Chapter 1968

"Xiao Zhao, do you know all the leaders present?" Eunuch Zheng asked Zhao Desan kindly with a purpose.

"I... I know them all." Zhao Desan nodded and smiled. He was also seeing the leaders for the first time, but he roughly understood who was who from when Eunuch Zheng greeted them just now.

"The one in the middle is Deputy Secretary Yang of our Xijing City. I don't need to say more. The one next to him is Director Sun of our Land and Resources Bureau. The one down is Deputy District Mayor Liu of our Chanba Development Zone. This one is Director Liu of our Xijing Municipal Party Committee Office. You shouldn't know this lady next to her, right?" Eunuch Zheng deliberately introduced the big shots present to Zhao Desan one by one, and then it was Ma Lan's turn, deliberately selling a pass.

Zhao Desan looked at Ma Lan who was staring at him intently, quickly moved his eyes away from her, shook his head at Eunuch Zheng with a slight embarrassment and a smile, and said: "I... I don't know."

"I think you should also not know." Eunuch Zheng chuckled, a strange light flashed in his eyes, and then continued: "This is Ma Zong, who is engaged in real estate development in our Xijing."

Under Eunuch Zheng's 'introduction', Zhao Desan bit the bullet, pretended to be calm, nodded at Ma Lan, smiled politely, and greeted: "Ma... Ma Zong, hello, very happy to meet you."

"Liu... Deputy Division Chief Liu, hello, I am also very happy to meet you." Ma Lan habitually wanted to call Zhao Desan's name, but immediately reacted, quickly changed her words, and greeted him very cooperatively. Although she didn't know very clearly why Zhao Desan wanted to pretend not to know her on such an occasion, she understood that Zhao Desan must have his own difficulties in doing so, especially since he was now in the officialdom, and there were too many complex things in it that couldn't be figured out for a while. She had received a hint from Zhao Desan's actions, that is, at today's banquet, no matter what, she couldn't let others know that she and Zhao Desan knew each other before or what they were. On one hand, perhaps letting others know Zhao Desan's background would affect his official career. On the other hand, she came with Liu Jianguo today, and it was he who came forward to invite so many heavyweight figures. And the relationship between her and Liu Jianguo was also a kind of lover-like relationship. If he knew that there was an unknown intimate relationship between her and Zhao Desan, then all previous efforts would be wasted. Entering the real estate industry in Xijing City was too important for her, and the most thorny thing at present was to take down the piece of land in the Chanba Development Zone that had been agreed to be developed by the provincial and municipal governments. Although for this piece of land, under the introduction of Liu Jianguo, Ma Lan had already had friendships with the leaders present in private, and what should be sent and what should be given were not less. But today, Liu Jianguo could spend so much effort to summon these people together to sit down and have a meal, which was indeed very difficult. On one hand, Ma Lan really wanted to recognize Zhao Desan here, because Zhao Desan was also the only man she had truly felt for so many years. Although he was eleven or twelve years younger than herself, that feeling was from her heart. After fighting in the business world for so many years, Ma Lan had always believed that all officials who were willing to help her were either coveting her beauty or wanting to make some money. But Zhao Desan's help to her was selfless. In the coal mine bidding, he never asked her for a cent of benefit. He took such a big risk to help her defeat Gao Huhu and successfully bid for the Xiaogou Coal Mine. Later, he took even greater risks, regardless of offending the unit leaders, and borrowed the policy advocated by the former Deputy Mayor Yu Yinliang to force the closure of the Lin family's Heihe Coal Mine and merge it into the Xiaogou Coal Mine. It could almost be said that it was selling gold at the price of Chinese cabbage, allowing her to merge the mining area of Heihe Coal Mine into the Xingmao Mining Industry under her banner without any effort, leaping to become the leader of the coal industry in Yuyang City and even Hebei Province, and also becoming the first tax-paying household of private enterprises in Yuyang City. The halo of the Lin family had been completely covered by the Xingmao Mining Industry under Ma Lan. Realizing that it was difficult to compete with Ma Lan, who was good at using beauty to obtain the support of the municipal leaders in the coal industry, Lin Dafa aimed at the real estate industry in Xijing City, landed in the real estate industry in Xijing City first, and entered the formal development ranks with the help of his in-law Zhang Jiayin. Sometimes, after some people suffer some kind of blow in life, they will spend their whole lives proving one thing, and Ma Lan is undoubtedly such a person. In her youth, after suffering the humiliation of the Lin family, this seed of hatred had been deeply buried in the bottom of her heart, and it had become more deeply rooted with the passage of time. She was an intellectual who had read university, and she knew that she couldn't hold this deep hatred through other channels, so she could only compete with the Lin family in business, making Lin Dafa, who broke up Lin Jianyang and her, who was pregnant, lose completely. With the gradual growth of her daughter Ting Ting, when she felt that she would never be troubled by feelings in her life, the appearance of Zhao Desan made Ma Lan feel the warmth of love. It was a very sudden feeling, a touch that reached the heart directly. Although due to the gap between the two, she couldn't be with Zhao Desan often, but whenever she was with him, Ma Lan could truly feel a force that made her vibrate. It was an invisible thing, making her feel the reality of love again. But on the other hand, although Liu Jianguo forcibly occupied Ma Lan, who was an office clerk, in the office because of a momentary impulse nearly twenty years ago, in these years, Liu Jianguo's help to her was not thin. It was under his strong support that she entered the coal industry, and it was his help that allowed her to have the first mine. Over the years, Liu Jianguo's help to her was enough to offset the harm to her. For this man, although Ma Lan didn't truly fall in love with him, she was willing to dedicate her body to him. At this juncture, although she was very surprised to see Zhao Desan, whom she hadn't seen for a long time, and had a special excitement in her heart, she still didn't show it. She knew that it was inconvenient for Zhao Desan to recognize her on such an occasion, and it was also inconvenient for her to reveal any feelings to him in front of Liu Jianguo.

