Chapter 31: 030

030 "So I believe that kind people should receive good rewards."

After finishing the meal and resting for a while, at seven fifteen sharp, Fang Qingye went downstairs and arrived at the entrance of the residential compound, where he saw a white BMW 5 Series parked across the street.

He recognized it as Xia He's private car, walked over, placed his badminton bag in the trunk, and sat in the front passenger seat.

The drive from the teachers' residential compound to the Yikangyuan Sports and Leisure Center was only fifteen minutes; upon arriving at the leisure center, the two booked a court in the reception hall and then walked toward the badminton hall.

Arriving at the badminton hall, they each went to the locker room to change into sports uniforms; Fang Qingye was naturally fast, changing into his sports shirt and pants in just a few strokes. After he came out and waited at the door for several minutes, he finally saw Xia He emerge from the women's locker room wearing her sports outfit, and he was instantly struck by her appearance.

He had never seen Xia He dressed so coolly; not to mention her usually full chest, those long, snow-white legs made one involuntarily indulge in fantasies.

Fang Qingye's gaze lingered on the other person's legs for only one second before he quickly looked away.

Each carrying their badminton bag, the two found their respective courts; at this moment, Fang Qingye was surprised to discover that, one court away, an old man and a young man were playing.

The older one looked to be around fifty; Fang Qingye did not know him, but the young one turned out to be Liu Dong!

Fang Qingye immediately understood: so this guy was accompanying his leader to play!

The two were playing enthusiastically; Liu Dong also noticed Fang Qingye entering, so he took a moment to nod at him as a greeting.

Fang Qingye naturally understood the unspoken rule that outsiders should not disturb leaders while they play, so he nodded as well.

Xia He, however, recognized the older man; she smiled, walked over, and called out, "Director Wang, playing ball?"

Director Wang also saw Xia He, stopped playing, showed a smile on his face, and actively extended his right hand: "Yes, President Xia, are you here to play too?"

"Yes, coming out to exercise a bit this evening." Xia He shook his hand.

Seeing the two chatting idly, Fang Qingye then spoke in a low voice to Liu Dong: "Not bad, playing with the leader?"

"Aren't you too? I heard Director Wang call her President." Liu Dong retorted.

The two of us are not the same.

You are the active one; I am the passive one!

Of course, saying such things in this setting seemed boring, so Fang Qingye changed the topic: "How does it feel playing with your leader?"

"Not bad; luckily I practiced with you for so long, otherwise I would never be a match for our leader," Liu Dong said.

"Practice makes perfect; the more you practice, the higher your skill level becomes; later, even your leader might not be your match," Fang Qingye said.

"Hehe... I wouldn't dare."

After chatting a few more words with Director Wang, Xia He parted ways; on Fang Qingye's side, he also didn't talk much with Liu Dong, returned to his own court, and started playing with Xia He.

To be honest, Xia He's badminton skill was not low; her fundamentals were very solid, but compared to Teacher Du Juan from Chaoyang Middle School, she was still somewhat inferior.

However, playing with her was a delight to the eyes.

Her beautiful face, her rounded figure, her snow-white legs; when she ran, it was "waves surging," unlike that Du Juan, who was dark all over and had a completely flat figure.

They played until nearly nine o'clock; Liu Dong and his leader left, while Fang Qingye and the others continued playing, finally finishing around nine thirty.

Both were drenched in sweat; they each returned to the shower room to take a shower, changed back into their original clothes, and then left the badminton hall.

Because she had just showered, Xia He's face was flushed, radiant beyond compare, and she seemed somewhat excited.

"So comfortable; I haven't played so freely and thoroughly in a long time... Little Fang, what would you like to drink? My treat."

Originally, Fang Qingye wanted to drink beer, but felt it was not quite appropriate, so he changed his words: "Milk tea, please."

"Okay."

There was a milk tea shop right here, the rather famous CoCo都可; Fang Qingye ordered a cup of Tieguanyin pearl milk tea without sugar, which suited his taste.

But he discovered that Xia He did not order milk tea; she only ordered a cup of lemon tea.

"You don't like drinking milk tea?" Fang Qingye was somewhat surprised.

Girls simply cannot resist milk tea; even he occasionally had a cup.

"I like it, but milk tea has too many calories; I'm afraid of gaining weight," Xia He said, drooling at the sight of cup after cup of milk tea.

