0098 107 Halo around the Moon foretells Wind

The two remained silent for a long time, and Pei Zhiyu gripped Zhou Xiye's hand even tighter.

"What does Ye Rouxin's death have to do with you?"

Zhou Xiye frowned. "What relationship? You think I killed him?" Thinking of this, Zhou Xiye felt a pain in her heart. She still vividly remembered Ye Rouxin's last phone call to her. She turned her head and glared at Pei Zhiyu, feeling a bit of unreasonable hatred towards him.

But she knew it was her fault for not being able to have a proper conversation with Ye Rouxin, and she couldn't blame anyone else. However, everyone's patience has its limits, and with nowhere to vent her anger, Zhou Xiye took a deep breath, her eyes involuntarily reddening. She turned her head away, rested her elbows on her legs, and lowered her head, letting her hair conceal her emotions.

Another silence fell between them. Zhou Xiye didn't want to waste any more time with him, so she sighed and said in a hoarse voice, "Go back. Let's leave each other alone, okay?"

"But you are my wife."

“I know I won’t interfere with your choices. You can do whatever you want, but you’d better not interfere with mine,” Zhou Xiye composed herself, straightened up, and leaned back in her chair. “You should know that all I want is a husband, and I’ll take whoever it is.”

“Zhou Xiye!” Pei Zhiyu said through gritted teeth.

Hearing him call his name angrily, Zhou Xiye chuckled and gently touched Pei Zhiyu's cheek, as if comforting a child. "You are my husband. We should work together to build our future, instead of worrying about being apart for the past few years. Think about it. We're going to spend forty, fifty, or even a lifetime together. This separation is nothing."

Aside from the night she congratulated him on becoming mayor, Pei Zhiyu had never seen Zhou Xiye so gentle, and her tone softened as well.

"But I don't want to be separated from you for even a second."

Zhou Xiye touched his face with her thumb, her gaze lingering on his lips, and whispered, "That's why you have to work hard, for our future..."

Pei Zhiyu was aroused. He cupped Zhou Xiye's face and kissed him roughly, their lips and teeth entwined. His hand slipped under Zhou Xiye's shirt, reaching his chest and kneading it. Zhou Xiye, who hadn't made love in a long time, was overcome with desire. He took off his coat, pushed Pei Zhiyu away, and straddled Pei Zhiyu's lap.

Pei Zhiyu looked up at her, her hand gripping Zhou Xiye's waist, watching her unbutton her clothes one button at a time, and a muffled groan escaped her throat uncontrollably.

Zhou Xiye hadn't unbuttoned many buttons when she leaned down and bit his collarbone. Her hand slid down and touched the cold metal—Pei Zhiyu's belt. She didn't rush to undo it; her hand moved down his waist, to Pei Zhiyu's sensitive spot. Feeling him tremble involuntarily, she smiled.

"Untie it..."

Pei Zhiyu took Zhou Xiye's hand and placed it on her belt, her voice carrying a hint of pleading.

This ignited Zhou Xiye; her eyes turned slightly red, and she placed both hands on her waistband.

"Thump—thump—thump—"

Suddenly someone knocked on the car window. Zhou Xiye turned his head to look. He could see outside from inside the car, but the outside could not see inside.

This is to command and stop.

Zhou Xiye ignored him and turned her head to continue unbuckling her belt.

Unexpectedly, Ling Xingzhi persisted. "Are you sure Secretary Zhou is in the car?" the person outside asked in Mandarin, then reached for the car door. Zhou Xiye reacted quickly, locking the door. Ling Xingzhi pulled twice, then looked at Li Wei, who was holding a pack of Zhonghua cigarettes. "Why can't I open it? Did you lock it from the inside?"

Li Wei shook his head. He knew a man had gotten into the car, and Zhou Xiye had sent him off. He wasn't sure what would happen. Anyway, he was Zhou Xiye's driver, not Ling Xingzhi's, so he remained silent.

"Can you get in touch with Secretary Zhou? I need to report something to her right now," Ling Xingzhi said anxiously, leaning on the car.

Li Wei still shook his head.

Inside the car, Zhou Xiye sighed, turned over, sat down to the side, and straightened his back to adjust his clothes. Pei Zhiyu's expression was also not good; he raised his hand to button his shirt one button at a time, the bulge in his lower body still not gone down.

"Wait for me here, don't get out of the car."

After giving a brief instruction, Zhou Xiye got out of the car. Ling Xingzhi was startled, turned around and met Zhou Xiye's gaze. He smiled.

"What do you want with me? Didn't I tell you to talk to Secretary Yan?"

Ling Xingzhi took out his phone and waved it in his hand. "Secretary Yan said she would call you, but you didn't answer, so I came to find you in person."

Zhou Xiye frowned, crossed his arms, and his hair flew in the air.

"You'd better have something important to say."

Ling Xingzhi smiled. "This is quite important. Shall we talk in your car?" Before Zhou Xiye could reply, he opened the car door, revealing Pei Zhiyu's cold face. Ling Xingzhi immediately noticed his bulging crotch and gave a dry laugh. "Mayor Pei? You…"

Zhou Xiye rubbed his forehead.

“So it was just the couple catching up. I apologize for disturbing Secretary Zhou…” Ling Xingzhi closed the car door, walked around the back of the car, and stood next to Zhou Xiye. He took out a stack of documents from his briefcase. “These are the materials you requested.”