Ma Lan was a person who had seen big scenes and knew how to ease this atmosphere in such an extremely awkward situation. So, after greeting Zhao Desan with a smile as if it were the first time they met, she greeted everyone to eat and drink. She covered up her inner abnormal emotions with a smile and greeted everyone: "Deputy Secretary Yang, Director Zheng, Director Su, and Deputy District Mayor Liu, I am truly grateful and flattered that you leaders can take time out of your busy schedule to have this meal. You leaders must eat and drink well tonight. Everyone, eat..."

Liu Jianguo followed the conversation and smiled: "Yes, everyone, eat, chat while eating. It's really not easy for leaders to come and sit together. Come, eat, eat." As he said, Liu Jianguo helped Deputy Secretary Yang pick up a small lobster, and then helped Eunuch Zheng pick up a small lobster.

Everyone ate and chatted. Zhao Desan saw that the atmosphere had eased a lot, and his heart felt relieved. He also picked up his chopsticks. Who knew that as soon as he picked up the chopsticks, he didn't know if the old guy was deliberately making things difficult for him, but he immediately raised his eyes and glared at him fiercely, looking at the wine bottle on the table.

Zhao Desan quickly understood Eunuch Zheng's meaning, quickly accompanied him with a smile, put down his chopsticks, stood up, picked up the wine bottle, walked to Deputy Secretary Yang, and started from him, filling the wine for all the leaders in order of rank. When it was Ma Lan's turn, she raised her face and looked at him with a deep look, saying: "Thank you."

Zhao Desan also smiled and said: "Ma Zong, you're welcome."

After filling everyone's wine, Zhao Desan returned to his seat and poured himself a glass of wine.

Seeing that everyone's wine glasses were full, Liu Jianguo didn't miss the opportunity to pick up his wine glass and said with a smile: "It's really not easy for several leaders to come and have this meal today. Should we have a drink together?"

Because Deputy Secretary Yang and Liu Jianguo were both from the Municipal Party Committee, and Liu Jianguo was a red man around Deputy Secretary Yang, after Liu Jianguo's opening remarks, Deputy Secretary Yang was the first to pick up his wine glass with a smile, following Liu Jianguo's proposal: "Jianguo is right. Come, it's rare for everyone to sit together today, let's have a drink!"

As soon as Deputy Secretary Yang expressed his position, everyone present raised their wine glasses and echoed.

Before drinking, in order to lead the topic to Ma Lan so that he could better talk about the land, Liu Jianguo proposed loudly: "Before drinking this glass of wine, should we ask Deputy Secretary Yang to say two words?"

"Yes."

"Yes, Deputy Secretary Yang, say two words."

Others echoed.

This scene made Deputy Secretary Yang feel very useful. He chuckled, took a long breath, held up his wine glass, nodded, and said unhurriedly: "Alright, then I'll say two words." As he said, he coughed twice, cleared his throat, and gave an opening speech. He put on an official tone and said with ups and downs: "Hmm... It's rare to be able to drink with several leaders today. If it weren't for Ma Zong's treat, I guess everyone wouldn't sit together. I won't say much. Thank you for this wine, Ma Zong. Since Ma Zong is so sincere, everyone has given face, so you must eat and drink well today, right? Thank you, Ma Zong, thank you all!" Deputy Secretary Yang said, looking at Ma Lan who was a bit flattered.

Liu Jianguo and several others followed the conversation and flattered: "Yes, Deputy Secretary Yang is right. We also thank Director Zheng, thank Director Sun and Deputy District Mayor Liu. It's really not easy for several leaders to come and drink this wine in their busy schedule. Come, cheers."

Liu Jianguo and a few others, being smooth talkers, picked up the conversation and buttered them up: "Right, Deputy Secretary Yang is correct. We must also thank Director Zheng, thank Bureau Chief Sun, and Deputy District Mayor Liu. It is truly not easy for you leaders to come over and drink this wine amidst your busy schedules. Come, everyone, cheers."