Mountains of swords and seas of fire

Zhou Zhiqin's life is a power game. Money, beauty or honor are just consumables to him, and once he gets them, they begin to depreciate.

Li Miao, who is struggling on the road to power, feels that there are thorns in front of her eyes.What he wanted was too far away from him.

Zhou Zhiqin works four hours a day and spends eight hours socializing at the wine table, which of course also includes the mahjong table.

Li Miao works twelve hours a day, and that monthly salary can't even afford a few small mahjong games.

But Li Miao is not inferior to Zhou Zhiqin in everything, he is better than Zhou Zhiqin in one thing.His wife will make money.Zhou Zhiqin raised his wife, and he was raised by his wife.

Li Miao has been married for ten years. His wife is the daughter of the chief prosecutor of the former district procuratorate. She has a wide circle of people and is very good at doing business. Now the house he lives in and the car he drives are all paid by his wife.Although Zhou Zhiqin also drives a good car and lives in a villa, it is his own money.

This is probably the biggest difference in their lives.

It's not that one is poor and the other is rich, but one is confident and the other is inferior.

Looking at the stack of files on the table, Zhou Zhiqin was smoking a cigarette, flipping through them casually.

In fact, these files are not important. He has another file in his mind, which is how much money these people who competed for the job sent him.

When he turned to Li Miao's file, Zhou Zhiqin paused.Li Miao's file in his mind was also called out immediately.For Li Miao, Zhou Zhiqin didn't have any special liking or dislike for Li Miao.In his impression, Li Miao is someone who is immersed in his work, and he is not very good at floating in the water.He is very pleasing to the eye and handsome, and greets everyone with a smile, which is quite pleasing, but at work──he is too serious.

In Zhou Zhiqin's view, Li Miao's only shortcoming is not that he doesn't give enough money, or that there are some flaws in the service leadership, but that he is too serious about his work.Such a person is not bad, it's just that they are difficult to control and know too many secrets. If they are not sensible, they will just put a time bomb by their side.

Zhou Zhiqin was most concerned about the personnel change of the director of the financial department during the middle-level cadre competition.He didn't care about the others, but among those competing for this position, Li Miao had the highest education and was the only one who had obtained the national certified public accountant qualification certificate.

Zhou Zhiqin was in a dilemma as to whether to use Li Miao or replace him with a trustworthy but incompetent person.

A person with a bad brain is placed in that position, no matter how trustworthy he is, it is uncomfortable for him.What he hates the most is making up for his subordinates.

Originally, Zhou Zhiqin wanted to talk to Li Miao to give some hints at night, but he received a call from the secretary of the bureau, saying that he would have dinner with the government people tonight, so he gave up the idea and thought about it the next day. The final bureau leadership vote is still a few days away.

In the evening, when Zhou Zhiqin arrived at the scheduled dinner place by car, he saw someone walking towards him as soon as he got off the car.Hey, I didn't expect that it was Li Miao who took up most of his thinking time in the afternoon, so he also had a part in the dinner at night.

"Zhou Ju, come here for dinner?"

"Didn't Secretary Yang call you here?"

"No, I made an appointment with a few friends to have dinner here. How can I be invited to the dinner in the bureau? The level is not enough, the level is not enough." Li Miao smoked Zhou Zhiqin while laughing.

Seeing that Li Miao was smoking good cigarettes, Zhou Zhiqin felt a little uncomfortable, and thought to himself, you don't seem to be high enough, but he didn't say anything, he is not a mean person, he is too lazy to step on Li Miao's sore feet.

"Zhou Ju, are you having dinner with someone over there tonight?"

"governmental."

Zhou Zhiqin's attitude was insignificant, just like usual, he didn't talk much, in the words of the people below—a dog that bites doesn't bark.

Li Miao originally wanted to ask Zhonggan about the competition, but seeing Zhou Zhiqin being so indifferent, he was too embarrassed to ask.

In the final analysis, he is still a bit thin-skinned, if it were someone else, he would have been able to climb the pole by now.

Zhou Zhiqin waited for a long time, and he had already reached the door of the hotel. Li Miao didn't say a word about what he was doing. He really wanted to give this man a look, but finally he asked, "Xiao Li, I saw you You have filled out the application form, are you ready to compete for the Director of Finance?"

