Chapter I

freeloader

Shangri-La Hotel.

The hall is resplendent with gold, people dressed in fashion rush in, and more than a dozen welcome ladies are busy with a unified smile on their faces, serving the guests diligently.

At the door of the hotel, Chen Xiaoran anxiously looked into the distance, half an hour had passed, and the guests invited by the principal Kong Qingyun had not yet arrived. Provincial secretary Yang Li called 40 minutes ago, saying that he and Vice Governor Zhou had left the province and were rushing to the hotel. It stands to reason that from the province ** to Shangri-La Hotel, the drive is only half an hour at most, even if it is the time to get off work at this time, and the traffic jam on the road will not take so long. It can't be that Vice Governor Zhou has something urgent to do temporarily, Yang Li thought as he looked at his watch.

Five minutes later, Principal Kong Qingyun walked out of the elevator, and Chen Xiaoran hurriedly greeted him: "Principal Kong, I haven't seen Vice Governor Zhou's car yet, there won't be any changes, right?" ”

Kong Qingyun smiled: "The vice governor just called the old man, saying that something happened on the road, and it was delayed for a few minutes, and I am afraid that it will be there for a while." Let's go, go outside and pick it up. As he spoke, several people walked out. The moment he went out, Kong Qingyun suddenly saw a person, and that face seemed to have been seen somewhere, and he couldn't remember it for a while. Kong Qingyun had no choice but to smile at the man. The man stood in the hall, as if he was waiting for someone, and when he saw Kong Qingyun smiling at him, he also smiled politely. When he got outside, standing in the parking lot, Kong Qingyun suddenly remembered, wasn't that Zhuang Xudong, the newly appointed secretary of the Discipline Inspection Commission of the Provincial Department of Education, just now? Look at this brain, why didn't even Secretary Zhuang recognize it? He smiled and was about to turn around and come in to greet Zhuang Xudong, when Vice Governor Zhou's car had stopped in front of him.

Zhou Zhengqun, vice governor of Jiangbei Province, was invited today to celebrate the 72 nd birthday of Xia Wentian, a veteran leader and his own veteran leader. Xia Lao's first two birthdays, Zhou Zhengqun was not able to attend because he was busy with work, and he had to attend today's birthday banquet anyway, so he pushed down an important banquet, and specially notified his wife Meng He to let her participate together. Suddenly, he received a phone call halfway through, and then he called Meng He to tell her to go home. Meng He was puzzled: "Why can't I participate, I still have to have a good chat with Xia Yu." ”

"The situation is special, you better go back." Zhou Zhengqun didn't explain much to his wife, and advised: "Don't call me tonight, I may not be able to go home if I have something." His words confused Meng He, and he didn't want to ask in detail, so he had to hang up the phone stupidly. Yang Li, the secretary in the car, was also stunned by the call, and was about to open his mouth to ask, when he heard Zhou Zhengqun say: "Wait a while to get to the hotel, you and the driver don't go up, eat some food outside, wait for my call." ”

The day is Friday, April 16th, the weekend. When Zhou Zhengqun got off the bus, the sunset was dyeing the port metropolis of Jinjiang gorgeously.

Kong Qingyun hurriedly greeted him with a smile, and after a while of greetings, several people entered the hotel with a smile and went to the elevator room. Kong Qingyun saw that Yang Li and the driver didn't follow, and asked, "What about Yang Li?" Let's go up together. ”

Zhou Zhengqun smiled and said: "Yang Li still has something to do, don't care about him." As he spoke, his eyes were already on hand with Zhuang Xudong, who was standing in the distance, and he said in his heart: "It's so fast." He secretly glanced at Zhuang Xudong, and Zhuang Xudong flashed and disappeared.

Kong Qingyun didn't see this scene, his phone rang at this time, and when he finished answering the phone, Vice Governor Zhou had already entered the elevator.

