Chapter 37: The Trick of Giving Gifts

  As tomorrow was Secretary Li's mother's birthday, Ye Ming directly contacted Xu Fei as soon as he arrived in the provincial city and asked if he would go to Secretary Li's home tomorrow.

  Xu Fei said on the phone: "Of course I'll go, of course I'll go. Xiao Ye, you come to my place first, I have something to tell you, it won't take long."

  Ye Ming arrived at Xu Fei's house at 1:30 pm. As soon as he entered the room, Xu Fei pulled his hand anxiously and said, "Xiao Ye, I already know about the situation in K City. As expected, Qiu Shunming has been investigated. Now, the Provincial Bureau is urgently searching for a candidate for the head of the K City Taxation Bureau. So, the time left for me to take action is limited. Brother, this afternoon you have to take me to Li Secretary's house and make sure that Li Secretary helps me get in touch with Xia Director within these two days."

  Ye Ming said with some difficulty: "Didn't we agree to go together tomorrow to celebrate Secretary Li's mother's birthday? Today I'm taking you, it's a bit too sudden, isn't it?"

  "It's too late, we must go today. Moreover, let's take advantage of the fact that there are fewer people in the family courtyard at noon to go, because I also brought a special gift for Secretary Li's mother."

  Saying that, Xu Fei took Ye Ming to his kitchen and pointed at the two bulging snake skin bags on the floor, saying: "This is a specialty of my hometown that I brought back specifically two days ago, intended as a gift for Secretary Li's mother."

  Ye Ming saw that one of the snake skin bags seemed to have something moving inside, and couldn't help but ask curiously: "What is this thing? Is it a chicken or a sheep?"

  Xu Fei smiled slightly complacently and said: "If it's just chickens and sheep, that would be too ordinary. It wouldn't make much sense to send them over. You should take a look first!"

  As he spoke, he went over and opened the first snakeskin bag. Ye Ming leaned in to take a look, and saw that it was filled with a whole bunch of golden-colored pine mushrooms. These mushrooms were brightly colored, the larger ones resembling small golden umbrellas, and the smaller ones like cute little yellow gold buttons, which were now rarely available for purchase as high-quality fresh pine mushrooms.

  This pine mushroom, Ye Ming had only eaten it once or twice when he was a kid. This mushroom is smooth and slippery to the mouth, sweet and delicious, with an endless aftertaste. Now whenever Ye Ming thinks of that flavor, he can't help but swallow his saliva...

  "Director Xu, where did you get so many fresh pine mushrooms? Now such wild pine mushrooms seem to be extinct in our city K, even if we go to the mountainous areas, we can't buy them!"

  Xu Fei smiled and said seriously, "Xiao Ye, if you want to mix in the official circle in the future, you must be mindful at all times and pay attention to everything. You should be good at discovering useful information from the words and deeds of some key figures and make good use of it."

  Jian Ye Ming looked puzzled, and Xu Fei explained with an example: "For instance, the last time we went to Secretary Li's home for a visit. During breakfast, Secretary Li's mother was drinking that artificially cultivated mushroom soup and complained that there were no real wild pine mushrooms to eat anymore. She even said she dreamed of the delicious taste of pine mushrooms. At that time, Secretary Li was standing beside her, apologetically saying he was unfilial and couldn't fulfill his mother's small wish... I told you before: Secretary Li's mother had just given birth to him when his father died in a hunting accident in the mountains. She was only in her early twenties but vowed not to remarry so that her son wouldn't suffer in someone else's home. She bit the bullet and single-handedly supported herself, raising Secretary Li with hardship and sending him to join the army. Therefore, Secretary Li is extremely respectful and filial towards his mother, always thinking of ways to make her happy and enjoy more blessings in her old age..."

  At this point, Ye Ming finally understood a bit and said: "Director Xu, what you mean is that Secretary Li has always tried to buy some pine mushrooms for his mother to satisfy her long-standing hobby, but he can't afford it. So, you went to buy these pine mushrooms and gave them to her, right?

  Xu Fei nodded and said, "This is also a coincidence. Because my home is in the mountains, and our place is still a primitive forest protection zone, so villagers can still pick up pine mushrooms, and the quality is all top-notch. And now it's just the season for pine mushrooms to grow, so I quickly took leave and went back to my hometown, buying over 50 kilograms of fresh pine mushrooms at 80 yuan per kilogram."

  Ye Ming looked at the bag on the other side and asked: "What's in that bag? Is it also going to be sent to Secretary Li's house?"

  Xu Fei walked over and untied the rope that was tightly tied around the mouth of the snakeskin bag, letting Ye Ming take a look.

  Ye Ming walked over, took a closer look, and saw that inside was a wild beast with two horns on its head, pure black fur, and a somewhat sheep-like appearance. It was bouncing around in the bag, making "huffing" sounds with its mouth.

  "What is this? Director Xu."

  "This is a wild black muntjac from the mountains, a second-class protected animal in the country. The meat of this deer is tender and fragrant when cooked, making it a top-grade delicacy. This particular deer was caught by an old hunter back in my hometown using iron clamps, breaking one of its legs but still alive, weighing over 40 kilograms. A black muntjac of this size would be rarely seen even before liberation. I bought it at the high price of 4,000 yuan. I reckon: Secretary Li's mother was originally a hunter's wife and must have had deer meat before, but now she may not have had this wild flavor for decades. If I send it over today, she will definitely be very satisfied."

  "What if Secretary Li doesn't accept these things?"

  Xu Fei laughed again: "Little Ye, giving gifts requires skill. I'll tell you: if I were to send 100,000 or 200,000 yuan to Secretary Li's house, he would definitely be furious and throw the money out the window, and scold me until my face turns blue. But if it's a few matsutake mushrooms, which are the old lady's favorite food and a local specialty from the mountains, Secretary Li won't possibly refuse. On the contrary, he'll be very happy: because even if he wants to spend money, there's nowhere to buy this stuff! However, this pangolin is a bit of trouble, mainly because it's a protected species, and Secretary Li will probably refuse."

  Ye Ming thought for a moment and felt that this was indeed the best gift: pine mushrooms, after all, were mountain specialties and not very expensive. The most important thing was that Old Lady Li particularly liked to eat this stuff, and Secretary Li also particularly wanted to satisfy Old Lady Li's wish. In that case, Xu Fei sending them so many pine mushrooms now would be like giving charcoal in the snow, definitely a win-win situation...

  Ye Ming asked with some concern: "Director Xu, later when we carry these two big bags over, this provincial bureau's family courtyard is all familiar faces, what if we run into someone and they see us taking things to Secretary Li's home, isn't that a bit awkward?"

  Xu Fei patted his chest and said with confidence: "Don't worry about this, I've already thought of it. Yesterday, our logistics center was in charge of distributing tangerines to the cadres. Because Secretary Li's wife was on leave, I deliberately didn't notify her to come over and pick some up yesterday, so today we'll take them over together. If we run into anyone, they'll think I'm just delivering tangerines to Secretary Li, no one will suspect a thing."