When Li Miao heard this, her nerves tensed up immediately, she pondered quickly in her mind, and said slowly, "I'm going to compete for that position. I've been working in the finance department for so many years."

"The deputy director of your department is also competing for this position."

"Director Jin's qualifications are listed there, which is more suitable than mine."

"Don't be so humble, we only have one bet on you, and it's time for you to get up and exercise."

"Thank you Zhou Ju for giving me this opportunity."

Zhou Zhiqin turned his head and looked, Li Miao's face was flushed, and a faint red surface appeared under the thin skin and tender flesh. He really didn't look like a 35-[-]-year-old man, like a kid who just started working, and he kept flattering They are all so blunt, I really don't know how they got mixed up, no wonder they didn't even get a middle-level cadre and deputy.

Zhou Zhiqin stopped, and said to Li Miao seriously: "In a few days, the leaders of the bureau will vote, and you should go to the place where you should be active. I will mention you alone, and it will be useless if others don't vote."

Having said that, Li Miao nodded like a chicken pecking at rice, and said some words of thanks.

Zhou Zhiqin waved his hand, expressing that he didn't want to continue listening, and he also walked into the restaurant. Li Miao watched Zhou Zhiqin go in before he dared to put a smile on his face.

The pride and joy in his heart made Li Miao drink a few more glasses at night, and went home drunk, leaning on his left foot.

He was already 36, and he thought that everything would not go well at the natal annual meeting, and he would definitely not be able to take the position of finance minister.In the end, Zhou Zhiqin even handed him an olive branch.Although Zhou Zhiqin is only a deputy director of the bureau, he has real power in his hands. Except for the director and secretary above, he is the most popular and the most useful in speaking. There are countless people who want to curry favor with Zhou Zhiqin. Li Miao never thought of it. I can have such an opportunity myself.He thought he would have to wait another ten years before he could take the position of director.

Li Miao usually goes to bed before his wife comes home, but today he insisted on waiting in the living room until two o'clock in the morning even though he was drunk.

Hearing the sound of the key jack at the door, Li Miao immediately became excited, as if raising his eyebrows for the first time in his life.

"came back?"

Tan Liyun was taken aback, for so many years, she almost never came home at night and saw Li Miao awake.Bending down to change her slippers, Tan Liyun walked into the living room lightly, and asked, "Did the child come back?"

"No, I came back late today. I guess my parents are already asleep, so I didn't pick it up."

Tan Liyun nodded. Both of them are busy. Usually, the children are taken care of by their parents. Usually, Li Miao picks them up after get off work, or after he has dinner. Of course, when Li Miao has entertainment, the children are with grandpa. Grandma had a sleepover, like today.

"What's the matter? Waiting for me so late?"

After Tan Liyun sat down, Li Miao said, "I met Zhou Zhiqin when I went to have dinner with Liu Ping and the others today. He told me to let me do some activities. The chief financial officer is going to mention me."

Tan Liyun wasn't very happy when she heard it, she just smiled implicitly, her face was a little tired.

"This is a good thing. You should be promoted too. You have not improved financially for so many years."

Already used to his wife's way of speaking, Li Miao was not angry because of the contempt in these words.He lit a cigarette and asked, "When are you free, come with me to treat Secretary Yang to dinner."

"I've been busy recently, and the queue is full every day. You might as well go to his house that night."

Li Miao frowned unhappily, and argued: "Why don't you go out to socialize with me too, don't make me look like a bachelor. I can't make it all night? Tomorrow, tomorrow night? "

Tan Liyun sighed, and thought for a while, she really didn't have time to spare, and for Li Miao, she didn't have that much mood to help him escape.It's very simple. When she first got married, Tan Liyun just fell in love with Li Miao's appearance. After a long time, Li Miao failed to make a name for herself, so she felt bored, and she couldn't talk to Li Miao about business matters. She didn't bother to listen to the affairs of Li Miao's work unit.So the husband and wife became more and more separated.These things are all going their own way, but Li Miao has been fighting for so many years and finally wants to do it. This is not a trivial matter, and it is not good for a wife to refuse at this time.In the end Tan Liyun let go: "Then you go and make an appointment. If you are free tomorrow night, I will accompany you to their house."

