Chapter 113 Dong Chunling is going to attend the social gathering...
Director Shen went to the city for a meeting, and the result of the discussion with the leaders of various government departments was that Mingxi's plan would be adopted for this social gathering.
When Director Shen informed everyone in the office of this news, Mingxi didn't have any special reaction. She didn't think her idea was anything special. She guessed that the leader would choose her plan because he probably didn't want to go hiking on his day off.
Mingxi's expression was indifferent, but Yu Xiaomin was very excited, grabbing Mingxi's hand and grinning foolishly.
It's great that I don't have to go hiking on my day off, and I can still see the handsome guys from the Municipal Bureau training hard!
This time, the social gathering was held at the Municipal Public Security Bureau, so the Women's Federation didn't need to contact the venue. The Municipal Public Security Bureau also generously offered to cover all the supplies needed for the day, so the Women's Federation didn't need to negotiate the venue or funding. Their only responsibilities were to tally the number of participants, plan the event's flow, and coordinate with the Municipal Public Security Bureau on related matters.
With their experience in organizing social gatherings, Mingxi and her friends weren't as flustered as they were last time.
After working for a while, Mingxi began to show her talent in the company. Director Shen did not let her continue to do odd jobs like before, but instead assigned her the task of developing process plans.
Visiting the Municipal Public Security Bureau to watch the officers train was a good idea, but the entire social gathering couldn't have just one program; it needed other elements as well. Director Shen thought Mingxi was clever and always came up with brilliant new ideas, so she assigned this task to Mingxi, asking her to draft a plan and submit it to her for review.
Yu Xiaomin, who had worked with Mingxi last time, was assigned to organize documents this time along with Xiao Li. When Mingxi came out of Director Shen's office, she glanced at Yu Xiaomin cautiously, afraid that she would be unhappy about it.
From her first day at work, Yu Xiaomin taught her a lot and helped her a lot. She considered Yu Xiaomin a very important friend and didn't want work-related issues to affect their relationship.
Fortunately, Yu Xiaomin didn't hold a grudge against Mingxi because Director Shen valued her. She had known for a long time that Director Shen favored Mingxi, and had even secretly envied Mingxi for being chosen by Director Shen. But she knew that Mingxi was capable and intelligent, qualities she couldn't match, and she couldn't possibly resent Mingxi just because Mingxi was capable. That wouldn't make sense.
Yu Xiaomin had already adjusted her mindset. She wasn't as good as Mingxi at work, so she would take Mingxi as her role model and learn how Mingxi worked. Even if she couldn't compare to Mingxi, she could still make progress compared to herself.
Just then, Yu Xiaomin saw Mingxi return and immediately waved in her direction: "Come here, Xiaoming!"
Mingxi walked over and asked, "What's wrong, Xiaomin?"
Yu Xiaomin pulled Mingxi in front of Xiao Li, pointed at Xiao Li and whispered, "Do you know what the relationship is between Sister Li and that city bureau criminal investigation team captain we were talking about yesterday?"
Mingxi didn't react for a moment.
"Which criminal investigation team leader?"
"Ugh!" Yu Xiaomin glanced at Mingxi with exasperation and reminded her, "It's the one with the really great physique, the one I told you about yesterday, the one with the really big pectoral muscles!"
Xiao Li, who was standing nearby, looked embarrassed upon hearing this. She looked up at the sky, pretending that she hadn't heard anything.
"Oh, oh, I remember now!"
Upon hearing Yu Xiaomin's words, Mingxi remembered who she was referring to.
Yesterday, Yu Xiaomin gossiped about the captain of the criminal investigation team, but Mingxi really didn't know what his relationship with Xiao Li was.
Yu Xiaomin: "Haha, you'd never guess that the captain of the criminal investigation team is Sister Li's own brother!"
Mingxi was taken aback; she really hadn't expected these two to have this kind of relationship.
Previously, people in the office had been saying that Xiao Li was a relative, but Xiao Li usually kept a low profile and never flaunted her family background, so Mingxi really didn't know that she and the captain of the criminal investigation team were siblings.
