Chapter 226: Chapter 224: Filter Tips and Inquiries

The sky darkened early. When they first entered, it was still bright outside, but in just a short while, the sky had dimmed.

It was cold and windy, and there were fewer pedestrians on the road. Riding along the main road, human shadows were rare, with only the whooshing sound of the cold wind in the ears.

Ling Chengyan rode quickly with Hongling all the way, reaching the school entrance. Seeing Ling Chengyan in a military uniform, the people at the guardroom did not stop them and let them in directly.

Ling Chengyan escorted Hongling to the classroom and only then parked the bicycle to let Hongling get off: “Don’t rush after school; I’ll pick you up at the gate. If you don’t see me, wait at the guardroom door, don’t wander around.”

While Ling Chengyan was parking the bike, she saw two teenage boys standing at the corner behind the building, looking somewhat sneaky, so she softly instructed Hongling a couple of sentences.

Hongling, feeling sorry for her fourth aunt’s hard work, said, “Fourth Aunt, I’m familiar with this road, and there are street lamps all along the way. You don’t have to come to pick me up again.”

Ling Chengyan didn’t give her much chance to speak, nudging her shoulder and guiding Hongling to turn and walk towards the classroom.

Watching Hongling head towards the classroom, Ling Chengyan’s gaze swept again towards the back of the building, and she happened to catch a glimpse of a boy sneaking a look in her direction. Upon meeting Ling Chengyan’s eyes, he seemed startled and quickly pulled his head back.

Approaching class time, the school was very quiet, with almost no other students visible. Only these few boys were not going to the classroom, lurking sneakily behind the building… No matter how Ling Chengyan looked at it, their behavior seemed suspicious and dubious.

Moreover, she had this vague feeling that these boys seemed to be targeting her family’s Hongling?

With a glance in their direction, she rode her bike away. After riding a distance, Ling Chengyan turned back, seeing three boys hunched with their necks drawn, hiding behind the classroom. In the dimming light, their expressions and subtle movements were unclear, but the sporadic glimmers of light revealed what these rascals were up to.

Just fifteen or sixteen-year-old teenage boys, not fully grown, yet already learning to smoke cigarettes?!

With a twist of the handlebars, Ling Chengyan’s figure vanished behind a row of empty classrooms.

By the time she parked her bike and turned back, the three teenage boys were already gone.

Following the traces, Ling Chengyan reached the back of Hongling’s classroom, where, under the light coming from the window, she saw seven or eight cigarette ends under the rear window.

Oh, even with filter tips, these are high-end goods!

After leaving the classroom, instead of rushing home, Ling Chengyan made a circle and went to the guardroom at the entrance, under the pretense of waiting for her niece, and had a chat with Uncle Yang in the guardroom.

When men meet, offering a cigarette can quickly close the distance and start a conversation. Although Ling Chengyan didn’t have many opportunities to socialize, she was in the habit of carrying a pack of tea in her pocket.

This tea was something she brought back from training in Jiang Province, a local specialty she bought, not expensive but of good quality indeed.

Ling Chengyan offered her tea, and Uncle Yang happily brewed two cups. As they warmed themselves by the fire drinking tea, they naturally started chatting.

“I saw the little girl you sent earlier. I know her; she’s the publicity committee member of their class. Every day, when she comes to school, she checks with me if there are any letters for their class. She’s a well-behaved, polite child.”

It’s likely that no parent in the world doesn’t like hearing praise about their children. Ling Chengyan was no exception, nodding with a smile, “This niece of mine is indeed good; it’s just that she was delayed for a few years.”

“Alas, not just your family was delayed!” Uncle Yang sighed, “My two boys, the elder one went to the countryside, returned only last year, and is still unemployed at home. The younger one finished high school but didn’t get into college, so he’s also unemployed. It’s only when I heard there are openings for accounting and nursing school this time that I let him come to study…”

Seeing his somewhat worried expression, Ling Chengyan, after a moment of silence, said, “I heard that several factories are hiring this year and next. Your elder son should keep an eye out…”

Uncle Yang waved his hand, somewhat annoyed, “He can’t sit idle at home. After returning without a job, he teamed up with some friends to set up a stall. He said he met some Brother Wang who can get cheap Hong Kong goods… I can’t talk him out of it, nor can I stop him, so just let him be.”

This time, Ling Chengyan was silent for a bit longer, taking a couple of sips of tea before saying, “Now the state acknowledges individual businesses, so you shouldn’t worry too much. He might actually achieve something significant.”

Although Uncle Yang complained about his son being unsatisfactory, hearing someone else say this made him happy, so he laughed, “I think so too, each generation has its destiny. I don’t have the ability to support him, so I can only let him muddle through on his own.”

“Now that’s real wisdom!” Ling Chengyan smiled, raising a thumbs-up, and Uncle Yang laughed heartily.

With the conversation rolling, naturally, Ling Chengyan brought up the teenage boys she saw on campus. Uncle Yang shook his head and said, “They’re from the remedial class. Sent here, most of them are students who got delayed in schooling. But some kids are industrious, and others just… You see, we can stop the riffraffs from outside, but the remedial class students, we can’t stop them from coming in, right? Even the teachers say these kids come just to fool around… but if they don’t want to learn on their own, nothing can be done, right?”

Ling Chengyan nodded in agreement, ready to bid farewell. She didn’t expect Uncle Yang to be quite knowledgeable, not only knowing those kids were from the school but also which unit their families belonged to, even knowing that the leader of those boys’ father is Zhao Wanzhou, the deputy director of the linen factory.

Zhao Wanzhou? Zhao Xiaoqian? Deputy director, no wonder they can afford filter-tipped cigarettes.

Ling Chengyan was very pleased with the information she gained from this visit.

Two class sessions passed quickly, and with the conversation between Ling Chengyan and Uncle Yang going, the class time was soon about to end.

Ling Chengyan bid farewell to Uncle Yang ten minutes in advance. Her bike was parked at the guardroom door, and she casually strolled back towards the classroom to pick up Hongling.

The remedial class teacher was quite serious too, for when Ling Chengyan arrived at the classroom, the teacher was still explaining on the blackboard. Ling Chengyan found an inconspicuous spot to stand, peering into the classroom through the glass window. After scanning the place, sure enough, she didn’t see those three boys.

Kids like these, without a mind for studying at all, naturally wouldn’t stay in the classroom, probably off playing somewhere.

As the class bell rang, Ling Chengyan simply went to wait at the classroom door.

Although she was a woman, not particularly large or burly, her upright and neat military uniform made her presence at the door imposing, not something an ordinary person could compare to.

The teacher who came out of the class paused for a second upon seeing her, slightly on guard, and asked, “Comrade, who are you?”

Ling Chengyan approached with a smile, reaching to shake hands, “Hello, teacher, I’m Wang Hongling’s guardian, here to pick her up from class.”

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep