The drizzled rain fell for more than a week, and the drizzled rain brought the bleak autumn. Most of the students on the school changed into thick coats. The older students had already put on sweaters. Because I didn't go back to get the clothes, I could only put on a slightly thick work clothes outside the thin shirt. I could barely hold on in class during the day, but when I was outdoors in the morning and evening, I felt a little cold and couldn't stand it.

On the weekend, the sky finally cleared. On Saturday afternoon, I took a half-day leave, and after lunch, I left the door and headed straight to the long-distance bus station east of the city. Because there were many people taking buses on weekends, I finally bought a temporary ticket and had no seats to stand. This should have been a very common thing back then.

The car left the city and was surrounded by endless fields. The golden rice swayed in the wind, the ripe soybeans were laughing loudly, and the late autumn corn was also replaced with yellow brocade robes. I felt a little guilty when I thought I could not go home this time. I couldn’t help this year’s autumn harvest and autumn planting, so I could only rely on my parents.

The long-distance bus was bumpy, more than 80 kilometers away, and it took nearly three hours to walk. When I returned to the county town, it was already evening. Instead of going back to the guesthouse where I lived, I hurried to the factory. Yesterday, I borrowed a phone call in the school’s communication room and called back, knowing that Master Liu happened to be in middle class today.

Walking into the tall blue-gray factory gate, the leaves of the sycamore trees almost fell. On the straight asphalt road that day, female workers in groups of three or three came towards us, and a long-lost sense of intimacy suddenly arose. Stepping into the workshop with flying flowers, walking through the rumbling machines, smelling the sweet moldy and moisture, I saw Xiao Meihua on my forehead from afar. She was focusing on a broken thread. In order not to disturb her, I quickly lowered my head and flashed quickly.

When I came to the workshop distribution room and when I pushed the door in, I saw Master Liu in it. The master and apprentice disappeared for several months, and they felt very close to each other. I briefly told Master Liu about my learning situation. Master Liu handed me over the labor protection supplies I had received. There was a large bag of things, and Master Liu had tied them up for me. I took a look at it briefly. It not only had a pair of velvet pants, a pair of electrician rubber shoes, but also a large cotton coat with labor cloth fabric.

I thanked Master Liu, and quickly took a towel and soap from my cabinet and prepared to take a shower in the bathroom. As soon as I left the door of the distribution room, I encountered a bunch of Mao Xiaoli.

"Wu Ping, when did you come back?" Li Xiang met a relative who had been away for a long time and hugged my arms, "Do you know? Mr. Cui has been removed."

"What did you say? Who... has been transferred?" I was a little unbelievable in my ears.

"Old Cui! He is not in our factory. He was transferred to the county industrial bureau last month." Xiao Li said with regret.

"What's going on?" After hearing Xiao Li's words, I felt sad and happy.

"I don't know very well. It may be related to his problem in the turmoil. His sixth uncle failed to save him this time. I heard that the superiors are still investigating it. Maybe they will be like Qin Dabing and will be finished from now on." Xiao Li sighed with great regret.

"So...who is the secretary now?" After I had only been away for a few months, the situation in the factory changed suddenly, which made me difficult for a while.

"Now it is not the head of the secretary. A Nanman from our county fertilizer factory is transferred to be the factory director. His surname is Hou and looks like a monkey. He was a college student in the 1960s. He was promoted by some knowledge standards." Xiao Li pulled down a tuft of hair on his cheek and lowered his voice and said dissatisfiedly.

"The changes have been too big in the past few months, and no one has expected them, haha- you didn't expect them, right? It's really like the old hen turns into a duck when his eyes blink." Xiao Li sighed again with a stinky mouth.

"What else has changed?" Looking at Xiao Li Qi's worried expression, I couldn't help asking.

"After Cui Laopao was transferred, Monkey came to be the factory director, my uncle was promoted to deputy secretary, our director of the Tongda Department was transferred to the factory office, and the director of the factory office, and the follower document. Now he has become the director of our former spinning workshop..."

In the rumbling sound of the machine in the workshop, my heart was churning violently. Looking at Xiao Li's whirring eyes, I was eager to inquire about Yin Hong's news, but in the end I still held back and didn't speak.

I came to the bathroom on the south in a daze. In the steaming hot pool, I saw Senior Brother Xiao Cai who was taking a bath. He was also very surprised when he saw me and hurriedly squeezed to me.

"Why are you back? The study is over?" Senior Brother Xiao Cai's tone was filled with joy of reunion.

