Chapter 229: All members gather (second update)
In the living room of the suite, Jiao Peng, Yang Liming, Accountant Zhao, and Deputy Director Liu were sitting on the sofa. Their movements were somewhat similar. They were all wiping their sweat with handkerchiefs while listening to Hins talk in Cantonese about what Xie Hushan and Han Hongbing had done in Hong Kong Island.

Except for Deputy Director Liu who was an outsider, the other three had never heard the details from Xie Hushan before. This guy just mentioned it in passing to them in a casual manner. Now they finally got a detailed description from the person involved, Xuanzi.

This is too scary. We cannot allow such people to enter capitalist society. It will easily lead to misunderstanding and negative impression of socialism in capitalism…

Good guy, he used a homemade elm cannon to bombard a nightclub in the street, causing dozens of injuries and almost killing a well-known Hong Kong movie star…

This caused the Hong Kong police to work overtime every day for the next six months, and they arrested countless male mainland youths who had military or militia experience, making it seem like a crackdown.

Once signs of crime are discovered, the person will be arrested and sentenced severely.

Hong Kong community groups are now much more disciplined. When they see young people who have just arrived with a mainland accent, they no longer dare to bully or discriminate against them directly as they did in the past, for fear that if they say something wrong, they will end up like that big brother.

They sold copper coins at high prices to members of Hong Kong gangs, and forced them at gunpoint if they didn’t have money to borrow. As a result, many young people in Hong Kong failed to make a name for themselves, and instead ended up in debt and starving themselves to death.

The most unlucky one was the Hong Kong Island Public Security Bureau Chief. Not only did his beloved dog get stolen, but because of the nightclub bombardment, the big star Zhai Yuan was involved. Moreover, he was of Irish descent, who was not liked by the British. As a result, he was dismissed from his position as Public Security Bureau Chief and was sent by the British Empire to Brunei, a country with no where to go, to serve as a consultant to the police department.

By the time the director left, he had not yet found out who stole his dog.

Taozi, Lv Yuan and Hu Shuang were sitting on the sofa drinking tea. Taozi blinked her eyes while listening to Xuanzi talking, while Lv Yuan’s eyes kept glancing towards the chess and card room.

At this moment, the door of the chess and card room was wide open. Xie Hushan was standing inside with a cigarette in his mouth. On the chess and card table in front of him were more than a dozen T-shirts of various styles. He was flipping through a picture album with both hands, saying something to Han Hongbing, Han Hongzhen, Zhu Youjun, and Lin Meiyang while turning the pages.

Yang Liming seemed to have heard the noise in the chess and card room, so he stood up and walked into the room.

“Hey, hey…how about we sneak over and listen to what they are saying?” Seeing Yang Limin walk in to join the conversation, Lv Yuan couldn’t help but nudge Taozi, who was sitting next to her, with her shoulder and asked in a low voice:

“My goodness, Xie Hushan is so domineering in front of outsiders. Our Lao Yang is at least a commune cadre, but he doesn’t look as powerful as him. Look, when he speaks, the two female comrades and the fourth sister just nod their heads and dare not even raise their heads. When he talks to you at home, you are also so scared that you dare not look up at him?”

Taozi retracted her attention and looked at Lu Yuan. Lu Yuan gestured for her to look towards the chess and card room. Taozi said, “Why are you eavesdropping? Third Brother and the others are not talking about anything shameful. Just walk over and listen.”

As she spoke, Taozi picked up the tray with the teapot and teacups on it from the coffee table next to her. Lu Yuan understood and picked up the fruit plate next to it, then followed Taozi to the chess and card room.

“Third brother, Chief of Staff Han, Secretary Yang, Fourth sister, and the two female comrades, have some fruit, drink a cup of tea, and talk slowly.” Taozi put the fruit plate on the chess and card table and greeted everyone generously.

Xie Hushan dropped the photo album in his hand, extinguished his cigarette, walked to the fruit plate, picked up a banana and peeled it, and said to Han Hongbing who was smoking:
“How could such a small matter lead to such a misunderstanding? It’s understandable that these two women don’t have a comprehensive mindset. Dabao and Hins are from Hong Kong Island, so it’s understandable that they don’t understand the national conditions. My Chief of Staff Han, how come you’ve lost your vigilance after only being in Hong Kong Island for half a year? This album was for Fourth Sister to show to the team leader. If this album is handed in, won’t the leader confiscate it as a pornographic photo?”

“I thought the models would look better in their outfits for photos. Besides, they’re not revealing. The women all have ponytails or shoulder-length hair. We didn’t even dare to hire a model with permed hair. The men all have flat heads, and I don’t think they’d be acceptable. The styles and patterns of the T-shirts are mostly based on what people in mainland China wear, with a few popular styles mixed in…” Han Hongbing exhaled a puff of smoke and began to explain.

Xie Hushan handed the peeled banana to Taozi and interrupted Han Hongbing: “Okay, you should hurry back to Hong Kong Island now, take these styles of clothes to a photo studio, spread out the clothes and take new photos, and make a few new brochures. The quota for Zhongping exhibition was snatched by Fourth Sister, so prevent someone from deliberately doing bad things. Try to prevent it as much as possible and don’t give others the opportunity to do it. Also, take some photos of the working environment of the family workshops in Hong Kong Island and bring them back.”

“I understand.” Han Hongbing didn’t waste any words and walked out with a cigarette in his mouth.

