Chapter 918

Su Yang answered, not thinking much, after all it's New Year's Eve of the Spring Festival; those not close or without deep ties couldn't possibly come to the door.

But as soon as he entered, he discovered that besides Comrade Fang Runan drinking tea, there was also a man and a woman in Fang Jingwen's home.

The woman looked about forty, her appearance outstanding; at a glance she was identical to Fang Jingwen, no need to guess—this was clearly Fang Jingwen's mother.

He had been to Fang Jingwen's home before, but had never seen her mother; he once secretly wondered if she had passed away, and Fang Jingwen grew up in a single-parent household, so he didn't dare ask. Now he found she was fine at home; earlier he might have missed her due to work, having gone twice without meeting her.

There was also another person who bore some resemblance to Fang Jingwen, but only in outline; it wasn't hard to guess—this was likely Fang Jingwen's uncle.

Just as Su Yang was about to greet them, Fang Jingwen's mother stood up, smiling and saying: "Little Su has come; I said our girl was jumping for joy early this morning, thinking it was because she was happy about the New Year."

The man beside her also said: "Little Su, you really have an impressive appearance. I am Fang Jingwen's uncle, Guo Huai Chun; this precious niece of mine has mentioned you many times before, I've long wanted to meet you but never had the chance—now I finally get to see you in person."

"Come on, come on, smoke, smoke, don't be formal—treat this as your own home; if you can lie down, don't sit; if you can sit, don't stand."

Su Yang was completely dazed; they hadn't even heard him speak, yet they showed him such great respect. He hurriedly said: "Auntie, Uncle, Minister Fang."

Fang Runan set down his teacup, with a hint of reproach he said: "You kid, this isn't the first time you've seen me; you've come to my home several times already—how did you suddenly assign me a position again?"

Su Yang immediately corrected himself: "Uncle Fang, happy New Year to everyone."

Only then did Fang Runan nod satisfactorily: "Hurry and sit; when you come to our home, don't bring any gifts, don't be like those people, and I've never regarded you as an outsider."

Fang Jingwen's mother, Guo Huai Xiu, said: "Exactly, I haven't seen you before due to work. As for your Uncle Fang, he never likes people bringing gifts to the door, especially at this juncture—from yesterday to today at least over ten people have come bearing gifts, but he turned them all away. However, we accepted what you brought."

Su Yang said: "Auntie, I actually only brought some pastries; these two bottles of wine were sent by my father, who also asked me to convey his regards to you."

Upon hearing this, Fang Runan, who had been sitting on the sofa, immediately stood up and took the two bottles of wine: "You kid, you're clueless—you should have said earlier that Old Lin sent the wine."

He then directly placed the wine on the top shelf of the home liquor cabinet, and casually took down the two bottles of Maotai that were on top: "These two bottles of wine were bought by Jingwen a couple of days ago; we originally planned to drink them these two days, but since you came today, we might as well finish them off."

How could Su Yang refuse? Earlier he had heard that Minister Xia would arrive at 3 p. m.; he had almost suggested coming at 2 or 2:30 p. m., but seeing Fang Jingwen's mood then, it seemed inappropriate. Now they've taken out the wine, leaving early would also be unsuitable.

"What are you standing there for? Hurry up and sit—are you pretending to be a stranger here?" Fang Jingwen pinched Su Yang's arm hard.

Su Yang thought: "What kind of crazy talk is this? Your old man is still standing—are you letting me sit here appropriate?"

Guo Huai Xiu said with a smile: "Today is New Year's Eve, everyone's at home eating reunion dinner; we might as well eat at noon, no need to wait until evening. Besides, 'reunion year after year' means we keep eating straight through to next year."

Fang Runan said: "Right, then we'll start eating at noon. The only guest expected today is Old Xia; I studied with him at the party school, strictly speaking he's not a guest but a classmate, so he can join us for a few bites when he comes this afternoon."

Su Yang's mind became even more dazed: "Okay, thank you all—I completely don't feel like an outsider."

Fang Jingwen brewed a cup of tea for Su Yang, then went with her mother to the kitchen to prepare the meal.

Only Fang Runan, Guo Huai Chun, and Su Yang remained in the living room.

Fang Runan said: "Don't be formal; if you want to smoke, go ahead. Later, when we eat, we'll still have a few drinks. I'm taking advantage of everyone being here and it being the New Year, so today we might be able to drink freely, whereas normally we can only have a few light drinks."

Su Yang thought: "What the hell? Do I have to drink with you? It seems leaving early today is unlikely."

Guo Huai Chun laughed: "Brother-in-law, I can't take on this role—I don't have the standing; it's only because Little Su came today that we can drink freely."

Then he laughed and said to Su Yang: "You are truly the first person to bring prestige to our home; otherwise my precious niece would never set foot in the kitchen."

Su Yang broke into a sweat, but then he said: "I came this time firstly to wish Uncle Fang, Uncle, and Aunt a happy New Year; secondly, I wanted to invite Uncle Fang and Uncle to my wedding. I and Zhou Ruohan will hold our wedding on the sixth day of the first lunar month at the Xijing Binguan."

The point of his saying that was to let Guo Huai Chun know he was about to marry, so they'd stop constantly linking him with Fang Jingwen; but Guo Huai Chun seemed not to have heard at all, and Fang Runan simply overlooked his remark.

Guo Huai Chun said: "You little rascal really give me face, but to be honest, with my standing I can't attend such a high-standard wedding of yours; brother-in-law, however, should go."

Fang Runan said with a smile: "Comrade Weiguo called me; I was still hesitating whether to go, but now that you've said this, it seems I can't not go."

"By the way, I've heard your work down there has been good, though you've offended quite a few people. Your work, character, and the common people's approval are fine, but you should also pay attention: unite more with the comrades in your team, don't let your so-called 'officialdom assassin' reputation affect your steps."

"After that tumor in Lieshan County was removed this time, you could have been promoted exceptionally and further serve as Vice County Magistrate."

"Moreover, in this matter Comrade Weiguo personally voiced his stance, Comrade Dacheng specially nominated you in the province, and even informed the Organization Department; the Organization Department had even decided on it, but then they directly suppressed it—do you know why?"

Su Yang thought: "Isn't this obvious? It's just to let them balance things out?" But he honestly said: "I don't know; please, Uncle Fang, enlighten me."