"How many months will it take? I'm back to get some winter clothes." I answered softly while lifting the hot water with a towel.

"Have you heard about our factory?" Senior Brother Xiao Cai asked mysteriously.

"I just heard it simply, hey... how has Yin Hong been doing recently?" I didn't care about the changes in the factory, but asked Yin Hong, which surprised Senior Brother Xiao Cai.

"You - you are really a polite person over your friends. You don't care about anything big, and you're thinking about Yin Hong..." Senior Brother Xiao Cai looked at me and complained teasingly, "She - she is no longer in our factory."

"What? She...she is no longer in our factory?" My mind was blank for a moment and I couldn't help but sigh.

"You can speak quietly and listen to me first." Senior Brother Xiao Cai looked around and saw that everyone was not paying attention. He then came to my ears and said in a low voice, "Don't make such a fuss. Yin Hong was transferred last month and went to the county people's hospital."

"What did you say? She...she went to the county people's hospital. How could this be possible? She is not a doctor, not even a veterinarian. How could she treat people?" I opened my mouth in surprise and suddenly stood up from the pool.

"You... why are you a stubborn mind? Do you think there are doctors in the hospital?" Senior Brother Xiao Cai also stood up and pulled me next to him, "Let's go rub your back and take a shower? Listen to me and I'll tell you slowly."

I followed Senior Brother Xiao Cai to the shower outside. While we were rubbing each other's backs, Senior Brother Xiao Cai told me that Yin Hong was working as a toll collector in the charging office of the county hospital. It is said that he was seconded first, and the personnel relationship is still in our factory for the time being.

"Is she okay with the Zhao family?" I asked Senior Brother Xiao Cai.

"No one would go to the place where the Zhao family is deep in the courtyard, and the big wolf dog, usually no one would go to. I only met Yin Hong at the door of my house a few times. It looked pretty good, but I was pregnant and had a big belly. I was still so glamorous and beautiful, and I was handsome at all times." Senior Brother Xiao Cai couldn't help but exclaim.

After we finished taking a shower, Senior Brother Xiao Cai invited me to his house for dinner. I thought I would go to the reading room in the factory to borrow a few books, so I politely refused. After breaking up with Senior Brother Xiao Cai, I returned to the distribution room in the workshop, took the labor protection supplies there, and went to the reading room in the northwest corner.

"Oh-Xiao Wu, I haven't been back for a long time. Have you finished studying in the city?" Mapan knew about me going out to study, and she seemed very intimate as soon as she met.

"Not yet, I'll come back to get some things and want to borrow a few more books." I put down the things I was holding in my hand, took out a few novels I had read from my electrician bag.

"Why do you get so much soap? Can you finish using it alone?" Ma Fang saw that I was sending a few "Grand Canal" soap, and said deliberately sharply.

"Oh...Master Sha, if you need it, take two." I guessed Mabian's thoughts and quickly said to her.

"That's so sorry." Mama pretended to refuse, and his hands had already opened the drawer beside him, stuffed two bars of soap in, and brought two extra pairs of cotton gloves.

Because I gave the smacked face, I successfully borrowed a few more books. I had basically finished reading the Chinese and foreign novels in the reading room. This time, in order to make up the numbers, I borrowed two collections of Lu Xun's essays. For me at that time, the thoughts and words of this owl-like old man seemed very awkward and obscure.

As the sun sets, the sky and the earth are shrouded in a layer of orange-red veil. I left the reading room, walked towards the factory gate, crossed Renmin Road, and entered the living area. I met many former workers along the way, and couldn't help but stop and exchange a few greetings. I chatted all the way, and when I passed through the woods and opened the small iron gate of the guesthouse, it was time for the sky to fade away.

The autumn wind is rustling, the dusk is sad, and the golden leaves of the ginkgo trees are paved all over the courtyard, and they rust with their feet on it, as if they are stepping on a soft carpet. After I went to study in the city, no one has lived here before.

The waning moon rises eastward, the shadows of the trees are hazy. I look at the small building in the night, and I feel endless emotion. Everything that happened not long ago is still vivid in my mind, but now the building is empty, as if it is a different world. The master left, Yin Hong left, Peng Dazhuang left, and Cui Laoba left. They all left the yarn mill, leaving only those heart-wrenching memories, tearing my soul. Will I leave the yarn mill? In the darkness, I seemed to see Yuan Yuan's big eyes full of expectations...

A night bird flew past the treetops and screamed miserably behind the small building, which made me shivering and woke up from my thoughts. It was a night owl living in the woods.
Chapter completed!