Nominal: Who isn't a son-in-law?

After smiling, Chu Shengyuan stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray and glanced at his own cigarette on the table.

Chu Shijun immediately understood and took out his own cigarettes. "Uncle, smoke mine. I'll get you a carton another day."

"Then I'll take advantage of this," Chu Shengyuan's eyes lit up. One is good enough for him to show off. More is unrealistic, and he'll definitely be giving it to more than just himself.

Besides, if this is already done, and the relationship is good, it's not like you can't get it again in the future.

"Shijun, now that this matter is settled, let's talk about the new book? You've finished your report, and I heard from Comrade Yongming of the Daxia Daily that the manuscript for 'The Rise of a Great Power' is also complete and just waiting to be published. Have you considered the new book? Our Handong Daily is also a good choice. Although it doesn't have the same readership as the Daxia Daily, we can provide you with better conditions and promote it vigorously." Chu Shengyuan said expectantly.

"It's quite a coincidence. I was just talking about this at my teacher Gao's house this morning. I still have a year before graduation, and I do have the idea of ​​writing it again. After all, once I start working, I won't have much time."

"Oh? Tell me about it."

Chu Shengyuan became interested.

Immediately, Chu Shijun gave a general overview of the ideas behind the two books.

After listening, Chu Shengyuan slapped his thigh and quickly said, "Just let our Handong Daily publish it. What's wrong with an unconventional writing style? It's been ten years since the reform and opening up. You're a college student and a young person, so you should set a good example and lead the way in a new writing style. If anyone has any objections, let him come to the Handong Writers Association and scold me."

After saying that, Chu Shengyuan thought for a moment, picked up the phone on the table, and said, "I'll call President Wu of the Provincial Daily. Let's get together and talk about this."

"Is this Comrade Fang Li? I am Chu Shengyuan."

"Oh, Comrade Shengyuan, what brings you here? Do you have any instructions?" Wu Fangli joked on the other end of the phone.

The two had a good relationship, hence the statement, because the Provincial Writers Association and the Provincial Daily are not administratively affiliated; both are under the jurisdiction of the Propaganda Department of Handong Province.

"Anything else going on for a bit? Let's go out for a meal around 5 p.m.

"Hehe, if you, Old Chu, ask for it, I'll accept it even if I'm not. Same place as always?" Wu Fangli didn't refuse.

"The usual place. Comrade Chu Shijun, whom you met before, is here too. We'll talk about his new work..."

"Yes, yes."

Before he could finish speaking, he heard a sentence come from the receiver, and then the call was quickly disconnected, followed by some background noise.

"What's Old Wu doing?" Chu Shengyuan looked at the phone in his hand, shook his head, somewhat puzzled. After putting it back on the landline, he looked up and said, "Shijun, you'll come with me later, around five o'clock, let's go over there."

"Sure, Uncle Chu can arrange it."

It was almost five o'clock, and Chu Shijun was too lazy to run anymore.

"Let's talk some more then..."

……

Meanwhile, in the president's office of the Han Dong Daily.

The president, Wu Fangli, was a tall, burly middle-aged man with a crew cut and black-rimmed glasses. He was looking at the phone in his hand, filled with regret.

The reason is that the person sitting opposite him is Han Yongming, the head of the Handong branch of the Daxia Daily.

The other party had come to see him to discuss some things, and they had arranged to have a casual dinner together that evening.

Chu Shengyuan had just called to invite him to dinner, so he thought he'd invite him along.

Unfortunately, the phone was too loud, and the other party heard Chu Shengyuan say the words "Chu Shijun" and "new work" at the end. Before he could even hang up, the other party leaned in close.

It's a new work; if it were written by a regular author, that would be fine.

But Chu Shijun is currently a rising star in Handong, and his first book was already quite good, so the quality of this new work is definitely guaranteed.

Now that the guy on the other side has heard this, how can things possibly turn out well?

How could their Handong Daily possibly compete with the top-ranked Daxia Daily?

Looking at Han Yongming sitting across from him with his legs crossed, Wu Fangli felt really uncomfortable.

"Comrade Yongming, is there not much work to do at your daily newspaper? With all these major conferences coming up, you must be very busy. I also have things to do here, so I won't keep you any longer."

"Tsk tsk tsk, Comrade Fang Li, I'm fine. You go about your business, I won't bother you. I'm reading. We've already made plans to have dinner tonight, you can't neglect one thing for the other. My relationship with Lao Sheng is pretty good too, how about I use your phone to talk to him?" Han Yongming said with a smile.

Seeing that even the deputy director, Liu Huanfa, had been promoted to a full-fledged position, he, as the branch manager, had little room for advancement here. But going to Beijing was an option, and he wanted to improve his career as well.

Don't you see, Liu Huanfa was only a deputy director-general back then. After he came here, even the director-general had to bow his head. That's the significance of being a Beijing official.

Seeing that Han Yongming was clearly trying to piggyback on his fame, Wu Fangli had no choice but to leave. He couldn't very well just kick him out, could he?

He then said helplessly, "Hey, Comrade Yongming, please be lenient with Shijun's new book. Anyway, the book 'Rise of a Great Power' is still being published. You pick and choose from so many authors across the country. We at Handong Daily don't have any good articles. Please help out, brother. I'll be grateful for your help."

"Let's keep things separate. We have a good relationship, but this matter can't be decided by just the two of us. We also need to see what Shijun thinks," Han Yongming said with a smile.

"Fine, I'll go all out." Seeing his firm attitude, Wu Fangli gritted his teeth. He could just raise the conditions a bit more. As for damaging the interests of the Daily News, they could talk to Minister Zou about that.

When he was busy with the report publication, Minister Zou met with Chu Shijun several times and praised him a lot. He also told him to get the other party's next book published.

If this doesn't work out, forget about making progress, it would be good if we didn't even get a beating.

……

5:30.

Chu Shijun rode in Chu Shengyuan's car and arrived at an inconspicuous restaurant. Above the entrance was a metal plate with a few words engraved on it: Zhenweiju.

This restaurant doesn't have a distinctive signboard, and compared to the nearby shops that look brand new, it looks quite old and dated.

"This Zhenweiju restaurant has been around for quite some time. Don't be fooled by how sleek it looks from the outside. But when it comes to restaurants, it's all about the taste. Shijun, you should try it later," Chu Shengyuan said with a smile.

"Uncle Chu's taste must be good."

The group pushed open the door and went inside. The environment inside was quite nice; the floor was very clean, the tables were polished, and the air was fresh.

Ignoring the young man at the front desk, Chu Shengyuan led him directly to the second floor.

The young man at the front desk saw that it was Chu Shengyuan, so he didn't ask any questions. They were old acquaintances. The others had already gone up, so he just waved and told a staff member to follow and wait for instructions.

"When I came here to eat with Lao Wu and the others before, there were basically only two private rooms, either this one or that one."

Chu Shengyuan pointed to the two private rooms and said, while his secretary knocked on one of the doors.

It wasn't that his secretary, a department-level official, was polite, but rather that other leaders sometimes came here. Chu Shengyuan had encountered this before, and if he had just opened the door and run into them, wouldn't that have been disastrous?