Chapter 1532: She? He? He!

Thump, thump, thump—

"Stop for a moment."

The Volga M24 stopped steadily by the side of the road under Yu Zhe's control, although he didn't know what the leader meant by stopping.

"Secretary-General?"

Zhang Enyuan looked back at the leader, only to see the Secretary-General had already pushed open the car door and got out.

How could a secretary be left behind? He only had time to give Yu Zhe a command before jumping out of the car after the leader.

Thump, thump, thump—

Not far away, pile drivers were lined up in a row. Diesel fumes completely shrouded the sky above, and even the ground underfoot was trembling.

"It's the latest engineering machinery deployed by the United Construction General Company. They've been working for several days."

Zhang Enyuan saw the Secretary-General staring in the direction of the construction site. Following his gaze, he found he was looking at the pile drivers, so he introduced them softly.

Li Xuewu nodded slightly and asked, "How is the construction progress of the underground project?"

"Secretary-General, I'm a layman in engineering." Zhang Enyuan reported apologetically, "Director Zhang arranged for Wang Min to watch it."

"However, I dock with the Engineering Command every day. They tell me the construction period can be guaranteed."

"Who told them the construction period can be guaranteed?"

Li Xuewu turned his head and glanced at him, saying, "The three-defense project is racing against time. Guaranteeing the construction period is not the goal; the goal is to guarantee quality and quantity."

He took off the wool overcoat he was wearing and changed into the leather jacket he brought in the luggage in the trunk.

"Alright, you don't need to follow me over in this outfit. I'll go take a look at the site myself."

"Hey! Secretary-General—"

Zhang Enyuan saw the leader taking big strides toward the construction site. He waved his hand, lowered his head to look at the cadre suit he was wearing, gritted his teeth, rushed back to the car, and said to Yu Zhe, "Take off your clothes!"

"Ah—" Yu Zhe was startled by his move, curling his lips in a cautious and absurd way.

"Secretary-General?"

Zhang Enyuan widened his eyes and asked, "Didn't you see the leader walk away!"

"I saw it, I saw it..."

Yu Zhe crossed his arms over his chest unnaturally, looking at Zhang Enyuan guardedly, and asked, "Zhang... Secretary Zhang, is this... is this good?"

"Why are you so dawdling!"

Zhang Enyuan said as he had already started taking off his own coat, urging him, "Hurry up—"

"Don't—Secretary Zhang—"

Yu Zhe opened the car door and got out in a panic, waving his hands repeatedly to refuse, "It's midwinter, it's so cold."

He looked left and right, across the roof of the car, and reminded Zhang Enyuan opposite him with a grin, "Besides, this is the factory gate, people coming and going, it's so embarrassing, I can't do this!"

"Are you taking it off or not!" Zhang Enyuan threw his own clothes into the passenger seat, widened his eyes, and reminded him, "If you don't take it off, the Secretary-General will be back!"

"Zhang... Secretary Zhang, I really can't do this, you'd better change to someone else!"

Yu Zhe tried hard to keep a car's distance from him. He already felt itchy in his butt after dodging a few times.

To tell the truth, this was the first time he had met such a person. He had only heard old ladies in the village say that in the early years, the princes and nobles in the city liked this.

What was this profession called?

Oh—Tu Ye—

Zhang Enyuan said the Secretary-General would be back soon. He now wished the leader would come back early, so he could see what Zhang Secretary's face looked like.

"Get lost—"

Zhang Enyuan was anxious, unable to restrain even dirty words. He pulled off Yu Zhe's jacket, which hadn't been washed for several days, draped it over himself, and ran after him in small steps.

"Oh my god—" It was as if he had escaped a catastrophe. Yu Zhe let out a long breath, relaxed, and almost sat on the ground, "So he wanted clothes, he could have just said so—"

He wiped the sweat that didn't know when it appeared on his forehead, curled his lips, and muttered, "Borrowing clothes is borrowing clothes, would it kill you to say it clearly—"

Zhang Enyuan was about to be angered to death by him. When he caught up with Li Xuewu, he saw the leader was already chatting with the project manager of the construction site.

"Construction in winter is difficult. Steel City has already seen 7 snowfalls, and the road surface is frozen."

