Chapter 496

Su Qing's words made Zhao De feel that he had benefited a lot. He didn't expect her to consider this matter so thoroughly. It's just that from her words, he vaguely heard that even though she was such a high official, she still had many concerns. It was reasonable for her to say so. Although he hadn't held a very high position, when he was a small section chief at the Yuyang Coal Bureau, there were so many people dissatisfied with him and secretly plotting against him, eyeing his position. One could imagine Su Qing's situation at the center of power. However, his thinking was different from Su Qing's. He liked places where the infighting was intense. Only in such places did he feel he had room to exert his intelligence and talent. He liked the feeling of riding the wind and waves forward. After a moment of silence, Su Qing glanced at him sideways and asked, "What are you thinking about? Thinking so seriously?"

"Oh, I was thinking about what you just said, Sister Su. It really made me feel that I benefited a lot. It turns out there is so much knowledge in being an official." He said with a "Hehe."

Su Qing smiled lightly and said, "There is a lot of knowledge in the officialdom. What you saw at the Yuyang Coal Bureau was just the tip of the iceberg. You'll feel it when you enter the Provincial Construction Committee."

He nodded with a smile and looked ahead, suddenly finding that this road was so familiar. After thinking carefully, he realized that this was the road they took when Sister Su invited Ma Ma Ma Ma Ma Debang to dinner last night, and the restaurant from last night was just around the corner ahead. He felt a bit uneasy and asked her, "Sister Su, which restaurant are they at?"

"The same one as last night," Su Qing said.

Sure enough, as he expected. *Damn it, * he had just "protected" the cashier, Lingling, at that shop this afternoon, and she said she only took the afternoon off and had to work at night. So if they went over now, they would definitely run into her? What if that girl pestered him? This secret couldn't be let Sister Su know. Zhao De muttered in his heart, feeling a bit anxious. He said with a look of dissatisfaction, "Why go to that shop to eat again? Why not change to another place?"

When Su Qing heard that he was dissatisfied with that shop, she turned her face and raised her willow eyebrows slightly, asking, "Don't you like the food at that shop? Or is it because of what happened last night that you feel it's not good to go there again?"

"It's... it's just that something happened last night, and I'm afraid of being laughed at by the people in the shop if I go there again. How about we change... change to another one, Sister Su? I... I can even treat," Zhao De said in a rush.

"Afraid of being laughed at by the people in the shop?" His absurd reason made Su Qing giggle. "They are there to make money, and you are a customer there to eat. Who would laugh at you? Besides, I'm not afraid, so why are you? Isn't your skin quite thick? Why have you become so shy?"

"No, it's... it's just that I feel it's not very good to go to the same shop again," he said, pretending to be calm and grinning, afraid that Su Qing would notice something.

"Alright, Director Zheng and Deputy Director Ma have already booked a private room and are waiting for us. Besides, Director Zheng is treating today, and I've already agreed. If you change it to you treating, wouldn't that make them feel that I don't give him face?" Su Qing said without room for negotiation. She didn't notice anything wrong with Zhao De for a moment, so she drove the car straight to the corner of the street, parked the car in the parking lot at the entrance of the restaurant, and opened the door to get out. Zhao De, however, was dragging his feet and didn't want to get out of the car. Seeing him moving slowly, Su Qing urged, "De, get out and come in quickly. After we eat, we still have serious business to attend to when we get back." As she spoke, she gave him a strange look.

Zhao De said "Oh," and only then did he get out of the car, lock the door, and follow her, walking into the restaurant and heading upstairs with a nervous heart. He was extremely tense, afraid that the prey he captured this afternoon would make some too obvious move toward him. He kept his head down, following behind her, and secretly used his eyes to scan the cashier's desk.

Fortunately, there was someone who had finished eating and was checking out at the cashier's desk, blocking Lingling's line of sight. And she was also looking down, using a calculator to calculate the bill, and didn't notice other places. Only then did he hide slightly beside Su Qing, nervously walking into the corridor to the side with her, dodging her line of sight, and only then did he breathe a sigh of relief.

Walking to the booked private room, he hurriedly stepped forward to open the door and respectfully let Sister Su go in first. The moment the door was pushed open, Zheng the Baldy and Ma Ma Ma Ma Ma Debang stood up at the same time, greeting them with enthusiastic faces, "Minister Su is here, and Little Zhao is here too. Come in, come in."

