Official Career Storm
Chapter 77

Chapter 77: Chapter 77

Song Guanchao was momentarily stunned and blurted out subconsciously, "Secretary Lu has managed Lingjiang City like this, and the organization still plans to reuse him?"

Wu Qiangwei said, "In the officialdom, ability is secondary, the important thing is, they are ’our own people.’"

"Moreover, since I was transferred to Lingjiang City, I’ve given Secretary Lu and Mayor Zheng some hope as well."

"They are all eager to make some achievements and then utilize their political resources to transfer to other cities, or even to the province, to achieve a further leap."

"After all, although they had no merit in the past, they also didn’t make any mistakes."

Wu Qiangwei rarely talked so much with him.

Song Guanchao thought for a moment and understood her meaning.

Before Wu Qiangwei took up her post in Lingjiang City, the place was stagnant, and the top leaders had no credibility.

However, after her transfer, the city’s leaders keenly perceived that she bore the expectations of the province.

Naturally, they wouldn’t go against her.

In this situation, Lingjiang City’s officialdom would witness a brief power vacuum.

No one would dare to act rashly or provoke Wu Qiangwei.

Under such circumstances, the power of Secretary Lu and Mayor Zheng would return to their hands, and there wouldn’t be any more embarrassing situations where orders weren’t followed.

In plain terms, Secretary Lu and Mayor Zheng wanted to use the brief deterrence that Wu Qiangwei’s special status had on Lingjiang City’s officialdom to achieve ambitious goals and make some accomplishments.

But, Song Guanchao still sharply captured the key point.

"Will Secretary Lu and Mayor Zheng cooperate with Secretary Wu’s work?"

This was his biggest concern.

After all, Wu Qiangwei was actually the top leader in Lingjiang City.

But on the surface, Secretary Lu was still the top leader, and Mayor Zheng was still the second in command.

If they coveted political achievements, they might very well have disagreements with Wu Qiangwei.

By then, it would be hard to say whether these two would still center around Wu Qiangwei.

Wu Qiangwei shook her head and did not respond.

Song Guanchao didn’t ask further.

As they arrived at the bottom of the residential building, Song Guanchao asked, "Are you going for a run tonight, Secretary?"

"You go ahead with your stuff."

Wu Qiangwei gave an irrelevant answer and pushed the car door open to leave.

Song Guanchao smiled; he wouldn’t take it personally with this woman.

Right then, Secretary Sun’s text message arrived, asking if he was finished.

Song Guanchao replied, "It might be a bit late."

"No problem, let me know when you’re finished."

Putting down the phone, Song Guanchao moved his car to another parking spot, so as not to let Wu Qiangwei see him and think he was meddling too much.

After parking the car, he was about to head outside the compound to grab something to eat when he suddenly saw Wu Qiangwei’s figure emerge from the building.

She had changed into dark grey pencil pants, revealing a bit of her ankles, and wore a pair of fish mouth sandals, with a goose yellow casual T-shirt on top. Her usually tied-up long hair was now loose, cascading over her shoulders like a waterfall.

She had even put on light makeup.

At first glance, Song Guanchao was so dazzled that he forgot to blink.

He rarely saw Wu Qiangwei in casual clothing.

At this moment, her outfit was pure yet sexy, mature, and it exuded an inherent authority from her bones.

It was only when Wu Qiangwei disappeared from view that Song Guanchao jerked back to reality.

Was the Secretary not going for a run tonight?

Where was she going?

To have dinner?

Song Guanchao started his car and slowly followed behind.

Exiting the compound, he saw Wu Qiangwei walking towards a black Mercedes parked on the side of the road.

A private license plate.

He melted into the flow of traffic and followed all the way.

A half-hour later, the car pulled into a parking lot of a Western restaurant.

A man in his thirties, tall and handsome, got out of the car, laughing and talking with Wu Qiangwei as they entered the restaurant.

The façade of the restaurant was a large glass panel, enabling a clear view of them climbing to the second floor and sitting by the window.

A date?

A blind date?

Song Guanchao suddenly felt a surge of jealousy.

