Chapter 612

Su Qing saw that this mere Construction Commission Director didn't know his place after drinking a little and didn't believe she was the Organization Minister. She walked straight up to him, arched her willow-leaf eyebrows, glared, and asked, "You don't believe me, right?" While doing so, she took something out of her handbag. After a moment, she pulled out a work ID, placed it directly in front of him, and said sternly, "Look clearly, look carefully!"

Seeing her unusual action, the other middle-aged men from the Construction Commission called up by Zheng Liangyu walked over timidly and looked from afar at the work ID Su Qing was holding in front of Zheng Liangyu. They saw that the person in the photo was indeed her, and the position clearly stated "Minister of the Provincial Organization Department," with the seal of the Hebei Provincial Party Committee Office stamped on the font.

It was absolutely true and authentic. For Su Qing, the female Minister of the Provincial Organization Department, everyone in the Xijing political circle had heard of her. Upon seeing this work ID, Zheng Liangyu, who had tried to suppress the other party with his status, couldn't help but gasp. Cold sweat broke out on his back, and half of his drunkenness vanished. His originally red, kidney-shaped face instantly turned deathly pale. He didn't know if he was scared stiff or dumbstruck. His previous arrogance vanished without a trace. His thick lips trembled slightly, his eyes were full of fear, and he couldn't say a word for a long time. It wasn't that he couldn't speak; it was that he was now scared stiff because he realized he had provoked someone he couldn't afford to offend. His legs trembled involuntarily, and he almost wet his pants. He was thinking about how to get out of this. If he apologized to her now, she might not appreciate it, after all, his overly confident reaction just now had made her lose face. After a struggle in his mind, he decided to continue pretending to be drunk and play the fool, so he could at least give himself a way out and not lose his authority in front of his subordinates from the Construction Commission. So, after a moment of hesitation, he continued to pretend to be drunk, pushed aside the ID she was holding in front of him, and said, "I'm illiterate; I don't know what kind of thing you're holding."

Just as he expected, several subordinates hurriedly came over, nodding and bowing to apologize to Su Qing, and dragged the pretending-to-be-drunk Zheng Liangyu downstairs. When they came out of the restaurant's main entrance, several of them were already scared out of their wits. Zheng Liangyu was even more drenched in cold sweat, feeling extremely worried about his political career. To prevent his subordinates from discovering that he was anxious and uneasy about what had just happened, he pretended to sleep in the car on the way back, while actually thinking about how to resolve this terrible misunderstanding he had caused. This was a huge misunderstanding, and it had to be resolved as soon as possible. If he ignored it, he might suddenly receive a transfer order from the province one day, and then he would be finished. After all, compared to Su Qing, he was a small fry, and besides, she held the power of promotion and appointment for all officials, big and small, in the entire Hebei Province. Playing with him, a mere department-level cadre, wouldn't be as simple as crushing an ant. He thought about it the whole way, and after returning home, he couldn't sleep soundly. After thinking about it all night, he planned to go to the Provincial Party Committee to find Su Qing and apologize as soon as he went to work at dawn.

After Zheng Liangyu was dragged away by the people from the Construction Commission, Su Qing was still angry. While stuffing her work ID into her bag, she said, "This Zheng Liangyu, he really has guts. After drinking a little, he really doesn't know his place! He actually dared to act wild in front of me!"

Zhao Desan walked up and sided with her again, persuading her, "Forget it, Cousin Su, it's not worth getting this angry. Zheng Liangyu isn't even at your level."

Su Qing let out a long sigh, looked at him, and said, "Weren't you acting quite tough just now? I think if I hadn't shown my work ID, we both would have had to be carried out of this restaurant horizontally tonight."

"Cousin Su, don't worry. Even without using your status, I wouldn't have let you get implicated," Zhao Desan said solemnly. Thinking of his performance in front of Su Qing earlier, she must have felt his particularly fierce, masculine side.

"Then do you think that if something like this happened, your cousin would stand by and watch you get beaten?" Su Qing asked with a straight face.

"No," Zhao Desan chuckled.

A moving smile appeared at the corner of Su Qing's mouth. She rolled her eyes at him and ordered, "Go call Deputy Director Ma, let's go."

