Chapter Three A Draft

  Liang Hongyan is the Deputy Minister of Propaganda and Director of the Civilization Office, and is Tao Ruxuan's immediate superior. In Tao Ruxuan's eyes, this woman who is already over 40 years old and has a mature charm, is a woman who exudes a certain aura from head to toe. Her aura is not only reflected in the suffocating perfume smell that makes Tao Ruxuan uncomfortable, but also in her daily dress and demeanor. She is like a fashion icon in the entire county government building, whatever clothes are popular at the moment, she will definitely wear them, or it can be said that whatever clothes she wears, they will become popular.

  With a belly full of doubts, Tao Ruxuan carefully knocked on the door of Liang Hongyan's office. After entering, Liang Hongyan was bent over with her round buttocks, searching for something in the drawer. Tao Ruxuan quickly shifted his gaze away. Without Liang Hongyan's approval, Tao Ruxuan didn't dare to sit down and stood straight at the door.

  Liang Hongyan searched for half a day and finally sat down, stretching out her hand. Tao Ruxuan hastily handed over the manuscript in his hand.

  "Your recent work hasn't been as diligent as when you first started." Liang Hongyan said while flipping through the manuscript.

  Tao Ruxuan's emotions couldn't help but tense up again, thinking that there was something wrong with the draft he wrote. He felt a bit uneasy in his heart and forced a smile: "Director Liang, is there anything written that isn't suitable? Please point it out, I'll go change it right away."

  Li Hongyan didn't want to hear that, extremely annoyed, she slapped the manuscript on the table and said: "Fine, you go and revise it quickly!" After finishing speaking, she turned her face away and started doing other work.

  It's the first time something like this has happened after writing drafts for Tao Ruxuan for so long. Tao Ruxuan was at a loss, and when he returned to the office, his face was also filled with disappointment.

  Ding Xiaoman didn't know where she had gone, Yu Minhua also went out, the office was left with Qu Jia Sheng alone wearing old glasses reading the newspaper, savoring the fragrant tea in his cup, looking very pleased and content.

  After seeing Tao Ruxuan come in with a dejected face, Qu Jia Sheng put down the newspaper in his hand and asked with an inscrutable smile: "Little Tao, did you get scolded?"

  If it were in the past, Tao Ruxuan would have thought that this old man was gloating. Because in Tao Ruxuan's impression, Qu Jia Sheng, who was sinister and liked to stir up trouble, was not a good person at all. However, today Tao Ruxuan did not think so, although he was extremely uncomfortable, he still smiled calmly at Qu Jia Sheng and said: "Thank you, Director Qu, for your concern, it's nothing, just a small problem."

  Such an answer was undoubtedly catering to Qu's voice. Qu's face sank, and he beckoned to Tao Ruxuan: "Bring the manuscript over and let me take a look."

  Tao Ruxuan was taken aback for a moment. Because when Tao Ruxuan first arrived at the Propaganda Department, Liang Hongyan ordered him to write his first draft and show it to Qu Jia Sheng. Unexpectedly, Qu Jia Sheng not only didn't look at it but also coldly said: "Your draft isn't written for me, why should I look?" From then on, Tao Ruxuan wouldn't let him see it again. Who would have thought that today Qu Jia Sheng would take the initiative to ask to see his own draft? It's probably because his flattery had some effect on Qu Jia Sheng.

  Qu Jian Sheng took the manuscript from Tao Ru Xuan's hand, read it through and said: "The manuscript is written without any problems, and the writing style is also good." After a moment of contemplation, he asked: "When Liang Hongyan handed over the manuscript to you, did she say anything to you?"

  Tao Ruxuan thought for a moment and said: "Nothing was said, just that the draft Secretary Gu wants to take to the city, let me be more serious."

  The composer smiled and said, "That's right. I remember that Liang Hongyan was the one who asked you to write the manuscript yesterday afternoon when she got off work. You finished it this morning, so naturally Liang Hongyan would think you didn't take it seriously. I reckon, Liang Hongyan probably hasn't even read your manuscript."

  Tao Ruxuan suddenly realized, thinking back to Liang Hongyan's expression when she was reviewing the script, she had only roughly flipped through it, and estimated that it was true what Qu Jia Sheng said, she hadn't even looked at it. In the end, Liang Hongyan's unhappiness today had nothing to do with the script at all.

  With this in mind, Tao Ruxuan also felt at ease. No matter when Liang Hongyan asked about the manuscript, Tao Ruxuan would say that he thought some places were not perfect enough and needed to be polished again. Unexpectedly, such a perfunctory statement got Liang Hongyan's repeated praise. It wasn't until three days later that Tao Ruxuan handed over the manuscript with almost no changes to Liang Hongyan for review.

  This time Liang Hongyan looked very serious and occasionally praised two sentences, and actually didn't change a single word to hand it over to County Party Secretary Gu Ping.

  After returning, Liang Hongyan beamed with joy and called Tao Ruxuan to the office, saying: "The draft you wrote is very good and has been affirmed by Secretary Gu. That's right! When doing work, one must be serious, serious, and even more serious, striving to do everything to the best of their ability. How about this? You've been working hard lately, and coincidentally, our department has an external learning activity next week. You go back and prepare, and next week you can come with me, it's also a good opportunity to relax."

