Chapter 36: Squabbling Over Favors

d with small actions.Under Su Cen’s direct finger-pointing and his questioning that hit Ma Xiaoshi’s self-respect, the body on the ground suddenly stirred."Huh!" A few girls in the distance were clenc...Chapter 36: Squabbling Over a Love Rival

The family dinner was rather gloomy. At Zhu軒居's dining table, Uncle Zeng Quanming lightly raised his wine glass to Su Licheng (Su Bing's father) and Second Uncle Zeng Zhao Ding, saying, "Come, let's have a drink."

After everyone took a sip and put down their cups, Zeng Quanming pursed his lips and glanced at Su Bing, "Regarding your Su Bing matter, I definitely need to handle it properly. A mere head teacher can be so arrogant just because he’s from the No. 1 High School!"

Everyone gave a bitter smile; Uncle's words were quite contradictory. On one hand, he was saying that there was nothing special about the city’s top high school, yet wasn't Su Bing still determined to squeeze into it despite getting his head hurt

In reality, Uncle had already started pondering how to proceed. If he didn’t step forward himself, he could rely on other connections; however, this reliance on connections slightly made him feel uncomfortable about maintaining his pride. Moreover, once the connections were in place, it might just lead to a reconciliation scenario which would make him appear somewhat weak.

A burst of laughter and chatter came from the neighboring table beside their private room, causing everyone’s brows to furrow.

This was a large private dining room; due to construction reasons back then, it couldn't be divided properly, so a screen was placed in the middle. It looked quite unique and interesting. The neighboring table clearly had its main guest and other guests seated, with the dinner already underway.

"Haha, Director Xiao's daughter is becoming more beautiful every day. By the way, Yunyun, do you have a boyfriend" A friendly voice rang out.

"Not yet." The speaking girl’s face turned slightly red.

"Hey, Yu City, they're still just kids, no need to talk about boyfriends. But indeed, nowadays the children are maturing earlier!"

Su Cun's table was in a state of mutual staring, truly an enemy meeting on a narrow road. Xiao Fei’s family gathering also chose to be held next door. From what Xiao Fei mentioned about the "Yu City," his uncle Zeng Zhaoding pondered, could this "Yu City" refer to Vice Mayor Yu Qixiu from Xia Hai City

"Today it is truly my honor to invite Mr. Vice Mayor Yu and others to grace my daughter's celebration banquet! Oh, of course, today’s main guest is actually Zhang reporter from Xinhua News Agency! It is a sign of our superiors' concern that they have sent you here for flood control coverage!"

Immediately after, a rich male Mandarin voice sounded, "No, no. I am merely conducting a special investigation and gathering public opinions in some lightly affected areas and strategic rear bases; this is just part of the project. My colleagues and I might have been bothering everyone."

"Nonsense! Although what Zhang reporter does may seem trivial, it has significant implications. Your arduous work ensures that we can present truthful reports to the public and higher-ups!" Vice Mayor Yu seemed a bit elated. The arrival of a central journalist was an excellent opportunity for extensive publicity. Since Xia Hai City had started rectifying various worksites and reservoirs as part of the nation's flood control strategy, some major issues had been discovered. For instance, there were suspicions that the Director of the Construction Bureau was neglecting his duties, which had already been handled by the municipal committee’s supervision department. Although this incident involved Xia Hai City’s face-saving efforts, it made a tremendous difference whether these issues were uncovered before or after the central journalist's visit.

If such problems came to light only after the central journalist’s arrival, undoubtedly, the whole of Xia Hai City would be smeared with mud and lose its luster. However, discovering these issues beforehand demonstrated that Xia Hai City had promptly addressed them, eliminating major safety hazards, exposing negligent public officials, thereby establishing a fair and strict law enforcement image for the entire municipal government, which was highly beneficial to Xia Hai’s propaganda efforts.

Currently, inside the Municipal Construction Bureau, there seemed to be quite a commotion. Clearly, their director's problems had stirred things up; Xiao Fei was like a driftwood seeking support from various influential figures. Moreover, Uncle Zeng Qianming's position as Director of the Planning Office now held little sway over public opinion regarding the municipal construction bureau, with all government employees looking down on it, hence why even the headmaster of Xia Hai No. 1 High School dared to challenge him.

Uncle Zeng was acutely aware that this sort of shared glory and disgrace relationship had a significant impact now.

"We’ll have our own meal," Uncle Zeng didn’t intend on getting involved in the larger circle across the hall, especially when their side was still worried about Su Cun entering Xia Hai No. 1 High School, while Xiao Fei was already celebrating his daughter’s admission to the school with a banquet. This contrast made them stand out even more.

The group was gloomy but didn’t expect that during Xiao Fei's bathroom break, upon returning and passing by their door, he unconsciously peered in and spotted Su Cun's family right away. Xiao Fei was momentarily stunned before bursting into laughter as he walked over.

"Oh, Director Zeng! My gosh, I never expected to see you here, right next to us. Why didn’t you say anything This is so serendipitous; let’s all celebrate together! Mr. Vice Mayor Yu and some other comrades from the city are also present. Coincidence at its best! Waiter, take down this screen!"

The screen was removed, making the Su family feel dim and exposed to the intense light from Xiao Fei and others.

Xiao Yunyun wore a brand-new cotton pleated skirt today, with an outer black hooded jacket. She also had shiny black leather shoes on her feet, looking comfortable and full of youthful vitality. When she saw Su Can, she was initially stunned but then smiled brilliantly at him, showing off her charm and attractiveness.

