Chapter 92: I'm not smaller than her

The first lesson of the class was given by Secretary Guan Peishan himself. The main content was how cadres should grasp opportunities, earnestly hoping that the cadres who study will have the courage to take responsibility and exert subjective initiative in their future work, and push the cause of the revolution to a climax.

Secretary Guan's class sounded boring to people. At least my feeling was like this. So I drew a cartoon in my notebook. On the screen, a fat-headed and big-eared official held the seal in his left hand and led a group of sheep in his right hand. Deng Hanyu saw it from the side, quietly grabbed it, wrote a line of words under the painting "Poisonous attack on people's cadres" and threw it to me.

I smiled and sat upright. Deng Hanyu is what kind of person, I don't know much about him, but his enthusiasm and willingness to help others are fully reflected.

Secretary Guan finally exhorted us earnestly: "You are all excellent cadres carefully selected by the party. The burden on your shoulders is still very heavy. The reform and opening up of Chunshan County and the improvement of the living standards of the people all need you to rack your brains. Being an official for a term and benefiting one

The curriculum showed that County Magistrate Liu Qimeng would be the keynote speaker the next day. Huang Qishan muttered, "In Party School training, it's rare for both the Secretary and the County Magistrate to give lectures."

I smiled and said, "This shows they value cadre training."

He raised an eyebrow and said, "That's true. Today's cadres aren't like those in the past; their thinking is changing, more or less. Who are the Secretary and the County Magistrate? Can Old Zhang and the others compare? If Old Zhang were to lecture, I really wouldn't want to listen. With his level of ability, how much insight could he possibly offer?"

I said with a grin, "Old Zhang is the Principal, after all. A Party School Principal naturally has his own methods, and his theoretical foundation is absolutely solid."

Huang Qishan tossed me a copy of "Deng Xiaoping Theory" and said, "Take a look. The theories from our Old Deng family are the real theories."

I said, "Old Zhang's job is to understand and deepen the theories of your Old Deng family."

Huang Qishan laughed, patted his head as if suddenly enlightened, and said, "I hadn't thought of it that way." He then turned to ask me, "I heard that Secretary Guo Wei of Suxi Township has someone backing him up?"

I feigned ignorance and said, "Who?"

Huang Qishan didn't answer my question, but muttered to himself, "Not even thirty years old, and he's the Township Party Committee Secretary for thousands of people. Could his ability be anything but extraordinary? If he didn't have someone behind him, could a young man from the Municipal Policy Research Office shoulder such a heavy responsibility?"

I said, "Perhaps Secretary Guo has his own exceptional qualities."

I suddenly remembered the previous rumors that Huang Qishan was going to be appointed as the Suxi Township Party Committee Secretary. Now that Guo Wei had gotten there first, there must be many reasons I didn't know about. Discussing a person's affairs in front of them is a taboo in officialdom. Even though I was only a member of the Township Party Committee, I was still considered an official who had entered the inner circle, and I still needed to slowly adapt to and understand the rules of officialdom.

"Perhaps," Huang Qishan sighed and said, "Man proposes, God disposes. Little brother, I almost became your colleague." He laughed heartily, grabbed his leather bag from the table, and said, "I won't attend the afternoon class. I need to go to that village of Boss Qian's to take a look. That dead upstart is so clingy, it's unbearable. There's no helping it."

Just as Huang Qishan left, I heard Pan Xiaoqin shouting outside the door: "Committee Member Chen, which room are you in?"

I was startled and hurried to open the door. I saw Pan Xiaoqin carrying a bag, standing in the hallway and shouting carelessly. Behind her followed the young man I had seen on the first day; he was red-faced with anxiety but couldn't stop her.

The moment she saw me, she ran over happily and looked back at the young man, saying, "Why are you still following me? I already said I'm not a bad person, you little tag-along."

The young man wanted to argue, but Pan Xiaoqin glared at him and said, "What are you looking at? Haven't you ever seen a beautiful woman?"

The young man's face turned even redder. He smiled at me and said, "Committee Member Chen, I couldn't stop her."

I comforted him, saying, "It's fine. She is Boss Pan from our township; she might have something to discuss with me."

The young man put a finger to his lips and said, "Everyone is resting at noon. Please don't be too loud. If you disturb others, someone will complain, and if they complain, Principal Zhang will give me trouble."

Pan Xiaoqin looked at him with a smile and said, "Look at you, acting like a woman, so long-winded. Are you leaving yet? If you don't leave, I'm going to shout." She made a gesture to shout, which scared the young man so much that he greased his heels and vanished down the end of the hallway in a flash.

I brought Pan Xiaoqin into the room and asked, "Why did you come?"

She plopped down on the bed, tilted her head to look at me, and said, "What? I can't come?"

I smiled calmly and said, "That's not what I meant. Do you have something to discuss?"

"Can't I come to see you if I don't have anything to discuss?"

"What's there to see? Aren't I here studying?"

"I know you're about to get promoted. Can't I butter you up a little?"

I felt embarrassed by her words and found a cup to pour her some water.

She held the cup with both hands, looked around the room, and said, "This damn weather, it's so cold."

I said, "It's the dead of winter now, of course it's cold. If you knew it was cold, why run all the way here?"

"It's precisely because it's cold that I came." She took two wool sweaters out of her bag and said, "I came with a mission, don't think I'm concerned about you. I'm too lazy to be concerned."

She grumbled as she threw the clothes to me and said, "Your Teacher Xue asked me to bring these. She's afraid you'll freeze."

I squeezed the sweater, and a wave of warmth came through; my heart instantly felt warm and comfortable.