Yu Xiaomin: "Don't tell me you didn't know, I've never even heard of her! Sister Li hid it so well!"
Yu Xiaomin turned to look at Xiao Li: "Hey, Sister Li, your brother doesn't have a girlfriend yet, right? What are his requirements for a girlfriend? What kind of woman does he like?"
Mingxi jokingly added from behind Yu Xiaomin, "I wonder if your brother would like Sister Li like Xiaomin?"
Yu Xiaomin turned her head and playfully nudged Mingxi's arm: "Hey, what nonsense are you talking about!"
Mingxi exclaimed twice, "Xiaomin, you're shy!"
Yu Xiaomin's face flushed red, but she stubbornly said, "Who's shy? I'm not shy. I don't even understand what you're talking about!"
Mingxi and Yu Xiaomin joked and teased each other for a while, until finally Yu Xiaomin couldn't take it anymore and admitted, "A fair maiden is sought after by a gentleman, and a fair maiden is sought after by a gentleman. Can't a fair maiden be sought after? Captain Li is so handsome, it's not surprising that I'm interested in his love life!"
"Not surprising, not surprising!" Mingxi chuckled twice in agreement, then turned to look at Xiao Li.
Xiao Li lowered his head shyly and said, "My brother probably doesn't have a girlfriend yet, but I don't know what kind of woman he likes."
If you have a partner, you have a partner; if you don't have a partner, you don't have a partner. What does it mean if you don't have a partner yet?
Mingxi frowned in confusion. Seeing this, Xiao Li explained, "My parents remarried before I was born. My brother and I don't have the same mother, so we're not very close. He moved out after he started working. Although he comes back for holidays, he was on duty during the National Day holiday and didn't come back. The last time he came back was during the Dragon Boat Festival, so I don't know if he's dating anyone recently."
It's been more than four months since the Dragon Boat Festival.
Xiao Li said he didn't know if Captain Li had a girlfriend recently, but that wasn't a problem.
The relationship between these two siblings is really hard to explain.
The whole family lives in Beicheng. No matter how busy Captain Li is with work, it's not like he would go months without going home.
Mingxi wanted to continue asking, but if she asked any further, it would involve their family affairs and privacy, and it wasn't appropriate for an outsider like her to pry so much.
So she pursed her lips, looking embarrassed, but didn't say anything more.
Yu Xiaomin hadn't expected Xiao Li's family situation to be so complicated, and for a moment she didn't know how to respond. To be honest, she was already regretting asking the question.
Mingxi and Yu Xiaomin, who were laughing and chatting happily just a second ago, both fell silent at the same time, and only an awkward atmosphere remained between the three of them.
After a long while, Xiao Li realized that she seemed to have said something she shouldn't have, which caused Mingxi and Yu Xiaomin to fall silent.
She looked up at Mingxi, then at Yu Xiaomin, and seeing the similar cautiousness and embarrassment on their faces, she realized something and quickly explained, "No, um, don't overthink it. My brother and I don't have any conflicts. Actually, our family has a pretty good relationship. It's just that my brother and I aren't very close. No, not exactly close, it's just..."
She opened her mouth, unsure how to explain.
Mingxi tried to smooth things over: "I understand, I understand. Siblings of opposite sexes have to avoid suspicion when they grow up. People often joke that siblings grow up to be strangers living under the same roof. Even people who live together aren't very close, let alone you and your brother, Sister Li."
As she spoke, she pinched Yu Xiaomin's hand below as a hint.
Yu Xiaomin, receiving the hint, immediately chimed in: "Yes, yes, Mingxi is right. It's the same for siblings, not just brothers and sisters. My brother doesn't tell me anything about what's going on at school. It makes me so angry. Ever since he started his senior year of high school, I don't know what's wrong with him. He doesn't tell his family anything. You can say ten things to him at the dinner table, and he might not even say a word back. Just yesterday, he came home from school with his head down the whole time. When he looked up at dinner, I saw that he had injuries on his face and a huge black eye. It was obvious that he had been beaten up. I asked him what happened, whether he had gotten into a fight at school, and guess what he said?"
