Chapter 16: Smoke of War
Eight out of ten things in life are not as we wish, so we should always think about one or two things.
This night was destined to be extraordinary. For ordinary people, it was the same as usual, neither rainy nor sunny.
For some upper-class elites, it was like smoke of war everywhere.
For the wealthy and powerful people in Nanhu City, nightlife, apart from singing and dancing, consists mainly of bars and hotpot restaurants.
The usual procedure is: from 8:30 to 11:30, in the dance hall, dancing to the accompaniment of a band.
Since the disco in the early 1980s, personal thoughts have been expressed through the swaying of body language to fight against the constraints of thousands of years of tradition.
In the 1990s, sexual liberation began to be triggered by proper national standard dancing. Repressed hormones were able to be displayed and conveyed to the opposite sex through the gentlemanly behavior of "national standard dancing", replacing the concept of freedom constrained by "zhihuzheya".
So, men and women who appear to be wearing suits and long skirts with serious expressions, in the dim light of changing colored lights, achieve the combination of Chinese and Western characteristics of attractive ladies by moving close to the sensitive parts of the opposite sex, using ambiguous breathing and teasing language.
He Miao is a master in this field.
The dance halls for national standard dance are usually large circular dance floors, so as to show all like-minded people to each other as much as possible.
The so-called handsome men and beautiful women can fully display their charm under the slightly brighter lights at the end of a song.
The young men would usually walk around, lock onto their target, and when a song ends, they would quickly move forward, pounce on their prey, bend down and offer their hands to invite them to leave the dance floor.
Then, they seize a few minutes of dance time to test, inquire, and clash, using every possible means to pave the way for the next action.
Young people call this activity hunting. He Miao is considered a master because any woman he invites to the dance floor will usually be satisfied within three days.
In this era of semi-implicit sexual openness, being able to achieve such efficiency makes one a leader among peers.
After sending Hu Jiao and Sister Juan away, He Miao began a new day's nightlife. Before this, he had not hunted for more than half a month. He leaned quietly on the booth with a half-glass of red wine, wandering around with his eyes half-open and half-closed.
The people around him have already made some preliminary arrangements for the "new friends" they made tonight. Luckily for them, they were a few girls from the Provincial Health College who came together. They were of excellent looks and figures. They were new to the dance world, and judging from their movements and expressions, they were still a little reserved and awkward.
He Miao joked with them and shot a bunch of "naive" girls with one arrow. Naive refers to the little girls who have not yet entered the society and only show off their talents in the school dance hall and can't help but come out to broaden their horizons.
He Miao's eyes swept over the wolfish hands of several brothers, sliding across the young bodies of the "tender" ones, either lightly or heavily, intentionally or unintentionally.
If the "young" ones are shy and silent, they will advance step by step, expand their gains, and gradually occupy sensitive areas;
If the "young" get angry and rebuke you, or try to avoid you, then you should put on a humble and modest expression, showing no intention of offending them, and then start a roundabout way of attacking them, casually telling them a few interesting social stories, without intentionally revealing your identity, wealth, work power, etc. If the "young" are tempted, then you can expand your victory;
If all the above methods don't work, you can only resort to long-term and continuous warfare, with the guidance of Ms. Qiong Yao's various love novels, pretending to be a pure man, pretending to fall in love at first sight, fall in love at second sight, and at third sight... uh, done.
In fact, to put it in the current terms, it is nothing more than picking up girls. There is no need to make a fuss. One-night stands, fleeting romances, travel companions, confidants, etc. are commonplace.
But that was the end of 1994, before 1995.
So last century we still had love letters, last century we still had poems to express our feelings, last century we still had love stories...
He Miao's eyes revealed boundless loneliness. This was a bizarre era.
The men are serious when they put on their clothes, but more ferocious than wolves when they take off their clothes;
When women put on clothes, they look light and airy, but when they take off clothes, they are scarier than ghosts;
He Miao stared at a woman, wearing a white dress with pleated skirt, with a pretty face and no makeup, sitting quietly in the darkest corner. From the beginning to now, which was almost over, she had not made any move. Several men who thought they were elegant went to invite her to dance, but all of them returned empty-handed.
