Family connections: From special recruitment by the county committee to the pinnacle of power

Li Xiuru opened the note Xu Hansheng had left her before leaving that morning, glanced at it, and then said to Jiang Yuling on the other end of the phone, "Yuling, it's like this, in about half a month, it will be Qingming Festival to pay respects to our ancestors. My second brother's family will also be coming back this year. You know, I haven't bought many clothes in the past two years, so I was thinking of asking you to help me choose some, after all, you have such good taste."

"If you're free tomorrow, how about we go shopping at the mall in Aoyama City together?"

Before accepting Xu Hansheng's five thousand yuan, Jiang Yuling would have made up various excuses.

In fact, ever since Tan Zhifei was promoted to deputy director, Jiang Yuling has never gone shopping with Li Xiuru again. According to Tan Zhifei, they are from different circles and there is no need for them to force themselves to fit in.

Moreover, Li Xiuru's family's hotel is the most luxurious in the entire Yutong County. Getting too close to Li Xiuru could affect Tan Zhifei's career. If any bad news were to spread, Tan Zhifei might never have another chance for promotion in his life.

But things are different now. Having just received five thousand yuan from Xu Hansheng, Jiang Yuling would feel bad if she refused him in person.

After hesitating for a while, she reluctantly nodded and said, "Well... okay, tomorrow's the weekend, and I don't have class. What time should we meet tomorrow?"

Li Xiuru, on the other end of the phone, was quite surprised. She hadn't expected that going shopping with Jiang Yuling would go so smoothly. After pausing for a moment, she said, "How about this, I'll pick you up from your house at nine o'clock tomorrow morning. We'll go straight there and come back quickly."

Jiang Yuling thought for a moment and nodded, "Okay, then I'll wait for you at home at nine o'clock tomorrow morning."

After chatting for a few more minutes, the two hung up the phone.

Xu Hansheng smiled and said, "Aunt Jiang, you see, I told you, my mom was looking for you about this. Tomorrow I'll have to trouble you to accompany my mom shopping, otherwise, my second aunt is a very competitive person, and if my mom's clothes are too unfashionable, she'll definitely laugh at her."

Jiang Yuling smiled and said, "Okay, don't worry, I'll make sure your mom looks beautiful tomorrow."

"Then I'll thank you on behalf of my mother, Auntie," Xu Hansheng said with a smile.

Jiang Yuling nodded, glancing at Xu Hansheng with a hint of appreciation, but in her heart she was already considering whether she should buy one or two pieces of clothing for herself tomorrow.

However, the thought of how a single piece of clothing in a large shopping mall in Qingshan City could easily cost one or two thousand yuan made her hesitant. This five thousand yuan could be said to have solved a major problem for her family, but even so, she couldn't afford to spend it recklessly.

Thinking of this, she couldn't help but glance at the wool coat she had been wearing for five years, and subconsciously pinched the collar, which had turned slightly white from washing, before giving up the idea.

After all, back in 04, even if high schools in the county offered extra classes, it was all done by teachers on a voluntary basis, and no one asked students' parents for money.

At most, the students' parents would feel bad and send the teachers some local specialties, such as mushrooms picked from the mountains or free-range eggs, to their homes.

But that stuff isn't worth spending money on.

Therefore, at that time, teachers in the county town, whether primary or high school, did not live very comfortably. It was far from what it is today, where a single summer or winter vacation could provide enough tutoring fees to make a down payment on a house.

Although Jiang Yuling did not reveal her true feelings to Xu Hansheng, Xu Hansheng clearly saw her first clenching of the money in her hand and then her pinching of her clothes.

Xu Hansheng didn't bring up shopping again, but instead talked about their high school days. After all, he had hardly seen Jiang Yuling during his four years of university, except for winter and summer vacations, and their feelings for each other had faded.

Therefore, they must rely on "helping" Jiang Yuling recall the past to bring them closer together.

This is also where many young people are most likely to make mistakes.

Many young people who have just entered society often habitually treat their parents' connections as their own, even skipping the process of building relationships and trying to take advantage of their parents' connections, only to be met with setbacks without even realizing it.

But Xu Hansheng was no greenhorn. He knew that if he wanted to use his parents' connections, he had to start from scratch and first win their approval.

Fortunately, Jiang Yuling had been his homeroom teacher. When they talked about how Jiang Yuling had tutored Xu Hansheng for two semesters so he could get into a good university, Xu Hansheng's eyes reddened with emotion, and he choked up as he said, "Looking back on my three years of high school, I owe Teacher Jiang so much. If it weren't for Teacher Jiang, I... I would never have been able to get into Jiangnan University!"

"With my grades at the time, I could only get into a first-tier university at best. I didn't even dare to dream of going to a 985 or 211 university."

Jiang Yuling seemed to be transported back to the scene a few years ago when she was still tutoring Xu Hansheng at eight or nine o'clock in the evening.

The two chatted for over an hour, both quite moved, until the car stopped at the entrance of Jiang Yuling's residential complex. Xu Hansheng hurriedly got out of the car and ran to open the car door for Jiang Yuling.

"Aunt Jiang, please slow down."

After helping Jiang Yuling out of the car, Xu Hansheng waved goodbye to her before getting into the car and saying to Old Chen, "Back to the hotel!"

As driver Chen started the car, he said to Xu Hansheng, "Hansheng, what are you doing? I remember you got your driver's license three years ago, didn't you?"

Xu Hansheng leaned back in his chair, his eyes slightly closed, and said, "Old Chen, when you take my mother and Aunt Jiang to Qingshan City tomorrow, please don't say anything wrong. Keep this to yourself, and don't mention it to a third person!"

After saying that, Xu Hansheng took out a thousand yuan from his pocket and handed it to Old Chen, saying, "The seasons are about to change, buy Aunt Chen and Xiao Yang some clothes or something."

"This... Hansheng, no, how can I accept this?" Old Chen shook his head repeatedly, saying, "Your dad already pays me a very high salary, 1,500 a month. You can't find such a good job in the whole county. If I take your money..."

"Take it!"

Xu Hansheng stuffed the money directly into Old Chen's shirt pocket and said, "Uncle Chen, you've actually been driving our family's small truck for six or seven years now. In my heart, I've long regarded you as my elder."

"That's why I didn't let Xiao Zhang come today. I was afraid he wouldn't keep his mouth shut and would blurt out whatever he heard or saw. If that happened, it wouldn't just affect my future; it could even affect our family restaurant."

"But you are different. From what I know of you, you are a very mature and reliable person. I feel that I can entrust you with the most important things, and I can trust you unconditionally."

As soon as he said those words, Old Chen felt a warm feeling in his heart.

To be precise, he was just a laborer. Besides driving a small truck, he also helped with loading and unloading goods. He earned 1,500 yuan a month, which was quite a lot compared to the average person in the county.

But compared to Xu Hansheng's family, it was worlds apart.

He had never dared to try to climb the social ladder, but now, Xu Hansheng had entrusted him with such an important matter. What kind of trust was this?

Whether Xu Hansheng's claim of treating him like family was true or not, this trust deeply moved Old Chen.

"Hansheng, don't worry, I will never tell anyone what happened today!"

Old Chen's expression hardened, and he spoke very seriously.

"I knew it, you're the most reliable one."

Xu Hansheng gave Lao Chen a smile as warm as spring.