Guide to Rising to Power as a Wife in Beijing's Elite Circle

The nights in Yanning were colder than in Museli; it was already the fourth day since Fang Jingxiu had arrived.

When Fang Jingxiu pushed open the door to the hotel suite, the clock on the wall pointed to 1:15 a.m.

Secretary Qin followed behind him, carrying the report materials needed for tomorrow. The site selection and feasibility study meeting for the new energy base had just concluded, and the next step was to finalize the supporting policies with the province.

"Boss, the hangover soup, the usual?" Secretary Qin asked softly, her tone practiced.

This scenario has been repeated three times in the past four days.

"Hmm." Fang Jingxiu took off his black executive jacket and draped it over the sofa armrest, loosening his collar. "Put the materials in the study. We'll leave at 7:30 tomorrow morning."

Secretary Qin acknowledged and left, gently closing the door behind him.

The suite is a designated room for the Provincial Party Committee Reception Office, and the sparse lights of Yanning City can be seen from the floor-to-ceiling windows in the living room.

The room was warmly heated, but it felt empty and somewhat cold. He had been leaving early and returning late for the past four days, and for him, the room was just a place to sleep.

Fang Jingxiu walked to the sofa and sat down, one hand resting on his knee, the other rubbing his temples. He was drinking with people from the local power grid to finalize the supporting infrastructure for the transmission lines.

The liquor was Wuliangye, which has a high alcohol content. The other party had a vice president who could drink a lot, and he kept him company for most of the night.

In officialdom, alcohol is never just about drinking; it's about attitude, sincerity, and the lubricant of power.

He drank at three different gatherings over those four days, each with a different purpose. The first was to pay his respects to the powerful figures in the area, the second was to negotiate terms, and the third was to finalize the deals.

How much to drink, and how to drink it, is all calculated.

But I'm really tired.

He closed his eyes, feeling the throbbing pain in his temples.

Her collarbone was loose, revealing half of her collarbone, and the dark gray cashmere sweater shimmered softly in the warm light. She was slumped in the sofa, relaxed, but her shoulders and back remained straight.

That was a physical habit formed through years of immersion in officialdom. Even when tired, one's posture cannot falter.

My personal cell phone on the coffee table vibrated.

Fang Jingxiu opened his eyes, his gaze clearing somewhat. He reached for his phone.

It's Chen Nuo's message.

"Brother Xiu, have you gone back to the hotel?"

It was sent twenty minutes ago. It seems they guessed he was finished before sending it.

For the next four days, they maintained a subtle frequency of contact.

She sends messages every day, sometimes to report on the film crew's progress, sometimes to share photos of the sunset in Museli, and sometimes just a simple "Are you busy today?"

He would reply when he wasn't busy, and leave it aside when he was busy, dealing with it all at once when he got back to the hotel in the evening.

This rhythm is very comfortable.

Fang Jingxiu thought.

She's not clingy, but her presence is constant;

He didn't have to respond immediately, but he knew someone was waiting.

He replied, "Just arrived."

The reply came almost instantly: "I guess you've been drinking again today?"

Fang Jingxiu raised an eyebrow slightly.

He didn't mention the drinking party to Chen Nuo today; he rarely shared his schedule these past four days.

It's not that I'm deliberately hiding it; it's just that I'm used to not reporting it.

"Did Qin tell you that?" he asked.

"I'm just guessing," Chen Nuo replied. "Which of these four days did you not drink?"

Fang Jingxiu looked at that sentence, and a slight smile unconsciously appeared on his lips. His nerves were relaxed after drinking, and the restraint he usually maintained also loosened a bit.

She was counting down his days.

This thought stirred something within him.

"You guessed so accurately?" he typed.

This time, the other party paused for more than ten seconds.

Then a line of text popped up: "Because I'm a tapeworm in your stomach [smiley face]"

Fang Jingxiu stared at the playful emoticon for a moment, then paused, stunned.

The roundworms in my stomach.

That's too intimate.

Their intimacy was so excessive that it shouldn't have been part of their conversation.

But she used a joking tone and added an emoticon, packaging the sentence as a coquettish joke.

Moreover, she used the honorific "you" (您). Fang Jingxiu noticed this detail. The intimate address paired with the honorific both shortened the distance and maintained respect. The sense of proportion was just right.

She has always been like this.

His words and actions displayed a maturity beyond his years, leaving him with no faults, yet he drew closer step by step.

