A whirlwind marriage with a high-ranking official: Lights out, don't force me to take the initi

On Sunday, a day off for the military district, the service center was bustling with people in the morning.

Lu Weidong, carrying the large cloth bag given to him by Ye Wenxi, squeezed into the crowd of people buying groceries, becoming the only tall man in military uniform among these housewives.

People passing by greeted him with smiles.

"Chief of Staff Lu is here to buy groceries too?"

"Um."

"Wei Dong, is Wen Xi home?"

"Ah, yes."

Lu Weidong nodded warmly to everyone, his usually cold and serious face softening considerably.

He went to the fruit counter, picked out a few cantaloupes, smelled them under his nose, then picked out a watermelon, flicked it twice with his fingers, and listened to the sound.

They bought the dishes Ye Wenxi had instructed them to prepare, since they were going to entertain Wang Hao and Ding Jiahe, the soon-to-be-married couple, and Lu Weidong and Ye Wenxi wanted to show off their culinary skills.

The shop assistant fiddled with the abacus, making a series of clicks: "Six yuan and forty cents in total."

Lu Weidong took out meat coupons, food coupons, and a few coins from his pocket and handed them over.

The cashier turned around and registered the names in the register.

Lu Weidong's gaze swept casually across the room, and he suddenly noticed a hair clip lying inside the counter.

It was a spring clip with a ring of fake pearls on it, but the color was warm and lustrous, not fake white, but rather had a faint, soft glow.

"Comrade, can I have that hair clip?"

The cashier paused for a moment, then smiled: "Chief of Staff Lu, is this for Wenxi? How thoughtful!"

Lu Weidong smiled faintly, paid the industrial invoice and money, and turned to walk home.

Ye Wenxi was cleaning the house, and had just finished wiping the coffee table when there was a knock at the door.

She shuffled to the door in her slippers and saw Wang Hao and Ding Jiahe standing there, carrying a lot of things.

"Oh, you two came together?" Ye Wenxi smiled and looked them over.

Wang Hao laughed along, while Ding Jiahe glared at her but didn't say anything, carrying her things into the house.

The two changed their shoes and put their things away before realizing that someone was missing from the room.

"Huh? Where's the chief of staff?" Wang Hao asked.

"Tell him to go buy some fruit, he'll be right back." Ye Wenxi picked up the things and put them in the kitchen. "Why did he bring so much stuff?"

"I brought you some local specialties from my hometown," Wang Hao said with a smile as he walked in.

Ye Wenxi opened the package, which contained dried beef, cheese sticks, and a bag of fried rice. The words "Qiqihar Specialty" were written crookedly on a piece of paper.

"Beef jerky?! Cheese?" Ye Wenxi's eyes lit up.

"Hehe, you can't buy this stuff," Wang Hao said smugly.

Ye Wenxi put the things away, turned around and went to the kitchen to wash some fruit, then brought out an enamel plate and put it on the table.

"Have you submitted the application?" she asked Wang Hao.

"Submitted, not approved yet, should be around tomorrow."

"You're fast!" Ye Wenxi said, taking two chilled drinks out of the refrigerator.

Ding Jiahe turned on the electric fan, rolled her eyes, and said, "He finished writing the report before he even got back."

Ye Wenxi laughed heartily: "This is too efficient!"

"Did anything happen at the clothing store while I was away for the past two days?" Ding Jiahe leaned lazily against the kitchen door frame.

"Here, have something cool to drink," Ye Wenxi opened one of the bottles and handed it to Ding Jiahe. "There's a lot of stuff going on..."

She put her arm around Ding Jiahe and led her into the house, slowly telling her about some recent events.

When the story of Wang Yingxue getting caught in the rain and developing a high fever while scouting sites in Harbin came up, Ding Jiahe exclaimed repeatedly, "Oh dear, oh dear!" She slapped her thigh and said, "If I had known, I wouldn't have come back! If I were still there, I could have cured her on the spot!"

Ye Wenxi waved his hand: "So you see, this is fate. You can only treat the illness, this matter should be handled by Fang Ruijun."

"There might be some other gains as well." Ye Wenxi said, raising an eyebrow at Ding Jiahe.

"Yeah, right... So how are they doing now?"

.......

Wang Hao sat next to the two men, munching on sunflower seeds and listening with great interest.

*Click*—the door lock clicked.

Lu Weidong pushed open the door carrying a bag of things, with a thin layer of sweat on his forehead.

Wang Hao stood up and went over: "Wow, you bought so much stuff? Why all the fuss?"

"Isn't this supposed to be a happy occasion? We should celebrate!" Lu Weidong changed his shoes and put his things down.

"Okay, then open that bottle of Moutai in your house."

"Get out of here, you're too arrogant." Lu Weidong punched him.

Lu Weidong brewed a pot of tea and placed it on the coffee table. He and Wang Hao sat on the sofa and chatted about the marriage application process and approval details.

Ye Wenxi and Ding Jiahe were talking about the garment company at the dining table. She talked about the recruitment progress of several important positions, the warehouse renovation plan, etc. Ding Jiahe listened carefully to each and every one of them.

After they had finished chatting, Ding Jiahe turned around, took out a large folder from her backpack, and put it on the table.

"By the way, the day I was stranded in Harbin, I figured I might as well stay here, so I went to the Light Industry Bureau to ask about the progress of our loan. Liu Jianguo said some documents needed to be signed, so I brought them back."

Ye Wenxi's eyes lit up: "That's great! I was thinking of going to Harbin in the next couple of days. If you can bring it back, I'll save myself the trouble of making the trip."

"However, I learned something during my visit to the Light Industry Bureau." Ding Jiahe said seriously.

"What's up?"

"I heard that a large garment trading company from the port city is going to set up a factory here."

"A clothing company in Gangcheng?" Ye Wenxi frowned instantly. "Liu Jianguo mentioned it?"

Ding Jiahe nodded.

"Do you know anything about his background?" Ye Wenxi asked.

"He said it seems to be backed by a British group, has some experience in setting up factories in Southeast Asia, and also has a presence in Hong Kong."

After hearing this, Ye Wenxi fell into deep thought.

Ding Jiahe noticed something was off about her expression and leaned closer to ask, "What's wrong? Is this good news or bad news?"

"Not sure..." Ye Wenxi shook her head. "It depends on which piece of the cake they're eyeing."

After the reform and opening up, foreign capital poured into the mainland market, and joint ventures were an inevitable fact, something that was only a matter of time.

Healthy competition between foreign and domestic enterprises can improve overall technology and design levels, which can promote market development and drive industrial upgrading to a certain extent.

Competition creates a vibrant market and stimulates innovation and quality improvement.

"It's a good thing for the overall environment," Ye Wenxi explained slowly to Ding Jiahe. "But if the other party is eyeing our piece of the pie, coming in with preferential policies and using their financial advantages to crush local small businesses, then it's not competition, it's squeezing them out."

Ding Jiahe frowned: "Do you think they will have an impact on us?"

"It's hard to say right now." Ye Wenxi tapped the folder with his finger. "But I did learn a few days ago that the government just issued a policy document on foreign joint ventures. I just didn't expect that as soon as the policy document was released, companies in Hong Kong would take action, and they have quite a powerful background."

"The speed of their actions, coupled with the backing of a powerful figure, suggests... they might have some other motive."