Chapter 1374: Wife, proposal, jealousy
Morning.
In the living room at home, Dong Xuebing prepared breakfast and ate with Xie Huilan.
Just after finis.h.i.+ng breakfast, Xie Huilan received a phone call. "h.e.l.lo, yes, have you all arrived? How"s the schedule? Okay, I got it. Wait for me at the entrance."
Dong Xuebing asked, "Are you leaving?"
Xie Huilan smiled, "I need to conduct some research. The car is downstairs."
"What about tonight? Will you come back?" Dong Xuebing didn"t want her to leave.
Xie Huilan dabbed the corners of her mouth with a napkin. "In the morning, I"ll be researching in your county, and in the afternoon, I might need to visit schools in neighboring counties."
"Then call me when you"re done."
"Sure, hehe. Well, I am leaving."
"Wait for me. We will leave together. Let me change my clothes."
"It"s not on the way. Don"t come out. Today is serious work. It"s not good for people to see us being too affectionate. Listen to me."
"Okay, be careful on the stairs. I won"t come down. It"s almost time. I must quickly organize the family housing complex plan you mentioned."
"You are the Deputy person in charge. Who is the overall person in charge?"
"Jiang Fangfang, the County Mayor."
"You are on her side?"
"Yeah, I aligned myself with her as soon as I arrived."
Xie Huilan reminded him. "You got a rough idea of the plan. Don"t write it too well. Leave some room for the Mayor to add."
"Why?"
"Do you want to show off by yourself?"
Dong Xuebing was puzzled. "I am the actual person in charge. If I can do well, I won"t just sit back and leave room for mistakes. What kind of logic is this?"
"Even if your Mayor is in command and not responsible for specific affairs, she is still the overall person in charge. You"ve been in the officialdom for so many years. Haven"t you figured out how things work? Doing things well is necessary, but doing them too well is not good. You"ll steal others" limelight. Leave some room for everything. This saying is about dealing with people and work. You don"t necessarily have to do more or do it well. Doing it appropriately is enough."
Dong Xuebing said, "…"
"Listen to me, okay?"
"Okay, okay, you"re right, you"re amazing." Dong Xuebing pouted.
Xie Huilan chuckled, "Still not satisfied? I am just telling you the best way to handle things. Your way of working is different from mine. Naturally, there are differences. As long as you take it to heart, it"s fine." She looked at her watch, "I have to go. The car is waiting for me."
"I got it. I"ll listen to you."
Before leaving, Dong Xuebing squatted before Xie Huilan hugged her waist and pressed his face against her belly. When he felt the baby inside kick him, he suddenly felt joyful. He kissed her belly, reluctant to let his wife go. He has a daughter, and a son is now on the way. He naturally felt a bit pleased.
"I"m leaving too. Going to work now."
In the morning.
Exactly 9 am.
Dong Xuebing arrived at the County Party Committee compound by car. As soon as he exited the car, he saw Chen Xiaomei, the Finance Department Deputy Chief, riding her bike to the county government office.
"Director Chen." Dong Xuebing greeted her.
Chen Xiaomei just noticed him and quickly pushed her bicycle over. "Mayor Dong, good morning."
"Good morning." Dong Xuebing was in a good mood. "Have you had breakfast?"
"Just finished." Chen Xiaomei smiled and blinked. "I watched the news yesterday. Your wife is really beautiful. You"re so lucky." Yesterday"s news had caused quite a stir, and she had naturally seen it.
Behind him, Pu An also came to work. "Hey, Mayor Dong."
Dong Xuebing said a few words to Chen Xiaomei, then turned around and smiled, "Secretary Pu."
Pu An pointed at Dong Xuebing, "Hehe, hiding pretty deep, huh? You didn"t tell us about such a beautiful wife, did you?"
Dong Xuebing exclaimed, "I wanted to introduce her, but she works on the other side of Fenzhou City, too far, and didn"t have the chance to come over. I didn"t know she was coming yesterday."
Pu An said, "How many days is sister-in-law planning to stay?"
Dong Xuebing said, "She said a week, who knows."
"Then, when she"s free, let"s have a meal together. I will ask my wife along." Pu An suggested, "Old Jian will come, too. Let"s get together."
Dong Xuebing naturally agreed, "Sure, tomorrow it is. Tomorrow, I"ll introduce her to you all, but her schedule may not be certain."
Pu An smiled and waved, "Look at your wife"s schedule. We can do it anytime." If Dong Xuebing"s wife had not been a public servant, Pu An would not have said this. For them, a few leaders agreeing on a time was enough. Still, Dong Xuebing"s wife was a City Deputy Mayor and a City Party Committee member. When dealing with his wife, they cannot treat her like other ordinary leaders" family members.
Over there, Jian Xiangrong also arrived at the office. "Mayor Dong is here."
Dong Xuebing turned his head to look, smiling, "Minister Jian, I was just talking about you."