If he were sober, he would probably have ignored that remark or changed the subject in a businesslike tone. But now, under the influence of alcohol, his rational defenses had weakened.

He replied, "Being a roundworm isn't easy."

He was stunned for a moment when he said that.

That's too ambiguous.

It was as if he was tacitly approving her approach, yet also as if he was teasing her.

Sure enough, Chen Nuo quickly replied, "Then what should I do? You tell me, and I'll change it."

To retreat in order to advance.

She handed the initiative back to him, but the problem itself was already established. She was asking if she wanted a place in his heart.

Fang Jingxiu stopped rubbing his temples. He stared at his phone screen, at the "You say, I'll change" message, and suddenly the messages she had sent him over the past four days flashed through his mind…

On the first day, she sent me photos of the starry sky over the Qaidam Basin, saying, "Brother Xiu, the stars here are brighter than those in Jingjing."

The next day she said the crew was filming a night scene, and the script supervisor's notebook was filled with twenty pages of notes;

On the third day, she asked Yan Ning if he was cold. He replied that he was, so she said he should wear more clothes. This afternoon, she also posted a video of herself learning lighting techniques from the photography crew. She was clumsy but earnest.

So fresh and vibrant.

So vibrant was he, a man accustomed to being in control, that he was willing to waste time staring at his phone in the weary late night.

What should he say?

So you don't need to be anything?

Too blunt.

To be a sensible child?

Too high and mighty.

Saying he'd be someone who makes things easy for me? That's too much of a father figure, and... it's not entirely true. He actually doesn't want her to be too easy to deal with; if she were too easy, it wouldn't be fun.

He liked to control her.

The effects of the alcohol kicked in a bit more.

Fang Jingxiu leaned back into the sofa and closed his eyes. He still held his phone in his hand; the screen went dark, then he turned it back on.

His final reply was: "Just be yourself."

That was a safe and official statement. But he immediately added, "However, roundworms are out of the question; they're unhygienic."

A touch of banter diluted the seriousness. This was the courage the alcohol gave him.

Chen Nuo paused again.

Fang Jingxiu stared at the screen and suddenly realized that he was waiting for her reply.

Like waiting for some kind of judgment.

This feels so unfamiliar.

When has Fang Jingxiu ever waited for someone else's message?

It was always others who waited for him.

My phone vibrated.

"So, I'll be your little shadow? I'll follow you wherever you go [pitiful]"

Fang Jingxiu looked at that pitiful expression and burst out laughing.

It was a very soft sound, yet it was remarkably clear in the empty suite. He himself was taken aback for a moment.

She was trying to comfort him.

Using this childish yet adorable method to coax a drunk and exhausted thirty-year-old man.

And surprisingly... he quite enjoyed it.

"The little one is too clingy," he replied. "I can't keep an eye on him when I'm busy."

That statement was half true and half a test.

Tell her the reality and see her reaction.

If she backs down, it means she's not ready;

If she comes to meet me...

"Then I'll be your shadow," Chen Nuo replied quickly. "I'll stay quietly when you're busy, and I'll be there when you need me."

Fang Jingxiu's finger paused on the top of the screen.

shadow.

That's a brilliant word.

Not as affectionate as a roundworm, not as childish as a little tail. A shadow is silent, loyal, ever-present, yet non-aggressive.

It simply exists, without demanding or disturbing anything.

But the shadow also means... that we can't live without it.

He suddenly remembered someone saying something similar to him many years ago. Back then, he was young, a junior section chief in a ministry, and that person said, "I want to be your shadow." And then what happened?

Later, the shadow had its own ideas and left.

The shadow remains.

Fang Jingxiu took a deep breath, the effects of the alcohol subsided somewhat, and his rationality returned.

He couldn't continue the conversation.

If we continue talking, we'll cross the line.

"It's getting late, you have to work with the crew tomorrow," he replied. "Get some rest."

A typical Fang Jingxiu-style ending.

Use elder-like concern to draw clear boundaries.

But Chen Nuo didn't accept that offer.

She replied, "Drink some honey water before you go to sleep, otherwise you'll have a headache tomorrow."

She was showing concern for him in concrete ways. Moreover, she wasn't led astray by him and persisted in fulfilling her "dedication of care."

As Fang Jingxiu looked at those words, a small part of his heart sank.

For the past four days, she has been concerned about him every day. Not in the empty sense of caring about his health, but in specific ways like reminding him to wear more clothes when it gets colder, to drink less alcohol, and to remember to eat.

