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  There were over a dozen unreturned messages on Tian Liang's pager, and Li Yajuan couldn't help but laugh when she saw them.

  "Xiao Xiang, you're really something, almost all of these messages are from our female comrades."

  "Heh heh, really? Which beauties are in a desperate situation and calling for me to rescue them?"

  "You're beautiful." Li Yajuan gave a sideways glance, pinched Tianliang's arm, and continued reading from the pager, "I won't mention Qingqing's message, she's leading a team to perform in the provincial city and sending you her regards. There are two messages here from your other two female subordinates, Zhu Qin and Huang Ying, three days ago, they told you that they've finished their vacation and returned to Qinghe, asking you, me, and Qingqing to visit Xianhe Mountain Villa over the weekend and discuss the matter of cooperating with you to start a company."

  "Should I go?" asked Tian Liang with a smile.

  Li Yajuan said seriously, "Of course, since you want to take the official path, you will inevitably have to spend money on it in the future. Now earning some money is just preparing for future needs. Zhu Qin and Huang Ying are both successful businesswomen who can help you make a name for yourself in the business world."

  "Huh, sister, aren't you afraid of them? Aren't you afraid they'll enjoy the same treatment as you and Liu sister?"

  "Haha, I'm being very generous, right?" Li Yajuan smiled and playfully hit the sly guy, Tianliang. "You're too bad, I know you can't have your way every time, or it'll be bad for your health. Haha, take a few more, it's good for me to get rid of my worries. Besides, Zhu Qin and Huang Ying are originally your female subordinates, you'd be foolish not to take them, it's a win-win situation, do you want to miss out?"

  "Wait, wait, this matter can be discussed later," Tian Liang said. In his heart, he thought that those two women were still playing tricks with fake imports and real smuggling, and he didn't want to get involved.

  "There is a message from someone named Lao Ge, scolding you for being heartless. It's been half a year since you left school and you haven't reported your work or life situation to teachers or classmates. He says next time you meet, he'll make you crawl under the desk 32 times."

  At the sound of Tian Liang's words, a bitter smile immediately appeared on his face.

  "That was my class monitor in college, who had been a soldier and was several years older than us. He called himself 'old brother' and was from Beijing. Now he is a criminal police officer at a public security sub-bureau in Beijing. We lived on upper and lower bunks, and he was one of my closest buddies."

  Li Ya-jun asked: "Aren't you unwilling for your teachers and classmates to know about your situation? How did he know your pager number?"

  "Last time, Teacher Liu asked me to help him get some video materials of the Great Wall, I wrote a letter asking for Old Classmate's help and also told him my pager number."

  "Don't you want to tell him the truth?"

  He shook his head and smiled wryly, "I was a proud police university high-achiever, once faced the police badge and vowed to dedicate my life to the cause of criminal investigation, now I've become an employee in the construction bureau, how can I explain this to them?"

  Seeing Xiang Tianliang unhappy, Li Yajuan quickly changed the subject.

  "Listen up: Uncle, remember my birthday? Be careful or my mom will scold you."

  Xiang Tianliang smiled and said: "This little girl, she didn't mention it and I almost forgot... Hmm, there are still more than ten days left."

  Li Ya also smiled, "You're now a working uncle, this birthday gift can't be sloppy."

  "Sister, isn't it because of you? Then I'll ask for your advice."

  Nodding, Li Yajuan looked at the pager and said: "It's interesting. There are three messages here, all from deputy directors Zhang Xing, Chen Wenyun, and Sun Zhanlu, all sent this afternoon, with similar content, inviting you to have tea and dinner."

  "Haha, they're not even looking at me, it's obvious they're eyeing the renovation project in front of the office building."

  "They all have connections, don't they? The repair project in front of the office building may seem like a small project, but it's actually a big deal for our construction bureau. With a budget of 200,000 yuan, we can make a profit of 400,000 to 500,000 yuan. They know that if this project is assigned to you, they'll definitely try to get close to you. Firstly, they want to take the project away from you and give it to their own connections so they can benefit from it. Secondly, they want to build a relationship with you because even though they're all deputy directors, they know they're nothing in front of our new director Wang Zigui. Thirdly, they want to get close to Director Wang's thoughts through you since you're the deputy director of the office and have more opportunities to interact with him. Fourthly, it's for future investment because they know that you're a rising star and they can't suppress you forever. Fifthly, they want to win you over so you won't be taken away by others, even if they can't win you over themselves."

  "Sister, is it so complicated?" Xiang Tianliang scratched his head and smiled.

  "Uh-huh, it's that complicated." Li Yajuan smiled and nodded, "But they want to be both the boss and the signboard, and when leaders invite subordinates to dinner, it gets out and loses face. They don't want others to know, don't want to attract Director Wang Zigui's attention, so leaving a message on your pager is relatively the safest."

  After some thought, Xiang Liang smiled and said: "In that case, I'll have to put them off for now. Meeting with them is unavoidable, but the timing isn't right yet. First, I need to solidify my position in front of the old hag."

  "You, from now on don't call her a stinky old lady again. Actually she's quite pitiful, besides isn't she treating you pretty well now? She even said that she wants to adopt you as her godson."

