Chapter Fourteen: Heart Racing

  Back in the city government's inspection room, there was only Xing Jun alone in the office. Liu Siyuan greeted him, and the latter hesitated for a moment, looking like he wanted to say something but stopped himself.

  "Xing Ge, what's going on? Has the director's matter been settled?" Liu Siyuan couldn't help but ask. He had been busy with the idle land in Beihong District for the past few days and was somewhat out of touch with the latest situation in the Supervision Room.

  "Not yet, but I heard the Organization Department is investigating, and the main candidates are us two deputy directors and Zhao Fengshou from Ziwai City. Maybe in a few days, the Organization Department will also talk to us." Xing Jun put down his pen, turned around, and faced Liu Siyuan, looking like he was quite interested in chatting for a bit.

  "Oh, actually it's all the same for us who are working." Liu Siyuan shrugged.

  "Go ahead, it's not like you're any different." Xing Jun said with a look of disdain. What he said was actually true, the style of a department or office is often determined by the style of its leader, and the character and personality of the leader have a direct impact on these people.

  Liu Siyuan chuckled and said, "Xing Ge, I'm just saying, actually this matter is not something I can control. Whoever becomes the director, the leaders will have a broad vision and consider everything comprehensively. We do our work regardless of who leads, isn't that right?"

  Xing Jun glanced at him and said, "After being promoted to deputy department head, your Mandarin has become even more fluent." He paused for a moment before continuing, "Speaking of which, aren't you related to Director Ouyang from the Organization Department? The position of Head of the Supervision Office is not yet eligible for discussion by the Standing Committee, so the Organization Department has a lot of say in this matter."

  "Hey, Xing Ge thinks highly of me, I just know Minister Ouyang, we don't have a relationship. Besides, the Organization Department is only responsible for investigating cadres, and nominations are not decided by direct superiors? I think Secretary Zhang's opinion is most important." Liu Siyuan wasn't stupid either, having been in the municipal government compound for almost a year, he also knew to keep a low profile, his relationship with Ouyang Xinghua couldn't be too high-profile.

  Xing Jun fell silent for a moment before speaking again: "Apart from Secretary Zhang, Mayor Chen's opinion is also very important. After all, he is the top leader of the municipal government. I've heard that Mayor Chen has high expectations for our inspection office and even wants to adjust our organizational structure."

  "Oh? How to adjust?" Liu Siyuan was shocked in his heart, for him this was more important than the director's dispute.

  "I don't know either, it's just a saying." Xing Jun shrugged. "By the way, have you heard about this time's cadre being sent down for training?"

  "Huh? Letting go of exercise?" Liu Siyuan was a bit unable to keep up with his train of thought.

  "It's said that the Organization Department is evaluating young cadres and sending them to grassroots units for training, maybe there are four or five spots this time." Xing Jun hesitated.

  "What? Brother Xing wants to step down?" Liu Siyuan asked with a hint of surprise.

  "It's been a while since I've stayed in this city, it's getting a bit dull. Going out for some exercise would be good." Xing Jun said with a flicker of thought in his eyes.

  Liu Siyuan sorted out his thoughts and suddenly realized that Xing Jun had first mentioned the relationship between him and Ouyang Xinghua, and then brought up the matter of being sent down, obviously implicitly seeking his help, wanting to use his connections to fight for a spot.

  Going to the grassroots level is not an easy decision. Going down to the county seat is still okay, but if you go directly to the town, the living conditions are worlds apart from those in Hankou, Hubei Province. Moreover, the situation at the township level and the municipal government are also vastly different, and the work content is completely different.

  But going to the grassroots level also has its benefits, a section-level cadre is nothing in the municipal government compound, but when he goes to the township, he becomes a big official, and the number one leader is just at the section level, which is considered to be in charge of governing a region.

  Especially for people without a background, having grassroots work experience makes their resume much more substantial and is still very helpful for promotion. And for Xing Jun, there's an additional benefit - generally, cadres who are sent down to the grassroots level will be promoted as compensation, so it's also reasonable to solve his long-held dream of becoming a deputy department-level official along the way.

  Deputy county officials who arrive at the township level are either deputy township heads or deputy town mayors, and eight out of ten will also become members of the township party committee. Although their official positions may not be high-ranking, their power is by no means small.

  Thinking about it, Liu Siyuan himself was also a little moved, and after pondering in his heart for a while, he decided that it would be better to discuss it with Fang Xintong. Of course, he still responded with a few words, but when Xing Jun saw that he did not clearly indicate that he would help, he could not help but feel some disappointment, and the two of them became a bit awkward after exchanging a few pleasantries. Some things are really hard to explain, ever since Liu Siyuan was promoted to deputy department head, the two of them could no longer return to their previous close relationship.

  At lunchtime, Liu Siyuan met Chen Lan again. The latter was more enthusiastic than before and wanted to introduce a girlfriend for him, saying that the 21-year-old deputy department head had unlimited prospects, and also subtly mentioned that he had the backing of the municipal party committee's organization department director. Liu Siyuan was also helpless, this matter spread really fast, and in just a few days it reached the point where everyone on the street knew about it. Now he had an "Ouyang" label stuck to his forehead.

  When it comes to girlfriends, Liu Siyuan couldn't help but think of Ding Hui. In fact, he was also very conflicted in his heart. Ding Hui was a good girl and should make a good wife and mother, but he couldn't put aside Fang Xinye. On the other hand, although he couldn't let go, he didn't have the confidence to formally pursue her either. Fang Xinye not only surpassed him in intelligence, but more importantly, he increasingly felt that her family background was definitely not ordinary, otherwise how could she understand these intricacies of officialdom?

  Torn in his heart, Liu Siyuan had thought of asking the notebook again, but his intuition strongly resisted relying on the notebook even for pursuing girls.