At first he thought it was just a courtesy, but later he realized she was serious.

It's been a long time since I felt cared for.

"Okay," he replied.

"Then hurry up and get it done, I need to supervise," Chen Nuo texted. "Go boil some water and take a picture to show me."

They're pushing their luck.

Fang Jingxiu thought.

But their pushing their luck is quite endearing.

He actually stood up, went to the suite's kitchenette, and boiled a kettle of water. While waiting for the water to boil, he took a picture of the kettle and sent it to the kitchen.

Chen Nuo replied instantly: "I saw it. Where's the honey?"

Fang Jingxiu opened the cupboard.

It really does.

The reception office made very thorough preparations.

He took another picture of the honey jar.

"Can I go to sleep now?" he asked.

"Okay! Goodnight, Xiu-ge [moon]"

Looking at the moon's expression, Fang Jingxiu suddenly felt that the wine tonight didn't seem so bad anymore.

He made a cup of honey water and brought it back to the living room.

My phone vibrated again.

He thought it was Chen Nuo again, but when he picked it up, it was a work message from Secretary Qin: "Boss, the schedule for tomorrow morning has been slightly adjusted. Director Wang of the Provincial Development and Reform Commission would like to meet half an hour earlier."

Fang Jingxiu replied, "Okay."

After replying, he opened his chat window with Chen Nuo. The last message was still the same moon emoji.

He stared at it for a few seconds, then typed:

"Good night."

send.

No expression, no embellishment, just two words.

But this was the first time in four days that he had taken the initiative to say goodnight.

For a man like Fang Jingxiu, saying goodnight is a ritual. It signifies the official end of the conversation for him, and it also means... he's willing to draw a gentle conclusion to it.

He put down his phone and slowly finished the glass of honey water. The sweetness melted on his tongue, the warmth slid down his throat, and his stomach felt much better.

He walked to the window and looked at the night view of Yanning.

He had visited this city many times, always on official business, and always in a hurry.

But for the past four days, because someone hundreds of kilometers away was waiting for him to let him know he was safe and reminding him to drink honey water, the city didn't seem so unfamiliar anymore.

That's where women's wisdom lies.

Chen Nuo didn't press him about our relationship, didn't force him to make a statement, and didn't even say a single ambiguous word. She simply used subtle acts of care to gradually seep into his life. By the time he realized it, he had already gotten used to her presence.

Habits are more terrifying than love.

Love may fade, but habits remain deeply ingrained.

Fang Jingxiu raised his hand and pressed his temples.

The effects of the alcohol were still there, but my thoughts were much clearer.

He knew what he was doing.

He was tacitly allowing someone to get close.

This was unimaginable before.

He has no more than fifty numbers saved in his personal phone, and the only people who can send him messages at this time are his family and a very small number of work colleagues.

Now there's another one, Chen Nuo.

Moreover, over the past four days, he has actually gotten into the habit of checking her messages before going to bed.

absurd.

He said to himself.

But another voice inside me was saying: This is quite interesting.

He returned to his bedroom, took off his clothes, and lay down. In the darkness, he recalled Chen Nuo's last moon-shaped expression.

Then, very softly, she sighed.

On the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, at Wenyuan Pavilion.

He silently repeated it to himself.

Fifteen days left.

---

Museli, the crew's dormitory.

Chen Nuo placed her phone beside her pillow and stared at the ceiling.

She reviewed the conversation three times.

The strategy for these four days was successful.

Send messages daily, but not excessively;

The conversation progressed gradually, moving from work to life.

It focuses on specific details, not empty rhetoric.

In psychology, this is called the exposure effect: the more frequently a person appears in your life, the more likely you are to develop a liking for them.

She appeared every day, and he got used to her presence.

The breakthrough tonight was that he relaxed his defenses after drinking.

Chen Nuo laughed in the darkness.

To win over a man in a high position, you can't force him; you have to infiltrate. Infiltrate with care, infiltrate with understanding, infiltrate with the attitude of "I need you, but I won't say it."

Over these four days, she has penetrated a little more.

She rolled over and hugged her pillow.

The pillow smelled of laundry detergent, but she was lost in thought.

What would it be like if it were his aura?

Piney aroma.

A faint smell of tobacco.

There's also that unique, calm, and reassuring feeling that comes with being immersed in power.

On the 23rd day of the twelfth lunar month, at Wenyuan Pavilion.

She silently recited it in her heart.

Fifteen days left.