Chapter 456: Three Banquets

Whether as Chen Hai's good brother or Chen Yanshi's subordinate, Hou Liangping should have come to celebrate.

"Chen Hai, take Liangping inside to be seated."

"Alright, brother-in-law."

Hou Liangping looked at Qi Tongwei and Chen Yang, who were a perfect match beside him, and felt an indescribable envy in his heart;

He thought of himself and Liang Lu—not only was their wedding dull and tasteless, but he also felt a head shorter than her in front of relatives and friends, and Liang Lu always maintained a high-and-mighty attitude, even during intimacy.

Therefore, the balance in Hou Liangping's heart was now increasingly tilting toward the mother of his child; only with her could he still find a moment of tenderness.

Hou Liangping was very conflicted now; he didn't even know how to get along with Liang Lu once she returned.

It was fine while they were separated by distance, but if he really had to face Liang Lu every day, he was truly afraid that he might let something slip one day, and at that point, he feared everything he currently had would be gone.

"Liangping, what's wrong?" Chen Hai asked, seeing the strange look on Hou Liangping's face.

"Nothing, I'm fine." Hou Liangping gave a forced smile.

Chen Hai nodded and didn't ask further; it wasn't easy for him to say much about his good brother's situation—marrying Liang Lu had both advantages and disadvantages.

Today, Hou Liangping was able to have this job at the Procuratorate because Liang Lu had exerted her influence; otherwise, it would have been basically impossible for him to stay at the Jingzhou Procuratorate, and the best outcome would have been returning to his hometown of Yantai.

The downside was that Liang Lu was a bit older and had a strong personality, leaving Hou Liangping with little say at home; it was stifling, but other than that, there was nothing else.

Outside the restaurant, Zhao Lichun's car arrived. Chen Yanshi's expression changed slightly; he hadn't expected that Zhao Lichun, who was at odds with him, would actually come.

"Procurator-General Chen, Director Tongwei, Secretary Zhao is busy with work, so he asked me to come and deliver some congratulatory gifts to the two newlyweds."

The speaker was a man of about thirty-five; after getting out of the car, he took the gifts and trotted all the way over.

If Zhang Ping'an were here, he would definitely recognize the classic "Dakang Trot."

Zhao Lichun had also just learned that Qi Tongwei had married Chen Yanshi's daughter, so he immediately arranged for Li Dakang to come and deliver the wedding gifts.

The conflict with Chen Yanshi was a small matter, or rather, it couldn't even be called a conflict; it was just that their philosophies were incompatible.

Zhao Lichun believed that Chen Yanshi was suffering needlessly, while Chen Yanshi thought the opposite, believing Zhao Lichun was a hedonist with problematic thinking;

After Chen Yanshi forced Zhao Lichun to make a self-criticism in public, the two had harbored a grudge ever since.

When Li Dakang was about to leave, Zhao Lichun also instructed him to interact more with Qi Tongwei.

"If Chen Yanshi says something unpleasant, just pretend you didn't hear it, or just smile; just play it by ear."

"Both you and Qi Tongwei are young talents; it won't hurt for you two to interact more."

"Understood, Leader."

Li Dakang had only just been transferred over, so naturally, he followed Zhao Lichun's words implicitly, but who among those who could become a Municipal Party Secretary's Secretary didn't have high social and emotional intelligence?

This little task was easy for Li Dakang; in any case, just going up there and heaping on some praise would do.

"Tongwei, this is Municipal Party Secretary Zhao Lichun's secretary, Li Dakang."

"Division Chief Li, hello, hello. Thank you for Secretary Zhao's concern, and sorry to trouble you to make the trip yourself."

Qi Tongwei naturally knew this was the merit of his godfather, so he didn't act arrogant; otherwise, as a Section-level Cadre, a Deputy Ministerial-level Leader wouldn't have cared about him.

"Hahaha, Comrade Tongwei, what are you saying? You are a talent who went out from our Handong. If Secretary Zhao weren't truly tied up with official business, he definitely would have come to take a look."

