Volume 2: County Government Chapter 2: There's no worst, only worse (votes)

  The warm sunlight shines on the small cottage, and Tang Yi leans against the headboard after his passion, gently lighting a cigarette. He watches as the smoke rings rise one by one, and his gaze falls again on the four characters "Ren Zhong Dao Yuan" (the burden is heavy, the road is long) written in bold and unrestrained calligraphy on the wall. These four words are not just his own encouragement, but also reveal his state of mind through the slightly wild and free-spirited brushstrokes.

  Soft as silk towels were put down, neat flower-shaped hair ornaments slowly drilled out, face still with a deep infatuation after red glow, jade shoulders like hidden and visible, she blinked her big eyes, quietly watching Tang Yi who was lost in thought. He, more and more made himself feel surprised, at such a young age, what kind of ability and charisma could make him become the county party secretary?

  He just frowned, looking tired. Qijie slowly approached him, hugged Tang Yi tightly and whispered: "I'm so stupid, I couldn't help you with anything."

  Looking at the beautiful woman in his arms, Tang Yi smiled and the worry between his eyebrows disappeared. Rome wasn't built in a day, so why should he be impatient? As long as he followed the trend of history, observed the situation, and then pushed the waves to help them surge forward, he would have done his part.

  "Qijie, how about marrying me?" Embracing the jade-like person, Tang Yi's thoughts that had been swirling in his mind for a long time finally spilled out.

  "Ah?" Qijie looked at Tang Yi in surprise, then smiled and shook her head, with tears of happiness already welling up in her eyes. "I have you, that's all I need, thank you."

  Tang Yi pinched her smooth and delicate face, saying: "What's enough? Do you know that once you reach a certain position, family is also necessary. If I continue to be single like this, I'll inevitably be gossiped about."

  Qijie leaned against his chest, giggling: "Alright, stop using that trick on me. If you want to get married, there are plenty of people lining up." She stretched out her slender fingers and pressed them against Tang Yi's lips, stopping him from speaking, her voice also lowered: "Don't force me, I'm happy now. I know your background isn't simple, I'm scared... I'm scared that if I have that thought, even my current happiness will be taken away..."

  As she spoke, she hugged Tang Yi even tighter, as if she was really worried that one day, Tang Yi would leave her.

  Tang Yi couldn't help but smile wryly, and could only hold her tightly. Perhaps his own success had brought her more loss of a sense of security.

  "Qijie, don't worry, even if I take off this official robe and abandon this position, I won't give up on you." These words, Tang Yi didn't say out loud, but only silently recited in his heart.

  ……

  In the most luxurious suite of Cheng Qi Hotel, Chen Da and Zheng Xiang were smiling and toasting Tang Yi with wine. In the suite, apart from them, there were two female waitresses wearing blue uniforms. Although the uniform at that time was not as elegant and luxurious as the cheongsam later on, nor as charming and seductive as the maid's dress, the sky-blue uniform looked refreshing on the girls, making the two waitresses look quite appealing.

  There was a color TV in the private room, playing Yan Shan County news. The two girls whispered to each other, thinking that these two guests had a strange taste, who would like to watch local channels, especially dry news.

  Chen Da and Pin were sipping wine, watching the TV screen. The news was broadcasting a special conference on deepening reform in the county committee. On the podium, Tang Yi was waving his arms, giving a loud speech. Unlike the Tang Yi in front of him, the one on the podium wore a pair of black-rimmed glasses with tea-colored lenses, making him look steady and imposing. Even if you looked closely, you couldn't tell that this handsome young man in front of him was the county committee secretary who had just given an impassioned speech on TV.

  Chen Da couldn't help but lean in close to Tang Yi, smiling and teasing: "Secretary Tang, why are you still pretending on TV? Afraid that little girls will chase after you for autographs?"

  Tang Yi smiled and didn't say anything, it was Qi Jie's idea. Tang Yi felt that his image was too thin and young, so he casually mentioned it to Qi Jie while chatting. The next day, Qi Jie bought him a pair of glasses. After putting them on, he indeed felt completely different. These days at the office, Tang Yi would always wear those glasses.

  Chen Dahe is now deeply impressed by Tang Yi, and he doesn't know how he managed to get himself into the position of county party secretary through his three tricks and two schemes. Chen Dahe knows that no matter what, he can never learn this kind of skill.

  The private room door opened, and a man in a suit and leather shoes, with a fat face, walked in and laughed at Chen Da: "Director Chen, it's really you! What wind brought you here? A humble abode produces a brilliant talent, a humble abode produces a brilliant talent!"

  Pangzi is the boss of Qingjiu House, Li Yucheng, nicknamed Li Pangzi. Seeing Chen Da and he must come over to greet him. Chen Da is now unstoppable, the acting deputy director's temporary position has been removed, becoming the Deputy Director of the Yan Mountain County Public Security Bureau, that is, the second-in-command of the Public Security Bureau. Moreover, according to rumors, he also had a close relationship with the young third-in-command of the county party committee. Which hotel owner doesn't want to fawn on him?

  Chen Da stood up with a smile and shook hands with him. Although he didn't think much of this local tyrant, since the other party had come to him with a smiling face, he had to give him some face. In the world, who hasn't used someone else at some point?

  Chen Dahai had just shaken hands with him and was about to send him off, when he saw Tang Yi stretch out his hand again, smiling: "This young brother is a relative of Director Chen's, nice to meet you." Chen Dahai's nose almost got twisted in anger, and his eyes were about to turn from a smile to a glare, but then he saw Tang Yi get up with a smile and shake hands with him: "That's right, I'm like a brother to Old Chen. My name is Tang Yi."