The person in charge stepped on the layer of snow under his feet and introduced to Li Xuewu, "If we use excavation to construct, I'm afraid the soil layer will loosen after the thaw next year, causing collapse accidents."

Li Xuewu followed his gaze to look under his feet, and indeed, the soil layer couldn't be seen.

Where is the cold in this era?

You might look at the mountains and plains covered in snow, no different from later generations.

But you look for a road, this is the main road of the industrial zone, and you can't even see the asphalt, all covered by snow and ice.

How did this road surface form?

The first snow fell and wasn't swept clean in time. After the sun came out, the snow melted.

But at night, the temperature plummeted to minus ten degrees, and the snow water from the day froze into ice.

Maybe the first snow hadn't melted completely, and the second snow fell.

Just like that, snow melted into ice, and ice melted into the newly fallen snow, layer after layer.

In the end, the temperature was really low, and the snow didn't melt anymore. Cars or pedestrians walked over it, stepping the snow solid and melting it into ice layers.

So looking at it now, the whole road surface was undulating, white and shining.

Otherwise, why would they say the Northeast produces drivers? On this kind of road surface, only Northeast drivers dare to drive heavy trucks. Drivers from inside the pass don't come outside the pass; one comes, one is destroyed.

Why?

Because Northeast drivers know that driving on this kind of road surface, stepping on the brake is equivalent to suicide.

If you don't step on the brake, how do you stop?

Wait until you hit something and then stop, or release the accelerator and wait for the car to stop by itself.

Don't believe it? Try it yourself. Driving in the Northeast, there are very few pedestrians blocking you on the road, because they know you can't brake, and you really dare to hit them to death.

Unlike other places, where they can block half the road with a bicycle, betting you don't dare hit them.

Li Xuewu was wearing leather shoes. He kicked the ice layer and couldn't kick it at all, only splashing a little ice slag.

"This kind of rail-type diesel pile driver imported from France can go 25 meters deep underground."

The project manager pointed to the pile drivers in a row and introduced, "If it goes smoothly, the foundation piling work can be completed in half a month."

"What's next?" Li Xuewu looked at the hot construction site and asked, "Pile column connection?"

"We will carry out cross-connection operations between multiple pile columns to ensure the stability of the project."

The project manager gestured with his hands to introduce the construction technology and technical specifications.

Li Xuewu listened for a long time, then walked to the area where the piling work had been completed to take a look.

"The condensation of concrete in this weather is a problem, right?" He raised his head to look at the sky. Even if the sun was bright, the cold wind blowing on his face was like a sharp knife.

You could know by feeling that it was at least minus twenty degrees, and there were ice slags as soon as the concrete hit the ground.

"Underground temperature is guaranteed."

The project manager introduced, "We will monitor all pile columns in real-time and carry out insulation treatment after construction is completed."

"Of course, the underground temperature will also spread up along the pile column body, which won't cause much impact."

Li Xuewu nodded, looked at the small sheds on both sides of the road, which should be the insulation measures mentioned by the person in charge.

"How to keep warm? One shed, one stove?"

He smiled bitterly and shook his head, saying, "How many stoves are needed for this."

"Fire basins are also fine. The hardware factory urgently produced a batch, and it's barely enough for now."

The person in charge curled his dry, cracked lips and introduced, "Sometimes we also find fun in bitterness and roast sweet potatoes in the fire basin."

"Hehe—" Li Xuewu nodded with a light smile and said, "Hard work."

He looked at the sheds of all sizes in this operation area and said, "If it weren't for the urgency from above, I really wouldn't be able to bear it—"

The project manager didn't know whether the leader couldn't bear their hard work or couldn't bear the money.

To tell the truth, every shed had a basin of fire. From the start of construction until now, the coal truck hadn't stopped.

Coal was added every hour, and the pile delivered a few days ago was visibly shrinking; the ice near the shack had melted, creating a patch of slushy water.

This ground construction could still use open-fire charcoal basins, underground construction was what was really suffering.

It wasn't cold in the position dug more than ten meters underground, but it was damp.

Plus the hole at the entrance was so big, you could still feel the cold at a close distance.

No way, you could only drill holes as stove mouths, and you had to have someone monitor the concentration of carbon dioxide underground, fearing the whole army would be wiped out.

