Chapter 1730

Just as Secretary Jin set his glass down, a beautiful waitress in a qipao walked up from behind to pour wine for everyone. Li Changping, very observant, snatched the bottle from her hand. With a glowing face full of fawning smiles, he stood up and filled the glasses for every big shot at the table before returning to his seat. Just as he was about to raise his glass to toast everyone, he heard Secretary Jin suddenly have a whim and wave his hand, saying: "How about this, there are still three bottles of wine on the table, let's play a game." As he spoke, Secretary Jin turned his head and instructed the beautiful waitress standing behind him: "Change to large glasses."

"Right, hurry and change to large glasses," Li Changping quickly added.

Secretary Jin took a lecherous look at the beautiful waitress, turned back, and continued: "With these three bottles, if we each drink a large glass, it will be about finished. Then we'll play a game: everyone tells a joke, starting with Changping. Whoever can't tell one will punish themselves with a drink, how about that?"

"Good!" Li Changping was the first to loudly applaud and nod, and the others scrambled to nod in agreement.

Secretary Jin, his face ruddy, looked around the circle and then pointed at Li Changping with a kindly expression: "Changping, then let's start with you. You tell the first one."

"Alright, Secretary Jin, leaders, then I'll start," Li Changping said, picking up his teacup to take a sip and moisten his throat before beginning: "So, there was a foreigner who went to Beijing for tourism and wanted to visit the Forbidden City, but he didn't know the way. He got lost and kept asking people where the 'Forbidden City' was, but his pronunciation was off and he couldn't make himself clear. He walked up to a Beijing local and asked: 'Excuse me, how do I get to the Uterus?' The passerby glared at him fiercely and said coldly: 'Your mother's c***, just walk to the end!'"

Sure enough, Li Changping's opening joke immediately drew a roar of laughter; even the waitress standing in the private room couldn't help but cover her mouth and giggle.

Secretary Jin laughed heartily with a ruddy face, turned his head to look at the beautiful waitress covering her mouth to giggle, and teased: "Look at this, Changping's joke even made the beauty laugh, haha..."

Under Secretary Jin's comment, everyone's eyes focused on the tall, curvaceous waitress. This formation made the young, beautiful waitress feel a burst of tension, and a fiery blush spread across her face—it seemed even redder than the faces of these men, who had drunk plenty of alcohol and were filled with lecherous thoughts.

Secretary Jin took a lecherous look at the flushed, beautiful waitress for a while, then turned his face to Deputy Secretary Zhou next to Li Changping: "Deputy Secretary Zhou, it's your turn."

Deputy Secretary Zhou smiled, took a sip of tea to moisten his throat, and began: "So, one day, a naked corpse floated down a river. The whole village ran over to look. Village woman A looked at the corpse's private parts, shook her head, and said: 'Not the village head, not the accountant, and not my husband.' Village woman B looked and shook her head, saying: 'Not my brother-in-law, and not my sister's husband.' Village woman C stepped forward, looked carefully at the corpse's lower half, shook her head, and said: 'Let's disperse, it's not from our village.'"

"Hahaha..." As soon as Deputy Secretary Zhou finished, there was another roar of laughter.

Amidst everyone's jokes, the waitress's face stayed red down to her neck. In this extremely pleasant atmosphere, another hour passed before the three bottles of wine were finished. Everyone was glowing with alcohol, and then, led by Li Changping, they crowded around Secretary Jin and arrived at the luxury suite 5888.

After entering the room, Secretary Jin sat directly at the fully automatic mahjong table that was already prepared and said: "Vice Minister Li, shall we begin?"

"Alright, alright." Li Changping nodded with a fawning smile and greeted everyone to sit down. They started very quickly.

The reason Li Changping specifically arranged this mahjong game today was to use this method to show his appreciation to Secretary Jin and the several leaders of the Provincial Party Committee leadership team present. Of course, Secretary Jin and the others were also tacitly aware. After throwing the dice, Secretary Jin asked: "Changping, you're an old hand, how much should we play for?"

Li Changping said with a fawning smile: "Secretary Jin, whatever amount you say is fine. You are the leader, you decide."