Fat?

Fang Qingye looked her over again.

It seemed that except for her chest, she wasn't fat anywhere else, right?

"Senior sister, you aren't fat at all," Fang Qingye smiled: "Besides, having a cup occasionally doesn't matter; people shouldn't mistreat themselves."

"Alright... then I'll listen to you." Xia He immediately said to the busy clerk: "Miss, change the lemon tea to double-scoop ice cream black tea."

"Okay, please wait a moment."

After a while, the two cups of milk tea were ready; Fang Qingye and Xia He sat by the tea table in the shop and slowly began to drink.

"Little Fang, that young man who was playing ball with Director Wang just now; I saw you were very familiar with each other; is he your friend?" Xia He asked casually.

"Yes, he is the one who called me to play ball that day; he is my middle school classmate, graduated from Jin Ling Normal University, passed the civil service exam last year and entered the Elderly Affairs Commission, and is now seconded to the Propaganda Department."

"The Propaganda Department is naturally much better than the Elderly Affairs Commission," Xia He said after taking a sip of her milk tea, then added: "Your classmate is quite smart; he knows how to cater to others' preferences."

"It's all forced out of necessity; there's no other way," Fang Qingye sighed and lifted his milk tea cup.

He did not reveal some of Liu Dong's circumstances; no one wants others to know their predicament.

Xia He looked at Fang Qingye and suddenly smiled: "Little Fang, you don't need to flatter me in this way, you know."

After hearing this, Fang Qingye glanced at her, said nothing, and internally complained.

Flatter you?

Is it worth it?

Seeing that Fang Qingye said nothing, Xia He lifted her milk tea cup again, took a sip, and changed the topic: "Little Fang, your probation period is ending soon; next week you will be officially assigned to a post; are you sure you want to go to the General Office?"

"Yes, I am sure."

"Sigh, originally I always wanted to send you to the Credit Section... well, alright, I will respect your opinion and let Zhang Rong go instead."

"What about Chen Meimei? Where are you planning to assign her?" Fang Qingye, thinking of this lovely Miss, asked.

"I want to send her to the verification group in the downstairs business department to work as a verifier."

Regarding this arrangement by Xia He, Fang Qingye had not expected it.

The branch's business hall was on the first floor of the office building, and the nature of the work was pretty much the same as the three savings offices under the branch, but because there was public-facing business here, there was even more to handle.

So he couldn't help but ask, "Senior, Chen Meimei usually works very seriously, and she's diligent and conscientious in the investigation group too. Why not arrange a different position for her — why does she have to go to the business hall as a teller?"

A reviewer was a bit better than those at the window, but the days were also so busy you'd die, and more importantly, once you got to the business hall, there was the deposit-soliciting business!

"No openings." Xia He spread her hands. "Right now only the general office and the credit section are short-handed; every other section is full."

Fang Qingye was a bit speechless hearing this. Suddenly thinking of something, he objected, "Senior, you told me at first that I could pick freely between the credit section and the accounting section — how come now there are no openings?"

"That's because of you!" Xia He shot her a look, then added:

"Sister Liu in the accounting section won't retire until this time next year. I arranged for you to go in ahead of time, but for anyone else, that won't work."

After saying that, Xia He slowly started sipping her milk tea again.

"Then why is it Zhang Rong going into the credit section instead of Chen Meimei?" Fang Qingye asked again.

"Because Zhang Rong performed more actively and diligently. You could say Zhang Rong is the most diligent of the three of you — I heard he often works overtime at night."

Overtime?

During the day he dawdles, saving the work for the evening to earn brownie points.

Fang Qingye understood perfectly well in his heart, but he didn't want to say it out loud — no point.

He thought for a moment, then said again, "Zhang Rong's performance is indeed active, but Chen Meimei has her own strengths too. Setting other things aside for now, she's very kind-hearted. Take the Tenglong Industries deposit theft case last time — I told Chen Meimei my speculation back then, and specifically told her not to tell you it was me who said it, but she still told the truth."

"If she hadn't told the truth, and said it was her own thoughts, wouldn't you have been very grateful to her?"

Xia He nodded after hearing this.

"Indeed that's the case."

"So I think kind-hearted people should get good rewards." Fang Qingye said finally.