Chapter 45: Panic in the Air

Wang Chunhua saw that neither of them would accept the offer no matter what she said. With no other choice, she said honestly, "Building Country, Autumn Lotus, it's like this. Today, Xiuyuan came to our unit to inspect the work, and that's how I found out he passed the exam for the county government office. Furthermore, Xiuyuan has been taking good care of me. If not for him, I probably would have been reprimanded by the leaders today. We all live in the same residential compound, so helping each other out is only right. I don't have anything good at home, just these few vegetables grown in my own garden. If you two don't mind, please accept them."

"This..." Only then did Li Jianguo and Zhang Qiuhe understand.

Li Jianguo hesitated for a moment and said, "How about this, I'll give Xiuyuan a call and ask him."

"Oh, what's the point of calling? Just like this." Wang Chunhua put down the things and turned to leave immediately, giving Li Jianguo and Zhang Qiuhe no chance to refuse.

Many people in the restaurant saw this scene. Although Wang Chunhua had left, many people gathered around Li Jianguo and Zhang Qiuhe to ask if this matter was true.

"Did Xiuyuan really pass the exam for the county government office? This is a great thing! Jianguo, Qiuhe, why didn't you two notify anyone so we could throw a banquet and celebrate for Xiuyuan?"

"Exactly! You two are too tight-lipped. If Sister Wang hadn't mentioned it, we would all have been kept in the dark."

"I've watched Xiuyuan grow up since he was a kid, and I knew he'd amount to something. Now that he's just started working and is already doing so well, when he becomes a leader in the future, you mustn't forget us old neighbors..."

A crowd gathered around, showering them with flattery. Li Jianguo and Zhang Qiuhe were somewhat unaccustomed to it for a moment, their smiles rather stiff, and they didn't even know how to respond.

When Li Xiuyuan returned home, his parents told him about Wang Chunhua bringing over the gifts.

Li Xiuyuan was somewhat speechless upon hearing it. Vegetables? Trust Wang Chunhua to pull off something like that. No wonder she stayed stuck at the community level her whole life; which cadre couldn't withstand this kind of test?

"Just accept the vegetables this time. If she brings any more in the future, don't take them. It doesn't look good."

Li Jianguo and Zhang Qiuhe nodded. "Alright, we'll listen to you."

The next day, when Li Xiuyuan went out for work, he suddenly noticed that many people in the compound were greeting him. Everyone's face was brimming with smiles, all congratulating Li Xiuyuan on passing the county government office exam.

Li Xiuyuan responded to them one by one with a full smile, but inwardly he muttered to himself: Wang Chunhua's mouth... the nickname "Head of the Residential Compound's Intelligence Station" wasn't exaggerated at all.

After Li Xiuyuan arrived at the unit, he happened to run into Old Zhu from the General Affairs Section at the entrance.

"Xiuyuan, you're here so early! It's rare for you young people to wake up this early. You're quite commendable," Old Zhu said with a smile.

"Not at all, we young people should learn more from senior veterans like you..." Li Xiuyuan replied politely. Aside from his very first day at work, this was the first time Old Zhu had taken the initiative to greet him.

Luo Yi's visit yesterday had changed a lot of things.

After Li Xiuyuan took his seat in the office, Sister Zhang and the young married woman also arrived, nodding and smiling at Li Xiuyuan. Starting from this day, Li Xiuyuan's work in the General Affairs Section could finally be considered as having officially stepped onto the right track.

However, when it came to the distribution of work, Li Xiuyuan also noticed that Qu Hui held a tight grip on anything related to the leaders, giving him no opportunity to touch it whatsoever.

For instance, writing speech drafts for the leaders, delivering materials to the leaders, accompanying them down for inspections, arranging meeting venues... Qu Hui completely blocked Li Xiuyuan from any of these opportunities to come into contact with the leadership, guarding against him with extreme strictness.

Wang Zhitao could still occasionally land a job like arranging a meeting venue or taking meeting minutes, but Li Xiuyuan got none of that at all.

