Chapter 156: Municipal Party Committee Family Quarters

After eating, drinking, and getting a massage, Deputy Bureau Chief Fu smiled satisfactorily as I bent over to see him off.

Now I was alone again, lonely as a wild wolf on the grassland, staring with a pair of hungry eyes at the skirts flying on the street, while my heart was as still as water.

Walking aimlessly, I arrived at the park entrance and remembered this was the place where I first dated Wu Qian. My heart, which was originally as still as water, suddenly became excited. I bought a ticket and went in, only to find that things had changed and people were different, so I couldn't help but sigh for a long time.

After walking for a while, I took out my phone, ready to call Huang Weiwei.

Huang Weiwei was incredibly surprised by my call, and after the surprise, she conveyed a sense of resentment.

I said, "Chen Meng wants us to go to her house tonight."

She refused without thinking, "No."

I said, "Go. You are friends, and besides, she helped us."

I deliberately bit the word "us" hard, letting her feel my determination.

"Come to my house; why go to her house?"

"Maybe there's something," I said, "Even if there isn't, we'll go sit for a while, which counts as valuing the invitation from this friend."

She pondered for a moment and said, "Fine, we'll sit for a while and then leave."

I promised her. In fact, this promise of mine was pale and powerless. Whether we could just sit for a while and leave was not something I, Chen Feng, could lead. This woman Chen Meng was overbearing, and overbearing women have a desire for control. Even for Huang Weiwei, the daughter of a minister, in Chen Meng's eyes, she was just a commoner.

I told Huang Weiwei my location, and she hung up the phone and drove to pick me up.

There was a newspaper kiosk at the park entrance. The owner was still the lame man from back then, but now he looked older. The beard on his chin had turned a fine gray-white, and wrinkles had taken root on his forehead, crisscrossed with gullies, as if all the traces of time were carved one by one, making one feel sad, tragic, and helpless.

I bought a newspaper, leaned against a pillar extending from the kiosk, and waited patiently for Huang Weiwei.

The streetlights came on, reflecting the leaves in a strange and multicolored way. The neon lights on the roof of a tall building in the distance also lit up, like a woman who had just woken up, too late to dress up, looking at this lively city at her feet with sleepy eyes.

Huang Weiwei arrived as promised, honking the horn while sitting in the car.

I opened the car door, sat beside her, looked at the beautiful woman, and said, "So fast."

She stared at me and giggled, "You really look like a township cadre, full of dirt." She exaggeratedly wrinkled her nose, as if trying to smell the earthy scent from me.

I patted my thigh and said, "I am a township cadre! Look, without us township cadres, can you people in the superstructure sit firmly?"

She said softly, "I won't argue with you. Whether I sit firmly or not has nothing to do with me. I only care about you; you are good, everything is good."

My heart stirred. I gave her a grateful look, reached out, hugged her shoulder, and kissed her on the forehead.

This was our first such intimate contact. I was prepared to be rejected when I bravely proceeded. I wanted to test Huang Weiwei's true attitude toward me. If she refused, I would pass a verdict on my own hesitant self and never fantasize again.

Huang Weiwei blushed at my kiss. She lowered her head, shy as a flower. The two of us stopped talking in this kiss, sitting quietly in the car. Time suddenly seemed to freeze, so quiet that I could hear my own heartbeat.

"Let's go," I said, breaking the silence.

She gave a soft "hmm," started the car, and drove toward the Municipal Party Committee family quarters.

Entering was very smooth; the armed police seemed to recognize Huang Weiwei and saluted us to let us pass.

Chen Meng opened the door for us in casual attire, holding Huang Weiwei's hand and affectionately asking about her well-being.

I poked my head in to look; the living room was empty, and the whole house was very quiet.

Chen Meng turned to me and said, "Don't look, no one is home."

My tense nerves relaxed instantly. This was, after all, the home of Municipal Party Secretary Chen. I, a township official, had entered the house, and if I were discovered by the Secretary, I wouldn't know what to say. The Secretary wasn't home, so I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed.

The nanny came over to hand us slippers. After changing shoes and entering the house, standing in Secretary Chen's spacious and magnificent living room, I felt dizzy.

"This decoration..." I exclaimed.

