Chapter 30

Xiao Yuanhang chuckled and said, "I just took a shower, and I need to air out a bit; otherwise, it would be uncomfortable to put on clothes directly. There's hot water available 24 hours a day here. Didn't you guys take a shower?"

Tang Jing shot Xiao Yuanhang a glare and said, "Dinner starts at 6 PM, there's not enough time. Do you think we're like you men, who just splash some water and 'tulu' and are done?"

Xiao Yuanhang laughed and said, "Women, you're just so troublesome!"

"Get lost, you little brat. You haven't even bloomed yet, what do you know about women?" Tang Jing, hearing Xiao Yuanhang say women were troublesome, immediately became unhappy and retaliated.

"Alright, alright, alright, I didn't say anything, okay?" Xiao Yuanhang didn't want to argue with Tang Jing, an experienced conductor. When she gave speeches to the crew, she could talk for hours without a script, and her mouth was sharp, saying anything without hesitation. It would be asking for trouble to argue with her, so he immediately raised his hands in surrender.

Seeing Xiao Yuanhang immediately back down, Tang Jing couldn't help but say smugly, "You know when to back off. Hurry up and get dressed, let's go downstairs for dinner."

Xiao Yuanhang nodded in agreement, glanced at Tang Jing and Song Chunli, and seeing they had no intention of leaving, he had no choice but to put on his shirt and jeans. Then he took out a pack of Liangyou cigarettes from his bag and put it in the pocket of his shirt.

Seeing Xiao Yuanhang take out the cigarettes, Tang Jing couldn't help but ask, "Xiao, do you smoke? I've never seen you smoke before."

"My smoking is light; I only have one occasionally, not usually!"

In his previous life, Xiao Yuanhang often worked overtime writing materials, so he smoked heavily, sometimes up to two packs a day. He coughed a lot when he slept and when he woke up, wanting to quit but unable to, which was very painful. After being reborn, he found he still had a smoking habit, but he tried to control himself and not smoke if he could.

He brought these two packs of good cigarettes not to curry favor with the leaders of the passenger department, but to target the conductor Zhao Bingnan from Linquan. In the last technical performance competition of the division, Zhao Bingnan, the conductor of the Linquan train segment, placed third in the conductor group and was also one of the nine participants in the railway bureau's technical performance competition. Among the nine participants, only he and Zhao Bingnan were men, and the rest were women. In this 10-day closed training, they were the only two men, so it wouldn't be hard to get along well!

Linquan is a typical mountain town, and it takes less than ten minutes to walk from one end of the street to the other. There are no factories or enterprises. If it weren't for the railway station, locomotive depot, engineering depot, train depot, school, and hospital set up here, it would be a pure rural area. The Linquan Forestry Bureau is located in a village 5 kilometers away from the town government.

Most importantly, Linquan is located in the heart of the Changbai Mountains, a hub for mountain goods and wild vegetables, and a major producer of pine nuts. Xiao Yuanhang wanted to do business with pine nuts and planned to source them from here. Because Linquan is such a small place, a conductor like Zhao Bingnan would certainly be well-connected and influential locally. To do business here, he needed local help, so Xiao Yuanhang targeted him.

Tang Jing said, "Xiao, try not to smoke if you can. It's a waste of money and has no benefits."

"Sure, I'll try to control it," Xiao Yuanhang nodded in agreement.

When they arrived at the restaurant on the first floor, Deputy Section Chief Li Changjiang of the Passenger Department, Engineer Qiu in charge of regulations, Deputy Section Chief Tan Ximing of the Vocational Education Department, and Engineer Liang in charge of education were already there. The three participants from Tongshui train segment were also there. Seeing Xiao Yuanhang and the others walk in, Li Changjiang greeted them, "Xiao Yuanhang, Tang Jing, take a seat. The train from Linquan is delayed, so Zhao Bingnan and the others will be here soon. Let's wait for them a bit."

