Chapter 55 (combined with Chapter 55)

As soon as Du Miao came in, she called Song Yiping "brother-in-law," and Song Yiping calmly responded.

Yan Ruyi blushed from being yelled at, and pretended to be angry as she slapped her.

Du Miao made a face at her and showed her the homework to Yan Ruyi. "Sister Ruyi, I don't know how to do this problem. No matter how I do it, I can't get the answer right. Sister Ruyi, can you help me see which step I did wrong?"

Although Du Miao is only in her second year of high school, they have already completed the high school curriculum and are now in the intensive review stage.

What stumped Du Miao was a sequence problem.

Mathematics has always been her weak point, and sequence problems are her weakest area.

She had been thinking about this problem for almost half an hour, but still couldn't figure out where she went wrong, so she brought it over to ask Yan Ruyi.

Yan Ruyi took a look and was a little confused.

Considering that she graduated from high school only 5 years ago, is math already this difficult?

She didn't remember having such difficult questions when she was in high school.

It might be possible to solve it eventually, but by then, most of my brain cells will probably be dead.

After all, math wasn't her strong suit.

Seeing this, Song Yiping washed his hands and said to Yan Ruyi, "I've already dug the pit. You should plant the seedlings first, otherwise they'll wither soon."

Yan Ruyi breathed a sigh of relief, quickly handed the homework to Song Yiping, and went to plant the vegetable seedlings.

Song Yiping first looked at the question, then at Du Miao's solution steps, and then asked Du Miao for a pen to underline the steps she got wrong. "The first two steps were all written correctly, but the formula was wrong in these two steps, so the rest were all wrong as well."

After saying that, he quickly wrote out the correct formula.

Du Miao suddenly realized, "So the formula was wrong. No wonder I couldn't find it no matter how many times I checked it."

Following Song Yiping's approach, she quickly solved the problem and then applied the solution to correct all the similar problems she had gotten wrong.

She happily thanked Yan Ruyi and Song Yiping, "Thank you, Sister Ruyi, thank you, Brother-in-law."

She ran away before Yan Ruyi could pinch her cheek.

Yan Ruyi was quite embarrassed.

She just told Du Miao that if she didn't know something, she could just come and ask her.

She was the one who spoke, but it was Song Yiping who did the work.

Moreover, Song Yiping has been away from school for so long, yet he can still solve high school math problems.

Her commander, Song, is really amazing.

Song Yiping said, "Everyone has their strengths and weaknesses. My science grades are okay, but my humanities grades are not."

Especially in reading comprehension, his understanding is never consistent with the standard answer.

For example, he still doesn't understand the profound meaning behind the two jujube trees planted in front of Mr. Lu Xun's house.

Yan Ruyi was comforted, and it was true that her humanities grades were better than Song Yiping's.

He then said to Song Yiping, "It's settled then. From now on, if Du Miao doesn't understand something, she can ask you for science and ask me for humanities."

Grandma Li only had one son, who later fell ill and passed away.

Not long after her son passed away, Du Miao's mother remarried and has hardly ever visited Du Miao in the past few years. Grandma Li raised Du Miao all by herself.

Grandma Li has had a tough time, and Yan Ruyi also likes Du Miao, so she wants to help the girl get into her dream university.

Song Yiping readily agreed.

After all, Du Miao had called him "brother-in-law" twice just now.

The two continued digging in the vegetable patch.

Luo Huihui looked at the house numbers along the way and stopped when she saw "68 Wutong Road". Seeing that the gate was open, she went over and saw Yan Ruyi and Song Yiping digging vegetable patches together.

Luo Huihui called out, "Ruyi!"

Yan Ruyi was startled. She looked up and saw Luo Huihui. She put down the seedling in her hand and said happily, "Huihui, what brings you here?"

Luo Huihui: "I wanted to come to Yanjiang Road to look for you, but you weren't home. I figured you might be here, so I came to see if you were here."

As she spoke, she looked around and said, “This is your new house. The yard is so big. That must be a pomegranate tree. The pomegranate flowers are so beautiful.”

