Chapter 640: He knows everything

Vice Provincial Governor Lin finally decided to inspect Hengyue City. I reported the news to the Mayor, who laughed heartily over the phone. After he finished laughing, he said something inexplicable: "Chen Feng, if I give you a Director's position, people will curse me for not cherishing talent!"

This statement both delighted and worried me. There is an old saying: "If a tree stands taller than the forest, the wind will surely destroy it; if a person stands above the crowd, people will surely ruin them."

My seat at the Petition Bureau wasn't even warm yet; being transferred to the Industrial Park now was already an exceptional promotion. But how could the implication of the Mayor's words not set my imagination running wild?

The relationships in Hengyue City's officialdom are intricate and complex; father-son bureau chiefs and husband-wife division chiefs are everywhere. From one bureau to another, everyone is either an in-law or a brother. I belong to an invasive species; in the Hengyue City cadre ranks, aside from my cousin-in-law He Zhi and my father-in-law Huang Shan, the number of cadres I know is pitifully small.

Precisely because of this connection, in the eyes of others, I am also a "nepotism cadre." To many who have fared worse than me, my rapid rise is solely due to the connections of my cousin-in-law and father-in-law.

In truth, I am the most aggrieved person. Originally, after training at the Provincial Party School, I should have remained in a provincial department to work—not necessarily to lead a department, but at the very least, like Deng Hanyuan, I could have been a proper Division Chief, carefree and at ease.

In fact, I was the only one with the worst placement after training—a Deputy Bureau Chief of a Petition Bureau. It's embarrassing to even say it out loud. The reason I ended up with such an arrangement is something I learned from my wife, Huang Weiwei, many years later.

Vice Provincial Governor Lin wanting to inspect Hengyue City is a major event—a monumental event.

As a member of the Provincial Party Standing Committee, Vice Provincial Governor Lin oversees the entire province's Political and Legal Affairs work; the power in his hands is incomparable to other Standing Committee members.

The Mayor requested that I accompany Vice Provincial Governor Lin back to Hengyue City. The result of this is that Chen Meng can return before me, while I must stay in the provincial capital for a while longer.

Feeling bored and listless, I thought about taking a walk by the river. Before I could set off, I received a call from Xue Bing, asking me to go to Xu Mengda's club.

I hadn't been to the club for a while. Xu Mengda had called me twice asking me to come, but I always declined, saying I had things on hand and would go once I was finished.

Xu Mengda naturally knew I was stalling, but he didn't force it, only comforting me over the phone: "Take your time, don't rush, there will be a result."

The result Xu Mengda spoke of was, of course, the signature of the old man Xu Da. Nearly a month had passed, and Xu Da still hadn't given me the signature, which meant either the old man was unwilling to sign, or Xu Mengda hadn't submitted it at all.

However, the old man Xu Da's signature was no longer important. His signature was merely a remedial measure for when I had no other choice. Now that I possessed resources like Lao Bi and Meng Xiaoyu, and an even heavier hitter in Vice Provincial Governor Lin, what else did I have to worry about?

Xue Bing asked me to go to the club, and I couldn't refuse. When Xu Mengda asked me to go, I could find excuses to stall, but if I gave the same excuses to Xue Bing, not only would she not believe me, I wouldn't even believe myself.

Of course, I understood that Xue Bing calling must have been at Xu Mengda's instruction.

After hanging up, I hailed a taxi and headed straight for Xu Mengda's club.

When a person is in a good mood, even their footsteps seem to smoke. I hummed little tunes in the taxi the whole way, which put the driver in a good mood too. When I got out, he insisted on giving me a discount; he only took half of the thirty-yuan fare.

The closed club appeared somewhat dull, even a bit eerie. Only one light was on at the entrance; the bulb was covered in thin gauze, making the light dim and yellow, carrying a trace of lifeless white that gave one a sense of unreality and confusion.

To my surprise, Xu Mengda was not at the club. Aside from Xue Bing, there wasn't another living creature to be found in the entire place.

I hesitated for a moment and asked Xue Bing: "Teacher Xue, where is Brother Xu?"

Xue Bing stared at me, the expression on her face changing several times before finally settling into silence.

"At home."

"You were looking for me?"

"Who did you think was looking for you?"

I chuckled, masking my guilty conscience. Suddenly sitting opposite her, I felt she seemed incredibly like a stranger. This woman who once acted so charming in my arms had completely changed her appearance. I could no longer find the rustic aura that once obsessed me; in its place was a graceful, luxurious, and unattainable reserve.

She sighed faintly and handed me a stack of documents.

I took them and looked—it was my project report, the one I had asked Xu Mengda to help me get Xu Da to sign.

I looked at her hesitantly; she smiled slightly, signaling for me to flip to the last page of the report.

I hesitantly opened the last sheet. Several lines of instructions were written in a flowing, vigorous hand, and the signature at the bottom was none other than Xu Da's.

I read it carefully. The instruction read:

"Please have Director Liao of the Development and Reform Commission review and handle this! I suggest upgrading the Industrial Park to be built into an Industrial Culture Demonstration Park."

Xu Da

September 15, 2003

My head went "Boom," and I felt all the blood in my body rushing to my brain.

I stammered: "Teacher Xue, what does Minister Xu mean by..."

Xue Bing pursed her lips and smiled: "Is there something you don't understand? Are you really not understanding, or are you playing dumb?"

I smiled honestly: "I really don't understand. I really don't!"

"If you don't understand, then think about it carefully." She stood up, exhaled slowly, and said: "Chen Feng, I have something to tell you."

My mind was still on the instruction, and without looking up, I said: "Go ahead, what is it?"

