0055 60 Come at me together, what can you do to me?
These words were full of murderous intent, and in Zhou Xiye's view, this was also a very crucial issue.
She's just an idle person now, not very useful to Ye Lifeng. Even if he loses her as a pawn, it doesn't matter. On the contrary, it will reduce the friction between him and Ling Qingyun.
So this is a critical question. If she only says "yes," then Ling Qingyun will make her disappear before the Two Sessions. If she says "no," then she is lying. Why lie? Lying shows that she is guilty, which means that Zhou Xiye is afraid. She is afraid of Ling Qingyun.
What does fear mean? It means weakness, and it means making Qingyun powerful.
Politicians possess many admirable qualities, but the one word that is never in their vocabulary and will never appear is "compassion," or "pity." Your fear will only embolden them.
Zhou Xiye took a deep breath. "Minister Ling, hello, I am Zhou Xiye. I know about the report, and the results are out. Secretary Ling and Miss Kong have no connection and are not cousins." Zhou Xiye smiled inwardly. "It's not a bad thing that Secretary Ling's family is harmonious now. This is what everyone wants to see, and it's what you want to see too... Of course, Minister Ye is no exception."
His tone was indifferent, as if he were reporting official business.
Upon hearing this, Ling Qingyun frowned slightly, then smiled. "It seems Minister Ye has a capable assistant, young, beautiful, and exceptionally intelligent." He stared at Zhou Xiye for a few seconds before striding away.
Zhou Xiye stepped aside to make way for them, and only after Ling Qingyun and his bodyguard left did she feel a little relieved. She knew that Ling Qingyun wouldn't pursue the matter further, but he certainly wouldn't let Zhou Xiye off the hook.
"Xiao Zhou, do you know Minister Ling?"
Back in his office, Ai Jianshe stood by the window, teacup in hand, smiling at Zhou Xiye. "I know Secretary Ling, but I don't have much of a relationship with Minister Ling."
It seems that her conversation with Ling Qingyun had already been spread, but perhaps because there were many bodyguards, no one heard what they were saying.
"Oh! So that's your prospective daughter-in-law?...Tsk, wait a minute, isn't Secretary Ling already married?" Ai Jianshe finished speaking and blew into his teacup. "I heard the other day that people from the Women's Federation came to see you, trying to arrange a blind date for you. How did it go?"
Zhou Xiye sighed slightly and turned on his computer. "I'm just friends with Secretary Ling. Just because a man and a woman know each other doesn't mean there's something more to it. You and I work in the same office. Won't your wife get suspicious?"
Ai Jianshe choked on the water and put down the cup to cough.
Zhou Xiye paused, her hand holding the pen still. She found his expression amusing, but then, with a mischievous thought, she stood up and walked over to Ai Jianshe. "Teacher Ai, are you alright?" she asked, reaching out to pat his back. Ai Jianshe, quick-witted, dodged Zhou Xiye and shook his head, coughing even louder.
It's common knowledge that Ai Jianshe is afraid of his wife. Ai Jianshe's wife, Zhu Dihe, is the descendant of a famous general. She has a plump and round face and a very outgoing personality. She holds a higher rank than Ai Jianshe in the military. It's not that Ai Jianshe married into the family; he genuinely loves Zhu Dihe. They have no children, but live a happy and fulfilling life.
Although Ai Jianshe wasn't exactly discreet, he never tested Zhu Dihe's limits, nor did he have any romantic affairs. Over time, everyone knew he was afraid of his wife. Ai Jianshe didn't argue; instead, he was proud of it.
At this moment, Zhou Xiye found it even more amusing to see him choking on water. "Teacher Ai, you're already like this, why are you still trying to be brave!"
Zhou Xiye pretended to chase after him, but Ai Jianshe, his face turning red with embarrassment, flung his hand away, stomped his foot, and turned to leave the office.
Seeing this, Zhou Xiye couldn't help but laugh, laughing so hard she almost fell over. She groped her way back to her seat, tears welling in her eyes, but she felt refreshed. What could she do? The situation was what it was.
Zhou Xiye's smile faded, and she took a sip of water. Now, her family was destroyed, and she had been reassigned to a sinecure. Even if her strong political acumen told her this was temporary, perhaps a test, the reality before her eyes told her: her future was ruined.
Upon closer examination, she couldn't understand what Lu Daiyuan was thinking. Was he repaying kindness with enmity? Ye Lifeng's ambiguous attitude annoyed her, and now there was Ling Qingyun to add to the mix.
Zhou Xiye put down his water glass, sighed, and leaned back in his chair.
Come at me all at once, what can you do to me?
What she didn't know was that this conversation left a very good impression on Ling Qingyun and also defused a crisis.
Sitting in the car, Ling Qingyun closed her eyes and carefully recalled Zhou Xiye's words—the opening was a confident and fearless introduction. "I know about the report," she said, neither confirming nor denying whether she was the one who reported him. The emphasis was on the latter part: "Secretary Ling and Miss Kong have no connection," implying that if Ling Xingzhi hadn't done anything wrong, the report wouldn't matter to him.
However, there was a knife in those words.
He did nothing wrong, and his report failed, so you can't touch me. Touching me is tantamount to admitting that there is a problem between Ling Xingzhi and Kong Lingqi.
If the municipal party secretary can't even withstand a single report, then he's done all his work in vain.
The most artful part of the conversation was the second half: "It's not necessarily a bad thing that Secretary Ling's family is now harmonious." This shows that Zhou Xiye knew that Ling Xingzhi and Wei Luochen had a bad relationship, or that she knew about the relationship between the three of them, which was something that Ling Qingyun was unaware of.
