Chapter 678: A Phone Call Across the Ocean

Arriving in Beijing, the first stop was to find the Beijing Office.

A phone call was made, and they immediately sent someone to pick us up.

The Director of the Hengyue City Beijing Office was a short, chubby middle-aged man with muddy eyes and a few scattered hairs. He was dressed quite spiritedly; the suit looked like high-end goods at a glance.

At the welcome banquet, he complained bitterly. He said that the Hengyue City Beijing Office had now been reduced to a guesthouse, mainly because the leadership didn't attach enough importance to it. For example, the annual administrative expenses left him strapped for cash, and he almost didn't dare to go out to build relationships.

I remained silent. I didn't have much feeling about the Beijing Office. For a prefecture-level city to set up a Beijing Office in the capital was actually unnecessary. If cadres from a prefecture-level city wanted to enter the halls to visit various ministries, they were no different from ordinary commoners. The only benefit was having quick information; what happened where, what policies were about to be introduced—that was all the Beijing Office could do.

The administrative rank of the Beijing Office Director was not low—a full division-level cadre. His family was in Hengyue City, and he had been in the capital year-round alone. Originally, husband and wife living apart was a sad thing, but he seemed content, complaining bitterly with his mouth while living comfortably. He had sat in this position for many years and could be considered half a Beijinger.

The meal lasted two hours. The few accompanying staff he called over were all young men. These young men were also from our Hengyue City and held minor official positions in the Beijing Office.

The meal was calm, without waves. During the banquet, the Beijing Office Director mentioned a hundred-billion stimulus plan, which suddenly made my interest surge.

It was said that in order to stimulate the economy, the state was prepared to take out a large sum of money to invest in infrastructure construction. To put it bluntly, now as long as you had a project in hand, you could get money into your pocket with a little effort.

We had already communicated our purpose for coming to Beijing with him beforehand, so the Beijing Office Director gave a thumbs up and said, "Director Chen, your sense of smell is sharper than ours! During this period, I've seen other cities running to the ministries for money, but I haven't seen Hengyue City come. I'm anxious in my heart!"

I laughed, "Good things come slowly. Aren't we here now?"

"It's right that you're here." The Beijing Office Director brushed his sparse hair, his face glowing, and said, "If Hengyue City doesn't make a name for itself this time, we really won't have the face to see the elders of Jiangdong."

He pointed to the young men accompanying us and said, "These people will follow you these few days. One goal: to serve you. Beijing is very big, and the roads are very complicated. When you go out, call them to go with you; firstly to drive, and secondly to be tour guides. When the matter is accomplished, we will celebrate."

The Beijing Office Director's enthusiasm made me feel a bit flattered. If speaking from the level, I was on the same horizontal line as him, neither above nor below. But he was at the foot of the Son of Heaven, stained with imperial energy, seeing only high officials and noble lords in his eyes, with a much higher perspective than ordinary people. Although at the same level, he felt much superior to others. I held the reins in the local area, also a powerful figure who couldn't be offended, not to mention I was an invisible future Standing Committee member, so the weight could be judged immediately.

We stayed at the Beijing Office. This was a four-story small building hidden in a deep, quiet hutong. The building was surrounded by a courtyard, a single door and household, with a sign hanging at the entrance that read "Central Province Hengyue Beijing Office."

The Beijing Office was a place where the sparrow is small but has all the internal organs; the first floor was the reception room and dining hall, with a ping pong table inside.

The second floor was the office, where the Beijing Office Director and his subordinates worked.

The third floor was their dormitory, and only the fourth floor was for guest rooms.

Usually, their main task was waiting for relevant departments to call, saying so-and-so had come to petition. As long as they received the call, they would send someone to drive over, use both soft and hard tactics to bring the person back, and try every means to send them back.

There weren't many guest rooms, just three or five. Two were already occupied, reportedly by people from the Municipal Light Industry Bureau. The remaining three were at the very end of the corridor. The Beijing Office Director hesitated for a long time before I understood he wanted to keep one room vacant for urgent needs if more people from the city went there.

For the three of us, two rooms were enough. Therefore, Xue Bing and Li Mei shared one room, and I stayed in one alone.

The guest room facilities weren't great, but they were complete. The quilts looked clean, and the towels in the restroom were new; it seemed they had been specially changed for us.

After entering our respective rooms, I couldn't wait to take a shower first. I came out wrapped in a bath towel and didn't feel cold.

