Chapter 385: Speak a Word for Me

Zhou Ruohan said, "I work in the county."

For others, this might be capital for showing off, and they would definitely say they work at the County Government and so on.

But Zhou Ruohan didn't want to say this at all, nor did she want to say she was the County Mayor, letting it spread everywhere and causing Su Yang to feel pressure.

"Oh, working in the county is not bad. Are you a Deputy Bureau Chief or a Director or something?" Liu Li was getting to the bottom of it.

This exposed her lack of quality.

Zhou Ruohan said, "I can't be a Bureau Chief, nor a Director. I'm just a clerk at the County Government. In reality, I'm just a handyman, doing whatever needs to be done."

Liu Li was slightly disappointed. It seemed her guess was about right: this Zhou Ruohan should just be working in the county, and her family conditions should be okay, but at such a young age, it was impossible for her to be a Deputy Bureau Chief.

Otherwise, she would have had to invest heavily to build a relationship. Even so, she still had her own little schemes.

"Ruohan, your skin is so good. How do you maintain it?"

Zhou Ruohan smiled and said, "No, I just wash my face normally; I don't do any special beauty treatments."

Liu Li seized the opportunity, took a beauty card out of her bag, and said, "Ruohan, I don't have anything to give you. This is a beauty card for a chain beauty institution in Lancheng City. Please don't mind it."

"A woman's youth and beauty are fleeting; you have to be good to yourself."

Zhou Ruohan wanted to refuse, but she felt embarrassed. After all, they were at Su Yang's home today, and these people had come for Su Yang's sake; she didn't want to make things difficult for him.

Of course, if it were any other occasion, she definitely would have refused. *What is this stuff? Do I need it? I don't need it at all, and even if I did, I could afford it myself. *

"Then I'll thank you, Cousin."

Liu Li smiled triumphantly to herself. She had spent a lot of money on this membership card. Now it was good; as long as Zhou Ruohan accepted this card, if she went to find Zhou Ruohan in the future, Zhou Ruohan wouldn't be able to refuse. This was the principle of "eating someone's food makes your mouth soft, taking someone's things makes your hands soft."

Even if Su Yang knew what was going on, he would still help her get things done for the sake of face. Her requirements now weren't high; she just wanted to change to another hospital to continue being a Director, or if that didn't work, the Health Bureau would be fine too.

At the same time, Liu Fa and his son Liu Jixiang saw Township Mayor Ma sitting on the *kang* and hurriedly ran over to greet him, "Hello, Township Mayor Ma, I'm Liu Jixiang."

Township Mayor Ma said "Oh," having an impression of Liu Jixiang. "Sit down first. Today is Su Yang's happy day, don't be so polite with me."

"I was just chatting with Little Su about his future career development. You listen in too."

"Little Su?"

"Isn't Su Yang the Town Mayor of Huatian Town in their county? How come?" Liu Jixiang didn't react for a moment and blurted out.

Township Mayor Ma, who had just been sitting on the *kang* in a carefree manner, with a cigarette in his left hand and a teacup in his right, wanting to give Su Yang a free lesson, froze instantly.

Then, the expressions on his face changed in all sorts of ways; it was as awkward as it could be.

Liu Jixiang and Su Yang were relatives, so he definitely wouldn't have gotten it wrong.

*No wonder Secretary Liu gave so much face before. It seems he was originally a real-power Section Chief level cadre. *

*He became a Town Mayor at twenty-five, and here I am, fifty-five, still a Township Mayor, and I was acting like a big shot in front of him... *

This was as awkward as it could get. He felt as if there were countless needles pricking him under his butt; it was as uncomfortable as it could be.

At this moment, in order not to make Township Mayor Ma awkward, and because neighbors had been arriving at their house one after another,

Su Yang simply said, "Dad, in my opinion, let's just serve the food. Arrange one table on the *kang* and one table on the floor. Everyone, eat and chat as you please."

Su Lie said "Mm," and simply brought over the Gujing Gong Liquor he had bought in advance, though he had only prepared two bottles...

Su Yang said, "Dad, just open the Moutai and drink it. It was brought here to be drunk anyway."

Su Lie was a bit unhappy, thinking, *How can you open a gift someone else brought? * But Su Yang didn't care about that much, because Zhou Ruohan had brought it for him to drink.