Mingxi asked curiously, "What did he say?"
Not only was Guangming curious, but Xiao Li also looked up at Yu Xiaomin with curiosity.
“That brat told me, ‘We weren’t fighting, I just bumped into him by accident,’” Yu Xiaomin said angrily. “Does he really think I’m stupid? What kind of thing do you think you could bump into to get a black eye? I was so angry, I wanted to beat him up again.”
Mingxi: "Hey, Xiaomin, this isn't appropriate!"
She advised, "That's how teenagers are. They're young, impulsive, and have a big temper. I can't say why he got into a fight, but he doesn't want to tell his family. Maybe he's afraid of losing face if he talks about it. Think about it, if he got into a fight over something trivial, or if he lost and regretted it afterwards, how could he tell you?"
Yu Xiaomin pursed her lips: "We're all family, what's there to be embarrassed about?"
Despite saying that, Yu Xiaomin's expression softened.
Mingxi patted Yu Xiaomin's hand and said, "Just think of your brother as young and ignorant, don't take it to heart."
“However,” Mingxi changed the subject, “Xiaomin, I think you should still have a good talk with your brother and ask him what happened. If it was just a fight, that’s fine. Teenage boys fight all the time. They’re tough and resilient. As long as nothing serious happens, it’s not a big deal. It’s not appropriate for you, as a family member, to get too involved. But if it’s not a fight, but someone’s being bullied, you, as a parent, can’t just stand by and do nothing.”
Yu Xiaomin was taken aback by Mingxi's words. She moved her lips and said, "It can't be that bad, can it? My brother is such a big young man, he won't be bullied, will he?"
Mingxi didn't dare to take school bullying too seriously. She said, "You can't say that. Your brother is a grown man, and his classmates are all grown men too. What if several of them gang up on your brother?"
Xiao Li nodded seriously and said, "That's hard to say."
Yu Xiaomin hadn't taken the matter seriously at first, thinking it was just a fight between two boys. She was angry because her brother wasn't telling the truth. But now, after hearing what Mingxi and Xiaoli said, she started to feel uneasy.
Could it be that her brother was really being bullied at school? Was he lying because he was too embarrassed to tell his family that he bumped into someone by accident?
Yu Xiaomin's mind went blank. She looked at Mingxi and Xiaoli for help: "Xiaoming, Sister Li, what should I do? How should I ask my brother? If he was really bullied, will he tell me the truth? If he won't tell me, should I go to his school and ask his teachers?"
Mingxi: "Xiaomin, don't worry. We don't know exactly what happened yet, and it might not be that your brother was bullied. Calm down first. When your brother comes home from school tonight, talk to him calmly and ask him what happened. Did he get into a fight, or was he bullied? Make sure you get all the details. Tell him your worries. Your brother is old enough to understand things; he would definitely tell you if there was a problem."
Xiao Li didn't say anything, but when Yu Xiaomin looked over, he nodded solemnly.
Yu Xiaomin's mind was in turmoil, but seeing the looks in Pian Mingxi and Xiao Li's eyes calmed her down a bit. She took a deep breath, composed herself, and said, "Okay, then I'll go back and ask tonight."
That being said, Yu Xiaomin became anxious again as the end of the workday approached. As soon as it was past five o'clock, she stood up, grabbed her bag, and tossed Mingxi a message: "Xiaoming, I have to go now!" before hurriedly leaving.
Mingxi shook her head helplessly, hoping that Yu Xiaomin could have a good talk with her brother when she got back today.
Mingxi turned around, greeted Sister Wang and Xiao Li, then slung her bag over her shoulder and left for the day.
With the recent drop in temperature and the cooler weather, as the sun sets and a cold wind blows, fallen leaves along the roadside are blown down, giving Mingxi a real sense that autumn has arrived.
