5: Chapter 5 Father Xu Tianhua

As soon as the school bell rang, Comrade Weidong packed his bag.

"You are leaving so early today?"

Wei Yingying was a little surprised, as Comrade Weidong usually stayed in the classroom to study for a while longer.

"Yeah, I have something to do."

Comrade Weidong said, helping her adjust her scarf.

"Go home, drink plenty of hot water, and rest early."

Wei Yingying nodded and wanted to say something else, but Comrade Weidong had already turned and left.

On an early winter evening, the sky darkened very early.

Comrade Weidong rode his bicycle through the cold wind, the white breath he exhaled dispersing in front of him.

He didn't go straight home but instead stopped by a pharmacy.

He bought some cold medicine, then turned into a small alley and found a public bathhouse that was still open.

"Young man, here to bathe?"

The old man at the entrance was wrapped in a military overcoat, warming himself by a fire in the small room at the door.

"Yeah, a shower."

"Taking a cold shower on such a cold day? Youth is full of vitality!"

Comrade Weidong didn't explain, took the key, and walked into the men's bathing area.

There was no one in the bathhouse at this time. He found the corresponding locker, took off his clothes, and walked into the shower stall.

He turned on the faucet, and a column of ice-cold water instantly poured over his body.

Comrade Weidong shivered, gritted his teeth, and insisted on standing under the water column.

The bone-chilling cold crept through his skin into his bones; he took a deep breath and closed his eyes.

Three minutes, five minutes.

His lips began to turn purple, and his body trembled uncontrollably.

He persisted for another two minutes before turning off the faucet, wiping his body dry hastily with a towel, and putting on his clothes.

When he walked out of the bathhouse, the old man at the entrance looked at him in surprise and said, "Finished already?"

"Yeah, I suddenly remembered I had something else to do."

Comrade Weidong said, pushing his bicycle and leaving quickly.

On the way home, as the cold wind blew, his damp hair immediately formed a thin layer of ice.

Comrade Weidong felt his head starting to spin; he knew the effect had arrived.

When he arrived home, his mother, Shen Ziwei, had not yet returned.

His father, Xu Tianhua, had a meeting today and would likely be back very late.

Comrade Weidong put down his schoolbag, didn't turn on the heating, and sat in the living room reading a book wearing only a thin sweater.

Half an hour later, he started sneezing.

An hour later, he felt his forehead was a bit hot.

At 7:00 PM, Shen Ziwei returned home and saw her son curled up on the sofa, his face flushed with an abnormal redness.

"Comrade Weidong? What's wrong?"

She walked over quickly and reached out to touch his forehead.

"So hot! Are you running a fever?"

Comrade Weidong said in a hoarse voice, "Maybe... I have a bit of a cold."

"You were fine this morning, how did you suddenly catch a cold?"

Shen Ziwei hurriedly dug out a thermometer and said, "Let's measure it."

"Have you taken medicine?"

"Not yet..."

After taking his temperature, it was 38.7 degrees.

Shen Ziwei muttered while looking for medicine, "Did you not wear enough clothes? Did you catch a chill during morning exercises? The school too, why have them running exercises on such a cold day..."

Comrade Weidong took the medicine and was chased back to his room by his mother to rest.

He lay on the bed, listening to his mother's voice on the phone outside: "Tianhua, Comrade Weidong has a fever... Yes, over 38 degrees... I don't know, he just suddenly caught a cold..."

At 9:00 PM, Xu Tianhua returned home.

He first went to his son's room to check on him; Comrade Weidong was not yet asleep, leaning against the headboard reading a book.

"How are you feeling?"

Xu Tianhua sat on the edge of the bed and reached out to test his forehead temperature.

"Still quite hot."

"Why were you so careless to catch a cold?"

Comrade Weidong put down the book and said aggrievedly, "Dad, I didn't want to catch a cold either."

"But our school requires all students to participate in running exercises. The weather is already cold, and after running and sweating, it's easy to catch a cold when the wind blows."

"Many students in our class are sick, and my desk mate, Wei Yingying, has been coughing all day..."

