Evening.
It’s almost 8 pm.
The District Party Committee Guesthouse ballroom.
Dong Xuebing returns to his seat after two dances with Wang Yuling. She continued dancing with a few Leaders from the Wang faction. Zhou Yanru and her husband are still dancing, leaving him alone at their table. Other than Guang Ming Subdistrict staff, no one wants to talk to him, let alone accept his dance invitation. He sat down and sipped on his tea while tapping to the rhythm.
Not everyone is scared of inviting Dong Xuebing to dance.
An older woman in her fifties saw Dong Xuebing alone and wanted to invite him for a dance. She is from the district Procuratorate Office, and someone whispered something to her as she was walking towards him. She paused in her tracks and immediately changed direction to invite someone else.
Dong Xuebing noticed her and rolled his eyes. If he were slightly closer, he would have heard what they said. “That is Guang Ming Subdistrict Office’s Dong Xuebing.”
That woman walked away immediately without looking at Dong Xuebing again.
Some of the people at the ball had not seen Dong Xuebing before but had heard of his name.
Even the ones dancing on the dance floor are discussing Dong Xuebing.
“Which one is Dong Xuebing?”
“Is this the first time you meet him? He is that guy sitting there alone.”
“Can’t judge a book by its cover. He looks decent, but why is he always causing trouble?”
“Who knows? Look, he has been sitting there for almost twenty minutes, and no one is inviting him to dance. Hehe…. I wonder why he is here.”
“He had offended too many people.”
“That’s right. How dare he go against Secretary Wang and Mayor Geng? Serve him right.”
It’s almost 9 pm, and the ball is ending.
Geng Yuehua has been sitting at her table, and some staff will chat with her after their dances. Even when she doesn’t dance, people are still crowding around her. It is the opposite of Dong Xuebing. Wang Yuling had been pulled away from Dong Xuebing by an older female staff from the Wang Faction. She doesn’t want Wang Yuling to be close to him and tries to keep her away by dancing with her. This resulted in Dong Xuebing sitting by himself after the first two dances. Even when Dong Xuebing is prepared, but still feels humiliated.
After a while, Geng Yuehua waved. “Xiao Ma.”
Ma Jian goes over immediately. “Mayor Geng.”
“It’s about time.” Geng Yuehua looks at her watch. “Start the last song.”
“Ok.” Ma Jian picks up the microphone and signals to stop pause the music after this number ends. “The next number will be the final song for tonight. Please come forward with your partners and have the final dance to end this beautiful night.”
Everyone stood up from their tables.
Dong Xuebing is stunned as he realizes there’s no one around. Everyone had found their partners and was walking to the dance floor. A pair…. Ten pairs…. Twenty pairs…. It seems like Nan Shan District’s tradition for everyone to participate in the last dance. Although there were more men at the ball, the women from the District Cultural troupe made up the difference.
In the end, Dong Xuebing is the only person sitting at the tables.
Of course, Mayor Geng is also alone at her table. But she is the Mayor, not someone Dong Xuebing can be compared with. He stood up to look for a partner, as he didn’t want to be the odd one out. But he noticed there were no ‘free’ women around. He was the only one left.
Immediately, Dong Xuebing become the center of attraction. Everyone is waiting for him with their partners. The music will not start if Dong Xuebing cannot find a partner.
Wang Yuling panicked. “Sister Zhu, please dance yourself. I need to….”
“No. You must dance with me.” That woman stopped Wang Yuling.
“Sister Zhu, stop it. Our Director….”
“I don’t care about him. You must accompany me today, or I will complain to your father.”
“Why are you doing this?”
The ballroom becomes silent, and everyone is laughing at Dong Xuebing.
It is Nan Shan District’s tradition for everyone to participate in the final dance. In the past, the Cultural Dance Troupe staff would be around to ensure no one was left out. No one had expected this to happen today. Zhou Yanru’s husband is also anxious, but she has gone to the bathroom. He can’t ask his wife to help, and she won’t return in time even if he calls her now.
Dong Xuebing seldom has been watched by so many people. There are no partnerless women around, and he can’t find a male partner. It will be too embarrassing for him. Damn! You all are purposely doing this to me.
The music did not start.
Chu Qinghua is smiling as he looks at Dong Xuebing.
Pang Zhengyi is also smiling in Dong Xuebing’s direction.
“This guy had embarrassed himself today.”
“That’s right. Haha… He can’t even find a partner.”
Some who had drunk quite a bit of alcohol shouted. “Director Dong, hurry up! We are all waiting for you. Hahaha….”
Geng Yuehua frowned when she heard this.
Dong Xuebing got frustrated immediately.
Other than Geng Yuehua, Ma Jian is still standing outside the dancefloor with the microphone. But she will not dance as she needs to accompany Geng Yuehua.
Many people look at Ma Jian. If Dong Xuebing has to invite someone, it must be Secretary Ma.
Ma Jian pretends not to see everyone and holds on to her microphone. She even glances at Dong Xuebing with mocking eyes. She is Geng Yuehua’s secretary and will side with her boss. That’s why she also dislikes Dong Xuebing.
The more frustrated Dong Xuebing is, the brighter he smiles. He arranged his shirt and gave the anxious Wang Yuling an “It’s alright’ look. He can understand that staff from the Wang Faction don’t want Wang Yuling to be close to him.
As for dance partner….
Dong Xuebing glanced at Ma Jian, who was standing on the stage.
Ma Jian asked. “Director Dong, are you ready?” She is asking the obvious. Even the blind can see he still has not found a partner.
Dong Xuebing replies with a smile. “Please wait for a while.”
When everyone thought Dong Xuebing would look for his Subdistrict Office’s Zhou Yanru or invite Ma Jian, he walked towards Geng Yuehua and extended his hand.
“Mayor Geng, may I have the honor to dance with you?” Dong Xuebing asked with a smile.
Geng Yuehua held a wine glass and looked at Dong Xuebing with a frown.
Wang Yuling and the rest were shocked.
They are impressed with Dong Xuebing’s courage. Countless young men had invited Mayor Geng to dance. Still, she had never accepted anyone’s invitation, even when the Subdistrict Office Party Committee Secretary.
You want to invite Mayor Geng?! Hahaha….
No one knows why Geng Yuehua doesn’t dance. Maybe she doesn’t like bodily contact with others or doesn’t know how to dance and doesn’t want to embarrass herself. No matter the reason, not accepting dance invitations had been imprinted in everyone’s mind.
Furthermore, Dong Xuebing had clashed with Geng Yuehua, and they are enemies now. What does he think when he invites her?
How shameless are you to invite Mayor Geng?
Dong Xuebing did not think so much. He only wants to see where he stands in front of Geng Yuehua and her attitude towards him. Is she still going to be so cold towards him? He did not retrace his hand and repeated. “Mayor Geng, may I invite you to a dance?”
Geng Yuehua took a sip, placed her glass on the table, and looked at Dong Xuebing.
When everyone thought Geng Yuehua would reject or ignore Dong Xuebing, she placed her hand into his hand and nodded with a cold reply. “Ok.”
This “Ok” shocked everyone.
No matter how emotionless Mayor Geng is when she replied, she had agreed!
OMG!
Is the sun going to rise from the west tomorrow?
Mayor Geng had accepted a dance invitation, and it was from Dong Xuebing!
What the hell is going on?
Chu Qinghua, Pang Zhengyi, Ma Jian, Wang Yuling, and everyone else’s jaws dropped.
Even Dong Xuebing was surprised by Geng Yuehua’s reply. He couldn’t believe his ears as he held her hand.
