Chapter 526: Beautiful Woman

The afternoon class was dreadfully dull.

Peng Fu Xiaozhang was a very uninteresting man, and his lecture was completely devoid of meaning.

Peng Fu Xiaozhang was from Western Hunan and spoke with a thick Western Hunan accent that was very hard to understand; half the class was left completely bewildered.

Like everyone else, I listened with only half an ear, starting to doodle little figures in my notebook.

Beside me, Deng Hanyuan simply closed his eyes to feign sleep; so-called training was nothing more than gathering together to endure a period of time, waiting for a new post to put one's talents to use.

The two-hour class felt like years.

As soon as school let out in the afternoon, the people from the provincial-level organs were in a rush to go home; they didn't live on campus.

Starting today, our training class was officially in session, spanning half a year. Three months of theoretical study at the school, and three months sent down to various prefectures and cities to complete a thesis according to requirements.

As soon as class ended, Deng Hanyuan clamored for me to treat everyone, saying he had spent so much energy only to end up doing the hard work for my benefit.

I smiled and agreed, telling him to go find the others.

If I was going to treat, it wouldn't just be Deng Hanyuan alone. All thirty people in the class, not a single one could be left out. I had to seize this opportunity to build rapport, so that work would go smoothly in the future.

I told Mei Hua about my intention to gather everyone together. Mei Hua initially disagreed, saying it would have a bad influence. Under Deng Hanyuan's repeated insistence, he had to reluctantly agree, but stipulated that he and Division Chief Duanmu would not attend.

Deng Hanyuan's organizational skills were actually quite good. Hearing that I was treating, several people who had already driven out of the school gates turned back.

After all, I was their class monitor now. They had to give me some face, at least.

The venue for the treat was set at the Party School cafeteria.

The dishes didn't need to be specially prepared; the life of us training cadres was already quite good. According to the standard of three dishes and one soup, there was fish and meat.

Deng Hanyuan complained the dishes weren't high-class enough and begged the cafeteria chef to make a few more.

Although the chef was unwilling, he couldn't afford to offend us, so he had to add more, including seafood.

This time, beer wouldn't do; we had to drink *baijiu*.

The cadres from the provincial-level organs were the first to object, saying they were all driving and couldn't go back if they drank.

Deng Hanyuan shook his head and said, "Party School training has discipline. Cadres participating in training cannot go home to live without leave."

The provincial-level organ cadres couldn't say anything more. Deng Hanyuan wasn't wrong; according to regulations, everyone participating in training had to live a collective life at the school. In fact, the provincial-level organ cadres had all been assigned dormitories, but because they felt they were close to home, driving back and forth was only an hour or so. Of course, it was much more comfortable at home.

Everyone just turned a blind eye to the provincial-level organ cadres going home to live. Anyway, there was nothing to do at school in the evenings, and activities weren't arranged every night; they all knew the time if there were special requirements.

Deng Hanyuan's words shut their mouths, and the matter of drinking *baijiu* was settled.

Regarding what kind of *baijiu* to drink, opinions began to diverge. Some wanted low-proof, some wanted high-proof, and others said their health wasn't good and they wanted red wine.

Gan Lu also indicated she only drank red wine and wouldn't touch a drop of *baijiu*.

In the end, I made the call: half red wine, half *baijiu*, depending on one's capacity.

Among the people from the provincial-level organs, one person had a friend who was specifically in the liquor business. He understood all kinds of *baijiu* under the sun. The key was that there were no fake liquors in his family's stock.

So I asked him to have his friend send the liquor over.

He was originally a division chief at the Provincial Economic and Trade Commission, and before coming to the Party School for training, he was in charge of all wholesale and approval documents for alcoholic beverages in Central Province.

His surname was Huang, and we all called him Huang Chu.

Huang Chu readily made the call, and after hanging up, he said to me, "The cheapest liquor from his family is over a thousand. See how much is appropriate to send."