If he waited until they left, he was sure his old man would definitely be reluctant to drink it and would just put it away at home. Besides, on such an important occasion today, it could be considered as letting Old Comrade Zhou and the others drink it.

Zhou Weiguo also said with a smile, "Big Brother Su, Ruohan bought the liquor for you to drink. To be honest, I haven't had this treatment in all these years."

"To be precise, she has never bought me liquor at all, let alone such expensive liquor. I was excited for a moment when she bought it, saying my daughter had become sensible and was going to buy me liquor, but in the evening, I didn't see her take a single bottle home; she brought it all to you. I'm going to take advantage of your light today and have a few good drinks."

Since it had come to this, what else could Su Lie say? Su Yang brought the Moutai over, and he hurriedly poured it.

According to the old rules, Su Yang raised his glass to toast. He originally wanted to toast Old Comrade Zhou first, but Old Comrade Zhou said, "We are all hosts now, and Township Mayor Ma is the guest. You should toast Township Mayor Ma first."

Once he said this, Township Mayor Ma panicked even more. But then he thought, *Su Yang is at the same level as me, and my age is right here, and I was invited by Su Yang's father to support the scene, so it's no problem for me to be the first to drink among those present. *

But if others saw this, their jaws would definitely drop. Let alone a Township Mayor, even a Mayor wouldn't dare to accept it so openly standing here.

Or rather, let alone a Mayor, even an ordinary Vice Governor would have to be polite to Zhou Weiguo.

After all, Zhou Weiguo was the incoming Governor of Jiangnan Province, and Jiangnan Province was the second-largest economic province in the country. It could be said that he was at the forefront of the circle of Governors.

But Township Mayor Ma was completely unaware, and Su Lie also felt that Zhou Weiguo's words made sense, so he followed suit and toasted Township Mayor Ma.

This eased much of Township Mayor Ma's previous awkwardness. Otherwise, he would have been ready to shift his butt to the edge of the *kang* and let Su Lie sit up...

Su Yang naturally couldn't insist, because Zhou Weiguo had long positioned himself as a retired old clerk with a career-track position. In this matter, he could be considered one of their own, so it had to be this way.

Guo Xiaocui smiled without saying a word, guessing that she must be finding it funny too: an incoming Governor coming to the village, and he didn't even get a toast.

Township Mayor Ma drank three cups in a row and smacked his lips, saying, "Mm, this liquor is truly not bad. I've taken advantage of your light today."

"Today is a good day, Old Su, you should toast everyone a round."

The township mayors in remote townships at the present time really hadn't drunk such good liquor as Moutai, or rather, they had drunk Moutai, but it was hard to drink it a few times a year. This year, having finally caught this opportunity, he had to drink it well.

Anyway, the awkward period had passed.

It is said that there is no banquet without liquor. Although it was early in the morning and only a few dishes had been served, and everyone hadn't eaten much, the atmosphere became lively once the liquor was served.

Zhou Weiguo also gave a lot of face, clinking glasses twice with Township Mayor Ma. Of course, he also clinked glasses twice with Old Su, but as for the others, he didn't clink glasses and didn't intend to drink anymore.

Seeing that the conversation was about to go cold, Liu Jixiang seized the opportunity, "Township Mayor Ma, let me accompany you for a drink."

"I can be considered half a host here. Su Yang and I are close cousins, and our relationship is very good. You could say we grew up wearing open-crotch pants together."

"Today is his big day, he can't drink too much liquor."

Township Mayor Ma didn't care; anyway, it was for the sake of drinking Moutai, it was the same whoever he drank with.

Among those present, except for Su Yang, no one else had as much face as him.

Zhou Weiguo rarely participated in such occasions. Not only did he not find it noisy, but he felt it was very interesting and grounded, having more human touch than those procedural ceremonies held in hotels.

Because the sound of finger-guessing and drinking attracted many neighbors, the more people came, the more face Old Su had.

When everyone had drunk enough, and had drunk a little too much, Liu Jixiang said in front of Su Yang, "Last time when I wanted to go to work at the Township Government, the Township Mayor had already agreed, but you came that time and messed it up for me."

"What do you say today? I've at least drunk so much liquor for you, you should at least say a word to me."

"I know you know the County Committee leaders. It's just a matter of one sentence for me to go to work at the Township Government. We helped your family a lot when we were young. Now, it should be fine for you to say a word for me, right? And everyone in the village is watching today..." ===== CHAPTER 386 =====