0001 01 First Encounter

Beijing.

In autumn, the sun is scorching, and the rows of still green poplar branches sway in the wind, making a rustling sound.

Soldiers in green uniforms stood under the tree, beads of sweat glistening under their hats, the ground beneath their feet dappled with the shadows of the trees.

A few cars occasionally drove past the soldiers, entering the Beijing Municipal Party Committee compound smoothly and orderly.

A military green SUV broke the order, speeding into the municipal party committee building, and a gust of wind made the hem of the soldiers' clothes flutter.

The previously noisy chirping of cicadas seemed to have been paused, and the area in front of the municipal party committee building fell silent.

The SUV stopped, the door opened, and a pair of fair and sexy feet stepped out, followed by black tight leather pants and a floral cropped tank top. The long-haired beauty wore sunglasses and had bright red lips. She got out of the car with a limited edition Hermes handbag hanging on her arm.

People who have seen this before are not surprised. This is Wei Luochen, the wife of Ling Xingzhi, the newly appointed municipal party secretary and first secretary of the garrison district party committee.

However, the guards standing at the door exchanged a smile with each other, the meaning of which was self-evident: the secretary is so lucky; such a stunning beauty must be even more alluring in bed.

One of the security guards walked over, took the keys from Wei Luochen, and drove the car away.

Wei Luochen, her high heels shrill and piercing in the building, stepped into the elevator and pressed the button for the 23rd floor with her black fingernails.

The elevator doors opened, and all the offices in the corridor were closed. Wei Luochen walked towards the innermost part, the sound of his high heels clicking "thump-thump-thump" until he finally stopped in front of the office of the municipal party secretary.

Just as he was about to knock on the door, Wei Luochen's hand was grabbed.

“You…” Wei Luochen looked over expressionlessly.

"The Party Secretary is meeting with the Director of the Beijing Office. Please wait a moment before going in."

The polite person speaking before him was Li Qingshan, Ling Xingzhi's first secretary.

Wei Luochen withdrew his hand, and Li Qingshan pointed to the side, "Wait here for a while, the secretary will be out soon."

The two entered the adjacent reception room. Li Qingshan poured Wei Luochen a glass of water, placed it on the coffee table, and sat down opposite Wei Luochen. Wei Luochen took off his sunglasses, revealing an extremely delicate face. Even though Li Qingshan had seen him many times, his captivatingly beautiful face still made him gasp.

Who is it?

Her red lips parted slightly, her chin lifted gently, pointing towards Ling Xingzhi's office.

"Zhou Xiye, Director of the Xiangtan Municipal Government Office in Beijing."

Wei Luochen pursed her lips, and Li Qingshan looked at her and continued, "The newly appointed one."

"A woman?"

Li Qingshan nodded.

Wei Luochen leaned back, crossed his legs, and took out his phone from his bag.

"I have official business to attend to, so I'll have to go now."

Li Qingshan stood up, but Wei Luochen didn't even look up. He held up two fingers and waved them, indicating that he should go about his business.

A gust of wind blew in, ruffling Wei Luochen's hair. She felt a little cold, holding her phone with her eyes glued to the screen. When she reached the window, her hand touched it, but she tripped over something and her phone flew out of her hand.

Wei Luochen was startled and reached out to look out the window.

Soon, the sound of high heels mingled with many footsteps.

Zhou Xiye frowned, turned his head slightly, unaware of what was happening outside.

"Never mind that, let's continue our talk."

Zhou Xiye looked at the man opposite him. His shirt sleeves were rolled up a bit, revealing a section of his strong forearm. He leaned back in his chair with a lazy and unrestrained air, his slender fingers tapping lightly on the table.

"Although Beijing's affairs are unrelated to Xiangtan's, the Beijing office still needs to report to the municipal party committee regularly. In addition to completing your city's tasks, you can't neglect the matters here."

Ling Xingzhi did not look at Zhou Xiye when he spoke, but Zhou Xiye's gaze remained fixed on him.

"good."

Ling Xingzhi turned his head, his eyes slightly narrowed with a lazy expression, and his probing gaze met Zhou Xiye's eyes.

"You've just taken office and are unfamiliar with the place and the people. You must have heard a lot about me, right?"

Zhou Xiye smiled calmly, "Secretary Ling's name is known to everyone, so naturally there will be no less news about him than about anyone else."

"What others say doesn't matter, but I think you know how to do your job," Ling Xingzhi's gaze suddenly turned into a sharp sword, locking onto Zhou Xiye. The next second, he stood up, looking down at her reaction, a few laughs escaping his chest, waiting for her reply.

Zhou Xiye also stood up, "I understand."

The wind blows in, carrying the scent of autumn, while summer returns with its hidden heat.

Commanding Zhou Xiye stretched out his hand.

Zhou Xiye looked at Ling Xingzhi and reached out to hold his hand.

Dry and warm.

"Welcome, Comrade Zhou Xiye."

Backlit, the two smiled at each other, and the moment they shook hands was captured by the chirping of cicadas, frozen in the late summer and early autumn.

As soon as the door to Ling Xingzhi's office opened, Wei Luochen stopped what he was doing. He saw Ling Xingzhi talking to a woman beside him, "For work-related matters, especially handover work, anything related to the Municipal Party Committee, you come here..."

The woman beside him was wearing a gray suit, frameless glasses, and her black hair was tied in a low ponytail with a few strands hanging down her forehead. One button on her collar was undone, her fingers on both sides of her body were clean, her trouser seams were straight, and her high heels were old-fashioned and outdated.

