Chapter 1584: I told you she is my wife
Hotel lobby.
It"s three in the afternoon.
The few of them started chatting, getting to know each other. The other city leaders were all old comrades from Jiangnan Province, quite familiar with each other. However, Secretary Xie from Xiaxing City was new here, so it was necessary to introduce her to the other leaders" spouses. The conversation was relaxed, not about on work matters much. After all, this trip was mainly for tourism. Moreover, they were not from the same city, so there wasn"t much overlap in their work. Most of the time, they chatted about daily life and cracked jokes, just like ordinary folks.
Xie Huilan smiled and said, "Your son is not even thirty yet?"
"No, just turned twenty-six," Hou"s father said. "And he"s not married yet."
Mayor w.a.n.g chuckled and pointed to Hou Wen. "Your standards are too high. You better hurry up so Mayor Hou and his wife won"t worry."
Hou Wen seemed familiar with Mayor w.a.n.g. "Hehe, I"m still young."
Hou"s mother sighed. "I"ve been telling Old Hou for a year or two, but he never listens."
Xie Huilan chatted casually. "Twenty-six is still young. I didn"t get married until I was twenty-nine or thirty."
Hou"s father waved his hand. "This kid can"t compare to you."
Hou"s mother half-jokingly said, "Huilan, since you came from Beijing, you know many people. If there are suitable girls, consider introducing them to our Xiao Wen, okay?" The ident.i.ties of the people present were similar, so even though they were meeting for the first time, Hou"s mother felt close enough to call Xie Huilan by her first name.
Xie Huilan smiled. "Sure. I"ll keep an eye out for Xiao Wen."
Hou Wen was speechless. "Mom, you and Dad have been pestering me about getting married for a year or two. Can"t your taste be a bit higher? I"m serving the people now. Where do I have time to think about love affairs? Sister Xie, please don"t listen to my parents. I wouldn"t dare to trouble you with introducing potential partners. Hehe, I plan to follow your lead and learn from you. No rush at twenty-six; we"ll talk about it at thirty."
Everyone chuckled at his words.
"You rascal," Hou"s mother playfully tapped her son"s head. "Who are you going to follow? Don"t call Sister Xie. From now on, call her, um, call her Aunt Xie." In terms of status, Xie Huilan, as the Party secretary of the city committee, was indeed a senior to Hou Wen and some other younger folks, but she was only five or six years older than Hou Wen.
Hou Wen hesitated for a few seconds and couldn"t express himself. "Isn"t calling her auntie making her sound old?"
Xie Huilan smiled. "Just call me Sister Xie, don"t call me auntie. Hehe, let"s keep it casual."
Mayor w.a.n.g laughed heartily. "Don"t force Hou Wen if it sounds awkward. Secretary Xie is so young and beautiful. If you call her auntie, I can"t bear to listen."
Xie Huilan modestly said, "What beauty? Mayor w.a.n.g is teasing me. Hehe, I saw your wife on the plane. She"s even more beautiful than me."
Mayor w.a.n.g listened with pleasure and waved his hand. "My wife, when she was young, was indeed beautiful, but not anymore. She"s aged. Now, let"s talk about Mayor Hou"s wife. She"s the one who"s getting younger by the day. She"s not even forty yet." He turned to Hou"s mother and said, "Sister-in-law, you must teach my wife how to maintain herself. You can"t keep secrets."
Hou"s mother smiled broadly. "Old w.a.n.g, you"re flattering me. Are you trying to lift me to the sky and then drop me?"
Everyone bantered back and forth, complimenting each other, and was all in good spirits, creating a warm atmosphere.
As Hou Wen and Hou"s mother walked past, Dong Xuebing saw them engrossed in conversation, so he didn"t join them. Instead, he leaned against a chair in the rest area, holding Hou"s mother"s luggage and his bag, and lit a cigarette. Even though he had smoked half of it, they were still talking. Dong Xuebing had come here this time to relax and enjoy a vacation. The time to make a big splash to promote Xie Huan"s candidacy had pa.s.sed, and he wanted to keep a low profile and enjoy the trip. But after extinguis.h.i.+ng the cigarette and seeing that they were still talking, Dong Xuebing couldn"t wait any longer. He stood up, dragging his wheeled suitcase, and walked over.
None of them noticed him.
But Hou"s father did. Perhaps he had noticed earlier when they entered that Dong Xuebing was with Hou"s mother and Hou Wen, probably a.s.suming he was the relative of some city leader. Maybe they had met on the plane and attended the research group as family members. "Who"s this?"
Everyone turned to look.
Hou"s mother frowned imperceptibly and replied, "He"s Xiao Wen"s cla.s.smate."
Then, not much else was said. Maybe in Hou"s mother"s view, now wasn"t the time for Dong Xuebing to come over. After all, this was a circle of leaders, and everyone present was either a senior official or a direct relative. A junior civil servant like Dong Xuebing didn"t belong here. Even if he was Xiao Wen"s cla.s.smate, he should be aware. Hou"s mother didn"t have a good impression of Dong Xuebing, subjectively or objectively. Especially after he made that boastful remark about Secretary Xie being his wife. Hou"s mother felt it was too much. A joke about a female City party secretary wasn"t something to be taken lightly. Hou"s mother believed there should be boundaries. Based on this point, she didn"t want her son to have too much contact with Dong Xuebing. Those who a.s.sociate with the ink will be blackened. In the system, people who speak recklessly have no future. She didn"t want her son to become like Dong Xuebing, someone who dares to say anything.
