Chapter 425

When Su Yang got home, it was already past seven.

Zhou Ruohan had been waiting for him for an hour, "How come you only came back now? When did work in our county become so intense? I feel everyone packs up and waits to go home at 5:30. You, on the other hand, voluntarily work overtime on the first day of reporting? The Poverty Alleviation Office has set a precedent for us."

Then I should call on all the county's cadres to learn from your Poverty Alleviation Office. That way our work tasks will also be finished ahead of schedule.

Su Yang said, "That's not the case; I was just given the cold shoulder, otherwise I would have been back earlier."

Then he recounted what had just happened. Upon hearing it, Zhou Ruohan's face turned cold, "She's really giving you the cold shoulder in disguise? I never thought she could pull something like this; I really didn't see it coming."

"He's sending you to be stationed in Xiushui Xiang—this is nothing but naked jealousy of me, trying to split us up. I've seen ruthless people, but never someone this ruthless; this time I'll remember it. Don't let me get a chance later."

"Didn't you just tell me that matter was over? How come I feel this is just beginning?"

"As for the poverty alleviation work, I had considered it too, but I never expected him to send you to Xiushui Xiang all at once."

"Xiushui Xiang is our county's major poverty-stricken area, the place that has always given us the biggest headaches."

"The key is that the township head is a local; the Township Party Committee Secretary is practically sidelined with little authority, making many policies hard to implement, and if mishandled it could even lead to mass incidents and so on."

"As far as I know, three successive Township Party Committee Secretaries sent to Xiushui Xiang have served less than a year—either they asked to be transferred back, or they were directly squeezed out by Township Head Cui Mingjiu."

"Cui Mingjiu was originally a village cadre; later, due to policies at the time and so on, the Village Party Secretary transformed into a deputy township head, and then step by step rose to the position of township head."

"Rather than saying he's the township head, it's more accurate to say he's the township tyrant."

"Everyone in Xiushui Xiang is either his relative or from his clan; the whole township is almost all surnamed Cui, making it impossible for outsiders to get a foothold."

"This time, in the nomination for the Party Committee Secretary of Huatian Town, they have already put forward Cui Mingjiu. The reason they nominated him is to transfer him out of Xiushui Xiang; as long as he can move forward a step, they believe he himself would be willing. Then they will gradually remove him, thereby rectifying the political environment of Xiushui Xiang."

"But in the end, for various reasons it still didn't happen; Fang Jingwen is basically pushing you into a fire pit. Of course, if you can solve Xiushui Xiang's problems and lead its common people to a turnaround, that would be an extremely brilliant political achievement for you."

"Even though he arranged it this way, if you don't want to go, I also have a way to keep you from going. And if you go to Xiushui Xiang, it will be hard for me to see you—this move is truly vicious."

"They say villains and women are hard to get along with, and indeed that's true."

Su Yang said, "Someone has to do the work, after all, and Xiushui Xiang is ultimately a township under Jincheng County. If I solve Xiushui Xiang's problems, that would also be a standout achievement for you as County Magistrate, wouldn't it?"

"So for your sake, even if I had to go through blades of fire and a sea of flames, I'd be willing to make the trip. Besides, they've already arranged it this way; if I don't go now, wouldn't that look like I'm backing down in the face of danger? Wouldn't that bring out a crowd of people to watch me make a fool of myself?"

"Even if there were a way to rearrange things, what could I do? I'm a cadre who's been taken down; if anything, you might still be criticized by others for using power for personal gain."

Upon hearing Su Yang's cheesy love talk, Zhou Ruohan still found it rather pleasing, "Your mouth is as sweet as honey; good thing I made the first move, otherwise you'd have been snatched away by someone else long ago."

"This is organizational work; you don't need to go out of your way for me. Anyway, I won't be staying in the county much longer, so assigning you another post is also fine—just depends on what you want to do."

Su Yang gave a hehe laugh and said, "I want to be County Magistrate—is that okay?"

Zhou Ruohan immediately went up and gave Su Yang a flurry of Nine Yin White Bone Claws, "You're just not serious; hurry up and cook, I'm about to starve."

To be honest, she's really enjoying this time; previously, he had missed out on college romance due to various study and work reasons, and for a while she felt she had lost out.

Now is a good chance to make up for it, so if it weren't for work, she'd practically want to stick to Su Yang every day.

But hatefully, Fang Jingwen insists on pulling Su Yang away from her; if Su Yang weren't also willing to go down and work, she would definitely use her authority to arrange things, and assigning Su Yang to one of the many units in the county would be no problem.

Anyway, he wouldn't actually hold a leadership post, nor would it hinder others' advancement; for a County Magistrate like him, this arrangement is practically effortless.

Since Su Yang insists on going to Xiushui Xiang to handle poverty alleviation work, she can only rely on him.

After finishing their meal, the two watched TV for a while; Zhou Ruohan suddenly thought of a question, but she didn't ask it directly, instead just kept staring at Su Yang.

"Why are you staring at me like that? Do you not know me, or are you not looking carefully enough at some aspect of me? If not, let me give you a full 360-degree, no-blind-spot observation right now."

Zhou Ruohan said, "What about the bracelet you promised me? When I visited your home last time, you said you'd give it to me, and I've been eagerly waiting half a day for it."

"Then that matter came up and messed things up, and I forgot too; I thought you'd tell me when you came back, but you haven't brought it up for days, and now I have to shamelessly ask you for it."

Only then did Su Yang remember the bracelet; he had originally put it in his bag, but that day, due to various reasons, he didn't have a chance to give it.

According to his original plan, he was to first give the bracelet to his mother, then when he was about to leave, his mother would give it to Zhou Ruohan— that would have been perfect.

After a series of back-to-back events that day were over, Zhou Ruohan, though not greatly affected herself, still dragged him around the village, but the family's mood was ultimately affected.

So he also forgot about this matter; he went back and put the bracelet in his office, and today when he came, he happened to have put it in his bag and brought it home.

But today, after being scolded by Fang Jingwen for half an hour, he forgot about this matter again and left his bag in Fang Jingwen's office.

"Now going to retrieve it is obviously not possible; he could only say, 'I'll go home again in a couple of days and bring the bracelet back to you. Originally I was going to bring it for you this time, but my mother insisted on personally putting it on your wrist.'"

"So I didn't bring it back—really sorry."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Ruohan felt pleased, "Fine, I'm not in a rush either; whenever we go back home, let the auntie put it on for me. That would truly be a family heirloom."

"If you gave me one right now, I'd suspect you picked it up from a secondhand market."

Hearing the keyword "secondhand market," Su Yang involuntarily clenched his buttocks— wasn't this basically picked up? Though not from a secondhand market, it's pretty much the same.

To stop Zhou Ruohan from continuing the topic, he decisively chose self-sacrifice; since she was already lying on his thigh, he leaned down and planted a fierce kiss on her.

In an instant, Zhou Ruohan reacted and gave a wild response, and the bracelet matter was naturally tossed out of her mind.

The next day, Su Yang woke up on time; Zhou Ruohan had already bought breakfast and had also packed his wash-up supplies and bedding for going to Xiushui Xiang.

Back then, he could have just gone himself and bought whatever he needed in the township for a few dozen yuan.

But now it's different; besides cooking, Zhou Ruohan takes care of every detail of his daily life clearly and thoroughly.

Even if Su Yang wanted to go out and buy things casually, she wouldn't allow it, feeling that casually bought items are of poor quality; now they use things brought from home.

"Hurry up and eat breakfast; after breakfast you'll go to take up your post. In advance, I wish you ease and poise in your new position."