Although the season had entered winter, the sunshine in Beijing was still very clean. The room was equipped with heating, making one feel as comfortable as a spring breeze.

I lay flat on the bed, took the phone, and began to call Gan Lu.

I didn't expect the call to actually go through. I suppressed my heartbeat and asked softly, "Is this Mayor Gan?"

A faint sound of breathing came from the phone; I could feel it was her.

"Chen Feng?" she asked, her voice mixed with a trace of trembling.

"It's me," I said happily. "I've come to Beijing and want to find your classmate."

Gan Lu hesitated and said, "Okay, I'll give you his phone number."

A rustling sound came from her side. A minute later, she said, "Write it down, I'll tell you."

After writing down the number, she entrusted me, "This classmate of mine is very traditional. You must not act on your own, understand?"

Of course I understood; wasn't it just telling me not to give gifts!

But how many cats in the world don't eat fish? I laughed and comforted her, "Don't worry, I'll go empty-handed."

She was silent. After a long time, she said softly, "Chen Feng, I'm pregnant."

"Pregnant?" I asked suspiciously, "What's pregnant?"

She was obviously shy, stammering for a long time before squeezing out a sentence, "I'm not talking to you anymore. I'm hanging up."

I hurriedly shouted, "Don't hang up, I haven't finished talking yet."

She sighed and said, "What else do you have to say? Speak."

But suddenly I didn't know what to say. Gan Lu resigned and went abroad, and had the idea of not wanting to come back. Whether I could see her again in this life was an unknown. A sudden sense of desolation filled my heart.

"Are you doing well?" I asked, my voice becoming heavy.

"Doing well," she smiled lightly and said, "Things here are quite different from domestic. Everything is very good."

"That's good," I said. "As long as you are happy, everything is good."

"But now I'm bored to death all day long," Gan Lu sighed and said, "I don't have a job here, staying at home all day. He comes back very late every day, and it's hard for us to say a few words. Sometimes I really want to go back."

"Don't!" I laughed, "The moon in foreign countries is rounder than in China. Why are you coming back?"

"You're making fun of me!" She was obviously angry, her voice raised much higher, saying, "Chen Feng, if you talk nonsense again, see if I spare you when I go back."

I teased her, "Come back, I'm waiting for you."

"If it weren't for my inconvenient body, I would leave now," she said hatefully, "You just bully me."

I remembered the "pregnant" sentence she said just now and suddenly realized.

"Conceived?" I asked tentatively.

"Mm," she answered.

"Congratulations," I congratulated her sincerely.

"Thank you," she also became polite.

"I want to be the child's godfather," I said with a grin.

"Mm," she still answered me softly. After a while, she suddenly remembered and said, "I'll call my classmate later and tell him you're coming."

Our call ended there. Holding the receiver and listening to the buzzing sound coming from it, my heart twitched repeatedly.

Although a telephone line could let us hear each other's voices at any time, after all, we were separated by the ocean. The feeling of longing was like waves, one wave covering another, endlessly impacting the touch at the bottom of my heart.

Gan Lu was one of the few beautiful female officials I had ever met. We had had ambiguity and feelings of mutual admiration between us.

She was like a trumpet creeper, its faint fragrance reaching deep into one's soul.

She was a woman one couldn't stop wanting, a woman who could occupy the depths of one's memory forever.

I sighed and sighed, looking at the ceiling with black spots, and my heart slowly calmed down.

Suddenly, a knock on the door sounded, and immediately, I heard Xue Bing calling me from outside, "Chen Feng, are you free?"

I answered, "Wait a moment."

I hurriedly got out of bed, dressed in a flurry, opened the door, and saw Xue Bing standing at the door with a smile.

She slipped in and whispered, "Xiao Li is asleep."

"So fast?" I asked in surprise.

"She's a little girl, after all, sitting on a plane for several hours, she's tired."

"Do you have something to do?" I asked, inviting her to sit down and talk.

She didn't sit, but after circling the room a few times, she said, "I want to move out."

"Where to?" I asked.

"The environment here is too poor. I want to move out," she said, stopping her feet and looking at me with longing in her eyes, "Why don't you move out with me?"

"No!" I firmly refused, "I'm here to handle business, so I should stay at the Beijing Office."

"If you don't go, I will." She glared at me and turned to leave. ===== CHAPTER 679 =====