  "Haha, the name sounds good too, Tang Yi Tang Yi...Tang Yi?" Li Yucheng's chubby face suddenly scrunched up, his breathing quickening as he stared at Tang Yi, whose hand was trembling in his grasp.

  Tang Yi smiled and said, "Old Li, I've long heard that you're a capable person in this county. Come, sit down!" As he spoke, he released his hand and pointed to the seat beside him. The moment these words came out, Li Yucheng knew he hadn't guessed wrong, and his heart was racing with excitement. However, as a businessman, although he felt an inexplicable tension upon suddenly seeing the county party secretary, he still managed to keep his composure. He smiled along and said, "Yes, please sit down yourself. What brings you here to eat in person?"

  Tang Yi smiled slightly, while Chen Dahe burst out laughing and pointed at Li Yulongs nose, saying: "Old Li, old Li, you're quite humorous, why don't you change careers and become a crosstalk comedian?"

  Two female waitresses pursed their lips, not daring to laugh out loud. They had never seen their normally stern boss so fawning and nervous before. At this moment, Li Yulong turned his head towards them, but instead of scolding as they had imagined, he spoke with a warm smile: "Go and instruct the kitchen, the dishes that haven't been served yet must be made carefully, meticulously, and with twelve times the effort!" He didn't dare help Tang Yi add food, so he could only express his respect in this way.

  Tang Yiyu smiled and said, "Old Li, don't be polite, if you keep this up, I won't come next time. Besides, even if we use twenty percent of our strength, can fried rice become lobster meat?"

  Li Yulong laughed and said, "Yes, yes, Secretary Tang is right." The two little waitresses almost burst out laughing, after all, they had not experienced the society and did not know how terrifying officials could be.

  Just as they were talking, a gentle knock at the door sounded outside the private room. The little waiter opened the door and a woman in her thirties with a pretty face walked in carrying a tray of beer. Under the blue uniform, the woman looked quite attractive.

  Just as she had just put the beer on the table, someone suddenly opened the door of the private room with a swoosh, and then a figure rushed in, giving the female waitress who had just brought in the beer a big slap. "Slap" sounded crisp, and the woman's face had five bright red finger marks.

  Chen Da and Teng immediately stood up, reached back to their waist to pull out their guns, but upon seeing the figure rushing in, they let out a sigh of relief, released their grip on the gun handle, and glared with wide eyes, shouting: "Zhang Ziqiang! What are you doing!"

  It was indeed Zhang Ziqiang who rushed in, but he was wearing a security uniform, and his stout body made the blue uniform seem like it might burst at any moment, extremely comical.

  Zhang Ziqiang was scolding loudly: "You stinky bitch, dare to cheat on your husband behind my back!" Hearing someone calling his name, he turned around, his facial expression frozen, staring at Chen Da and Tang Yi who were glaring at him with anger. Suddenly, a cold sweat broke out on his forehead, now he really wished he could smash himself to death with a block of tofu. How did he encounter him even when he caught his wife cheating? Was it not that he had an irreconcilable feud with him from their past lives that couldn't be washed away by the Yellow River?!

  Zhang Ziqiang has been quite unlucky lately. After the reception room incident, he was dismissed from his public office and had to come to his wife's workplace hotel as a security guard. Who would have thought that after losing power, his previously obedient wife is no longer so obedient? A few days ago, he even heard rumors that she and the hotel owner Li Yulong were having an affair. Just now, he was furious when he heard his colleagues describe what they saw and heard in vivid detail. He directly went up to the third floor, chasing after his wife's back as she rushed into a private room.

  He never thought he'd run into Tang Yi like this, and he felt like he was really going to collapse. If someone handed him a rope right now, he would definitely hang himself immediately.

  Li Yulong's face turned red, and he didn't dare to interrupt, fearing that Zhang Ziqiang would scold him with unpleasant words. In his heart, he was secretly plotting, thinking that he would deal with me later, and still thought it was like before, when everyone gave in to him.

  Tang Yi shook his head and leaned in close to Chen Da, saying in a low voice: "Forget it, there's no point arguing with him."

  Chen Da nodded and slowly sat down, smiling at Zhang Ziqiang: "Zhang Ziqiang, the person you beat is your wife?"

  Zhang Ziqiang nodded subconsciously.

  Chen Da smiled and said, "That's domestic violence, you go to the county bureau to report it, find a man named Qi Jun, let him handle your case." Qi Jun had become a joint defense officer at the county bureau several months ago. Tang Yi promised to do it for one or two years without any mistakes, and then he would be transferred to a regular position, which made Qi Jie very happy and satisfied some of Tang Yi's new requirements, making Tang Yi feel elated.

  When Zhang Ziqiang heard that Chen Da and called himself to find Qi Jun at the county bureau, his face turned green. The ancient saying "thirty years on the east of the river, thirty years on the west of the river" is profound and philosophical.

  Tang Yi smiled and did not object. Although he didn't take this little fly seriously, it was good to let Qi Jun vent his anger for the sake of his sister and himself.

  Zhang Ziqiang walked out first, and his pale-faced wife followed closely behind. Tang Yi patted Li Yulong's shoulder but didn't say a word. Li Yulong didn't dare to linger any longer, hastily forced a smile and left. Chen Da and glared at his back, cursing: "Damn it, this guy is not a good bird either, one day I'll deal with him!"

  When they heard Chen Dahe's words, the two waiters clicked their tongues, but seeing Zhang Ziqiang, who was usually arrogant and domineering, looking like a small cat just now, they were no longer as relaxed as before. Unconsciously, they had an inexplicable fear towards the two people on the seat, and they didn't dare to whisper to each other again.