Chapter 504: So It Was You

When the bus arrived at the Provincial Party School, we followed the procedure to report and register. I saw Duanmu Jiuming at the reporting desk, and he nodded and smiled at me as a greeting.

Next was room assignment, and I was actually in the same room as Deng Hanyuan.

Deng Hanyuan entered the room and exclaimed in surprise, praising that the province was indeed different; the accommodation facilities at a Party School were much better than a three-star hotel in the county.

He carried his luggage with him—a suitcase containing clothes and a laptop. Surprisingly, there was also a bag of bottles and jars; I took a casual look, and it was various men's skincare products.

Seeing me looking at his skincare products, Deng Hanyuan put down his work and came over to ask me, "County Magistrate Chen, where is your luggage?"

As he spoke, he took a bottle of "Dabao" from my hand and placed it on the side table quite casually.

I smiled, "I came empty-handed, no luggage."

"No luggage? Don't you take a shower and change clothes?"

"Men, why care so much? As long as it's comfortable, it doesn't matter." I answered him, but in my heart, I was calculating how to take the next step. Qian Youyu's car was still in my hands, and I had to return it to him. Besides, could I really not change my clothes?

Most importantly, I hadn't told Huang Weiwei that I had come to the provincial capital. Although I had had many experiences of disappearing in the past, this time was different because we were getting married and were going to hold a grand wedding.

"Men also need maintenance," Deng Hanyuan instructed me, "Don't look at how young we look now; if we don't maintain, in a few years, we'll be old men."

I agreed with him, "That's true. Secretary Deng has experience in maintenance, I must learn from you."

Deng Hanyuan smiled embarrassedly, took out a bottle of skincare product, and handed it to me, "This bottle is for you. I see your skin isn't very good, a bit rough."

I originally wanted to refuse him, but seeing his earnest and expectant eyes, my heart softened. I took it and thanked him, "Secretary Deng, I'll accept it respectfully."

Deng Hanyuan grinned. From his smile, I could see that this person had no ulterior motives. His smile was very pure and frank, as if he were an innocent child, even a bit naive.

"County Magistrate Chen, tonight when we go to the city, why don't we just skip the performance and I'll accompany you to buy some clothes and shoes. Our training time is long this time, you can't wear the same clothes every day. I don't care, but don't let people in the province look down on us and say we country people have no quality."

My heart moved, and I replied casually, "Thank you, Secretary Deng, we'll see when the time comes."

The Provincial Party Committee dormitory is a suite, with a living room and two bedrooms. Deng Hanyuan chose a sunny room, leaving the other one for me.

I didn't have high requirements for the room. When I was in Suxi Township, I lived on a creaky wooden staircase for five years. Compared to the current room, this was simply heaven.

After parting with Deng Hanyuan and returning to the room, a wave of fatigue hit me, and I couldn't hold on anymore, falling onto the bed and falling asleep.

When I woke up, it was nearly dusk, and a streak of sunset shone through the window lattice, reflecting the wall behind me in an orange-yellow color. Thinking of Provincial Chen Shengzhang coming to take roll call in the afternoon, a layer of cold sweat broke out on my body.

I hurriedly washed my face and rushed out the door.

As soon as I went out, I bumped into Deng Hanyuan.

Maybe my movement was too big, and a look of pain appeared on Deng Hanyuan's face. My arm had just bumped into his chest, and it was still numb. Deng Hanyuan had thin arms and legs, so naturally, he couldn't withstand my bump.

"Sorry!" I apologized repeatedly.

Deng Hanyuan paused for a long time before he seemed to come back to his senses, let out a sigh, and said, "It hurts to death."

I was full of apologies, waiting for him to scold me.

Deng Hanyuan didn't scold me, but asked, "In such a hurry, where are you rushing to?"

I hesitated and asked, "Provincial Chen Shengzhang came to take roll call, right?"

"If he had come, wouldn't I have called you?" Deng Hanyuan rubbed his chest and said, "The province had an emergency meeting, so the reception was changed to tomorrow morning."

The heart that had been hanging in my throat suddenly dropped, and I secretly rejoiced, I, your father, just have good luck!

Deng Hanyuan stared at me and asked hesitantly, "What are you laughing at?"

I hurriedly collected my thoughts and said apologetically, "Nothing. Secretary Deng, sorry about that."

Deng Hanyuan rolled his eyes at me and said, "Ouch, I couldn't tell you were so long-winded. What are you apologizing for? I already said it's fine. However, I'm fining you to treat me to a foot massage tonight."

After standing and talking for a while, Deng Hanyuan raised his wrist to check his watch and said, "We should go to the cafeteria. After eating, we have to go to the city. Section Chief Mei said that no one is allowed to be absent tonight."

At this time, I wouldn't say a word, following Deng Hanyuan to the cafeteria. On the way, I saw people coming out of several rooms; they were all cadres who had come on our bus in the morning.

Deng Hanyuan seemed to know them very well, and everyone who saw him would greet him.

I didn't know many people. Although we were cadres from the same city, we didn't have much interaction in normal times. Except for occasionally going to the city for meetings, we didn't have the opportunity to visit each other.

After all, they were all cadres, and everyone seemed gentle and elegant. I wasn't a reckless person myself, but having stayed in the countryside for a long time, I was more or less vulgar. In this way, I felt like a chicken in a flock of cranes. And once this feeling came, it coiled around me like a poisonous snake and refused to leave.

Despite this, I still had to pretend. After all, this was the Provincial Party School, and I couldn't mess around.