"Oh." Zhao Desan turned and walked toward the private room.

Ma Ma Debang, who had been secretly observing the movement outside, saw that the conflict had ended so abruptly. As soon as Zhao Desan turned around, he hurriedly pulled his chair and sat back in his seat. As soon as Zhao Desan pushed the door and came in, he feigned ignorance and asked, "Comrade Xiao Zhao, what happened with all that noise outside just now? Did Minister Su get into an argument with someone?"

"Yeah," Zhao Desan nodded. "Deputy Director Ma, the bill has been paid, let's go."

Ma Ma Debang nodded while moving his chair and standing up. As he walked out of the private room, he asked knowingly, "Who was it? They have a lot of nerve to dare argue with Minister Su."

Since Ma Ma Debang was the second-in-command of the Construction Commission and in the same unit as Director Zheng, it wasn't convenient for him to clarify the matter, so he just said, "It was nothing, just a customer who drank too much and was making a scene. It's nothing."

Ma Ma Debang said "Oh" with his mouth, but secretly rejoiced in his heart, feeling schadenfreude that Director Zheng had offended Minister Su today. He had been looking for an opportunity to let Director Zheng make a mistake so he could speed up the process of changing the "deputy" in front of his Director title to a full one, but he hadn't found any opportunity. He didn't expect that coming to dinner with Minister Su today would bring an "unexpected surprise," making him feel that it was truly "a case of not having to look for something when it's right in front of you." With schadenfreude, he walked over with Zhao Desan. Su Qing was waiting for them at the counter. After they arrived, Su Qing had calmed down, as if nothing had happened. She chuckled and said, "Old Ma, let's go, it's getting late."

Ma Ma Debang said "Hmm" and took the opportunity to ask her sideways with a confused look, as if he knew nothing, "Minister Su, did something happen just now? I heard from inside that someone made Minister Su angry."

Su Qing had been in the officialdom for nearly twenty years; what kind of big scenes hadn't she seen? Tonight's matter was not worth mentioning to her. Besides, Ma Ma Debang was in the same unit as that group just now, and she didn't want to say anything, so she smiled as if nothing had happened and said, "It's nothing, just a customer who drank too much."

Ma Ma Debang said "Oh" and flattered her, "I was just saying, who really has the guts to make Minister Su angry? I wasn't outside just now. If I had seen who it was, I would definitely have stood up for Minister Su and taught him a lesson!"

Su Qing couldn't help but want to laugh, thinking that this guy was taking advantage and still acting innocent. Su Qing had already seen his sneaky appearance hiding at the door of the private room just now, but she didn't want to expose him to his face. She smiled faintly, said nothing, and walked downstairs.

Coming out of the restaurant, Ma Ma Debang stood by Su Qing's car and respectfully saw her and Zhao Desan into the car, waving his hands happily as they left. Su Qing drove the car a few meters away, then stopped, rolled down the window, poked her head out, and urged him, "Deputy Director Ma, please take care of Comrade Xiao Zhao's matter. Once you've confirmed when he can come for an interview, give me a call and let me know."

Ma Ma Debang trotted two steps up and said, "Minister Su, don't worry. I'll consult with the other leaders as soon as I get to the unit tomorrow and give you an answer as soon as possible. There will definitely be no problem."

Su Qing smiled with relief, told him to go back early, rolled up the window, restarted the car, and drove away into the distance.

Watching Su Qing's car drive away, Ma Ma Debang laughed with schadenfreude, raised his fist, and waved it fiercely a few times. He secretly rejoiced, "I really didn't come in vain tonight. I actually saw such a good show. Zheng Liangyu offended Su Qing; he definitely won't have a good end." For a moment, he really felt the pleasure of "the snipe and the clam fight, and the fisherman benefits." After thinking about what happened tonight for a while, he lit a cigarette, took a fierce puff, exhaled a long smoke ring, and walked toward his car parked in an inconspicuous corner with a triumphant look on his face.

"Cousin Su, did what happened just now affect your mood?" Zhao Desan saw Su Qing driving intently without saying a word and thought she was still unable to swallow the anger from just now.