  "Hmm, I'd better think carefully about this. Hehe, the nickname 'stinky old lady', I'll save it for now. If she's still crazy in the future, I'll call her stinky old lady again."

  Toward Tian Liangxin, he said that if you want to eat political rice, someone like Wang Zigui with seniority should be approached more often, at least not offended.

  "There are two messages here, left by my sister-in-law, do you want to hear them?"

  Li Yajuan smiled somewhat mischievously.

  "Hey, sis, what's with your smile?"

  "Hehe, listen to this, 'Xiao Xiang, Jiang Jie misses you', 'Xiao Xiang, Jiang Jie is always ready to be favored by you, willing to be your exclusive ration ticket', isn't it cheesy?"

  Xiang Tianliang couldn't help but laugh too.

  "Sister, she is your own sister-in-law, and you're not angry at all?"

  "What's there to be angry about? My brother also knows that she is just that kind of person. In this day and age, how many women whose husbands are not by their side can still keep themselves in check?"

  "Hehe, Jiang sister, you look pretty good."

  "Do you think so?"

  "Hehe......look at you asking this, how can I put it."

  "It's better to give it to you cheaply than let her give it to someone else."

  "No, it can't be, right?" Tian Liang's heart was filled with great joy, but on the surface, he still had to pretend.

  She glanced at Tian Liang and said softly, "Really, maybe only your big guy can really cure her and make her restrain her flirtatious nature."

  "This topic can't be discussed further," Tian Liang shook his head and said, "Sister, is there anything else you'd like to say?"

  "Oh... and by the way, your old classmate Xie Na has a whopping seven of them."

  Xiang Tianliang furrowed his brow, he had been intentionally keeping a distance from Xie Na these days, but it seemed that it hadn't had the desired effect. Moreover, with Xie Na around, there was always the annoying Xie Zixuan in between, even if they were just ordinary friends, he felt it was too awkward.

  "Sister, you'd better not read it out loud, I don't want to deal with her."

  Li Yajuan said softly, "Isn't this not good? I think Xie Na is okay, she's not as overbearing as her mom, nor does she have a belly full of bad water like her dad. It can't develop deeply, but being ordinary friends is also fine."

  Xiang Tianliang shook his head, "I'm afraid it's not as simple as you said, I know her very well, she was very calculating even in high school, unless she has changed now."

  "Hmm..." Li Yajuan looked at the pager and said, "I'll only read you one message, it was sent this afternoon. Listen, 'Toad, I'm warning you, if you don't arrive at Qinghe Teahouse, room 301 by 6:30 tonight, my husband will lead the Seven Fairies to your place and kill you all, you're on your own'."

  Tian Liang listened and his face changed a bit, "No way... Da He Ma also came to Qinghe, didn't she go abroad?"

  "Xiao Xiang, what's wrong?"

  "Aw... never mind, never mind. She was a classmate of mine in high school who took great pleasure in bullying me."

  Li Yajuan smiled and said: "Dahema, it sounds very powerful just by listening to it. And what about the Seven Fairy Maidens? Who are the Seven Fairy Maidens?"

  "Hey Tian Liang, you know 'Da He Ma'? She was a classmate of mine in high school. Back then, she was at least a head taller than me, so I gave her the nickname 'Da He Ma'. When we graduated from high school, not only was she selected for the provincial basketball team, but also got a full scholarship to study physical education at the Provincial Normal University. I heard that later on, she had an injury and retired, then went abroad with some relatives. And these seven fairies, they're referring to the seven girls in our class, led by Xie Na, including Da He Ma, all from the county town of Bin Hai, and all came from pretty well-off families, each one more arrogant than the last... we country kids who tested into the county middle school were at a disadvantage."

  "They also dare to bully you? I don't believe it." Li Yajuan said with a smile.

  "Alas, it's hard to put into words. Past events are too embarrassing to recall. No need to say you don't believe me, even I myself don't believe why I was so weak back then."

  "You must really miss your student days, huh?"

  Tian Liang's mouth was "hard", shaking his hand and saying: "Don't miss it, don't miss it, what's the point of missing it."

  Li Yajuan pulled towards the bright sky, took his clothes and said in a soft voice: "You'd better not pretend anymore, if you don't get moving, you'll be late and punished."

  "No way, no way! You're pushing me into a fire pit!"

  "Hehe, my brother's martial arts skills are exceptional, he can even climb out of the deepest pit of fire."

  "Sister, I'm not going after all." They've already started getting dressed, but still arguing.

  Li Ya-jun's words were heavy with meaning, "A thousand friends are not many, but one enemy is enough. If a classmate invites you and you don't go, you'll lose the classmate. More importantly, aren't you very interested in the secret between Xie Zixuan and Yu Feilong? To catch a tiger, one must enter its lair. I believe that through Xie Na, we can find a shortcut to uncovering the secrets of Xie and Yu."

  He would certainly go towards Tian Liang, he pretended a bit, fearing that Li Yajuan would be jealous, and performed to shut her up.

  The car hadn't even reached Qinghe Teahouse, but my heart had already flown ahead. The current Xiang Tianliang was completely different from the one four years ago. Now he not only dared to bully women, but also knew how to bully them.

  "Hmph, Seventh Fairy Maiden, you're just a small dish, I've come to take revenge."