"Roasted chestnuts! Sugar-roasted chestnuts! Authentic Huai County chestnuts—"
As Mingxi was walking, she heard shouts from not far away, and her steps involuntarily faltered.
Autumn is the season for eating roasted chestnuts!
She went up to the stall selling roasted chestnuts and found that the stall owner was quite professional. The stall in front had roasted chestnuts on display, and behind it was a large pot. The stall owner was standing behind the pot, constantly stirring the chestnuts.
Upon seeing the visitor, the stall owner looked up, wiped the sweat from his brow with the towel draped around his neck, and asked, "Comrade, would you like some chestnuts?"
Mingxi: "How much does it cost?"
"One yuan and twenty cents a pound."
It's not cheap; you can buy a pound of pork for 1.2 yuan.
The stall owner seemed to read Mingxi's mind and proactively explained, "Comrade, don't let the high price fool you, this stuff is worth every penny. I use only the best ingredients for these roasted chestnuts. These chestnuts were picked by my own family, and I personally selected them at home, making sure they were large and uniform. I even cracked each one open before roasting them so they're easier to eat. Plus, I've added a lot of sugar and oil, so they're all sweet and delicious. If you don't believe me, you can try them."
As he spoke, he handed Mingxi a chestnut. Mingxi peeled the chestnut and said, "Hmm, it's quite sweet, I must say."
The warm chestnuts are sweet, soft, and chewy; one bite brings a sense of happiness.
The food tasted good, so Mingxi didn't care about the price and said directly, "Give me two catties."
As she spoke, she handed over three yuan. Seeing how readily Mingxi agreed, the stall owner across the street smiled so broadly that his eyes narrowed into slits, and quickly said, "Okay, okay, I'll pack it for you right away."
Despite his boastful words, he was actually a little nervous. His stall had been set up for over an hour, and quite a few people had come to ask about the price, but as soon as they heard it, they all thought it was too expensive, saying that chestnuts were only worth a few cents, and that it was being sold at the same price as pork, so they wouldn't buy it.
That's why he hasn't made a sale yet after all this time.
He stopped what he was doing, quickly collected the money, gave change, and packed the chestnuts. When packing the chestnuts, he gave Mingxi an extra half jin, saying, "Comrade, you are my first customer today, which counts as my opening day. I'll give you an extra half jin. If you enjoy it, come again next time!"
“Okay!” Mingxi readily agreed.
She was hurrying home with two bags of warm chestnuts in her arms. Just as she turned into the alley and was almost home, she suddenly heard someone call her name from behind.
"Mingxi, Mingxi!"
Mingxi turned around and saw Dong Chunling running towards her, and her eyebrows furrowed involuntarily.
Dong Chunling ran up to Mingxi, panting heavily. Once her breathing had calmed down a bit, she started scolding her: "Mingxi, what's wrong with you? Can't you hear someone calling you from behind? I chased you all the way and called you for ages. I'm about to get a stitch in my side from running like this!"
Mingxi gave a cold laugh.
She really couldn't understand Dong Chunling's thought process. If she remembered correctly, the last time she met Dong Chunling, the two of them had a falling out, right?
What was Dong Chunling thinking, acting as if she knew her very well but was still complaining about her?
Mingxi: "Just because you call me doesn't mean I have to stop and wait for you. Dong Chunling, our relationship isn't that close, is it?"
"You!" Dong Chunling glared at Mingxi, wanting to get angry, but then, for some reason, her expression softened, and she even smiled at Mingxi: "Hey, Mingxi, look at you, what are you saying? We're neighbors in the same alley, I even played with you when you were little."
Mingxi frowned, suspecting that Dong Chunling was possessed by a ghost.
Otherwise, why would she try to get close to me?
Dong Chunling smiled and took Mingxi's arm: "Really, you don't remember? When we were little, I always played house with you. Speaking of which, we had a pretty good relationship when we were kids. I don't know what happened later, but our relationship cooled down."