He Miao has deviated from the usual routine and he prefers challenges.
Finally, the third to last song started, the band played, and the singer imitated Tong Ange and sang: My dream has a lock, and my heart has a river...
He Miao walked over slowly, and his thin figure leaned against the booth of the woman in white. From a distance, she looked like a faint orchid in a valley, quietly blooming with fragrance. From a close distance, her eyebrows and eyes were as pretty as a painting. She was definitely a classic beauty.
He and Miao didn't say anything, just looked at each other quietly. The beauty didn't say anything either, just looked at the people dancing in the hall.
Finally the dance ended. The beauty couldn't help but look back at He Miao. Her big watery eyes revealed her feelings. This man didn't invite her like others did. It was a very strange behavior.
"I was watching the scenery in the dance hall, and you were watching me. Am I the scenery?"
He Miao didn't say anything, but shook his head and drank the wine in his hand. At this time, the dance music started again. He Miao looked into the other person's watery eyes and said, "How can I miss the fireworks when I come to the world? If you don't mind, I will accompany you for a walk in the music?"
After saying that, the beautiful woman automatically extended her hand, her eyes full of smiles, followed He Miao's steps and slid into the dance floor, saying casually, "Master He invited me, and I will obey your orders."
He and Miao Xiaoxiao were not surprised that the other party knew him. He was not anxious. In the past, he was looking for excitement, but now, he was playing with the feeling.
"I am a mortal, how dare I order a fairy-like person around."
"Haha, I'm not a fairy, but I'm more troublesome than a fairy."
He Miao narrowed his eyes and said, "I have two advantages."
“What two advantages?”
"I lack everything except trouble. I have nothing but time."
Looking at He Miao's petite appearance with a small nose and small eyes, but with a helpless and melancholy look on her face, it was really funny. Feeling the trembling of the willow-like waist in his hands, He Miao felt secretly pleased.
"My name is Yao Bizheng, and I will fight for what I must fight for."
He Miao, who had just been feeling proud, immediately took a sharp turn for the worse, as if he had just received a million dollars, but it was counterfeit money.
He Miao remained calm, and the thigh that had been leaning against him earlier retreated slightly, no longer daring to rub against him.
"So it's my sister-in-law. I've heard about you from Wei Ge. I didn't expect to see you here. You're simply... stunning! Why, Wei Ge is willing to let you come to a place like this alone?"
Yao Bi Zheng was still graceful and charming, pure as jade. This kind of pure classical beauty was earth-shattering in the tranquility. Her beautiful eyes were moving, and she was obviously disappointed with He Miao's unfamiliar behavior. However, this disappointment was not obvious, but was vividly conveyed in the change of her expression.
"He's still in Peking. I'm on a business trip this time. Uncle Chang pointed out two people to follow me. Didn't you notice?"
He Miao followed her gaze and saw a secretary from the provincial government. He had thought that this young secretary had also come to hunt, but unexpectedly she was here to accompany the emperor.
Yao Bizheng's father is a member of the Central Committee of Xinhua News Agency and secretary of the Huanghai Municipal Party Committee, a real powerful figure. Yao Bizheng also has an elder brother, Yao Bisheng, who is a well-known figure in the capital in terms of fame, ability and talent. There are rumors that he will become the focus of training for the sixth generation.
As for Yao Bizheng, He Miao has heard a lot of rumors. All the senior people who have come into contact with her would sigh, "Yao Bizheng is the Hornet."
It implies that she is like a wasp with a sting in its tail and a woman's heart is the most poisonous.
As to how poisonous she was and who she poisoned, no one has yet to provide evidence.
They are all rumors, rumors.
It is said that one should be frightened by what others say. It is not without reason. It is really puzzling that such a cool, elegant, pure and innocent woman could be hurt to such an extent by rumors.
He Miao guessed that this might be related to her job, the head of the local group of the Central Commission for Discipline Inspection's Office for Rectifying Unruly Styles, at the department level. If it was her brother's job as the director of the Reserve Cadre Inspection Office of the Organization Department of the CPC Central Committee, there probably wouldn't be so many rumors.
