Chapter 8

Thanks to all the brothers for your support, here’s the second update, Paozi thanks you!

In the midst of cherry blossoms dancing in the wind, Misaki opened the old diary and read the words of promise written there.

Xiaoming stood at the classroom door, took a deep breath, and firmly gripped the secret letter from his mother.

And once, when he went to visit Old Master Fei, he accidentally discovered that Old Master Fei could break three stacked blue bricks with a single kick after taking a deep breath. Xiaoming was so amazed that he immediately ran over and knelt down, insisting on becoming his disciple.

From then on, whenever he had free time, Xiaoming would practice what Old Master Fei called "health-preserving techniques." According to Old Master Fei, this was a method for health preservation, commonly known as qigong. It could invigorate the meridians and nourish the skin. Of course, it wasn't as miraculous as what was shown on TV, but it did have some benefits for the body.

When practiced to the extreme, one could break a dozen stacked blue bricks with a single kick. Old Master Fei said that his own master could even break stone slabs. Xiaoming had been practicing for ten years, and although he couldn't emit the powerful inner qi of martial arts masters or break stones, he could still break a single blue brick with a hard kick, feeling as if his leg was as hard as a wooden stick. Xiaoming was content with this, and with this skill, he had once taken down five thugs by himself at school.

Moreover, Old Master Fei was also a hidden herbalist, a skill passed down in his family. Xiaoming had personally seen him save a patient who had been given a death sentence by a major hospital, extending the patient's life by a few years.

So over the past ten years, Xiaoming had learned Old Master Fei's herbal skills quite well, though it was just a few formulas.

The three of them enjoyed a sumptuous lunch. Despite his slender and pale appearance, Liu Chi could drink as much as any heavy drinker. He drank eight bottles of beer, each costing over a yuan, and to build rapport, Ye Fan also joined him.

Together, they finished a whole case of beer, which contained 24 bottles, each 40 milliliters. Unfortunately, they soon encountered a group from the Linquan Family Planning Office who were also dining at Chunxiang Restaurant. They all came over to toast Ye Fan, the new team leader. As a result, the cost of their table, including drinks, was added to Ye Fan's bill. When they staggered out of the restaurant, their activity fund had already decreased by 300 yuan. This was only because the owner of Chunxiang Restaurant, Fan Chunxiang, gave them a 20% discount out of respect for Li Chunshui. Otherwise, it would have been around 400 yuan.

Ye Fan was in great pain, knowing that at that time, Secretary Qin's monthly salary was only about 300 yuan. Ye Fan's salary, which he hadn't received yet, was estimated to be no more than 250 yuan.

This meal was equivalent to spending Secretary Qin's entire monthly salary. After returning to the guesthouse, Ye Fan had planned to go out and buy some essentials for his trip to Tianshui Dam, but he was a bit drunk and decided to go to sleep instead.

Since Secretary Qin had asked Ye Fan to prepare for the trip the next day, he had nothing to do in the afternoon and slept soundly. When he woke up, it was almost 5 o'clock. As he went downstairs, he saw a chubby middle-aged man chatting with the guesthouse's Director Chen.

Ye Fan felt he had seen this man somewhere before but couldn't quite place him.

"Leader Ye, this is Deputy Director Li Xianshi from the Family Planning Office," Director Chen greeted warmly.

"Oh! I remember now. Director Li, you really got me drunk at lunch. I almost couldn't get out of bed," Ye Fan quickly greeted. He had just arrived in Linquan Town and felt like a blind man. It was always better to make more friends. As the saying goes, more friends make the road easier to walk, and politics required good networking.

"Hehe! Leader Ye, you have a good capacity for alcohol. We can't compare to you young people," Deputy Director Li smiled and joked, taking the cigarette Ye Fan offered. He looked at the sky and said, "Brother Ye, you treated us at lunch. Let me treat you tonight. We'll have a few more drinks."

"Sure! I'll definitely drink with you, Director Li," Ye Fan naturally didn't refuse.

"Director Chen, how about you join us?" Li Xianshi looked at Chen Zhenming and smiled.

"No, you two enjoy yourselves. I have some things to do tonight. My wife is calling me home," Director Chen replied with a smile.

The two of them went to a restaurant in town called "Baiwei Pavilion," which was built by the Linquan Stream. Ye Fan praised, "What a serene place! Director Li, this restaurant must have some history, right?"

"Life has a hundred flavors, just like the dishes. The main thing is that it's quiet here," Director Li smiled and led Ye Fan into the restaurant.

"Ah! Secretary Cai, you're here for dinner too! That's great, let's join you," Deputy Director Li's eyes suddenly sparkled, and he bowed slightly, offering a cigarette and greeting.

"Hmm!" Linquan Town's Deputy Party Secretary Cai Dajiang grunted indifferently, glancing at Ye Fan with a hint of curiosity.

"Hello, Secretary Cai, I'm Ye Fan, the newly assigned one," Ye Fan smiled and quickly greeted. Cai Dajiang was the third most important person in Linquan Town after the Party Secretary and the Town Mayor. With Mayor Wu's suicide, Cai Dajiang was poised to take over. Although Ye Fan was just a young man, he had already learned some basic information about Linquan Town.

"Oh! You're Ye Fan, the team leader for the Tianshui Dam project. Not bad, young man," Cai Dajiang managed a rare smile and nodded.

The three of them went upstairs and entered a private room overlooking the stream. The room was nicely decorated, with stone tiles on the floor and white-painted walls. It looked clean and natural, and the sound of the flowing stream through the open window was very soothing.

The dishes served were truly local specialties: braised wild boar, stir-fried wild chicken, and even a pangolin.

Ye Fan finally understood the meaning of "Baiwei" (a hundred flavors).

After a few rounds of drinks and several dishes, everyone was a bit tipsy. Suddenly, Li Xianshi's beeper went off.

"Secretary Cai, Brother Ye, I'll go downstairs to make a call. You two continue drinking," Deputy Director Li 'tapped' down the stairs, leaving Ye Fan and Cai Dajiang in the private room.

After a few more casual chats, Cai Dajiang patted Ye Fan's shoulder affectionately, like an elder mentoring a junior, and said:

"Xiao Ye! You're heading to Tianshui Dam tomorrow. Make sure you buy everything you need tonight, because once you're there, it won't be easy to come back."

"Thank you, Secretary Cai, I will," Ye Fan said, feeling a bit moved.

"Xiao Ye, there's one more thing you need to pay attention to. The town has assigned you as the team leader for the Tianshui Dam project, but there's also a hidden task: to secretly gather information about Mayor Wu's activities in Tianshui Dam. This is a bit unusual, but you're not supposed to investigate anything. We're not police officers, so you don't need to be too nervous. However, you must keep this confidential. Report directly to me if you learn anything, and don't talk about it elsewhere to avoid misunderstandings."

Cai Dajiang suddenly lowered his voice, looking very serious.