There weren't many people eating in the cafeteria. When we entered, we saw Section Chief Mei Hua already sitting at a table eating, and sitting next to him was actually Duanmu Jiuming.

Duanmu Jiuming saw me and beckoned me to come over.

I hurriedly took a few quick steps, stood by his table, and said, "Leader, you're eating."

In front of Duanmu Jiuming was a meal set, about two taels of rice, basically untouched. Several plates contained braised pork ribs, Kung Pao chicken, and a few green vegetables. The dishes were also basically untouched, only the soup bowl had no soup left, leaving only a green onion by the side of the bowl.

Mei Hua saw me talking to Duanmu Jiuming and asked in surprise, "Chen Feng, do you know our Division Chief Duanmu?"

Only then did I know that Duanmu was the Division Chief of the First Cadre Division, and a burst of joy rose in my heart. Because I knew his relationship with Xu Mengda, and Xu Mengda, now, could be considered my soulmate.

Duanmu Jiuming waved his hand and said, "Eat first, we'll return to the city together after eating."

He, a dignified Division Chief, was actually eating in the cafeteria with us, which made me sigh in my heart—it is the provincial capital after all; the cadres are not only of high quality but also more clean and self-disciplined.

My thought had a basis. When I was in Chunshan County, not to mention the leaders of the four major committees, among the heads of any bureau, committee, or office below, who had eaten at home ten times a year?

For example, when I was still the Town Mayor of Suxi Town, I didn't have to worry about eating anymore. Generally, people would line up to treat me to meals. Even if there was no meal invitation for a day, Old Wang in the cafeteria would do his best to prepare a meal, waiting for me to grab a few bites at any time.

As for later when I arrived at the county, the problem of eating almost became the focus of life. All work was eating—eating in the morning, eating in the afternoon, and eating at night.

It wasn't just eating, but also drinking. And once you started drinking, it wouldn't end; if a few people didn't fall down, the evening meal wouldn't end. Of course, things were also handled while eating and drinking. I had once signed documents for people at the dinner table. It was only later that I set a rule: all signatures must be signed in the office.

A division-level cadre is a big official in the county. Many people have mixed for a lifetime without even getting a deputy division-level position. In fact, those who have stayed in officialdom know that it is easy to go from a section chief to a division chief, but very difficult to go from a division chief to a department chief. It's like the army; platoon leaders, company commanders, battalion commanders, and regimental commanders are all easy, but wanting to rise to a division commander is basically one in ten thousand.

A level like Duanmu Jiuming's, if placed in our county, he would be on equal footing with Secretary Liu Qimeng of the County Committee, but in the province, it didn't count for much.

Duanmu Jiuming specifically called me over, it shouldn't be just such a simple sentence. I secretly pondered, but my feet involuntarily went to the window to get food.

The Party School implements a split-meal system, just like in student days, with one tray per person. The only difference is that this tray is prepared by the cafeteria, divided into four grids, with a standard of three dishes and one soup.

Deng Hanyuan saw me come over and asked in a low voice, "Do you know Division Chief Duanmu?"

I nodded and said, "Just a chance encounter."

Deng Hanyuan sneered, "I'm afraid it's not just a chance encounter. Just for the thirteen of us, he only greeted you alone; this is unusual."

I had no mind to argue with him. Whether I know Division Chief Duanmu or not, what the hell does it have to do with you! I cursed in my heart, if you have the ability, go know the Provincial Party Secretary; I'm not jealous.

Deng Hanyuan probably saw that I was unhappy, changed to a smiling face, and said, "County Magistrate Chen, I'm envious, jealous, and hateful."

He said this so frankly, appearing a bit cute. I smiled, "If there's a chance, I'll introduce you."

Deng Hanyuan called out "Good" repeatedly, lowered his voice, and said to me, "Let me tell you, this Division Chief Duanmu has great power in his hands. The inspection and selection of cadres in the whole province are mainly based on him. For example, after our training ends, what unit we are specifically assigned to is all up to him."

"Is that so?" I asked absentmindedly, but in my heart, I was already galloping. Duanmu Jiuming was actually such a person; I didn't know that. Xu Mengda didn't tell me either; otherwise, if I had seen him, I would have called him "Chief" long ago.

After getting my food, I didn't go back to Duanmu's table, but chose a window seat with Deng Hanyuan, eating while watching the children flying kites on the lawn outside the window.

When dusk fell, we trainees followed Section Chief Mei Hua downstairs, preparing to take a bus to the city to watch Xue Bing's concert performance.

Just as I was seated, another girl came, wearing a white dress, about eighteen or nineteen years old, looking pure and cute. After she got on the bus, she looked around, saw an empty seat next to me, came over generously, didn't say a word to me, and sat down directly.

Mei Hua cleared the number of people as usual, and after clearing, asked the girl, "Xiao Yuan, did your dad let you go?"

The girl sitting next to me curled her lips and said, "Is that any of your business?"

Mei Hua rubbed his hands and said in a dilemma, "If your dad doesn't agree, it won't be strange if he scolds me to death later."

"If you're afraid, you go down," the girl named Xiao Yuan laughed happily, urging the driver, "Master Yuan, drive."

Once the bus moved, she turned her head and looked at me a few times, reached out her hand, and said, "My name is Peng Xiaoyuan, what's yours?"

"My name is Chen Feng," I answered her, reaching out to shake her hand.

Before I could shake it, she suddenly withdrew her hand, stared at me suspiciously, looked for a long time, and said, "So it was you." ===== CHAPTER 505 =====