Chapter 311: Eerie text message

Because he had to attend training tomorrow, Zhao De went to sleep early after returning to his room.

In the middle of the night, Zhao De was awakened by the vibration of his phone. He opened his sleepy eyes, groped for the phone on the nightstand, and rubbed his eyes to look at the screen, only to see a message from an unfamiliar number.

This made Zhao De feel curious and puzzled. He immediately opened the message, which displayed this sentence: Are you asleep? I want to ask you something.

Who is this? Could it be a wrong number? Zhao De thought, but he still replied with a message asking who it was.

After a while, the other party replied: You go to sleep first. I'll contact you tomorrow afternoon, and we'll set a place to talk then.

Zhao De felt increasingly strange and full of doubts. Who on earth was this? Could it really be a wrong message? So he dialed the number directly, but after a few rings, it was hung up. Moreover, after dialing this number, the location displayed on the phone screen was Xijing, the capital of Hexi Province where he was currently staying.

This made him feel even more confused, you could say he was completely baffled. He did have one or two classmates in Xijing, but he couldn't even get in touch with them once in a year and a half. How could they contact him as soon as he came to Xijing? And ever since he started working at the Yuyang City Coal Bureau and changed his phone number, he hadn't told any of his college classmates. Who on earth was this?

From the moment Zhao De received this message, this mystery kept him from sleeping for the rest of the time; he was constantly troubled by this question.

The next day's training was held in a conference room in the Provincial Committee office building. Early in the morning, Su Jing called Zhao De, and to save time, they took a taxi directly to the Provincial Committee from the hotel.

Arriving at the gate of the Provincial Committee and getting out of the taxi, they forgot to contact the relevant person in charge of the Resource Department and walked straight inside, only to be stopped by the guard standing at the gate, who blocked them with his gun and began to interrogate them.

Just then, Zhao De's eyes lit up. With sharp eyes, he saw the Audi he had ridden in yesterday. Immediately after, the Audi drove up to them, and the passenger window slowly rolled down. The face of Provincial Organization Department Minister Su Qing appeared before them, and she asked in confusion: "Aren't you here for training? Why did the guard stop you?"

While speaking, Su Qing swept a strange look at Zhao De. That look carried an indescribable feeling, as if there were traces of chill, making Zhao De feel a bit horrified. He muttered in his heart, why is she looking at me with such a look?

Su Jing said, "Cousin, you came out just in time. We forgot to contact the people in the Resource Department, and the guard said we couldn't go in without a work permit."

"Is that so?" Su Qing nodded in understanding, opened the car door, and got out. Her tall, graceful figure and beautiful, sexy appearance immediately attracted Zhao De, making him stare at her as if no one else were around.

Su Qing walked up to the guard and explained to them in a friendly manner, and only then did the guard let Su Jing and Zhao De in.

"Alright, hurry in and attend the training. I have something to do and need to go out," Su Qing said, glancing at Zhao De with a strange look. That look carried waves of chill, making Zhao De feel a trace of coldness. He looked at Su Qing in confusion, watching her get into the car.

"What are you still looking at? Hurry in, or you'll be late," Su Jing said, pulling his arm and dragging him toward the Provincial Committee compound.

This was Zhao De's first time attending training after starting work, and also his first time coming to such a solemn and strict place as the Provincial Committee. The atmosphere in the training classroom was very serious, not as relaxed and active as he had imagined. It seemed that among the group of people, only he and Su Jing were young; everyone else was older than them.

This day's training and study were all about safety knowledge regarding coal mining. Zhao De listened especially seriously and carefully; it was a bit like the feeling of being in school, only the location had changed to a conference room, and the teacher had become a relevant leader from the Provincial Committee Resource Department.

After this day of study, Zhao De looked at these leaders with a new level of respect. He had always thought these leaders had no real ability and were just occupying the latrine without pooping, eating for free. After listening to the lectures by the relevant leaders of the Resource Department, he felt enlightened in some aspects and benefited a lot. It gave him a new understanding of the way of officialdom. It seems that not only do you need to know how to conduct yourself and be calculating, but you also need to have some real skills while flattering.

So he felt it was necessary to study work-related things properly. It seems he couldn't just think about relying on Bureau Chief Zhang to have smooth sailing; he had to produce some work to make those old guys in the bureau admire him!

The training ended very early in the afternoon. At four o'clock, the leader giving the lecture received a temporary phone call and ended the class early. The conference room became like a flock of sheep scattering, and people from different cities began to chat and climb up to each other.

The people from other cities were older than Zhao De and Su Jing, so the two of them were a bit out of place among this group, as if they weren't welcomed by them.

After coming out of the Provincial Committee office building, Zhao De saw that it was still early and asked Su Jing: "Do you want to go shopping? It's still early before dark."

Su Jing thought about it and felt the same. It was boring to go back to the hotel so early, so she nodded and agreed.

The two of them walked out of the Provincial Committee gate one after the other. Zhao De received a message, took out his phone, and frowned. It was the message from that unfamiliar number again.

He opened the message in confusion: Do you have time now? If so, let's meet and talk.

Who on earth is this person? Zhao De was full of doubts. Even if he didn't know who it was, he should at least know if it was a man or a woman, right? So he sent a message to ask if the other party was a man or a woman, and learned it was a woman. The mystery in his heart grew even larger. He didn't know any women in the province. Could it be that since he started working at the Coal Bureau, he really had a stroke of luck with women? Combining his experience of not lacking women around him over the past year, he thought.

Regardless of who she is, as long as she's a woman, I'll see what kind of sacred person she is, how she knows my number, and what she wants from me! Zhao De thought, and sent a message back agreeing. The other party replied, telling him to come to the Milo Coffee House on Dongdajie to find her.

Zhao De had originally asked Su Jing to go shopping, but now there was an unknown woman waiting for him. To him, exploring the mystery of an unknown woman was always more attractive than shopping with a familiar woman. So he walked up and tapped Su Jing lightly on her fragrant shoulder. Su Jing turned her head and asked in confusion: "What's wrong?"

"Su Jing, it's like this, I... I have a college classmate who called me over... he... he's also in Xijing. I'm sorry, I can't accompany you shopping," Zhao De said, telling a lie on the spot.

Su Jing was stunned for a moment, pouted, swept him with a look of grievance in her apricot eyes, and said with slight anger: "Then you should have said so earlier! I wouldn't have planned to go shopping! You piqued my interest and then said that! Really!"

Zhao De chuckled: "I'm really sorry, I forgot for a moment. He just sent me a message, and I remembered. Tomorrow, let's go shopping together tomorrow."