Volume 1: Nirvana Rebirth Chapter 75: Drawing Closer

  It wasn't long before the news of Zhu Jianjun's lavish funeral for the unfortunate mother and daughter, as well as his support for Xiao Wei, spread from local officials to Leng Yunfei's ears. Leng Yunfei was also filled with emotions, thinking that two young lives had been lost, and a family had been torn apart. The fact that such a tragedy occurred under her own rule, and was somehow connected to her and Leng Bingxue, was somewhat ironic.

  It's an opportunity like this that has been awaited with cold and bitter hardship.

  He pretended to be very sad and said to his parents with a sorrowful tone: "It's all because of me that Xiaowei's mother and sister suffered misfortune. She lost her father when she was young, and now she has no mother. How pitiful is that? Even Zhu Jianjun, an outsider from Feiyuan Company, can stand up to help her, how can I, the culprit, do nothing and remain unmoved?"

  "These past few nights, I've been having nightmares every time I sleep. I keep dreaming of those two women, covered in blood. Dad, Mom, can't we adopt this poor little Wei? It's also a way for us to do our part."

  "How can this be?" Cold Yun furrowed his brow and said, "Although her parents are gone, there are still uncles and other relatives. Why don't we just provide more financial assistance to her family?" As the mayor, every word and action is important, and may involve many consequences.

  "What's wrong with that?" Li Yufen was indeed very enthusiastic. In the countryside, others are all pro-male and anti-female, but she gave birth to three sons, and actually preferred daughters. Even when she was about to give birth to Cold Ice Han, she hoped it would be a daughter, but unfortunately not. Moreover, rural people are still somewhat superstitious, and earlier Cold Ice Han mentioned nightmares, which made her feel uneasy. Some things are better believed to exist than not.

  "This little girl is so pitiful, those uncles and aunts all have their own families with children, how can they take care of her well? Moreover, other unrelated companies like Fei Yuan have already stepped forward, our family which is related to the child hasn't stepped forward yet, what will others think? I think Xiao Han said something very reasonable, raising one more daughter isn't a big deal."

  "I understand your thoughts, however..." Cold Yun shook her head and said somewhat helplessly. "She still has relatives, and we also have children, this situation does not meet the national adoption conditions."

  Upon hearing this, Li Yuanfen seemed to feel a bit regretful and muttered to herself: "How can it be like this? You can't even do good deeds."

  It seems that Leng Bing Han also felt a bit unexpected, but soon remembered that the country indeed had such regulations, although he didn't know when they were introduced. However, the enforcement was not thorough enough, China is vast and populous, with many such situations, usually someone willing to do good deeds and adopt, as long as nothing happens, no one will care, let alone it's not even 1990 yet, so this aspect is even more lax, so he didn't take it too seriously either.

  But Leng Yunbi is the mayor after all, if he really violates national regulations, no matter what, it's not good, it will always be a handle, and even the smallest handle can't be explained when it will become a fatal wound.

  However, he quickly reacted and said: "Although I can't adopt her, I can take her as my goddaughter, just like how my godfather took me in as his godson back then. This way, I can treat her as my own daughter without violating national regulations."

  "Hmm, this method is pretty good, I think it's okay." Li Yufen's eyes lit up and she hastily said.

  Leng Yun hesitated for a moment, seemingly also thinking that this idea was feasible. Moreover, looking at Li Xuanfen and Leng Binghan who were both expectantly watching him, he felt somewhat moved. However, he still asked: "Where will she stay when she comes?"

  Li Yufen gave her a white eye and said, "Don't worry about this, Zheng Xiang is studying abroad, his room has been empty all along, just let Xiaowei move in. When Zheng Xiang comes back for vacation, he can squeeze in with Zheng Lin."

  At this point, Leng Zhelin, who was eating on the side, immediately stopped and shouted: "Why should I squeeze into a room with you? Why not squeeze into a room with Xiao Han?"

  "Alright, no problem, we can squeeze into one room." Leng Bing Xue didn't mind at all, as long as he could achieve his goal, he was already very happy. Moreover, big brother rarely came back, and squeezing in with him would also help to strengthen the bond between brothers, what's the harm in that?

  Now that we've reached a consensus at home, the next step is to communicate with Xiaowei's current family about this matter and get their approval.

  After the meeting that day, Leng Yun let Du Guoping inform Xiao Wang to get the car ready, then took his bag and walked out of the office, with Du Guoping following closely behind.