Li Miao, who was used to being a "little daughter-in-law", was immediately flattered when he heard his wife opened the golden mouth, and smiled happier than when Zhou Zhiqin handed him an olive branch before.

Because I was very happy in my heart, I also worked hard on the bed. As a result, when Li Miao went to work the next day, her complexion was not very good, like the dregs of medicine after being sucked by someone.The little girl in the office was overjoyed when she saw it, and said with a joke: "Handsome guy, we fought for [-] rounds last night, and he looked like he was about to stop eating."

Li Miao waved her hand in embarrassment, and sighed, "When you're old, you'll be like this after drinking a little wine."

"I'm afraid it's more than a drink."

As soon as this remark came out, the male colleagues around him also started to laugh, all of them harboring malicious intentions.They knew that Li Miao was a broad-minded person, and he didn't care about ordinary jokes.Of course, there is one thing that cannot be joked about - Li Miao is afraid of his wife.

Before leaving get off work at noon, Li Miao went to Secretary Yang's office for a stroll, said some flattering words, and finally made a "strong" decision to visit at home at night after Secretary Yang's refusal in every possible way.

In the afternoon, I went to the mall to buy some luxury goods for Secretary Yang's daughter and wife. Li Miao swiped his salary card, feeling very uncomfortable.

In the evening, Tan Liyun didn't break the appointment, and carefully prepared an envelope for Li Miao. When she was in the car, she handed the envelope to her husband who was sitting in the passenger seat, and asked, "Do you think it's enough? I think [-] is about the same."

"Uh... that's all for now, I'll thank you later." Naturally, Li Miao couldn't say that [-] is a little less, so he could only make it up.

The two soon arrived at Secretary Yang's house. Secretary Yang had heard Zhou Zhiqin's praise for Li Miao early in the morning, and he knew exactly what it meant.Since it is a favor, the gifts that should be received are of course indispensable. Seeing Li Miao and his wife came to the door with a few bags of things and stuffed envelopes, Secretary Yang expressed his satisfaction, and happily bragged with others for two hours .

Soon the bureau held a meeting to promote the middle-level cadres. There were three middle-level principals and one middle-level deputy who needed to be selected.

With the key support of Secretary Yang and Deputy Director Zhou, Li Miao was successfully appointed as Director of Finance, and Deputy Director Jin was also promoted to a full-time post, but he was in the Audit Department instead of staying in the Finance Department. up.Zhou Zhiqin paved the way for Li Miao very smoothly, and the other deputy is not very experienced, so he should not challenge Li Miao in the finance department. In this way, Li Miao must repay Zhou Zhiqin for his kindness. It's just a profit transaction.

When receiving the letter of appointment, Li Miao seemed quite calm. It wasn't that he was used to the ups and downs of the officialdom, but that his mind was still slow, and the joy and excitement didn't arrive in time.The others immediately changed their faces, congratulating and complimenting him, but they didn't say a bad word.Everyone is somewhat vain, and Li Miao is considered a very vain type of person, so his blood pressure gradually rose and his face turned ruddy amid the compliments from former colleagues and current subordinates.

Of course, no matter how excited he was, he didn't forget the word "low-key". After greeting everyone for a while, he hurried to Zhou Zhiqin's office to show his loyalty.

Zhou Zhiqin is basically satisfied with Li Miao's performance. Finance is a very important position, except for the infrastructure department where they can earn money together, that is, finance. One earns money and the other writes off accounts.

Li Miao is considered a newcomer among the middle-level cadres, and countless people will be jealous of him sitting in such a good position as soon as he comes up. If he doesn't take care of Zhou Zhiqin at this time, he really doesn't know how long he will be able to sit in this position.So Li Miao said those flattering words more sincerely than last time, and Zhou Zhiqin listened to them much more pleasantly.

At Li Miao's insistence, Zhou Zhiqin decided to have dinner with him at night, and the two "heart-to-heart".

