Chapter 307

Su Qing laughed lightly: "You can't drink, but Comrade Xiao Zhao can. Besides, this is your first time in the province. Does Comrade Xiao Zhao come to the province often?"

"This is my first time too," Zhao De replied with a chuckle.

Su Qing instructed the waiter to pour two glasses of wine, gave one to Zhao De, picked up her glass, and said with a gentle smile: "Come, Comrade Xiao Zhao, since Su Jing doesn't drink, the two of us will have a drink alone."

Zhao De hurriedly held his glass with both hands, leaned over to clink glasses, smiled with a kind and gentle expression, and finished the wine in his glass in one gulp.

Su Qing smiled with infinite charm, lifted her chin, and drank it all in one go, looking especially decisive. Zhao De couldn't help but start with the sweet talk: "Sister Su, great tolerance for alcohol."

"Not at all. Last time I couldn't handle a few glasses and had to have you drive me back to the hotel to rest. It really makes you laugh at me," Su Qing said, gently dabbing her plump, sexy lips with a smile.

Su Jing asked her, "Cousin, are you especially busy after the New Year?"

Su Qing said, "Busy is one way to put it, but not busy is another. Sigh, anyway, there are quite a lot of things from morning till night; I've never had a moment of leisure."

Zhao De felt that although this Su Qing was a high official, she didn't seem to have the airs of a big leader in private; she was quite approachable. So, he boldly smiled and asked, "Sister Su, may I ask, what kind of work do you do in the province?" This was a question he knew the answer to; he just wanted to hear her say it himself.

"Provincial Organization Department, the same department as your Bureau Chief Zhang's husband, heh," Su Qing said generously, though she didn't mention her specific position.

Su Jing added, "My cousin is the Minister of the Provincial Organization Department."

Zhao De appeared especially surprised, eyes wide, mouth agape, looking at Su Qing in disbelief. After a long while, he stammered: "Sister Su... you... you are too amazing... such a high official, it is truly my honor to be able to eat with you."

Su Qing smiled easily: "Comrade Xiao Zhao, you really know how to talk. No matter how high my position is, aren't I still just dealing with people?"

Su Jing glanced at Zhao De and said to Su Qing, "Cousin, you don't know, this Zhao De is the most eloquent person in our bureau."

Su Qing stared at Zhao De for a moment and laughed lightly: "Having good eloquence is not bad either."

Su Jing's casual gaze made Zhao De feel a bit itchy inside. The look in her phoenix eyes seemed to carry a current; just that light gaze made him feel a tingling sensation spreading from his heart.

Zhao De stared straight at Su Qing. When he realized she noticed, he quickly lowered his eyes and said modestly: "Not at all, Su Jing is just talking nonsense."

In front of young girls, Zhao De always acted very masculine and dignified, but in front of a mature woman like Su Qing who held such a high office, he seemed to lose all his masculine dignity, acting more like a child, sometimes even feeling nervous and flustered.

Su Qing smiled charmingly, chatting casually with them about work and life topics. Finally, she asked Zhao De unintentionally: "Comrade Xiao Zhao, are you married?"

"Not yet," Zhao De said.

Su Qing asked, "Then you have a partner?"

Zhao De shook his head again: "Not yet either."

Su Qing smiled lightly, looking at him with half-belief: "Comrade Xiao Zhao, with your excellent conditions, how could you not have a partner?"

"I'm still young, I want to focus on work first."

"Heh, it's good for young people to have ideas. Su Jing, your partner is about to graduate, right?"

Being asked about her boyfriend by her cousin in front of Zhao De, Su Jing felt a bit shy, her cheeks inadvertently flushing slightly. "One more year until graduation."

Su Qing asked with concern, "Then you work in Yuyang, and he? Is he staying elsewhere, or is he planning to come to our Hexi Province to find work?"

Su Jing said, "I haven't asked yet. I'll see what he wants."

Su Qing smiled lightly: "It's best to ask. Don't end up living apart; that's not good."

Su Jing lowered her head to eat a bite of food, then suddenly seemed to think of something. She put down her chopsticks and asked Su Qing, "Cousin, how are things with you now?"

Su Qing glanced at Zhao De. After all, he was an outsider, so she just smiled lightly and didn't answer Su Jing directly.

But judging by their actions, Zhao De had already guessed seventy percent of it. He felt that Su Qing's emotional life definitely wasn't going very smoothly; otherwise, Su Jing wouldn't have asked such a question, and Su Qing wouldn't have looked embarrassed.

Zhao De carefully observed that after Su Jing asked this, Su Qing suddenly seemed preoccupied, her facial expression changing subtly.

So Zhao De "took advantage of the opening." Without Su Qing's permission, he took it upon himself to pick up the wine bottle, stood up, leaned over, and poured her a full glass, then poured one for himself. He held the glass with both hands and said, "Minister Su, let me toast you. It is truly my honor to be able to eat with you."

Su Qing's expression had been a bit preoccupied just a moment ago, but being toasted like this, she bloomed into a smile. The pair of eyes under her black-rimmed glasses appeared especially dark and bright, mysterious and charming like a pool of autumn water. She stretched out her slender, fair fingers to gently pinch the glass, clinked it lightly with his, blinked, and finished the wine in her glass with a shallow smile.

The entire process of Su Qing drinking was not at all pretentious; it appeared exceptionally generous, making Zhao De further feel that this woman was quite good—at least she had no airs or pretenses. For a small character like him to have the honor of drinking with the Minister of the Provincial Organization Department was truly a great fortune.

"Minister Su, you give me too much face," Zhao De said with a fawning smile as he put down his glass.

"How so?" Su Qing asked with a shallow smile.

"It is already a great honor for a small character like me to be able to eat with you, Minister Su. When I toast you, you have no airs at all. I feel it is truly a great fortune."

Su Jing glanced at him sideways, curled her lips, and said, "Forget it! Zhao De, you have to know that my cousin is treating me to dinner, and you're just being brought along."

Su Jing's words were like a basin of cold water poured over Zhao De's head, making him feel instantly cold inside. He felt he had truly lost face and suddenly became red-faced.

Su Qing smiled generously: "Everyone is equal; it's just that the social division of labor is different. You don't need to be so polite to me."

Just as they were talking, Su Qing's phone rang. She took it out of her bag. As soon as Zhao De saw that Motorola phone, he remembered the incident of finding it. Inside that phone were dozens of semi-nude self-portraits of Su Qing with short hair, and she was still in the dark, not knowing that the man sitting across from her was the one who had found her phone.

While answering the phone, Su Jing's expression was a bit confused. She took the phone away from her ear and looked at it. "It just said there was no sound; it turns out it's out of power. Su Jing, give me your phone to use; I need to return a call."

"Okay." As soon as Su Jing took her phone out of her bag, it emitted a low-battery alarm sound. She said helplessly, "Cousin, my phone is almost out of power too."