It is somewhat ironic that the people in the Anti-Corruption Office have had their image completely ruined by rumors. This may be a unique trend in the Xinhua officialdom.
Therefore, after Yao Bizheng took the initiative to give his name, the biggest sigh in He Miao's heart was that hearing about someone is not as good as meeting them, and meeting them is worse than hearing about them.
As if he had sensed what He Miao was thinking, Yao Bizheng retracted his gaze and looked at him nonchalantly, "What? Do you not believe in evil?"
He Miao laughed and said, "You really guessed it right. I am a person who does not believe in superstition. However... you are already taken, and Wei Ge usually takes good care of me..."
Facing He Miao's probing words, Yao Bizhen lowered her eyes so as not to let anyone see her true inner thoughts, and exhaled gently, seemingly unintentionally spraying air onto He Miao's nose.
"I didn't expect you to be such a loyal person. Oh, I have to go now."
The dance music gradually became low and neared its end. He Miao was unwilling to give up and did not believe in evil, but he still slowly let go of his hot hands. The slenderness of her waist was like a devil's smile, constantly tempting him to have crazy thoughts.
"Shall I take you there?"
Yao Bizhen looked at him resentfully, and he and Miao felt inexplicably sad. He would rather believe now that this woman was absolutely forced to do what she wanted, and it was completely unrelated to the rumors. How could such a pure and innocent woman be associated with viciousness?
Therefore, in He Miao's view, Yao Bizhen's resentful look was a kind of resistance to fate.
For example, her engagement with Chang Wei, the son of the Nanzhao governor. If they were in love, would Yao Bizhen show such a sad side?
Political marriage!
Under pressure, two people who don't love each other are sacrificed just to maximize benefits.
He Miao's expectation was responded to. A faint blush appeared on Yao Bizheng's cheek, light and gentle, like the morning glow, which instantly ignited He Miao's fighting spirit.
"Okay, let's go for a walk."
The looks that the other yamen brothers gave to the eldest young master were no longer just admiration.
Walking out of the dance hall, the winter night wind attacked his bones. He Miao cleverly stepped to the windward side, pointed at Yao Bizheng, then pointed at his double-breasted suit, took it off, and said with a wry smile, "I guess the size is not enough, so I'll just make do with it."
Yao Bi Zheng couldn't help giggling, his dark eyes revealed a different kind of look, and the whole winter night became lively.
He Miao stared blankly, "One smile can conquer a city, another smile can conquer a country, the ancients were not deceiving me."
Yao Bizhen took the suit and put it on, his mouth curled up, his tender red lips and white jade skin were dazzling, and the trees, flowers and plants on the sidewalk also became brighter.
The two talked as they walked. Seeing that He Miao was very cold, Yao Bi Zheng took the initiative to hail a taxi.
After returning to the small state guesthouse, Yao Bizhen implicitly and politely invited Miao to sit down and have a cup of hot drink to warm themselves up.
As a result, this sitting caused a huge disaster.
Hu Jiao was sleeping very soundly. The burning passion between him and Juanjuan consumed a lot of his physical strength. The situation where every time he moved forward, the other party screamed in pain, and every time he retreated, the other party also burst into tears in pain. This made Hu Jiao, a novice, so nervous that he sweated profusely.
Fortunately, I got what I wanted and finally experienced a major event in my life.
But after all this trouble, even an iron man would fall down.
He didn't know that the two richest men in the province had fought over a woman, and that a young secretary from the provincial government who came with Chang Wei was severely beaten by He Miao's men.
Unfortunately, just as He Miao was holding the first cup of hot tea in his hand, there was a knock on the door. Yao Bizhen opened the door. Chang Wei was smiling, but when he saw He Miao, his face froze.
Then, Yao Bizheng was horrified. It turned out that there was nothing wrong, but how could a man and a woman alone in the same room explain it?
So when they saw Chang Wei's gloomy face, Yao Bizheng and He Miao spoke together: "Chang Wei, it's not what you think..."