Zhou Zhiqin didn't ask the driver Xiao Qi to drive, and drove to the place Li Miao had booked by himself.Because booking a restaurant made Li Miao look like a sissy in Zhou Zhiqin's eyes, not because of his appearance, but because of his character, such as booking a place for a meal is such a small matter, usually just order a place that everyone likes to go to For example, Hua'an, the favorite place for people in the bureau, is good. If you sit in a small private room, there are many other entertainment places nearby. After eating, you can play mahjong and sing a song.As a result, Li Miao chose to choose a place so quiet that Zhou Zhiqin had never heard of it, and he called it quiet.

Looking at the address left in Li Miao's text message, Zhou Zhiqin regretted that he didn't ask the driver to drive.

When he arrived at the place, Zhou Zhiqin's thoughts on Li Miao changed a bit. The place looked more tasteful, with the taste of a Jiangnan water town, and no matter whether it was imitated enough or not, the grade was not low, at least consumption Zhou Zhiqin was very satisfied with the level of his work.

As soon as Li Miao saw Director Zhou's car arrived, he rushed out to greet him like a rabbit, just like the leaders of some small African republics who came out to greet officials visiting our country, they were so attentive that flowers bloomed on their faces.

Zhou Zhiqin said awkwardly, "Xiao Li, why are you being so polite, go in and sit down."

The private room is also designed according to Jiangnan Xiaozhu. The place is not spacious, but it is more elegant. Zhou Zhiqin asked casually, "Do you know many good places? How did you find this place?"

Li Miao didn't dare to say that this was a restaurant where his wife bought a share, and he could sign a bill for a treat here, so he could only haha: "Hey, some friends who often hang out together brought me here."

Zhou Zhiqin looked sideways at the small bridge and flowing water outside the window again. Although it was a fake mountain and fake water, it looked good, and the few red lanterns hung up gave it a special flavor.

"You kid will enjoy it."

"Where, Zhou Ju is well-informed, and it's giving me face to see the place I chose."

Zhou Zhiqin took the menu from the waiter, scanned the dishes arranged by Li Miao, and thought they were good, so he nodded to the pretty waiter without saying anything.

In fact, Zhou Zhiqin still has reservations about Li Miao. He agreed to come to eat today, which is really doing Li Miao face.

He still has a lot of considerations about whether to turn Li Miao into his confidant and cultivate him.

In the evening, he rejected Li Miao's proposal to go to "entertainment and entertainment". Zhou Zhiqin got a little drunk and drove back by himself.And Li Miao went to the bathing center he had booked before, took a good rest and had a sauna.

Li Miao, who has changed from "Xiao Li" to "Director Li", still has some subtle changes in her heart, and even feels that her waist should be straighter in front of her wife.Although he has been used to the life of a "third-class citizen" for ten years.

Picking up their daughter on the weekend, the family of three rarely got together, went to the playground, and went to the restaurant. The daughter fell asleep on Li Miao's shoulders when she was tired from playing.Li Miao feels that she is quite happy. Although her official career may not be bright and her marriage may not be successful, it is always refreshing to get promoted and get rich.

Tan Liyun was quite indifferent about her husband's promotion. Li Miao didn't know that his head was glowing green at this time, so she was having a good time.

It is not so easy for a new official to take office, and Zhou Zhiqin is not so powerful as Li Miao's backer.

The relationship between them is like an ambiguous one-night stand. It seems that after Zhou Zhiqin gave Li Miao this favor, he was not in a hurry to make him his own, and he didn't show much favoritism at work. Li Miao was a little trembling.

Fortunately, Li Miao is usually quite humble, has a good relationship with personnel, and has worked in finance for several years, so there is not much resistance when starting work.The difficult thing is that every time there is a meeting in the bureau, Li Miao dare not say too much, for fear of offending people, and also afraid of being caught by showing some small tail, so every time he hears that there is a meeting, he wants to hide, and when he goes, he just sits In the back row, try to reduce the sense of presence as much as possible.

With the full implementation of Li Miao's low-key survival strategy, he passed the first three months of the probationary period smoothly, and successfully became a middle-level upstart in the bureau.

Why do you say that he is a "new rich", it is inseparable from his nickname.

