Chapter 706

"I did, but he wouldn't accept it when I gave it to him in his office."

Before Zhao De could finish, Su Qing asked, "Old Zheng didn't take it? Is it because he felt embarrassed to accept it out of respect for my face?"

"That's not it," Zhao De said with a light laugh. "He's still a bit cautious. He said that with the higher-ups cracking down on clean governance lately, he was afraid of being seen accepting it in the office, so he asked me to find time to go to his house over the weekend."

Su Qing realized with a start and smiled faintly, "That Old Zheng, he's quite careful. But he's right; the Discipline Inspection Commission has been cracking down on party conduct and clean governance all year. If Deputy Secretary-General Hu hadn't insisted I accept it yesterday, I wouldn't have taken it no matter what."

"Is that going to be a problem?" Hearing Sister Su say this, Zhao De began to worry for her. If the Discipline Inspection Commission were to investigate, a watch worth three hundred thousand would be enough to constitute a fairly serious act of bribery.

"It'll be fine. After all, it's through Deputy Secretary-General Hu's connection. If the Discipline Inspection Commission really investigates, as long as it's not particularly serious, they'll turn a blind eye," Su Qing said dismissively. After all, in her position, while her authority couldn't move mountains, it was close enough. As a member of the Provincial Party Standing Committee, her relationship with the Discipline Inspection Commission wouldn't reach that point.

Zhao De felt relieved. So, in this system, the top is just as dark as the bottom; only the small fry without much power become the unlucky victims of Discipline Inspection investigations. It seems that to be an official, one must climb higher; the higher the political status, the greater the power, and the less likely one is to become an investigation target.

"By the way, Sister Su, do you think I should also show some appreciation to Deputy Director Ma?" Zhao De asked her, thinking that Ma Debang had also played a part in his smooth entry into the Construction Bureau. Although the contribution wasn't huge, he had put in some effort.

Su Qing thought for a moment, looking thoughtful, and said, "I think we can forget about Ma Debang. The first person Sister looked for regarding your affairs was him, and it was clear when he handled your business that he had requests of me. Your Director Zheng is also nearing retirement age; he'll be retiring in two years at most. Ma Debang wants Sister to consider getting him promoted when the time comes, and Sister has already given him her word. This can be considered mutual help, so you don't need to worry about him."

Zhao De said "Oh," and asked, "Then when would be a better time for me to go to Director Zheng's house this weekend?"

"You should contact him first this weekend. If he's home, you can go over. Sister happens to be going to Beijing for a meeting this weekend and won't be home," Su Qing suddenly remembered her flight to Beijing on Saturday morning.

"Going to Beijing?" Zhao De asked, surprised. "What kind of meeting are you going to Beijing for?"

"A meeting for cadres at the provincial and ministerial level and above," Su Qing said.

"When will you be back?" Zhao De asked, looking a bit disappointed. If she were gone for too long, he would feel a bit lonely in such a big house by himself.

"I'll be back Monday afternoon, just two days," Su Qing said.

After chatting in the living room for a while, Su Qing said she was a bit tired and wanted to sleep. Zhao De turned off the TV and accompanied her to the bedroom to get into bed. As soon as he was in bed, he hugged her from behind, rubbing his lower body against her buttocks, and whispered in her ear, "Sister Su, I want to drive."

Being a woman nearing fifty, she would feel something with just a little teasing. After he rubbed against her buttocks a few times, Su Qing felt itchy all over and said with a slight pant, "If you want to drive, then drive."

Zhao De then turned her over to lie flat on the bed, climbed onto her body with a wicked smile, and gave a light tug on the belt of her pajamas. The smooth silk pajamas slid off softly, revealing a smooth, white, jade-like body...

At this moment, at Zheng Tulu's house, he was sitting in the living room chatting with his wife. Thinking of Zhao De coming to give him a gift today, he asked his wife, "Wife, what do you think of that Comrade Xiao Zhao who brought our Ruru back the other day?"

Hearing Zheng Tulu mention Zhao De, his wife's expression changed slightly, a flash of shyness appearing in her eyes, and she said with a chuckle, "He's... he's quite good."

Zheng Tulu took a puff of his cigarette and said, "I think Comrade Xiao Zhao is not bad either. He's tall, good-looking, has very good physical conditions, and judging by his performance in the two days since he started working, he's quite sharp."

"Wh-why are you suddenly talking about him?" Zheng Tulu's wife asked with a light laugh, a strange feeling growing in her heart. Just as Zheng Tulu said, she had been attracted by his tall and handsome appearance when she saw Zhao De that night. But she was already a woman in her forties, her husband was the head of the Construction Bureau, and her daughter was grown up; how could she still have such improper thoughts? It was just that as a housewife who had been home alone for years, it seemed no one understood what she truly needed. Especially since Zheng Tulu, because of his political status, often went out to eat, drink, and socialize after work, frequently returning home very late, and would collapse and sleep as soon as he got back, completely disregarding her feelings. A woman in her forties was at an age of strong physiological needs; if her body wasn't satisfied, her heart would feel empty. It was only natural to have some improper thoughts upon seeing a vigorous, tall, and handsome man.

