Chapter 421

Guo Wei's door was ajar, and a thick smell of alcohol rushed toward me from inside the room.

He lay across the bed like a dead dog, lifeless like a withered plant. One of his feet was still wearing a shoe, resting on the quilt without a care. The other leg was bare, without a shoe or even a sock, hanging off the side of the bed like a slippery fish.

Seeing me enter, he raised his head, looked at me listlessly for half a second, then lowered his eyelids, staring at his own nose in silence.

Guo Wei flew to the United States and made great contributions to my new project. According to Zhu Huayu, without Guo Wei's reasoned arguments and extensive citations, the American company's investment plan would not have landed in Chunshan.

I had always wanted to find an opportunity to thank him, and even had the idea of transferring Guo Wei to the newly established Investment and Development Office of the County Government, letting him contribute to Chunshan County's economic construction.

But since Guo Wei returned to the country, he hadn't shown his face in Chunshan County again. I knew the reason he didn't show up; Chen Meng's childbirth left him at a loss. Everything came suddenly, yet everything was within expectations.

In such a situation, if it were me, I would be just as helpless.

Chen Meng had never accepted Guo Wei. I knew it, Huang Weiwei knew it, and Guo Wei himself knew it even better.

But Secretary Chen and Aunt Mo accepted him.

Strictly speaking, Guo Wei was a young man Secretary Chen had watched grow up. Back when Guo Wei was studying in Beijing, he was a student of excellent character and scholarship. Originally, after graduation, he could have logically entered a national ministry, but he couldn't withstand the relentless bombardment of Hengyue City's cadre recruitment. In the end, Secretary Chen took the opportunity of a meeting in Beijing to personally find the graduates from the Hengyue region, talking to them one by one, earnestly persuading them to return home to serve.

Hengyue City had over a dozen graduates in several major Beijing universities, and each of them had met and talked with Secretary Chen. Everyone patted their chests, saying they would return home to serve. But in the end, Guo Wei was the only one who returned.

Guo Wei's entry into the Hengyue Municipal Committee was once a sight to behold in Hengyue City.

Looking at Hengyue City, there were no other cadres with a proper Beijing elite university background besides Guo Wei.

The reality was that although he was one of a kind, he couldn't withstand the jealousy of the Hengyue officialdom. After Guo Wei returned, he wasn't given any important roles. He spent three years in the Municipal Committee's confidential office, doing secretarial work, which left him extremely frustrated.

To have great ambitions but no stage to perform on is the tragedy of a person!

The dull life in the Municipal Committee ground down all of Guo Wei's sharp edges. Just when he was about to despair, the social education work began.

Guo Wei was a sharp person. He saw the trend and knew this was a rare opportunity. So he recommended himself, found Secretary Chen, and requested to go down to the most remote Chunshan County in the Hengyue region to conduct social education.

Secretary Chen was busy with a thousand tasks, and only when Guo Wei found him did he remember this young man before him was the very person he had earnestly persuaded to return from Beijing.

Secretary Chen even felt some self-reproach; the person he had asked to return had been right under his nose for three years, yet he knew nothing about it.

Secretary Chen readily agreed to Guo Wei's request.

Secretary Chen knew very well that social education cadres were very important. To hold a high position, one needs a foundation in life. Without grassroots work experience, one cannot be a good cadre.

To put it bluntly, social education cadres were the third echelon!

Unfortunately, many people didn't understand Secretary Chen's painstaking efforts. For example, when my former leader put me into the social education work group, it was meant as a form of exile.

When Guo Wei first arrived in Chunshan County, the first gift he gave Chunshan County was introducing Liang Tianxing to Secretary Guan Peishan.

This Liang Tianxing and Guo Wei, speaking of which, had some connection.

Liang Tianxing had a son who was Guo Wei's classmate in university. The two were bunkmates.

Liang Tianxing's son was from Guangdong; Guangdong people have thick tongues, and speaking Mandarin often made people laugh. In a dormitory of eight, except for him and Guo Wei who were southerners, the other six were northerners.

Although Guo Wei was also a southerner, he could speak very fluent, standard Mandarin. This was inseparable from Guo Wei's upbringing. Guo Wei's mother was a primary school teacher who had trained him to speak pure Mandarin since he was a child.

In a dormitory of eight, six people disliked Liang Tianxing's son. Only Guo Wei always treated him as a good brother; whenever jokes were made because of his speech, it was Guo Wei who stepped in to save his face.

Liang Tianxing was a businessman. Catching a good time, the silver in his pockets could only be measured in numbers. The son he had, however, didn't like money and was single-mindedly focused on studying and research.

People with a lot of money always hope for someone in the family who can study well. Liang Tianxing's son getting into a famous Beijing university indeed added countless glory to his face.

