Chapter Eleven: Wine and Dine

  When night began to fall, the county town of Donglin was not very prosperous, but it also looked like a bustling scene with bright lights and lanterns. The streets were crowded with people coming and going, and some small vendors doing business and soliciting customers shouted non-stop, making it noisy and lively.

  In the central area of the county town, next to the Donglin County Committee and Government, in the same room as the county government's reception office, another banquet was about to begin. This time, however, Lao Zheng, Liang Jun, and Wu Zhenquan were no longer present. Instead, Cao Dafu arrived hastily from Caolingzi Township with Ye Pingyu, and upon arrival, they saw Zhang Mingxun and two others already seated and waiting.

  "Secretary Zhang, we're late. The car had a minor problem on the way!" Cao Dafu apologized as soon as he came in, with Ye Pingyu following behind him.

  Zhang Mingshun waved his hand to let the two sit down, then smiled and said: "Dafu, I see that many cars in other towns have already been replaced with Santana. When will your town's Jeep be replaced?"

  Cao Dafu hastily rubbed his hands and smiled: "Secretary Zhang, don't you know the situation in our village? We've been waiting for you to allocate funds for us to buy one!"

  Zhang Mingshun burst out laughing and said, "Don't think about this anymore, there are still several towns that haven't changed cars. If the county gives you a new car, they'll all come to the county together to ask for one!"

  Cao Dafu laughed and said: "Then let's exchange them together in the county, who made us all poor!"

  After listening to Cao Dafu's words, Zhang Mingxun first smiled and then said seriously: "Dafu, don't say more about this matter. Your hometown needs to develop the economy, as long as the finances are sufficient, the county will not stop you from changing cars. Is this Comrade Xiao Ye?"

  Zhang Mingshun pointed as he spoke, and Ye Pingyu quickly stood up with a calm expression. He had never seen Zhang Mingshun before, only heard of his name. As an ordinary staff member of the county party committee office, he usually didn't have the opportunity to meet the county leaders. Now that Cao Dafu brought him here, he was still a little nervous in his heart, but the more so, the more he had to keep calm and leave a good impression on the leader.

  "Director Zhang, this is Little Ye, Ye Pingyu, our village's only university undergraduate!" Cao Dafu introduced with a smile.

  As soon as Zhang Ming Shun heard that Ye Ping Yu was an undergraduate university student, he exclaimed in surprise: "There are still undergraduate university students in your hometown?"

  Cao Dafu hastily smiled and said: "Yes, the county specially takes care of us, assigning a big student like Xiao Ye to us!"

  Zhang Mingshun looked at Ye Pingyu, smiled and nodded, beckoning him to sit down. The impression Ye Pingyu gave him was much better than Liang Jun's, and upon learning that Ye Pingyu was an undergraduate, he felt even more at ease. Generally speaking, undergraduates assigned to the county were rare, and those who were assigned usually went to important departments like the County Party Committee or the County Government. It was unthinkable that a top student like Ye Pingyu would be assigned to a small town like Cao Lingzi.

  "Xiao Ye is a student with great potential, volunteering to work at the grassroots level in rural areas. This spirit is truly commendable! Cao Da Fu, you should have recommended him to me earlier!" Zhang Ming Shun said, turning his head to face Cao Da Fu after Xiao Ye sat down.

  Cao Dafu smiled unintentionally and said: "Secretary Zhang, Xiao Ye has not been working for a long time, it's not too late for me to recommend him now, is it?"

  Zhang Mingshun didn't respond, just smiled and straightened his body, then said seriously: "Alright, let's not chat too much. Today I'm the host, so let's all come together to have a meal. The other day, Comrade Xiao Ye helped the villagers solve the big problem of selling rice, and after Big Fu reported back to me, I thought Xiao Ye did an excellent job. Our cadres should be like Xiao Ye, wholeheartedly doing practical things for the people, doing good things. For young cadres like Xiao Ye, our county is very careful in selecting and appointing them. So today, I've invited Big Fu and Xiao Ye to come over, have a meal together, and get to know each other. Also, I've invited Little Wu and Manager Shan from the material company to come, let's all get acquainted!"

  He felt that Zhang Ming Shun was very down-to-earth, Ye Ping Yu sat there thinking about things. Earlier, Zhang Ming Shun said he volunteered to work in the countryside, this is purely nonsense, he didn't have such a high level of awareness. Xiao Jian Zhong, who graduated with him, was assigned to work at the county committee office, while he was sent to Cao Ling Zi Township. If he said it was voluntary, then he would want to stand up and curse whoever assigned him to Cao Ling Zi Township. They were all graduates of the same school, why was there such a big difference in their assignments?

  In his heart, he was turning over and over, but on the surface, he was very calm. Ye Pingyu watched Zhang Mingxun speaking there, Zhang Mingxun's words made him feel honored, not only praising him so much, but also specially inviting him to dinner for his affairs, what treatment is this? Zhang Mingxun is the deputy secretary of the county committee, usually even the leaders of the countryside can't curry favor with him, he is just a small clerk, how could he have caught his eye?

