Zeng Xuerou also told Xiao Xian about the responses to her post on the forum, and instructed her to wait for good news in the next few days.
The phone call to Zhang Yiyi, on the other hand, seemed somewhat comical. After the phone had rung several times and just as Xiao Xian was about to hang up, Zhang Yiyi’s ethereal voice drifted from the other end, "Hello, Xiao Xian? You’re up already? So early."
Xiao Xian held back her laughter and said "It’s still midnight. Happy New Year," before quickly ending the call. One could imagine Zhang Yiyi’s stupefied expression on the other end of the line.
After hanging up, the living room had quieted down. The clock had pointed to midnight. Xiao Xian sat on the sofa with her knees hugged to her chest, watching the New Year fireworks slowly rise outside the window, a burst of red and a streak of green painting the black sky with celebratory colors.
Her fingers touched the lonely red envelope on her knee. Indeed, city life and village life differed considerably. In the village, she could receive quite a few red envelopes, from her grandpa to Sister-in-law Lian and then to Yezi’s parents, the village chief, Uncle San Gouzi, each eagerly handing her a red envelope. It wasn’t a matter of how much money there was, but rather the atmosphere that mattered.
"Speaking of red envelopes, I should deposit them in the bank," Xiao Xian remembered the passbook Zhu Shijun had given her, which he said contained her New Year’s gift money saved from childhood. She had thought about giving that passbook to Zhuo Feng as living expenses, but Zhuo Feng had returned it without even a glance.
While thinking about the passbook, Xiao Xian searched her room and took out the passbook that had been tucked away in her bedside drawer.
"Keeping money stuffed away isn’t a solution. Better deposit it all in a bank for interest," While reminiscing about the purity of country life, Xiao Xian had, unwittingly, grown accustomed to the urban lifestyle. Taking the bus through the city’s skyscrapers, occasionally eating at KFC with friends, or watching a movie, her life’s trajectory had already deviated from its initial direction.
Xiao Xian opened the passbook, which carried her name, likely an account Zhu Shi had set up for her. Below was the specific amount of the deposit.
"One, two, three... five, six," Xiao Xian stopped, looking ahead, there were six zeros, starting with the number seven. Seven hundred thousand, with an additional one thousand five hundred at the end, the amount of New Year’s money she received last year.
"My New Year’s money totals seven hundred thousand," Xiao Xian looked at the thin red passbook. If Zhuo Feng knew that the money she had casually tossed aside last time was a substantial seven hundred thousand, what would her reaction be?
Seven hundred thousand was equivalent to two of the apartments Xiao Xian was living in now, equivalent to decades of Feng Xing’s salary. Xiao Xian would never have believed that an eleven-year-old girl could receive such a huge amount of New Year’s money in just eleven years.
This money also solved Xiao Xian’s urgent need, with the cost of the village’s cable and the wire needed for "sugarcane seedling." The seven hundred thousand should be enough to cover it.
However, another issue arose: was the seven hundred thousand clean money or dirty money? Could it be, as outsiders said, that Zhu Shijun was indeed a corrupt official? As she thought about this, the passbook in Xiao Xian’s hand began to feel hot.
"I remember grandpa also gave me a Party Constitution with several names in it," Xiao Xian took out the Party Constitution again. The title page had several people’s names written on it, seemingly from many years ago. She certainly needed to track down a few of those folks and ask around. Xiao Xian knew that when Zhu Shi was in Beijing, serving as the head of the Tobacco Bureau, those who had old Party Constitutions like him were probably also old leaders.
In Zhou Ziang’s room, all the books and decorations on the desk had been set aside.
Zhou Ziang changed into the white lab coat he wore in the laboratory and put on rubber gloves. Several packets of Chinese herbal medicine decoction found from a herbal shop were placed to the side.
An alcohol burner, and simple test tubes — that was all of Zhou Ziang’s experimental equipment.
"Domestic facilities are no match for those abroad; I’ll have to make do. I hope the experimental results are presentable," Zhou Ziang mixed several kinds of Chinese herbs together, and gave them a sniff under his nose.
Compared to Western medicine, Chinese herbs follow the principle of mutual promotion and restraint. What Zhou Ziang wanted to achieve was to further purify and improve upon the original formula.
After mixing the herbs, their color deepened, and Zhou Ziang’s brow furrowed into a pleasing "Sichuan" character.
"Strange, none of these herbs have ever been mixed together in the annals of Chinese medicine; yet, combined, they harmonize surprisingly well, the sobering effect better than that of concentrated Western medicine capsules, and the taste is also pleasant," If initially Zhou Ziang was merely intent on helping his compatriots by working on this medicinal formula, he was now deeply intrigued by the poster who had provided the formula.
As the first red and green fireworks of the New Year’s Eve rose outside the window, Zhou Ziang extinguished the alcohol burner. On the desk, there was now a granular mixture of medicine tablets. However, this kind of medicine tablet had a flaw: after chemical evaporation, the original medicinal effect was somewhat reduced, yet it still retained fifty percent efficacy. For a Chinese medicine, such a result was quite commendable.
"Tomorrow, I can leave a message for the poster. If they are in the country, I could consider meeting them. I am quite curious to know what kind of person could concoct such a formula," Zhou Ziang mumbled to himself, opened his computer, and replied to the post on the forum.
** Thank you "Just Right" for the fan tickets ~ **(To be continued. If you work, feel free to come to Qidian (qidian.com) to cast your recommendation tickets, monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation.)