Chapter 23: The Mouse Rides on the Cat's Head

  Baozhu County Bureau Director Wang arranged for dinner at the "Crystal Palace Food City", which is the most luxurious catering and entertainment venue in this county. Today, to welcome Municipal Bureau's Qiu Director, Lin Director and other party group members, as well as Provincial Bureau Xia Director's distinguished guests, he ordered the office director to book the most luxurious "Crystal Royal Court" private room at Food City, which can seat over 30 guests at its massive dining table.

  After entering the private room, following the convention of K City's official and business circles, the most honored guest is usually arranged to sit in the position directly opposite the door of the private room. This position is called "the seat of honor". The rest of the people then take their seats on either side according to their rank, seniority or age.

  Director Wang of Baozhu County Bureau bowed and invited Qiu Shunming to sit in the honorable seat on the opposite side as soon as he entered.

  Qiu Shunming was thinking of pleasing Xia Chuchu at this moment, to make up for the bad impression he had just left on her. So, with a smile, he said to Xia Chuchu: "Chuchu, you are a star of the provincial TV station and it's your first time in K City and Baozhu County, so this seat should be yours. Come come come, sit at the head!"

  Xia Chuchu knew that this meal was specially arranged for herself, and didn't want to pretend to be polite, so she walked towards the "seat of honor" while pulling Ye Ming's hand, saying: "Come on, sit next to me, I still have something to discuss with you."

  Ye Ming originally wanted to decline, but as soon as he saw the disdainful and condescending expressions on Qiu Shunming and Peng Hui's faces, he got angry: Apparently, these self-righteous so-called leaders thought that he was now a suspect being interrogated by them, and that being allowed to eat with them was already a special favor. Now, Xia Chuchu actually wanted him to sit in the main seat, they felt embarrassed, thinking they had lost face as "official masters".

  Thinking of this, Ye Ming shook off Xia Chuchu's hand and followed her with his head held high and his chest out, sitting down beside her on her right side.

  Xia Chuchu pointed to the empty seat next to Ye Ming and said to Chen Yi, "Chen sister, you sit next to Ye Ming, it's more convenient for us to talk and chat."

  Chen Yi originally didn't understand human relationships very well. After Xia Chuchu said something, she also sat down to the right of Ye Ming without any politeness.

  Qiu Shunming, Lin Nan and others had no choice but to start from Xia Chuchu's left side and sit down one by one. Although they were uncomfortable in their hearts, they couldn't help it: after all, they couldn't afford to offend this arrogant young lady again just because of a seating problem!

  Peng Hui has been engaging in a battle of wits with Ye Ming for the past few days, and they have had several heated arguments, slamming their fists on the table. Peng Hui was so angry that he wished he could handcuff Ye Ming like the police do when handling cases, give him a good beating to vent his anger before talking things through.

  Because he had a great resentment towards Ye Ming, at this moment, seeing him sitting in the main seat with an air of ease, while he himself, as the one who should be presiding over him, could only sit in a lower position, he felt a bellyful of fire in his heart. After sitting down next to Lin Nan, he muttered in a low and angry voice: "Old Lin, you just said it right! The situation at this table today is like a mouse riding on the head of a cat! Look at Ye Ming's complacent appearance, glancing left and right, completely forgetting his own identity. Damn it, I really don't want to eat this meal!"

  Lin Nan smiled slightly and said in a low voice, "Old Peng, calm down, you must be calm! Now we're giving Xia Chuchu face, don't be impulsive. Wait until we get back to the dual-control location, you can blow your top however you want, but for now just let him continue to show off!"

  At this time, Director Wang brought in two "Diamond Lotus Kings" and was about to distribute cigarettes to the people at the table. After distributing them to Xia Chuchu and Director Qiu, it was Ye Ming's turn, but Director Wang hesitated, turning his head to look at Qiu Shunming, unsure whether or not to give a cigarette to Ye Ming.