Li Dakang felt completely satisfied being called "Division Chief Li" by Qi Tongwei; in the Jingzhou officialdom, most people called him "Secretary Li," but according to his rank, Li Dakang was now also at the Deputy Division Level.

Li Dakang had also only recently become Zhao Lichun's secretary, and in three years, he would be sent down to Jinzhan County to serve as County Magistrate.

The two exchanged some more professional flattery, and after greeting Chen Yanshi, Li Dakang took his leave.

Chen Yanshi looked at the guests today; those who usually avoided him like the plague had come uninvited today, and his heart felt complex and indescribable.

Even the top leader of Jingzhou, his "arch-rival" Zhao Lichun, had arranged for his secretary to come—this would have been impossible in the past, which showed the influence of Qi Tongwei's godfather.

He would retire in at most two or three years; if his political resources in Jingzhou could just avoid dragging Chen Hai down, that would be enough. Perhaps in the future, Chen Hai would have to rely on Qi Tongwei, this brother-in-law.

"Dad, that table is full of your colleagues and friends. Go take a look; brother-in-law and I will handle the reception here."

"That works too."

Chen Yanshi wasn't annoyed at having his train of thought interrupted; it was good for the brother-in-law and the brother-in-law's younger brother to spend more time together, and besides, most of the people at that table were Chen Hai's superiors, whom he truly couldn't handle.

Afterward, many more people arrived one after another; many high-ranking officials, like Zhao Lichun, sent their secretaries to deliver gifts and then left, aiming primarily to build a good connection, as was the case with Liang Qunfeng.

It was just that his eldest son, Liang Jianshe, had come, and his goal was also to ease the relationship with Qi Tongwei.

Today, Qi Tongwei didn't give him a cold shoulder either; after all, it was his big day, and since the other party came with a smiling face, he naturally wouldn't return it with harsh words.

Qi Tongwei had come to realize the benefits brought by power; the higher you climb, the more others fear and respect you, and conversely, when people leave, the tea goes cold.

Having seen such scenes often, Qi Tongwei became even more determined to do practical work while also striving to climb higher.

Busy until two in the afternoon, the wedding banquet finally ended. After seeing off the last person, both Qi Tongwei and Chen Yang breathed a sigh of relief.

"Getting married is really too tiring."

"Don't worry, we still have one more banquet when we get back to Sijiucheng. I've already told them; we'll hold it together for our work units."

"We have plenty of handsome single guys there; maybe we can even make a couple of matches."

When Qi Tongwei said this at the time, his group was immediately excited; this kind of inter-unit matchmaking was incredibly popular.

"That's true, I have quite a few female colleagues on my side too."

Chen Yang had already been working for nearly three years, enough time for her to stand firm in her unit and get along well with her colleagues.

Two days later, Qi Tongwei and Chen Yang returned to Sijiucheng. That evening, they booked a large private room at Yuchufang with two large tables; both of their colleagues numbered around ten each, so the large room was perfectly sufficient.

"Brother Zhuzi, sorry to trouble you."

"What are you saying? We aren't outsiders; I'll make sure you're satisfied with the setup today."

"Good."

Knowing he wouldn't accept money, Qi Tongwei gave Shazhu a portion of the local specialties from Yantai and Jingzhou.

"This is good. I'll go get busy first; just have the waiter let me know when everyone has arrived."

"Alright, thanks, Brother Zhuzi."

By 7:30 in the evening, everyone was seated, with men and women interspersed. None of those present were fools; how could they not understand that this was not only to celebrate for Qi Tongwei and his wife, but also to play matchmaker for themselves?

Furthermore, after getting married, the cooperation between the industrial and inspection departments can become even closer; it kills many birds with one stone.

Everyone was very satisfied with how this wedding banquet was held; the guests not only ate the delicacies they had been longing for, but also got to know beautiful young women.

Qi Tongwei and Chen Yang also expanded their connections; one must know that this is Sijiucheng, and those who can enter the industrial, inspection, and legal departments, apart from those who entered by their own strength, are mostly there due to the shade of their fathers.

The two of them are considered to have started halfway through; although they also relied on connections to get in, they are still slightly inferior compared to the local well-connected families, so they still need to maintain good relationships.