Li Xuewu wrapped his leather jacket, walked a long way with the project manager, looked at the construction of the site, looked at the workers' living area, and even took a car in the operation area to look around the underground engineering operation area, which counted as having a number in his heart.

When he returned to the ground, Yang Zongfang, the executive deputy factory director of the metallurgical plant, was bringing the chief engineer Wang Zhijun down from the car.

"Secretary-General, you're back."

Yang Zongfang greeted him bitterly, "If you wanted to see the site, you should have said so, so Old Wang and I could accompany you."

"Why be so polite?"

Li Xuewu glanced at the two, pointed to the living area behind him, and said, "The food in the cafeteria is a bit poor. In the middle of winter, if the food standard can't keep up, the construction progress will also be affected."

"This—" Yang Zongfang and Wang Zhijun looked at each other and reminded him softly, "This is the construction site of the Construction General Company, is it okay for us to—"

"What okay?" Li Xuewu waved his hand, took them to the car, and said, "The engineering company is working at our doorstep. If they still can't eat well, isn't it a disgrace to our home?"

"Where the Engineering General Company can't see, you should take the initiative to communicate. You can't just turn a blind eye because it's not under our jurisdiction, right?"

He also understood Yang Zongfang, so his words weren't too harsh, just blaming the other party for not knowing how to be flexible.

"You contact the engineering company and say that the factory will coordinate the supply of pork and vegetables, and ask them to be responsible for the allocation of material procurement funds."

"Secretary-General, I'm afraid they won't accept this favor—"

Chief Engineer Wang Zhijun introduced bitterly, "We only do coordination and communication work when we come to the construction site. They don't like us intervening in engineering management and supervision work."

"They don't like it, so we don't do it?"

Li Xuewu turned his head to look at the two and said, "We can't control other places, but working at our doorstep, and it's a three-defense livelihood project, this is for our own use in the future. What's wrong with paying more attention?"

"Go, just say I said it."

He waved his hand and said, "If there are any problems, you can come find me. Also!"

After Zhang Enyuan opened the car door for him, he pointed at the two and emphasized, "Come over every week to watch the construction progress and quality problems."

"If you don't understand yourself, find someone who does." Li Xuewu held the car door and looked at the two deeply, saying, "This kind of thing can't be sloppy, it will cost lives if something goes wrong."

Yang Zongfang and Wang Zhijun felt a chill in their hearts. Watching the Secretary-General get in the car and leave, the two finally let out a sigh of relief, looked at each other, and both smiled bitterly.

Li Xuewu was the factory director of the Steel City Metallurgical Plant, but he wasn't just the factory director of the Steel City Metallurgical Plant. He was also the person in charge of the Group's Liaodong industry and the Secretary-General of the Group's Management Committee.

The two looked at problems only from the perspective of the metallurgical plant's rules and regulations, and couldn't see as far as the Secretary-General.

Talking about coordinating the staff's food problem, this was the most troublesome thing.

Just as the Secretary-General said, taking the initiative to coordinate and supply food materials was fine, but if they took the initiative, would the other party think the food here was poor, and suspect that they had embezzled the food funds, or that they were the ones who complained?

This wasn't yellow mud falling into the pants, finding trouble for oneself.

But there was no way, the leader looked at problems from a higher angle and didn't care about their personal emotions.

"What now?"

Wang Zhijun looked honest on the surface, but was actually full of bad water. At this moment, he didn't speak, but instead asked Yang Zongfang what to do.

Right, Yang Zongfang was the executive deputy factory director, and he was just a chief engineer at the deputy factory director level. Now if he didn't listen to Yang Zongfang, who would he listen to?

Yang Zongfang was also worried. Watching the project manager grin, he really wanted to cry.

"How about—" He thought for a while, and when getting into the car, raised his eyebrows and said, "Just say the Secretary-General came to investigate, found the food was poor, wanted to pursue the relevant responsible person, and was persuaded by us?"

What a clever ghost!

Wang Zhijun gave him a thumbs up and said with a smile, "You really are much stronger than me, worthy of being the executive deputy factory director."

"Old Wang, you're not being honest—"

Yang Zongfang smiled bitterly and pointed at him, only then bending over to get into the car.

"It's all the same thing, it's just that the order has changed. I believe the Secretary-General won't care about these details."

"The Secretary-General only wants results."

Wang Zhijun echoed, "As long as the food problem is really solved, everything is easy to talk about."

