Chapter 755: Something's Wrong

Leaning against the headboard and thinking for a while, Ma Lan picked up her phone from the nightstand and called Zhao De. Zhao De was sitting in front of the computer in the study of Su Qing's home, wearing headphones and watching a movie. His phone was on the nightstand in the bedroom, and he didn't hear the call at all.

Ma Lan called four or five times, but no one answered. She felt cold-hearted, thinking that Zhao De might have forgotten her now and didn't want to see her again. She also knew that the reason Zhao De suddenly stopped asking about her was because he discovered that she was maintaining that special relationship with other men. But Ma Lan was already at this age, and she knew that even if she continued to associate with Zhao De, there would be no future, so it was impossible for her to give up her firm revenge plan for his feelings. After putting down the phone, she lay on the bed and suddenly saw half a pack of cigarettes and a lighter left by Liu Jianguo on the nightstand last night. She took one out and lit it, but after only one puff, she was choked to tears and hurriedly threw it away.

Zhao De watched two movies in a row. It wasn't until Su Qing was standing at the door of the study, swaying slightly, that he suddenly came to his senses. He immediately took off his headphones, got up, and said, "Sister Su, you're back?"

Su Qing's face was a bit flushed, her vision was a bit unfocused, and it looked like she had drunk a lot. She leaned against the door and said angrily, "Why didn't you answer when I called you?"

Zhao De touched his pants pockets with both hands, only then remembered that his phone was in the bedroom, and hurriedly said, "Sister Su, my phone is in the bedroom. I was watching a movie in the study and didn't hear it."

"Look how many times I called you?" Saying this, Su Qing actually picked up his phone, unlocked it, and saw a missed call with the note "Sister Lan," which had also been called several times. So, Su Qing looked at him lightly, raised the phone, and asked him, "Who is Sister Lan?"

"Sister Lan?" Zhao De whispered to himself, and immediately understood that Ma Lan had also called him. He had a flash of inspiration, appeared very calm, and said with a chuckle, "She's a coal boss from Yuyang City. She asked me to do things for her when I was at the Coal Bureau."

"I can't tell that you have such wide connections?" Su Qing leaned against the door, looking at him with blurry eyes, her face red, but her tone was very light, as if she were jealous.

"Sister Su, you... look at what you're saying, this is for work." Zhao De smiled awkwardly, hurriedly stepped forward to support her, and pretended to ask with concern, "Sister Lan, you've drunk a lot, haven't you? I'll help you back to the room to sleep."

Su Qing returned the phone to him, and while being supported by him, swaying into the bedroom, she turned her face and said with a charming expression, "Sleep? What sleep? You haven't 'paid the public grain' to your sister today."

After serving Sister Su and enjoying it comfortably, Zhao De was as tired as a horse, lying on the side without even taking a shower, and fell asleep. After closing his eyes, he suddenly thought, why did Ma Lan call him at this time of night? With so many men, did she still lack him? Was she missing the feeling of doing that with him? Thinking with a playful attitude, he fell asleep.

The next day was the weekend. Zhao De didn't climb up until after ten o'clock and found that Sister Su had woken up early and was standing in front of the wardrobe picking out clothes to wear. He stretched and asked her, "Sister Su, it's not a workday today, why are you dressing so beautifully?"

Su Qing turned back and smiled, "You're awake? If you're awake, hurry up and get up. It's already ten o'clock. Accompany your sister out shopping today and buy some winter clothes."

Zhao De scratched his hair, said "Oh," climbed out of bed to go to the bathroom, washed up, returned to the room, picked out some clothes to wear, and sat on the edge of the bed, smoking and watching Sister Su dress. Su Qing looked at the dazzling array of clothes in the wardrobe, not knowing what to wear, and had a headache. Zhao De said playfully on the side, "Sister Su, I think you'd better not waste that money. You have a headache not knowing which one to wear, and you're still buying clothes? You're just going against money."

Su Qing rolled her eyes at him and said, "You know a fart. These clothes are out of style. Your sister hasn't been shopping for a long time. Today, it's hard to have nothing to do. If you don't want to accompany your sister shopping, then stay at home! You talk too much nonsense!"

"I'll accompany you, I'll accompany you. As long as you have the interest, Sister Su, I'll accompany you to do whatever you want." Zhao De said with sweet words.

Watching Sister Su finally pick and choose, wearing a beige woolen trench coat on her upper body and a pair of slim-fitting black pants on her legs, the whole person looked noble and elegant, and in her intellect, she also exuded a charming aura, which had a different flavor.

After Sister Su was dressed and put on light makeup, he accompanied her to shop in the most prosperous area of Xijing City. Zhao De had long since experienced the pain of accompanying women shopping, but in order to curry favor with Sister Su, he still accompanied Su Qing from one end of the street to the other with high spirits. Finally, when they walked to a lingerie store, Su Qing stopped and said, "Sister is going to buy some lingerie."

