Chapter 372: He is a ghost, I am a demon

Xie Tian's three-day promise arrived in the blink of an eye. I entered the office early in the morning; I even turned down a reception task from the Foreign Affairs Office.

By the afternoon, still not seeing him come over, I finally couldn't hold back and picked up the phone to dial.

The phone rang for a long time without anyone answering. Just as I was about to hang up, a female voice suddenly came from the other side: "Who is this?"

"I am Chen Feng," I said, leaning back in my chair.

"Which Chen Feng?" the other side asked suspiciously.

I laughed dumbly, emphasized my tone, and said, "I am Chen Feng from the County Government. Who are you? Where is Bureau Chief Xie?"

The series of questions clearly frightened the other side, and there was no sound for a long time.

"Where is Old Xie?" I used a very severe tone.

"Bureau Chief Xie is hospitalized," she said, "Are you County Magistrate Chen?"

"Yes, it's me."

"Bureau Chief Xie entered the hospital last night."

"What happened?"

"I'm not very clear."

"Who are you?"

"I..., I... I am Xiao Du from the Personnel Bureau. My name is Du Mei." She stuttered; I could almost see her face flushing red.

I said "Oh," hung up the phone, called Zhu Hua Yu in, and instructed her to check at the County Hospital to understand why Old man Xie had suddenly been hospitalized.

Just after Zhu Hua Yu left, Yu Wei came in with a smile, bowed, and asked me, "County Magistrate Chen, the Foreign Affairs Office invites you to attend the foreign business reception dinner tonight, asking if you can make it."

I was suspicious of Yu Wei; he was County Magistrate Yu's nephew, how could he be willing to be a driver for me? This Foreign Affairs Office had arrangements; no matter what, it should have been Zhu Hua Yu and her group of secretaries telling me, or at the very least, Wei Yan from the County Government Office should have come forward to arrange it.

Thinking of Wei Yan, I suddenly remembered that this old guy had rarely been seen since my division of labor was clarified at the Standing Committee meeting.

"Go find Director Wei and ask him to come to me," I didn't answer Yu Wei's question directly, instructing him to find someone.

Yu Wei smiled awkwardly; he clearly sensed my displeasure, hesitated for a moment, and went out the door.

A moment later, Wei Yan pushed the door and came in, asking me, "County Magistrate Chen, what are your instructions?"

"Is there anything?"

Wei Yan hesitated and said, "It's just about the Foreign Affairs Office. Nothing else. I heard from the Foreign Affairs Office that this foreign businessman specifically requested your attendance."

"Where are they from?"

"Introduced by the Hengyue City Foreign Affairs Office. I heard their background is not small."

"Why didn't you say so earlier?"

"Xiao Yu said he would come to ask for your instructions. I thought, Xiao Yu is your driver, he counts as our Government Office personnel."

I didn't speak, flipped through the schedule, and found that Zhu Hua Yu had long since marked today's events.

Zhu Hua Yu was meticulous, listing the schedule for a week in great detail. After a day was over, she would paint it over with a blue pen. She would mark important activities with a red pen.

It just so happened that for today's foreign affairs activity, she had marked it with a red pen. It was just that I had spent the whole day waiting for Xie Tian and hadn't looked at the schedule at all.

I spent time waiting patiently for Xie Tian because I wanted to light the first fire in Chunshan County. Who would have thought that the fire hadn't even started before it was doused by the fact that Xie Tian was hospitalized.

I understood very well that Xie Tian's hospitalization wasn't simple. He didn't get hospitalized early or late, but happened to get hospitalized on the day we agreed upon. What kind of illness could make him give up his promise to me? Unless this matter made him feel it was unsolvable.

Wei Yan saw me not speaking for a long time and asked in a low voice, "County Magistrate Chen, will you attend tonight?"

"Okay! Since they specifically requested me, if I don't go, it will make me look guilty and insincere. They came from afar, and they are guests. If I don't go to see them, it won't be reasonable." I waved for Wei Yan to go out.

He hadn't moved yet, and I said again, "Director Wei, arrange it, tomorrow morning I will accompany the foreign businessman to inspect Suxi Township."

Wei Yan was stunned and hesitated, "The Foreign Affairs Office doesn't have this arrangement."

"Go tell them, just say it's my arrangement." After finishing, I didn't even raise my head, waving for him to go out.

Once Wei Yan left, I felt like a deflated ball, slumping into the chair.

Now my mind was full of the re-employment matter Xie Tian mentioned. The re-employment phenomenon in the whole county was very serious; I had heard of this situation when I was in Suxi Township. The re-employed people couldn't do work, but they could increase the fiscal burden. Moreover, it caused talent to be unable to enter, and work had no motivation.