"Everything is easy to talk about?" Yang Zongfang glanced at him sideways, turned his head to look at the construction site outside the window, and snorted coldly, "The Secretary-General is the hardest to talk to."

"Especially this time he came back."

The driver saw the two leaders had already boarded, so he drove back. The distance to the factory office area wasn't far, just a step on the accelerator.

"This time he came back? How?"

Wang Zhijun leaned sideways and looked at him, asking, "Did you hear any wind?"

"Where would you need to hear this wind?"

Yang Zongfang looked out the window and said, "In this morning's newspaper, the Secretary-General was the first to get off the plane representing the industrial and commercial units of the visiting delegation. You think about it."

"What can I think—" Wang Zhijun froze, then frowned and asked, "Is the Secretary-General going to be transferred?"

"Wrong! It's that he can't be transferred—"

Yang Zongfang turned his head to look at him and said, "Achievements and results one after another, the Group is about to seal the world soon, how should the higher-ups look at the Secretary-General?"

"What... what else can they look at?"

Wang Zhijun raised his eyebrows and said, "Reward the rewarded, punish the punished."

"It would be great if it were as simple as you think—" Yang Zongfang let out a long sigh and said, "Still too young—"

Wang Zhijun didn't speak, carefully savoring this sentence. Too young?

Indeed, if the Secretary-General's age and seniority were enough, even if he had only been in Steel City for a year, he would have had enough qualifications to go further.

But precisely because he was too young, and the goals set when the Secretary-General first came to Steel City hadn't been fully realized.

Plus the Group Management Committee's important deployment for Liaodong industrial development still needed the Secretary-General to complete, so there was no play for going further.

However, this kind of thing was a regret for them, but for the Secretary-General, wasn't it also an opportunity?

Stay in Steel City for a few more years, and the solid achievements will lift him back to the Group. By then, all disputes and contradictions will be gone.

Others didn't know, but he had heard some wind, saying that someone didn't want the Secretary-General to pay too much attention to the Group's work.

Now that he thought about it, these words might be true.

Then, is the performance of constantly accumulating credit and achievements a good thing for the Secretary-General?

"Secretary-General, you're back."

Zhou Peilan passed by the door and saw the leader's office door was open, so she came in to take a look.

Seeing the leader sitting in the office chair reading documents, she greeted him with surprise.

Li Xuewu raised his head, saw it was her, nodded with a smile, and said, "Back, come."

"Secretary-General, how is East Germany?"

Zhou Peilan held a document in her arms and asked curiously what was in her heart.

Li Xuewu smiled. He had answered this question at least 50 times in the past few days.

However, the answer for everyone was different, just like the one for Zhou Peilan: "I feel it's not as good as the mainland, not even as good as Steel City."

"You're bluffing me—" Zhou Peilan wrinkled her nose and said proudly, "No matter what, it wouldn't be more backward than Steel City, right?"

"Perhaps in ten or twenty years, it really won't be able to catch up with Steel City—"

Li Xuewu shook his head with a smile and asked, "Is there work to report? I still have a little time now."

"Yes! But I haven't prepared for a moment—" Zhou Peilan ran out in a panic. Realizing it was impolite, she turned back and leaned against the door to explain apologetically: "I'll go prepare, I'll be back right away, wait for me—"

Yu Zhe, who came upstairs to ask if the leader needed him to send his luggage home first, happened to catch this sentence, and couldn't help but widen his eyes.

But immediately he shook his head, and even regretfully gave his head a punch.

What is he thinking about all day!

What's wrong with him? Listening to everything as if it had color, is his heart dirty?

It was the same at the factory gate. Zhang Secretary clearly feared getting his clothes dirty if he went down the well with the leader, so he wanted to borrow his dirty clothes to wear, but he understood it as what kind of ghost meaning, thinking about it made him feel ashamed.

On the way back, Zhang Secretary didn't look at him after returning his clothes, and even his thanks were full of distance, very afraid...

Right! Very afraid of being dirtied by him!

Damn it, this feeling is too uncomfortable.

He came upstairs to ask the leader, actually to find an opportunity to see Secretary Zhang and explain that he wasn't doing it on purpose, he only liked women.

Especially those who wear glasses...

