It was past nine o'clock in the evening. Deputy Township Chief Lou vomited twice and finally came to his senses.
He asked his wife to warm a wet towel and put it on his forehead, then picked up the phone and called Director Xie. "Old Xie, hello, hello. Finally, I've taken care of what you asked me to do. Yeah, yeah. This kid can hold his liquor pretty well. Well, he's still a bit worse than me. It's done, it's done. Don't worry. I promise to make him drunk every day and delay him for ten days or half a month. Okay, okay. You can trust me to handle things. Hahaha—Where? Where? With our relationship, there's no need to say such things."
After hanging up the phone, Deputy Township Chief Lou muttered to himself, "The young are really something! The two of us were actually drunk by him alone."
Xie Bisheng had originally planned to find an opportunity to get Chen Yan drunk tonight. After everything was arranged and Gu Qiu was sent away by him, unexpectedly, something urgent came up. A phone call from Secretary Tang made all his efforts go to waste.
Whenever he thought of Chen Yan, Xie Bisheng felt as if his heart was being scratched by a cat's paw.
Seeing the piece of fat that was almost within his grasp but couldn't be eaten, Xie Bisheng was extremely frustrated. As for Gu Qiu, he did know some of his background, which was why he went to so much trouble to send him far away.
If it were someone else, he wouldn't need to put in so much effort.
In the afternoon, the driver Xiao Li came back and reported that he had already done as he was told and left Gu Qiu halfway. Xie Bisheng couldn't help but laugh out loud, proud of his brilliant decision.
He was lying on the sofa, fantasizing and thinking about how to get Chen Yan drunk when his son Xie Buyuan came back from outside. Xie Bisheng had two sons. The eldest son was the head of a police station, and the second son was a section chief in the tax bureau.
Xie Buyuan came in and said, "I'm going to Daqiu Township tomorrow. Don't wait for me for dinner."
"Going to Daqiu Township again? Didn't you just send her there yesterday?" Xie Bisheng looked at his son a bit strangely.
Xie Buyuan's mother said, "What do you know? This is called romance. When young people are in love, they should be like this. Go ahead, go ahead. I support you, Buyuan. It would be best if you could settle the marriage as soon as possible. I'm looking forward to having grandchildren."
Xie Bisheng looked at his son and shook his head secretly. It seemed that Cong Tong wasn't very willing, and his son might be the only one who was enthusiastic. Although the Cong family and the Xie family were old family friends and had this relationship, if Cong Tong was really determined to oppose the marriage, it would be difficult to handle.
The daughter of Director Cong's family had grown up with Xie Buyuan since childhood and they were childhood sweethearts.
From primary school to high school, their relationship was good. But who would have thought that when it came to this marriage, Cong Tong became reluctant. This time Cong Tong went to work in Daqiu Township on a temporary post, and Xie Buyuan was like a lost soul, running to Daqiu Township every few days.
Xie Bisheng was thinking in his mind whether to talk to the Cong family earlier and finalize this matter completely.
But he had no idea that the daughter-in-law he had planned for had just had her thigh touched by someone else yesterday.
And Cong Tong wasn't even angry. If Xie Bisheng knew about this matter, he didn't know what he would think. Gu Qiu was sent away by him, and the reason for sending Gu Qiu away was to get Chen Yan.
I'm afraid he would never have dreamed that the Gu Qiu he sent away would set his backyard on fire and make this already reluctant couple in his family about to fall apart completely.
Last night, under the warm hospitality of the two township chiefs, Gu Qiu had a great time drinking. Fortunately, he had a good constitution. After a night's rest, he quickly recovered.
When it came to drinking, young people drink for courage, while older people drink at the expense of their health. Gu Qiu deeply understood this.
Gu Qiu was young. When he got drunk, he just needed to pee a few more times and have a good sleep to solve the problem.
Early the next morning, before the people in Daqiu Township went to work, he put on his backpack with a camera in it and was ready to set off.
Cong Tong happened to be going to the countryside too, and she went in the direction of Luojiachong with Gu Qiu.
Xie Buyuan arrived at Daqiu Township a little after ten o'clock in the morning. When he heard that Cong Tong had gone to the countryside, he got worried. "Going to the countryside? With whom?"
The people in the office told him that it seemed to be with an official from the County Investment Promotion Office.
A young man in his twenties, looking quite energetic.
People just mentioned it casually, but Xie Buyuan took it seriously. A young man in his twenties? Looking quite energetic? For some reason, Xie Buyuan suddenly became nervous and was consumed by jealousy.
Without caring about what others said, he hurriedly rushed in the direction of Luojiachong.
He had known Cong Tong for so long, and she had never gone out alone with others. Especially after the Xie family proposed the marriage alliance, Cong Tong had become cold towards him. Suddenly hearing that Cong Tong had gone to the countryside with a young man in his twenties, how could Xie Buyuan not be worried?
This was his intended wife. He couldn't let the duck that was almost cooked fly away again!
It was nearly eleven o'clock when Xie Buyuan left the township government.
Cong Tong had already finished the family planning publicity work in Luojiachong early. When she heard that Gu Qiu was going to the Wild Boar Ridge to have a look, Cong Tong thought that since she had nothing else to do anyway, she might as well accompany him.
The Wild Boar Ridge was the large mountain behind Luojiachong. There were often all kinds of wild animals there. Every year, countless people went into the mountain to hunt for excitement. Cong Tong was also curious and decided to take this risk with Gu Qiu.
Today, Cong Tong was wearing a pair of light blue jeans, a long-sleeved white shirt, a pair of white sneakers on her feet, and a hat on her head. She looked full of youthful vitality.
Gu Qiu thought that she looked even more beautiful in this outfit than yesterday. That short skirt outfit wasn't really suitable in a remote place like Daqiu Township.
The two of them walked and talked along the way. When Cong Tong heard that Gu Qiu had also graduated from Jingnan University, she couldn't help but exclaimed in surprise, "I didn't expect that we're alumni."
However, Cong Tong was two years older than Gu Qiu. She was twenty-four this year. Perhaps because of this, Cong Tong had developed a lot of good feelings for Gu Qiu.
Perhaps, as Cong Tong said, feelings are something that don't follow any logic.
Some people, even if you've looked at them all your life, you won't feel your heart skip a beat.
Some people, just with one glance when passing by, can make it last forever.
Cong Tong also felt very strange. When she first saw Gu Qiu, she had a faint liking for him.
Perhaps it was an agreement from a past life, perhaps it was fate in this life, or more likely, it was Gu Qiu's casual joke that touched the girl's heart.
The string in her heart was vibrating slightly.
Men like beautiful women, and beautiful women may not dislike handsome men. The principle of opposite sexes attracting each other has existed since ancient times.
It took them a full two hours to reach the Wild Boar Ridge.
Gu Qiu took pictures while walking along the way, leaving some precious materials.
It was the first time for Cong Tong to enter the mountain. Rather than saying that she was guiding Gu Qiu, it was more like she wanted to go out and get some fresh air. The days in the county town were a bit压抑 for her.
The days when she was working on a temporary post in Daqiu Township were not very satisfactory either.
Now that she had entered this primitive forest, she suddenly felt a sense of pleasure in returning to nature. The long-suppressed feelings in her heart were released in an instant. Her heart felt like it was flying.
Gu Qiu sat on a stone to take a break. Cong Tong suddenly ran over and playfully shook the pine tree beside him.
She had expected a romantic scene with falling leaves, but who would have thought that several caterpillars fell from the pine tree.
Cong Tong screamed in horror as if she had seen a ghost, "Ah—ah—"