"And this scarf, Sister-in-law Jin Ling asked me to bring it." She wrapped the scarf around her own neck and said, "It's so warm."

I sat down on the chair, pulled out a cigarette, lit it, and asked, "Are you all doing well?"

"Don't worry, we're all doing fine." She patted the edge of the bed and said, "It's cold on the chair, come sit here."

I hesitated and didn't want to go over. She glared at me and said, "Are you afraid I'll eat you?"

I went over and sat next to her. She leaned her head on my shoulder and said, "I was frozen to death on the way here." As she spoke, she reached out and tucked her hands into my chest; the sudden chill made me shiver.

She giggled, looked at me mischievously, and said, "Don't move, let me warm up."

I shifted my body, staring nervously at the door. She probably understood what I meant and said, "Don't worry, I locked the door."

I smiled sheepishly and said, "What do I have to worry about? This is the Party School."

"So what if it's the Party School? Does it forbid people from eating and farting?" She buried her head into my chest, her hair tickling my nostrils. A sneeze swirled around in my nose a few times before retreating.

"Teacher Xue asked me to tell you, it's cold, take care of your health." She murmured, "Having someone who cares about you, how wonderful that is."

I patted her back and said, "We are also thinking of you."

She looked up gratefully, pecked my face like a chicken pecking at rice, pulled her hands out, rubbed them, and said, "I have to go back."

I hadn't yet reacted from her kiss and asked blankly, "Go back where?"

"I came to pick up some stock, and to see if I could buy a refrigerator to take back. The electricity will be turned on by the twenty-fourth of the twelfth lunar month, so I need to be prepared." She tidied up the pile of clothes scattered on the bed, took a stack of money out of her pocket, and handed it to me: "Take this, and treat people to some meals. Don't be stingy when you're out; as an official, you must be generous to have a future."

I didn't take it, looking at her strangely. What does this young woman mean? Giving me money—am I a kept man?

Seeing my puzzled look, she shoved the money into my pocket and said, "It's your own money, not mine."

She sat down again, held the cup, and drank a few sips of hot water: "Let me tell you, don't look down on my supermarket just because it's small; it makes quite a bit of money. My little restaurant's business is booming right now; just the people from the Electric Power Bureau are enough to support us." She counted on her fingers: "We have five helpers now, not counting me. I pay them three hundred yuan a month, and I give Sister-in-law Jin Ling four hundred." She emphasized, "At the end of the month, we can earn at least this much."

She held up two fingers and waved them in front of me: "In a year, we can earn this much." She gestured with her fingers, her face full of excitement.

I didn't speak. Pan Xiaoqin had a talent for business. When she first said she wanted to open a supermarket in Suxi Township, I was also taken aback. If one were to compare Pan Xiaoqin and Wu Qian, one would definitely be Zhuge Liang, and the other Zhou Yu.

"In another three months, we should have earned back our initial capital." She said with infinite longing: "By then, I want to build a building. The first floor will be the supermarket, the second floor a restaurant, and the third floor and above will be a hotel."

I couldn't help but laugh. I flicked her nose and said, "Little money-grubber."

"I am a money-grubber." She said seriously: "We've been poor for too long."

"Look at my mother, she eats other people's leftovers every day. She says it's a waste to throw them away and that it would weigh on her conscience. She has never been as happy in her life as she is now. She keeps clamoring for me to set up a memorial tablet for you and worship you with incense every day." She burst into happy laughter.

I was mortified. Set up a memorial tablet for me? Only dead people have memorial tablets.

I deliberately feigned anger and said, "Your mother is cursing me to die."

"Nonsense. In our local custom, this is called a 'living person's tablet,' set up for a living benefactor."

"I am not your benefactor."

"You are. You brought me out of Gude Village and gave me money to open the supermarket. If you aren't, then who is?"

I had nothing to say. They had deeply engraved these small deeds in their hearts; I had no way to make them remove my position in their hearts.

"I'm telling you, Brother Chen—oh, no, Committee Member Chen—you and Sister Hongyan are both my benefactors. No matter when, I will never forget." She suddenly said softly: "Actually, I am already yours. Whether you admit it or not, in my heart, no man can replace you."

I was startled and said, "You must never think that way. You are still young; when you grow up, you will understand."

She pushed me in annoyance and said, "You always say I'm young. Where am I young?"

I smiled without answering. She shyly pointed to her chest and said, "My chest here is not smaller than Teacher Xue's."

After saying this, a blush flew onto her cheeks. She turned to the side, leaving me with a view of her round, perky buttocks, full of temptation. I suppressed the agitation in my heart. She had indeed grown up; the greenness had vanished from her, and the charm of a mature woman was quietly spreading over her, yet she still lacked that certain seductive allure of a mature woman—the kind that makes a man lose control of his carnal impulses.

Every woman has a seductive bone, a kind that makes a man lose his soul.

Pan Xiaoqin had matured, but she lacked that seductive bone. In her bones, she was as clear and pure as water, a kind of purity untainted by the secular world.

I pulled her over and gave her round, perky buttocks a slap, saying, "Silly girl, when I said you were young, I meant your thinking."

She looked at me suspiciously and asked softly, "Where is my thinking young?"

I said, "That's why I said you'll understand when you grow up. I can't explain it clearly to you right now."

She broke free from my embrace and said, "I really have to go. It's too cold, and although the road is easier to walk now, it's still far."

I said, "I'll see you off."

She looked back with a smile and said, "No need. I'll ask that guy who came with me to see me off in a moment."

I smiled. Silly girl, you just met the guy, probably haven't even said three sentences to him, yet you can ask him to see you off—impressive!