  Something good that had been delayed for more than a year finally arrived. Overjoyed, Tao Ruxuan did not forget Third Uncle's words: in the official circle, one must follow the rules of the game and play his own role well; when others help you, you must show your appreciation, only then can you further solidify your relationship, otherwise people will say you are ungrateful. So, just before closing time, he expressed his wish to invite Qu Jia Sheng to dinner. Qu Jia Sheng was not polite and said that if he was invited to dinner, Yu Min Hua should also be called together.

  By now, Tao Ruxuan also understood another truth: in the officialdom, there is no clear distinction between good and bad people. Judging by general standards, Qu Jia Sheng, who was unpredictable and free-spirited, couldn't be considered a good person, but he pulled himself together at a critical moment, pointing out his confusion and making him suddenly enlightened amidst his bewilderment. Therefore, as an important point in the rules of the officialdom game, it is necessary to thoroughly remove colored glasses and treat each person around you with a normal heart.

  If Yu Minhua is called, then Ding Xiaoman cannot be ignored. However, if Ding Xiaoman is called, Qu Jia Sheng will definitely not be happy. After some deliberation, Tao Ruxuan still thinks that he should give Ding Xiaoman a heads up, but has to resort to some tactics.

  While Qu's voice went to the bathroom, Tao Ruxuan said to Ding Xiaoman: "Little Ding, do you have time this afternoon? I want to invite Director Qu and Sister Hua to dinner together."

  Tao Ruxuan did not use generalizations for everyone, but instead intentionally emphasized each person one by one, and specifically put Director Qu in the front.

  Ding Xiaoman heard this and immediately rolled her eyes, saying: "If Qu Lao goes, I won't go. You guys go instead, anyway it's not like they're inviting me as the main guest."

  Tao Ruxuan deliberately made an awkward face and hesitated for a moment before saying, "Or I'll invite you out alone another day?"

  "It's settled then. You're now the darling of Director Liang, a great talent, I wouldn't dare let you treat me to dinner." Ding Xiaoman said indifferently.

  Tao Ruxuan hastily humbled himself and said: "Look at what you're saying, when did I become the red man in front of Director Liang?"

  Ding Xiaoman suddenly lifted her foot and stepped on Tao Ruxuan's foot, staring at him with a low voice: "Don't think I don't know, next week, Liang Hongyan is going to take you out together. Let me tell you, Liang Hongyan is not a thrifty lamp. Be careful, don't let this old mother cow eat your tender grass."

  After hearing this, Tao Ruxuan was stunned for a moment. Ding Xiaoman knew that she had to go out with Liang Hongyan, which wasn't strange at all. Such things couldn't be hidden in the department anyway, and everyone would eventually find out, it wasn't something that needed to be hidden. But Ding Xiaoman's words afterwards made Tao Ruxuan somewhat puzzled. Although Ding Xiaoman was always careless, the warning behind her words was obviously intentional.

  However, since she didn't say it clearly, Tao Ruxuan wouldn't take the bait either, so he pretended to be stupid and said: "I don't understand what you mean." After that, he bent down, lifted his foot, and rubbed the foot that was stepped on by Ding Xiaoman earlier, which was a bit painful. Of course, he also didn't bother to argue with her about it.

  At the end of work, Tao Ruxuan suddenly thought that maybe he should also invite Liang Hongyan. What if Liang Hongyan found out that he was treating others to dinner but not her? Would she have any thoughts about him? After all, this is his first time taking his girlfriend out for a meal. However, Liang Hongyan is still the leader of their department, and even if he invited her, she might not go, which would be embarrassing. Moreover, there's also Qu Jiaosheng in between, whom Liang Hongyan doesn't particularly like.

  After much deliberation and weighing the pros and cons, but not wanting to ask others about this kind of thing, Tao Ruxuan finally decided to inform Liang Hongyan via text message. This way, even if Liang Hongyan didn't go, he wouldn't lose too much face. He then composed a fairly detailed message and sent it over to Liang.

  Liang Hongyan soon replied with a text message: Thank you, I still have something to do tonight, so I won't go. Also, remember to prepare, take the train to the provincial city at 8 am on Sunday to attend the study session.

  As expected, Liang Hongyan was not willing to participate in the activities of the people below, and at the same time emphasized the specific departure time for going out to study in a text message, as if reminding herself of something. Is it really true what Ding Xiaoman said, that something will happen this time when going out with Liang Hongyan? If that's the case, how should she deal with it?

  After a moment's thought, Tao Ruxuan felt that he had thought too much. Ding Xiaoman was originally a person who liked to play pranks, and Liang Hongyan was already 40 years old, with a family and a husband. Although there were some rumors, they were probably just made up by people who had grudges against Liang Hongyan, how could such an unlikely thing happen?

  In the afternoon, before the end of work hours, Ding Xiaoman slipped away, which avoided some unnecessary awkwardness. On the way to the restaurant, Tao Ruxuan suddenly remembered that Yu Minhua was a married woman and reminded her whether she should give her husband a call.

  Yu Minhua seemed to recall something for a moment, and her excited face immediately disappeared. She shook her head and said, "No need."

  Tao Ruxuan couldn't help but feel a little surprised, just as he was about to continue asking questions, Qu Jia Sheng pulled him back, seemingly wanting to say something but not daring to speak out loud, and instead winked at Tao Ruxuan, clearly indicating that he shouldn't ask any more.

  They chose to have dinner at Hongyun Restaurant near the county committee entrance. Although it was a small gathering of three people, they also wanted to show their gratitude to Qu Jia Sheng, so they had to make it rich and grand, with three meat dishes, three vegetarian dishes, two staple foods, a bottle of ten-year-old wine, and a glass of fruit juice for Yu Min Hua.