"Claiming the City party secretary is your wife. Why don"t you say the provincial governor is your brother? What"s the point of boasting like that?"
Seeing Dong Xuebing approaching, Hou Wen hurriedly greeted him, "Xuebing, let"s catch up later. Don"t say anything reckless now." Then, turning to his father, Hou Wen smiled and introduced himself. "This is my university cla.s.smate; we"re very close. We met at the airport. Dad, you should have seen him when you visited the university in the first year."
Hou"s father didn"t remember, but he still nodded, "h.e.l.lo, young man."
Hou"s mother and Hou Wen thought Dong Xuebing would feel awkward. After all, in their eyes, Dong Xuebing was just a junior clerk who had just started working. It was natural to feel uncomfortable when meeting so many mayors and secretaries. But unexpectedly, Dong Xuebing remained calm and unruffled, without any discomfort.
"h.e.l.lo, Uncle Hou," Dong Xuebing greeted politely.
Hou Wen heard him speaking seriously and felt relieved. He was worried that Dong Xuebing might repeat something inappropriate.
Mayor w.a.n.g didn"t even glance at Dong Xuebing. Upon hearing that Dong Xuebing wasn"t the relative of any leader, Hou"s father greeted him briefly and didn"t take him seriously. It wasn"t that he looked down on people; Hou"s father was usually very kind. But with so many city leaders around, he naturally couldn"t chat much with a junior. This wasn"t a family gathering.
Hou’s father s.h.i.+fted his gaze back to Xie Huilan, the City Party Secretary of Xiaxing City. He had just gotten acquainted with Secretary Xie, and it was sure they needed to communicate more. Moreover, he also intended to build a good relations.h.i.+p with her. Mayor w.a.n.g probably felt the same. Firstly, it was for future work considerations; you never knew when there might be opportunities for mutual a.s.sistance. Secondly, a leader from the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection arrived two days ago in Jiangnan Province for an investigation and inspection. This was no longer a secret, and many people were aware of it. The leader from the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection happened to be Secretary Xie"s husband. Even though they hadn"t met him, they could tell from the incident in Xiaxing City the other day that Secretary Xie"s husband was a.s.sertive. He even scolded the provincial leaders and sent them back. All because the inspection team criticized Secretary Xie. Hou"s group wasn"t clear about how things would develop, but it was inevitable that it wouldn"t hurt to have a good relations.h.i.+p with Xie Huilan no matter how it went. At the very least, it wouldn"t lead to trouble from her husband for some reason.
"Her husband is a Central Commission for Discipline Inspection leader."
"That"s almost equivalent to Secretary Xie being a leader in the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection."
Therefore, with this matter in mind, many people were somewhat cautious.
Father Hou asked again, "Secretary Xie, if your husband hasn"t arrived yet, he should be about the same as my wife and them, right?"
Mayor w.a.n.g said, "Maybe he couldn"t find the place. I"ll ask the hotel to send someone to pick him up. The taxi drivers here might take the long route if they realize he"s from out of town."
Xie Huilan chuckled, "No need, Mayor w.a.n.g."
Mother Hou also asked, "How about we call him to check if he"s arrived by now?"
"No need to call." Xie Huilan smiled, "My husband is already here."
Mother Hou was stunned, "He"s here? When did he arrive, and where is he?"
Mayor w.a.n.g was also puzzled, "Didn"t you say he hadn"t arrived just now?"
Father Hou and Hou Wen looked around but didn"t see him. Where did he come from?
Seeing that no one paid attention to him, Dong Xuebing filtered himself out. He couldn"t help but spread his hands helplessly, making an innocent expression to his wife.
Xie Huilan also smiled. Under the stunned gazes of Father Hou, Mother Hou, and the others, she walked two steps forward and stood beside Dong Xuebing, naturally holding his hand. With a faint smile, she pointed and said, "Let me introduce hehe; this is my husband, Dong Xuebing."
"Dong Xuebing?"
"So, this is Dong Xuebing."
Father Hou and Mayor w.a.n.g were both stunned.
But they weren"t the most astonished ones. The most shocked were Mother Hou and Hou Wen.
Upon hearing this, Mother Hou was dumbfounded, and Hou Wen almost spat out a mouthful of blood.
Looking at Father Hou, Xie Huilan said, "I didn"t expect my husband and your son to be college cla.s.smates. What a coincidence, hehe."
Hou Wen was about to sit on Dong Xuebing to death, shocked, he pulled him aside and said, "Why didn"t you say so earlier?"
Dong Xuebing looked at him speechlessly, "I"ve been saying she"s my wife all along. I said it in the taxi and just now when we entered the hotel. Didn"t you listen?"
Hou Wen was speechless, "I thought you were joking."
Dong Xuebing: "……"
Mother Hou was the most embarra.s.sed. Thinking back to her criticism of Dong Xuebing"s nonsense earlier, she felt a flush of embarra.s.sment on her face, a bit unable to face them.
Good heavens, what"s going on here?
So the City Party Secretary is your wife, huh?