Chen Xiaomei didn"t disturb their conversation, bid farewell, and left early. Pu An, Jian Xiangrong, and Dong Xuebing walked toward the office building.
"What"s going on?" Jian Xiangrong asked.
Pu An smiled, "I mean, wait for Xuebing"s wife to be free. Let"s have a meal together, and invite your wife too. Whether the child comes or not doesn"t matter."
Jian Xiangrong said, "Okay, you didn"t say I was also thinking about it. I just took a glance yesterday and haven"t met her yet."
"I"ll tell her when I get back."
Their office locations differed, so Pu An and Jian Xiangrong went first. They were on the side building.
When Dong Xuebing was prepared to go upstairs by himself, he turned around and saw Chu Peng"s car suddenly entering the compound. He stopped and waited for him for a while.
Political and Legal Committee Secretary Chu Peng soon came in.
"Secretary Chu." Dong Xuebing greeted him with a smile.
"Mayor Dong, why are you in the lobby?" Chu Peng saw him and immediately walked over.
Dong Xuebing said, "I saw your car coming in, so I was waiting to ask about Sister Zeng"s condition."
Chu Peng said, "Much better. Although she can"t leave bed yet, she speaks quite clearly. The doctor said that she can have the st.i.tches removed after a few more days of rest."
"Oh, that"s great."
"Thanks for your help." With his wife out of danger, Chu Peng"s mood had become much better these days. "There were many things going on yesterday, and I didn"t have time to say h.e.l.lo to your wife. Mayor Xie should be leaving in a few days. See when she has time, and we"ll have a meal together. I have to thank you and your wife properly."
"Hey, don"t be so polite. It"s a small matter."
At the same time, the staff members who saw Mayor Dong coming to work were once again whispering about his wife. Extremely beautiful, high-ranking, with a graceful temperament—almost every positive adjective that could be used seemed suitable for his wife. Many people who didn"t like Dong Xuebing were highly jealous. They couldn"t understand how such a stunning beauty and high-ranking Mayor could marry a Deputy County Mayor whom they perceived as ruthless and unattractive. It was just absurd.
Upstairs, in the office of the Deputy Mayor.
It took Dong Xuebing half an hour to go through the detailed plan that Xie Hulan gave him in the morning. He inputted it into the computer, turned it into a doc.u.ment, and prepared a proposal. Initially, everything was ready, but he suddenly remembered Hulan"s words earlier. Helpless, he deliberately deleted a few paragraphs of content.
Well, it"s almost done.
Dong Xuebing nodded in satisfaction, took the doc.u.ments, and went upstairs. He arrived at the door of the county office and knocked.
Knock, knock.
"Come in." It was Secretary Li Xiaona"s voice.
Dong Xuebing pushed the door open. "Secretary Li, is Mayor Jiang in?"
"Yes, yes." Li Xiaona quickly got up. "Mayor Jiang just returned a while ago." Yesterday, she and Jiang Fangfang went to the city for official business. They only returned to Zhen Shui County this morning. Although she was not in the county, she knew what happened there. Therefore, she looked at Dong Xuebing with a strange and surprised look. She had also watched the news on the county TV station and saw his wife.
Dong Xuebing pretended to be casual, but he could read the meaning behind these strange looks he encountered today. On the surface, there was nothing wrong, but in his heart, he was secretly delighted. His wife might be lazy, but she knew how to make him look good.
For a man, face was the most important thing.
As for other matters, they were nothing.
Dong Xuebing was in a good mood as he knocked on the door to the inner office. After hearing Jiang Fangfang"s "Come in" from inside, Dong Xuebing pushed the door open and closed it behind him.
"Mayor Jiang."
"You"re here. Please sit."
"Ah, are you busy?"
"Not really. I just looked at the plan handed up from below, and I am not very satisfied."
"I also looked at their plan. Indeed, it"s lacking in some aspects. Many issues haven"t been thoroughly considered." Dong Xuebing pulled a plan from his bag, placed it on the table, and pushed it towards her. "I quickly made a plan this morning. I don"t know if it"ll work. Take a look and see what"s missing."
With a faint acknowledgment, she took a look, nodded slightly, and, after spending five minutes reviewing the plan, expressed her satisfaction without much hesitation, "The plan is good. Let"s go with it." After that, she lowered her head, took a pen, and made some circles and annotations. "Include these. I"ve written them down. After you tidy it up, submit it when it"s ready." With the overall person in charge and the second person in charge agreeing to the plan, there shouldn"t be any issues. However, according to the procedure, they must still report to the Party committee.
Looking at it, Dong Xuebing saw that the things Mayor Jiang added were indeed what he had just deleted. However, he pretended to realize and said, "These should be added. My negligence. You were careful to notice, or else there would have been problems later." He complimented her with a small gesture.
Quietly, Jiang Fangfang said, "Minor issues, not a big deal. The overall plan"s approach is correct. I had an idea, but your plan is better."