Thump, thump, thump—

Don't misunderstand, it wasn't the pile driving sound reaching the office building, it was Yu Zhe hammering his own head.

He only emphasized one sentence in his heart, and then he didn't know how he defined the type he liked.

Isn't this dirty—

"What are you doing here?"

Zhang Enyuan came out of the large office and saw Yu Zhe standing at the leader's office door hammering his skull like a gorilla. He looked at the other party as if looking at a mental patient and couldn't help but ask.

"Ah! Secretary Zhang—"

Yu Zhe turned his head in surprise, but startled Zhang Enyuan.

What kind of problem is this!

Zhang Enyuan widened his eyes and took a step back, thinking in his heart that Yu Zhe had manic depression?

"Secretary Zhang, I came to..."

Yu Zhe wanted to speak, but didn't know how to start in front of Secretary Zhang.

He explained with some shame, "I really didn't do it on purpose, you called me to take off my clothes in the car just now and I didn't react..."

Slap—

Files scattered on the ground in front of Yu Zhe. Raising his head again, he saw Zhou Peilan, who had just run back to the large office, looking at him... and Secretary Zhang with shock.

"That! Comrade Peilan—"

Zhang Enyuan's head was about to explode, waving his hands repeatedly to explain, "It's not what you think!"

"What I think... sorry! Sorry!" Zhou Peilan seemed to have broken into someone's affair, lowering her body to tidy up the files on the ground with a face full of guilt, apologizing repeatedly.

"No!" Zhang Enyuan saw her lowering her body to tidy up the files with a red face and apologizing repeatedly, knowing Zhou Peilan must have misunderstood.

"Oh, Comrade Peilan, it's really not what you think, I just borrowed his clothes to wear."

Zhou Peilan looked at the clean and tidy Zhongshan suit he was wearing, which looked like it was newly made, and then turned to look at the dirty jacket on Yu Zhe...

Okay! She had to believe it!

If she didn't believe it, wouldn't she be a fool!

"Mm-hmm, I know, I know."

She nodded repeatedly, indicating that she believed Secretary Zhang's words, and believed that he didn't want her Zhongshan suit, but wanted to wear Yu Zhe's dirty clothes.

She just lowered her head again, and the speed of tidying up the files in her hand was faster, making Zhang Enyuan feel that he had fallen into a pit. This girl didn't believe it at all!

"Then what, what did you explain—"

Zhang Enyuan stared, his back teeth about to be bitten off. This bastard ruined his reputation!

If this kind of misunderstanding spread in the agency, wouldn't his wife divorce him when he got home?

Liking a woman could still be forgiven, but if you liked a... disgusting!

"From today on, let's maintain the purest comradely relationship, do you hear me?"

He pointed at Yu Zhe and emphasized, "Exert your interests more, don't let people think you have other quirks, this is good for you and good for me."

After speaking, he walked toward the stairs as if he had given up on treatment.

Yu Zhe was stunned. Was his explanation just now problematic? Did it make Zhou Peilan misunderstand?

If he thought so, he was wrong.

Don't look at how he was usually not serious and did things unreliably, but he was very responsible.

So after thinking it through, he waved his hand and shouted at Zhang Enyuan, who was going down the stairs: "Secretary Zhang, I will be responsible for this matter!"

Hearing this sentence from behind, Zhang Enyuan looked back at the bastard who thought he was so brave and noble as if he had been frozen, muttering: "A sin—"

"I'm telling you... don't tell anyone else... otherwise..."

"Really? The two of them..."

"My god!"

Just for one afternoon, Zhang Enyuan felt that there were more pointing fingers and discussions behind him.

He was about to die. He couldn't explain this kind of thing even if he wanted to. It was all the fault of the damn Yu Zhe.

If it were just himself, it would be fine, but as the leader's secretary, how much influence would such rumors have on the Secretary-General.

The secretary and the driver got together, and both were... really brave!

"Leader, I want to tell you something."

Li Xuewu had been reading documents all afternoon, seeing several batches of people reporting, not stopping for a minute.

Now there were fewer people, but looking at the time, it was time to get off work.

Zhang Enyuan walked into the office with a pale face, came to the front of his desk, and looked at him like a death row prisoner being sent to the execution ground, his eyes listless.

"What's wrong?" Li Xuewu looked at him suspiciously and asked, "What happened?"