In the blink of an eye, half a month passed. As June arrived, the weather grew sultry, yet Li Xiuyuan felt that something was amiss with the situation around the county government lately.

First of all, the frequency of various meetings began to increase rapidly. Li Xiuyuan didn't know the leaders' whereabouts, but Wu Yiyi spent less and less time in the General Affairs Section and went out with the leaders more and more often. Sometimes she didn't even show her face in the General Affairs Section for several days.

Of course, these were merely corroborating signs. What primarily made Li Xiuyuan suspect that the atmosphere in the county government was wrong were the people in the county government office itself. Pang Zhifang usually rarely showed his face, but recently he had been appearing frequently.

On one occasion, Li Xiuyuan ran into Luo Yi, whose expression was extremely solemn, having completely lost his usual composure.

The river ducks are the first to know when the spring water warms up. Although Li Xiuyuan couldn't get close to the leaders, he took note of these changes in his heart.

Originally, Li Xiuyuan wanted to invite Wang Zhitao and Li Boyang out for a meal to gather some information. Just because he couldn't get any news didn't mean Wang Zhitao and Li Boyang couldn't catch any wind of it.

After all, Wang Zhitao and Li Boyang had been working in the county government office for quite a long time and had numerous channels in every direction, far surpassing a newcomer who had only been on the job for a month.

However, before Li Xiuyuan could find an opportunity to speak with Wang Zhitao and Li Boyang, his cell phone rang. Pulling it out, Li Xiuyuan saw it was a message from Wu Yiyi.

Li Xiuyuan subconsciously looked up. Today, quite unusually, Wu Yiyi was staying in the office without going out, and he had no idea what she was busy with.

"Free tonight? Since we just got our paychecks, let's grab dinner together?"

After hesitating slightly, Li Xiuyuan immediately agreed. Even if Wang Zhitao and Li Boyang knew a little something, it would just be hearsay. Wu Yiyi was different; she was Deputy County Magistrate Gu's secretary and must know much more of the inside story.

Lately, in fact, Li Xiuyuan would sometimes chat with Wu Yiyi on their phones for a bit. Of course, the topics were always kept moderate, mostly revolving around work.

"Alright, you pick the place and my treat," Li Xiuyuan replied with a message.

Looking back up, Wu Yiyi's gaze happened to sweep over as well. Their eyes met, and they quietly looked away again.

As it was nearly time to get off work, Wang Zhitao dragged Li Xiuyuan out to the hallway to smoke a cigarette.

"Xiuyuan, have you noticed that the atmosphere in the office has been very strange lately?" Wang Zhitao asked, lowering his voice as he looked at Li Xiuyuan.

Hearing Wang Zhitao's words, Li Xiuyuan became even more certain. Even someone as slow-witted as Wang Zhitao could sense the tense atmosphere. "Yeah, there's a sense of impending storm. Brother Wang, do you have any insider news?"

"No, I thought you knew something?" Wang Zhitao said.

Li Xiuyuan was taken aback. What do I know? You've been working here for over a year, and I've been here for a month, yet you're asking me for information? Should I call you useless, or say you trust me way too much?

"Then let's have dinner tonight and call Brother Li along," Wang Zhitao suggested.

Li Xiuyuan shook his head. "Not tonight, I have some things to do. Another day. Another day come by our family's noodle shop."

"Sure."

Wang Zhitao nodded. After the two returned to the office, it was soon time to get off work. Li Xiuyuan already had the address sent by Wu Yiyi on his phone. He calmly stood up and walked outside.

Naturally, it wasn't suitable for the two of them to leave together. Working in a key unit within the bureaucratic system was sometimes no different from doing underground work.

Stepping out of the office, Li Xiuyuan headed downstairs. Just as he reached the first floor, he happened to run into Luo Yi returning from outside, a look of panic still lingering on his face.

Li Xiuyuan called out, "Good evening, Director Luo."

However, he received no response whatsoever as Luo Yi hurried upstairs.

Li Xiuyuan's heart sank as well. If something happened to anyone else, it wouldn't really concern him, but Luo Yi must not get into trouble—otherwise, his buffer period would be gone.