She used to have a crush on Su Can; now, naturally, she would face him with pride, wanting to show him her beautiful and lovely side. She wanted to use her most beautiful self to confront those who had missed out on her. Of course, Xiao Yunyun wasn't pursuing Su Can because he rejected her but rather because she felt that his not taking the initiative to pursue her back then should have been a lifelong regret for him.

Nowadays, Xiao Yunyun was somewhat famous in school and could be considered one of the class beauties. Many people were pursuing her, so naturally, she had someone special in mind. Of course, it was impossible for her to develop feelings for an old crush who was still studying at the Third High School with a status far below hers; instead, she planned to leave Su Can with a memorable impression.

With the screen removed, both sides immediately started introducing themselves and exchanging pleasantries.

"Xiao Yunyun has enrolled in No. 1 High School. Oh! We parents feel so gratified. This is what our whole life has been about!" Xiao Fei said to Zeng Quanming seemingly as a formality but was actually brimming with pride inside. He glanced at Su Can, and the underlying meaning of his words was quite clear: Our Xiao Yunyun is an excellent student in No. 1 High School; how about your Su Can Has he managed to get into Third High School Of course, Xiao Fei hadn't planned to give Zeng Quanming a hard time from the start and instead felt more at ease than ever during this meal. He wanted to savor this feeling bit by bit and humiliate Zeng Quanming gradually.

"Let me introduce you; this is Mr. Zhang Chaoyang, a reporter from CCTV who has been dispatched from Xinhua News Agency. He's very capable!"

Zhang Chaoyang was in his thirties and looked like an archetypal northerner—square-faced with an unassuming demeanor that lacked the superficial politeness of an official. After shaking hands with Su Can’s uncle, he maintained a respectful yet not overly familiar distance, showing sincerity without any bureaucratic pretense.

Next came introductions to Vice Mayor Yu Qiushou and other leaders from cultural and supervisory departments. Glancing around the table, Su Can quickly understood who was in charge: though ostensibly it was for celebrating Xiao Yunyun's admission into No. 1 High School, Xinhua News Agency’s Zhang Chaoyang was clearly the main guest. Otherwise, how could Xiao Fei so easily invite Vice Mayor Yu It seemed that while arranging this banquet, he coincidentally met Zhang Chaoyang and must have had plans to enthusiastically bring him over, thereby gathering a group of influential city officials.

Though Su Can's uncle Zeng Quanming was highly disapproving of Xiao Fei's scheming ways, he could only hold back his resentment in front of so many important figures. As a result, the Su family appeared to be mere spectators at this gathering.

The crowd began to mingle and circulate. After a few rounds of drinks, Yu Qiusuo found Xiao Fei increasingly likable. When the central journalist Zhang Chaoyang arrived later on, both the mayor and the city’s secretary had instructed that he should not be slighted in any way. Just as Xiao Fei was thinking about how to build a rapport with Zhang Chaoyang, it seemed that the latter also had his own set of rules and generally refrained from accepting dinner invitations extended by local officials. By claiming that the reason for this gathering was to celebrate his daughter’s birthday, Xiao Fei successfully managed to get Zhang Chaoyang seated at the dining table. This immediately put him in a great mood.

Looking over at Xiao Fei’s daughter, Xiaoyunyun, her face was rosy and she seemed as delicate as cherry blossoms; her appearance was pleasing. At dinner, she acted gracefully and politely towards everyone while speaking sweetly to the guests. She clearly appeared to be a well-mannered young lady who had received proper upbringing—though Yu Qiusuo didn’t know that Xiaoyunyun’s behavior was intentional in order to impress Su Can. In his heart, he thought it strange how ugly Xiao Fei and his wife looked but managed to produce such an appealing daughter. He then kindly asked her, “Xiaoyunyun, how did you do on the high school entrance exams What were your scores”

“Well… I scored 612 points, which isn’t very impressive.” Xiaoyunyun blushed slightly; she had actually only managed to score 600 points. Xiao Fei had used his connections to secure her a spot in the First Middle School even though she was short by ten points from the required cut-off of 610. She couldn’t admit this truth now that everyone was present, so she could only inflate her actual score somewhat. However, a score of six hundred and twelve was still considered quite high. She glanced at Su Can with a hint of vanity.

With such a score, it should make the boy surprised, right

"Oh, that's not bad—not bad," said Yu Qiusuo as he nodded his head. "Beautiful looks and elegant demeanor; talent and virtue. Old Xiao… I believe your daughter is going to leave many young men heartbroken in the future!"

"Haha, don’t say such nonsense! How can teenagers talk about romance Studying is their top priority! In fact, I tear up all those love letters that my little brat writes every few days."

“Dad!” Xiaoyunyun glared at her father with a look of reproach.

"Haha!" Xiao Fei laughed heartily. He was happiest when his daughter was around; he had purposely looked over at Su Can just now to give him a warning and put him in his place. His words implied that even those from the First Middle School weren’t good enough for her, let alone someone like Su Can who was leagues behind them.

Yu Qiusuo tsked, then turned to look at Zeng Quaming’s table. Though he leaned towards Xiao Fei, it wouldn’t be appropriate for him to openly show favoritism; if so, people would point fingers and say that he had a bias. Therefore, he looked over at Su Can and said with a smile, “Ah, Director Zeng, this is your precious nephew He’s taking the entrance exam too How did he do Which school is he going to”

Xiao Fei smiled; he was planning on asking Zeng Quaming about his nephew later in order to embarrass him. Now it seemed that Mayor Yu had saved him some trouble.wonderful. But now I know how insignificant my existence is in this vast world. No matter how hard you try, it's still difficult to reach your original expectations. Dreams are like watching a cake on...