"I'm at home." Shi Xiaoman was baffled.
"I'm sorry. I'm calling Li Haidong, but I never expected that I would call you." Lu Yiwei pretended to be surprised.
"Hehe!" The other party giggled and said, "You're a night owl. You're not asleep yet?"
Hearing Shi Xiaoman's concern, Lu Yiwei felt warmth in his heart. "Not yet. I'm preparing some materials. Sorry for disturbing your rest."
"D-don't hang up!" Shi Xiaoman thought that Lu Yiwei was going to hang up the call, so she immediately said, "I still haven't thanked you. I'll treat you to a meal next time to thank you for transferring me from Beihe Town."
With a topic to talk about, Lu Yiwei felt more relaxed and smiled. "You're well-informed. I've only told County Zhang about this."
Shi Xiaoman closed the book on the table and laid down on the bed. "Do I even need to ask around? I can guess that you're the one who helped me. Thank you from the bottom of my heart."
At this moment, a car whizzed past. Lu Yiwei hurriedly covered his phone with his hand. After the car passed by, he said, "You're welcome. It's not easy for a woman like you to live in such a faraway town. You can take care of your family when you return to the county."
"Where are you now?" Shi Xiaoman asked.
Lu Yiwei said, "Where else could I be? At home!"
"Liar! I clearly heard a car. You're not home yet? "Shi Xiaoman asked out of concern.
"I just drank with a few friends, and I'm going home." Lu Yiwei admitted.
"Don't you know that you can't drive after drinking?" Shi Xiaoman suddenly said sternly. "It's best that you don't drive. Take a cab home."
"Thank you." Lu Yiwei felt warm in his heart. "You're still awake?"
"Nope. I just read a book, and I'm going to sleep." Shi Xiaoman replied.
"Then go to sleep. I'm going home." Lu Yiwei replied.
"Alright. Then don't drive."
"Alright. Thank you."
Lu Yiwei hung up the phone and regretted not having the courage to take a step forward. He could sense that Shi Xiaoman was alone at home. If her husband was around, she would not have spoken so loudly, nor would she have cared so much about him.
Shi Xiaoman hung up the phone reluctantly and leaned against the bed, staring at the ceiling in a daze. Her mind was filled with Lu Yiwei's figure. She suddenly realized that she had already reserved a place for Lu Yiwei in her heart, and this place even surpassed that of her husband, Cao Xiaolei.
Shi Xiaoman's marriage was not a happy one. Born in the countryside, she was assigned to the family planning bureau of Nanyang County after graduating from college. In that era, college students were regarded as the "God's Favored One". Naturally, when they returned to their hometown, they were especially valued. However, Shi Xiaoman's fate did not seem to be smooth, just because she came from the countryside.
Because of this, Shi Xiaoman felt inferior. She wanted to become a city dweller. The beautiful Shi Xiaoman had many suitors, but when they heard that she was from the countryside, no matter how good her conditions were, they all avoided her. Shi Xiaoman had lost confidence in life.
At this time, Cao Xiaolei, the "son of a high-ranking official", entered her life. The reason why Cao Xiaolei was said to be the son of a high-ranking official was that his father was originally the deputy director of a food processing factory. In the era of the planned economy, this deputy director was no less than the current director of the finance department. However, in the late 1990s, the market economy gradually replaced the planned economy, and the food processing factory was suddenly on the verge of bankruptcy. It was insolvent and heavily in debt. Cao Xiaolei's father retired early to make room for his son and let Cao Xiaolei take over.
Although the unit was not good, the other party did not care about the household registration and so they accepted her. Therefore, Shi Xiaoman had no choice but to marry Cao Xiaolei in a hurry without dating.
At the beginning of the marriage, they got along well, but later, Cao Xiaolei's problems gradually emerged. He was lazy and addicted to alcohol. Every day, he used the excuse of accompanying the leader to eat with him and then went home drunk. He never cared about this family. He never cared about daily necessities, nor did he think about adding anything to the house. The little money he earned was all spent on alcohol, so his family was still poor.
Cao Xiaolei's father knew what kind of person his son was. Since his son could not be helped up, he had to push his daughter-in-law out at the right time. Therefore, he put down his old face and begged his old friend and the leader to let Shi Xiaoman be promoted and become the democratic deputy mayor of Beihe Town. Even then, Cao Xiaolei was still the same and did not go home all day. Shi Xiaoman vaguely heard that Cao Xiaolei had another woman outside. She was not willing to accept this reality, but the kind her chose to swallow her anger.