  Recalling what Cao Dafu had said to him earlier, Ye Pingyu felt that the reason was still with Han Yuanqing. Apart from this, he really couldn't find any other reason for Zhang Mingshun to want to see him. He didn't expect that contacting Zhang about selling rice would lead to so many situations. Cao Dafu's attitude towards him had changed again, and now Zhang Mingshun was seeing him again, it was truly a series of good events.

  Zhang Mingshun introduced the two people he brought, one named Wu Dong, his secretary, Cao Dafu knew him, and the other was the manager of the county's material company. Cao Dafu wasn't very familiar with him, but the two were similar in build, both being big and fat. After the introduction, they clinked their glasses together and laughed.

  Wu Dong was a young man similar to him, wearing a pair of gold-rimmed glasses, with a delicate face but somehow making people feel slightly looked down upon. Although being the secretary of the county party committee's deputy secretary was a very impressive thing in the eyes of township cadres, in this setting, Zhang Mingxun was always so polite, what else could he look down on?

  Ye Pingyu felt uncomfortable in his heart, but he didn't know that Wu Dong, apart from being Zhang Ming's secretary, had another identity - the son of Wu Cunhai, the director of the county People's Congress. Wu Cunhai was a veteran of the East Lin County political scene, and Zhang Ming had been nurtured by him in the past. As his son, his vision was much higher than that of ordinary people. When facing Ye Pingyu, a small town official, he naturally didn't take him seriously.

  Cao Dafu first clinked glasses with the manager of that company, then smiled at Ye Pingyu and said: "Little Ye, Secretary Zhang is very approachable, don't be restrained, quickly stand up and toast a glass to Secretary Zhang!"

  At this time, Ye Pingyu still felt a bit unaccustomed to today's gathering. Everyone had different identities and positions that were vastly different from one another. Each person had their own thoughts, and every sentence had a specific meaning. If he wanted to speak freely and casually, it was definitely not possible. This was completely different from gathering with classmates and friends. This was a typical official gathering, and he was just a small pawn in this official gathering, even though he seemed like the main character.

  As soon as Cao Dafu gave the order, Ye Pingyu hastily stood up, raised the cup in his hand and solemnly said: "Secretary Zhang, I'd like to toast you a glass of wine!"

  "Alright, Little Ye, how's your drinking capacity?" Zhang Mingshun said with a smile.

  Ye Pingyu hastily replied: "Secretary Zhang, I don't usually drink much."

  "Come on, how can we not drink? We have to do our job well, but we also need to drink well. You're young, it's okay to drink a bit more. How about this, this cup has 200ml, let's just drink half of it?"

  Ye Ping usually doesn't drink much, not because he doesn't want to, but because he can't. Once he starts drinking, his face turns bright red. He didn't drink much at class reunions either. But now that he's entered the government sector, if he insists on not drinking, he won't be able to participate in these social gatherings anymore. How will he maintain relationships with leaders and colleagues? If you don't fight for it on the wine table, others won't care about you. When promotions come around, they won't vote for you. They won't interact with you normally, and you'll become isolated!

  So this wine really can't be left undrunk. If you want to make a name for yourself in the official circles, you must learn to drink it!

  He glanced at the half cup of wine in his glass, thinking that he was now toasting the county leaders, and he had to put on a show, couldn't let others look down on him. Ye Pingyu thought for a moment and said: "Secretary Zhang, please help yourself, I'll finish the wine in my glass, with all my heart!"

  "Wholeheartedly good!" Unexpectedly, Ye Pingyu was so generous and the phrase "wholeheartedly" made him appreciate it even more. Compared to Liang Jun's three hearts and two intentions, Zhang Mingjun couldn't help but cheer, and Cao Dafu also applauded.

  Ye Pingyu's move also shocked Wu Dong, who was sitting there. He downed a large cup of wine in one breath, which was no small amount. An ordinary person would not be able to finish it. The disdainful look in his eyes suddenly disappeared, and the young man in front of him seemed not to be underestimated!

  After finishing speaking, Ye Pingyu picked up the cup and drank it all in one gulp. This was his first time drinking so much wine at once, he didn't know what would happen after drinking it, but today he had to go all out, not allowing others to look down on him.

  Watching Ye Pingyu finish his drink, Zhang Mingxun sat there with a smile, feeling that the young man in front of him was a very capable young man. Not to mention his relationship with Zhu Zishen, just this point alone is enough to make many people admire him, and his future prospects will not be small!

  Ye Pingyu felt his heart burning like fire after finishing the wine, and he was a bit dizzy, but he still insisted on holding on, couldn't just fall down after drinking, at least had to hold on until the end of the banquet before falling down!

  "Xiao Ye has finished drinking, not bad, the younger generation is indeed formidable! I'll drink half of my cup!" Zhang Ming Shun saw Ye Ping Yu finish his drink and raised his own cup to drink half of it.

  Just then, Cao Dafu raised his cup to toast him with wine. At this time, the manager of the county's material company smiled and issued a challenge to Ye Pingyu. Seeing the smile on the face of the county's material company manager, Ye Pingyu couldn't be timid, and he poured another full cup of wine, saying loudly: "Manager Sun, I'll drink this cup for you, bottoms up!"