In the Yangtze River Hall on the fourth floor, Xia Wentian was listening to his granddaughter Xia Keke tell stories in college. 72-year-old Xia Wentian is in good spirits, his silver hair is not messy, and his eyes are even brighter. He was originally a man who did not smile, and during his reign, few people saw his smile, and that face seemed to have been tense for decades. Even Zhou Zhengqun rarely saw the old man's smiling face. Who knew that after retiring, the old man changed his past seriousness and became amiable. Especially with his granddaughter Coco, his smile is even brighter. Xia Wentian was born with two sons and a daughter, Xia Yu is the eldest of the three children, when Xia Wentian was still on the throne, the two sons went abroad one after another, and then settled abroad, bringing his two precious grandsons abroad. The old man was very unhappy, and for a long time afterward, he did not answer calls from across the ocean. In order to make her father happy, Xia Yu often took her daughter Coco to her grandfather's house, asked her to tell her grandfather stories, and played chess with her grandfather. Coco has followed her mother's surname since she was a child, and she grew up next to her grandparents when she was a child, and she has a deep relationship with her grandfather. Xia Wentian, because of Coco, sent away those unpleasant days, and now he pinned all his thoughts on his grandson on Coco. On her 72nd birthday this year, Xia Wentian didn't plan to Zhang Luo, just have a reunion dinner at home, but Xia Keke resolutely disagreed, saying that she had just successfully run for the president of the student union of Jiangbei University, so she had to borrow her grandfather's light to congratulate her. Xia Wentian was full of joy when he heard that his granddaughter had become the president of the student union of the highest university in Jiangbei Province, and immediately agreed: "Okay, choose the best hotel, grandpa will be the east, invite your Uncle Zhou too, and let him congratulate you as well." ”

This Uncle Zhou is Zhou Zhengqun, member of the Standing Committee of the Jiangbei Provincial Party Committee, vice governor, deputy secretary of the provincial party group and dean of the Jiangbei School of Administration.

The grandfather and grandson were happy, and Zhou Zhengqun came in under the guidance of Kong Qingyun. Zhou Zhengqun was about to celebrate the old man's birthday, and Xia Keke was the first to jump up on the chair: "Uncle Zhou, you are finally here, if you don't come again, I have no story to tell." ”

Zhou Zhengqun turned to Xia Keke: "Okay, Uncle is here today to congratulate you." ”

"Hehe?" Xia Wentian wondered, "Zhengqun, do you already know about my family's Coco being the chairman?" ”

"Old leader, my message is not closed. Coco had just beaten my family hiking, giving her brother a taste of defeat. ”

Xia Wentian's gaze turned to Xia Keke, and he stayed on her face with a little approval. Ke Ke smiled: "Uncle Zhou, it's he who is arrogant and doesn't take me seriously." ”

"The proud soldiers will be defeated, and the proud soldiers will be defeated." Zhou Zhengqun greeted Xia Yu while talking, Xia Yu warmly invited him to sit down, and when he saw that Meng He didn't come, he asked, "What about Meng He, why didn't she come?" ”

"Hiking is emotional, I can't come." Zhou Zhengqun lied.

"This kid." Xia Yu glanced at her daughter as she spoke, and Xia Keke looked proud.

Xia Wentian smiled loudly: "Coco, it can't be that you made a small move in the election, how could you lose to you in hiking?" ”

"Grandpa." Xia Keke snorted.

"Where, old leader, don't say that, Keke is an excellent child, my family always praises her."

As he spoke, the food was served. Xia Wentian was originally the deputy secretary of the Jiangbei Provincial Party Committee, and later served as the chairman of the Jiangbei Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference. Three years ago, he stepped down from his position, and the Central Committee originally wanted to transfer him to Beijing to work in the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) for a few more years, but Xia Wentian politely declined, saying that he was old, and when he was old, he should retire and let the younger comrades do it. Xia Wentian, who has retired, is not idle, he is now the president of Jiangbei Provincial University for the Elderly, the honorary president of the Jiangbei Provincial Elderly Calligraphers Association, and at the repeated request of his daughter, he has served as a consultant of the Jiangbei Provincial Disabled Persons' Federation.