He parked his car by the road, went over to write down the license plate number, and called Lu Feng, "Madman, I need you to look up a car for me!"

"My old squad leader, hey, you’re treating me like a cop now, how the heck am I supposed to find that for you with just a license plate?"

"F*ck!"

Song Guanchao hung up the phone, got into the car, and took out a cigarette to light up.

Right before lighting it, he suddenly remembered that Wu Qiangwei didn’t like the smell of smoke, so he squatted by the roadside to smoke instead.

As he smoked, he lifted his eyes toward the second floor.

Wu Qiangwei and the man seemed to be enjoying their conversation, occasionally breaking into smiles.

Damn it!

She smiled more tonight than all the times I’ve seen her smile combined.

Their dinner lasted until almost eight o’clock.

As the car drove away from the restaurant, Wu Qiangwei rolled down the window, faced outside, and breathed in the fresh evening air.

She didn’t like the scent of cologne on a man.

Her gaze unintentionally swept over the rearview mirror.

In the mirror, there was a black sedan.

The license plate was precisely that of the car Song Guanchao used to drive her to and from work.

With a slight lift of her eyebrows, Wu Qiangwei took out her phone and dialed Song Guanchao’s number, "How was dinner?"

"It was fine," Song Guanchao said gruffly.

However, a slight curve formed at Wu Qiangwei’s lips, "Mm, report to me tomorrow."

After hanging up, the man beside her asked, "Qiangwei, still busy with work at this hour?"

"I just got transferred over, so there’s a lot to do."

"No matter how busy you are, you have to balance work and leisure. Oh, I went abroad for a business trip last week and bought some skincare products. They’re in the car; I’ll give them to you in a bit."

"Thank you, but I don’t use skincare products. They’re too harsh on the skin."

"Heh, I hadn’t thought that through."

The man wasn’t embarrassed and quickly changed the subject.

He was talkative, in tune with a woman’s thoughts, humorous, and never allowed for an awkward moment.

When they arrived downstairs, he escorted Wu Qiangwei to the entrance of her apartment building.

After the man drove away, Wu Qiangwei came out from the building and walked straight toward the parking lot.

Song Guanchao had just started his car when he suddenly saw Wu Qiangwei approaching.

His body tensed, and Wu Qiangwei was already at his window.

Song Guanchao wound down the window and feigned surprise, "Secretary, have you just come back from a run?"

Wu Qiangwei noticed his badly hidden embarrassment and couldn’t help but roll her eyes, asking, "Weren’t you having dinner with Secretary Sun?"

"Uh..."

"Did you see?"

Song Guanchao knew she had caught him tailing her. It was pointless to lie now, so he simply admitted it.

"Yeah, I saw."

"How was it?"

"What do you mean ’how was it’?"

"That man, what did you think?"

Song Guanchao was taken aback. Was the Secretary asking about the man just now?

"He looked okay, but his figure definitely isn’t as good as mine. His skin is quite fair, but what’s the use of a man being so pale? Looks like a duck. A wheatish complexion like mine is healthy. He seemed dressed up too fancily. Which man grooms himself so meticulously? A total poser."

After finishing, Song Guanchao then asked, "Secretary, who was that just now?"

"A date from a matchmaking arrangement."

Song Guanchao’s eyes widened, "Secretary, you’re so beautiful, do you really need matchmaking?"

Wu Qiangwei suddenly fixed her gaze on him, "I’m very beautiful?"

Song Guanchao nodded frantically, "Beautiful!"

Then he asked again, "So, how did you feel about tonight’s date?"

"It was pretty good."

Pretty good...

A chill ran through Song Guanchao’s heart.

"I’m heading back," Wu Qiangwei said, turning around, her expressionless face suddenly struggling to hold back a smile.

Even an idiot could hear the thick jealousy in those words.

Song Guanchao, on the other hand, received another text from Secretary Sun and quickly replied, "I’m done. Where are you, Secretary Sun?"

"Come to Yunhai Club."

Song Guanchao perked up. Yunhai Club, of all places?

Was it a coincidence?

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