There were two large tables in the restaurant, and the tableware was already set, with four cold dishes on the table. It seemed they would serve the hot dishes once everyone arrived. Xiao Yuanhang noticed that Section Chief Sun Haiping of the Passenger Department wasn't at Li Changjiang's table, so he knew that table was reserved for the leaders. He invited Tang Jing and Song Chunli to sit at the table with the Tongshui train segment participants.

Sure enough, just as the three of them sat down, Li Changjiang said, "The division is very serious about this technical performance competition. Deputy Director Zhang, who oversees passenger services, will personally attend tonight's dinner. Xiao Yuanhang, you are the first technical champion of the division, so you should toast Director Zhang more."

Xiao Yuanhang quickly replied, "Sure, I will definitely toast Director Zhang more."

Li Changjiang looked at Tang Jing and Wang Xue, the business officer of the Tongshui train segment, and said, "Tang Jing, Wang Xue, you are the first in the conductor group and the business officer group, so you should also toast Director Zhang more. The good conditions for this training are all due to Director Zhang's care and support."

Tang Jing and Wang Xue quickly nodded in agreement...

Just as they were talking, the participants from the Linquan train segment arrived. They signed in and didn't go up to their rooms to drop off their luggage but came directly to the restaurant. Li Changjiang greeted them and asked them to sit down, saying that Director Zhang would be there soon. Zhao Bingnan, being observant, saw that there were three empty seats at Xiao Yuanhang's table and invited the other two to sit there. Seeing that Xiao Yuanhang was the only man at the table, he sat next to him.

"Xiao, when did you arrive?" In the last technical performance competition of the division, they were all in the same venue, and Xiao Yuanhang was the only technical champion, so Zhao Bingnan knew him. After sitting down, he greeted him.

Zhao Bingnan gave Xiao Yuanhang a good impression. Seeing him take the initiative to greet him, Xiao Yuanhang smiled and said, "We arrived before 5 PM and have already rested a bit in the room. How about it, Brother Zhao, was your train delayed?"

Zhao Bingnan said, "Yes, there are many slow-moving sections on the route, so trains on this line are often delayed."

"Director Zhang has arrived, everyone, please stand to welcome him!" Just as Xiao Yuanhang and Zhao Bingnan were talking, Director Zhang and his entourage arrived, and Li Changjiang quickly called out to everyone.

Everyone immediately stood up and clapped to welcome Director Zhang and his entourage...

Director Zhang Chaorong, accompanied by Section Chief Sun Haiping of the Passenger Department, Section Chief Li Mingran of the Vocational Education Department, and Deputy Director Tao Hong of the division's office, walked into the restaurant, waving to everyone. After they sat down at their table, Li Changjiang gestured, and Xiao Yuanhang and the other participants sat down.

As soon as Director Zhang arrived, the restaurant began to serve hot dishes. Seeing that his table was full of division leaders and the participants were at another table, Director Zhang was a bit dissatisfied and said, "Sun Haiping, Li Mingran, today we are mainly here to encourage the participants. Don't let the department heads all sit at this table. Sit with the participants and mix in with them!"

Although Director Zhang spoke calmly, Section Chief Sun Haiping could sense his dissatisfaction. He stood up and glared at Deputy Section Chief Li Changjiang, then waved and said, "The Passenger Department, follow me to that table!"

Li Changjiang and Engineer Qiu quickly stood up to join Sun Haiping at that table, but Director Zhang waved and said, "Sun Haiping, Li Mingran, you two stay at this table."

Deputy Section Chief Tan Ximing of the Vocational Education Department and Engineer Liang, hearing this, quickly stood up and went to that table. Sun Haiping glanced at the table with the participants and had an idea. He pointed at Xiao Yuanhang and said, "Xiao Yuanhang, Tang Jing, Wang Xue, you three come to this table."

Xiao Yuanhang, Tang Jing, and Wang Xue were the first in the conductor, business officer, and train attendant groups, respectively. Inviting them to sit with the leaders was a sign of respect. However, there were four people at this table, so one more person was needed. Seeing that Zhao Bingnan was the only male participant at the other table, Sun Haiping pointed at him and said, "Zhao Bingnan, you come to this table too!"

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{Piaotian Literature}