Chapter 996

Lan Mei turned around and stood before the window, gazing into the distance, and said, "Xiao Zhao, I know what you're like. Don't worry, I absolutely won't hold you back. I'll find time in the next two days to go get it taken care of. It's fine, at least now I know I can get pregnant, and that's enough."

Zhao Desan walked up, gently wrapped his arms around her from behind, rested his chin on her fragrant shoulder, and said with gentle consideration, "Section Chief Lan, I'll go with you."

Lan Mei said nothing, a faint, relieved smile appearing at the corners of her mouth. The two of them stood there holding each other, looking at the scenery outside the window. Zhao Desan didn't know why, but at this very moment, his heart felt extremely calm. He had never looked at this winter so seriously before. The gray buildings under the horizon, the withered vines and old trees... made the world look desolate, yet the warm midday sun made the world appear full of hope and vitality...

"Hold me tighter." Lan Mei felt that being held by him from behind like this, her whole body buried in his broad, thick embrace, was filled with a sense of security and was extremely comfortable.

Zhao Desan applied force to his arms, pulling her tighter into his embrace, his face pressed against hers—warm, smooth, and extremely comfortable. His big treasure below pressed tightly against her round, upturned buttocks, and before long, he felt his body react, and he began to kiss her earlobes and neck.

Lan Mei did not resist at all, frankly enjoying his teasing. Her body gradually reacted as well, a burning, itchy sensation spreading across her skin bit by bit. Under his kisses and caresses, her breathing grew increasingly rapid, and she began to pant, "Hmph... uh..."

"Section Chief Lan, just now... just now I finished inside, will there be any trouble?" Zhao Desan asked, feeling a bit fearful.

Lan Mei looked at him with seductive, watery eyes and said, her breath as fragrant as orchids, "It's fine. It's during the menstrual period, which is the ovulation period, so I won't get pregnant."

Although Zhao Desan had seen countless women, to be honest, he still only had a half-baked understanding of female physiology. Hearing Section Chief Lan's words, he realized there was such a theory, so he stopped worrying.

Before long, it was time for work, and the sound of messy footsteps and voices began to fill the corridor. Lan Mei said, panting, "Xiao Zhao, go back to work. Hurry up and finish reviewing the planning proposal and bring it to me for approval; someone is coming to pick it up tomorrow."

Having released his tension, Zhao Desan had no more lingering attachments, so he nodded and said, "Mm, then Section Chief Lan, I'll go to work first."

Lan Mei's face was still flushed, her breathing not yet fully recovered. She gave him a shy look and said, breathing slightly, "Mm, go ahead."

Zhao Desan gave Section Chief Lan a mischievous grin, then turned and walked out of her office.

Having had a passionate encounter with Section Chief Lan in her office at noon, Zhao Desan was in high spirits when he started work in the afternoon, throwing himself heart and soul into the work Section Chief Lan had entrusted to him.

An hour later, the office door was pushed open. Section Chief Lan walked straight up to Zhao Desan with another stack of documents, placed them on his desk, and said, "Xiao Zhao, get these done by tomorrow. I'm going out for a bit."

As soon as Zhao Desan came to his senses, he saw that Section Chief Lan had already turned and walked out of the office. Looking at this stack of documents, Zhao Desan's head felt like it was going to explode. He looked around and saw Xiao Zhao doing his own work and Zheng Ru surfing the internet to "steal vegetables," so he leaned over and said with a cheeky grin, "Ruru, not busy right now?"

Zheng Ru gave him a sidelong glance with a strange look and asked unpleasantly, "What for?"

"If you're not busy, help me do a little work. Section Chief Lan dumped so much work on me all at once, I'm afraid I won't finish it," Zhao Desan said with a fawning smile.

Zheng Ru looked him over with a look of contempt for a while, then chuckled and said, "The leadership likes to dump all the work on you because our Section Chief Lan values you and appreciates you. Isn't this exactly what you want? Why don't you take the opportunity to show off a bit?"

