vstars Chapter 17 is my specialty.
Chapter 17 is my specialty.
Go down to the living room on the first floor.
A car was parked in the courtyard of the small building.
A young man dressed in work clothes got out of the passenger seat and opened the back door.
A man in his fifties, about 178 cm tall, got out of the back seat.
A long-sleeved white shirt paired with pure black trousers is simple yet dignified; the fabric is clearly of high quality and gleams softly in the sunlight.
The man had a dignified look and an even more imposing presence than he appeared on television. He strode into the building after getting out of the car.
"Big brother."
"Hey girl." Wang Guozheng's sharp eyes swept around the room, lingering on Dawei for a moment. "This must be Chen Dawei from Guangdong Province, right?"
Dawei bowed slightly and said in a steady tone, "Greetings, sir. I am Chen Dawei."
"Please take your seats." Aunt Wu came out of the kitchen carrying a pot of soup.
Everyone sat down.
Wang Xiaodan was seated in the main seat, while Wang Guozheng sat to Wang Xiaodan's left.
Dawei stood up, and Wu Ma pulled out the chair directly opposite Wang Guo and invited Dawei to sit down.
"Eat up," Wang Xiaodan said softly, picking up her bowl.
Wang Guozheng then lowered his head and began to eat.
It would be a lie to say that Dawei wasn't nervous about having dinner with such a high-ranking leader for the first time, but he was trying his best to control himself.
Previously, the dinner parties were usually quite lively, or at least not dull.
But at today's dinner, no one spoke a word; everyone just ate in silence.
Wu Ma's cooking is very delicious, even better than Xie Liting's mother's.
Dawei was really hungry, so he didn't care about anything else and ate three bowls of white rice.
After dinner, Wu Ma cleared the table, and Dawei offered to help.
Wang Xiaodan invited Dawei to the living room for tea.
"Go on, this wasn't your doing," Aunt Wu whispered.
Wang Xiaodan was brewing tea with an elegant posture, while Wang Guozheng sat opposite her with his arms outstretched, his expression still stern.
While waiting, Wang Guo was feeling around in his pockets, seemingly looking for cigarettes, but he couldn't find any after a while.
Chen Dawei pulled out the Five Leaf God cigarette from his pocket: "Sir, want to smoke one of these?"
"it is good."
Wang Guozheng took it, but Dawei didn't light it for him; he lit it himself and smoked it slowly.
Dawei endured it, worried that Wang Xiaodan would find it offensive.
The atmosphere fell silent again. Dawei was suspicious. What kind of family is this? Why don't they like to talk?
Old Wang isn't like this at all; he talks a lot.
Aren't they depressed by keeping things so dull every day?
"Smoke if you want, I'm used to it, it doesn't matter to me," Wang Xiaodan said, handing Dawei a cup of tea.
David nodded in agreement, but still didn't pick it up to smoke.
As a guest, I've already caused enough trouble for others by staying here, so I should be more mindful.
He thought he would be put in a hotel, but Wang Xiaodan picked him up and brought him to her home.
If others are polite and value you, then you should be even more sensible.
We can't compare ourselves to other kingdoms.
"What level are you at now?" Wang Guozheng suddenly asked.
"Senior Section Chief".
She's not saying anything again.
Wang Guozheng glanced at his watch: "Sister, I have a meeting this afternoon, I'll head back now."
"Okay, drive carefully."
Wang Xiaodan went to open the door for him, and the secretary outside jogged over to open the car door, and the car drove out of the yard.
David was puzzled. What was going on? Weren't we supposed to get to know each other formally?
They ate a meal together, but the two of them didn't exchange more than three sentences in total.
Is this what they mean by "a person of high status is sparing with words"?
"Dawei, do as you please. I'm taking a nap." Wang Xiaodan said this and went upstairs.
David sat back down on the living room sofa, then took out a cigarette, lit it, and reflected on what had just happened.
The leader kept a cold face throughout, and he couldn't tell what Wang Guozheng was thinking at all.
Dawei couldn't understand it, so he took a few puffs, put out his cigarette, and went to the kitchen to help Wu Ma clear the dishes.
"I can handle this. You go and rest, child, take a nap."
"It's nothing, I've done these kinds of jobs all the time, it's just something I did along the way."
"Hehe..." Aunt Wu chuckled with satisfaction, leaned closer, and lowered her voice, "Wasn't it scary, big brother?"
"No, it just feels a bit serious."
"Aren't you afraid of him?"
"I'm not afraid. Why should I be afraid of him?"
"If you're not afraid, it means you're a good official. If you're not corrupt, even corrupt officials tremble in your presence."
"..."
Aunt Wu looked at Dawei and smiled, saying, "Don't worry, your brother's lack of attitude towards you is itself a form of attitude."
Dawei's heart skipped a beat. This Wu Ma was no ordinary person. She could see through his thoughts and knew that he wanted to gain Wang Guozheng's approval.
The path to officialdom is a mix of flowers and thorns.
As someone without systematic training and without any background, Dawei encountered numerous setbacks and setbacks when he first entered the political arena.
He deeply understood how important background was to a person.
Who wouldn't want a powerful backer?
"What do you mean?"
"Look at him, he's just as cold to the young lady. That's how he treats his family. Being warm is just being perfunctory; it's a way of keeping his distance from people."