He deliberately emphasized his nasal tone while speaking, appearing even more pitiful.

Xu Tianhua frowned slightly and said, "Running exercises? Still doing running exercises on such a cold day?"

"Yeah, the principal said that enhancing students' physical fitness is in response to the call from superiors."

Comrade Weidong said, coughing a few more times.

"But many students' physical fitness hasn't improved; instead, they've gotten sick."

"My mom has brought it up to the school, but the principal won't listen..."

Xu Tianhua's frown deepened. He was silent for a few seconds, then patted his son's shoulder and said, "Rest well. Don't go to school tomorrow."

"But class..."

"Your health is more important."

After saying this, Xu Tianhua got up and left the room.

Comrade Weidong heard his father talking to his mother in the living room: "Do you know about the running exercises at Comrade Weidong's school?"

"I know, I've raised objections, but the principal is very insistent."

"What's wrong?"

"Making children run on such a cold day, isn't that nonsense?"

Xu Tianhua's voice carried clear dissatisfaction: "Enhancing physical fitness should be scientific. Doing it this way will only have the opposite effect."

"I said the same thing, but as for the principal..."

"Alright, I know about this matter now."

"You call the school tomorrow and say that Comrade Weidong has a fever and is taking a day off."

"Okay."

Comrade Weidong lay on the bed, listening to the conversation outside, and quietly breathed a sigh of relief.

He knew that since his father had said "I know about this matter," he would definitely handle it.

The next day, Comrade Weidong took sick leave and rested at home.

Shen Ziwei originally wanted to stay to take care of him, but he persuaded her to go to school.

"Mom, I'm fine. After taking medicine and sleeping, I'll be better."

"Go do your work."

In reality, his fever had mostly subsided by the morning.

But he had to play the full act; he stayed home all day, occasionally reading books, but spending most of his time thinking about how this matter would develop.

He understood his father's style of doing things. Xu Tianhua valued methods and influence and would not call the principal of No. 1 Middle School directly.

That would be too beneath him and would easily give people something to gossip about.

The most likely way would be through the leader in charge of education, in the name of discovering it through investigation or receiving feedback, to put forward "suggestions" regarding the school's work.

And the Vice Governor of Hanzhou Province in charge of science, education, culture, and health was none other than Zhou Wentao.

The former Director of the Education Department, a cadre of the Liu Faction, and an old acquaintance of his father.

This was the power of factions; people promoted by Secretary Liu Dehai formed a cohesive group and looked out for each other.

Now that Secretary Liu was in Minyue Province, the core of the Liu Faction in Hanzhou was his father, Xu Tianhua.

As the representative of the Liu Faction in the field of science, education, culture, and health, Zhou Wentao would naturally cooperate with his father's work.

Thinking of this, Comrade Weidong felt at ease.

He turned on the TV and switched to the Hanzhou news channel, where they were rebroadcasting the news of yesterday's Provincial Party Committee meeting.

On the screen, his father, Xu Tianhua, was sitting on the podium, giving a speech.

As the camera swept past, Comrade Weidong noticed faint dark circles under his father's eyes.

Recently, there had been many things going on in the province, and his father often worked late.

He suddenly felt a bit guilty. For such a small matter at school, was he being too inconsiderate by adding another task to his already busy father?

But upon second thought, this wasn't just his matter.

So many students running in the cold wind, so many people getting sick—this was indeed unreasonable.

If his actions could make the school change this decision, the three thousand students in the whole school would benefit.

Thinking about it this way, he felt much better.

At 4:00 PM, Comrade Weidong received a text message from Wei Yingying.

"Are you feeling better? Another person collapsed during running exercises today and was sent straight to the hospital. Everyone is very resentful."

Comrade Weidong replied, "Much better. I should be able to go to school tomorrow. As for the running exercises, there should be a turning point soon."

"Really? How do you know?"

"I guessed."

He could indeed only guess; he had no way of knowing what his father would do or when he would do it.

But he trusted his father's ability and efficiency.