Chapter Ten: Paying Respects to Leaders

  Visiting the leader's home was something Tao Ruxuan had never done in his over a year of being a civil servant. He thought about it and decided to go, but when he left his second uncle's house, he felt a bit uneasy, as if he was doing something sneaky, so he wanted to retreat. He thought, why not go at night? After all, this kind of thing can only give people a sense of security at night. But then again, he didn't think he was going to bribe anyone, so why should he be hiding and sneaking around? Besides, going to someone's home at night might also be inconvenient.

  After thinking for half a day, he decided to go to Qu Peixian's house first. Although Qu Peixian was a bit stubborn, he wouldn't easily make things difficult for people. Having thought it through, Tao Ruxuan spent over 300 yuan at the tea shop on a can of high-end tea leaves and suddenly remembered that Qu Peixian had a smoking habit, so he also bought a pack of Yunnan cigarettes for over 400 yuan. The only thing was that he didn't know if there were any children in Qu Peixian's household; if there were, buying some snacks would be a good idea - it would save money and make the kids happy. When the kids are happy, the adults naturally are too, and it doesn't seem insincere either. So he called Liang Hongyan to ask her about it. Liang Hongyan said that Qu Peixian's little grandson was at home. Only then did Tao Ruxuan go on another trip to the supermarket, picking out a big bag of odds and ends, and brought three things to Qu Peixian's house.

  The door was opened by a woman in her fifties, presumably Qu Pei Xian's wife. She looked at Tao Ru Xuan with a momentary blank expression, then saw the things he was carrying and broke into a warm smile. "You're looking for Pei Xian, come on in, come on in," she said enthusiastically, calling out to the house, "Old Qu, someone is here."

  Kui Pei Xian didn't come out, but instead a 4 or 5 year old boy ran out from inside, probably Kui Pei Xian's little grandson. The little boy looked spirited and energetic, and as soon as he saw Tao Ru Xuan, he stopped in his tracks, blinking his big eyes politely and said: "Uncle!"

  "Ah, you're good too!" Tao Ruxuan said as he squatted down and opened his arms. The little boy didn't seem to be shy at all and immediately snuggled into Tao Ruxuan's embrace. The woman hastily stopped him, "Dingding, you have to be polite, can't mess around with Uncle, Uncle has something to discuss with Grandpa, go play with your toys."

  He didn't expect the child to be so clingy, pouting and saying, "No, I want to play with Uncle." Those toys are no fun. Tao Ruxuan then said to the woman, "Auntie, it's okay, I actually really like kids." He took out the snacks and toys from his bag and waved them in front of the little boy, asking, "Do you like these, Didi?"

  Ding Ding was clever and obedient, and didn't directly grab it. Instead, he nodded his head until Tao Ru Xuan handed the thing over to him before taking it.

  At this time, Qu Pei Xian also came out from inside, first scowling at the little boy and saying: "Ding Ding must be sensible and can't just take Uncle's things."

  Ding Ding was apparently a little afraid of Qu Pei Xian, his face suddenly sank, and he turned to look at Tao Ru Xuan. Tao Ru Xuan gently patted his cheek and said, "Take it, it's okay." Only then did Ding Ding take the thing and ran away happily. Qu Pei Xian naturally wouldn't say anything.

  "I'm so sorry to disturb you on a Sunday, I shouldn't have come," said Tao Ruxuan as he stood up.

  Qu Pei Xian stretched out his arm and made a welcoming gesture, walking towards the living room as he said: "Since you're here, don't worry about disturbing me, I wasn't doing anything important at home anyway." He then got straight to the point: "I know what this is about. I won't hide it from you, Liu Bin also came to see me a few days ago. My attitude was to recommend you. But since you're here today, I need to reconsider. Why did I want to recommend you? Because all along, I thought you were a young man with good character, not someone who would play tricks on people. Now it seems my conclusion was premature."

  As they spoke, the two sat down on the sofa. Tao Ruxuan had thought that Qu Peixian would be easier to talk to, but unexpectedly he was met with a slap in the face, and his face couldn't help but feel a little embarrassed.

  Mrs. Kuai Pei-xian came out of the kitchen with two plates of fruit in her hands and complained to Kuai Pei-xian, "Old Kuai, what are you doing? Can't you just speak nicely? Young people aren't easy to deal with, why must you be so demanding?"

  Qu Pei Xian waved his hand, meaning to let the woman stop interrupting. He handed an apple to Tao Ru Xuan and continued: "I'm most disgusted with you young people playing these tricks. As soon as you enter government work, you don't think about how to do your job seriously, but instead learn how to please others by giving gifts and treating them to meals. I'll tell you, this kind of behavior is not beneficial for either your future development or your work. Don't look at the temporary benefits you can get from these small tricks, but also determine that you won't become a big shot in the future. Look at those high-ranking leaders, which one got there by giving gifts?"

  Tao Ruxuan really wanted to say that the former municipal party secretary Wang Jundong, who was taken away by the discipline inspection committee recently, is a vivid example. However, he swallowed his words at the last minute. Wang Jundong, the party secretary of Fengyuan City, was involved in a mining corruption case and 900 million yuan in cash was seized from his villa in Beijing, as well as a large amount of US dollars and Hong Kong dollars. Chi Peixian must have known about this, so saying these words would make him hard to avoid being accused of speaking official jargon.

