Chapter 58: A Challenging Morning

  Hou Ming's mother cooked quickly, and in less than half an hour, she walked out of the room with a smile, having removed her apron and tidied herself up. Standing before everyone, she exuded a unique charm. Although over 50 years old, time had left few marks on her face, and her figure remained slender and elegant. Her plain face had few wrinkles, giving off an air of a mature woman. Even Xie Yuming couldn't help but nod in admiration, impressed by this woman's ability to defy age.

  Old Mrs. Hou smiled and greeted: "Thank you, Comrade Xie, Old Hou, don't chat for now, dinner is ready, and you younger brothers come together to have dinner too!"

  At the dinner table, according to the main and secondary positions, the two girls still sandwiched Liu Fei in between them. Xie Yueming glared at Xie Yuxin, but Xie Yuxin pretended not to see it and continued to do her own thing, secretly competing with Xu Jiaojiao.

  Instead, Liu Fei had a very relaxed meal, although he was having dinner with two provincial committee members, but Liu Fei didn't feel much restraint, on the contrary, he was very open-minded. At the dinner table, he toasted the two leaders with just the right amount of respect, showing deference to them without giving off a flattering impression, and instead conducted himself as an equal.

  Liu Fei himself didn't feel anything, but Xie Yuming was secretly amazed in his heart, thinking that this kid was really something else, how could he be so calm when eating with the two provincial committee standing members? Looking at him speaking and doing things without being arrogant or humble, it seemed like a veteran general who had experienced many battles, which was truly puzzling.

  Hou Guoqiang occasionally touched his own bald head, looked at Liu Fei with a mixture of admiration and doubt in his eyes. Unintentionally, his gaze met Xie Yuming's, and the two exchanged a smile, nodding their heads simultaneously, as if to say: "The younger generation is indeed formidable!"

  After dinner, Hou Guoqiang and Xie Yuming naturally did not stay in the living room, but went upstairs to discuss things.

  Hou Ming's mother then invited Liu Fei and several other young people to sit together, watching TV and chatting casually. Unintentionally, she asked where Liu Fei worked, and Liu Fei replied: "Aunt Zhao, I work at the provincial government!"

  At this time, Hou Ming hastily said: "Mom, Liu Ge is formidable now, he is currently Chiang's provincial governor's personal secretary!"

  Upon hearing this, Old Lady Hou furrowed her brow, seemingly recalling something. As she recalled, she asked: "You said your name is Liu Fei, and you're Secretary to Governor Jiang. Are you the same Liu Fei who injured Secretary Ma of the Provincial Government at noon today?"

  Liu Fei smiled wryly and said apologetically: "Aunt Zhao, I didn't think you knew about this too, it's really embarrassing, sorry to make you laugh."

  Aunt Zhao waved her hand and laughed: "Liu Fei, don't be embarrassed. To be honest, I'm not fond of Cheng Hui either. He relies on being the secretary to the deputy governor and looks down on many people. He's also very sinister and vengeful. I don't have a good impression of him!"

  Xu Jiaojiao asked in confusion: "Liu Fei, why did you hit him?!"

  Liu Fei then recounted the whole incident. When he finished, Xu Jiaojiao and Xie Yuxin almost simultaneously said: "He deserved to be beaten!"

  Even Hou Ming was nodding continuously beside him: "Right, boss, from now on, we should take good care of someone like him!"

  However, after listening to their conversation, Aunt Zhao fell silent, and several people were puzzled, because at the beginning, Aunt Zhao was particularly straightforward and eloquent, but suddenly stopped. Liu Fei and Xie Yuxin, Xu Jiaojiao looked at Hou Ming together. Hou Ming poked his mother with his hand and said, "Mom, what's wrong?"

  Aunt Zhao suddenly raised her head, as if she had made a major decision, and looked at Liu Fei with a serious expression: "Liu Fei, you were thrilled to hit someone back then, but do you know? You offended Ma Ao Wen, and also implicated Governor Cui. They are both high-ranking officials, and it's easy for them to make things difficult for you. And from what I know, they have already planned to severely criticize you at tomorrow's Standing Committee meeting!"

  Liu Fei was somewhat puzzled and humbly asked, "Aunt Zhao, according to reason, the Standing Committee is a meeting to discuss major decisions for the province, how did I get dragged into it?"

  Aunt Zhao nodded in satisfaction and resumed her usual bright expression: "Liu Fei, you asked a very good question. Logically speaking, this is just a small matter that's not worth bringing up at the meeting. However, you should know that right now is the most intense time for struggle within the province. Dragging you into it is just an added bonus. The real purpose of criticizing you is to make things difficult for your leader, Governor Jiang. That's the true intention. Otherwise, do you think Ma Ao could have convinced Cui Yusheng, that old fox, to agree to discuss your matter at the Standing Committee meeting?"

  Here is the translation:

  At this point, Aunt Zhao stopped talking and immediately changed the subject. Liu Fei himself didn't have any thoughts on the matter because he knew that at this moment, he had no power to resist these provincial committee bigwigs. He could only follow his fate! However, after Aunt Zhao finished speaking, Xie Yuxin, who was sitting next to Liu Fei, couldn't sit still anymore. For four years in college, she had been pursuing Liu Fei, and although it's said that when a girl chases a boy, it's like a thin layer of paper, this layer of paper hadn't been pierced in the past four years. Recently, just as things were finally starting to look up, Liu Fei accidentally broke through, but ended up in the hospital, almost losing his life. Now that Liu Fei was better, Xie Yuxin valued him even more. Although there was still a strong competitor, Xu Jiaojiao, eyeing Liu Fei from the side, in Xie Yuxin's heart, Liu Fei had already become her future husband. She wouldn't allow anyone to harm Liu Fei, not even a little bit! Especially after experiencing that life-and-death separation, this feeling became even stronger.

  She suddenly stood up from her seat, smiled apologetically at Aunt Zhao: "Aunt Zhao, sorry, I'll go find my uncle!" After finishing speaking, she didn't wait for Aunt Zhao's consent and got up by herself, walking upstairs.

  Xu Jiaojiao was also worried about Liu Fei in her heart, but when she saw Xie Yuxin hurriedly going upstairs to find her uncle, she felt that it must be related to Liu Fei! Xu Jiaojiao's face suddenly changed, thinking that this little fox spirit is quite clever. Humph, you have a provincial military district political commissar as an uncle, do you think I'm inferior to you? Humph, my old man is the provincial party secretary! So, she also hastily stood up and apologized to Zhao Ayi, saying she needed to go home, then quickly left.

  Liu Fei didn't expect that Xu Jiaojiao and Xie Yuxin left because of him, seeing they all had their own destinations, he also felt embarrassed to stay any longer, so he asked Zhao Ayi to tell Xie Yuxin that he had already left, then bid farewell and left.

  Hou Ming followed out from behind, indicating that he wanted to send Liu Fei back home. Liu Fei refused and took a taxi directly back to the hotel. Because tonight he still had something very important to do - memorize those hundreds of phone numbers and contacts! This was a very daunting task! Because tomorrow morning Governor Jiang would be inspecting!

  It was three o'clock in the morning, and the light in Liu Fei's room at the hotel had not been turned off yet. Under the light, a lonely figure leaned against the bed, silently flipping through the phone book in his hand!

  The sky is bright! A brand new morning, a morning full of challenges and passion has begun again!

  Liu Fei walked into the provincial government compound with a full and spirited appearance, directly ignoring the mocking, gloating, and fearful eyes of the crowd, and headed straight to the governor's office!