She then added, "This is what everyone wants to see, and what you want to see too... Of course, Minister Ye is no exception."
Look, one sentence has three meanings.
The subtext of "what everyone wants to see" is that everyone is paying attention to the Ling family's affairs, and if you and I continue to argue about Ling Xingzhi, then it's definitely not just me who will be affected.
"That's what you wanted to see too," Minister Ling, your face is important. To put it bluntly, Ling Xingzhi is the one at fault. Once the matter is over, it's over. If you keep making a fuss, what will happen to your face?
"Of course, Minister Ye is no exception," Ye Lifeng is also keeping an eye on this matter, you have to be careful.
Furthermore, the last sentence successfully dragged Ye Lifeng into the mess, and it was Ye Lifeng who implied that Ling Qingyun and Zhou Xiye were responsible for reporting the matter.
Clearly, Ye Lifeng was unaware that he had been dragged into this mess, and Qingyun was also unaware that Zhou Xiye had made baseless accusations. This could be considered Zhou Xiye's small act of revenge. In any case, the two had so many old and new grudges, so one more wouldn't make a difference.
The old fox Ling Qingyun immediately understood Zhou Xiye's meaning. Almost simultaneously, he made a decision: if this person could not be used for his own purposes, it would create a very dangerous situation.
"Minister, you're home."
The secretary whispered a reminder in his ear, causing Qingyun to open his eyes. "Where am I?"
"Your home."
Ling Qingyun shook his head and pointed in the air, "No, go to Ling Xingzhi's place!"
At this moment, Ling Xingzhi was smoking and chatting with Li Qingshan in the study. The light was dim, and after a pause in their conversation, both of them fell silent.
"Secretary, did District Chief Zhang go too far with his actions?"
Ling Xingzhi chuckled upon hearing this, turned to look at Li Qingshan with a cigarette between his fingers, and said, "His son was killed by Zhou Guodong. What does that have to do with us?"
Originally, there was no intention to kill him; a warning or a lesson would have been enough. The variable was Zhou Guodong.
After finishing speaking, Ling Xingzhi turned his head and started smoking by himself.
"...Secretary, there's something I've always wanted to ask: how come there are still some remnants of the He faction even though they've all been wiped out..."
Li Qingshan leaned forward, elbows on his legs, and asked for instructions without understanding the situation.
“You can’t see into someone’s heart, how can you catch them all so easily?” Ling Xingzhi exhaled a puff of smoke and stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray. “Have you figured out who he has close ties with yet?”
Li Qingshan shook his head, "It's hard to investigate now. We only know that he often goes to Beidaihe for vacation and fishing with a group of people in the summer."
Ling Xingzhi nodded. "Wait a little longer. This time, someone will definitely step forward. When the time comes, one big man can take on two big men." Ling Xingzhi turned to look at Li Qingshan. "Have the other parties involved in the car accident been settled?"
"Yes."
Does Chen Ran know about this?
"Know."
Ling Xingzhi sighed, "Then let him know a little more... Are there a few people going abroad to study?"
Li Qingshan understood Ling Xingzhi's meaning, "Then... what about Zhou Xiye?" With such a big scheme, she still managed to escape.
Mentioning Zhou Xiye, Ling Xingzhi smiled slightly, and under the light, his eyes softened. "Let's not touch the people Secretary Lu still needs..."
Before he could finish speaking, there was a knock on the study door. Wei Luochen pushed the door open, wearing a red V-neck tight sweater, and leaned against the door. "Xingzhi, Dad's here."
Ling Xingzhi nodded. "Understood."
Wei Luochen glanced at Li Qingshan, frowning slightly. Li Qingshan understood and quickly stubbed out his cigarette. Wei Luochen smiled slightly and left in his high heels. A few minutes later, Ling Qingyun entered the study. He took off his clothes, revealing a white shirt, rolled up his sleeves, took the tea Ling Xingzhi offered him, and took a sip.
Li Qingshan and Ling Qingyun's secretary wisely left.
After calming Qingyun's breathing, he put the tea aside.
"Zhou Xiye, how much do you know about him?"
Ling Xingzhi was somewhat surprised and raised an eyebrow at his father, Ling Qingyun, whose face showed no trace of murderous intent.
"What's wrong, Dad?"
Ling Qingyun's face tightened, and the nasolabial folds at the corners of his mouth deepened. He stared at Ling Xingzhi's face for a few seconds. "You slept with her?"
Ling Xingzhi's face immediately went expressionless.
"Hahahaha," Ling Qingyun laughed, looking up. "Don't be nervous. It's a good thing you've slept together. She's a talented person. We can consider bringing her into our camp."
Immediately afterwards, Ling Qingyun told Ling Xingzhi about his conversation with Zhou Xiye. After analyzing the cause and effect, Ling Qingyun felt that this person was capable of being: from an ordinary family, dared to go to the battlefield, and was so quick-witted even after being framed. He even felt that Zhou Xiye's growth ability was something that Ling Xingzhi, who had always grown up in the political circle, could not match.
Simply put, Qingyun felt that Zhou Xiye possessed extremely high political talent.
After listening to his father's words, Ling Xingzhi also revealed a mysterious smile. He agreed with his father's statement—Zhou Xiye had extremely high political talent; at the very least, he had fooled this seasoned politician. Zhou Xiye's answer was obviously problematic. However, faced with his father's eloquent speech, Ling Xingzhi chose to remain silent.
"That's settled then..."
Ling Xingzhi hesitated for a moment, then asked his father, "What if we can't win her over?"
"Then let her die."
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