Chapter 630

Su Qing's words made Zhao Desan feel that he had benefited a lot. He didn't expect her to consider this matter so thoroughly, but from her words, he vaguely heard that even though she was such a high official, she still had many concerns. It made sense 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, so many people were dissatisfied with him and plotted 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 with intense infighting; 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. After a moment of silence, Su Qing glanced at him sideways and asked, "What are you thinking about? Thinking so seriously?"

"Oh, I'm thinking about what you just said, Su. It really makes me feel that I've benefited a lot. It turns out there is so much knowledge in being an official," he said with a chuckle.

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

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

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

Sure enough, just as he expected. Damn, he had just "protected" Lingling, the cashier at that shop, this afternoon, and she said she only took the afternoon off and had to work at night. If they went there now, they would definitely run into her! What if that girl pestered him? He couldn't let Su know about this secret! Zhao Desan muttered in his heart, feeling a bit anxious. He said with a somewhat dissatisfied look, "Why go to that restaurant again? Why not change to another place?"

When Su Qing heard that he was dissatisfied with that restaurant, she turned her face and raised her willow eyebrows slightly, asking, "Don't you like the food there? 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 that if we go there again, we'll be laughed at by the people in the shop. How about we change... change to another one, Su? I... I can even treat," Zhao Desan said in a hurry.

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

"No, it's just... 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 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 it make people feel that I'm not giving him face?" Su Qing said without room for discussion. She didn't notice anything wrong with Zhao Desan for the moment, so she drove the car straight to the corner of the street, parked it in the parking lot at the entrance of the restaurant, opened the door, and got out. Zhao Desan, however, was dragging his feet and didn't want to get out of the car. Seeing his slow pace, Su Qing urged, "Desan, hurry up and get out. We have serious business to attend to after dinner," she said, throwing him a strange look.

Zhao Desan said "Oh," and only then got out of the car. He locked the door and followed her, walking into the restaurant and heading upstairs with a nervous heart, feeling extremely tense. He was terrified that the prey he had 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 peek at the cashier counter.

Fortunately, there was someone finishing their meal and paying at the cashier counter, blocking Lingling's view. Moreover, she was also looking down, using a calculator to calculate the bill, and didn't notice other places. He then hid slightly beside Su Qing, nervously walked into the corridor to the side with her, and dodged her line of sight, only then feeling relieved.

When they reached the booked private room, he hurriedly stepped forward to push open the door and respectfully let Su go in first. As soon as the private room door was pushed open, Zheng Tulu and Ma Debang stood up at the same time and greeted them enthusiastically, "Minister Su is here, and Comrade Xiao Zhao is here too. Come in, come in."

Su Qing walked in while smiling and saying politely, "Sorry, sorry for keeping Director Zheng and Deputy Director Ma waiting."

"No, no," Zheng Tulu said with a smile.

"Hello, Director Zheng, Deputy Director Ma," Zhao Desan greeted them generously.

Zheng Tulu and Ma Debang nodded with smiles in unison and said, "Hello, hello, Comrade Xiao Zhao, sit down."

Ma Debang hurriedly pulled out a chair for Su Qing to sit down, and Zhao Desan pulled out a chair for himself next to Su Qing and sat down. He thought that 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 unusually relaxed, not at all like the tense atmosphere Zhao Desan had imagined after seeing Zheng Tulu. The arrogant bald donkey from last night was incredibly enthusiastic and generous in front of Su Qing today, like a low-key, smiling Buddha, just like those eunuchs beside the emperor in TV dramas.

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

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

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

Zheng Tulu gave Zhao Desan a generous gift right from the start. His intention was very clear; it was clearly to say it to Su Qing's face, to let her feel that he had put his heart into handling the matter she had entrusted to him, in order to repay her for being the bigger person and not holding a grudge.

Originally, this matter was first entrusted to Ma Debang by Su Qing, and he was prepared to use this matter to claim credit and win over Su Qing. Who knew that the top leader would snatch it first? The expression on his face changed significantly, but he quickly hid it, only smiling kindly on the side, while the corner of his eyes fiercely swept at Zheng Tulu, very dissatisfied with him snatching his credit. Originally, he came with him to eat with Su Qing today, 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 up, Zheng Tulu took the wine glass and wanted to pour wine for everyone. How could the leader pour wine himself in this situation? Zhao Desan hurriedly stood up with great awareness and said, "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 dinner table was clearly not knowing the rules of the dinner table and being disrespectful to the leader. Zheng Tulu frowned slightly and looked at Zhao Desan, feeling a bit dissatisfied with his performance.

The reason Zhao Desan didn't pour wine for Su Qing was, firstly, he didn't want her to drink; it was not good for women to drink too much, and secondly, she had to drive. Being said so by Zheng Tulu made him feel embarrassed instantly. However, Su Qing must have understood his good intentions and said with a smile, "Just let Comrade Xiao Zhao drink with you today. I'm driving, so I won't drink."

Su Qing came forward to resolve Zhao Desan's momentary embarrassment, and the atmosphere quickly became enthusiastic 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 being the bigger person and not holding a grudge. You can just replace the wine with tea, I'll drink it all first." Zheng Tulu was still a bit worried about that matter. He stood up with the wine glass and walked to Su Qing's side, looking generous. He thought that since Ma Debang was present today, as long as they clinked glasses at the dinner table, that matter would be completely turned over.