Translator Lin subconsciously wanted to send Han Hongbing out, but Xie Hushan stopped him:
“My elder sister Juli, please stay.”

Lin Meiyang stopped and looked at Xie Hushan, then said with a smile, “It’s more friendly to call Lin the translator.”

“Is your English OK now? Don’t be like Han Laoer, who went to night school for half a year but still doesn’t know as much English as I did by self-studying in Zhongping.” “Fortunately, I went to meet those students from Yenching College of Economics and Trade who were assigned to the exhibition as interpreters for foreign businessmen. I talked to them several times in English. I think their English level should be far worse than mine. If they can interpret for foreign businessmen, I should be qualified too.” Translator Lin said confidently.

Among the few people, Lin the translator was the one who was most willing to see Xie Hushan come back. From the moment he saw Xie Hushan, the smile on his face never stopped.

In her eyes, Han Hongbing is a good man, upright and heroic. Normally, she should not care much whether Xie Hushan comes or not after Han Hongbing comes to Hong Kong Island. However, after Han Hongbing comes to Hong Kong Island, she realizes that Xie Hushan is the indispensable soul of this small gang.

Just like what he said just now, as soon as Xie Hushan opened his mouth holding the album, she remembered the feeling of this guy giving orders to them.

When he was not around, both Zhu Youjun and Han Hongbing were very polite and a little reserved when speaking to everyone. However, if they spoke in a commanding tone, it would seem that the other person had no sense of propriety.

Only Xie Hushan, when he gave orders, everyone listened to him, feeling it was natural.

“Fourth sister Han Hongzhen, I just introduced you. You will be the volunteer translator at her booth. I don’t trust those mediocre student translators arranged by Yangcheng temporarily, so you have to accompany the booth to check for omissions and fill in the gaps. If the official translation makes a mistake, you are responsible for remedying it. If outsiders ask about your identity, you can use the excuse that you are the girlfriend of a Hong Kong businessman who is here to exhibit. I heard about Han Hongzhen’s experience by chance and admired her very much. So I have been chatting with her at the exhibition every day in the past few days, volunteering to help and introducing clients to her. Han Hongzhen has to report tomorrow. She and the other three people cannot live with everyone, so you will accompany her to report. With the presence of Hong Kong businessman friends, you will encounter fewer difficulties when reporting.” Xie Hushan picked up the tea and took a sip, then looked at Lin the translator and Han Hongzhen and said.

Han Hongzhen smiled politely at Lin Meiyang. Translator Lin had already pulled Han Hongzhen, who was the same age as her, out:
“Come on, Fourth Sister, let’s go outside and tell me about your deeds. I will use my hometown return permit to take you around the exhibition area first. We can get to know each other better so as to avoid being exposed.”

Zhu Youjun didn’t say anything. She had been observing Taozi since she came in. Taozi was eating the banana peeled by Xie Hushan and smiling at her.

“Don’t look at me. This is our master. I didn’t cheat you when I asked you to tear up the letter of introduction before I left. Think about it. If you didn’t tear it up, my wife would definitely not be in the mood to eat bananas today. She would eat you alive.” Xie Hushan said to Zhu Youjun, who was looking at Taozi with his eyes rolling:

“Don’t think she’s not as tall as you. You can’t beat her if we fight…”

Taozi was feeling a little shy and a little happy because Xie Hushan peeled a banana for her in public. But as soon as she started eating the banana, he told the female comrade that she was a shrew. She had lost her temper once, but before she could do anything, Xie Hushan took it out and told others about it, making them think that she was really a shrew.

While Xie Hushan was speaking, Zhu Youjun was looking at Taozi seriously.

I don’t know where Xie Hushan married his wife from, she is very pretty. Although she is a little short and dressed simply, she is not at all shy when standing in front of me who is dressed fashionably. She is very graceful and took the fruit handed to her by Xie Hushan. She didn’t feel restrained because there were so many people around. She ate it calmly with small bites.

In contrast, Secretary Yang’s wife, who was taller than her and kept looking around after following her in, looked like a curious maid at this moment.

This made Zhu Youjun unable to hold back for a moment, and he took the initiative to extend his hand while Taozi was eating, which was a bit rude:
“Hello, Taozi, I have heard your name many times from Chief of Staff Han. I am Zhu Youjun.”

Taozi put down the unfinished banana and wiped her hands with the paper towel on the table. Then she reached out and shook hands with Zhu Youjun and said seriously:
“Third Brother rarely mentions you, Chief of Staff Han, and Translator Lin to others, but he puts the photo of you two on the cabinet, and sometimes he looks at it and laughs out loud.”

Zhu Youjun imagined that at dusk, Xie Hushan, who was tired after a day’s work, came home and sat on the kang. When he looked up, he saw the group photo, his eyes fixed on it, and then he suddenly remembered something funny that they had experienced together, and he laughed out loud in front of Taozi like a lunatic.

As soon as this scene appeared, Zhu Youjun couldn’t help but laugh.

Xie Hushan was chewing an apple nearby, interrupting the two women’s greetings and saying to Zhu Youjun:
“You two can get close to each other later. I asked you to find a few gay men and women from Hong Kong Island to act as guest models to earn some extra money. Have you done it?”

Zhu Youjun looked at Xie Hushan and winked at him: “It’s done. Do you remember that female student you met? She graduated from high school this year. She and several of her classmates are willing to come to Yangcheng for a few days for free and make some extra money.”

(End of this chapter)