Therefore, when Liang Tianxing sent his son to study in Beijing, he had said that as long as his son had a request, even if it were the stars in the sky, he would risk his life to pluck one for his son.

His son gave a faint smile at his words, not taking them seriously.

After graduation, Liang Tianxing's son applied to an Ivy League school in the United States for further studies. Before leaving, he told Guo Wei: "As long as you remember me, brother, and as long as you need me, our whole family will help you."

Guo Wei kept this in mind at the time, and later found out his father was in the real estate industry, which gave him even more confidence, preparing to play this trump card at the appropriate time.

Later on, Guo Wei's smooth sailing in Chunshan County was because he had invited Liang Tianxing to Chunshan County.

Liang Tianxing didn't disappoint his son or Guo Wei. Once he arrived in Chunshan County, he took out piles of silver, turning a once-dilapidated small town into a mountain pearl of infinite splendor.

"Get up, I have something to tell you." I pulled Guo Wei.

He moved his body reluctantly and said in a muffled voice: "Say what you have to say. Anyway, I'm in despair."

"Despair about what?" I was shocked, thinking he already knew about the Qilin Villa incident.

"Chen Meng still won't pay attention to me." He sighed dejectedly: "Am I really not comparable to your cousin at all?"

"Who said that? A wet-behind-the-ears kid like him, how can he compare to you?" I let out a sigh of relief; Guo Wei was lamenting over matters of the heart!

"But she likes him!"

"Happiness must be fought for." I said, handing him a cigarette.

Guo Wei sat up, took a few puffs from the fire I lit, and sighed: "What else do you want me to fight for? I've done everything I could."

"What's Secretary Chen's attitude?"

"I don't know."

"And Aunt Mo?"

"Go ask them yourself. I don't know."

"So you just locked yourself up and drank alone?" I scanned the room; several empty wine bottles were scattered in a corner, presenting a scene of decadence.

"I just wanted some peace and quiet." He said helplessly: "I have nowhere to go!"

"Can you be quiet now? Chen Meng needs someone to take care of her. You're hiding here drinking alone; what will she think?" I scolded him.

"I can't manage that much anymore." Guo Wei was almost crying: "Your Aunt Wanru guards Chen Meng every day; what do you want me to do?"

I was shocked; my Aunt Wanru guarding someone she didn't like every day—could the power of a child really be so great that it could completely change a person's perspective?

"How does she guard her?" I asked unwillingly.

"It's intense. She actually set up a single bed in Secretary Chen's living room, guarding Chen Meng like a nanny." Guo Wei looked like he wanted to die: "As long as I go, she glares at me."

I wanted to laugh. My Aunt Wanru was such a high-minded person, but in this matter, if it were as Guo Wei said, how was she any different from an ordinary woman? And her behavior could completely be elevated to the ranks of a shrew!

"Go propose!" I said decisively: "You go and propose to Chen Meng boldly!"

"Propose?" Guo Wei looked at me in confusion.

"Yes, propose!" I said very firmly: "At this time, whoever seizes the initiative will be the one to win the beauty."

"What if she doesn't agree?" Guo Wei was full of doubts.

"You haven't tried, how do you know she won't agree?" I analyzed: "If Chen Meng didn't want to marry you, she should have rejected you long ago."

Guo Wei thought about it thoughtfully and said: "That's true. Chen Meng has never said anything like that."

"Then what are you waiting for? Act quickly. Don't wait until the flowers have withered."

"If there are flowers to be plucked, pluck them now, do not wait until there are no flowers and pluck an empty branch!" Guo Wei muttered the poem, jumping off the bed like a startled rabbit, hurriedly tidying his clothes.

"I haven't prepared anything." He stood before me, looking pitiful.

"You just need to have confidence. Leave the rest to me." I said, giving him a thumbs up.

Guo Wei smiled contentedly, reached out and punched me: "That's a brother!"

"Are we going just like this?" He asked me doubtfully.

"Just like this. Of course, you need to be ready with the ring, flowers, and your vows."

"Go buy them now?"

"No need. I've prepared them for you." I took out a brocade box without hesitation, inside which lay a diamond ring.

This diamond ring was originally prepared for me to propose to Huang Weiwei, but now I had to let him have it first.

He accepted it joyfully, examined it carefully for a long time, and sighed: "Chen Feng, how do I thank you!"

I laughed: "We're brothers, what's with the thanks. As long as you're happy, I'm happy too."

"Great kindness needs no thanks!" Guo Wei cupped his hands and bowed: "Let's go!"

After leaving the gate of Xinlinyin, he and I got into the car.

Guo Wei closed his eyes slightly, muttering to himself.

I casually said: "Qilin Villa has been raided by the police."

Guo Wei, on the side, froze instantly. I saw a layer of fine sweat surging out from his pores.