It was easy to sympathize with the misfortunes of two families. Lu Yiwei's family was also broken. While Shi Xiaoman sighed for herself, she felt sorry for Lu Yiwei's misfortune. When she first met Lu Yiwei, she did not have the feeling of palpitations like in the movies. However, after further contact, especially after her ankle was sprained, Lu Yiwei's meticulous care made Shi Xiaoman develop feelings for him. She did not want to offend public morals because she had a daughter. She did not want to abandon her husband and have an affair. Although Cao Xiaolei did not care about his family, he had accepted her. However, love was something that could not be explained clearly.
That night, Shi Xiaoman could not sleep. Lying on the empty and cold bed, he tossed and turned. From time to time, he would pick up his phone to see if he had missed a call or a text message, but when he saw that his phone was still in standby mode, he felt inexplicably disappointed. She tightly clamped the blanket with her legs and hugged the pillow as she recalled the time she spent with Lu Yiwei.
Without the courage to look for Shi Xiaoman, Lu Yiwei finished the last cigarette in the box and drove home.
When he returned home, his parents were already asleep. His younger sister, Lu Ling, was still watching television on the second floor. When she saw Lu Yiwei coming back, she immediately called out, "Brother, come over. I have something to discuss with you."
Lu Yiwei took off his jacket, put the car keys on the cabinet, changed into slippers, walked to the sofa and sat down. He said, "Tell me, what's the matter?"
Lowering her head, Lu Ling replied, "Brother, don't be angry if I tell you. I'm planning to stay for two to three days, and I'll be leaving after that."
"Why?" Lu Yiwei became emotional. "Where are you going during Chinese New Year? Do you know how much Mom and Dad miss you? It's not easy for you to come back, so why don't you stay for a few more days and leave after Chinese New Year? "
Lu Ling's emotions were complicated as she said to Lu Yiwei, "Can you lower your voice? Mom and Dad might hear you. Brother, I'll tell you the truth. My boyfriend wants me to spend Chinese New Year at his place, and he wants to settle the marriage. "
Since his younger sister wanted to get married, he naturally wouldn't object. "I'm in favor of your marriage, but you have to go through the process, right? We don't even know each other's names, where they're from, or what they're like, and you're already busy getting married. Furthermore, you're not even married, and you're going to stay at someone else's place? "
Lu Ling threw the pillow aside and said, "I thought you are more open-minded. Turns out you are also an old-fashioned person. We have been living together for a long time, and it's not a big deal for me to stay at his place. "
Lu Yiwei was drunk, and his head was spinning. He doesn't want to argue with his younger sister and stood up. "You can tell Mom and Dad about this. If they agree, I won't have any objections, alright? I'll sleep first. "
As the saying goes, a grown girl cannot be kept at home, and it's true. Lu Ling had only returned home for less than a day, and she's thinking of going to her boyfriend's place. Thinking of his parents' excitement when they saw Lu Ling, Lu Yiwei felt upset.
The next morning, Lu Yiwei went straight to the CPPCC after breakfast and started to clean up the offices. Due to the lack of funds, Lu Yiwei had to start the work himself. Although Xiao Dingyuan from the Public Security Bureau is willing to provide some of the office supplies, Lu Yiwei can't let Xiao Dingyuan do all the work.
Lu Yiwei found a masonry worker's phone on an electric pole, and after some negotiations, the masonry worker agreed to come over in the afternoon. After finishing the task of painting the wall, Lu Yiwei went to the hardware store to contact someone to change the locks and switches. He spent the whole morning busy.
In the afternoon, Lu Yiwei went over early, and a young man was waiting for him at the entrance. Lu Yiwei took a look and saw Xiao Dingyuan's traffic officer, Gu Tong. Lu Yiwei stepped up and received Gu Tong warmly.
"Director Lu, Chief Xiao had asked me to come over to get the list." Gu Tong replied humbly.
Lu Yiwei liked this smart and capable Gu Tong very much. He smiled and said, "Chief Xiao is really efficient. Thank him for me." After that, he took out a piece of paper and handed it to Gu Tong.
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