Wei Luochen couldn't help but chuckle, and the two men looked over.

Ling Xingzhi smiled slightly, "This is my wife, Wei Luochen."

"This is Zhou Xiye, the director of the Beijing office."

The two shook hands and nodded. Despite the mockery in Wei Luochen's eyes, Zhou Xiye's smile remained flawless. As soon as their hands parted, Wei Luochen stood beside Ling Xingzhi and took his arm.

"Since Madam is here, Secretary, please escort me this far. Goodbye."

Zhou Xiye said goodbye to the two men, and Ling Xingzhi and Wei Luochen stood and watched her walk into the elevator. Zhou Xiye's smile vanished as soon as she entered the elevator. She took out her phone and checked the messages popping up in the work group, but she didn't have time to reply.

Once we reached the first floor, we went outside and got into the car.

The driver started the car, and Zhou Xiye's assistant was sitting in the passenger seat.

"Director, how is it?"

Zhou Xiye's face showed no emotion; he simply said, "Wet wipes."

The assistant handed Zhou Xiye a tissue, and she took out two, carefully wiping her face with each of her fingers.

Is there anything else today?

His voice was cold, like a robot's.

The assistant hurriedly said, holding the phone, "The Ye family is hosting a banquet tonight to celebrate for you."

Zhou Xiye threw the wet wipes into the trash can. "Okay, have you prepared the clothes and stuff?"

"It's all prepared, right here at the villa where the victory celebration will be held."

"A villa?" Zhou Xiye frowned. "Where is the villa?"

"The area opposite the Old Summer Palace isn't suitable for large banquets like this. It's not appropriate in the city center; it wouldn't look good," the assistant explained. "Beijing is different from Xiangtan. If we openly attend a banquet there, people will talk..."

Zhou Xiye turned her head to look at the back of her assistant's head, paused for a few seconds, nodded, and reached out her hand, pointing her finger at the car seat. The assistant turned to look at her, "What's wrong, Director?"

"parking."

The assistant and driver exchanged a glance, and the car slowed down. The assistant chuckled awkwardly, "Boss, this road is in the middle of nowhere, why are you stopping..."

"parking."

Zhou Xiye repeated the sentence again, expressionless.

The car was parked on the side of the road, and Zhou Xiye leaned back in his seat. "Get out of the car."

The assistant was baffled by Zhou Xiye's instruction, "...Get out of the car?"

This time, Zhou Xiye didn't repeat himself. He just looked calmly at his assistant. The assistant looked at Zhou Xiye, whose imposing face made him feel uneasy. He hurriedly unbuckled his seatbelt, opened the door, and got out of the car.

As soon as he got out of the car, Zhou Xiye closed his eyes, leaned his head back, and simply said two words, "Drive."

Two flowers bloom, each representing a different branch.

Ling Xingzhi watched Zhou Xiye disappear into the elevator before his gaze fell on Wei Luochen, and the two walked toward the office.

"Why are you here... Don't hold my hand, it's inappropriate. Go home and do whatever you want..."

Wei Luochen sat on the sofa, legs crossed, toes dangling in the air, his gaze following Ling Xingzhi, a sweet smile on his lips, "Tonight is Dad's birthday party, what gift did you prepare?"

Ling Xingzhi was drinking tea with gulps, tilting his head back. After swallowing a mouthful, he sighed, squinting his eyes and feeling quite comfortable.

"This new director of the Beijing office is a very proper person, very serious and methodical. I have to put on a show myself, but I'm so thirsty," Ling Xingzhi said, putting down his teacup, walking to the chair, leaning back lazily, and crossing his long legs on the table.

Hearing this, Wei Luochen laughed and said, "You really are something else. You speak one way to one person and another way to another. Aren't you afraid of forgetting who you really are?"

Ling Xingzhi raised an eyebrow and looked at Wei Luochen. "When I saw you, I knew what I was really like. There's no need to be afraid of forgetting."

Wei Luochen thoroughly enjoyed Ling Xingzhi's frivolous sweet talk. She stood up and walked to his side, but when she lifted her buttocks to sit on his lap, Ling Xingzhi pushed her away.

"Hey, this is the office, you should still be more tidy. You can do whatever you want at home."

Wei Luochen pursed his lips and stood aside, "Do you know what your sister gave Dad?"

"What?" Ling Xingzhi didn't want to guess; this was just a child's trick.

“I really wanted a vintage watch from Sotheby’s for 50 million… Looking at it this way, my gift seems worthless,” Wei Luochen said, sounding a little aggrieved.

Ling Xingzhi took his leg off the table and stood up. "I don't think this watch was given to me by my sister." He turned to look at Wei Luochen. "The Song family is interested in forming a marriage alliance with our family. It just so happens that my younger sister is dating one of their sons. I guess it was given to me by the Song family."

Wei Luochen opened his mouth, "Huh?"

Ling Xingzhi glanced at his watch, then at Wei Luochen. "Don't worry about it. The old man's birthday is always the same. He's lived to this age, what hasn't he seen? Besides, the higher-ups have said that they want to promote a simple lifestyle. A simple meal for his birthday is enough. Don't send such expensive gifts anymore."

As he spoke, he pushed open the door to the study behind him, "I'll change my clothes, and then we'll set off."

Wei Luochen stood there for a while, thinking. He watched Ling Xingzhi go into the inner room, and feeling a little itchy, he followed him in.