"Oh, Comrade Xiao Zhao came to my office to find me as soon as he started work this morning. Do you know what he wanted from me?" Zheng Tulu took a puff of his cigarette and looked at his wife triumphantly, selling the suspense.

His wife shook her head, looking confused.

"He came to give me a gift," Zheng Tulu said, beaming.

"He... why did he give you a gift?" His wife didn't know the reason and felt a bit strange.

Zheng Tulu said triumphantly with a chuckle, "You don't know about this, do you? I was the one who secured his job. Otherwise, with so many people fighting to get into the Construction Bureau, how could he have gotten in?"

"Dad, stop showing off in front of my mom. Wasn't it Zhao De's cousin, the Minister of the Organization Department at the Provincial Party Committee, who spoke to you? How come I've never seen you be that enthusiastic toward others?" Zheng Ru had just finished showering and came out in her pajamas. Hearing Zheng Tulu bragging to her mother, she mocked him.

"You girl." Zheng Tulu was so angry at his precious daughter that he didn't know what to say. "Th-that was Minister Su herself coming to me to ask for a favor! Otherwise, would I have done it for her?"

Seeing Zheng Tulu get angry and pull a long face, Zheng Ru said with a grin, "Alright, my dad is the best, the head of the Construction Bureau after all."

Zheng Tulu was amused by his precious daughter again, his face full of smiles as he said, "You girl, always going against your old man. If you keep this up, don't blame your old man for being heartless and not helping you if something happens at work. If you want to climb up quickly, stop going against your old man."

"I don't want people to say I got promoted because of your connections. I want to climb up based on my own ability and skills," Zheng Ru said stubbornly.

Zheng Tulu was amused by her naivety and chuckled, "Why are you so stubborn, girl? Your old man is the Director of the Construction Bureau, after all. It would be easy for me to get you promoted. You want to rely on your own ability? Then I'll see you still being a small clerk when I retire."

"I'm going to sleep, I'm not talking to you anymore. I'll leave some private space for you two old folks to cultivate your marital affection," Zheng Ru said with a smile and walked into her bedroom, closing the door.

"Ruru, that child, haha." Zheng Tulu glanced at her bedroom door and smiled helplessly at his wife.

"That's just her personality. She's definitely afraid of people gossiping if she works at your unit," Zheng Tulu's wife said.

Zheng Tulu took a puff of his cigarette, suddenly remembered something, and instructed his wife, "Right, I'm inviting Comrade Xiao Zhao to our house as a guest this weekend. You prepare more dishes."

"Comrade Xiao Zhao is coming... to our house as a guest?" Hearing that Zhao De was coming over the weekend, she widened her phoenix eyes slightly, her lips twitching a few times; she was clearly a bit excited.

"Mm, I invited him. You buy more food that day and cook more good dishes," Zheng Tulu instructed. He had two intentions for letting Zhao De come to the house. First, needless to say, he wanted to accept that expensive watch. Second, he wanted him to have more contact with his family and create conditions for his daughter to get closer to him, laying the foundation for a political marriage in the future.

"Oh, then I'll buy more food on Saturday," Zheng Tulu's wife nodded slightly, a hint of delight flashing in her eyes.

Zheng Tulu finished his last puff of the cigarette, stubbed it out, and said, "Alright, it's getting late, Ruru is asleep, let's sleep too." He stood up and walked toward the bedroom.

Zheng Tulu's wife lingered in the living room for a while, her mind filled with the image of Zhao De she had seen that night. She didn't know why, but even though her husband and daughter were both at home, she felt inexplicably empty and wanted very much to experience the pleasure of a woman. With her mind wandering, she returned to the room and saw her husband already sleeping with his back to her. She reached into her pajamas, took off her bra and panties, and went vacuum-packed in just a silky bathrobe. She turned off the room light, walked to the bedside silently, and stepped into the blanket on tiptoe. Looking at the old man who had lived with her for over twenty years, his fat body didn't give her any particularly strong feelings, but as a woman in her forties who hadn't been intimate with a man for a long time, the desire for a lonely man ignited after her wild thoughts just now. She pressed against Zheng Tulu's body, the feeling of flesh against flesh making her feel a bit feverish. She closed her eyes, but no matter how she tried, she couldn't sleep, always feeling like something was missing. After tossing and turning for a while, the feeling became more and more intense, and her body felt uncomfortably hot. She slowly turned over, reached her arm over from behind, hugged Zheng Tulu's protruding belly, and pressed her face against his neck.