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墨書 Inktalez
While watering the garden at home, Hu Ruoyun's mother, Zhao Meirong, once again inquired about how things were developing with the daughter of the village secretary from Zhangjiazhaicun in Pingbei Township.
After Hu Ruoyun spoke honestly, his mother felt quite disappointed. When Teacher Shaojian Guo first introduced a matchmaker, some gossipers spread the news that the Hu family had climbed the social ladder. Their words were filled with envy and jealousy, and even Zhao Meirong felt a sense of pride. However, as her son 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 Wu Dezi.
But now, reflecting on the changes over the past two years, she felt a sense of relief: of course, not every good fortune would come their way! Moreover, she had confidence in her son.
Regardless of everything, Hu Ruoyun was still a high school student. From Monday to Saturday morning, he had to attend classes diligently, so most of our story's events would take place on weekends.
It was Saturday again when Jiang Qiuying and Zhang Meina arrived as promised. This time, Hu Ruoyun felt much calmer. Jiang Qiuying approached with a bright smile and immediately offered her congratulations, just like Brother Biao did, adding a request: "You have to give me a signed copy!"
After exchanging greetings with 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 these matters: "My brother said many books are self-published nowadays; how much do you have to spend on this?"
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 books. Story Collection will determine the print run based on pre-orders and distribute them through mail order... They also said they would pay me royalties based on the print volume."
Jiang Qiuying finally relaxed: "That's good."
Zhang Meina's concern was clearly different from Jiang Qiuying's: "Did they say how much the royalties are?"
Hu Ruoyun genuinely didn't know: "They didn't mention it, and I didn't ask."
As they 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 bright red Fukang parked across from New Daxin restaurant. The shiny paint attracted onlookers who stopped to admire it.
In this era, while there were many households with ten thousand yuan in savings, very few could afford such a car.
As the three entered the restaurant, Hu Ruoyun spotted familiar faces at the bar: Sister Mao Na and a sharply dressed young man with neatly combed hair and shiny shoes. If Hu Ruoyun remembered correctly, this was Xiao Qiu, whom he had met once before. He overheard Xiao Qiu generously telling Sister Mao Na, "Order whatever you want; Sister Zhou said you love braised fish—let's get one."
Sister Mao Na replied nonchalantly, "I have plans tonight; just get one dish of braised eggplant and one of sour and spicy shredded potatoes. Two bowls of rice will do; let's eat quickly so I can head back."
Xiao Qiu remained enthusiastic: "Sister Zhou said you're not busy these days? I'll drive you to the county later to watch a movie; they're all good 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 all are... here for dinner too?"
Hu Ruoyun smiled and nodded at Xiao Qiu before responding to Mao Na: "Sister, two classmates came along; we wanted to eat that fish-flavored shredded pork we had last time."
Xiao Qiu withdrew his hand but looked at Hu Ruoyun in his slightly worn school uniform with newfound amusement: "Xiao 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 instructed the barmaid: "One braised fish, boiled shrimp, stir-fried black fungus with dried tofu, stir-fried mung bean sprouts; let’s also get a cold vegetable platter and half a Daokou roast chicken... 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.
Hu Ruoyun and the others found themselves inexplicably "kidnapped."
Five people entered a private room, and Xiao Qiu unceremoniously took the seat directly facing the door. He gestured to the chair on his right, saying, "Mao Na, you sit here. Hu, right? You all can sit wherever you like."
Before Hu Ruoyun could speak, Mao Na turned to Jiang Qiuying and Zhang Meina, saying, "Let's have the three of us girls sit together. Hu, you can sit inside." Without waiting for a response, she plopped down between Jiang Qiuying and Zhang Meina. This left only one empty seat on either side of Xiao Qiu, and with no other choice, Hu Ruoyun sat down to Xiao Qiu's left.
Xiao Qiu visibly frowned but said nothing further. He turned to Hu and asked in a casual tone, "Hey Hu, what do you want to drink? White liquor or beer?"
Mao Na interjected, "Forget it; they're still students!"
Hu Ruoyun added, "Qiu Ge, aren't you driving? You shouldn't drink; it wouldn't be good if the traffic police caught you drinking and driving. Plus, it's not safe."
However, Xiao Qiu became animated and raised his 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 filed with the traffic police so that when they see our car, they’ll salute us!"
Jiang Qiuying seemed only half-understanding of this while Zhang Meina's eyes sparkled with excitement. Mao Na frowned at Xiao Qiu and shot a glance at Hu Ruoyun without saying anything.
"Qiu Sixi has been transferred to the Chengguan Town police station as 'leader'?" Hu Ruoyun genuinely didn't know about this situation and couldn't help but ask.
Xiao Qiu looked surprised. "You... know Chief Qiu?"
Hu Ruoyun replied, "I've met him once." He glanced at Jiang Qiuying but chose not to 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.
Ignoring everyone's advice, Xiao Qiu 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 they know that although he was drinking happily, his alcohol tolerance was low; after just two shots he was already flushed and tongue-tied, eventually rushing to the restroom to vomit.
What were they going to do now?
There was no way he could return to the county like this; how would they arrange things for the night?
Xiao Qiu still tried to hold himself together. "It's fine, Mao 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 to watch a movie..."
He turned back to Hu Ruoyun and said, "Hu, do you know who my dad is? Let me tell you—my dad is Qiu Mingren, the Deputy Secretary of the County Committee. Besides Secretary Li, he's the highest up... If anything happens in the county, 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 Anan..."
Hu Ruoyun glanced at the somewhat panicked Jiang Qiuying and thought to himself: "This world really is too small; isn't this Fated Rivals?"
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