Chapter 61: The End of Karma and the Beginning of Karma (End of Volume One)

  The head of the municipal party committee organization department, Ouyang Xinghua, was at home. It's rare for the whole family to have dinner together. Ouyang Qianxing was in high spirits and said, "Dad, how did Sihuan become the party secretary? Did you arrange it?"

  Ouyang Xinghua's face was somewhat strange, and after a long sigh, he said: "It wasn't me. Such a big move as changing posts at short notice can only be done by Secretary Zhang of Ziwai City... I asked myself if I couldn't influence Secretary Zhang's decision. When Director Xu of the Organization Department of Ziwai Municipal Committee called me today, he also said that this matter was somewhat sudden. Secretary Zhang gave instructions without any warning."

  Ouyang Qian exclaimed, "Ah!", and then said: "When did that little brat get involved with Secretary Zhang?"

  Ouyang Xinghua thought for a moment and said, I feel that Secretary Zhang doesn't know him at all. As for why he made a move, there's only one reason - someone from above has given the signal.

  Ouyang Qian nodded and didn't ask much, continuing to say excitedly that the 22-year-old township party secretary is a record-breaker. Ouyang Xinghua nodded in agreement and then said that since he is your direct subordinate, don't forget to see him off, and also pass on a message from me, telling him to take every step steadily so as not to fall.

  Zhang Qi, who had been listening to the conversation between the father and daughter, suddenly interjected: "Xiao Qian, what do you think of Liu Siyuan?"

  Ouyang Qian naturally understood her meaning, her small face turned red, she threw down her chopsticks and said I'm full, then turned around and escaped back to her own room.

  Zhang Qi didn't mind, turned her head to look at Ouyang Xinghua and said: "It seems that our daughter really has a crush on him. In the past, when we introduced her to someone, she would always reject them outright. Who would have thought that just now she would even blush? It's like the sun rising in the west! I think that young man is quite good too, I'm pretty fond of him. Why don't we play matchmaker for Xinghua?"

  Ouyang Xinghua sighed and said: "If it can really be done, I won't oppose it, but I'm a bit worried..."

  Zhang Qi put down her chopsticks and said somewhat displeased, "What are you worried about? Our daughter already has a crush on him, how can it not work out? Are you still worried that the young man won't take a liking to our girl? How is that possible? Our Xiaoxian has a good family background and looks, the men pursuing her could form an entire army."

  Ouyang Xinghua let out a sigh and nodded, not saying anything. He also acknowledged that Zhang Qi was right. His daughter not only came from a good family but was also beautiful, even if she had a bit of a temper. There was no reason for Liu Siyuan to look down on her.

  It wasn't until later that he said, "I'm a bit worried about that kid. Being the boss is not easy, one wrong move and Beixi Town will be his Waterloo. The person who promoted him was ruthless too, didn't have any good intentions. This isn't promotion, it's directly pushing him to the edge of an active volcano."

  She apparently didn't hear the conversation, sitting in her own room with heavy rain pouring outside the window. She supported her chin with her left hand and fiddled with her phone in her right hand, thinking for a long time before sending out a message. After sending it, she seemed to regret it a bit, lying on the bed and occasionally flashing a smile or falling into deep thought.

  Fang Xin Yu was eating with a straight face, on her left sat a beautiful middle-aged woman who bore a 70% resemblance to her. Across from her sat a man with a serious expression, a typical Chinese face, with piercing eyes that exuded an extremely strong official aura. At this moment, he too was silently eating his meal like Fang Xin Yu. The family's nanny seemed to also be unable to withstand the atmosphere and was hiding far away, not daring to get close.

  "Xin Yi, your dad is busy with work and rarely comes back for a meal, so don't argue with him." The middle-aged woman advised with a bitter tone.

  Fang Xin Yu hummed and turned her head away, ignoring her.

  The middle-aged woman sighed and muttered: "You two are the same, stinky temper! Stubborn! Can't speak properly!"

  "Mom!" Fang Xinyu said indignantly: "He was the one who struck first!"

  The middle-aged woman also had a helpless look on her face, and could only turn her head to persuade the middle-aged man, saying: "Lao Xiang, you're also like that, why bother with such trivial matters?"