Mingxi shook her off and said, "...I remember, it was because when we were playing house, I wanted to be the dad and Weining wanted to be the mom. You didn't want to, and you said you wanted to be the mom and the dad had to be a boy. Then we had a fight, and I made you cry. After that, you never played with me again."
The smile on Dong Chunling's face froze.
Damn it, how come Mingxi has such a good memory!
She originally just wanted to get closer to Mingxi, but who would have thought that Mingxi had such a good memory? She remembered things clearly when she was five or six years old, and even remembered the time she made her cry!
She gritted her teeth, cursing inwardly that Mingxi was clueless and brought up old grudges from their childhood, making it impossible for her to continue the conversation!
Dong Chunling's smile froze for a moment, but quickly returned. She forced a smile and said, "That's all from when I was little. I didn't know any better back then. Besides, I've almost forgotten about it. Let's not talk about it anymore."
Mingxi squinted.
Something's not right, something's not right.
Something's very wrong with Dong Chunling.
When she saw Dong Chunling coming over, she thought Dong Chunling wanted to introduce her to a potential partner again. But knowing Dong Chunling's personality, she wouldn't have been so humble if she just wanted her to help her find someone.
Mingxi didn't waste words with Dong Chunling, and asked with narrowed eyes, "Stop trying to get close to me, just say it, what do you want?"
Dong Chunling: "Hey, what are you saying..."
She chuckled twice and said, "But since you've put it that way, I won't stand on ceremony with you. It's just that, I heard your Women's Federation is going to hold another social gathering?"
Mingxi glanced at Dong Chunling, thinking to herself that Dong Chunling was well-informed; the matter of holding a social gathering had just been decided when Dong Chunling found out.
However, Mingxi was blunt: "Forget about it. This social gathering is for colleagues from various government departments in the city. Outsiders are not allowed to register."
Dong Chunling: "Oh no, why is it prepared for comrades in various government agencies and departments!"
Upon hearing Mingxi's words, Dong Chunling instinctively became anxious.
She's been trying to find a partner for herself through matchmakers lately, but after she tells them her requirements, they all tell her to go home and wait for news, promising to introduce her to someone suitable as soon as possible. She's been waiting for almost a month now, and hasn't heard from any of them.
She was anxious, not because she was in a hurry to get married, but because she was anxious to find a new partner to regain face in front of Yan Zhiwen.
When other matchmakers failed to find a match, Dong Chunling set her sights on Mingxi, hoping he could help her find a partner. However, she was too proud to ask him. Then, when she heard that the Women's Federation was organizing a social event, an idea suddenly came to her mind.
It's great to have a social gathering; she's so pretty, she's sure to find someone there.
In order to find a partner at the social event, Dong Chunling didn't hesitate to swallow her pride and ask Mingxi for information.
As a result, Mingxi told her that only people working in government agencies could participate in this social event.
Why? Why can only people from government agencies participate? It's unfair! It's unfair to their single colleagues from other units!
Just as Dong Chunling was about to shout, she suddenly paused again.
Wait, is it only people from government agencies who can participate?
It's great to work in a government agency; everyone there is in an office in a leadership position. Maybe even a leader will be attending, and she might just find one at the meeting!
Then she can lead people to Yan Zhiwen to show off.
Although Yan Zhiwen is a college graduate and works in an office, frankly speaking, his degree isn't anything special. It was through connections that his family got him into the Workers', Peasants', and Soldiers' University. Since the resumption of the college entrance examination, graduates from these universities have lost their value. Furthermore, news of Yan Zhiwen's indiscreet behavior with women had already spread throughout his workplace. Therefore, he's just an ordinary junior staff member, and his future promotions are uncertain.
Dong Chunling would smile happily whenever she thought about how Yan Zhiwen would turn pale with anger when she brought her new boyfriend to him.
Mingxi looked at Dong Chunling, who hadn't spoken for a long time but suddenly burst into laughter, and a big question mark appeared above her head.
She said this person must be mentally unstable!
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