Birthday celebrations are just excuses, Xia Wentian has always opposed this, today specially set up this table for a banquet, Xia Wentian wants to meet Zhou Zhengqun, he hasn't seen Zhou Zhengqun for some days. Zhou Zhengqun is busy with work, he understands, but he hasn't seen him for a long time, and he is anxious. When Zhou Zhengqun first followed him, he was in a region below Jiangbei, when he was the commissioner of the administrative department, and Zhou Zhengqun was his secretary. Decades have passed, and the little secretary of the year has now become the No. 2 person in the province and a backbone member of the Jiangbei Provincial team. Time flies, and when you think about it, everything looks like it happened yesterday.

Xia Wentian sighed and took the wine from Zhou Zhengqun. His daughter Xia Yu was just about to stop him, but he had already raised his neck and drank. Xia Yu said strangely: "Dad, you said that you don't drink, but you are greedy." Xia Wentian smiled at his daughter: "If you don't drink other people's wine, you must drink it if you are respectful." ”

"Grandpa, I want to toast you too." Xia Keke shouted.

"Okay, let's have another drink."

"Coco!" Xia Yu hurriedly stopped her daughter, Xia Keke had already picked up her wine glass: "Grandpa, I wish you another year older." ”

"Listen, how can there be such a toast? Coco, you don't think grandpa is old, right? Xia Wentian said with a smile while taking the wine glass.

"Grandpa, you're getting old, don't always deny it, you lost to me in the morning chess."

"That's grandpa letting you go."

"Then play again in the evening, I will win you three sets in a row, see what you say!"

When the grandfather and grandson were arguing, Zhou Zhengqun secretly cast his gaze on Kong Qingyun's face, which was a little dim and had a layer of doubt. Kong Qingyun was muttering something to Chen Xiaoran, but he didn't notice it. Xia Yu on the side found out, and couldn't help but wonder a little, what's going on with today's vice governor, why does his eyes always look at Qingyun?

After the toast, Kong Qingyun wanted to say a few words of blessing for his father-in-law's birthday banquet, but Xia Wentian stopped him with a look and said with a smile: "I didn't invite outsiders today, just a few of us, come, be in the group, eat vegetables, and chat while eating." ”

Maybe there is a ghost in his heart, Zhou Zhengqun feels that today's old man is a little weird, not like he was invited to celebrate his birthday. The old man rarely treats him as a guest, how can he be extraordinarily enthusiastic today, is it ......

Zhou Zhengqun shuddered in his heart, and the phone call he received on the road suddenly rang in his ears again. Since answering the phone, his heart has been uneasy. Halfway through, he wanted to make a phone call and say that he couldn't come, but he thought that if he didn't come, it would hurt the old man's heart even more. At this time, seeing the old man personally serving vegetables for him, the uneasiness in his heart became a little heavier.

If the old man really begged him for this, what should he do?

was making a difficulty, so I heard Xia Wentian say: "Zhengqun, I invite you to come today, not only to celebrate my birthday, but also to talk to you, the vice governor, about one more thing." ”

Zhou Zhengqun's heart was shocked, and the chopsticks in his hand almost fell. Just when he was panicking and trying to hide something, the phone rang, and when he looked at the number, he didn't dare to answer it in the house, so he took the phone and walked out.

Looking at his panicked movements and strange expression, Xia Yu on the side was puzzled for a while, and inexplicably, he set his eyes on Kong Qingyun. Kong Qingyun was talking to Lu Ping, the director of the school office, about the relocation of the new school site. Xia Yu didn't know why, and raised his voice suddenly: "Qingyun, I'll talk about things at work later, what day is today, how can I ......?"

