Chapter Six: Ma Xiang

  Next, the protagonist of everyone's drinking is Chen Mai. Zhang Qingyun had never gotten drunk in his past life, and today he tried a small test with a sharp knife, but unexpectedly, his state was still heroic, and everyone else was drunk, but he still felt very sober.

  "Qingyun, come on, let's have a drink! You're also our parents' official!" Ma Shan suddenly picked up her cup and said to Zhang Qingyun at the moment when the atmosphere was dull.

  Zhang Qingyun glanced at her and, to be honest, although they were high school classmates, in his impression, it seemed that he and Ma Shan didn't communicate much, only because there were few classmates left in the county town, so everyone seemed a bit more intimate when they gathered.

  Ma Shan had also drunk a lot of wine at this time, and her delicate face was also flushed with red, looking indeed somewhat alluring.

  "Hey, hey, Qingyun, what are you still spacing out for? The beauty is toasting you!" Chen Mai shouted, and then he gave a sly smile and said: "Oh, right, I almost forgot that our Qingyun is still single, and Ma Shan doesn't have a boyfriend either, does she? Why don't you two just...". He made a matching gesture with his hand as he spoke.

  Zhang Qingyun's face changed slightly, and he hastily picked up his wine glass and drank it all in one gulp. Ma Xuan's face was even redder at this time, and to cover up the awkwardness, she took a big swig, but unfortunately, she drank too quickly and choked, coughing as she ran towards the bathroom.

  "Haha, you've got a chance now! Look at Ma Xiang's expression, that's the look of a woman in love! You'd better seize it!" Chen Mai said with a sly smile, putting his arm around Zhang Qingyun's shoulder.

  Zhang Qingyun smiled wryly to herself, thinking, what's the big deal! His old mother thinks I'm not good enough! However, he ultimately didn't say it out loud and instead skillfully changed the subject.

  In the end, everyone was drunk to the point of being dizzy and disoriented. Even Zhang Qingyun had a slight drunkenness, while the other men were completely unconscious. Chen Mai was slightly better off, but he also started speaking nonsense.

  When the fire was almost gone, Wen Xiaolan hurriedly took over the account. However, Zhang Qingyun had a hard time afterwards. A group of big men were all unconscious, and one by one, they helped them onto the carriage, exhausting him to the point where his waist almost broke.

  "Damn it! I've finally settled the score! These guys, I'm never drinking with you again. The wine wasn't even good, and I'm exhausted!" Zhang Qingyun let out a long sigh of relief and cursed.

  "You're quite a drinker, aren't you? Come on, wipe your sweat! You're all sweaty."

  Zhang Qingyun mechanically took the tissue handed over to her, paused for a moment, and then turned her head to find that it was Ma Xuan who was talking to her.

  "Ah? Is it just the two of us?" Zhang Qingyun looked around and said in surprise.

  Ma Shan's face turned red and she nodded slightly.

  "Then let's go too! It's getting late!" Zhang Qingyun said, and then felt a bit inappropriate, so he asked politely: "Where do you live?"

  Ma Xiang blinked her eyes and after a long time, as if she had mustered up the courage, said: "My home is in the East City, what's wrong? Are you willing to send me back home?"

  Zhang Qingyun was taken aback, since the other person had said it to that extent, he couldn't refuse, so he nodded. Ma Xuan smiled and hastily hailed a taxi.

  "Why don't you want to go to the Public Security Bureau, is the Public Security Bureau not good?" After getting on the car, Ma Shan broke the silence first. The drunken Ma Shan was even more charming and flirtatious. Being close to her made Zhang Qingyun feel a little uneasy. Zhang Qingyun had also seen big scenes in his previous life, but thinking of Yin Suimei coming to his house to propose marriage for him still made him somewhat embarrassed.

  "It's hard to say! I just don't want to trouble Chen Mai, if I go to the Public Security Bureau, I'll definitely have to trouble him a lot, owe too many favors, it's not a good thing after all. When you're young, you should focus on accumulating wealth." Zhang Qingyun finally said slowly, but his eyes looked out the window, and the bitterness of his past life flashed before his eyes at this moment, he suddenly felt very happy in this instant.

  Ma Shan didn't say anything else, but her gaze at Zhang Qingyun had a hint of confusion. In fact, she knew about Yin Suimei going to her house to propose the marriage. During high school, although she didn't have much contact with Zhang Qingyun, Zhang Qingyun was one of the top students in school, and Ma Shan had some good feelings towards him, but that's all. At the time, she hadn't taken her mother's refusal seriously either.

  However, tonight she met Zhang Qingyun again and found that the other party had changed a lot, whether it was temperament or image, which was completely different from those in the past. Ma Shan has a good family background, is beautiful, and is also a doctor at the county hospital, so many people pursue her, which also makes her have a relatively high vision.

  But tonight she suddenly had a strange feeling in her heart, which was very strange and hard to explain. Although this feeling couldn't be called love, it was undeniable that she remembered Zhang Qingyun.

  "I've arrived, thank you for sending me! I've already paid the taxi fare."

  When Zhang Qingyun heard Ma Xiang's words, he suddenly came to his senses and smiled apologetically. He didn't bother with pleasantries either, just nodded and closed the car door. Ma Xiang was a nice girl, but Zhang Qingyun's heart wasn't in it right now! Besides, there was still a huge gap between their family backgrounds, and he didn't want to get entangled in a complicated relationship. He had always been a proud person in his past life.

  *****

  Thereafter, for several days in a row, Zhang Qingyun was running back and forth between the Party School and the Xihu Hotel. The classes at the Party School could not be neglected, and the tasks assigned by Secretary Wan had to be completed even more conscientiously. Fortunately, he had spent a few years in Lizi Village, accumulating some experience on how to deal with village cadres, so the work of unifying thoughts was still going smoothly. His good eloquence, which he had cultivated in his previous life, also came in handy at this time, and the branch secretaries of various villages all gave him a pretty good evaluation.

  However, the only thing that bothered him was that he didn't have a car and had to walk every time. The distance between the party school and the hotel was several kilometers, and sometimes he had to make several trips in one day, often leaving him exhausted with an aching waist and back.

  At noon that day, Zhang Qingyun walked out of the Xihu Hotel and headed to the Party School on foot. He had just reached the bottom of Hu Shan when he heard a car honking behind him. As he dodged to the right and turned his head back, he was astonished to find it was Li Gang's car.

  "Is the county head coming to inspect the Qinggan class?" Zhang Qingyun thought to himself, "Why wasn't I notified in advance?" He immediately turned his head and took another look, and suddenly understood what was going on.

  Lijiang Ba Cheng must have gone to "Xiao Er Mountain Villa". Speaking of "Xiao Er Mountain Villa", there is another story. Recently, the central government has repeatedly emphasized the importance of clean governance and prohibited the use of public funds for lavish spending.

  However, with policies from above and countermeasures from below, in the case of Yongping County, officials eating and drinking lavishly in public places have decreased, but some relatively hidden luxury villas have flourished instead.

  The "Xiao'er Mountain Villa" located behind the Tiger Mountain is one of them, Zhang Qingyun has also been there once. The villa looks like a civilian house from the outside, but its interior decoration is not much worse than that of the West Lake Hotel. For various receptions by the county government and township cadres coming to the city, it is always the most welcome place to go.

  As soon as he thought of this, Zhang Qingyun was about to take the opportunity to slip away, but just then a "ding" sound came from behind him. The Santana car driven by Li Gang had stopped steadily beside him, and the rear window rolled down slowly, revealing Li Gang sitting inside.