"Wei Ge, I just came to sit down..."
Then the two of them shut up together. In this kind of situation, any man would have been unable to hold back. The secretary following behind him was sweating profusely with anxiety.
Chang Wei looked at the two men fiercely, pointed at He Miao and said, "Xiao Miao, you are really good!"
Seeing that Chang Wei was angry, He Miao thought that they could only retreat first and not make a big deal out of it, and then slowly apologize and explain to him.
"Brother Wei, I just stopped by to sit with you. I have a date, so I won't keep you guys away."
He Miao said he wanted to leave. Even if Chang Wei was very angry, he couldn't do anything. He had to turn away and look at Yao Bizheng, who was also frowning, with a bitter face.
If I just leave like this, things will be fine.
But a waiter at the Xiao Guobin Hotel saw He Miao getting into a conflict with someone. He didn't know Chang Wei and was busy using the internal phone to notify the security of the bath center.
As a result, just as He Miao walked out of the door, two guards rushed over like ghosts on fire, shouting, "Which bastard doesn't open his eyes?"
One of them was holding the secretary, while the other rushed over and grabbed Chang Wei's neck with his arm. He Miao was confused by the actions of the two guards. Before he could react, several more people rushed over from behind. Fatty Liu, who was running last, was still shouting angrily, "Beat him! Beat him for me!"
Finished!
Chang Wei was slapped several times, his nose blood splattered on the white wall, and the secretary was hit on the head with several sticks, and her eyes rolled back. Yao Bizheng screamed in fear and grabbed his ears with both hands.
This shout actually brought He Miao back to his senses. He Miao was so anxious that he yelled, "Stop! Fuck your mother, stop! Fatty Liu, fuck your mother, who told you to do that?"
Unfortunately, it was too late. The whole process took only ten seconds, but the incident had already happened.
The consequences were serious. He Miao had just finished scolding someone and was anxious to see Chang Wei's injuries. He apologized while Chang Wei was gasping for breath and staring at him in a lifeless manner.
Fatty Liu was so frightened that he quickly waved his hand to drive away a few of his men, called the waiter again, and asked him to help take the man to the hospital.
Once we entered the hospital, things started to get weird.
He Miao felt that what happened today was a little strange.
It is said that Fatty Liu is not the kind of guy who lacks vision, otherwise he would not have been arranged to manage the security work. After all, this is a small state guest bathing center designated by the provincial party committee and government. He would not dare to use someone who does not have good vision.
Although Chang Wei does not work in Nanzhao, the corresponding news should have been leaked out. Moreover, Fatty Liu, who is usually very good at dealing with people, actually made such a mistake?
As a result, when they arrived at the hospital and He Miao was busy greeting the familiar doctor, when they turned around, Fatty Liu was gone.
He Miao thought about it and thought about it again. In his mind, Yao Ming and the Hornets must fight for it...
He Miao sighed, this time, he had hit a wall.
Nothing happened that night and all parties seemed calm.
The next day, the injury recurred. Even with the best medicine, Master Chang's face was still bruised, red and swollen, and the entire face had expanded to the size of a basin.
After staying up all night with Miao, I felt mixed emotions when looking at Chang Wei's appearance. Is it worth investing so much money?
This is not the worst. What is worrying is the secretary. She was beaten so hard that her head was protruding from her skull. She still has a high fever and is not out of danger yet.
Governor Chang did not go to the hospital.
He Miao didn't have to worry too much about what happened next, because he knew that the uncles and aunts who were close to the He family would definitely be purged.
He Bangjian looked at He Miao and was so angry that he almost vomited blood on the way here. But when he really saw his son, he became weak and suddenly looked exhausted.