I calculated in my mind: thirty cadres, excluding the one-third who drank red wine, there were still twenty. If each person drank half a *jin*, it would take ten bottles to get by.

At one thousand per bottle, ten bottles would be ten thousand. Plus ten bottles of red wine, and each bottle couldn't be less than one thousand, so the liquor alone would exceed twenty thousand.

Not to mention that once people started drinking, they basically couldn't control themselves. Half a *jin* was the minimum standard; for those with a massive capacity, drinking one or two *jin* was nothing. People who were cadres were all good at drinking; cadres who couldn't drink had no chance of advancement.

I said to Huang Chu, "You handle it. If we don't finish it, we'll store it for next time."

Huang Chu beamed as he went to make the call. He naturally liked someone as straightforward as me.

He would have face in front of his friend in the future! I, the newly appointed class monitor, had sought him out first to help, which showed our relationship had taken a step forward.

Liquor sent meant money needed. I remembered the bag Qian Youyu gave me when I first arrived in the provincial capital, so I asked Deng Hanyuan to host everyone in the cafeteria while I went back to the dormitory to find the money.

Not far from the cafeteria, I saw Gan Lu standing alone beside a cluster of flowers, eyes slightly closed, sniffing the fragrance.

The person's face was like a flower, and the flower reflected the peach-blossom face. They complemented each other, vying for beauty.

I was actually stunned by the sight.

Perhaps my footsteps woke her; she turned her head and smiled, unexpectedly as vibrant as the flowers.

"Division Chief Gan," I said sincerely, "thank you for your vote."

This was the first time since the election that I had the opportunity to express my gratitude to her.

Gan Lu asked in astonishment, "How did you know it was me?"

I laughed, "Thirty people in the class, twenty-nine names written on the blackboard. Only you had no name. Who did your vote go to?"

A look of approval appeared on Gan Lu's face, and she sighed, "Chen Feng, you really are a thoughtful person."

I laughed exaggeratedly, saying, "You flatter me. Anyone in this situation should be able to see the trick."

Gan Lu was startled and said, "So, everyone knows I cast that vote for you?"

I nodded seriously, "If they were paying attention, they should know."

Gan Lu became a bit anxious, flustered, and muttered, "Meng Xiaoyu must have seen it too."

I saw the panic in her expression and comforted her, "Maybe everyone didn't notice."

Hearing me say this, the tension on Gan Lu's face eased a little, and she sighed, "Actually, I originally intended to cast this vote for Meng Xiaoyu."

"Why cast it for me?" I asked, puzzled.

"Nothing much. Just that when I was writing the name, I don't know why I wrote yours. I originally thought Meng Xiaoyu was popular, so it wouldn't be a big problem without my vote. I didn't expect that apart from his own vote, no one else voted for him."

She giggled and stared into my eyes, "Is this the most selfish behavior in human nature?"

I was so embarrassed by her words that my own face turned red. Gan Lu's words were actually implying that I was also a selfish person. Otherwise, how could I have two votes!

It was inappropriate to discuss such a serious issue now, so I deliberately laughed and said, "Division Chief Gan, I'm treating the whole class today; I'll treat you alone another day."

Gan Lu smiled, "To thank me?"

I nodded, "Indeed."

She sighed faintly, "I am a person who always believes in my own eyes."

I didn't understand what she was referring to and said blankly, "You weren't wrong."

"Maybe I was wrong this time," she smiled and said, "I'm going to the cafeteria, where are you going?"

I didn't tell her I was going to find money, and suddenly blurted out, "Division Chief Gan, I hope you can be my confidante."

Gan Lu was clearly startled by my words; she seemed so flustered that when she turned to leave, she lost her footing and nearly fell.

Watching her go to the cafeteria, I thought to myself that I must find an opportunity to properly thank this beauty.

Because her vote determined that I would stand out from the crowd in this training class.

Because of standing out, perhaps I would have more opportunities and go further than others. ===== CHAPTER 527 =====