Zhou Xiye took the document with annoyance, glanced at it, and closed it. "Why didn't you give it to me sooner?"

Ling Xingzhi still smiled, "It's not that I haven't had a chance these past few days because I've been in meetings and busy thinking about the questions you raised..."

Zhou Xiye shook his head helplessly, "Is there anything else?"

Ling Xingzhi shook his head, but the next second he suddenly leaned down and whispered in Zhou Xiye's ear, "I've never done it in a car with the last four digits being 01, but just thinking about it, I know it must be very exciting." He slowly straightened up and stared at Zhou Xiye.

Zhou Xiye met his gaze, which made Ling Xingzhi's smile grow even wider.

He raised his hand and wiped Zhou Xiye's lips, "Your lipstick is all gone from the kisses..."

Two or three seconds later, Pei Zhiyu got out of the car. Ling Xingzhi took a step back, turned to look at Pei Zhiyu, and said, "Mayor Pei, I have something to do, so I'll be leaving now."

Watching Ling Xingzhi leave and get into his car, Zhou Xiye wiped his mouth with his hand, then turned to Pei Zhiyu, "Three rules?"

Pei Zhiyu's requirements were simple: no cheating, no physical contact with any man; daily phone calls; and meeting once a week.

Zhou Xiye agreed; the condition wasn't unreasonable.

After dropping Pei Zhiyu off at the airport, Zhou Xiye went to meet with the presidents of the four major banks. The meeting wasn't really about anything important; it was just a chance for both sides to get acquainted and to get a feel for each other's personalities.

Bao Ren wrote in his notes: "There are actually only a few types of people in power. Everyone thinks they are unique, but they can't escape the nature of humanity. We can simply divide them into two categories: those who seek fame and reputation and those who are authoritarian and iron-fisted."

Zhou Xiye pondered this carefully and concluded that the group of highly educated individuals, led by Hua Chunyang, were clearly seeking fame and fortune. Coming from prestigious universities and scholarly families, they naturally desired a good reputation, or perhaps an image of being approachable or erudite. Their methods were sophisticated and their approach to people-oriented matters was smooth.

Ling Qingyun, on the other hand, embodies the extremes of authoritarianism and iron-fisted rule, applying this principle to everything from his family to his work. A good reputation is unimportant to him; what matters most is his own power and control. Even if he becomes infamous, he doesn't care.

No politician can escape these two points.

Thinking about it this way, Zhou Xiye recalled Kong Yusheng, the former mayor of Kunming, who, in order to gain the trust of the people, took the lead in donating blood and enduring hardship. His image improved, but he lacked any real ability; the economy declined year after year, and no matter how good the public's opinion of him was, a failing economy was still a problem.

Many people felt it was a pity to replace him.

What's there to regret? He was just seeking fame and fortune; his good reputation was merely a fig leaf. Kong Yusheng had some cleverness, but not much. He used the people's praise to support his official position, while colluding with local tyrants behind the scenes. He had money, power, and fame.

He was willing to be a pawn, and Kong Yusheng was well aware of his own limitations. She still remembered the local newspaper giving him the title of "Contemporary Hai Rui," which was truly laughable. Zhou Xiye had no desire to be a good official like Hai Rui; she disliked Hai Rui, and black and white was never the way of life in this world.

If you're going to do something, do it like Zhang Juzheng.

After the social engagement, Zhou Xiye had a few drinks, feeling slightly tipsy but not drunk. Her phone had many calls, from Yan Zhu and Pei Zhiyu. She only answered Yan Zhu's call, "Secretary Zhou, Director Meng and the others say they've completed the task you assigned and would like you to come and inspect it."

Zhou Xiye leaned back in his chair, looking tired, and said in a serious tone, "What time is it! Why are you only finishing now? Don't you even check the time? We'll talk about it tomorrow!"

Yan Zhu hung up the phone. Meng Qinggong was furious, but there were soldiers guarding the outside, so he couldn't rush out. Should he send the police to pick him up? That would be tantamount to rebellion! Zhou Xiye could wipe out his entire hideout overnight.

"Director Meng...what do you think?"

Meng Qinggong shook his head. "Let's talk about it tomorrow morning." For some reason, after these few days of training, he was somewhat afraid of this woman.

Zhou Xiye hung up the phone and saw an unfamiliar number among the many missed calls—a number from Kunming, Yunnan. On a whim, she called back, and the phone was answered after a few rings.

"Hello, I am Zhou Xiye."

Li Mingzhe's laughter came from the other end of the phone. Zhou Xiye would never forget his laughter. She turned her head to look out the window, where the trees were all leaning backward.

"Secretary Zhou, this is Li Mingzhe."

"Yes, I know."

"Xiao Hu said you wanted to see me for something?"

Hearing this, Zhou Xiye smiled. "Yes, Mr. Li, you can choose a place. We can discuss the details when we meet."

"good."

Li Mingzhe hung up the phone and turned to look at the person in the middle of the sofa. The person was wearing a white Zhongshan suit, with a cigarette between his fingers, and an indifferent expression.

"Look..."

The man nodded without saying a word.

"I'll give her the remaining five million."

The man remained silent, continuing to puff on his cigarette.

Outside the window, the moonlight is hazy; there will definitely be strong winds tomorrow.