0050 55 "Difficult to operate"
Zhou Xiye and Zhou Pei hadn't made love in a long time, so they nibbled at her breasts and swallowed her nipples.
Just as she was getting into it, Zhou Xiye pushed Zhou Pei away, pulling out a long, thin silver thread—connecting her chest and finally landing on Zhou Pei's lips.
"What's wrong?" Zhou Pei asked, frowning.
Let's go see the stars.
The two stared at each other. Zhou Pei, panting heavily, gritted his teeth and finally overcame his lust. He sat up, holding Zhou Xiye in his arms, saying, "Such a beautiful day, why do we have to go see the stars..."
Zhou Xiye climbed off him, put on his clothes with a grin, and the two set off at one o'clock in the morning. After driving for two or three hours, they arrived at the shore of Namtso Lake.
The sky was just beginning to lighten, stars filled the heavens, and a galaxy of stars seemed to float on the lake, while the overlapping mountains were tinged with pink.
The weather in Lhasa is characterized by being hot at noon and cool in the morning and evening. Zhou Pei first climbed onto the roof of the car and laid out a cushion, then pulled Zhou Xiye up and sat him in his lap.
The two looked up at the starry sky; they didn't need any telescopes, the stars seemed so close.
"So beautiful..."
Zhou Pei tilted his head back, his Adam's apple bobbing, and hugged Zhou Xiye even tighter. Zhou Xiye leaned against his shoulder, the two becoming intimately close.
The sun slowly rose from the east, bathing the snow-capped mountains in orange-hued natural light, as if they were covered in gold. The dark blue night sky gradually darkened, obscuring the starlight.
“I used to hear my friends say how romantic it is to watch the sunrise and stars with your partner, but I didn’t think much of it at the time, and I could even say I scoffed at it,” Zhou Xiye said slowly in Zhou Pei’s arms. “But now I understand that romance is when one person is willing to accompany another person to do something meaningless, and he is willing to waste time on you.”
Zhou Pei laughed, the laughter traveling through his chest to Zhou Xiye's ears like a tremor deep within the earth's crust. "I thought it was the sun that gave this action its special meaning," Zhou Pei paused, looking towards the sun, which at that moment resembled a burnt yellow egg yolk.
"So this is why you're leaving me?"
Zhou Xiye sat up abruptly, changing his posture to face Zhou Pei.
Zhou Pei looked at her, and in those dark eyes, there was only him.
The two looked at each other in silence for a long time, then Zhou Pei gave a bitter smile, "I thought you were denying this fact."
Zhou Xiye shook his head, pulled the blanket draped over his body, seemingly a little cold, lowered his gaze, and after a few seconds looked up at him, "It's just for work. For your safety, he can guarantee that you won't be harmed in any way."
Zhou Pei looked at her, staring unblinkingly at Zhou Xiye, and asked frankly, "You took me in just so you could abandon me one day, is that it?"
Zhou Xiye opened his mouth, but felt that explaining would be useless.
Zhou Pei raised his hand and stroked her hair, again and again, "Aren't you going to explain yourself?"
"I can't bear to part with you, Zhou Pei. In this world, you are my only weakness."
Zhou Xiye said slowly and deliberately, "But there's no turning back on the path I've chosen. This game can't be abandoned. There are no runners-up, only champions. The champion is the one who survives."
Zhou Pei reached down and held her hand tightly. "I can't be six or seven years older than you, nor do I have the ability to rise through the ranks in the officialdom to protect you. All I can do is stay with you and hope you won't be so lonely, but you pushed me away..."
"Before you, I was always lonely."
Zhou Xiye smiled helplessly, "It's just that going back to the old life is a bit difficult, but it's not impossible. It just takes some time..."
Zhou Pei shook his head. "But I can't. Before I met you, my world was hell." Zhou Pei sighed and looked up at the blue sky and the snow-capped mountains that were quietly watching them in the distance. After a while, he pulled Zhou Xiye forward and calmed down a lot. "Zhou Xiye, I can make my own decisions. You can't make decisions for me."
The wind blew between the two of them, and all was quiet. A few birds flew across the lake, and the snow was crystal clear.
