The next day.
It is a foggy morning.
Dong Xuebing called Xie Huilan as he was taking the elevator.
“Hello, Huilan. Are you up?”
“Yes. I am preparing to leave for work.”
“Ok. It’s cold today. Be careful not to catch a cold.”
“I know. Haha. Oh, your Mum called me last night after we leave. We chatted until almost midnight.”
“So long? I think Mum likes you. What did you all talk about?”
“We talked about your childhood, and your Mum asked me to give in to you. Haha…”
“Save it. Do I still need you to give in to me?”
Ding. The elevator stopped at the ground floor, and Dong Xuebing hangs up the phone. He walked out of the building and was about to board his Santana when a shadow dashed out. It’s a big yellow dog of an unknown breed. It looks ugly with a big head and ears and should be an overseas breed. It saw Dong Xuebing and started charging over.
Dong Xuebing stepped back and frowned.
The big yellow dog is ferocious and moved closer. “Woof! Grr…!”
“Whose dog is this?!” Dong Xuebing shouted. “Hurry and drag it away! How can you let it roam about without a leash?!”
No one replied.
The dog growled and moved closer to Dong Xuebing, waiting for an opportunity to bite him.
Are you done? Dong Xuebing’s eyes turn col. If it wasn’t, he wants to stay low these few days, and he would have kicked that dog away. He dislikes dogs as one of his close friends in high school was bitten by a dog and died from rabies. This is a deadly disease, and Dong Xuebing had seen his friend’s miserable condition before dying. It was shocking, and from then onwards, he dislikes big dogs. Small dogs are still fine.
Dong Xuebing shouted a few more times, and a young man in his early twenties walked out slowly from a garden.
“Da Huang, come back!” Xiang Renjie shouted and whistled.
Da Huang gave Dong Xuebing a stare before walking back to his owner.
Dong Xuebing looks at the carefree young man and is furious. “Is this the way you walk your dog? It is a big dog, and how can you let it roam about without a leash? What happens if it bites someone?”
Xiang Renjie glanced at Dong Xuebing and replied impatiently. “Da Huang will not bite. He was playing with you.”
“How can you consider this playing?” Dong Xuebing replied. “You better leash your dog! This is the Party Committee Quarters! Where do you think this is?” Beijing forbids people to keep big dogs in the city, and Dong Xuebing does not know if this is allowed in Yan Tai County. But the dog should be leashed. This is not about whether the dog will bite or not. It is a moral issue. He is not afraid of getting bitten as he can use BACK to stop it. But what if that dog bites a little girl?
Xiang Renjie frowned. “Who do you think you are to ask me to leash my dog? Huh?”
Dong Xuebing is furious. “Hey, brat! Are you looking for trouble?!”
Da Huang started barking and growled towards Dong Xuebing. “Grrr…. Woof!”
Public Security Bureau Chief Liang Chengpeng walks out of a building. He has apartments at both the Public Security Bureau Quarters and the Party Committee Quarters. Still, he stays there most of the time. He saw Dong Xuebing and Xiang Renjie and asked. “Chief Dong, are you going to work? Eh? Renjie? When did you come back? I thought you are studying in Beijing?”
Xiang Renjie smiles. “Uncle Liang. It’s almost Labor Day, and I don’t have any lessons at my university. That’s why I returned for a few days. I had just come back last night.”
“You are walking your dog? You love your pets. Haha… come over to my place for dinner tonight.”
“Hehe… let’s talk about this later. Some of my friends will be coming back, and we might be driving out tonight.”
Dong Xuebing no longer wants to pursue this matter after Liang Chengpeng’s interruption. He did not want to see Liang Chengpeng and waved to Liang Chengpeng before boarding his car.
Xiang Renjie looks at Dong Xuebing coldly. He still seems to be mad.
Liang Chengpeng sighs in his heart as he looks at Dong Xuebing driving off.
Chief Liang had called Dong Xuebing to apologize for his arrest by the Public Security Bureau last night. Although Dong Xuebing said he is fine and understands Liang Chengpeng was forced to do this as one of Xiang Daofa’s men, he is still unhappy with him. Dong Xuebing had helped him look for a hospital bed in Beijing and lent him his car when his mother was sick, but this is how he repaid him. Also, he should have seen that the young man’s dog was about to bite him. But he pretended not to see it and continued to chat with that young man.