Zhao De and Su Qing walking on the street clearly looked mismatched in age and temperament. Coupled with seeing the female clerk in the lingerie store looking at him and Su Qing with strange eyes, he said to Su Qing, "Sister Su, you go in and look, I'll wait for you outside."

"Are you embarrassed?" Su Qing asked with a sly smile, "That's fine, you wait for me at the door, I'll just buy a few pieces and come out." Saying this, she piled the big and small bags in her hands into his arms and walked into the lingerie store.

Zhao De leaned against the door, lit a cigarette, and stared at the crowd coming and going in front of him, waiting for Su Qing to come out. After a while, a woman's voice suddenly came to his ear: "Zhao De?"

Zhao De looked curiously and suddenly widened his eyes. This... isn't this Director Zhang? She... she also came to Xijing?

"Di... Director Zhang, why are you also in Xijing?" Zhao De pretended to be calm and said with a chuckle.

"Yes, it's really a narrow road for enemies. I didn't expect to meet you here. Little Zhao, you really have quite a bit of ability, aren't you?" Zhang Zhang Zhang Zhang Zhang Zhang Ailing flashed a cold smile at the corners of her mouth and said in a light tone.

"No ability, just mixing for a meal." Zhao De said with a chuckle.

At this time, Zhang Zhang Zhang Zhang Zhang Zhang Ailing's husband, Li Changping, Deputy Minister of the Provincial Party Committee Organization Department, came up from behind. He didn't know what kind of grudge Zhao De had with his wife, and greeted Zhao De enthusiastically, saying, "Little Zhao is here too."

"Hello, Brother Li." Zhao De immediately put the big and small bags in his arms on the ground, took out a cigarette case from his pocket, gave Li Changping a cigarette, and respectfully helped him light it.

"Why is Little Zhao in Xijing? I heard you're not working at the Coal Bureau anymore?" Li Changping also asked with a chuckle, looking very puzzled.

"Not working there anymore." Zhao De looked at Zhang Zhang Zhang Zhang Zhang Zhang Ailing, who was looking at him coldly, with an extremely awkward expression.

"Maybe the temple of our Yuyang Coal Bureau is too small to accommodate a big Buddha like Little Zhao." Zhang Zhang Zhang Zhang Zhang Zhang Ailing said in a light tone.

Li Changping looked at his wife, took a puff of his cigarette, and asked him, "Little Zhao wasn't doing well at the Coal Bureau? Your Director Zhang has always valued you very much, why did you suddenly say you wouldn't do it anymore?" In Li Changping's impression, his wife valued Zhao De quite a bit, and once upon a time, she praised him endlessly in front of him. But today, it seemed that the two of them didn't have a relationship like a teacher and friend, but rather seemed to have some estrangement. After so many years in officialdom, Li Changping saw at a glance that something was wrong, so he got to the bottom of it.

In front of Zhang Zhang Zhang Zhang Zhang Zhang Ailing, Zhao De didn't know how to answer, and his smile was a bit stiff. Zhang Zhang Zhang Zhang Zhang Zhang Ailing on the side sneered and said in a light tone, "Little Zhao is now working at the Provincial Construction Commission."

Just as Zhao De was driven into a dead end by the couple's back-and-forth attacks, Su Qing walked out from inside. Seeing Zhao De standing at the door with Li Changping and his wife, her hearty laughter came before she arrived: "Old Li, and Director Zhang are also shopping?"

Several people looked in the direction of the sound at the same time and saw Su Qing walking over with a smile.

"Minister Su, what a coincidence that you are also shopping." Li Changping immediately greeted her with a chuckle. There was more than one deputy minister in the Organization Department, and compared to the top leader, he was much inferior, so he immediately appeared very humble in front of Su Qing.

Even Zhang Zhang Zhang Zhang Zhang Zhang Ailing immediately greeted her enthusiastically, saying, "Hello, Minister Su."

"Director Zhang, you have time to come to Xijing today?" Su Qing asked with a chuckle.

Zhang Zhang Zhang Zhang Zhang Zhang Ailing nodded humbly and said, "There's nothing to do in the bureau today, so I came over early in the morning."

Su Qing joked, "I didn't see that Old Li was such a competent husband. It's hard to have a Sunday, and he still has to accompany his wife shopping, haha..."

Li Changping echoed with a laugh on the side. Su Qing suddenly saw Zhang Zhang Zhang Zhang Zhang Zhang Ailing looking at her and Zhao De with strange eyes, so she immediately said with a smile, "Oh, you know Little Zhao, he worked under Director Zhang for a few years. He is my cousin, you don't know yet, do you?"

Li Changping and Zhang Zhang Zhang Zhang Zhang Zhang Ailing widened their eyes at the same time, were stunned, and then laughed together.

"I really didn't know Little Zhao was your cousin, Minister Su." Li Changping said with a chuckle, but his eyes looked a bit skeptical. ===== CHAPTER 909 =====