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墨書 Inktalez
While watering the plants at home, Hu Ruoyun's mother, Zhao Meirong, once again asked him how things were developing with the daughter of the Party Secretary from Zhangjiazhai in Pingbei Township.
After Hu Ruoyun spoke honestly, his mother felt quite disappointed. When Teacher Shao Jianguo first mentioned a match, some busybodies spread the word that the Lao Hu family was climbing the social ladder. Their words were filled with envy and jealousy, and even Zhao Meirong felt a sense of pride.
However, as her son Hu Ruoyun brought back more disappointing news, it wasn't that they had actually lost anything; it was just that she felt they would be subjected to snide remarks from women like Woodzi. But now that it had come to this, reflecting on the changes over the past two years, she felt relieved: Of course, not everything good would come their way! Besides, she had confidence in her son.
No matter what, Hu Ruoyun was still a high school student. From Monday to Saturday morning, he had to attend classes diligently, and most of our story's events would take place on weekends.
It was Saturday again, and Jiang Qiuying and Zhang Meina arrived as promised. This time, Hu Ruoyun felt much calmer. Jiang Qiuying approached with a bright smile and immediately congratulated him, echoing Brother Biao's request: "You have to give me a copy, and it must be signed!"
After greeting Zhang Meina, the three of them left the school gate and headed towards New Daxin.
Along the way, the two girls kept asking about his book publication. Zhang Meina seemed somewhat knowledgeable about this: "My brother said that many books are self-published nowadays; how much did you spend?"
Jiang Qiuying was surprised: "You have to pay for it yourself? That must be quite a bit!"
Hu Ruoyun replied, "I don't have to pay for publishing or selling the book. The Story Collection will determine the print run based on subscriptions and distribute it through mail order... They also said they would pay me royalties based on the print volume."
Jiang Qiuying finally relaxed: "That's good then."
Zhang Meina's concern was clearly different from Jiang Qiuying's: "Did they say how much the royalties would be?"
Hu Ruoyun genuinely didn't know: "They didn't mention it, and I didn't ask."
As the three chatted while walking, they soon arrived at New Daxin's entrance. Suddenly, Zhang Meina exclaimed, "Look! That car is so beautiful!" Hu Ruoyun and Jiang Qiuying turned to see a Fukang parked across from New Daxin—a bright red car with a shiny finish that drew onlookers who paused to admire it.
In this era, while there were many households with wealth, those who could afford such a car were definitely few and far between.
As they walked into the restaurant, Hu Ruoyun spotted familiar faces at the bar: Sister Mona and a well-groomed young man in shiny shoes. If Hu Ruoyun remembered correctly, this was Xiao Qiu, someone he had met before. He could hear Xiao Qiu generously telling Sister Mona, "Order whatever you want; Sister Zhou said you love braised fish—let's get one."
Sister Mona replied casually, "I have something to do tonight; just get one eggplant dish and one sour and spicy potato shreds. Two bowls of rice will be fine; we need to eat quickly and head back."
Xiao Qiu remained enthusiastic: "Sister Zhou said you’re not busy these days? I can drive you to the county later to watch a movie; there are some great films..." He reached out as if to put his arm around Mao Na's waist.
Mao Na clearly became annoyed and turned sharply to scold him but suddenly noticed Hu Ruoyun and the two girls approaching. She greeted them somewhat flustered: "Xiao Hu! You guys are... here for dinner too?"
Hu Ruoyun smiled and nodded at Xiao Qiu before responding to Mao Na: "Sister, two classmates came by; they wanted to eat the fish-flavored shredded pork we had last time."
Xiao Qiu ultimately withdrew his hand but looked at Hu Ruoyun in his slightly worn school uniform with a hint of amusement: "Na Na, this is Mao Jie’s classmate, right? Why don’t we eat together? I’ll arrange it!"
