Chapter 1115

In an inconspicuous noodle shop on the street, Teng Shijie and Su Yang found a window seat and sat down.

Although it was almost 8 o'clock, the noodle shop's business was still good, with every seat taken. Teng Shijie said to the shop owner, 'Just bring us your specialty noodles, enough for two people, fill us up.'

The owner went away, and Teng Shijie laughed and said, 'I originally wanted to treat you to a nice meal, but at this critical juncture it's inevitable to invite criticism, and besides, you probably wouldn't want to go.'

Su Yang smiled and said, 'You really understand me; I think noodles are actually pretty good, I'm a traditional northerner—just having a bowl of noodles is already enough for me.'

'It's clear you often come here to eat noodles.'

Teng Shijie said, 'The owner of this noodle shop is my university classmate; back when we were in school, we used to talk every day about how our dreams were as vast as the sky, but in the end we realized they were all tied down by reality.'

'His ambition was the loftiest—he planned to go into aerospace, building a manned rocket by hand, but ended up hand-rolling noodles instead.'

'My ambition back then was landscape design, but things didn't go as wished; my family meant for me to enter the system for a few years of training.'

'Forgot to mention, my family is from Dongshan; our place is the land of Confucius and Mencius—any profession, any job, no matter how wealthy, doesn't amount to much in front of a section chief within the system. As my parents say, if you don't become a low-level official, you can't find a partner, and you can't even eat at the table.'

Speaking of which, the two burst out laughing, and Su Yang also felt Teng Shijie's sincerity from those words.

He laughed and said, 'I guessed as much—only in the land of Confucius and Mencius do people hold the path of officialdom in such reverence and endless yearning. Your classmate is also great; although he can't hand-build rockets, he can hand-roll noodles.'

'A true man standing between heaven and earth seeks not flashy achievements or careers, but only to protect his wife and children, giving them stability and security; constantly being by their side is also a blessing. I'm not praising hardship, after all everyone has their own preferences and skills—one cannot impose one's ideas on others.'

Speaking, he added another sentence: 'You're a leading cadre in our county, moreover the Secretary of Chengguan Town; if you say a word, your classmate could easily become the head of a municipal engineering project.'

As soon as those words were spoken, both burst out laughing. Teng Shijie said, 'You really shouldn't say that—I once proposed this very thing; we studied engineering back then, and he indeed has the brains and ability; if he really wanted to do it, it wouldn't be impossible.'

'Given the current policies, I'm still willing to say a word for him. It's just that his wife likes running a noodle shop, so he's also become a small shop owner there; as you said, I think that's also pretty good—life is pretty down-to-earth.'

Teng Shijie's sincerity differs from the hypocrisy of those corrupt officials who mouth party discipline and state law, benevolence and righteousness, yet secretly engage in graft and violate the law; this made Su Yang look at him with renewed respect. It seems the people of Dongshan are genuinely sincere.

While they were talking, the owner came over carrying a large tray of plates and bowls, introducing as he served: 'fried dough cake, braised pork head, oatmeal noodle rolls, hundred-flower baked wheat, mutton soup, meatball soup, bowl-shaped pastry, Jishan twisted dough sticks, red-faced fish...'

And that's not even the main course yet.

Su Yang said, 'This is way too much; we can't finish it all.'

Teng Shijie laughed and said, 'I can't manage to get those seafood delicacies, but since we're in Liu Cheng Xian, we ought to do our best to satisfy you with the snacks and noodle foods of Xishan.'

'Otherwise I couldn't bring you to my classmate's place. Don't look at all these plates and bowls—each is just two or three bites. The staple hasn't arrived yet; at our age we're in our prime eating years, so don't hold back.'

While talking, he also brought out two half-jin bottles of Fenjiu.

Su Yang took a few bites of these various small dishes; the taste was indeed not bad, and he thought that when the opportunity arose, he would bring Zhou Ruohan for a meal, guessing she would also like it a lot.

While opening the wine, Teng Shijie suddenly thought of something, laughed and said, 'Can you drink alcohol? I remember you advocated the prohibition order.'

Su Yang laughed and said: "I'm really the type where good deeds don't leave the door, bad deeds spread a thousand miles. That happened in Lieshan Xian. To be frank, the environment where I previously worked wasn't ideal; the township officials drank every day, not knowing north from south, so a prohibition order was issued, and it ended up spreading all the way here to us."

If Secretary Pan issues a prohibition order here, then we won't have anything to drink today, hahaha.

Teng Shijie also laughed and said: "But speaking of it, Lieshan Xian has its own situation; your prohibition order and austerity measures are being studied throughout the Provincial Level. If this were placed on other officials, they'd do nothing, just read newspapers, drink tea, and attend meetings at work, then go home and sleep; after two or three years they could still get promoted."

Sometimes I think, being too capable isn't necessarily a good thing. I'm the type who speaks straight without hiding anything, so don't take offense.

If your abilities weren't so extraordinarily strong, your courage and tactics not so outstanding, I wouldn't have pushed you into this pit of ours.

You've seen the situation in our county; if you want to carry on smoothly, you have to be the eyes of the blind and the ears of the deaf, otherwise it's truly unpredictable fortune and misfortune.

Actually, I haven't done anything this year; I've just been watching to prevent trouble in the town, really just passing the time, and I feel guilty. I believe you've also seen that whatever I want to do meets obstruction everywhere, and my position was originally focused on Chengguan Town; if placed elsewhere, it would be even more restrictive.

If it weren't for your arrival, I estimate this situation could last many years, at least ten years to start.

Saying that, the two clinked cups.

Su Yang said: "Preserving oneself through wisdom is also a way of being an official; actually I also want to keep a low profile, also want to preserve myself through wisdom, and want to serve this term safely. But you've seen that others don't think that way, and I can't do anything about it."

Of course, I also don't want to be a bare commander, nor want an empty title. Although serving one term may not benefit a region, I must at least live up to the responsibility entrusted by the Cultivation Organization and the people.

Moreover, this position of mine is inherently a high-risk occupation; several predecessors in a row have met with mishaps, and yet the final conclusion still seems flawless. So, since they've come to us, we can't just sit and wait for disaster.

Regarding what happened before, how do you view it? Especially the previous incumbent was a veteran of the political and legal front, with rich work experience, and personally had received awards from the Ministry of Public Security; such a veteran actually didn't escape disaster either—what exactly is the situation? Can we talk about it?