A piercing ringtone rang out, impossible to ignore. Zhou Xiye took out his phone; it was his mother calling.
Zhou Pei shifted his body slightly. "You take the signal here. There might not be a signal downstairs. I'll start the car."
After saying that, he jumped down, and Zhou Xiye sat on the roof of the car to answer the phone.
The mother's voice was urgent, loud and disruptive on the tranquil shores of Namtso Lake, penetrating the cell phone and polluting the otherwise pristine place—"Something terrible has happened, Zhou Xiye, your brother has hit and killed someone with his car!"
Zhou Xiye frowned. "What? Someone was killed in the accident?"
That's right, Zhou Xiye's younger brother hit and killed someone with his car. The person he killed was no ordinary person; he was Zhang Chen, the son of the district head of Dongcheng District in Beijing.
District Chief Zhang was about to be promoted when tragedy struck: his son was killed in a car accident. The scene of the accident was sealed off for investigation, and Zhou Xiye's younger brother, Zhou Guodong, was arrested on the spot.
The hospital couldn't save him. Zhou Xiye's parents knelt in front of the ward, begging for forgiveness, but what good was it? The dead cannot be brought back to life. District Chief Zhang was rich and powerful, but what did he want? He wanted his son to live!
"Please, I beg you! My son just passed the civil service exam, he has such a bright future ahead of him... How about you, let the two of us go to jail to atone for his sins!" Zhou Xiye's mother knelt on the ground, kowtowing repeatedly, the sound of her head hitting the ground echoing "thump-thump-thump."
The hospital corridor was filled with the sound of her kowtowing; her head was covered in blood.
District Chief Zhang looked at them with red eyes, his finger trembling as he pointed and cursed, "What are you? Can you even compare to my son's life?! My son's bright future is no longer a future!"
Just as District Chief Zhang was about to strike again, his secretary pulled him back. Mrs. Zhang slumped into her chair, her eyes vacant, muttering repeatedly, "What a sin... what a sin... I must have done too many wrong things in my life to make my child die so young..."
Both families suffered heavy losses.
"District Chief Zhang, please, I'll have my daughter compensate you! Please! She's the director of the Beijing Liaison Office! I'll use her to pay you, okay? My son is the only remaining member of the Zhou family... He's in jail now, what will become of him for the rest of his life..."
Zhou Xiye's mother knelt on the ground, wailing loudly with blood streaming down her face. Zhou Xiye's father squatted in the corner, lighting one cigarette after another. The nurses, seeing the district head and the others present, didn't dare approach to remind them that smoking was prohibited in the hospital.
Soon, news of District Chief Zhang's son's death in a car accident spread throughout the government office. Everyone thought that he might have to retire early because of this and wouldn't be promoted. The news reports simply covered up the incident with a car accident.
The funeral was held in the suburbs, and all the high-ranking officials in Beijing were invited. Overnight, District Chief Zhang's hair turned much whiter. After bowing to the people in the mourning hall, Ling Xingzhi placed the flowers in his hand in front of him.
"Secretary Ling, thank you for coming," Secretary Zhang said, his head bowed and his hand trembling as he held Ling Xingzhi's. Ling Xingzhi patted his shoulder with his other hand. "Please accept my condolences."
District Chief Zhang nodded blankly, having long forgotten that Ling Xingzhi had also recently lost his loved ones.
People's joys and sorrows are not shared, but at this moment, they seemed to resonate with each other.
"You too."
Ling Xingzhi nodded, turned and walked outside. He inadvertently saw Pei Zhiyu standing in the crowd. It was normal for the head of Haidian District to attend the funeral of the son of the head of Dongcheng District, but Ling Xingzhi felt awkward looking at him.
As he walked out, before Ling Xingzhi got into the car, he suddenly noticed two people kneeling in the corner—Zhou Xiye's parents.
He paused, turned to the side, and asked Chen Ran, who was opening the car door, "Why didn't Zhou Xiye come?"
