Chapter Fifteen: Double Rules

  When Xu Fei was certain that Xia Chuchu had a good impression of Ye Ming, he decided to play a joke on the two of them and test Xia Chuchu's reaction.

  Then, he turned his head and smiled at Xia Chuchu, then looked at Ye Ming sitting next to her, pretending to be amazed and said: "Wow, Chuchu, you and Little Ye are sitting together like this, one is handsome and elegant, the other is beautiful as a flower, looking just like a golden boy and jade girl! Come on, let me take a photo of you two, it's perfect for making my wife and daughter jealous when I get back!"

  As he spoke, he really stood up and took out his own Apple mobile phone to take pictures of them.

  Just as he had expected, after making this explicit joke, Xia Chuchu not only didn't get angry, but instead showed a hint of delight and shyness on her face. She turned her head to glance at Ye Ming, who was slightly awkward, and subtly leaned her head towards him, striking a pose as if they were taking a photo together - clearly, she was very much in favor of Xu Fei's proposal and was more than happy about it.

  It was Ye Ming who, for a moment, seemed a bit at a loss - after all, the beauty beside him was not only a star host of the provincial TV station but also the daughter of the director of the Provincial Local Taxation Bureau. Xu Fei dared to make such jokes in front of her and even asked them to take a photo together, wondering if it would anger her?

  However, he soon found that this worry was unnecessary: Xia Chuchu not only didn't get angry, but instead showed a delighted and shy expression, and actively leaned her head over, letting Xu Fei take several intimate photos of the two of them almost cheek to cheek...

  This made Ye Ming's heart even more apprehensive...

  After this little episode, the atmosphere between the three people suddenly became harmonious and cordial.

  Xia Chuchu also forgot about the unpleasantness when she first met Xu Fei and even took the initiative to suggest drinking some red wine.

  While drinking, Xia Chuchu looked at Ye Ming and said with a pretty mouth: "Ye Ming, you have to drink three cups of wine first. This afternoon at the hospital entrance, I asked you what your name was, why did you lie to me? Director Xu, do you think he should be punished?"

  Ye Ming smiled slightly and said, "I didn't cheat you! My surname is Ye, Secretary Li and Director Xu usually call me Xiao Ye, so I let you also call me Xiao Ye, this is not wrong!"

  Xia Chuchu suddenly realized that she had misheard "Little Ye" as "Xiao Ye", but when she saw the sly smile on Ye Ming's face, she knew he must have done it on purpose. She smiled and lightly punched him on the shoulder with her small fist, then forced him to drink two more cups of wine by himself.

  Xu Fei watched them bickering and laughing with each other, looking like two people in the midst of a passionate romance, playfully teasing and quarreling, couldn't help but purse her lips into a smile...

  Before long, Xia Chuchu's face, as white and smooth as jade, began to flush with a faint pink hue, her eyes also becoming somewhat hazy, clearly already showing signs of intoxication.

  After drinking another cup with Ye Ming, she suddenly asked: "Ye Ming, tell me, why do you have such good martial arts skills? Is it because your father is a high-ranking martial artist?"

  Ye Ming was taken aback, his expression immediately turned gloomy, and he lowered his head to take a sip of wine in silence. Only then did he speak with a hint of sadness: "Director Xu, Miss Xia, I'm not hiding anything from you... I am now an orphan! I never had a father since childhood, my mother was a middle school teacher who raised me through hardships and sacrifices, supported me to finish university and get into the tax system. But just after I started working, before I could repay her kindness, she fell ill and passed away..."

  At this point, his voice began to choke and tears welled up in his eyes.

  Xia Chuchu had been listening absent-mindedly all along, but when she heard his last sentence, for some reason, she suddenly felt a pang of sadness, and tears rolled down her cheeks like broken pearls.

  Xu Fei had never heard Ye Ming mention his family situation before, and now that he mentioned that he didn't have a father since childhood and his mother passed away due to illness a few years ago, he was also very surprised. He quickly comforted him saying: "Younger brother, you're already independent and self-reliant now. If your mother knew in the afterlife that you've become so capable, she would definitely be very happy too. Today is a happy day, don't get caught up in this sad mood... by the way, older brother asks impolitely: what's the story with your father? Did your mother ever mention it to you?"

  Xu Fei shook his head, looking a bit bewildered. "To me, my father has always been an enigma. I've heard the neighbors around us say that they've never seen my father before. My mother graduated from Capital Normal University and was assigned to teach at our hometown's rural middle school after graduation. She had applied for it herself. Moreover, she gave birth to me just a few months after arriving at the school, which is why many of our fellow villagers still say that my mother got pregnant out of wedlock while teaching at the school and had no choice but to hide in a rural middle school."

  "Why don't you ask your mother: where is your father now?"

  Xu Fei asked immediately afterwards.

  Ye Ming smiled wryly and said, "Of course I asked. But every time my mother would answer: 'Don't ask now, I won't tell you.' In the future if fate allows it, you will meet your father. If fate doesn't allow it, you may never see him in this lifetime. She also warned me: 'Never hate your father.' My life of several decades is a choice I made willingly, and has nothing to do with your father. So until my mother passed away, she never left me any clues to find my father, only giving me a jade pendant on her deathbed, saying it was given to her by my father..."

  When he said this, Xia Chuchu beside him had already cried to the point of being speechless...

  Just then, Ye Ming's mobile phone suddenly rang. He picked it up and saw that it was the number of Director Zou from Xinleng County Bureau.

  "Yemeng, hurry up and take a taxi home tonight, I have something very important to tell you."

  Ye Ming was startled and hastily asked: "Director Zou, what's going on? Can't it be said over the phone?"

  "Tell me honestly: did you go to the provincial capital to visit the Provincial Discipline Inspection Commission or the Letters and Visits Office?"

  "No, I'm going for a visit? I've already told you: this matter has passed, and I don't want to mention it again."

  "Listen, I'm telling you: two days ago, the municipal bureau's supervision room received a call from the provincial bureau's supervision department, saying that the provincial discipline inspection commission's law enforcement supervision room called the supervision department, asking them to pay attention to your case of receiving disciplinary action, to see if there was an issue with excessive punishment or insufficient grounds for punishment. The municipal bureau leaders were extremely angry about this, thinking you had intentionally gone to the province to petition. Li Li heard about it and specifically went to the municipal bureau to find the leadership, requesting that they reopen your case for investigation. According to the information I've obtained, the municipal party group seems to have reached a consensus, planning to take double-regulation measures against you, re-investigating the issue of you hitting someone, while also deeply investigating other issues related to your work style or integrity and discipline construction. So, I suggest you immediately return, don't stay in the provincial city anymore."

  Ye Ming was both shocked and angry, and didn't have time to explain anything to Xu Fei and Xia Chuchu. After hanging up the phone, he said "Sorry, I have an urgent matter to attend to in Xinleng" to the two of them, then hastily left the hotel, hailed a taxi, and returned to the Xinleng County Bureau overnight.

  As Director Zou had said, on the second day, Ye Ming was indeed taken into custody by the K City Tax Bureau's Monitoring and Inspection Room.