  The middle-aged man finally spoke up, his voice not loud but full of majesty: "If you want to marry my daughter, you must be able to withstand the test! If you can't even solve this little difficulty, what qualifications do you have to take my daughter back home?"

  Fang Xinyu suddenly stood up, angrily saying: "What marriage, I'm just ordinary friends with him! And he's only 22 years old! You put him in the position of town party secretary, how can he command respect? What were you doing at 22 years old?!"

  "I was 22 years old when I settled down in the countryside and started farming and raising pigs," said the middle-aged man in a low voice.

  "Hum! Then she met my mom, and then I was born, right?! Then she just abandoned us and went back to the city by herself without a word?" Fang Xinyi said, slamming her bowl on the table before storming back to her room.

  Today's rain was particularly heavy, and just as Fang Xinyi sat down at her desk, a flash of lightning streaked across, drawing her attention to a piece of paper on the table. She remembered that it was a page torn from a black notebook by Liu Siyuan to leave his penguin number for her. What caught her eye was that the back of this note seemed to be emitting a faint blue glow.

  Fang Xin'er curiously flipped over the paper, and a short poem composed of three lines of azure elegant font appeared before her eyes.

  A few minutes later, she suddenly rushed out of the house, ignoring her mother's loud calls behind her that it was raining heavily outside...

  The middle-aged man, who was her father, shook his body and didn't say anything.

  "Older brother... you only have one daughter!" The middle-aged woman cried out in despair, then notified the security guard to quickly chase after Fang Xin Yi.

  The latter waved his hand, sighed deeply, and then dialed a phone call: "Ming Duan, it's me. Well, about that Liu Siyuan... you take care of him properly, if he really can't do it, change his position."

  Liu Siyuan was packing his luggage at home. After graduating and leaving the university dormitory, he had been living in this rental house for two years. While packing, he found many things that he hadn't seen in a long time, including a photo album from his university graduation, CDs of games he used to play, etc. Looking at these things made him feel like he was back in his student days. However, life is a one-way street with no turning back. He smiled bitterly and kept the photo album, but threw away the game CDs.

  Among the sorted items, what caught his attention was a photo with Ding Hui, in the first drawer beside the desk. In the photo, the two of them were under the cherry blossoms at Hanjiang University, smiling so brightly.

  Since the quarrel that night, they hadn't seen each other. Ding Hui had come once when he was at work and quietly packed her things and left without them meeting. This photo should have been left behind after she cleaned up. The first drawer of the desk shouldn't be overlooked, so he thought it's possible she intentionally left it there. Under the photo, there was a CD that Liu Siyuan had seen before, which was her favorite album by a Canadian-Chinese female singer. According to her, the singer was a Chinese-Canadian woman. Liu Siyuan had an idea and picked up the CD and put it away.

  A gentle and sorrowful melody drifted over:

  Every word and sentence seemed to be whispered in his ear, memories gradually flooding his mind. The bits and pieces of their acquaintance from the beginning played out like a short film in his head, and the tears he had suppressed for so long finally fell.

  A sudden short message came, he opened and took a look, it was from Ouyang Qian, the little girl's message was somewhat inexplicable, the content was: n_ss!w_ll!m_!

  Liu Siyuan was pondering what this meant, or if his phone had gone haywire and was displaying gibberish.

  Just then a knock at the door brought him back from his reverie, and opening it he was astonished to see a slender figure, already drenched by the heavy rain, rush into his arms.

  This must be the scene he had dreamed of, he no longer hesitated, stretched out his hand and tightly hugged that drenched body, hearing her whisper: "I promised to be your girlfriend, and I'm willing to spend this lifetime with you, don't ever betray me."

  The music in the room continues: I'm drenched in your love

  "Thank you for your poem, I like it very much..." The girl in his arms suddenly said. Liu Siyuan was about to ask her what poem, but heard her reciting softly:

  By the East Lake

  Your faint smile

  The gentle warmth of the Han River has been covered.

  Volume One ends.

  Song name is 'Drenched', originally sung by 'Yuan Quan Ting'