Chapter 628: A Bad Start

By the time I found the private room, Gan Lu and the others had already started eating.

In a room full of people, I only knew Gan Lu and Meng Xiaoyu. Seeing me enter, everyone looked up at me, which made me feel awkward and even a bit angry.

Gan Lu stood up and said apologetically, "I thought you weren't coming."

I smiled and said, "With a great leader like Meng here, would I dare not to come?"

Meng Xiaoyu stood up, reached out to shake my hand, and exchanged pleasantries: "Chen Feng, long time no see!"

As I shook his hand, which felt almost boneless, a trace of disdain welled up in my heart. A man with boneless hands is like a woman without a waist.

I smiled politely and said, "Leader Meng, I've come uninvited. Shouldn't I be punished with three cups?"

Meng Xiaoyu scanned the table and asked, "What do you all think? Should he be?"

Some people started heckling, saying I should be punished. Most remained silent, chatting with those beside them as if I didn't exist at all.

Meng Xiaoyu pulled me to his side and called the waiter to add a seat. After I sat down, he stood up and said, "Everyone, let me introduce someone. This is my classmate from the Party School, Comrade Chen Feng, currently the Deputy Bureau Chief of the Hengyue City Letters and Visits Bureau. He was my class monitor."

Before he finished speaking, someone at the table shouted, "Hengyue City? I thought he was someone from the central government. How could he be Secretary-General Meng's class monitor? Did you get that wrong?"

I smiled and said nothing.

Hearing this, Meng Xiaoyu looked a bit embarrassed. With a dark face, he replied, "Lao Bi, what kind of talk is that? Even though Chen Feng is in Hengyue City, he is still a key talent cultivated by the Provincial Party School. You people, you judge by appearances!"

The one called Lao Bi chuckled, raised his glass, and said, "My apologies, Brother Chen."

I waved my hand and said, "It's fine. As long as everyone is happy, say whatever you like."

Meng Xiaoyu pressed his hand down and said, "Let me introduce everyone first. There are no outsiders at this table. Two are from my office, and two are brothers from the Provincial Development and Reform Commission. As for Mayor Gan, everyone knows her; she came out of the Provincial Development and Reform Commission, so I don't need to say more. Lao Bi, your words just now were nonsense. Now, you are punished with three cups to apologize to my classmate."

Lao Bi didn't say a word, drank three cups in a row, showed the bottom of the glass to everyone, and said, "Secretary-General Meng, I have never failed to carry out your instructions."

Meng Xiaoyu nodded with satisfaction, turned to me, and said with a smile, "Brother Chen, you can't just sit here, right? All within the four seas are brothers; you must have a drink."

Meng Xiaoyu making Lao Bi drink was a show of force to intimidate me. He was displaying his authority, letting me know he was a man of weight. Lao Bi had just been introduced as a Division Chief from the Development and Reform Commission, and a Division Chief acting like a grandson in front of him, drinking as punished—what was a small cadre from a local place like me?

Meng Xiaoyu was still looking at me, and I could see the provocation in his eyes.

Gan Lu, who was sitting on my other side, quickly smoothed things over: "Chen Feng already ate before coming. Can he be excused from this drink?"

Meng Xiaoyu smiled and asked me, "Mayor Gan says you should be excused. You tell me, should you be? One word from you, and I won't object."

I secretly glanced at Gan Lu and found her face full of worry. Seeing her like this, the heroic spirit hidden in the depths of my heart was ignited like a bomb.

I couldn't let a woman worry, and even less could I lose face in front of Meng Xiaoyu.

So, I stood my glass up, poured a full cup from the bottle, and said, "Brother Lao Bi drank three cups. If I drink less than three, wouldn't I be looking down on my brother? Let's do this: I'll have three cups too!"

Before they could react, I poured and drank, and the three cups were soon down my throat.

My performance surprised everyone at the table. They stopped talking and waited eagerly for Meng Xiaoyu to speak.