"Something big happened..." Zhang Enyuan looked at him with a dry tone and said, "Leader, I can't be your secretary anymore..."

Before this sentence was finished, there was a crying tone in his voice. A grown man speaking with a crying tone sounded creepy.

"You—sit down and talk."

Li Xuewu looked at him unexpectedly, pointed to the chair opposite, and asked, "What exactly happened? Is there any change at home?"

"Not at home, it's me—"

Zhang Enyuan gritted his teeth, endured the shame and sadness in his heart, and explained the matter.

After explaining, he didn't dare to raise his head to look at the leader, fearing to see an angry face.

"Just because of this little thing?"

Li Xuewu looked at his secretary amusedly and absurdly. He was almost forty years old, and he was going to die because of this little thing.

However, he didn't feel very surprised, because one era has one era's cognition.

The beggar pants popular in the nineties, good jeans had to be dug with a few holes, the elderly said it was wasteful, wearing them like a beggar.

But it didn't take twenty years, they were all at the age of being grandmothers, and they dressed younger than young girls.

Eighty-year-olds dressed like

Yet, it hadn't even been twenty years, and though they were at the age to be grandmothers, they dressed younger than young girls.

Eighty-year-olds dressed like eighteen-year-olds, while eighteen-year-olds, conversely, dressed like eighty-year-olds.

In this day and age, if someone spread such rumors about you, there were almost only two paths: either drag your wife out and livestream it to outsiders to prove you weren't "bent," or find a place with no one around and end it all.

It was truly too difficult to gain even a shred of trust while mingling among the flowers like Yu Zhe, who had no shame or sense of propriety.

It was too simple for Yu Zhe to prove his "innocence"; he didn't even need to open his mouth—those old A8s only needed to spar three rounds to ensure Yu Zhe could extricate himself from this matter.

But what about Zhang Enyuan, who had been made to take off his clothes by Yu Zhe?

"Alright, the more you care, the more people will think you have something to hide."

Li Xuewu stood up, patted his shoulder, and said, "Let's go, I'll take you home today."

"Secretary-General—" Zhang Enyuan stood up, feeling deeply ashamed and hesitant, saying, "There's no need to affect your reputation because of me..."

"Just you? Affect my reputation?"

Li Xuewu chuckled as he looked him over, shook his head, took his overcoat off the hanger, put it on, and said, "Let's go, it's time to get off work."

Zhang Enyuan watched his leader head out the door and, after a moment of hesitation, followed him out.

It was exactly the time to get off work, and the corridors and stairwells were full of people, yet when they saw them come out, people took the initiative to clear a path for them to go downstairs.

"It's fine, go about your business."

Li Xuewu smiled and waved his hand, and after Zhang Enyuan locked the office door, they walked downstairs together.

In Zhang Enyuan's eyes, the Secretary-General at this moment was like a sun—that's right, radiating a light capable of banishing all darkness.

The gaze he cast toward the crowd while walking beside him was so clear, without a hint of anything strange.

Yet he knew this matter wouldn't be resolved just because the Secretary-General had stepped in, but the fleeting light could still numb his cold heart.

When they reached the ground floor, that bastard Yu Zhe had already parked the car and was flirting with Zhang Meili.

Seeing them come down, he quickly gave Zhang Meili a wink and turned back to open the rear car door.

"Secretary-General, your luggage has been sent to your home; Jia Geng received it."

"Mm, I know."

Li Xuewu only nodded in response before getting into the car.

Yu Zhe wanted to turn back to greet Secretary Zhang and explain his recent efforts, but he saw the other party avoiding him like he was a thief as she got into the car.

With only that much distance between the driver's seat and the passenger seat, where else could she hide!

If it weren't to clear his name, would he have bothered to cozy up to Zhang Meili!

Recently, he had grown a bit tired of the old A8, and he had his eye on an A6—an older model, of course.

I don't know who said it, but they said a woman is like a pot of wine; the kind that's just been unsealed is astringent and spicy, and only the vintage aged by time has flavor.

"Take Enyuan home first."

Li Xuewu, sitting in the back seat, gave this instruction only after Yu Zhe started the car.

Yu Zhe turned his head to look at Secretary Zhang, and seeing her keep her face turned toward the window, he raised an eyebrow, acknowledged the order, and steered the car out of the factory grounds.

