Chapter 2349 - 2349

Liu Zhizhong smiled. "What are you talking about? 'Dare' or 'don't dare' what? The reason I turned Zhang Xiaoyang down about the blind date with his sister, hasn't he told you?"

Gu Man said, "He did tell me, but do you really have to think that much?"

"Why shouldn't I think that much?"

"Isn't officialdom all about climbing up for the sake of your future, at any cost, by any means? You've got such a great opportunity laid out right in front of you, the old man has his eye on you, this thing is basically in the bag. What are you still worried about? If you don't cherish a chance like this, there won't be another one. You've had it tough, you should be more…"

Liu Zhizhong raised his hand. "That's enough, Gu Man, don't come and try to talk me round after the fact. You think I'm supposed to stop at nothing? Use any and all means? Sorry, you've misunderstood my view of officialdom. Liu Zhizhong is not the kind of person you imagine, so we were doomed not to be husband and wife."

"You… ai…" Gu Man's face flushed red. She shook her head, a bit depressed. "Fine, you're noble, you're the only noble one, okay?"

Seeing this was about to turn into a quarrel, Liu Zhizhong said, "Alright, let's not argue about this. Anything else? If not, I'll get going. I still have to go home and pack."

"Gu Yan has gotten into your city bureau. She's reporting tomorrow. You've got a few days—take her under your wing a bit, look after her a little more."

Liu Zhizhong raised his eyebrows. "Hey, she's in the office, I'm in the Development Division, we've each got our own work. How does that make it my place to 'take her under my wing' or 'look after her'? Besides, she's Zhang Xiaoyang's little sister-in-law—who's going to dare make things hard for her? Relax, in the City Culture and Tourism Bureau she's bigger than the director!"

"Hey~~~ what is with you, why do you have to sound so snarky and weird?"

Liu Zhizhong shook his head helplessly. "You're reading into it because you want to, and you're reading it wrong. I'm just stating facts, alright? Gu Yan's relationship with the Zhang Family is right there. The status and treatment she'll get all fit the current logic, don't they?"

Gu Man really didn't know what to say anymore. "Anyway, as long as you're in the Cultural and Tourism Bureau, for the sake of the past, just be a little nicer to Gu Yan!"

Liu Zhizhong was utterly speechless.

A former brother‑in‑law being good to his former little sister‑in‑law—what the hell is that?

All he could say was, "Okay, okay, you're always right. I'm leaving."

With that, he went straight to the driver's seat, pulled the door open, jumped in, started the engine, backed out of the space, and drove off.

In the rearview mirror, Gu Man stood there silently. The gorgeous young wife was still oozing charm, but her expression was a bit blank and wooden. She kept watching him until he turned the corner and disappeared…

Honestly, seeing Liu Zhizhong as he was now, Gu Man had a feeling in her heart she couldn't quite put into words. Ai!

And looking at his ex‑girlfriend in the rearview mirror, did Liu Zhizhong feel any better?

Forget it, let it go!

Out of the underground garage, he floored it onto the main road. Just throw all the unpleasantness behind you. The future is the future; the past can't be gone back to.

At nine o'clock the next morning, the city bureau still held a general meeting to welcome the new colleagues who had just passed the civil service exam.

Of course, Gu Yan was among the new colleagues. Even though she was only a clerk for now, the leaders in the bureau already knew all about her.

This pretty, pure little girl was Zhang Xiaoyang's little sister‑in‑law. They had to wait on her properly!

And of course, these leaders, all crafty as foxes, also knew that Liu Zhizhong used to be Gu Yan's brother‑in‑law. Secretly, they found the whole thing rather amusing! Anyway, the bureau had gained another topic for gossip over tea and meals, haha…

As a member holding a very important leadership post, Liu Zhizhong sat up on the dais and, in very formal language, welcomed the new colleagues, voiced his expectations, and pointed out the direction. It was all just polite talk.

Down in the audience, Gu Yan watched her former brother‑in‑law's handsome appearance, listened to his magnetic voice, and unconsciously felt a little mesmerized.

All the current brilliance of her former brother‑in‑law—his image and masculine charm—was slowly seeping into and invading her heart, heh heh…

Liu Zhizhong, however, felt everything was perfectly normal, no different from before.

In any case, it was only a few more days; he was about to go to the Provincial City for training.

After the training, whether he would even come back to the unit to work was hard to say!

Around noon, Zhang Xiaoyang called Liu Zhizhong and said, "Hey, Liu Suanchang, today Gu Yan officially took up her post. As her former brother‑in‑law, you've got to take extra care of her, haha… You didn't bring her in yourself, which kind of let me down, but she still got in. You just set an example as the leader, alright?"

That tone put Liu Zhizhong in a bit of a bad mood again. Was he assigning him tasks now?

Liu Zhizhong said, "Vice County Magistrate Zhang, can we not put it like that? Without me, she still got in, didn't she? With you around, anything is possible! Who in the City Culture and Tourism Bureau doesn't know she's your little sister‑in‑law? Who would dare do anything to her? So, do you really need me to 'lead the way'?"

"Having a fit now? This counts as having a fit?"

"No mood, just speaking on the facts. That's it, I still have work to do. No time to shoot the breeze."

"Hehe, fine, fine, get back to work, get back to work… hehe…"

Zhang Xiaoyang hung up first, feeling quite satisfied, then turned around and called Gu Yan. He poured a wave of honeyed words on his little sister‑in‑law, telling her that with her brother‑in‑law Zhang Family's prestige behind her, even though she was just a little clerk in the Cultural and Tourism Bureau, she was actually more awesome than the director. She should just enjoy her work and enjoy life!

To be honest, Gu Yan really couldn't stand this arrogant attitude of her brother‑in‑law. Ai…

But in reality, for the sake of her sister and brother‑in‑law's marriage, she could only go along and deal with him perfunctorily.

After she finished talking with Zhang Xiaoyang, it was already lunch break. She had her own single dorm room, which was quite nice.

Back in the dorm, she sent a message to Liu Zhizhong, a voice message, with that unique girlish freshness.

"Aiya~~~ Brother Zhizhong, I really got in! Seeing you up on stage today giving that welcome speech and talking about expectations and all, you were really, really handsome, hehe…"

At that moment, Liu Zhizhong wasn't napping in his dorm. He was in his office dealing with documents. Since he was going to the Provincial City, there were a lot of work matters he was taking very seriously.

Listening to his former little sister‑in‑law's sweet, sticky voice, Liu Zhizhong felt his heart give a little tremor.

Just that voice alone was pretty damn seductive!

But the content had him drifting off into a few little fantasies—then he immediately cut them off.

This Gu Yan, this kind of behavior was really not a good sign!

So, Liu Zhizhong replied in text: "Thank you, Comrade Gu Yan, for the compliment. I wish you a pleasant work experience and all the best. Director Liu is currently busy with work matters, we'll talk later!"

That "Director Liu" self‑reference actually made Gu Yan laugh. She giggled, "Brother Zhizhong, you're so funny! From now on, whenever I don't understand something at work, I'll come to you, Director Liu, for guidance just like I did for the civil service exam, okay?"