Meng Xiaoyu hadn't expected me to pull this off. When we were studying at the Party School, my ability to drink hadn't been shown. Every time we had a gathering or dinner, I would only take a sip.

Meng Xiaoyu was, after all, a man from a major agency; he didn't need to think to handle such an occasion. After my three cups, Meng Xiaoyu immediately poured himself one and said, "Brother Chen Feng, this drink is to commemorate our time as classmates. Drink!"

He drank it without hesitation and raised his glass to show me.

I smiled and said, "Thank you, Secretary-General Meng, I will drink."

After one cup went down, Meng Xiaoyu said to the people at the table, "Lao Bi has already drunk. You three haven't toasted my brother yet. No slacking off allowed; you come one by one to toast my brother."

Meng Xiaoyu wanted to use a clumsy wheel-war tactic to mess with me. Would I be afraid?

Before drinking, I had already noticed: the 38-degree liquor was almost no different from water to me. When I was in Suxi Township, I drank 52-degree spirits. Ten years in Chunshan County had forged a stomach of copper and iron. A few cups of liquor were like a few cups of water; I wouldn't be intimidated, let alone have weak legs.

Still in groups of three, after the three of them drank, a bottle of liquor hit the bottom.

Gan Lu first expressed her opposition, saying that since she was paying for the meal, she couldn't afford the bill if the drinking continued like this.

Meng Xiaoyu smiled and said, "Mayor Gan, I'll pay the bill. The drinking must be enjoyable."

Gan Lu's eyebrows twitched, and she said, "No, it was agreed that I'm asking you to handle something, so I'll pay the bill. Now that you're rushing to pay, does that mean you won't help me with the matter?"

Meng Xiaoyu said, "The matter will be handled the same, and the bill will be paid the same."

I put down the glass in my hand and said, "Both leaders, don't argue. I'll pay this bill."

Meng Xiaoyu looked at me and said, "No matter what, it wouldn't be your turn, would it?"

Gan Lu took over and said, "Chen Feng paying also makes sense. Because like me, he is here to ask Secretary-General Meng to handle something."

Gan Lu laid it out, so if I continued to hide it, I would appear too fake. So I accompanied it with a smile and said, "Indeed, I am also here to ask Secretary-General Meng to handle something."

Meng Xiaoyu pondered without speaking. After scanning the table a few times, he asked me, "What matter are you asking me to handle?"

Before I could speak, Gan Lu answered with a smile, "Of course, I'm here to ask you for money."

"Money?" Meng Xiaoyu frowned and asked, "What money?"

I said, "Secretary-General Meng, you have an idea in your heart."

Hearing this, Meng Xiaoyu seemed a bit unhappy. He spread his hands and said, "What money are you asking me for? I'm not a bank. If you want money, you should go to the bank!"

I smiled and said, "You are our bank!"

Gan Lu echoed, "That's right, Xiaoyu. For our local government, you are our God of Wealth. If you don't have money, no one in the world has money. Just say the word: will you give it or not?"

Meng Xiaoyu went silent, raised his glass, and said, "Can these things be discussed at the dinner table? Drink first!"

Lao Bi hurriedly agreed, saying, "Yes, yes. Now is the time for drinking, why talk about work? I won't hide it from you: all thirteen prefectures and cities in the province are reaching out to us for money. There is only so much money; who gets it and who doesn't is still up to Secretary-General Meng."

Meng Xiaoyu's face darkened and he said, "Lao Bi, you're talking nonsense again. Drunk?"

Lao Bi chuckled, licked his lips, and said, "If you hadn't said it, I wouldn't have felt it. This liquor really isn't enough."

From their conversation, I learned that Lao Bi was from the Provincial Development and Reform Commission and was in charge of funds, at least a Division Chief or similar role. A person like him must never be offended. The saying "the King of Hell is easy to deal with, but the little devils are hard to handle" refers to cadres of his level.