"Right, right, right, Secretary Jin, you decide. However, I feel that since Secretary Jin is able to grace us with his presence to entertain with everyone today, if the stakes are too small, it won't be interesting, and it wouldn't fit Secretary Jin's status." This remark by Deputy Secretary Zhou was also hinting to Li Changping that since everyone was willing to give face by coming to the appointment, he had better know what to do.

Li Changping also understood the subtext of Deputy Secretary Zhou's words. He immediately nodded with a chuckle and said: "That's true, that's true. I, Li Changping, am truly honored that Secretary Jin and all the leaders could grace us with your presence today. Shall we play two hundred/five hundred?"

Secretary Jin lit a cigarette with a kindly expression, nodded, and chuckled: "Alright then, let's do as Changping says, two hundred/five hundred."

After the stakes were set, they began to play. Li Changping was terrified that he might play the wrong tile, so he considered every tile he played over and over again. Fortunately, after three rounds, Secretary Jin was ready to win. Li Changping guessed and guessed again; he played two tiles in a row that didn't suit Secretary Jin's needs. So, taking advantage of when Secretary Jin and the others weren't paying attention, he used his peripheral vision to sneak a look at Secretary Jin's hand. After seeing the tile he needed, when it was his turn to play, Li Changping took the tile Secretary Jin needed, held it in his hand, pretended to consider for a moment, and then played it: "Eight Wan."

"Hu!" Secretary Jin looked at Li Changping, pushed over his tiles, and said with a chuckle.

"Oh my, how could I have played an Eight Wan," Li Changping immediately sighed, appearing very regretful.

Deputy Secretary Zhou naturally understood what was going on and flattered Secretary Jin: "Secretary

Jin has such good luck."

From the first round on, the others cooperated with Li Changping, using the same method to let Secretary Jin win five games in a row. Then Li Changping shifted his target to Secretary Zhou, using this method to bribe every member of the Provincial Party Committee leadership team present.

Li Changping sat at the north corner of the table, rubbing the mahjong tiles. The cigarette dangling from the corner of his mouth curled and filled the air, choking his small eyes until they were slits. He couldn't even begin to describe how proud he felt to have invited so many big shots from the province to the game today.

The atmosphere in the luxury suite was exceptionally lively, like frying peanuts—one popping here, one popping there, ringing out crisply. It was also like a solo performance, calling friends and companions, then echoing through the mountains and valleys, with wind and rain raging. The pot of peanuts crackled incessantly, and it was as if a symphony was rising and falling, then stopping abruptly, cycling back and forth—it was beautiful beyond description...

The leaders present all understood that Li Changping's arrangement of this dinner, followed by mahjong, was a setup to serve them, and he wanted to take this opportunity to hover around the leaders and get close to them. While taking the opportunity to feed tiles and let the leaders be happy, he didn't forget to busy himself all around—pouring water one moment, lighting cigarettes the next, enjoying himself thoroughly. That night, Li Changping transformed from someone who begged others to do things for him into a role who fed tiles and flattered the leaders. After more than an hour, Li Changping had given away nearly 100,000 yuan. Of course, he didn't feel a bit of heartache giving this money away, while the leaders were winning to their hearts' content.

Secretary Jin understood that Li Changping had truly racked his brains to fight for the Deputy Secretary position. He had been running to his house very frequently these past few days. Although the money that ended up in his hands from the mahjong game wasn't enough to fill the gaps between his teeth, Li Changping had spent a fortune every time he visited Secretary Jin's home in private. Although Secretary Jin hadn't directly stated that he would recommend him, judging from Secretary Jin's recent attitude toward him and the subtle expressions in their conversations, Li Changping felt that as long as nothing went wrong at this critical juncture, Secretary Jin would back him up. Moreover, Li Changping learned from Secretary Jin that the investigation results for Deputy Secretary Yang would be announced soon. He himself had already been placed under double-regulation by the Discipline Inspection Commission, and now Deputy Secretary Yang's position was vacant. Because the inspection results hadn't been announced yet, it hadn't been publicly declared. ===== CHAPTER 1731 =====