Chapter 5 A Narrow Escape

  Just before dawn, Tao Ruxuan suddenly realized that he had been a bit too sensitive tonight. After all, whether Liang Hongyan had any intention or not was still unknown, and Third Uncle and Ding Xiaoman were just speculating. He shouldn't be thinking wildly and getting worked up over nothing.

  The next day was Saturday, and Tao Ruxuan got up late in the morning because he had been tossing and turning on the bed all night. After getting up, there was nothing to do, so he played a few games with his father and listened to his mother nagging about finding a partner for half a day, and the day passed by.

  It wasn't until the evening that Tao Ruxuan remembered he was going out with Liang Hongyan the next day, so he packed his toiletries and a change of clothes, told his parents about the business trip, and then went to sleep.

  For the people of Fen City, trains are still the only means of long-distance transportation. A small station with a ticket hall of less than 600 square meters is particularly crowded. When queuing to enter the station, Tao Ruxuan followed behind Liang Hongyan and took on the task of carrying luggage. Liang Hongyan's gaze was fixed on the crowd in front, occasionally saying a few indifferent words to Tao Ruxuan.

  It's probably because of the hot weather that Liang Hongyan wore a red dress with an extremely low neckline today, and from the front, a patch of white skin squeezed out a deep cleavage, while in the back, half of her spine was exposed. The black straps of her undergarment were sometimes parallel to and sometimes separated from the straps of the dress, and even the fine hairs on her back were clearly visible.

  Although Tao Ruxuan followed behind Liang Hongyan, she didn't dare to get too close, fearing that her breath would blow onto Liang Hongyan's back when she spoke.

  Because the train tickets were purchased in advance by Liang Hongyan's department office, after boarding, Tao Ruxuan found that they were adjacent seats, so he put his luggage away and let Liang Hongyan sit in the window seat.

  "Ru Xuan, there's something I need to tell you." Liang Hongyan said while arranging the snacks and drinks she brought: "The department's deputy level cadres will probably undergo evaluation this year."

  As soon as he heard this, Tao Ruxuan was taken aback. Because the Propaganda Department is a regular member unit of the county, following the usual practice in previous years, section-level cadres do not need to be evaluated and can be converted directly after working for two years. Tao Ruxuan has been in the Propaganda Department for more than a year, and this batch should have been converted. If an evaluation is carried out, it will be necessary to compete with others, which will undoubtedly create great obstacles for the promotion of section-level cadres.

  "That's the thing. According to the municipal regulations, each county has a certain quota for promoting cadres every year. In recent years, in order to take care of the county party committee, there has been no restriction on quotas. However, there are still quota restrictions in towns and various bureaus and offices. This year, several deputy county magistrates and town party committees, especially Executive Deputy County Magistrate Fang Huamin, suggested that this approach is unfair. Secretary Gu felt embarrassed and asked the Organization Department to handle it appropriately. However, according to Secretary Gu's intention, it should be to limit quotas for the politics and law, discipline inspection, organization, propaganda, and united front departments, and hold democratic elections. So, you need to be mentally prepared." Liang Hongyan continued to speak while looking out of the window.

  This unfortunate thing happened to himself, Tao Ruxuan couldn't help but feel a little unhappy in his heart. If it were in the past, he would have definitely complained unnecessarily, but today, Tao Ruxuan endured it. Liang Hongyan said that this was obviously intentional, but no matter what intention there was, he never wanted to hear himself complaining.

  This time, the transfer of cadres at the deputy department level, there are two others in the same batch as myself. One is Liu Bin from the Ministry's Office, and the other is Ding Xiaoman who works with me in the Civilization Office's Comprehensive Office. The Ministry's Office is under the supervision of Deputy Minister Zhao Yunqi, but Liang Hongyan has never gotten along with Zhao Yunqi, so she definitely won't recommend Liu Bin when it comes to promotions. However, Liu Bin also has great abilities and writes excellent materials that have earned him Zhao Yunqi's trust. If they were to compete, he shouldn't be underestimated. Furthermore, although Liang Hongyan has always disliked Ding Xiaoman, there are rumors that she has a very close relationship with Minister Sun Dianmin. Even if Liang Hongyan doesn't want to recommend her, she'll probably have to give in to Sun Dianmin's opinions. This way, whether it's selecting one out of three or two out of three, I will still face great elimination possibilities.

  So Liang Hongyan's words just now are not difficult to understand. Liang Hongyan is telling herself that if Tao Ruxuan wants to be promoted to this level of cadre, she must rely on Liang Hongyan. There is no other choice. Going deeper, it means that Tao Ruxuan must obey Liang Hongyan's orders from now on. And this time, they went out together, Liang Hongyan's impure purpose suddenly appeared in Tao Ruxuan's mind.

  But from another perspective, if I could treat Liang Hongyan as a lady during the game, like San Shu said, wouldn't that be a wonderful thing? Moreover, Liang Hongyan is actually a pretty good woman, just over 40 years old, with no excess fat on her body. Although she lacks the innocence and charm of young girls, she has gained a few more points of mature charm, and should also be considered one of the best among women.

  "I will definitely work hard and not let you down." Tao Ruxuan said in a calm tone.