Yan Ruyi also loved this pomegranate tree, especially in spring when the tree was full of bright red pomegranate blossoms, blooming passionately and exuberantly, making the whole courtyard cheerful.

This was Luo Huihui's first time here. Yan Ruyi led her on a tour of the courtyard and then took her inside the house.

Song Yiping had already had the house repaired, and all the old furniture had been moved away. Now, apart from a few small stools, there was only the bed that Song Yiping had made.

Song Yiping had the bed made and placed in the bedroom a month ago.

The room was empty, so the bed stood out.

What's more, this bed is newly made and is especially large.

Luo Huihui glanced at the bed, then at Yan Ruyi, and asked ambiguously, "Why did you only make one bed?"

Yan Ruyi felt embarrassed by Luo Huihui's gaze and pulled her out of the house, saying, "The rest haven't been done yet."

Luo Huihui looked around inside and out. "I originally thought living in an apartment building was good, but now I think having a small courtyard is not bad either."

What are you doing on the riverside road?

Luo Huihui: "I'm going to Jianglin New Village, do you want to come?"

Jianglin New Village is a commercial housing project built by the First Construction Company.

Yan Ruyi hasn't been there yet. Cao Shengde said that it will be finished in two months.

I'll go with Luo Huihui today to see which building has the best location.

Now that she's rich, she wants to buy the best location and floor.

After telling Song Yiping, Yan Ruyi and Luo Huihui went to Jianglin New Village.

Cao Shengde said that Jianglin New Village has a total of 16 buildings, each with 6 floors, three units, and two rooms per floor.

In total, it can accommodate more than 500 households.

Cao Shengde said that this scale is one of the largest in the province.

When Yan Ruyi and Luo Huihui arrived, the scaffolding on the first few buildings had already been removed, and only the scaffolding on the last few buildings was still in place.

The workers didn't rest on Sunday; they were still busy on the scaffolding.

Jianglin New Village is different from the residential compounds for employees of work units because it consists of commercial housing. The biggest difference is that green areas have been left between the buildings, and Cao Shengde said that flowers, trees and shrubs will be planted there in the future.

Yan Ruyi thought of the military family compound, wondering if it would be as beautiful as the flowers there.

Yan Ruyi immediately took a liking to the riverside apartment, which had a balcony facing the river, allowing her to see the river from the balcony.

Luo Huihui also liked it and even wanted to be Yan Ruyi's neighbor.

Yan Ruyi explained to her that she works at the Education Bureau, and if she lived here, it would take an hour to cycle here and more than half an hour to take the bus, which would be inconvenient.

Luo Huihui said, "Jiang Hao's family lives in the No. 4 Middle School staff quarters, which is only about a 10-minute walk from here. I bought a house here, so my commute will only take about 20 minutes longer than if I lived near the No. 4 Middle School. Besides, I don't want to live with his parents. So, I thought I might as well buy a house here and move out after we get married. Jiang Hao agreed."

Jiang Hao has only one older sister, who is already married. His parents are both teachers, and the family has some savings.

Her parents said they would help her financially, and with the money she and Jiang Hao had saved up, they could afford a small apartment even if they couldn't afford a large one.

That's why she came to see the apartment today.

Yan Ruyi asked in surprise, "You and Jiang Hao have already started talking about marriage?"

Luo Huihui said, "Jiang Hao is only one year younger than your Commander Song, and I am one year older than you. We are both getting on in years. As long as we get along well, isn't it normal to talk about marriage? Only you can be so patient. Your Commander Song is probably already eager to get married. You can ask him later if you don't believe me."

The two families haven't even met yet, but the bed is already made. Isn't this a rush to get married?

Yan Ruyi covered her mouth to stop her from saying anything more and pushed her forward.

As soon as I reached the second building and turned a corner, I saw several people coming from the front, one of whom was Mayor Liu.

Yan Ruyi had also met the person behind Mayor Liu. It was that person who gave her the sample copy of "New Economy" at the end of last year's commendation meeting.

Yan Ruyi remembered that the man's surname was Zhang, and he was Mayor Liu's secretary.