Halfway through speaking, she saw her father glaring at her, and hurriedly picked up a chopstick dish in disguise: "Dad, you can eat more." ”

5 minutes later, Zhou Zhengqun walked in after answering the phone and said with a smile: "I'm really sorry, there are a lot of things today, Xia Lao, don't be surprised." ”

Xia Wentian didn't mind at all, with a kind smile on his face: "Where can you, Zhengqun, eat vegetables first, you have to eat more today." Seeing that Xia Keke only cared about eating by himself, he pretended to be angry and said, "Coco, don't patronize and eat by yourself, give you Uncle Zhou a piece of fish." ”

When Xia Keke was serving vegetables to Zhou Zhengqun, Xia Yu's eyes stared at his father strangely.

Xia Yu was not a careful woman, she was the same as her father, she belonged to the kind of person who was straightforward and fast-talking, would not beat around the bush, and would not be able to observe words and feelings. But on this day, Xia Yu was a little abnormal, and afterwards she thought, this is called a premonition, an instinctive reaction between relatives. Although his father did not show anything abnormal that day, Xia Yu still sensitively captured something from his father's attitude towards Zhou Zhengqun. The way her father wanted to speak and stopped, he was clearly telling her that her father had something to do today.

What the hell is going on? Xia Yu held the cup and thought for a while, but he really couldn't think of anything worthy of his father treating Zhou Zhengqun so warmly at the dinner table. Maybe I thought about it too much, Xia Yu smiled and lowered his head to eat.

It happened anyway. After three rounds of wine, Kong Qingyun was holding a wine glass and wanted to toast the vice governor. Kong Qingyun also wanted to take this opportunity to express his gratitude to Zhou Zhengqun. In this election for the president of Jiangbei University, although Zhou Zhengqun made it clear that he would not say a word for Kong Qingyun, everything was done according to the rules. But at the critical moment, he still tried his best to defy public opinion and insisted on putting the young and promising Kong Qingyun in the position of number one. After the results were announced, Xia Yu kept saying that he wanted to thank the vice governor, but he didn't find a suitable opportunity, either Kong Qingyun was busy, or Zhou Zhengqun went to the grassroots level. provoked Meng He to have an argument with her on the phone, saying that if he knew this, it would be better to let Lao Zhou "eliminate" him, look at the present, one is the vice governor and the other is the principal, so busy that our sisters and sons don't have time to be together. Although what Meng He said was a joke, Xia Yu listened to it, and he still couldn't help it. Yesterday, she also told Kong Qingyun that when her father's birthday banquet was over, she must take the time to invite Meng He's family to the suburbs for two days. Kong Qingyun was of course happy, although Zhou Zhengqun was Xia Wentian's old subordinate, and the relationship between the two of them was also close, but after all, these were two different things. Besides, the relocation of Jiangbei University is imminent, and the second phase of the project is being debated. There is also a new round of reform of Jiangbei University, including the merger of several institutions of higher learning, which can only be carried out well with the strong support of Vice Governor Zhou, and if it is not supported by Vice Governor Zhou Zhengqun, Kong Qingyun is afraid that it will be difficult to move.

In both public and private, he has to further strengthen his relationship with Zhou Zhengqun.

Zhou Zhengqun was just about to take the wine glass from Kong Qingyun's hand, when the door of the box was pushed open, and four people with cold expressions came in. The intrusion of the four people disturbed the atmosphere at the dinner table, Xia Yu stood up suddenly, and subconsciously wanted to go to Kong Qingyun's side.

"What's the matter, who let you in?" Zhou Zhengqun stood up, glared at the four uninvited guests, and asked in a fierce voice.

None of the four people spoke, they must not have known that Vice Governor Zhou Zhengqun would be here. In the stalemate, two more people came in, one was Liu Mingjian, deputy secretary of the Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection, and the other was Zhuang Xudong, whom Zhou Zhengqun saw in the hall.

