Chapter 2: The Third Uncle's Masterstroke

  "Three uncle waved his hand and said, "This is not called disguise. If you have a disguised mindset when interacting with others, it will be even more troublesome. I want you to truly enter this role. Haven't you heard the saying 'life is like a play'? Although it's a bit exaggerated, but that's indeed the case. Life is just like acting, but you must get into character, act realistically, and treat yourself as if you're really in the role. If you have a disguised mindset when acting, it's easy to overact and make mistakes. Then you won't be a good actor."

  Then, San Shu lit a cigarette and continued: "Take me for example. When I was young, I used to be a hooligan, then I did some small business, later I ran transportation, and now I'm running a company as the boss. The roles keep changing, but every time I play a role, I make sure to do it well. When I was a hooligan, I had to be fierce, make people fear me, not just by looking at my appearance, but also by knowing my capabilities, and taking action when necessary, because that's the role I'm playing. If I don't take down others, they'll take me down. When doing small business, I had to be cunning, or else others would take advantage of me, the vegetable vendors wouldn't take me seriously, and customers would try to get a discount from me. Now that I'm a boss, I have to look like one, you see how I dress, in a suit and tie, with luxury brands, only then will people doing business with me take me seriously, think I have the ability, and believe in me. Isn't that right?

  Tao Ruxuan seemed to have gained some insight, but in his heart, he still found it difficult to get over this hurdle. Although San Shu's words also had a certain degree of reason, they were quite different from the teachings of his parents and teachers, and inevitably, there was something not quite right about them.

  Third Uncle seemed to have also seen through Tao Ruxuan's thoughts, and patted him on the shoulder: "The principles Third Uncle told you, you may not be able to accept for a while, let alone your dad, who can't accept them his whole life. But you'll slowly come to understand. People are like this, they see how you live, if you want to live as freely and unrestrainedly as Third Uncle, then you have to follow the method Third Uncle told you; if you want to live a peaceful and contented life with no desires or demands, then what your parents taught you is also correct."

  Just then, Father called two people to eat, pushed the door in, and stared at Third Uncle with a suspicious gaze, asking bluntly: "I say, San Er, are you instilling some kind of bandit ideology into Ruxuan again?"

  Third Uncle was fearless from a young age, but he had a hint of fear towards his eldest brother. He chuckled and explained, "Big Brother, what are you thinking? Bao'er is your son, isn't he also my son? How can I not teach him well?" As he spoke, he stood up and put his hand on his father's shoulder, pushing him out while changing the subject, "Let's go, let's eat. It's been a long time since we've tasted Sister-in-law's cooking. Today, we must satisfy our cravings."

  His father grunted and said, "You've had all sorts of delicacies every day, what's so special about your aunt's cooking?"

  "Rare, of course it's rare, big brother, you don't know that after eating mountain delicacies and seafood for a long time, they're actually not as good as sister-in-law's cooking. Look, sister-in-law's dishes have both meat and vegetables, cold and hot, dry and soup, and after finishing them, I feel comfortable. No matter how delicious the mountain delicacies and seafood are, after eating them, my stomach gets anxious, so..."

  The two older brothers chatted idly as they left, but Third Uncle's words of wisdom lingered in Tao Ruxuan's mind. Although he couldn't be considered an official yet, he was indeed in the official circle, and this fact couldn't be changed whether he liked it or not. Perhaps, just as Third Uncle had said, his positioning was off.

  As usual, after lunch, Tao Ruxuan rode his bike to the unit. As soon as he sat down in the office, Qu Jia Sheng pushed open the door and came in. Tao Ruxuan hastily stood up and greeted him: "Director Qu is well!" He then proactively poured a cup of tea and handed it over to Qu Jia Sheng.

  This was something that had never happened in the past. Tao Ruxuan also felt a bit abrupt, but still very naturally took over the cup, but only hummed and didn't speak for half a day. Tao Ruxuan didn't care about it either, and went to do his own thing.

  After about two or three minutes, Qu Jian suddenly asked Tao Ruxuan, who was typing on the computer: "Little Tao, don't take my words to heart this morning. I wasn't targeting you, I just can't stand that little girl Ding Xiaoman."

  Tao Ruxuan stopped the work in his hands, smiled sincerely and said: "Director Qu, look at what you're saying. How could I blame you? Even if I didn't understand things, I knew you were saying it for my own good. When I first came here, I didn't understand things, and from now on, I'll still need your guidance."

  These words that go against his heart, in the past, Tao Ruxuan would never have been able to say them. It's clear that he has been oppressed and yet still says things that make himself feel suffocated for his own good. In Tao Ruxuan's past way of thinking, this is probably the most unprincipled thing to say. However, as San Shu said, since one is in the official circle, they must play the role of an official well. What is the official circle? The official circle is not a place that talks about right and wrong. If one only uses their sense of right and wrong to measure people, then the result will probably be no different from the past.

  To verify whether San Shu's idea was correct, Tao Ruxuan glanced at Qu Jia Sheng's face after finishing speaking, and found that Qu Jia Sheng's face actually changed slightly. This change was subtle, but it was still seen by Tao Ruxuan.