Originally, Li Miao was nicknamed "Handsome Guy" in the Finance Department because of his outstanding appearance. Now that he is the Director, the girls in the same office as him still call him "Handsome Guy" and don't call him "Handsome Guy". long.Later, other departments gradually learned about this nickname, and some people followed suit.In winter, Li Miao went to work one day and wore a thin mink fur coat. Although it was not an exaggeration, it still looked very eye-catching in the state-owned monopoly enterprise of Tubie.So gradually some envious and uncomfortable people gave him a new nickname, calling him "upstart" in the bureau, which was somewhat ironic.

Sensitive Li Miao heard it in her ears, but she could only curse a few words in her heart, and she could only treat it as a compliment.

Zhou Zhiqin laughed secretly for a long time when he heard about it from the driver Xiao Qi by accident. Li Miao, who was dumb, made all the staff have fun, and it was not in vain.Of course, Zhou Zhiqin would not say this to Li Miao.

In the evening, the two invited a contractor to have dinner together. The relationship between Li Miao and Zhou Zhiqin is much closer now than before. Although he is not yet at the level of a confidant, in the eyes of outsiders, he is already living with Zhou Zhiqin. Follow up.

While in the car, Zhou Zhiqin couldn't hold it back, and teased Li Miao with a smile: "When will you show me that mink fur of yours again? I didn't see it. I'll get another one later. It's warm Bar?"

Li Miao's face flushed for a while, and she could only smile apologetically: "My wife insisted on me wearing it. It doesn't look good, and I'm too embarrassed to wear it again."

"You've been dressed in fashion all the time. It's time for us bumpkins to take the lead. Your mobile phone is also good, what brand is it?"

"Google's."

"Google? Isn't Google the one that searches the web?"

The driver, Xiao Qi, listened curiously to the conversation between the two, and glanced at the expressions of Li Miao and Director Zhou in the rearview mirror from time to time.

Li Miao paused in embarrassment, then whispered, "Well...Google also produces mobile phones..."

"Look, I'm so behind, I don't even know."

Seeing Zhou Zhiqin smiling, Li Miao really wanted to open the car door and jump out.

Li Miao, the contractor who had dinner this time, had met several times, and he was just a companion, because the other party's business was so big that even Zhou Zhiqin gave him a good look.What he really dealt with was just the subcontractor's subordinates, and it was just a little financial convenience.

The contractor's surname is Chen, and he is already the boss of a company with a registered capital of tens of millions, but he still has the temperament of a contractor.

Mr. Chen is very aggressive when drinking, and he usually drinks liquor from a large glass. This small scene of four or five people eating a meal will inevitably lead to a battle of alcohol.Victory at the drinking table is often a shortcut to money and power. Many people understand this theory but cannot put it into practice. After all, drinking capacity is born with seven points, and acquired three points.

Li Miao belonged to the kind who was congenitally deficient and did not exercise enough the day after tomorrow.He felt apprehensive just looking at the baijiu.

Zhou Zhiqin has been a leader for a long time, and he has seen a lot of things like stage fright among his subordinates, so he immediately called the driver Xiao Qi in, gave him a few instructions, and soon, several acquaintances came successively within [-] minutes , are all the deputy directors or directors of the sub-bureaus below.All of these people can drink, and it can be said that some of them have obtained their official positions from drinking, so with their participation, the battle immediately heated up, and Mr. Chen also started to roll up his sleeves, talking nonsense without image.

With the newcomer on top, Li Miao just drank a few laps by the side, and the three or five taels of liquor still couldn't help him.

After two hours of drinking, the food was cold, and everyone's stomachs had long been anesthetized by alcohol, so they didn't feel hungry at all, so the eight of them opened a room, set up two tables of mahjong, and prepared to start a bloody battle to the end.

According to the level, Li Miao naturally had to play cards with Zhou Zhiqin and Mr. Chen, and he was the one who lost money by delivering food.

Mr. Chen has always been rich and generous, and he said when he walked into the room, "I want to sit on the east side, and that seat is very prosperous for me."

Zhou Zhiqin's mahjong skills are generally recognized as good, and he doesn't dispute such small things as the position, but out of politeness, he still decides to sit in front of President Chen.Seeing that the other two were still standing after sitting down, he asked Li Miao casually, "Xiao Li, do you want to sit on me and start or not?"