Actually, taking Zhang Enyuan home first was correct, because Zhang Enyuan's home was located halfway between the factory grounds and Guanshan Road, but Zhang Enyuan was used to taking the leader home first, and Li Xuewu hadn't paid it any mind.

In the car, Yu Zhe drove, unable to resist glancing at Secretary Zhang from time to time.

As for Zhang Enyuan, he stared out the window, his heart feeling like dead ashes; he didn't even dare to look at Yu Zhe.

Li Xuewu observed the two of them for a good while before leaning back against the seat with a smile to close his eyes and rest.

The car drove directly to the entrance of Zhang Enyuan's home, a brick-and-tile courtyard; it seemed his family still had some assets.

"Daddy—"

"Daddy, you came back in a car!"

Two children were playing in the snow in the courtyard, and hearing the sound of the car, they ran out, chirping and calling for their daddy.

Seeing his two sons, Zhang Enyuan finally regained his spirit; he picked them up, one in each arm, and kissed them both.

"Hello, Uncle—"

Zhang Enyuan's children had only seen Li Xuewu once, but they could remember his face.

They huddled timidly in their father's arms but still politely offered a greeting.

Li Xuewu smiled, reached out to touch the child's small hand, and asked, "Where is your mother?"

"She's cooking—"

The slightly older boy slid down from his father's arms and ran quickly into the courtyard.

"Mom! Mom! Daddy's back!"

"And Uncle Li is here too—"

The younger one followed his brother's lead, running into the courtyard and shouting as if making a report.

"Slow down! Don't run—"

Zhang Enyuan's wife heard the commotion and came out of the house without even having time to untie the apron around her waist.

Once she saw a tall, upright figure standing by the car—it was dark, and there was only the light from the car headlights, but he looked to be wearing a wool overcoat—she knew it couldn't be wrong.

"Old Zhang—" She walked out of the courtyard gate to greet him, and seeing in the light that it was indeed the leader who had come, she smiled and waved, saying, "The leader is here, why didn't you let him inside? What are you standing there like a fool for!"

"It's fine, Sister-in-law. I was just taking Secretary Zhang home on the way, and I wanted to come see you too."

"You're too polite, come inside and sit for a while." Zhang Enyuan's wife was quite capable, and she smiled and invited him: "Dinner is almost ready; if you don't mind, you and Brother Yu should just have a bite here. It just so happens Old Zhang has some stored liquor."

The hospitality of Northeasterners cannot be faked; if they truly don't want you to stay for a meal, you can definitely tell.

Of course, if they truly want you to stay, you can feel it deeply as well.

The more polite they are while not wanting you to stay, the more they are just being self-effacing; if they are casual, it must be sincere.

For example, if they say there's no good food, once you sit at the table, you'll know—there will be at least four dishes, and three of them will be substantial.

If they say there's no good liquor, it must be of a certain grade; they won't try to fool you with the rotgut they drink normally.

Northeasterners are all like this; the more guests they have, the more generous they are, willing to bring out all their best liquor and food.

Li Xuewu felt this warmth and sincerely explained: "I just got back from Beijing today, and as soon as I landed, I went to the unit to get busy; I haven't even been home to check on things yet. Next time, let's do it next time when there's an opportunity."

He patted Zhang Enyuan's arm and instructed: "You've worked hard lately. I'll give you a day off tomorrow; take your wife and the kids out for a stroll, don't just keep thinking about work."

After finishing with Zhang Enyuan, he looked at Zhang Enyuan's wife and said: "Sister-in-law, you should go to the factory to look around when you have time. Everyone has heard that Secretary Zhang has a virtuous helper at home, but we haven't met you in person yet."

"I don't have the time to go to the factory."

Zhang Enyuan's wife waved her hand in embarrassment and said, "I don't want to cause trouble for Old Zhang."

"You are family, one of our own; what trouble could you cause? Bring the kids to the factory to look around too."

Li Xuewu looked at the children standing before their parents and said with a smile: "Let them see their father's work and environment; that's a good thing."

"Secretary-General—" Zhang Enyuan seemed to understand the meaning behind the leader's words; his eyes were filled with gratitude and excitement, and his voice trembled as he spoke.

"Alright, that's all then."

Li Xuewu smiled and gestured toward the car, saying, "I have to go back; they're waiting for me at home."