Xue Bing hesitated for a moment and whispered: "Actually, Mengda has long known about our relationship."

I was shocked, and the report in my hand fell to the floor in fright. Xu Mengda knew about my relationship with Xue Bing? What relationship did he know we had?

I asked nervously: "What exactly does he know?"

Seeing my panicked state, Xue Bing shook her head in disappointment: "Why are you nervous? Are you afraid?"

I shook my head: "It's not fear. It's really not fear! What do I have to be afraid of?"

After saying this, I wanted to laugh, but I knew my smile at this moment must be uglier than crying.

"If you aren't afraid, why are you shaking?" Her gaze rested on my legs, and only then did I realize my legs were indeed shaking violently. I tried hard to control the shaking, but a sense of fear from the bottom of my heart made me tremble uncontrollably.

What was I afraid of? I asked myself quietly.

Suddenly, a thought surged up: it turned out I was afraid of Xue Bing being wronged!

"What are you thinking?" I finally calmed down and asked her.

"I'm not thinking anything!" She laughed lightly, turned her back to me, and said: "You knew me before him; it has nothing to do with him."

"What are your plans now?" I suddenly had a strong impulse: if Xu Mengda let her be wronged, I would take her back to Hengyue City. If I could keep Zhu Huayu by my side, I could keep Xue Bing by my side. Moreover, she was different from ordinary people now; she wore the hat of a "returnee," and in Hengyue City, this hat was enough to look down upon all rivals!

She seemed to sense my thoughts, turned around, looked at me deeply, then smiled faintly: "Chen Feng, I know what you're thinking!"

I asked in surprise: "You know what I'm thinking?"

"Of course!" She smiled shallowly. I was too familiar with this smile. From the first time she came to Hengyue City to find me to raise funds for the stadium, to when we lay on the wooden floor of the township government, every time she smiled like this, my heart would fly away like a kite.

"I will live every day well!" She repeated this a few times, then turned around, still with her back to me: "You can go now."

I stood up, thought for a moment, then sat back down and asked suspiciously: "Why do you always talk with your back to me?"

"Because I don't want to see you."

"Hate me?" My heart ached, and then a sense of loss welled up.

"I hated you in the past! I don't hate you now." Her voice was very light, just like it was back in Suxi; although the voice was light, every word could land in the bottom of one's heart.

I said "Oh," and then let out a long sigh.

"What are you sighing for?" She seemed to be laughing; I could see her shoulders trembling slightly: "The path was one I chose myself, so why would I hate you? Besides, there are always changes on the path of life. There is no path that can be walked to the very end, don't you agree?"

"Yes," I said dejectedly, preparing to leave the club.

"I won't see you out!" She said: "I got this document from Minister Xu. Of course, I agreed to his conditions!"

"What conditions?"

"You don't need to know." She said coldly, still with her back to me.

I wanted to walk up to her side, but after two steps, I hesitated and stopped. I couldn't be impulsive, especially in Xu Mengda's club; perhaps our every word and action was under his surveillance.

"Go!" She urged me.

"Alright!" I rolled up the report and stuffed it into the inner pocket of my suit. With Xu Da's instruction, I had one more bargaining chip for getting money from the Provincial Development and Reform Commission.

At the door, I turned back to look at her, and she happened to turn around to look at me. I saw two tear tracks on her cheeks.

She had just been crying! My heart felt like it was being twisted by a knife, but I could only look at her from afar, unable to even utter a word of concern.

Coming out of the club, I saw a black Mercedes parked by the roadside. My eyes unconsciously drifted to the license plate, and my heart tightened instantly.

This car was Xu Mengda's; I had ridden in it.

But I pretended not to see it and walked past the Mercedes with my head held high.

I even whistled, and after walking a few steps, I deliberately jumped a few times.

As I walked past the Mercedes, I scanned the person sitting inside with my peripheral vision. Unfortunately, the car windows were covered with a layer of sun film, so I couldn't see the person inside. But I knew Xu Mengda must be sitting in there!

The successive good news made me extremely excited, and I was eager to find someone to share it with.

After thinking it over, I found that aside from Huang Weiwei, I couldn't find anyone else who could share my joy at this moment.

So I made a call, and as soon as it connected, I shouted: "Wife, do you miss me?"

There was silence on the phone for a long time, so I raised my volume and shouted: "Wife, I miss you."

A moment later, a laugh came from the other end, followed by the voice of Xi Meizhu: "Brother, it's me."

I felt a bit embarrassed. Fortunately, no one around me knew me, so I lowered my voice and asked: "Why is it you?"

She must have been covering her mouth to laugh; I could feel her laughter drilling out through her fingers.

"Brother, when you call 'wife' in the future, you must use her name!"

"Use her name?" I was puzzled.

"Yes!" Her voice was also very light, as if she were afraid of being heard: "For example, when you call your wife, you must call her 'Weiwei wife'."

"But I don't have a second wife besides her." I said with a grin: "Little brat, so many tricks."

"I'm not a little brat!" Xi Meizhu said on the phone; I could almost see her blushing face.

"Where is my Weiwei wife?" I asked, not wanting to continue arguing about whether she was a little brat or not.

"Taking a bath."

"Taking a bath?" I asked, puzzled: "At this time, why take a bath?"

"It's all because of your son!" Xi Meizhu laughed: "He peed on your Weiwei wife. This pee is more than an adult's."

She suddenly felt she had said too much and said hurriedly: "I'll have your wife call you when she comes out."

Xi Meizhu hung up the phone in a hurry. My joyful mood couldn't be shared with my wife, and my mood immediately dropped significantly. ===== CHAPTER 641 =====