Li Miao didn't even think about it, so she smiled and said, "Of course the leader is at the top and I'm at the bottom. I'm at the bottom of the weekly game. Play more cards for me at the weekly game..."

Zhou Zhiqin laughed silently when he heard the phrase "The leader is above me and I am below". This Li Miao is really quiet and funny, and when he talks, he makes people dead.But he didn't show a special smile, and he didn't make fun of Li Miao, because Zhou Zhiqin thought it was a very subtle remark.

He feels very useful.

In the bloody battle, Li Miao tried his best to be a food delivery character, and almost never played cards in the audience.However, Zhou Zhiqin was still merciful, and he didn't make a few high-quality goods in one night.And Mr. Chen's poker skills are really not flattering. It's not easy to lose money to him. Li Miao kept scolding her in her heart. How many people in the world are still thinking about how to lose money to a stupid X in this society where thousands of knives are killed? trouble!

Seeing that it was 01:30 in the morning, Li Miao couldn't help but yelled, and slightly covered his mouth with his slender fingers. Zhou Zhiqin glanced at it, but couldn't move his eyes away.

When I was drawing cards just now, I didn't notice much, but Li Miao's hands are really good-looking.

Zhou Zhiqin still thought vulgarly, if such beautiful hands were used to count money, it would be even more ecstasy.

Li Miao didn't know that his serious leader was thinking about such things, but he realized that Zhou Zhiqin was looking at him, so he took his hand off in embarrassment.

After finishing the round, Zhou Zhiqin offered: "Let's break up, it's so late, I'm sleepy."

Mr. Chen was still in high spirits at first, but seeing that Zhou Zhiqin had opened his mouth, he couldn't hold on any longer. Hearing this, the next table went out to pay the bill in a sensible manner.

Walking out of the entertainment city, Li Miao couldn't hold back his hiccups again, and Zhou Zhiqin once again focused on that almost perfect hand.

Once again, Li Miao was so nervous that he didn't realize what Zhou Zhiqin meant when he saw him, so he smiled and went up to make fun of him: "The Zhou game was so good, if I didn't stop in time, I'm afraid I'd lose to you in my underwear .”

"Director Li, if you want to lose your underwear, get out of the car and let the Zhou Bureau organize the activities. We have time to discuss each other every day."

"That's right, just give Zhou Ju a call, and we'll be there whenever you want."

Zhou Zhiqin ignored these people's flattery, and whispered in Li Miao's ear, "Who cares about winning your underwear?"

Li Miao was shocked, thinking that he heard it wrong, Zhou Zhiqin walked towards his car with a smile, Xiao Qi had already started the car and turned on the heater in advance.Li Miao didn't drive, so he got into Zhou Zhiqin's car now, but he was very nervous because of what he said just now, and he felt weird. Zhou Zhiqin was also drunk, even if he was drunk before, he should wake up now up.How could you say such outrageous things?If it's a lesbian, these words can be regarded as molesting.Li Miao couldn't understand it.

Xiao Qi sent Zhou Zhiqin first, and then Li Miao.

Li Miao fell asleep in the car when he got home, and Xiao Qi pushed him for a long time before he woke him up. Li Miao got out of the car with a chicken coop hairstyle, and stood at the gate of his own community to smoke a cigarette.

After he became the director, he lived such a life almost every day, leaving early and returning late, and he didn't drink a day every day.He kind of understood his wife's state of not wanting to say a word when she came back every day.

But it's not a problem for the couple to stay so busy. The daughter must be taken care of by her parents. Li Miao suddenly misses her daughter a little bit, and wants to hear her sweetly calling her "Daddy".After pinching the cigarette, Li Miao walked home slowly.

After opening the door, he found that the light in the bathroom was still on. He walked in and saw his wife fiddling with something by the sink.

Li Miao asked, "Aren't you sleeping so late?"

"Come back, take it easy, the child is asleep."

"Then I'm going to take a shower, what are you doing?"

"It's okay, you go upstairs to take a shower."

Without doubting him, Li Miao walked straight into the bathroom.Nervously, Tan Liyun broke the pregnancy test stick in her hand into two pieces, shredded the packaging carton, and threw it into the trash can. She tore off a piece of toilet paper, crumpled it up and threw it into the trash can.