Official title: Refused to stay at the university, started his career in a rural town.

Jingzhou, Building No. 7 of the Provincial Party Committee Compound in Handong Province.

Zhao Lichun sat on the mahogany sofa in the living room, holding a gaiwan of tea. The tea was this year's newly harvested pre-Qingming Longjing, with a clear, bright liquor and a lingering aroma. The news was playing on the television at a low volume. He leaned back on the sofa, his eyes half-closed, his body motionless.

The door was pushed open from the outside with considerable force.

Zhao Ruilong strode in, his suit jacket unbuttoned, his tie askew, and his face filled with a fierce expression.

He flopped onto the sofa, grabbed the teapot from the coffee table, poured himself a cup, and gulped it down.

"Dad, you're still enjoying yourself here!"

Zhao Lichun didn't move, not even lifting his eyelids.

Zhao Ruilong slammed his cup down on the coffee table with a loud bang. The sound of the evening news on TV was drowned out.

"Your son has completely disgraced the city! Ningzhou is in an uproar!"

Zhao Lichun paused for a moment in mid-air while holding the covered teacup, then brought it to his lips, gently blew away the tea foam, and took a sip.

"explain."

In short, bland and uninteresting.

Zhao Ruilong jumped up from the sofa and started yelling at the top of his lungs.

From those two stubborn kids in Qingping Township to the old hands at the Ningzhou Municipal Party Committee who were good at smoothing things over, he got angrier and angrier as he talked, spitting all over the coffee table. Finally, he slapped his thigh.

"Two low-level officials dare to disrespect me like this! Your son is nothing but a fart in their eyes!"

Zhao Lichun put down his teacup quietly, but Zhao Ruilong stopped talking.

"Wasn't it you who went and swaggered around first?"

Zhao Ruilong stared, mouth agape, stunned.

Zhao Lichun raised her eyelids to look at him, her tone still unhurried, but each word was like a nail driven into the table. "Showing off all that commotion in the township party secretary's office?"

Zhao Ruilong's eyes widened. He had been lying sprawled on the sofa, but now his back straightened involuntarily, his buttocks slid to the edge of the sofa, and he stood up, supporting himself on his knees.

"Father...you knew all along?"

Zhao Lichun didn't look at him, reached out and picked up the teacup, and took another sip.

"In Jingzhou, in Handong."

He paused.

"There's nothing I can't know or want to know."

The words were harsh, but the tone was soft, like asking a neighbor, "Have you eaten?"

Zhao Ruilong's Adam's apple bobbed. He knew his father too well; the more his father acted this way, the more serious the old man was about to get involved.

But Zhao Ruilong wasn't afraid. From childhood to adulthood, his father had spoiled his only son rotten.

"Dad—" he drawled, "then why don't you avenge me!" He squatted down beside Zhao Lichun's legs, tilting his head back, his face flushed red. "Those two bastards, they infuriated me! And those people from the Ningzhou Municipal Committee, they quietly dealt with my backup plan! They didn't take you seriously at all!"

Zhao Lichun put down his teacup.

"Who have you ever cared about?"

Zhao Ruilong was taken aback.

"How many times have I told you?" Zhao Lichun looked at him, her tone flat and devoid of any emotion. "Be low-key in your conduct and actions! Have you listened to nothing?"

Zhao Ruilong remained silent.

Zhao Lichun leaned back on the sofa, looking at his son.

Dressed in a suit and tie, looking all respectable, he's still the same spoiled brat at heart.

Over the years, how many times has he cleaned up Zhao Ruilong's messes? Every time it's the same—when Zhao Ruilong gets into trouble, he covers for him; when Zhao Ruilong causes trouble, he cleans up the mess.

If it weren't for this burden, he might have become deputy secretary much earlier than Su Liang.

"You want that cooperative?"

Zhao Ruilong looked up, his eyes lighting up.

Zhao Lichun ignored him and continued speaking. "Why don't you just ask someone for a copy of their detailed outline, find a similar environment, and go do it yourself? Who can stop you then?"

"father--"

Zhao Lichun raised his hand to interrupt him. "This way, we can not only maintain a good reputation, but also arrange for many people—a win-win situation!"

"madness!"

He sighed softly, a sigh that, though faint, filled the living room and made Zhao Ruilong afraid to look up.

"You said you..." Zhao Lichun stood up, holding a teacup in his hand.

"In my entire life, everyone who's met Zhao Lichun praises him—he's a kind and honest man. How come you've learned nothing but cheating, swindling, and extortion from me?"

He started walking up the stairs.

Zhao Ruilong followed behind, his steps hurried, his mouth never stopping. "Dad, listen to me, that cooperative isn't that simple. Hengtong Group invested 60 million there, and a professor from Handong University is backing them up. That Yang Fan—"

"Not only have they not learned the substance, they can't even do the superficial things well!"

Zhao Lichun's voice still echoed in the living room. He had already reached the top of the stairs, holding a teacup in one hand and the handrail in the other, and was walking up the stairs step by step. His footsteps echoed softly on the solid wood stairs.

Zhao Ruilong stood at the bottom of the stairs, looking up and shouting.

"Father! Listen to me!"

Zhao Lichun went upstairs, turned the corner of the second-floor corridor, and his footsteps faded into the distance. He didn't even bother to look back at Zhao Ruilong again.

Zhao Ruilong stood in the living room, looking up at the empty staircase. The television was still on, the news broadcast playing softly.

He looked towards the stairs, the corners of his mouth slowly turning upwards.

Then he walked to the sofa, plopped down, picked up the teapot on the coffee table, and poured himself another cup. The tea slid down his throat, cool and refreshing. He leaned back on the sofa, his legs crossed high.

No one knows a father better than his son.

His father's words, "Find a place to mess around yourself," were a mix of gentle persuasion and firmness; they seemed like a reprimand, but were actually a suggestion.

We can't keep Qingping anymore; we need to find another place to develop it—that's our fallback plan.

He had already paved the way out for him. Moreover, he also gleaned another meaning from the old man's words: Ningzhou would send someone to give him a warning.

Isn't it always like this? They publicly hurl insults, but privately they're quick to cover up anything that needs to be covered up.

After finishing his tea, Zhao Ruilong stood up and straightened his tie.

The old man's words were harsh, but in the end, it was always others who suffered.

Take those two guys surnamed Wu and Yang, for example. They offended Zhao Ruilong, and they still want to live a peaceful life in Handong?

The sound of the door closing behind me echoed down the corridor.

Zhao Ruilong came out of the provincial party committee compound and got into his Audi with a Beijing license plate (京A).

He burst out laughing before the car door was even fully closed.

The driver glanced at him in the rearview mirror and quickly looked away.

Zhao Ruilong leaned back in his chair, tapping his fingers lightly on his knees to keep time.

His father said to keep a low profile? That's just for outsiders to hear.

Zhao Ruilong has lived for almost thirty years and has never seen his father truly stand idly by.

The streetlights outside the window receded one by one, and his smile flickered on and off outside the car window. For Zhao Ruilong, this scolding was worth it.

Who can blame him when his father is Zhao Lichun, a member of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee of Handong Province and the Secretary of the Municipal Party Committee of Jingzhou City!