head without hesitation, "Not even half an hour, probably not even five minutes. When I pulled him out, his skin was purple, and his body was stiff. He could have stopped breathing at any moment. I took off his clothes, wiped him down, covered him with a big coat, and carried him back. Then I asked Jiang Lili from the educated youth dormitory to give him two big bowls of ginger sugar water, and I boiled the medicine prescribed by Doctor Zhang and fed it to him. He sweated a lot, and then he came back to life."
"That's it then."
Constable Zhu smiled, "Who jumps into the river wearing only an undershirt? It's freezing cold, just try going outside in an undershirt in this weather. You're asking for trouble.
In my opinion, this kid must have been in some trouble, someone stripped him and threw him into the river. Luckily, he didn't die, and he drifted to you. You saved him. But he escaped death but not the consequences. He caught a chill, and he might have been beaten, so he can't remember things from before."
Captain Yang frowned, squinting his eyes, "If you say so, it does make sense."
He then pointed to the other room, "What do we do now?"
Constable Zhu took a puff of his cigarette and smiled, "He's not a criminal, so I can't take him back. Why don't you just do good deeds like Lei Feng, and see this through to the end? Keep him for a few days first. I'll find out if anyone's missing in the nearby villages. From the sound of his speech, even if he's not local, he must be from one of the nearby counties. He can't be too far away. I'll get back to you once I hear anything."
People in those days were more vigilant, but the social atmosphere was also better. Everyone was learning to do good deeds like Lei Feng. As long as it was basically certain that the person wasn't a bad person, they would find help from all sides.
Of course, it was another matter if you met a bad person, because there were bad people at all times.
Captain Yang had no other choice but to nod with a bitter face, "Alright."
He then quickly added, "You have to hurry. A half-grown kid will eat me out of house and home. I'm afraid I can't afford to feed him."
Constable Zhu stood up and laughed, "Come on, who in the whole Nanhu Commune doesn't know that your Lujiawan Sixth Brigade is a wealthy household? One work point (equal to 10 work points) is worth 0.65 yuan this year. At the end of the year, each family will get dozens of yuan in dividends. You're running out of food? What about everyone else?"
Captain Yang chuckled, "You can't say that. No one gets their grain for free. We have to be frugal, and besides, my 0.65 yuan isn't much. I heard that some places are getting 1.2 yuan. We have to work hard.
Hey, if you find his family, you have to put in a good word for us. We need to get the food he has eaten back. Oh, and the 20 cents for Doctor Zhang's medicine yesterday."
Constable Zhu, "Just wait, we'll find them first."
With that, he dropped his cigarette butt, stood up, patted his bottom, and left.
Captain Yang quickly followed.
There were dozens of people standing in the courtyard of the educated youth dormitory. When they saw them come out, everyone shut their mouths and looked up in silent respect.
Constable Zhu was accustomed to this kind of scene, so he ignored it. He simply nodded to a few familiar faces, then walked outside to his bicycle. Turning to Captain Yang, he waved his hand, "Don't see me out, go back."
Captain Yang also waved goodbye, "Take it easy."
When Constable Zhu rode away, he turned around and walked back, hands behind his back.
Someone called out, "Secretary Yang, why did Constable Zhu leave? Didn't he take the person with him?"
Captain Yang turned his head and snapped, "Mind your own business. He's not a criminal, why would he take him?"
He then didn't go into the house, but stood outside and shouted, "Old Liu, Old Huang, come out for a bit."
The two men came out together. Accountant Liu walked up to him and asked softly, "What did Constable Zhu say?"
Captain Yang reached behind his back and took out a cigarette holder with a pipe. This was the kind of cigarette he usually smoked; packaged cigarettes were for social occasions.
He took out some tobacco and stuffed it into the bowl, struck a match to light it, then flicked the match out onto the ground. After taking two puffs, he pointed his pipe at the house next door, "Let's talk in that room."
Then he waved his hand at everyone around him, "Stop staring. What's there to see, just a half-grown boy? Are you all looking for a son-in-law? Go, go, go."
Captain Yang clearly had quite a bit of authority, and everyone listened and started to leave.
But even as they left, they couldn't help but talk.
"Old Huang, you have five daughters. Aren't you looking for a son-in-law? There is one right here."
The one called Old Huang pulled a long face, "Go, go, go. I need to have a son to carry on the family line, why would I want a son-in-law? If you want to find one, you go find one. Isn't your eldest daughter looking for a husband? I think this one would be quite good."
"Oh, don't say that, I actually think this boy is quite good. He looks like someone from a painting, delicate and tender, whiter than a girl, clearly from a cadre family. I'm afraid he won't like our mud-legged people."
"What's the use of being good-looking? He can't carry anything or do any work. Even cadres have to plant rice when they come to the village. He is just a pretty face."
"Maybe he's a scholar, someone who can earn a salary just by moving his pen. He is a thousand times better than you farming."
...
Chen Fan watched the crowd disperse, his face falling.
He saw clearly that Captain Yang hadn't left, but had taken the other two to a meeting in the next house. They must have been discussing how to deal with him.
He didn't know what to do.
Time travel, time travel. Why did I have to time travel in my free time? Now I'm stuck in this era.
Even though things weren't good before, I still had air conditioning in the summer, heating in the winter, meat to eat, alcohol to drink, and a scooter to go out.
What about now?
What year is it?
Chen Fan looked around, stood up, and wanted to find a calendar.
But he searched the whole room, except for the four bamboo beds, four wardrobes, the table, and a few bamboo chairs, there was only the portrait hanging on the wall. Even the teapot and teacups were plain, rough earthenware. He couldn't find anything with a single word on it.
Chen Fan thought for a moment and cautiously walked to the doorway, sticking his head out to look.
Four mud-brick houses lined up in a row, with a slightly lower room on the west side. Looking at the chimney behind it, he knew that was the kitchen.
There was a brick wall less than two meters high around the outside, enclosing a large courtyard, with two wooden planks serving as a gate.
The most important thing was that there was no one in the courtyard.
Perfect!
Chen Fan wanted to go out and have a look around, see if he could find any clues.
But before he could take a step, he saw the girl who had brought him clothes coming out of the kitchen with a bowl in her hand.
Without thinking, he quickly retreated, rushing back to the chair and sat down.
(End of Chapter)
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