After leaving the quarters, Dong Xuebing saw Xiao Hua by the roadside. He is the County’s Head of the People’s Arm Forces, Xiong Zhiyoung’s son, and the hacker who had hacked the County Government’s website.
Dong Xuebing stopped his car and asked. “Are you going to school?”
“Eh? Brother Dong?” Xiao Hua nodded. “I am going to school.”
“Your father did not send you? Come in. I will give you a lift.”
“Haha… thank you.” Xiao Hua is chatted in front of Dong Xuebing. “Why are you driving a Santana? I thought I could get to experience how a Mercedes feel like. Oh, I heard my father saying that you are dating Mayor Xie. Damn! Brother Dong, is it real? Mayor Xie is my dream girl. I have never met anyone as beautiful as her. You… sigh… I feel so disappointed.”
Dong Xuebing laughed. “Stop your nonsenses. Dreamgirl? If your dad hears this, he will break your leg.”
Xiao Hua is very quiet at home and seldom speaks to his parents. But when he is with his friends or people around his age, he is very talkative and will not home back.
After chatting for a while, Dong Xuebing suddenly asks. “Oh, did you notice a young man walking his dog in the quarters earlier?”
“Dog? No.”
“Chief Liang seems to be quite familiar with him, and I think his name is Renjie.”
“Eh? Renjie? Is it Xiang Renjie? He is back?”
“You know him too?” Dong Xuebing is not a native of Yan Tai County and does not know the people here and Xiao Hua. “Tell me more. Whose child is he?”
“Who else can it be? He is Party Secretary Xiang’s son.”
Dong Xuebing frowned. “Party Secretary’s Son? How come I have never met him before?”
“Xiang Renjie has been studying in Beijing. He transferred to a Beijing High School three years ago, and you are not transferred over then.” Xiao Hua continued. “He was studying in Yan Tai County, but Secretary Xiang was not the Secretary then. The former Secretary Chang and his faction, like the Publicity Department Qian’s children, are in their late twenties. But Xiang Renjie is a troublemaker and has several clashes with Qian Fei. His father was only the No. 2 at that time and could not win against Qian Fei. That’s why he transferred to another school and seldom return in the past two years. He was afraid Qian Fei would look for him.”
Dong Xuebing nodded. “You know a lot.”
“That’s right. Hehe… after Secretary Chang left, and you and Qian Fei brought down Jin Di Mansion, Secretary Xiang was promoted, and Xiang Renjie returned.”
“You sounded like you dislike him.”
“Although my father and his father are from the same faction, I am not friends with him. He likes to keep dogs and cats and bring them around to show off. Even my Mum tells me not to mix with him as he likes to create trouble.” Xiao Hua did not hide anything from Dong Xuebing because Dong Xuebing had helped him when he hacked into the County Government website. His mother has always been praising Dong Xuebing in front of him too.
Although Dong Xuebing does not have a good reputation, many people admire his character. When the Commission for Discipline Inspection’s Secretary, Duan Zhengan’s son, fell out of the tour bus and was about to be eaten by a Siberian tiger, Dong Xuebing risked his life to save him. At that time, Dong Xuebing was just being investigated by the Commission for Discipline Inspection. They have deep grudges against each other. How many people can be so forgiving?
Even when Dong Xuebing is from Xie Huilan’s faction, Xiao Hua’s mother still praised him all the time.
Dong Xuebing asked about Xiang Daofa’s family on the way to Xiao Hua’s school. Like father like son. Both of them are trash! Even someone from his father’s faction dislikes him.
But Dong Xuebing needs to put his thoughts into his work. His relationship with Xie Huilan might be considered a conflict of interest, and he still does not know what Xiang Daofa will do next. He might not even get to keep his current position as he might be transferred anytime. He does not want to be transferred away now.
Everything is going smoothly for the Investment Promotion Agency, and Park Yongxi will sign the contract. How can he hand over this credit to others and waste all his efforts in the previous months?
Dong Xuebing does not want this to happen.