Chen Ran followed Ling Xingzhi's gaze and saw the two elderly people kneeling pitifully on the ground, their hair gray. Zhou Xiye's mother, in particular, kept raising her hand to wipe away her tears. "It seems that Director Zhou has not yet returned from Tibet."
Ling Xingzhi was very surprised that her younger brother had been in a car accident and killed someone, yet she was still in Lhasa and not coming back for the funeral.
Chen Ran noticed Ling Xingzhi's surprise and snorted, "I've never seen a daughter like this before, making the old couple suffer by not coming back."
Ling Xingzhi looked at Chen Ran with a cold gaze, "What do you know?" After saying that, he walked straight towards Zhou Xiye's parents.
The two elderly people, seeing the extraordinary bearing of the people approaching them, knew they must be wealthy and powerful, and their spirits lifted.
Ling Xingzhi squatted down. "Hello, Uncle and Aunt. I am Ling Xingzhi. I met you last time. You are the Party Secretary of the Municipal Committee."
Zhou Xiye's mother's eyes were already red from crying. Hearing this name, she seemed to remember something and grabbed Ling Xingzhi's sleeve. "Secretary, our family really can't afford to compensate. Zhou Guodong is the root of the Zhou family... District Chief Zhang has hired the best lawyers and is determined to make us pay with our lives..."
As she spoke, she started crying again.
Ling Xingzhi pried Zhou Xiye's mother's hands off, "Uncle and Aunt, this is not a good place to talk. Please come with me."
The three arrived at a teahouse. Ling Xingzhi sat down and ordered a pot of tea. When the tea arrived, Ling Xingzhi greeted them, "Uncle and Aunt, are you thirsty? Have some water to calm down first. Once you've rested, we can chat again."
The two elderly people drank Ling Xingzhi's tea and then began to weep about their son's innocence in the car accident.
“He passed the exam for the Ministry of Commerce and went out drinking with his colleagues to celebrate. Guodong said he didn’t drink a drop of alcohol and drove very steadily. He is our son, we know him.”
He listened attentively to the order and nodded from time to time.
"He said that when he tried to brake, the car just wouldn't stop... He tried his best! What can you do if the car can't stop? Who knew that the person crossing the street was the district chief's child by such a coincidence!"
The couple grew angrier as they talked, blaming the car's faulty brakes, the bad weather, and the district chief's child for crossing the road at that time.
We've talked so much that the tea's gone cold.
"The district head has hired the best lawyers; we have no hope of overturning the case... Everyone says it's a foregone conclusion that Guodong will be imprisoned..."
Ling Xingzhi sighed, "Uncle and Aunt, you are getting old, and I understand your good intentions and your worries about your children's future. As the local official in Beijing, what can I do to help you?"
The couple exchanged a glance upon hearing this, picked up the teapot, took a large gulp of cold tea, wiped their mouths, and said, "Secretary Ling, our Guodong has passed the exam for the Ministry of Commerce. This position is much more promising than Zhou Xiye's position as director of the Beijing office..."
Upon hearing this, a faint smile appeared on Ling Xingzhi's lips.
"Zhou Xiye is just a young girl. She can't do anything big. She's the director of the Beijing liaison office now. People in our hometown are gossiping that she got there by sleeping her way in..."
Ling Xingzhi clenched his fist and tapped it twice on the table, interrupting them. "So?"
Zhou Xiye's father revealed a sly smile, "Secretary Ling, since you want to help us, why don't you... exchange Zhou Xiye for Zhou Guodong?"
Ling Xingzhi seemed not to understand, and asked with some surprise, "You mean, you want Zhou Xiye to go to jail in place of your son?"
The two elderly people opposite nodded vigorously.
Ling Xingzhi looked at them and asked calmly, "Have you discussed this with her?"
Zhou Xiye's father waved his hand dismissively, "No need to discuss it with her."
After a few seconds, Ling Xingzhi asked again, "Are you serious?"
"How could it be fake?!"
Ling Xingzhi nodded, glanced at his watch, and said with difficulty, "Then how about this, give me some time. This kind of thing is difficult to handle."
The couple said eagerly, "It's alright, it's alright, Secretary Ling, please think it over carefully..."
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