  "After getting on the car, Leng Yun said: 'Go to Taihe Village.'"

  Driver Xiao Wang didn't say much either, and started the car, which accelerated quickly and smoothly.

  "Boss, should we inform the township party committee of Taihe Town?" Du Guoping asked.

  "I'm just going out for some personal business." Ling Yun said simply, sharing his thoughts with his family.

  Du Guoping sincerely sighed: "Boss, you and your family are really too kind-hearted. Few people can do this. However, we don't know where Xiaowei's relatives live. Why not notify the Taihe Township Party Committee and ask them to send someone to escort us?"

  Originally, Leng Yun thought he was handling a private matter and didn't want to trouble the people below, but he also felt that Du Guoping made sense. Without someone leading the way, it would indeed be easy to get lost. So he nodded and said: "Alright, but let them not make too much noise or create a scene. I'll leave after handling my private matter."

  Du Guoping nodded and immediately dialed the phone of Liu Jianjun, the Party Secretary of Taihe Township, to report the situation as required by Leng Yunying.

  Not long after, the car had just turned into Taihe Township from National Highway 108, and Liu Jianjun was seen standing alone by the side of the road. Seeing Leng Yunfei's No. 2 car, he immediately came forward to greet them, his face a bit pale, his whole body still shaking slightly, apparently having waited here for quite some time - although Xichang has always been warm in winter and cool in summer, with pleasant weather, it is only relative.

  The weather outside in December is still very cold and biting, and the recent weather has not been good, with rain falling in the past two days.

  After the car pulled over, Du Guoping hurriedly opened the door and went up to greet him, pulling Liu Jianjun and saying: "Secretary Liu, why did you come in person? On such a cold day, look at you..."

  "It's okay, it's okay." Liu Jianjun wiped his nose and stuttered: "I've figured it out, Mayor Leng is going to Houmu Village, I just so happen to be from Houmu Village, so I'm most familiar with that place. So it's best for me to take Mayor Leng there. Because of Mayor Leng's orders, I didn't tell anyone or bring anyone, I came alone."

  Du Guoping smiled slightly in his heart, but didn't show it on his face. He intentionally feigned some surprise and said: "I only remembered that Secretary Liu's resume mentioned he was from Lin Nan's side, I didn't know you were actually from Houmu Village!"

  Liu Jianjun's face changed, and he said somewhat embarrassedly: "My grandma's house is in Houmu Village, I grew up there since childhood... Oh, Secretary Du, Mayor Leng is still waiting for us, let's go quickly."

  Du Guoping's mouth corner revealed a faint smile, and he said meaningfully: "Yes, Secretary Liu, let's hurry up and get on the car, you're frozen like this." After finishing speaking, he walked quickly to the side of the car, bent down and reported a few sentences to Leng Yunfei, then opened the door and said to Liu Jianjun: "Secretary Liu, please get on the car quickly."

  Liu Jianjun lowered his head and bowed as he sat down in the second car, not daring to sit too close, with a smile all over his face, nodding at Leng Yunfei: "Mayor Leng, hello..."

  "Secretary Liu, you've really had a hard time. On such a cold day, you must have been waiting outside for a long time?" Leng Yun's tone was very casual.

  "It's worth it, it's worth it." Although he was indeed frozen enough to choke, with a runny nose, Liu Jianjun's heart was filled with excitement, it seemed that today's play was still worthwhile.

  Liu Jianjun is about the same age as Leng Yun and also rose from the grassroots like him, but he didn't have Leng Yun's good fortune to gain Wang Peiyuan's favor. This is how it works within the system - it's not that you can stand out just because you're capable; you need both seniority and background, and without strong support, every level is a difficult hurdle to overcome.

  Taking Liu Jianjun as an example, from the age of 17 when he started his career, step by step from being a minor clerk to becoming a township party committee secretary at the deputy department level after thirty years, every step was filled with heartache and difficulties. This is because there was no powerful backer who could speak for him at critical moments.

  After so many years of struggling, Liu Jianjun was not unaware that he needed to find a backer. However, finding a backer wasn't easy and required many opportunities, skills, and vision. If you recklessly threw yourself at someone, they might not dare accept you, let alone if you didn't clearly understand the situation and stood on the wrong side, which would not only be of no help but also drag you into endless struggles, potentially ending your official career prematurely.