Xie Tian, as the Personnel Bureau Chief, in terms of his scope of authority, these matters were all handled by him. But since he could raise the re-employment matter, and his words showed great dissatisfaction, it meant it wasn't something he was willing to do; between this, there must be other factors. Furthermore, his sudden hospitalization was nothing more than avoidance.

The chess game hadn't started, and morale was already damaged. Suddenly, I felt an invisible net around me, binding me tightly, unable to move at all.

The phone rang. I picked it up and heard it was Lin Xiaoxi's.

My office phone was a confidential phone; very few people knew it, and those who wanted to call couldn't get through. Lin Xiaoxi could easily call in, which proved that this woman's energy was extraordinary.

"County Magistrate Chen, will you attend the activity tonight?" she laughed on the phone.

During the New Year, I asked Qian Youyu to send her back to Chunshan. I originally thought it would set off a big storm, but I didn't expect that when Qian Youyu went to pick her up, she didn't say a word and quietly followed Qian Youyu back to Chunshan.

Since returning to Chunshan, she hadn't taken the initiative to find me, only meeting once when I accompanied Secretary Liu Qimeng on an inspection, where she appeared as an external reporter. But that time we didn't say a word, just nodded and smiled as we passed.

"Are you hosting the activity tonight?" I asked with a smile.

"Can't I host it?" she asked back.

"Very good!" I said, took out a cigarette, and lit it.

"Smoking again?" she giggled, "Aren't you afraid of your wife at home?"

"Who is my wife?"

"Just keep bluffing." She hung up the phone, leaving a buzzing sound that left me speechless.

How did Lin Xiaoxi know Huang Weiwei wouldn't let me smoke? Could it be that she had ears that could hear what was said in our bedroom?

My heart was filled with confusion.

Footsteps sounded in the corridor outside; it was time to get off work. People in the organs began to leave work one after another.

The light in the room dimmed, but I didn't want to turn on the light, wrapping myself in the dim light, slowly sorting out the feelings of this period of time.

The phone rang again. I wasn't in the mood to answer it, staring at the phone, letting it ring wildly.

The phone stopped, and the mobile phone rang again.

I picked it up and saw it was a call from the Suxi Township office.

I said "Hello" and asked, "Who is this?"

"It's me." Once I heard it, my whole body felt much more comfortable. It was Yue Bai.

"Was it you who called just now?"

"I thought you weren't in the office." Yue Bai's voice was always gentle and sweet; no matter what, she didn't look like a mother of two children.

"Do you have something for me?"

She said "Mm" and said, "I heard that a foreign businessman came to the county and wants to invest in tourism in Chunshan County."

"How do you know?"

"I'm a township head, after all," she laughed lightly, "If I couldn't do anything, and couldn't do anything well, wouldn't that be a waste of your promotion and cultivation?"

"Not bad!" I praised, "Well-informed, quick to react, you're a good material for being a leader."

Yue Bai said, "With you here, are you afraid of not doing things well?"

"Don't flatter me." I told her; talking to her didn't require being particular, "Tell me, what do you want to do?"

"I remember you said before that our Suxi Township has hot springs, and the facts prove that it really does. If we do tourism, and we're missing a hot spring, what kind of feature can Chunshan County have?" She spoke earnestly, every word hitting my heart.

"The idea is good. But wanting to make the foreign devils willing to take out money isn't a simple matter. Foreign devils are as cunning as ghosts; if they can't make money, they won't do it even if they die."

"He is a ghost, I am a demon. Demon, ghost, demon, ghost—I'm still ahead of him," Yue Bai laughed lightly, "As long as you give me the opportunity, there's no one I can't handle."

"How do you want to handle him?" My curiosity was piqued.

"You'll know when the time comes," she said mysteriously, preparing to hang up the phone.

"Don't you dare cause any trouble for me," I warned her, "In Chunshan County, they are the first batch of foreign businessmen, this first shot must be fired. If it's a dud, you'll have to bear the consequences."

"Don't worry. I'm hanging up." A buzzing sound came from the mobile phone again. I stared blankly at the mobile phone, feeling bewildered once more.

Suddenly, the light above my head flashed and turned on. Then I saw Zhu Hua Yu dragging her exhausted body in. As soon as she entered, she found a paper cup, poured a full cup of water, and drank it down.

"Let's go, County Magistrate Chen, Yu Wei is waiting downstairs." She wiped her chin and said.

"Did you figure it out?"

"I'll report when we get back." Zhu Hua Yu helped me pick up my briefcase and opened the door. ===== CHAPTER 373 =====