Without waiting for Mao Na's agreement, he turned to the barmaid and ordered: "Braised fish, boiled shrimp, stir-fried mung bean sprouts with wood ear mushrooms... let’s also get a cold mixed vegetable platter and half a roast chicken from Daokou. Hmm... let’s start with these six dishes; if it’s not enough, we can add more later. Please prepare us a private room." He casually slapped down a hundred-yuan bill on the counter with great flair.
The boss lady hurriedly agreed and personally came out to make arrangements.
The three of them were inexplicably "kidnapped."
Five people entered the small private room, and Xiao Qiu naturally took the seat directly facing the door. She gestured to the chair on her right, saying, "Xiao Na, you sit here. Xiao Hu, right? You all can sit wherever you like."
Mao Na, without waiting for Hu Ruoyun to speak, turned to Jiang Qiuying and Zhang Meina and said, "Let's three girls sit together. Xiao Hu, you sit inside." Then she decisively sat down between Jiang Qiuying and Zhang Meina. With that, only two seats remained empty beside Xiao Qiu, and Hu Ruoyun had no choice but to take a seat on Xiao Qiu's left.
Xiao Qiu clearly frowned but didn’t say anything further. She turned to Xiao Hu and asked in a casual manner, "Brother Xiao Hu, what should we drink? White liquor or beer?"
Mao Na interrupted, "Forget it; they are still students!"
Hu Ruoyun added, "Brother Qiu, aren’t you driving? It’s better not to drink. If the traffic police catch you drinking and driving, that wouldn’t be good. Besides, it’s not safe."
However, Xiao Qiu became excited and raised her voice significantly, "Don’t worry! The County Public Security Bureau Chief Wang Zhiguo is buddies with my dad. The new Town Police Station Chief Qiu Sixi has to listen to my dad too... My dad even said he would have my license plate registered with the traffic police so that when they see our car, they’ll salute us!"
Jiang Qiuying listened with a vague understanding while Zhang Meina’s eyes sparkled with interest. Mao Na frowned and shot a glance at Xiao Qiu before giving Hu Ruoyun a knowing look without saying anything.
"Qiu Sixi has been appointed as the head of the Chengguan Town police station?" Hu Ruoyun couldn’t help but ask since she was unaware of this situation.
Xiao Qiu was somewhat surprised: "You... know Chief Qiu?"
Hu Ruoyun replied, "I met him once." She glanced at Jiang Qiuying but didn’t elaborate further.
The dishes were served, and Xiao Qiu first picked up a piece of fish for Mao Na before turning to the other three. "Come on, everyone dig in!"
The five of them ate in an awkward silence.
Xiao Qiu disregarded everyone's advice and ordered three cans of energy drink from the waiter along with a bottle of Tuo Pai Da Qu, insisting on having a few drinks with Hu Ruoyun.
Little did he know that despite his enthusiasm for drinking, his alcohol tolerance was low; after just two liang (a traditional Chinese measurement of liquor), he was already flushed and tongue-tied and had to rush to the restroom to vomit.
What should they do now?
This guy definitely wouldn’t be able to return to the county town; how would they arrange things for the night?
Xiao Qiu still tried to hold himself together: "It’s fine, Xiao Na; you don’t need to worry about me... I’ll just lie down in your dorm for a bit... then... then I’ll take you to the county town to watch a movie..."
He then turned to Hu Ruoyun: "Xiao Hu, do you know who my dad is? Let me tell you—my dad is Qiu Mingren, the Deputy Secretary of the County Committee. He’s second only to Secretary Li... If anything comes up in the county town, just mention me; my full name is Qiu Chengcai... You know Zhang Shusen? He used to be the Deputy Director of the County Public Security Bureau; he’s my uncle by marriage and has a good relationship with my family! His son Zhang Lingyun is my cousin and childhood friend... Later on, those two got into trouble... If it weren’t for that, I could walk all over Annan..."
Hu Ruoyun glanced at the somewhat panicked Jiang Qiuying and thought to herself: "This world really is too small; isn’t this Fate Has Brought Us Together?"
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