Walking ahead with Mayor Liu was a middle-aged man, about the same height as Mayor Liu, whom Yan Ruyi did not recognize.

However, she felt that since he was walking side by side with Mayor Liu, he must also be a leader, and his official position would not be lower than Mayor Liu's.

She whispered to Luo Huihui, "Mayor Liu has come to inspect."

Luo Huihui asked nervously, "Where is it?"

Yan Ruyi quietly pointed ahead.

Luo Huihui had already seen it and said nervously, "What should we do? Should we hide?"

It was too late, because Mayor Liu had already seen her and Luo Huihui, told the person accompanying them, and then the group headed this way.

Yan Ruyi felt that Mayor Liu had already recognized her.

She was just a low-level cadre, but Mayor Liu, such a high-ranking leader, actually remembered her, so Yan Ruyi was very happy and went to greet Mayor Liu and his entourage.

Of the group, she only recognized Mayor Liu and Secretary Zhang, so she greeted them politely, saying, "Hello Mayor Liu, hello Secretary Zhang."

The two men nodded to her, and Mayor Liu introduced her to the middle-aged man next to him, "This is Comrade Yan Ruyi, whom I told you about."

After the introductions, he said to Yan Ruyi, "Xiao Yan, this is Vice Governor Yang."

Yan Ruyi guessed that the person next to Mayor Liu was at least an official of the same rank as Mayor Liu.

I never expected him to be the vice governor.

Moreover, Mayor Liu had even spoken about her to Vice Governor Yang.

She was both excited and nervous, her heart pounding. She bowed to Vice Governor Yang and said, "Hello, Vice Governor Yang."

Vice Governor Yang reached out and shook her hand, saying warmly, "Hello, Comrade Xiao Yan. I have also read your article published in 'New Economy.' It is very insightful and forward-looking. Our country needs young, thoughtful, and capable cadres like you."

Yan Ruyi humbly said, "I am just a ghostwriter who summarized the thoughts and insights of all the staff in our preparatory office. Director Liu and the leaders and teachers of the Cultural Relics Bureau also provided guidance on this article. Strictly speaking, this article is not my achievement alone, but the crystallization of our Cultural Relics Bureau collectively."

Young, capable, thoughtful, knows when to advance and retreat, and is not greedy for credit.

Mayor Liu's favorability toward Yan Ruyi increased considerably.

However, if he continued talking like this, it would turn into a work report and a self-reflection meeting, so he changed the subject at the right time, "Comrade Xiao Yan, are you here to look at houses? Are you planning to buy a house?"

Yan Ruyi said, "Huihui and I both had this plan, so we came to take a look today."

Mayor Liu, "I heard that Comrade Xiao Yan has already settled down around here?"

The Garrett Building is complete, and the inauguration ceremony will be held tomorrow.

When the commendation ceremony was held, Yan Ruyi invited Mayor Liu, and Mayor Liu agreed to attend the celebration.

She thought Mayor Liu would ask her about the preparations for the ceremony, but she didn't expect Mayor Liu to be so gossipy that he even knew about her plans to settle down here.

She said shyly, "My boyfriend bought a small courtyard house on Wutong Road. After we get married, we might live here, since it's close to Jiali De and convenient for commuting."

She was too embarrassed to say that No. 68 Wutong Road was where she and Song Yiping lived after they got married, and that she wanted to buy a house in Jianglin New Village in preparation for running away from home after a fight in the future.

Mayor Liu laughed and said, "Just so you know, I'll be coming to your wedding banquet. Don't blame me for showing up uninvited."

Vice Governor Yang joked, "I'm going back to the provincial capital the day after tomorrow, so it looks like I won't be able to get a wedding banquet."

Yan Ruyi had a sudden inspiration and seized the opportunity to extend an invitation to Vice Governor Yang, "Tomorrow is the opening ceremony of the Jialide Building. Could you please invite Vice Governor Yang to have a celebratory drink?"

Vice Governor Yang chuckled, "Comrade Yan is quick-witted. He can't attend the wedding banquet, but he'll let me attend the celebration banquet."