David grinned and didn't say anything more. The two of them worked together to clean up the dishes.
I slept until evening, when Aunt Wu woke me up for dinner.
After finishing her meal, Wang Xiaodan drank two cups of tea and then went upstairs.
If you sleep too much during the day, it's hard to say what will happen at night.
Dawei tossed and turned in bed. Around 1 a.m., he vaguely heard faint sobbing sounds.
I put on my clothes and went outside, following the sound of crying.
When I got upstairs, I heard the crying coming from Wang Xiaodan's room.
He tiptoed to the door and raised his hand to knock.
But think about it, I've only just met Wang Xiaodan.
It seems inappropriate to knock on the door so abruptly; our relationship hasn't reached that stage yet.
David could only sigh softly and go downstairs.
He didn't sleep well that night.
The next day, Wu Ma woke Dawei up early and gave him a piece of black cloth to put on his arm.
After breakfast, Dawei, Wu Ma, and Wang Xiaodan took the Audi that had picked up Dawei the day before to the funeral home.
Old Wang lay in the ice coffin. Dawei walked around the ice coffin, feeling a mix of emotions.
Several cars arrived outside.
Six or seven people ran off the car and stood at the entrance of the farewell hall. Wang Guozheng got off the car, walked into the farewell hall, and looked around the ice coffin one last time at Old Wang.
"Little sister, it's almost time." Wang Guozheng's face remained stern.
Wang Xiaodan nodded expressionlessly.
The staff pushed Old Wang away and took him to be cremated.
A person turned into a handful of ashes.
The burial plot was bought long ago.
Wang Guozheng did not go; Dawei, Wang Xiaodan, and Wu Ma placed the ashes in the cemetery.
After returning to the school building, Wang Xiaodan didn't go downstairs for a whole day.
I didn't come down for lunch or dinner.
Aunt Wu brought the food upstairs, and then brought it back down untouched a short while later.
That night, David heard crying again.
I got dressed and went outside, following the sound of crying, and found that the crying was coming from the backyard.
The back door is to the right of Dawei's room, and it's open right now.
He tiptoed out through the back door.
A small lamp was lit in the pavilion in the backyard. Wang Xiaodan was sitting in the pavilion, hugging Old Wang's portrait and crying.
David had already noticed that Old Wang and his daughter had a strained relationship.
After arriving in the area, judging from Wang Xiaodan's reaction, she did indeed have a problem with Old Wang.
But after all, they are father and daughter; how could they not be heartbroken?
Such a beautiful woman, crying with tears streaming down her face, made Dawei feel very bad.
Although they weren't very close yet, he felt he should offer some comfort.
So they arrived at the pavilion.
When Wang Xiaodan saw Chen Dawei arrive, she immediately wiped away her tears and hid the portrait behind her back.
"You haven't eaten all day, you must be hungry. Shall I make you something to eat?"
David didn't know how to comfort her, afraid of not knowing how to handle the situation, so he could only offer his concern first.
"Can you cook?"
"You could say I'm very good at it."
Wang Xiaodan suddenly burst into laughter through her tears: "You're... quite funny. Well then, show me what you've got."
David cooked a lot before he came home; his food wasn't particularly delicious, but it was presentable enough.
I cooked a bowl of beef noodles and sprinkled some celery flowers on top. It was refreshing and light.
Wang Xiaodan, accustomed to northern flavors, found the Cantonese cuisine novel and couldn't help but praise it: "It's very well made."
"I'm glad you like it."
Having not eaten all day, Wang Xiaodan regained her energy after eating a little. She went to the living room to boil water and make tea, and Dawei sat with her.
"I haven't seen my dad for almost five years. He treats Wang Guozheng better than he treats me."
"Grandpa never told me about what happened between you two, but what I saw seemed different from what you said. He still cares about you a lot... Wait a minute."
Dawei went inside, took out the photo album that Old Wang had given him, and handed it to Wang Xiaodan.
Wang Xiaodan held the photo album and flipped through it. Each photo had a note indicating the time and place it was taken. As she looked at the photos, tears welled up in her eyes again.
"He asked me to pass on a message to you: he said he loves you."
Upon hearing this, Wang Xiaodan cried even harder.
David sat down next to her and handed her a tissue.
Heartbroken, Wang Xiaodan suddenly rushed over, hugged Dawei, and burst into tears.
With a beautiful woman in his arms and a fragrant breeze wafting through the air, Dawei's heart was filled with a tingling sensation.
But he dared not think too much, and dared not move his hands recklessly.
"Cry, you'll feel better after you cry it out."
After crying for more than ten minutes, Wang Xiaodan finally stopped, let go of Dawei, and smiled apologetically.
"Excuse me."
"It's nothing. Um... if there's nothing else here, I'll be going back tomorrow."
"Going back to Yuanshan County?"
"right."
"What can you do if you go back there? Why don't you stay in Kyoto? I'll have my older brother arrange a job for you. You can live in this house. I'm not usually here; I have a house in England."
"No, no, that's not appropriate."
"There's nothing inappropriate about it. We're family, after all..."
David was flattered and quickly waved his hand, saying, "I'd better go back."
Wang Xiaodan suddenly remembered something and slapped her forehead: "Oh right, wait a minute, my dad left something for you, I'll go get it for you."