Chapter 47: Home's Warmth
Tonight, a gentle patter of rain fell, although it was already the beginning of spring, but outside there was still no hint of spring. The evening wind blew in, cold and biting. Zhang Qingyun stood alone on the balcony, dazed and oblivious to the piercing chill of the wind.
The more he thought about today's affairs, the more uneasy he felt. The fire of anger had been ignited, but how to bring it under control was a difficult problem. Wu De's tentacles extended into various aspects of Yongping County's politics, economy, and culture. If any one aspect went awry, Li Gang would be left with no choice but to swallow his pride and retreat.
However, Zhang Qingyun was clear that with the cultivation of martial arts, a real fight would not lead to a life-or-death situation. After all, the struggles in the officialdom were all silent and invisible, and it was absolutely impossible to make it a matter of life and death unless there was no other choice.
After all, there are too many variables in the officialdom. Today, both sides are enemies, and tomorrow they may form an alliance due to changes in the situation. So doing things without leaving any room for maneuver is a big taboo in officialdom. Moreover, if the infighting gets too intense, the leaders will definitely not have a good impression of either side. Who would promote a time bomb?
"It's good that Lijiang has gone to Wude, I can also calm down for a while." Zhang Qingyun murmured, thinking of Lijiang's reminder earlier, Zhang Qingyun smiled wryly. Lijiang was indeed born to be an official, he also knew that Huang Songshan's side was unreliable. Huang Songshan's compromise was just a selfish move, if something really went wrong, would he take care of Lijiang?
Just as Zhang Qingyun was lost in thought, a pair of hands suddenly reached out from behind him and covered his eyes. Zhang Qingyun touched them with his hand, the other person's small hands were slender and delicate, and there was also a jade bangle on their left wrist. Zhang Qingyun smiled lightly:
"You're so big now, but still acting like a kid? How did you end up at my house today?"
"You're such a boring person, always saying something to spoil the mood." Those jade hands withdrew, and Zhang Qingyun turned her head to take a look. It was indeed her cousin Little Ai, whose name was Ai Jia, the daughter of Zhang Qingyun's aunt Yin Su Mei. The Zhang family had few relatives, and since Ai Jia and Zhang Qingyun were also close in age, their relationship had always been good.
Zhang Qingyun's family was a scholarly one, so Zhang Qingyun had good grades since childhood. The Ai family, on the other hand, were merchants for generations. Ai Jia didn't do well in school, but she was great at doing business. After graduating from high school, she returned to Yongping to start her own business. Now, she and her family have opened a "Sodano" specialty store on Yongping's pedestrian street, investing over 5 million yuan. In this small town of Yongping, she is also considered to be quite successful in her career.
"Brother, it's cold outside, what are you doing staying here alone? Why don't you go in and keep your sister-in-law company?" Ai Jia said with a smile. When she mentioned the word "sister-in-law", her eyes sparkled even more, and she lowered her voice to say: "Hey, brother, your taste is really good, your sister-in-law's figure, that face... tsk, I'm even a little jealous."
Zhang Qingyun smiled, Geng Shuang was famous in the officialdom of Yongping, but he was still very low-key. Judging from Ai Jia's tone, she seemed to not know this "sister-in-law". Thinking about it, it made sense that apart from Xiaoler Mountain Villa, Geng Shuang didn't show up for any other business, and having no reputation in the Yongping business circle was understandable.
"When did you arrive? Are you alone?" Zhang Qingyun asked.
"Ai Jia gave him a glance, somewhat dissatisfied, and said: 'Mom and Dad have been here for over half an hour, Auntie kept saying you were on the phone. I said how could one phone call take so long? Came out to see, you were actually enjoying the northwest wind. I said are you now an official or something, got a big temper, guests arrived but didn't even greet them.'"
Zhang Qingyun smiled wryly, he had been afraid of arguing with Ai Jia since childhood. This little girl's mouth was like a machine gun, and she was also very arrogant, no one in the family dared to offend her.
"Isn't it time to greet now? You're a female entrepreneur, and our Yongping's development still relies on you. I'm just a small official, how dare I offend you?" Zhang Qingyun laughed and said, Ai Jia saw Zhang Qingyun yield, her expression also eased, the two siblings came to the living room together.
In the living room, Yin Su'e and Yin Su'mei sandwiched Geng Shuang in between, and the three women chatted enthusiastically. Meanwhile, Zhang Deyan and Zhang Qingyun's uncle-in-law Ai Fa'gui set up a chessboard and started playing Go, with both sides making moves and counter-moves, completely absorbed in the game.
"Auntie, uncle, hello. Why didn't you give us a call? Now that we know you're here, we might as well have dinner together." said Zhang Qingyun.
"What do you know?" Yin Su-mei laughed and said, "These days Xiao Ai is having a seasonal sale, the store's business is good, where would I have time during the day."
"Qingyun, don't listen to your aunt's nonsense. It was your aunt and Xiaoi who heard that you were looking for a girlfriend and they were overjoyed. They insisted on coming over tonight, so here we are." Aifagu took over the conversation, speaking straightforwardly without caring about others' embarrassment.
Zhang Qingyun's face turned slightly red, and she secretly glanced at Geng Shuang, seeing that she was also extremely shy, her pink cheeks flushed with a layer of red glow, making her look even more charming and captivating.
"Dad, just focus on playing chess! Don't say anything more, you're embarrassing Tabo and Sister Geng." Aijiao said.
As soon as she finished speaking, the room was filled with laughter. Geng Shuang's face turned bright red, but her eyes kept glancing at Zhang Qingyun from time to time, and judging from her expression, it seemed that sweetness outweighed shyness.
"Alright, alright, Xia Ai stop laughing at your brother-in-law and sister. When a man grows up, he should get married, when a woman grows up, she should get married too, what's there to laugh about?" Yin Su Mei scolded Ai Jia, then suddenly changed the subject, saying with a hint of emotion:
"Qingyun has found a girlfriend, and I can finally put my heart at ease." She turned her head to look at Geng Shuang, holding her hand, and said with joy:
"Still, little Geng has vision and knows that our Qingyun is good. You don't know, all these years, for Qingyun's marriage, I and his mom have been worried sick. To say that our family's Qingyun, looks are also good, level is also high, but in recent years, girlfriends are just one after another..."
Zhang Qingyun almost fainted on the spot, who is this aunt speaking for? With her nonsense talk, Geng Shuang was originally a master of not sparing words, will she still want to live in the future?
As soon as he thought of this, he hastily glanced at Geng Shuang, and indeed, Geng Shuang was looking at him with a smug expression, her eyes filled with playful smile. Zhang Qingyun secretly sighed in frustration, thinking to himself that he had been exposed, all because of his aunt's big mouth.
There's a saying that one woman is equal to 500 ducks, and now with four women in the living room, it's a chattering scene, Zhang Qingyun basically has no chance to get a word in edgewise. Of course, among the four women, Geng Shuang is undoubtedly today's protagonist, Yin Suimei and Xiao Ai praise her like a flower, Geng Shuang is also a delicate person, although she doesn't say much, but every time she says something, it makes the other three people feel more affectionate towards her, for a while, the four of them chat more and more harmoniously, as if they will talk all night.