Yan Ruyi said shyly, "I mainly want to ask Vice Governor Yang and Mayor Liu to provide on-site guidance and offer valuable suggestions."

Vice Governor Yang turned to a staff member behind him and asked, "Xiao Zhang, could you check my schedule for tomorrow?"

Xiao Zhang opened his notebook and checked, "There are no plans for the morning, but there is a seminar at the Municipal Academy of Agricultural Sciences at 2:30 pm, which we need your attendance at."

Vice Governor Yang turned around and said to Yan Ruyi with a smile, "I'm afraid we won't be able to drink the celebratory wine, but we'll still have time for a cup of celebratory tea."

This means I've agreed to attend the inauguration ceremony.

Yan Ruyi quickly bowed to Vice Governor Yang again, "Thank you, Vice Governor Yang, for supporting our work."

She was overjoyed.

Mayor Liu is confirmed to attend the inauguration ceremony of the Jiali Building.

However, Mayor Liu's influence certainly cannot compare to that of Vice Governor Yang.

She had clearly seen that Vice Governor Yang was followed by reporters, and there was more than one.

If Vice Governor Yang attends the opening ceremony of the Jialide Building, his reporters will definitely follow him, and Jialide will certainly be featured in provincial news media.

Jialide will quickly gain recognition in the province.

They don't even need to do any special promotion.

They promoted Jialide without spending a penny, and it was even done in provincial media.

Yan Ruyi thought she was really clever.

Mayor Liu nodded approvingly at her, clearly appreciating her quick wit.

Mayor Liu and Vice Governor Yang were going to continue their inspection, so after saying goodbye to Yan Ruyi and Luo Huihui, they quickly went elsewhere.

After everyone had left, Luo Huihui patted her chest and said, "Ruyi, you're amazing! You didn't even stutter when you spoke to the vice governor, and you even had the nerve to invite him to the building's opening ceremony. If it were me, I would have been so nervous that I wouldn't have been able to utter a single coherent sentence."

She had just shaken hands with Vice Governor Yang and Mayor Liu, and her palms were still sweaty.

Yan Ruyi also felt that she was quite bold, as she directly invited the vice governor to attend the opening ceremony of Jialide.

Vice Governor Yang actually agreed.

My confidence soared instantly.

Back in the new house, Song Yiping was still diligently tending to the vegetable patch.

Yan Ruyi ran over happily, “I just met Mayor Liu and Vice Governor Yang in Jianglin New Village. Vice Governor Yang even agreed to attend the opening ceremony of the Jialide Building.”

She then recounted what had just happened to Song Yiping.

Song Yiping was good at grasping the key points: "Mayor Liu said he's coming to our wedding?"

Yan Ruyi was in high spirits and didn't think carefully about what Song Yiping said. She nodded and said, "That's what Mayor Liu said."

Song Yiping said, "Since Mayor Liu has said so, I think we can't keep him waiting. At the very least, we need to set a date first. Otherwise, when he sees you in the future, he will definitely ask you about it."

Song Yiping mimicked Mayor Liu's tone, "Comrade Xiao Yan, has the wedding date been set yet? When will I be able to attend your wedding? How will you answer him then? You can't keep saying that it hasn't been set yet, Mayor Liu, please wait a little longer."

At this moment, Yan Ruyi's mind was filled with thoughts of Vice Governor Yang's upcoming attendance at the opening ceremony of the Jialide Building. Song Yiping had easily fooled her, and she was now also worried.

However, she quickly realized what was happening.

Mayor Liu doesn't seem like the type of person who would chase after someone and ask when they're getting married.

Moreover, she doesn't work for the municipal government, so how could Mayor Liu possibly see her often?

Song Yiping was trying to fool her again, and she got so angry that she punched him.

Seeing that she had realized what was happening, Song Yiping chuckled and took her hand. "Grandpa called a few days ago and asked when we would meet our in-laws. Once we meet, we should set a wedding date."

Yan Ruyi muttered, "Why is she always thinking about marriage?"

Jiang Hao thought about it, Luo Huihui thought about it, and Song Yiping thought about it too.

Isn't she the only one who's not worried?