  "I said, Siyuan ah, what are you thinking? Are you not interested in the person Chen Jie introduced?"

  Chen Lan's words brought Liu Siyuan back from his chaotic thoughts. To think that since he was promoted to deputy department, his colleagues seemed to have changed their way of addressing him without exception, from "Little Liu" to "Siyuan", even Chen Lan who looked very casual didn't make an exception.

  "Oh, no, it's just that I think I'm still too young..." Liu Siyuan hastily said.

  "Little what, this object is about to be snatched away, if you miss the timing, all the good objects will be taken by others." Chen Lan said in an educating tone.

  "Yes, yes, by the way, how come we didn't see Sister Yang Fei today?" Liu Siyuan hastily changed the subject.

  "Oh, Yang Fei, oh dear, I heard she's having some disagreements with her family." Chen Lan sighed.

  "What's going on? Why?" Liu Siyuan asked casually.

  "I don't know then." Chen Lan said with a strange expression.

  In the afternoon, Liu Siyuan took advantage of Zhang Zhengdong being in the office to report on his work, especially telling him about meeting with Hu Tianfang and Qi Hongsheng.

  Zhang Zhengdong listened to the report and did not respond immediately. He took a sip of water, remained silent for a long time, and then said: "Little Liu, overall I am satisfied with your work, and I also affirm your positive and enthusiastic work attitude. However, in our inspection room's work, we must also pay attention to methods, unite comrades, and unite people from all walks of life in society, stabilize everything."

  Liu Siyuan also understood, what Boss Zhang meant was that it's okay to make some trouble, but don't go too far.

  "He nodded and said: 'Don't worry, Secretary General. I will pay attention to the measure of this matter. If a fine is due, it will be fined, and there will be no tolerance.'"

  Everyone knows in their heart that the fine is just a compromise, but it can be said in a more pleasant way. Zhang Zhengguo nodded his head in satisfaction and suddenly changed the subject: "Little Liu, now the municipal leaders attach great importance to our inspection room's work, so they have put forward higher requirements for our work, especially the key projects mentioned in the city government's work report. We need to strengthen our sense of urgency, responsibility consciousness, make meticulous arrangements, strengthen measures, and fully implement them to ensure that all key tasks and key work are completed on schedule." He paused and continued: "Therefore, we must first strengthen the power of our inspection room, Little Liu, you young comrades also need to bravely take on more responsibilities."

  Jia Dangzi in officialdom is absolutely a eulogistic word. Liu Siyuan heard the words and still didn't quite understand what kind of burden he was talking about, but he immediately expressed his loyalty. Anyway, this kind of talk is now also something he can do with ease, saying it extremely fluently.

  After leaving Zhang Zhengdong's office, Liu Siyuan was still pondering his last words until after work. The first half were all clichés and could be ignored, the key was the last few sentences, the inspection room needs to strengthen its power, obviously new people are coming in, and the director position will also be settled. As for the sentence about himself taking on more responsibilities, it's hard to understand.

  As I walked, I arrived at the entrance of my home. When I opened the door and went in, I was surprised to find that the lights were on. It was a bit unexpected, but soon I thought it could only be Ding Hui. And indeed, she was studying hard with her head buried in her books.

  "Liu Ge, have you eaten dinner?" Ding Hui asked with a smile as she saw him return.

  "Not yet." He went home straight after work, of course he hadn't eaten yet.

  "What do you want to eat?"

  "This, I usually just have instant noodles to get by. Has Little Wisdom eaten yet?"

  "I don't have any either. Instant noodles are no good, they're not nutritious." Ding Hui smiled and said, "It's just as well that I bought some vegetables on my way here, I'll cook them for you to eat."

  Liu Siyuan hurriedly said that it was embarrassing, and declined for a while, but the other party had already bought the dishes, so he could only follow along in the end.

  Eating the steaming hot dishes, Liu Siyuan also felt a sense of melancholy. Should he cherish this girl in front of him?

  "Will Xiaohui return to school tonight?" Liu Siyuan asked while eating.

  "Hmm, I think I won't go back then, no objections from Brother Siyuan, right?" Ding Hui looked at him and said.

  "Of course, no problem." Liu Siyuan smiled and said, "As usual, I'll just sleep on the sofa again."

  Ding Hui fell silent for a moment before saying, "I think that bed is quite big, why don't we squeeze in together? It's still cold outside now, always sleeping on the sofa isn't good for our health."

  "This, you don't mind?" Liu Siyuan said in surprise.

  Ding Hui's small face turned slightly red, and she nodded: "I believe that Siyuan Ge is not that kind of person."

  At this time, it would be too hypocritical to say no. After the two of them finished cleaning up after dinner, he once again pulled the little girl into his arms and enjoyed himself with her, using both his hands and mouth. Ding Hui was still the same as before, as long as he didn't cross the line, she wouldn't resist. She let him kiss and caress her. However, today she seemed to have relaxed her boundaries a bit more, allowing him to successfully put his hand inside her top, directly touching those two soft mounds without any obstruction.

  Later, Liu Siyuan's right hand slowly slid towards the only forbidden area he had never set foot in between the girl's two legs.

  "Don't touch there..." The girl who was leaning against his chest grabbed his right hand with ulterior motives and whispered.

  Liu Siyuan saw that she wouldn't give in, so he quickly came up with a good idea. He decisively kissed her lips, and indeed, after Ding Hui hummed a few times, her whole body felt weak and numb, and her small hand loosened its grip on his right hand...

  Maybe he was really tired from work recently, and after washing up quickly, he got into bed early and fell asleep soon. It was Ding Hui who said she wanted to study some more. Liu Siyuan didn't know what time she finally stopped studying, but anyway, when he woke up the next day, he found an extra fragrant body in his arms.