Zheng Ru had always maintained this lukewarm attitude toward him, which made Zhao Desan very depressed, and he had been teased by her again. But he wasn't angry; instead, he pulled up a chair and sat down beside her, watching her steal vegetables online without blinking.

Suddenly discovering that this guy had actually sat down right next to her, Zheng Ru glanced at him with a look of disdain and asked, "What are you doing? Go back to where you were!"

"Just help me out a little," Zhao Desan said, looking at her like a rascal. "If you have anything you need in the future, I'll help you too, won't I?"

Seeing his shameless look, Zheng Ru frowned and said with a look of contempt, "Don't try that with me. I'm not buying it."

Just at this moment, the office door was suddenly pushed open, and a familiar voice rang out in the office: "Hello, comrades, I'm back."

Everyone followed the sound and saw the very handsomely dressed Xia Jian walk in, looking full of himself, his face beaming with pride. As soon as he walked in, he began chatting with everyone in high spirits.

Zheng Ru, who had been very critical of his going to the Party School, gave a lukewarm "oh." Zhao Desan, however, acted as if nothing had happened, smiling hypocritically as he went up to greet him: "Section Chief Xia is back."

Xia Jian knew that by fighting for the opportunity to study at the Party School, he had offended many people, so he immediately gave Zhao Desan a warm hug and said, "Finally back. I've missed you brothers and sisters so much."

Zhao Desan patted him on the back, and after the hug, joked, "Section Chief Xia, you don't miss your wife, why are you missing us?"

Xiao Zhao smiled shyly on the side, and Zheng Ru also secretly pursed her lips and smiled.

Xia Jian said sanctimoniously with a chuckle, "We've been colleagues for so long, our relationship is like brothers."

Sitting down in his chair, vanity getting the better of him, Xia Jian took a pack of Zhonghua cigarettes he had bought at the entrance of the Construction Committee out of his pocket and gave one to both Zhao Desan and Xiao Zhao.

"Yo, Section Chief Xia, you've been studying at the Party School for half a month, and now the grade of cigarettes you smoke is different?" Zhao Desan looked at the cigarette Xia Jian had given him and deliberately began to butter him up.

Xia Jian lit the cigarette, took a puff, and said, "Someone gave them to me while I was studying at the Party School. It's just Zhonghua, nothing special."

Zhao Desan and Xiao Zhao on the side exchanged a knowing smile, took a puff of the cigarette, patted Xia Jian on the shoulder, and continued to flatter him: "This isn't special? Section Chief Xia, people are giving you Zhonghua, and you say it's nothing special? If someone gave me a pack of 'Monkey Climbing the Tree,' I'd be satisfied." In Hexi Province, there was a type of cigarette with a monkey climbing a withered branch printed on the blue cover, which sold for two yuan a pack; the locals jokingly called it "Monkey Climbing the Tree."

Having been buttered up by Zhao Desan, Xia Jian began to float a bit and started to show off what he had seen and heard at the Party School. He patted Zhao Desan on the shoulder and said with great emotion, "Xiao Zhao, you don't know, the officialdom is too complicated. Everyone who goes to study at the Party School has a background; it's very complicated. Basically, there are very few people like me who can be sent by the leadership to study at the Party School based on their own ability. Having studied there for half a month, I really feel I've benefited a lot and learned quite a few things."

Zheng Ru, who was on the side, gave Xia Jian a sidelong glance with great disgust, smiled provocatively, and interjected, "Section Chief Xia, why don't you tell everyone what you've learned and pass on some experience to us so we can learn a little too?"

Xia Jian said with high spirits, "Like when we first went to the Party School, we definitely had to learn about the arduous journey our Party has traveled, learn the Party Constitution, as well as Marxism-Leninism, Mao Zedong Thought, Deng Xiaoping Theory, and the 'Three Represents' of Jiang Zemin. I learned quite a bit from these things and feel that I still lack a lot."