Song Yiping said, "Comrade Xiao Yan, I'll be 27 after the New Year. Isn't it normal for me to want to get married?"

I didn't want to get married before because I hadn't met the right person. Now that I have, I definitely want to marry her as soon as possible, so that she won't be snatched away by someone else someday.

Yan Ruyi said, "Then we'll have to wait until after the celebration."

The most important thing right now is the opening ceremony of the Kelley Building.

Previously, only Mayor Liu was going to come, but now Vice Governor Yang has also agreed to come, so the celebration program will definitely have to be changed.

Yan Ruyi called Director Liu to report this matter.

Director Liu was surprised that Yan Ruyi had even invited Vice Governor Yang, and exclaimed that Comrade Yan Ruyi was truly a lucky star for the Cultural Relics Bureau.

Vice Governor Yang was invited by Yan Ruyi, but the honor belongs to the entire Cultural Relics Bureau, so it must be taken seriously.

Director Liu didn't even have time to rest. He temporarily summoned the staff from both the administration and logistics departments to the Cultural Relics Bureau. The established procedures needed to be modified, and more staff needed to be added on-site to deal with any emergencies.

Director Liu then arranged for people to clean the Jialide Building again, inside and out, to make sure to leave a good impression on Vice Governor Yang.

After arranging the work at the bureau, Director Liu called the Municipal Public Security Bureau, hoping they could intervene to maintain security at the scene.

By the time everything was arranged, it was already around 9 p.m.

Yan Ruyi was also busy, keeping a close eye on the Jialide Building, preparing colorful flags, slogans, banners, and balloons to ensure everything went smoothly.

With all the preparations complete, the next step is to address the personnel issue.

The entire staff of the Cultural Relics Bureau consists of only about 50 people.

Among these 50-plus people, there are also members of the archaeological team. The archaeological team is always out in the field, and only 5 or 6 people stay behind.

Yang Siyuan went abroad and couldn't make it to the celebration, so he sent a representative instead.

Even including Vice Governor Yang and Mayor Liu, along with their entourage, the number wouldn't exceed 50.

The inauguration ceremony was held in the plaza in front of the Garlit Building. The plaza was designed to accommodate more than 1,000 people, but these 50 or so people standing there were not particularly noticeable.

The scene was too deserted.

It wouldn't look good in front of the boss either.

Director Liu was at a loss; the Cultural Relics Bureau only had so many people, and he couldn't just go out on the street and grab people to fill the quota.

Yan Ruyi had a sudden inspiration and came up with an idea. She told Director Liu that if all else failed, they could borrow people from the First Construction Company.

The Jiali Building was constructed by First Construction Company, so it's perfectly reasonable for their employees to attend the building's inauguration ceremony.

The construction project is large-scale, with about 500 construction workers alone. You can easily bring in some people to fill the space.

Director Liu thought this was a good idea, "I'll call Lao Cao right now."

Director Liu called Cao Shengde, hoping he could mobilize the workers from the First Construction Company to attend tomorrow's inauguration ceremony.

This was a chance to make a name for himself in front of the governor and mayor, and Cao Shengde was still wondering how he could bring himself to go tomorrow.

Director Liu's call came at just the right time, and he immediately agreed, saying, "There's no need to mobilize anyone. Who wouldn't go if they could meet the governor and the mayor?"

Director Liu was relieved.

Yan Ruyi made sure everything was absolutely safe before going home.

The next morning, I quickly ate a few bites of breakfast and ran over there again.

They ran into Xia Pengfei and Liang Shi on the way.

The two of them came over without having breakfast, and bought two meat buns on the way, which they were each eating.

They didn't know that people from the First Construction Company were also attending the opening ceremony. Seeing a lot of people walking towards the Jialide Building, Liang Shi nudged Xia Pengfei with his elbow, "Why do I see people from the First Construction Company walking this way?"

They often ate at the First Construction Company's canteen. Although they couldn't remember the names of the people at the First Construction Company, they recognized their faces.

Xia Pengfei took a look and it was indeed true.

There are not only first-level construction engineers, but also second-level construction engineers.

The workers from the two construction companies were arguing as they walked.