  Xia Chuchu was afraid that Director Wang would not give the cigarette to Ye Ming, causing him to lose face on the spot. She stared at him with wide eyes, forcing Director Wang not to dare look at Qiu Shunming's face again, and hastily threw the cigarette in front of Ye Ming.

  Soon, the waiter started serving dishes. Qiu Shunming held a cup of wine and stood up, turned around to face Xia Chuchu, with a smile all over his face, saying: "Chuchu, this is your first time in K City, and also your first time in Baozhu County. As the former subordinate of Director Xia and the person in charge of the K City Local Taxation Bureau, I would like to toast you first!"

  Xia Chuchu pulled up Ye Ming with one hand, smiled charmingly and said: "Director Qiu, I just told Ye Ming that due to my profession, I need to pay attention to protecting my throat at all times, so I can't drink. All the wine that respects me, he replaces me to drink; the wine that I respect everyone, he also drinks for me. Therefore, everyone's wine that respects me is also considered as respecting Ye Ming, and he drinks two cups each time, which is still fair, right?"

  It turned out that Xia Chuchu was afraid that Ye Ming would be treated coldly at the wine table, so he took the initiative to pull him up and drink with himself.

  Qiu Shunming saw that she was speaking eloquently and didn't know what to say, so he could only awkwardly clink glasses with Ye Ming.

  Qiu Shunming took the lead, and other party members and case handlers had no choice but to follow suit and toast Xia Chuchu and Ye Ming's wine.

  As a result, Ye Ming, the person being investigated, has become the protagonist at the dinner table today, making Peng Hui and others feel both depressed and helpless...

  Chen Yi, who was silently sitting on the right side of Ye Ming, saw how good Xia Chuchu was to Ye Ming. Although she knew she shouldn't be jealous and had no right or qualification to be jealous, her heart still felt a sour taste. She ate that meal without any feeling...

  When he was halfway through drinking, Qiu Shunming's mobile phone suddenly rang. He looked at the number and it was Hao Bo, the director of the Provincial Bureau's Procuratorate, with whom he had a relatively good relationship.

  "Director Hao, what instructions do you have?"

  Hao Bo asked in a somewhat serious tone, "Old Qiu, I'm asking you: has your municipal bureau placed under double designation a cadre named Ye Ming? Apparently from Xinleng County Bureau."

  Qiu Shunming was startled by his tone and hastily said, "That's right! Old Hao, we haven't had a chance to report this matter to the Provincial Bureau's Supervision Office yet. How did you know?"

  "Old Qiu, you've stirred up a hornet's nest this time, and it's a big one! According to information I got from my friends at the Provincial Disciplinary Committee, that official named Ye Ming is the lifesaver of Li Runji, the Standing Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Disciplinary Committee. Moreover, people at the Provincial Disciplinary Committee are spreading rumors that Secretary Li intends to recognize Ye Ming as his adopted son. Before you put Ye Ming under shuanggui, he was serving Secretary Li who was hospitalized for injuries at the Provincial People's Hospital. After you put Ye Ming under shuanggui, Secretary Li couldn't find him and later found out that he had been put under shuanggui, which shocked him greatly. He then called the Secretary of the Disciplinary Committee in K City, asking him to send capable personnel to secretly rush to Xinleng County to investigate the reason for Ye Ming's shuanggui. The investigation team secretly talked to some officials at the Xinleng County Bureau and obtained a petition written by an official named Chen Yi regarding Ye Ming. Their conclusion was that the K City Taxation Bureau's decision to put Ye Ming under shuanggui was a frame-up and retaliatory behavior in violation of discipline. After this conclusion was reported to Secretary Li, he became enraged and instructed the K City Disciplinary Committee to set up a special investigation team to thoroughly investigate the matter of Ye Ming being put under shuanggui, as well as investigating Li Li's violations of discipline and law... Old Qiu, I'm risking my neck to reveal this inside information to you, so you must keep it confidential."

  Qiu Shunming stood stupidly in the corridor outside the private room after hanging up the phone, cold sweat pouring out of his forehead.