"I said you were earthy, and you wouldn't admit it," Huang Weiwei rolled her eyes at me, "Don't be like a country bumpkin, okay?"

Chen Meng giggled and said, "Weiwei, I said it! Your Chen Feng is just a country bumpkin. You treat him like a treasure, afraid he'll fall if you hold him in your hand, afraid he'll melt if you hold him in your mouth."

Huang Weiwei's face turned crimson instantly. She twisted Chen Meng's arm and scolded, "You talk too much! Like a long-tongued woman."

Chen Meng didn't get angry, but smiled beautifully and said, "I don't talk much; how could I be a reporter?"

Her eyes glanced at me, stayed on me for a few seconds, then she leaned into Huang Weiwei's ear and whispered a few words. I saw Huang Weiwei blush and not dare to look at me, while she herself looked me up and down for a long time.

Two beautiful women were whispering in front of me, but I didn't know what they were saying. This was a form of torture!

"Chen Feng, do you want tea or a drink? Why don't you drink some alcohol?" Chen Meng finally turned to ask me.

As if granted amnesty, I quickly responded, "I'll drink tea. Drinks are for women; I drank alcohol this afternoon."

Chen Meng called the nanny, stood up, walked to the wine cabinet on the wall, took out a bottle of red wine, and said to Huang Weiwei, "Weiwei, let's drink alcohol. Your Chen Feng has a serious chauvinistic ideology. 'Drinks are for women'—we won't drink drinks today, we'll drink alcohol. Let him see what a woman is."

Huang Weiwei quickly waved her hand, saying she wouldn't drink because she was driving and was afraid of getting drunk.

"What are you afraid of getting drunk for? If you get drunk, you won't leave." Chen Meng ignored her refusal, took out two wine glasses, poured the wine, and handed it to Huang Weiwei.

Huang Weiwei looked at me in a dilemma, wanting to take it but not daring to.

I encouraged her, "Drink it, it's just a little red wine, the same as a drink. Don't be afraid."

The nanny brought tea. It was clearly top-grade West Lake Longjing, fragrant and the water was deep blue.

"You haven't been home for a long time," Chen Meng said gloomily after taking a sip of wine.

"I'm busy too," Huang Weiwei explained, "The Women's Federation isn't easy either; no big things, but a pile of small things."

"I know you're busy," Chen Meng gently shook the wine glass, the red wine flowing on the wall of the glass like blood, "Busy is not an excuse. The excuse is this person," she pointed at me, "Since having this man, Weiwei, your heart has flown away."

Huang Weiwei looked at me nervously, saying nothing.

I looked at them blankly. Chen Meng's words left me confused.

Chen Meng laughed heartily, pointed at me, and said, "Chen Feng, you're my rival in love, do you know that?"

I was even more confused.

"Today we'll make a clean break!" She drank the wine in her glass in one gulp, stood up, walked to my side, sat down next to me, hugged my shoulder, and said, "You stole my woman."

She wasn't drunk; I knew she was deliberately acting crazy with the alcohol.

"Who did I steal?" I deliberately feigned suspicion, saying with full grievance.

"Her," she pointed at Huang Weiwei and said softly, "Do you know? I love her."

I smiled and said, "You are both women."

"Can't I love her?"

"You can."

"If I can, why don't you give her back to me?"

"I can't give her back to you. She is mine," I said, my heroic spirit rising. I turned my arm, hugged Huang Weiwei, and let her lean on my chest, feeling my strong heartbeat.

Huang Weiwei encountered this sudden change and was so scared that she sobbed lightly.

I patted her back and said, "Don't be afraid, I'm here."

Chen Meng let go of the hand hugging me, laughed loudly, and stood up unsteadily.

"You're impressive, kid," she gave me an approving look. She walked to the other side of Huang Weiwei, hugged her, and said, "I'm relieved."

Huang Weiwei laughed through her tears and said, "Mengmeng, you scared me to death."

This dramatic scene cleared up in an instant. I felt like I was dreaming, confused and unclear. ===== CHAPTER 157 =====

Huang Weiwei broke into a smile through her tears and said, "Mengmeng, you scared me to death."

This dramatic scene cleared up as quickly as a passing shower. I felt like I was in a dream, lost in the clouds and unable to make sense of it all.