  However, it's also impossible to completely deny Kuai Pei Xian's view. Wasn't Wang Jun Tang taken away by the Discipline Inspection Commission? But then again, some people say that Wang Jun Tang was just a victim of political struggle. The reason he was taken away by the Discipline Inspection Commission was simply because he stood on the wrong side and followed the wrong person. Because here is an undisputed fact: those corrupt elements who are flaunting themselves in front of everyone have not been taken away by the Discipline Inspection Commission, and they are all living very comfortably, even quite ostentatiously.

  However, Tao Ruxuan also knew that Kuai Peixian said so, probably also self-proclaimed to be noble. As for what he really thought in his heart, it was uncertain. At least when he handed over the tea leaves and cigarettes to Kuai Peixian's wife earlier, Kuai Peixian did not stop him. He could only follow Kuai Peixian's intention and flatter: "Yes, yes, yes, Director Kuai is right, but I'm not giving you gifts. It's just that on Sundays, I have nothing to do at home, so I came to visit you. I know you're the county's recognized calligrapher, and I wanted to ask for your advice on writing materials. Don't worry too much."

  Qu Peixian's face immediately showed a hint of joy, and he nodded: "Mmm, that's great. I was thinking earlier that Tao Ruxuan wouldn't be so mediocre. If there's anything you need my help with, just let me know." As he said this, his body leaned back against the sofa, adopting an attitude as if ready to chat for a long time.

  For Tao Ruxuan, writing materials was a familiar task. He raised some questions with ease, pretending not to understand despite knowing how to handle them. Qu Peixian began to talk freely, from guessing the leader's intentions to how to embellish, and even shared some of the leader's hobbies. Having previously worked in the county committee office writing materials for leaders, Qu Peixian had a lot of experience and became excited while talking, his words flowing rapidly.

  Qu Peixian spoke for over an hour, with Tao Ruxuan barely interjecting a word. Occasionally, he would make some preparatory remarks, but only to provide a foil for Qu Peixian. It wasn't until Qu Peixian's wife suggested that Tao Ruxuan stay for lunch that he realized it was already noon. Of course, he couldn't really stay for lunch, so he stood up and bid farewell.

  Qu Peixian stood up from the sofa, still with a lingering intention, and proactively extended his hand to shake Tao Ruxuan's, with a smile of approval on his face: "Little Tao is quite talkative." In fact, this whole time Tao Ruxuan hadn't said anything, Qu Peixian had been doing all the talking while Tao Ruxuan listened.

  As they were about to leave, the little boy ran out again and said in a childish voice: "Uncle, goodbye." But this time, there was a woman behind him. The woman looked like she was in her early twenties, with a gloomy face, as if she had some grievances in her heart, and followed the little boy silently.

  When Tao Ruxuan looked back, the woman deliberately smiled at him. Only then did Qu Peixian's wife introduce: "My daughter, Qu Junmei." With a clear look of displeasure on her face. Tao Ruxuan guessed that there must be something going on here, but it wasn't convenient to ask more questions, so he also smiled at the woman and bid farewell to Qu Peixian and his wife again.

  At noon, just after finishing lunch at home, younger sister Tao Ruyan arrived. As soon as she entered the door, Tao Ruizhuan found that her little sister's face was not quite right and thought that this girl had gotten into some kind of trouble again. She didn't want to ask any questions, but after asking a couple of sentences, she didn't say anything and insisted on avoiding Tao Ruizhuan's parents, pulling Tao Ruizhuan into the room to talk. Tao Ruizhuan couldn't get around her, so he had no choice but to follow her into the room. Only then did Tao Ruyan mutter that she had gone to find Yao Lili at noon, and Yao Lili said she didn't want to be friends with Tao Ruizhuan.

  Although Tao Ruxuan only met Yao Lili once, Yao Lili's purity and beauty still left a deep impression on him. He didn't expect it to end like this, without even any room for gradual transition, and Tao Ruxuan couldn't help but feel somewhat depressed in his heart.

  "Hey, don't worry about it, I'll talk to her slowly later. There's plenty of time anyway. Maybe she just can't think straight for now. With your good conditions and abilities, she has no reason to look down on you. She might just be having a hard time accepting it for now. Girls are like that, they're all sensitive, not many are as straightforward as me."

  The little sister's words were clearly comforting herself. A girl with a thin face still has to find a husband, and Yaoli is about the same age as her younger sister, already almost twenty years old, and won't even understand this truth. It's possible that there are other reasons.

  Due to his pride, Tao Ruxuan forced a smile and said: "It's nothing, besides, who treats someone as an object just because they've met once? You're too reckless. No wonder others wouldn't agree."

  After chatting with his sister for a while, Tao Ruxuan suddenly realized that what he had done was indeed too rash and absurd. As he had just said, who would think of being in a relationship with someone after just one meeting? It's strange if the other person didn't suspect him of having ulterior motives. Thinking about this, Tao Ruxuan couldn't help but laugh at himself again.

  Because the person he was going to meet in the afternoon was someone he somewhat dreaded and least wanted to see, Zhao Yongkui, Tao Ruxuan lay on his bed and carefully pondered every detail, from what to sell to what to say, each one repeated several times.

  The key issue is that Zhao Yongkui, unlike Qu Peixian, is Liu Bin's superior and will definitely have a bias in the evaluation. Even if he goes, it's hard to change Zhao Yongkui's mind. But if he doesn't go, he'll offend Zhao Yongkui, who might even try to sabotage Liu Bin. If he intervenes and makes some small moves, he'll probably be completely finished.