"First-level construction engineer, and second-level construction engineer, the Jialide Building wasn't built by you, why are you getting involved?"

"We're not here to join in the fun of the Level 1 construction engineers. Can't we just go and support the Cultural Relics Bureau?"

"Do they even need your support?"

"Whether it's rare or not isn't up to you first-level construction engineers to decide."

...

Xia Pengfei said, "I guess the leaders of the first and second level construction companies have heard that Vice Governor Yang went to attend the completion ceremony and want to get acquainted with him, so they brought their own workers with them."

Yan Ruyi knew that the first-level construction engineers would come, but she didn't expect that the second-level construction engineers would also come to join in the fun.

She was initially worried that she wouldn't be able to mobilize many people.

After all, they came here to stand below and listen to the leaders speak.

And to be honest, the opening ceremony of the Garrett Building really had little to do with them.

She really didn't expect so many people to come.

They probably all want to see what the governor and mayor look like in person.

Normally, we only see people in newspapers, but now we can see them in person. It's an opportunity we can't miss, so everyone came here.

At least I've met the provincial governor and the mayor; I can brag about it when I talk to people later.

When the three arrived at the scene, they found that quite a few people had already gathered.

The area in front of the Jialide Building was almost completely filled with people, mostly first- and second-level construction engineers, making it a very impressive sight.

Those who don't know might think it's the home ground for first-level and second-level construction engineers.

Fortunately, Director Liu had contacted the Public Security Bureau beforehand, and they sent police officers to help maintain order.

Today, their work arrangement is as follows: Xia Pengfei is responsible for assisting the police in maintaining order, and Liang Shi is responsible for colorful flags and banners.

Yan Ruyi is a mobile worker; she can be moved wherever she is needed.

At 9:00 a.m., Vice Governor Yang, Mayor Liu, and their entourage arrived and waved to everyone.

Thunderous applause erupted from the audience.

Vice Governor Yang and Mayor Liu were also surprised by the large number of people present.

However, those in leadership positions still secretly enjoy these kinds of scenes.

The large number of people attending indicates that the leader is popular with the masses.

Moreover, although there were many people at the scene, the order was well maintained, which showed that the Cultural Relics Bureau had made thorough preparations.

Vice Governor Yang was naturally very satisfied, and he spoke with great energy and high spirits.

As expected of the vice governor, he spoke for two minutes straight without a prepared speech, without uttering a single stumble.

After the speech, Vice Governor Yang personally tore off the red silk cloth covering the Jialide sign.

A clicking sound came from below.

Today, not only are there reporters from municipal media outlets present, but also provincial media reporters who came with Vice Governor Yang.

Tomorrow, photos of Vice Governor Yang's speech, along with the Jialide sign, will appear in provincial news media.

Jialide can immediately gain brand recognition throughout the province.

Vice Governor Yang had to attend a symposium at the Municipal Academy of Agricultural Sciences in the afternoon and couldn't stay long. After speaking, he left with Mayor Liu.

After the celebration ended, Yan Ruyi, Xia Pengfei, Liang Shi and the others took care of the aftermath. After all the participants had left, they rushed to the celebration banquet hosted by the Yang family.

When Song Yiping arrived, Yan Ruyi and the others had just returned to the office.

Song Yiping placed a bag of steaming hot meat buns on his desk.

Xia Pengfei cheered, "Commander Song, how did you know we didn't have lunch?"

They were busy from beginning to end, and didn't even have time to eat much lunch.

My stomach is growling with hunger right now.

They didn't stand on ceremony with Song Yiping and started eating the meat buns as soon as they picked them up.

After filling my stomach, I took care of the work I hadn't had time to deal with.

It was already very late, so Yan Ruyi let them leave.

Song Yiping went over and massaged Yan Ruyi's shoulders, and Yan Ruyi squinted her eyes comfortably.

It's good that her husband, Commander Song, is strong; at least his shoulder massage is very comfortable.

Song Yiping: "My mom, my dad, and my grandpa went to your house today."

Like a thunderclap out of nowhere, Yan Ruyi sat bolt upright in shock.