Right path to power

"Brother Baolong, the heat coming from the underground pipes here is unbearable. Let's go inside," Fan Yuyan said sweetly.

"Yeah, what's the point of talking to these two? Let's go inside and celebrate Fan's birthday!" A few other people chimed in.

"Come on, don't waste your breath on this blind fool. Celebrating my Yan Yan's birthday is the most important thing." Jin Baolong lewdly pulled Fan Yu Yan into his arms again.

"Go to hell, who's yours?"

Fan Yuyan rolled her eyes, but smiled.

Then, the group of people walked into the KTV!

Just as Fan Yuyan and Lin Xiao brushed past each other, a cold, sharp gaze was fixed on Fan Yuyan, making her feel uncomfortable. This had never happened when she was dating Lin Xiao. So she subconsciously pulled away from Jin Baolong's hand and wanted to look back, but Lin Xiao's gaze was no longer there.

After the group disappeared from sight, Liu Yun couldn't help but spit out, "Pah, what a bunch of scoundrels, a bunch of smug, ungrateful wretches."

"I don't care, so why are you angry? Even if they jump all the way to the sky, how long can they keep jumping?" Lin Xiao comforted his brother instead.

Liu Yun nodded and said, "That's right. Everyone says they're petty people, so there's no need for us to bother with them. There's plenty of time in the future."

Just then, a "ding-dong" sound rang out!

Lin Xiao received a text message on her phone. She took it out and saw it was from Fan Yuyan: "Seeing you like this makes me very sad. If you want to succeed in the system, without flexibility and without connections, you definitely won't have any future. I'm doing this for your own good. Imagine what happened just now..."

"Why......"

With just a sigh, Lin Xiao deleted the text message she hadn't finished reading.

Seeing this, Liu Yun slowly said, "Brother, there's a saying, 'Better to tear down a temple than to break up a marriage,' which is why I've kept quiet before. Now that you two are in this situation, I'll be frank with you. Actually, I've always felt that woman is simply not right for you. She's too materialistic and ambitious. You two were bound to run into problems sooner or later. Didn't today expose her true nature? But I also want to remind you, if she comes back to fawn over you in the future, don't be soft-hearted."

Lin Xiao laughed and said, "I know very well that a good horse doesn't turn back to eat the grass it already grazed. Don't worry, with my looks and physique, I'm a sight to behold wherever I go, haha."

"Lin Xiao, how come I never realized you were so shameless?"

"That proves we're not the closest of brothers yet!"

"Pah! How dare you say such a thing? I..."

"Liu Yun," Lin Xiao's tone suddenly turned serious, "In the past day or two since County Chief Gao's incident, I've truly witnessed the coldness of human relationships. Everyone seems to live such a pragmatic life, turning their backs on each other in the blink of an eye. And many people live behind masks. Is there no genuine affection left in this world? And for a good person like County Chief Gao to have such a tragic end, is it really true that 'good people don't live long, while bad people are infamous forever'?"

At this moment, Liu Yun had already put away his smile and frowned slightly, saying, "Brother, in my opinion, this world is chaotic, and all we can do is hold fast to our own principles."

"Intentions?"

Upon hearing these two words, Lin Xiao also asked herself in her heart, what exactly is her "true self"?

A short while later, the designated driver arrived and took Lin Xiao home first before Liu Yun went home by herself.

When Lin Xiao arrived at his front door, he felt something was strange. Usually at this time, there would be some noise coming from inside the house, such as the sound of the television, but today he didn't hear anything until he opened the door.

Upon entering the living room, Lin Xiao discovered that the television was actually on, but the volume was turned down so low that even standing right next to it, it was impossible to hear clearly.

"I'm back!"

"Yes, Mom and Dad, you're being so polite..."

Seeing her parents' unpleasant expressions, Lin Xiao suddenly stopped talking.

"Mom and Dad, what's wrong? What happened?" Lin Xiao quickly sat down on the sofa and asked anxiously.

Father Lin Changhe sighed softly, looking as if he wanted to say something but hesitated, and finally shook his head and said, "It's nothing, we're just watching TV. You've been drinking, haven't you? Ask your mother to make you some hangover soup."

"I'm fine, what's wrong with you guys?" Lin Xiao felt increasingly suspicious.

Instead of getting up to make hangover soup, Fangjing hesitated for a moment before finally asking, "Son, has the county sent you back to the countryside again?"

Lin Xiao was taken aback, her face full of doubt. "Mom, how did you know about this? Who told you?"

Xiang Fangjing frowned and said, "Who else could it be but our Director Gou? He talked to me and said I wasn't suitable for union work and that I should go back to the store as a sales clerk. He even pretended to comfort me, saying that the county sent me back to the township to train me, that it was a sign of their attention and cultivation of me, and that once I had enough grassroots experience, my future career would be smooth sailing."

"Pah! They're all sycophants, shameless opportunists. Back when you were the county magistrate's secretary, they shamelessly begged me to go to the trade union office. Now that you've gone back to the countryside, they're sending me back. What kind of nonsense is this? The thing is, I... I've already treated my colleagues at the store to a meal. If I go back, what will they think of me? I..."

At this moment, Lin Changhe reached out and patted his wife's hand, comforting her, "Don't say anything, just go back. You've been working for decades, everyone knows what kind of person you are. Besides, going back won't hurt you."

Xiang Fangjing was clearly furious, otherwise she wouldn't have slapped her thigh and said, "What's wrong with me saying something? They can do such things, so why can't I speak up? And you, didn't they say they were going to transfer you back to the county town? Now they're saying you can't be transferred back. Isn't this just taking advantage of our son not having any backing? They change their minds faster than flipping through a book, isn't that going too far? They're a bunch of shameless scoundrels!"

Since Lin Xiao became the secretary of County Magistrate Gao Dayong, the elderly couple's situation in their respective work units has also changed.

Xiang Fangjing was originally a saleswoman at the Changfu Street branch of the county supply and marketing cooperative. Although her work was not busy or tiring, the salary was low and she had no freedom. Despite wanting to change jobs, she applied several times in previous years, but nothing came of it.

At the beginning of this month, Gou Dazheng, the director of the county supply and marketing cooperative, came to inspect the store. He not only chatted with her for a few minutes, but also offered to transfer her to the trade union office. Xiang Fangjing couldn't believe it at the time, because she had long given up hope of changing her job. But Gou Dazheng told her to report to the trade union office next Monday. Now, the matter has fallen through as Lin Xiao was sent back to her hometown.

The father, Lin Changhe, is a math teacher at Yong'an Town Middle School. He works from dawn till dusk every day, running between home and school. He is not only exhausted, but he also can't take care of his family. He has tried many methods and explored many avenues, but he has never been able to achieve his goal.

Just last week, Lin Xiao's uncle, Ye Song, acted as a go-between and invited Ke Jianjun, the deputy director of the county education bureau, to dinner. Ke Jianjun immediately said that he would resolve Lin Changhe's transfer issue as soon as possible. However, today he received a message from Ye Song saying that the transfer could not be done for the time being and that it would have to wait until later.

Adding to Lin Xiao's predicament, three pieces of bad news came one after another in one day, casting a shadow over the entire Lin family. Lin Changhe and Xiang Fangjing were particularly upset.

It truly is a case of shared prosperity and shared loss!