Su Qing smiled and said politely while walking in, "Sorry, sorry, kept Director Zheng and Deputy Director Ma waiting."

"No, no," Zheng the Baldy said with a smile.

"Hello, Director Zheng, Deputy Director Ma," Zhao De greeted generously.

Zheng the Baldy and Ma Ma Ma Ma Ma Debang nodded with smiles in unison, "Hello, hello, Little Zhao, sit down quickly."

Ma Ma Ma Ma Ma Debang hurriedly pulled out a chair for Su Qing to let her sit down. Zhao De pulled out a chair next to Su Qing and sat down himself, thinking that Sister Su's treatment was different. No matter where she went, she didn't need to move the chair herself, but he was different. It seemed that the difference in status and position was so obvious everywhere.

The atmosphere was unexpectedly relaxed, not at all like the tense atmosphere Zhao De imagined after seeing Zheng the Baldy. The arrogant bald donkey from last night was incredibly enthusiastic and generous in front of Su Qing today, like a smiling Buddha with a humble face, just like those eunuchs beside the emperor in TV dramas.

Everyone took turns ordering a few dishes. After ordering the wine, before the dishes were served, Zheng the Baldy said to Zhao De with a smile, "Little Zhao, I specifically convened a leadership team meeting today to study your work. I originally wanted you to come for an interview today, but the Provincial Committee is having a meeting these two days, so I arranged it for tomorrow afternoon. Deputy Director Ma knows, he also attended the meeting." After speaking, Zheng the Baldy looked at Ma Ma Ma Ma Ma Debang.

Ma Ma Ma Ma Ma Debang nodded and said, "Yes, Little Zhao, then come to the Construction Committee for an interview tomorrow afternoon."

Zheng the Baldy said with a smile, "It's just going through the motions, very simple."

Zheng the Baldy gave Zhao De a generous gift right from the start. His intention was very clear; he was clearly saying it to Su Qing in front of her, letting her feel that he had put his heart into handling the matter she entrusted, to repay her for not holding a grudge.

Originally, this matter was first entrusted to Ma Ma Ma Ma Ma Debang by Su Qing, and he was prepared to use this matter to claim credit and win rewards, and to win over Su Qing. Who knew that the big boss would snatch it first? His expression changed obviously, but he quickly hid it, only smiling kindly on the side, while the corner of his eyes fiercely swept at Zheng the Baldy, very dissatisfied with him snatching his credit. Originally, he came to eat with Su Qing today following him, wanting to see how Su Qing would deal with him, but Minister Su seemed as if nothing had happened, which made him a bit unhappy.

As soon as the wine was brought, Zheng the Baldy took the wine glass and wanted to pour wine for everyone. How could the leader pour the wine himself on this occasion? Zhao De hurriedly got up with eyes, "Director Zheng, let me, let me." He snatched the wine bottle from his hand and poured wine for the three of them.

"Why didn't you pour for Minister Su?" Not pouring wine for the biggest leader at the wine table was clearly not understanding the rules of the wine table and was disrespectful to the leader. Zheng the Baldy frowned slightly and looked at Zhao De, feeling a bit dissatisfied with his performance.

The reason Zhao De didn't pour wine for Su Qing was, first, he didn't want her to drink, as it was not good for women to drink too much, and second, she had to drive. Being said by Zheng the Baldy, he suddenly became embarrassed. Su Qing, however, must have understood his good intentions and said with a smile, "Just let Little Zhao accompany you to drink today. I'm driving, so I won't drink."

Su Qing came out to resolve Zhao De's momentary embarrassment, and the atmosphere quickly became heated again. "Minister Su, come, let me toast you first. I drank too much last night and really didn't recognize you, Minister Su. Thank you for your magnanimity in not holding a grudge. You can replace wine with tea, I'll drink it all first." Zheng the Baldy was still a bit worried about that matter. He stood up with his wine glass, walked to Su Qing's side, and said with a generous face, thinking that since Ma Ma Ma Ma Ma Debang was here today, as long as they clinked glasses at the wine table, that matter would be completely turned over.