"Oh, right." Just as he was getting into the car, he turned back to Zhang Enyuan and his wife and said: "Next month, on the day of the Spring Festival, the unit is organizing a dumpling-making session."

"I've long heard from Secretary Zhang that you have great culinary skills, Sister-in-law. If you can arrange it, come help out and let the comrades staying behind to be on duty at the unit have a hot meal of dumplings."

"He only knows how to brag outside."

Zhang Enyuan's wife couldn't help but smile and glare at her husband; she was secretly delighted, but she still said modestly: "What culinary skills do I have?"

Although she said that, she still waved her hand and promised Li Xuewu: "Leader, don't you worry, I'll definitely come help when I'm free!"

Watching Li Xuewu's car pass the street corner, the couple walked back into the courtyard.

Hearing his wife beside him let out a long sigh, Zhang Enyuan's wife glared at him and asked: "Old Zhang, tell me the truth, do you have someone else outside?"

"What! —" Zhang Enyuan was startled and asked in surprise: "What someone else!"

"Don't play dumb with me, you're not even good at it!" His wife pointed at his nose and scolded: "Look at you, scared out of your wits; with that little bit of ability, you're learning to go out and mess around with other women?"

"If there wasn't someone else outside, would your leader come to our house to tell me all this?"

"You're going to be the death of me with this false accusation!"

The heart that Zhang Enyuan had just set at ease upon returning home was suspended once again; he walked into the house and sat on the kang, sulking.

"I'm accusing you falsely—"

His wife was formidable; with one hand on her hip and the other pointing at him, she said: "You tell me, which slut did you hook up with—"

"I heard from people that there's someone in your unit named Zhang Meili, right? She specializes in hooking other people's husbands, is it her!"

"I might as well just bash my head in and die."

Zhang Enyuan looked up at the solid wood pillar beside him and really wanted to bash his head against it and end it all.

"Don't pull this 'I'm going to die' act with me; I don't have the time to bicker with you about this!"

His wife knitted her brows, glared, and scolded: "Just tell me what you want to do. Are we going to keep living like this or not? If you want to run off and be with that Zhang Meili, I'll grant your wish; just say the word early so we don't have to waste our breath."

"If you want to find that Zhang Meili, I can tell you in advance: you can't have the children."

His wife was also tired of scolding; she sat on the edge of the kang and emphasized: "A stepmother means a stepfather; I can't trust you, and I won't have you starving my son."

"Your mouth is like a machine gun; can you let me say one word?" Zhang Enyuan looked back at her with a bitter face and said: "The leader coming to the house to say those things to you really was about some business, but it's not what you think."

"What do I think?" His wife seemed to regain her fighting spirit upon hearing this; she stood up and glared at him, asking: "You tell me, if it's not Zhang Meili, then who is it?"

"Fine, you Zhang Enyuan, you're wicked to the core!" His wife pointed at his nose and scolded: "Did you ruin some young girl!"

In the Northeast, messing around with a married woman wasn't considered a major issue, but doing such a thing with an unmarried young girl was considered a violation of heaven's law.

In his wife's mind, since it wasn't a married woman Li Kezhang Meili, it must be an unmarried one.

"Oh my, the leader was talking about Yu Zhe!"

Zhang Enyuan was truly at his wit's end; if he didn't tell the truth, his wife might tear the house down in a moment.

"Yu Zhe? Whose daughter is Yu Zhe?" His wife didn't react for a moment; she frowned and thought about it, then suddenly her eyes widened!

"Her? Him? Him! —"

When Zhang Enyuan saw his wife wearing the same expression Zhou Peilan had had at the time, he thought to himself that he had had the worst luck in eight lifetimes; he had dodged all the underhanded schemes and hidden arrows in his unit, but he hadn't expected his lifelong reputation to be ruined by Yu Zhe.

Thump—

Zhang Enyuan's wife fell back onto the edge of the kang, staring blankly at him as she said: "Old Zhang, what have I ever done to let you down—"

"Wife, I've been wronged!"

Zhang Enyuan hugged his wife's thigh and began to cry, crying even harder than his wife.

As his wife cried, she found her own crying drowned out by his, and she suddenly felt a sense of sorrow—could it be that Zhang Enyuan had been... bullied by Yu Zhe?