  After a long period of observation and consideration, he finally chose to take office as the newly appointed Mayor Hong Gang. Hong Gang seemed eager to consolidate his own power and accepted him, eventually pushing him into the position of Secretary of the Taihe Township Party Committee. This made him extremely grateful and even felt that his future was bright. However, good times didn't last long, as Hong Gang soon lost out in a confrontation with Leng Yunqiang.

  This made Liu Jianjun and his men extremely terrified, fearing that their own hats would be implicated, and being swept away by Leng Yunyi's single stroke. Fortunately, as of now, Leng Yunyi seems to have no intention of moving them, but some people under him seem to be getting impatient, making restless movements, and discordant voices have appeared in the meeting, with subtle signs of a change in the weather, leaving Liu Jianjun worried and at a loss.

  During this time, he figured out that Leng Yun's strong background and strength were something they could only aspire to but not reach. He wasn't without thoughts of changing his allegiance and joining Leng Yun, but how was he supposed to find an opportunity to get in?

  Just as he was worried, he received a call from Du Guoping, and his eyes lit up: Isn't this a rare opportunity? It seems that heaven has opened its eyes, and it's my turn to be spared.

  So he didn't tell anyone, and quietly came here alone. Although the wind outside was very cold, his heart was warm. Moreover, when he went out, he deliberately did not wear a coat or bring a hat, although he was indeed frozen enough to choke, almost feeling that his body would freeze stiff, but wouldn't this be able to show his sincerity even more? How many people have the opportunity to show themselves in front of the mayor?

  He was now sitting in the number two car with Binghe and Leng Yun, his heart was both excited and a little nervous. The opportunity was right in front of him, but if he didn't grasp it well, he would end up losing everything, including his last resort.

  "Secretary Liu, I'm dealing with a personal matter here, you've come personally, won't it interfere with your work?"

  "How is that?" Liu Jianjun smiled and said: "I just have work to report to Mayor, you happened to come, besides, I am familiar with this Houmu Village, if it were someone else, I wouldn't be at ease, this kills two birds with one stone."

  Liu Jianjun said this, raised his head and secretly took a look at Leng Yunfei, seeing that he did not voice any opposition, knew that this was an opportunity for him to speak, and quickly seized the time to report to Leng Yunfei on the various achievements made during this period under the wise leadership of the municipal party committee and government. Of course, there were also inadequacies, but a small flaw does not conceal the beauty of a jade.

  The whole way was a dirt road, and since it had rained in the past few days, some of it was muddy and there were many big and small puddles everywhere. Fortunately, although this car was an old one, Wang had taken good care of it, so the car was still quite reliable. Plus, Wang's driving skills were exceptional, so despite the bumpy ride, they made their way through without any major incidents.

  Leng Yun leaned back in his chair, narrowing his eyes as he listened to Liu Jianjun's report. Suddenly, he said: "Secretary Liu, I think we should come up with a good solution to fix the road in Taihe Township. As the saying goes: 'To get rich, first build roads.' As for those squares and whatnot, we can put them on hold for now. These things aren't unimportant, but compared to this road, there's a matter of priority."

  Although the tone is very casual, there are implications of blame and dissatisfaction.

  Liu Jianjun's face suddenly turned bright red, and he touched the sweat beads on his forehead, saying: "Mayor Leng is right, these roads have always been bad. I should make a profound self-criticism. I have considered it many times before, but I was always held back by some people with rigid thinking, so..."

  Leng Yun opened her eyes and looked at Liu Jianjun, staring at him until he felt a chill in his heart. Then she said: "You first come up with a feasible plan, I believe that as long as it's for the good of the people, it will definitely pass, unless he is not an official of GCD, not an official of the people. If it really doesn't work out, you can come find me again, after all, there are always more solutions than difficulties."

  "Alright, Mayor Leng, you can rest assured, I will do my best to repair the roads in the countryside! If not, you can dismiss me from my position and I won't have any complaints." Liu Jianjun patted his chest to guarantee it.

  "It's okay, as long as you have the people in your heart and are determined, there is nothing that can't be done. When the time comes and the road is repaired, I will definitely attend the completion ceremony." Leng Yunying said.

  Liu Jianjun was overjoyed when he heard this, Cold Yunyi had made such a statement, indicating that at least in the matter of road repair, he would fully support himself. Later, with this edict, who else in the countryside would dare to come out and sing a discordant tune? Moreover, as long as he handled this matter well, wouldn't it mean that he could enter Mayor Cold's line of sight?

  No matter what, I've already established a connection with Mayor Leng. As long as I do my part well, everything will fall into place naturally when the time comes.