Zhuang Xudong's expression was complicated, and there was a helplessness on his face.

Zhou Zhengqun's gaze crossed Zhuang Xudong and opposite Liu Mingjian: "Mingjian, what's going on, didn't I just tell you?" ”

Xia Yu raised his head in shock and glared at Zhou Zhengqun. Zhou Zhengqun's words in a hurry made her feel pimples in her heart for a long time to come. But at this time, she obviously didn't have time to think about it, as soon as she looked at the people of the Commission for Discipline Inspection, Xia Yu thought of the worst.

"I'm sorry, Vice Governor Zhou, Comrade Ziyang called just now and asked us to ......" Liu Mingjian looked very embarrassed, and it could be seen that he was also acting on orders and had no choice but to do so.

"Nonsense!" Zhou Zhengqun scolded angrily, and was about to say the next sentence, when Xia Wentian spoke: "Xiao Liu, you are uninvited, it's rare." ”

Liu Mingjian's lips moved, but he didn't dare to speak, and his eyes didn't dare to look at Xia Wentian.

"Zhengqun, what the hell is going on?" Xia Wentian turned his gaze to Zhou Zhengqun, he already knew that Zhou Zhengqun knew about today's events in advance. This embarrassed him, and it was like someone had sprinkled a handful of salt in his heart. He was going to tell Zhou Zhengqun something else, but who knows......

Liu Mingjian and Zhuang Xudong looked at each other, these two people brought people here, and the meaning couldn't be clearer.

"Old leader, this ......" Zhou Zhengqun avoided Xia Wentian's gaze and lowered his head.

"Say, are you looking for me or Qingyun?" Xia Wentian was not flustered.

"Old Xia, we are ......" Liu Mingjian didn't know how to speak.

"You don't need to be embarrassed, just tell me, are you looking for me or Qingyun?"

"We ...... Find Kong Qingyun. ”

Xia Yu's gaze was fixed on her husband's face: "Qingyun, you-"

"Yu'er, sit down." Xia Wentian comforted his daughter and continued to say to Liu Mingjian: "Today is my Xia Wentian's 72nd birthday, you go out first, wait outside, and let my family finish this light meal." ”

"Xia Lao ......"

"If you are still stunned, you will do what Xia Lao said." Zhou Zhengqun said sharply.

When I sat down again, there was no atmosphere at the table. Everyone sat dumbfounded, no one dared to speak, especially Kong Qingyun, he hadn't reacted yet, what were these six people running to do, looking for him? How could the Commission for Discipline Inspection look for him?

Zhou Zhengqun's face was gloomy and he smoked vigorously, he wanted to calm himself down.

Xia Yu's eyes widened, his gaze kept sweeping over the faces of the three men, it was so unexpected, Xia Yu lost his mind in an instant, I don't know what this scene just now portends?

"Dad-" Xia Keke screamed violently, jumped up from his chair, and pounced on Kong Qingyun.

"Coco!" In a panic, Xia Yu subconsciously called her daughter.

Xia Wentian's slightly closed eyes opened at this time, and he glanced at the dishes on the table: "Eat, eat all these dishes." After speaking, he picked up the chopsticks and took the lead in eating.

The air in the room was so dull that no one spoke again, picked up the chopsticks with difficulty, and ate the food silently.

In the corridor outside, Liu Mingjian kept looking at his watch, and the expressions of the four staff members were like iron, just waiting for Liu Mingjian to say "bring people". Zhuang Xudong's face was another anxious.

Half an hour later, Xia Wentian walked out with Xia Keke first, and a few minutes later, Xia Yu walked out. followed by Chen Xiaoran and Lu Ping, director of the Jiangbei University School Office.

Zhou Zhengqun talked to Kong Qingyun for nearly 5 minutes. When he walked out, the entire city of Jinjiang was already in the night.

Night ** people.