Chapter 577: Xiang Tianlu

Back at Zeng Xianglin's home, it was already seven o'clock, and the news broadcast had just begun. Zeng Xianglin said, "Su Xiangzhang, the news broadcast is starting—let's watch together."

Su Xinghui's face showed little expression, and Zeng Xianglin could not read his mood; of course he would not ask whether things had worked out.

However, Su Xinghui's next words got Zeng Xianglin excited: "Lao Zeng, tomorrow morning at eight o'clock have your wife go to Yongfeng Beverage Factory. Boss Min has agreed to arrange a job for her—any job she can handle, her choice."

Zeng Xianglin was overjoyed: "That's wonderful, thank you, Su Xiangzhang."

Zeng Xianglin couldn't help being happy. Though he was a civil servant, he was the lowest-ranking kind—an iron rice bowl it was, but the bowl was never full. His household relied on his income alone, and supporting such a big family was genuinely difficult. Now that his wife could work, the burden on his shoulders would be much lighter, and his family's financial situation would improve greatly.

Su Xinghui said, "It's just that the commute is a bit far—it's at Hu Jia'ao. Your wife will be worn out traveling to and from work every day."

Zeng Xianglin said, "What of it? Let her ride her bicycle to work every day—at most twenty minutes and she's there. I'll call her out right now to thank you."

Su Xinghui said seriously, "Lao Zeng, you absolutely must not do that. I helped your wife find a job because I hope you can be free of worries at home and devote yourself wholeheartedly to your work. If you work hard from now on, that will be thanks enough for me."

Su Xinghui was speaking from the heart. Over the past year, Zeng Xianglin had been conscientious and diligent in his work, becoming Su Xinghui's capable assistant—especially since much of the material Su Xinghui needed had been prepared by Zeng Xianglin. Given the real difficulties in Zeng Xianglin's household, Su Xinghui naturally had to help him solve them.

Zeng Xianglin nodded and said, "Su Xiangzhang, rest assured. From now on I will definitely work even harder."

Su Xinghui nodded and began watching the news broadcast. Zeng Xianglin attentively poured away his cold tea and replaced it with a cup of hot tea, saying to him, "Su Xiangzhang, have some hot tea, and some peanuts and melon seeds."

Su Xinghui thanked Zeng Xianglin, took a sip of tea, and began eating peanuts.

The half-hour news broadcast ended. After a few commercials, Hudong TV began airing the Hudong News. The first item was the news of Gu Shanmin's inspection of Meng Hu Ling—which was only natural: the news of the Provincial Party Secretary was naturally the most important news in Hudong Province, and the most important news was naturally broadcast first.

Zeng Xianglin pointed at the TV excitedly and said, "Su Xiangzhang, look, you're on TV!"

Su Xinghui naturally saw his own figure on the TV as well. In fact, he couldn't have missed it even if he'd wanted to, because the camera had been trained on Gu Shanmin the whole time, and he had stayed by Gu Shanmin's side the whole time, so naturally his figure kept appearing in the frame.

In fact, this was already Su Xinghui's second time on Hudong News. The previous time was when Lu Zhenghong came to inspect Meng Hu Ling, but that news segment was of course not as long as this one, and his screen time was not as much either.

Su Xinghui smiled and said nothing, calmly continuing to drink his tea and eat his melon seeds. Zeng Xianglin said admiringly, "Su Xiangzhang, you really can keep your composure. If it were me on TV, I don't know how excited I'd be."

Su Xinghui pointed at the TV and said, "Look quick—aren't you on TV too?"

Zeng Xianglin hurriedly turned to look at the TV, but his figure was no longer on the screen. He said ruefully, "Sigh, I finally got a shot on camera, but I missed it myself."

Su Xinghui burst out laughing, and Zeng Xianglin laughed too.

The next day, every single person at the Meng Hu Ling Township Government told Su Xinghui they had seen him on TV the night before, one after another congratulating him. In these times, appearing on the provincial TV news was a great occasion for celebration.

At the same time, the report on Gu Shanmin's inspection of Meng Hu Ling was also published in the Hudong Daily, taking up nearly a full page. The report highly praised the achievements of Meng Hu Ling Township's agricultural reform over the past year.

Gu Shanmin also called on the entire province to learn from Meng Hu Ling, to carry out reforms in agriculture, to study the Meng Hu Ling model, and to earnestly develop the agricultural economy.

With this, Meng Hu Ling became thoroughly famous throughout the province, and Su Xinghui became a celebrity in the province as well. Many people in Hudong's official circles now remembered the name Su Xinghui.

Don't joke about it—being able to stay by the Provincial Party Secretary's side the whole time, how could he be an ordinary person? It seemed his meteoric rise was just around the corner.

So many people were congratulating Su Xinghui, yet Su Xinghui himself remained as if nothing had happened—composed and calm, going about his work as usual.

That afternoon, Zeng Xianglin said he wanted to treat Su Xinghui to dinner. He said his wife had been placed by Min Tong in the factory cafeteria—the workload wasn't too heavy, but the pay wasn't low, almost on par with Zeng Xianglin's own—and he had to treat Su Xinghui to dinner to thank him.

However, Su Xinghui still had to accompany Yu Ruizhi and Sister Ruoqiu to dinner, so he politely declined Zeng Xianglin. He said, "Lao Zeng, didn't I already tell you? Working hard from now on is the best thanks you can give me. I have other matters, so I won't have dinner with you."

Zeng Xianglin could only nod in agreement.

On the afternoon of November 2nd, Yu Ruizhi's friend rushed over from Yuedong Province to Shangjun County, and Yu Ruizhi had Xiao He go to Shangjun County to pick him up.

This friend of his was named Xiang Tianlu; he was in his thirties today, and he too had been driven over by his own driver in a Mercedes-Benz.

Xiang Tianlu was not very tall, but his build was wiry and tough. The moment he saw Yu Ruizhi, he warmly shook his hand and said, "President Yu, I'm not late, am I?"

Yu Ruizhi said, "Not late, not late. President Xiang, you must have been driving all day today, right?"

Xiang Tianlu said, "We set out at six in the morning, so yes, we've been driving all day."

Yu Ruizhi said, "Then you must be tired. I'll book you a room—get some rest early tonight."

Xiang Tianlu said, "I'm not the tired one—I slept the whole way in the car and I'm not sleepy at all. It's the driver who's had it hard."

Yu Ruizhi laughed and said, "Then let's eat first. After the meal, let your driver rest early, and then we can have a good chat."

After saying that, Yu Ruizhi introduced Xiang Tianlu: "This is Su Xinghui, Vice Xiangzhang of Meng Hu Ling Township, and also a good friend of mine. This is my sister, Yu Ruoqiu."

Xiang Tianlu did not dare be discourteous, and shook hands with Su Xinghui and Yu Ruoqiu one by one. Then the group went to the Lu Family Inn for dinner.