  This sentence obviously met Liang Hongyan's intention, and a smile of relief immediately hung on Liang Hongyan's face. She turned around to look at Tao Ruxuan and said, "Good! This is exactly what I want."

  She shifted her buttocks, making herself sit more comfortably, and continued: "This time if we do democratic selection, according to the situation in our department, I'm afraid only one spot will be available. However, I and Director Sun will definitely try to fight for two spots with the Organization Department. As for Ding Xiaoman's matter, I won't mention it - you should have a number in mind. Your main competitor is Liu Bin. You can't make me lose face."

  From Liang Hongyan's words, Tao Ruxuan could hear that no matter how many places there were, they definitely couldn't pull down Ding Xiaoman. That is to say, the rumor about Ding Xiaoman and Sun Dianmin's relationship was probably true.

  The train finally started with a long whistle. After chatting for a while, probably because of the lack of sleep last night, Tao Ruxuan fell asleep in the swaying of the train. When he woke up, it was already high noon. Dazed and confused, he suddenly smelled a woman's unique body fragrance, only to find that he had unknowingly used Liang Hongyan's thigh as a pillow at some point. He quickly got up, looked at Liang Hongyan, and apologized: "Sorry, Director Liang, I...I fell asleep just now..."

  Li Hongyan handed over a tissue and said, "It's okay. If you didn't sleep well, then just sleep for a while longer." As she spoke, she smiled and patted her thigh, implying that it could still be used as a pillow, without any hint of impropriety.

  Tao Ru's mind wasn't rigid, and in college she had two romantic relationships, but they were just games, limited to holding hands, kissing, and hugging, never going further. These three things seemed unnecessary for Liang Hongyan, perhaps as a tentative prelude, but not worth taking seriously. Just like Ximen Qing intentionally pinched Pan Jinlian's foot while picking up chopsticks to test her, the purpose was just to explore.

  Since it's all just a show, then why not make the show more realistic? Only in this way can we truly find happiness in the play. Thinking of this, Tao Ruxuan lowered his head and took a glance at Liang Hongyan's leg, which he had leaned on earlier, and found that the skirt was inevitably wrinkled, so he stretched out his hand to smooth it out. Liang Hongyan then grabbed Tao Ruxuan's hand and pressed it under her own leg.

  The northern mountains are dry and desolate, with few crops in sight even at the end of summer. After passing through Linzhou City, except for some greenery along the highway parallel to the railway, the hills are all barren and rugged, evoking a sense of isolation and wildness.

  After arriving at the provincial capital, Tao Ruxuan only knew that the study time was just one day, while Liang Hongyan seemed to have told the office for three days, and the other two days were also relaxed as Liang Hongyan said.

  Tao Ruxuan had to admit that Liang Hongyan was a woman who knew how to enjoy life. After finishing their studies, at Liang Hongyan's suggestion, the two of them moved from the hotel arranged by the provincial party committee propaganda department to a resort in the suburbs, using the two days to visit two relatively famous tourist attractions, and spending the evenings swimming and getting massages.

  Whether in the swimming pool or in the massage room, this forty-year-old woman showed Tao Ruxuan a thirty-year-old skin and figure, which thoroughly broke Tao Ruxuan's inherent concept that he did not believe there were ageless goddesses in this world. Unexpectedly, what Tao Ruxuan was worried about did not happen, and Liang Hongyan did not actively make excessive demands. On the contrary, on the way back, Tao Ruxuan felt a little regretful, as if the cooked duck had been sent to his mouth, but he didn't dare take a bite for fear of burning his mouth.

  However, after returning to the unit in the afternoon, Tao Ruxuan still found that everyone's eyes on themselves were somewhat wrong. Ding Xiaoman even took advantage of the situation when no one was around and stared at Tao Ruxuan with a hint of sarcasm, asking: "Tao Ruxuan, tell me honestly, have you been doing something with Liang Hongyan these past few days?"

  She glared at Ding Xiaoman, Tao Ruzheng was about to say a few unpleasant words to counterattack this annoying woman, but suddenly remembered what Liang Hongyan said to herself when she went to the provincial city. She immediately swallowed back the words that had already reached her lips. Regardless of Ding Xiaoman's relationship with Sun Dianmin, since Liang Hongyan said that Ding Xiaoman would definitely be promoted in this departmental evaluation, it means that Ding Xiaoman's background is not ordinary. Otherwise, based on Liang Hongyan's impression of Ding Xiaoman, even if it was a one-on-one selection without any suspense, she might still create some trouble for Ding Xiaoman.

  Even Lian Liang Hongyan didn't dare to provoke him, why should you?

  "I was just thinking what it could be, that Secretary Liang looks down on me." Tao Ruxuan forced himself to squeeze out a natural smile and said with a playful tone.

  At this time, Tao Ruxuan, although he had received San Shu's teachings and understood a few points about the game of officialdom, was still young and vigorous after all, and could not truly achieve the ability to restrain himself. Being able to swallow his pride under Ding Xiaoman's humiliation was already quite difficult for him.

  Don't want to hear this sentence, Ding Xiaoman immediately became like eating gunpowder, grasped Tao Ruxuan's collar and said: "Tao Ruxuan, you really have no shame, actually even a middle-aged woman can be liked by you. I...I...I despise you!"