Liansheng paused for a mont and then said, "This ti, the reason we’re placing such importance is also because this gentleman promised to renovate the school. He offered a million right off the bat, and for an elentary school, dozens of villages will benefit."
Wang Futang listened silently without interrupting.
Hearing that dozens of villages would benefit, Wang Futang pinched a pinch of tobacco and stuffed it into his pipe, pressing down on it with his fingers and nodding heavily, "Alright, if he’s willing to co to the countryside for the New Year, let him co. We guarantee to treat him with the utmost respect. For such a charitable act, he deserves to be treated as an honored guest."
Liansheng looked at his uncle, then his silent older cousin, and had no choice but to accept this outco.
Putting this matter aside, Uncle was more concerned about the Jiang Province affairs.
"If you let Mr. Lian co to our ho, will you have the ti to make a trip to Jiang Province?" Uncle Wang Futang asked.
Liansheng said, "I was originally thinking of completing the preparations first, then asking for leave to go..."
Wang Futang took a drag on his old pipe and said, "Liansheng, although we haven’t had much contact with the Ling Family for years, he is your wife’s biological father, and in such a situation, you should go and see him. Your wife hasn’t done any wrong to our Wang Family... Sigh, to be honest, it’s our Wang Family that owes her."
What else could Liansheng do but nod.
Uncle and the older cousin still didn’t know that he was able to clear his na and have his reputation restored, thanks to his wife.
After confirming the New Year’s arrangents for Mr. Lian, Liansheng returned to report to his superiors and received a lot of praise.
"You’ve handled this matter very well... Here’s what we’ll do, allocate so hospitality expenses, buy so bedding... if not, then buy so fabric and cotton, and ask the aunts and sisters-in-law at ho to help make so new quilts, along with daily necessities... Oh, and buy more New Year supplies, more food and drinks..."
Liansheng smiled wryly, "We’ve already bought things at ho, and my aunt said we have new quilts at ho that haven’t been used..."
"Haha, I know you’re a good comrade, and your family isn’t covetous of these things, but since we’re supposed to be hosting, you don’t need to save it," said the leader, and he simply sent his secretary to the finance departnt to get a portion of the funds and gave them to Liansheng.
Besides the usual amount of money, there was a stack of vouchers.
Thanks to the farrs’ market and fairs, it was easier to buy at and eggs in the village, and at tickets and the like were no longer sought after. But fabric tickets, cotton tickets, and a special telephone installation ticket made Liansheng very satisfied.
The rest didn’t matter much, but that telephone installation ticket was truly rare.
With this, it would be much easier to stay in touch with ho in the future.
The team originally had a telephone, but as it had been a long ti since it was installed and there was no production team anymore, the phone was basically useless.
For the sake of hosting, a special line was drawn from the commune to the Nanli Team, and a phone was installed in old Party Secretary Wang Futang’s house.
Moreover, it was no longer a black, old-fashioned rotary phone; it was replaced with a dial phone, a beautiful telephone placed on the table in the main room, alongside the Wang Family’s TV, drawing many villagers to co and watch the excitent.
"Why not give Liansheng a call to try it out?" suggested the team leader, Guo Zhanrong, encouraging the old Party Secretary.
Wang Futang looked at him, then at the other people in the room, and in the end, he was also itching to try. He picked up the book where his family’s phone number for Liansheng was recorded, put on his reading glasses, and finally lifted the phone receiver, clumsily dialing the numbers one by one.
Listening to the slashing sound of the dialing plate, the villagers watching held their breath.
When the number was dialed, Wang Futang listened with the receiver to his ear and then said, "I’m looking for Wang Liansheng."
Soone couldn’t help but ask, "Did Liansheng answer the call?"
Without waiting for Wang Futang to answer, team leader Guo Zhanrong said, "This is the operator, it needs to be transferred."
"Oh, it needs to be transferred..."
Finally, the call was transferred to Liansheng’s office, and it just happened that Liansheng answered the phone: "Hello, Foreign Affairs Reception Office, who are you looking for?"
When Wang Futang heard his nephew’s voice, he chuckled and said, "Liansheng, it’s your uncle..."
Liansheng imdiately smiled upon hearing it, "Uncle, is the phone installed?"
"Yes, it’s installed. Everyone’s here, so I thought I’d make a call to try it out..."
Liansheng found it a bit funny but very patiently chatted with his uncle and checked about ho. He finally said, "Uncle, I was just about to tell you that Mr. Lian will arrive tomorrow. He might have a al in Huicheng and then head straight over. How are the preparations at ho? Do I need to co back?"
"Coming tomorrow? No need to co back, everything’s ready at ho, don’t worry."
Guo Zhanrong also joined in, squeezing next to the phone receiver and loudly said, "Liansheng, let the leaders rest assured. Our team is very supportive of this reception, so don’t worry, we guarantee everything will be done perfectly, and we won’t embarrass ourselves."
Liansheng had been running back and forth to his hotown a lot these days, seeing the house tidied up, all sorts of supplies prepared, and food and drinks for the New Year restocked, he could say that except for being in the countryside, Mr. Lian’s food and supplies in the Nanli Team wouldn’t be inferior to those in Huicheng.
So, his question today was more symbolic; he wasn’t really worried.
Seeing Guo Zhanrong’s endless chatter, Wang Futang pushed the big head squeezed by his ear, chuckling, "Liansheng, you’re busy with work, we won’t keep you any longer, hanging up now."
The phone hung up with a bang, and Guo Zhanrong was left a little unfulfilled, "I wasn’t finished yet..."
Wang Futang glared at him, "Calls cost a few dis a minute, can’t you just get to the point? You think you can just ramble on forever?"
With everything ready, the next morning before dawn, Liansheng headed towards the provincial city with the convoy.
Mr. Lian was flying in this ti. After picking him up at the airport, they’d head back to Huicheng for a welco and then to the Nanli Team.
They left early, and by the ti they reached the airport, there were still more than two hours before Mr. Lian’s flight would arrive.
The group, like country bumpkins visiting the city for the first ti, wandered around the airport.
Passing by the ticket office, Liansheng suddenly had an idea and went over to inquire if there were flights to Jiang Province. It turned out there were, but the flights were infrequent, with only two a week.
Moreover, to buy a ticket, one needed a recomndation letter from the municipal level, not just anyone could buy one.
What surprised Liansheng a bit was the ticket price; it wasn’t too expensive, just a bit over two hundred.
But it only took a few hours to get there, much faster than the four-day train ride.
If he could fly both ways, he could visit Jiang Province and return in a week comfortably.
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