A Division Chief isn't considered a big official in the province, but in front of us local cadres, he has authority.

I beckoned the waiter and asked her to bring us three bottles of Moutai.

Seeing me order Moutai, Gan Lu joked, "Chen Feng, are you really going to pay the bill?"

I nodded and said, "Of course. Being able to eat and drink at the same table as Secretary-General Meng is a blessing and an honor!"

Meng Xiaoyu laughed and scolded, "Hypocritical! You are just hypocritical. Tell me, how much do you want?"

Before I could open my mouth, Gan Lu said first, "How much do you have? I won't eat it all alone. Chen Feng and I, half each."

Meng Xiaoyu widened his eyes and said, "Beauty Gan, your appetite is really big! Half each? Are you trying to empty the family fortune of my Provincial Development and Reform Commission? No, it's absolutely impossible."

Gan Lu smiled, "Don't think about dismissing me like a beggar. I don't have eyes for three or five million."

Meng Xiaoyu became worried. He looked at Lao Bi and said, "You caused this trouble, you clean it up. I don't have a single cent."

Lao Bi held the Moutai that had just been delivered, looked at the label, and said, "Feitian Moutai, hmm, authentic stuff. How about this, Boss Meng? It's fine if they want money, but they have to bring something."

Gan Lu asked, "What thing?"

I understood what he meant and hurriedly said, "No problem. With all the leaders here, our city's project report is already prepared, just waiting for your approval."

Only then did Gan Lu understand Lao Bi's meaning. She rolled her eyes at him and said, "Lao Bi, it's a pity you're my old colleague. Don't you know my style of doing things?"

As she spoke, she stood up to get her bag, took out a stack of materials, placed them on the table, and said, "You can have whatever you want. In one word: the money must be given to me."

Meng Xiaoyu smiled, "If you don't give it, are you going to rob us?"

Gan Lu's face sank, "That's really not certain."

I hadn't brought materials because I thought it would be enough to clear the air at the dinner table. To handle the specifics, I would still have to go to the office to talk. Gan Lu, however, had kept a hand in reserve, which caught Lao Bi and the others off guard.

Lao Bi pretended to flip through Gan Lu's project report and handed it to Meng Xiaoyu with both hands, saying, "The province has considered the Yongning City project. Secretary-General Meng also gave instructions that we must provide good service to you. So, we will accept the report, but we still have to go through the procedures."

Gan Lu said anxiously, "What procedures are you still going through? My eyebrows are burning, and I'm just waiting for you to save my life. You can't just watch me die."

Meng Xiaoyu asked in surprise, "Is it that serious?"

Gan Lu said seriously, "Of course! You aren't in the local area, so naturally you don't know the difficulties of the local area!"

Lao Bi smiled, "Who says we don't know? But there must be a procedure, otherwise, we would be derelict in our duties!"

Meng Xiaoyu put down the report in his hand and turned to ask me, "Where is your report?"

I smiled cautiously, "Tomorrow morning, I'll send it to your office tomorrow morning."

Meng Xiaoyu shook his head and said, "Chen Feng, it's not that I won't help you. Don't send it tomorrow morning. Even if you send it, I won't be able to help. How about this: I think the last bit of funds should just go to Mayor Gan. For your Hengyue City, we'll think of a way next year."

I felt anxious. If I couldn't get the money, my position as Director of the Management Committee wouldn't be secure. I had signed a military order in front of the Mayor. If I didn't get a single cent, what face would I have to see him?

"I'll send you the report tonight." I looked at Meng Xiaoyu eagerly and said, "It will definitely be delivered to your hands."

Meng Xiaoyu waved his hand and said, "Forget it!"

I turned to look at Gan Lu, hoping she would say a few words for me. Who knew that Gan Lu seemed not to see me, lowering her head to drink the bayberry soup in her bowl.

A bad start! I lamented in my heart. At the same time, a bolder idea rose from the bottom of my heart. ===== CHAPTER 629 =====