On January 7, 1995, the Xinhua Central Committee adjusted the leadership team of Nanzhao Province. Comrade Fang Shiyun, former member of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee, Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, and Chairman of the Provincial People's Congress, was transferred to the position of Secretary of the Party Group and Minister of the Ministry of Education; Chang Aijun, former member of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee, Deputy Secretary, and Governor, was appointed Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee and Chairman of the Provincial People's Congress; Wu Chengjing, former Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, was appointed Chairman of the Provincial Political Consultative Conference; Zhao Xuebo, former Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee and Vice Governor, was appointed Vice Chairman of the Standing Committee of the Provincial People's Congress; Zhang Qin, former member of the Standing Committee of the Provincial Party Committee and Vice Governor, was transferred to the position of Deputy Mayor of Huanghai City; and Hu Zhongzhi, former Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, was appointed Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee and Acting Governor.
Next, all the members of the He family began to adjust their jobs. The eldest son of the He family, He Bangyun, retired from the position of director of the Personnel Department and joined the Provincial CPPCC as vice chairman; the second son of the He family, He Bangyou, served as the inspector-level of the Provincial Government Office; the third son of the He family, He Bangmin, was transferred from the executive vice minister of the Organization Department to the director of the Provincial Supply and Marketing Cooperative.
The most unexpected thing is that Li Mingyong was nominated as vice governor from the position of secretary of the Fenghuang Municipal Party Committee. As long as he and acting governor Hu Zhongzhi are approved by the Provincial People's Congress, he will officially step into the ministerial level.
Only the provincial military region political commissar and Bang Jian remained unmoved.
In mid-January, He Miao got engaged to Wu Chengjing's youngest daughter.
Hu Jiao was terrified when he saw the fight going on in the province and the combined punches delivered by Chang Aijun, the provincial party secretary.
After this purge, the He family collapsed like a giant.
From then on, the influence of the old man of the He family left in Nanzhao had become very weak.
As the saying goes, wealth cannot last for more than three generations. This saying is most applicable to He Miao now. Through this incident, he truly witnessed the struggle among the yamen.
In particular, Yao Bizheng taught him a lesson that seemed childish and ridiculous, with low-level means, but the results were remarkable.
What does it mean to use any means to achieve the goal?
What is the simplest and most effective way?
Not to mention that the parties involved and Miao did not expect that Yao Bizheng would stage a cruel scheme with her fiancé in order to help her future father-in-law become the emperor.
Even when others thought about it afterwards, they still didn't believe He Miao's true description.
Who would believe it?
But it was so simple! But it achieved its goal.
Therefore, Hu Jiao later comforted He Miao that eight out of ten things in life are not as we wish, so we should always think about them.
Li Mingyong became the last project selected by the old man , which could be regarded as a compensation from the higher-ups for this old revolutionary.
As time goes by, life is getting better and better, there are fewer and fewer old revolutionaries, and meritorious old revolutionaries like He Lao are even rarer.
The situation in the province changed drastically, but Hu Jiao and Li Juanjuan, the young couple, remained unmoved. They were immersed in their own love craze, and they were so sweet that they wished they could stay together 24 hours a day, but time waits for no one.
After hearing that his son and Juanjuan had officially established a romantic relationship, Hu Jianguo gave up the idea of bringing his son back. He wanted to let Hu Jiao go to Tieshu Township as soon as possible to familiarize himself with the work, but teacher Li Aiju firmly opposed it, saying that it would not be easy for his son to fall in love for the first time at such a age.
Plus, we just went through a storm, so it's a good time to relax.
So our township officials kept delaying it until after he got engaged to Miao. Then Wu Hao, the acting county magistrate of Tong County, personally called Li Mingyong's home and finally pulled Hu Jiao out of the honeypot of love.
It's a pity that the young man and woman who had tasted meat were about to be separated in the blink of an eye. Li Juan protested to her father many times and asked him to keep Hu Jiao in the province.
But how could Vice Governor Li, who had just experienced an earthquake and was still in the nomination process, dare to act rashly?
Hu Jianguo has officially assumed office as the acting mayor of Hongjiang City. In another three months, he will be formally approved by the Hongjiang People's Congress and become the mayor of Hongjiang.
Teacher Li Aiju also arrived at her new job. Hu Jiao set out from the provincial capital and went directly to his new home in Hongjiang to get acquainted with his family, take some clothes to change, and then go directly to Tong County.