  "Xiao Tao is not bad, nowadays it's rare to see young people as sensible as you." Qu Jia Sheng said with a sigh and began to grumble: "Nowadays some young people are really something, they rely on their connections, take Ding Xiaoman for example, she runs to Sun Dianmin every day, who knows what kind of tricks she's playing with Sun Dianmin. Relying on Sun Dianmin's power, naturally she doesn't put an old man like me in her eyes."

  Sun Dianmin is the deputy secretary of the county party committee and head of the propaganda department in Fenxiang County. He is just over 50 years old, and neither his seniority nor age can compare with Qu Jiansheng, who is about to retire. Qu Jiansheng often takes advantage of his seniority and always addresses Sun Dianmin by his name. This is well-known within the department, and even Sun Dianmin himself knows it, but he doesn't hold it against him.

  Tao Ruxuan thought for a moment and felt that he absolutely couldn't take the bait. If it were to reach Sun Dianmin's ears, Sun would definitely use him as a scapegoat since he had no way to deal with Qu Jia Sheng. He didn't need to get himself into trouble over idle chatter, so he just smiled vaguely and said: "Director Sun's character is clear for all to see." The implication was that he didn't believe Qu Jia Sheng's claim about Sun Dianmin's improper relationship with Ding Xiaoman.

  Just then, Yu Minhua pushed the door and came in. Seeing Tao Ruxuan chatting with Qu Jia Sheng, she was probably also surprised, so she couldn't help but pause for a moment. Because in Yu Minhua's impression, Tao Ruxuan was a man of his word, diligent at work, and strong in principle, and would never take the initiative to talk to people after being bullied. Therefore, Tao Ruxuan's behavior today was undoubtedly very abnormal in Yu Minhua's eyes.

  "Ah, Sister Hua is here!" Tao Ruxuan greeted Yu Minhua with a smile. Unlike when he greeted Qu Jia Sheng, his greeting to Yu Minhua was sincere and came from the heart. In Tao Ruxuan's eyes, this woman who was approaching thirty was not only beautiful but also had a kind heart that was unique to women.

  Yu Minhua nodded and responded with a sound, then put the package in the drawer and took up the work that had not been finished in the morning.

  Tao Ruxuan ended his conversation with Qu Jia Sheng and returned to his seat to continue writing his materials. Just as he sat down, the door was pushed open with a loud bang. Without looking up, he knew it must be Ding Xiaoman who had arrived. Perhaps what Qu Jia Sheng said was true, that Ding Xiaoman's relationship with Sun Dianmin was extremely close, which is why she would do whatever she wanted without any regard for others.

  "Hey, Hua Jie, Xiao Tao, Lao Qu, you all came pretty early!" Ding Xiaoman chirped like a happy bird as she entered and greeted everyone. It seemed like she had already forgotten the unpleasantness from this afternoon.

  Yu Minhua smiled faintly and responded with a hum. In the past, not to mention the embarrassment at noon, even if Ding Xiaoman had entered with such an attitude, Tao Ruxuan would not have paid attention to her. However, after hearing San Shu's words today, although it was not easy to accept in his heart, he still tried to change a bit and said, "You're quite early too." Qu Jia Sheng was already out of patience, humming from his nostrils, without even giving Ding Xiaoman a proper glance.

  Ding Xiaoman changed her tone and called Qu Jiaosheng "Old Qu", which was something that happened after the Spring Festival. When Ding Xiaoman first called out, Tao Ruxuan and Yu Minhua were both very surprised, feeling that Ding Xiaoman was a bit too rude, not to mention Qu Jiaosheng's position or age, which could have been her father, making it too excessive. Qu Jiaosheng even responded with a gloomy face: "Can you also call me 'Old Qu'?" At the time, Ding Xiaoman just stuck out her tongue and made a silly face, but continued to call him "Old Qu". It was from then on that Qu Jiaosheng had a grudge against Ding Xiaoman, often saying that she would frequently run to Sun Dianmin's office for no reason, and even claimed that several times she had bumped into Ding Xiaoman leaving Sun Dianmin's house at night, probably already having gotten into Sun Dianmin's bed.

  As the rumors spread, Ding Xiaoman's reputation in the department also declined day by day. Terms such as "department flower", "internal long", and "little three" were all pinned on Ding Xiaoman's head. It's just that everyone wouldn't say it to Ding Xiaoman's face, and Ding Xiaoman was naturally confused.

  At around three o'clock, Deputy Minister Liang Hongyan pushed the door and came in, asking Tao Ruxuan how the report on the county's spiritual civilization construction for the first half of the year was going. Tao Ruxuan hastily handed over the draft while saying: "It's already done."

  Didn't want to say anything, but found that Liang Hongyan's eyebrows furrowed slightly, obviously somewhat unhappy. Tao Ruxuan's heart involuntarily rose, thinking that he hadn't said anything wrong just now, so he said a sentence "It's already fine", why would Liang Hongyan be unhappy?

  "Then you take it over." Liang Hongyan said and turned away.

  Tao Ruxuan hastily reviewed the draft he had written, ensuring there were no low-level errors such as misused words or typos, before heading to Liang Hongyan's office.