Li Rui couldn't refuse anymore. He smiled bitterly and walked to Lu Jianhua's seat. "Minister Lu, I can only drink tea with you. I still have to work in the afternoon, so I can't drink."
Lu Jianhua smiled. "Why can't I drink tea instead of wine?"
When Li Rui sat down, he noticed that Bo Yubing had already finished her call and was drinking water with a cold expression. She didn't seem to want to talk to him, so he ignored her. But from the corner of his eyes, he noticed that she wasn't drinking tea. Instead, she was drinking water.
The banquet had already been booked. When Li Rui, the last person, took his seat, the dishes were served at a high price.
Fang Qingyun asked for Lu Jianhua's opinion. "Minister Lu, why don't we drink less? One small cup per person."
Lu Jianhua waved his hand. "I still have a meeting in the afternoon. I won't drink!"
Fang Qingyun didn't insist. She smiled awkwardly and didn't say anything.
Li Rui noticed his expression and sighed inwardly. As the Secretary of the Shuanghe County Committee and the highest leader, not everything went according to his wishes. For example, in this kind of reception, he had to act according to the mood of his superiors. It was quite sad to say that.
After the dishes were served, the door of the private room closed and the banquet began. Everyone used tea in place of wine and took a sip together. Then, they put down their teacups and began to eat and drink. The banquet was accompanied by idle chatter, and the atmosphere was friendly and lively.
After Lu Jianhua ate a few mouthfuls of food, he put down his chopsticks and asked Li Rui, "Xiao Rui, how was your work in Shuanghe?"
When Li Rui heard him use the word "go with the flow", he knew that he also had experience working at the grassroots level. He knew that it was not easy to work at the grassroots level, so he secretly admired the wisdom of this old organization. With such a simple sentence, he was able to understand whether he had a firm foothold in Shuanghe and whether he had started working officially. It had to be said that these old fellows who had been in the bureaucracy for twenty to thirty years were all very astute. He smiled faintly and said, "It's okay. It's not as simple as I thought, nor as complicated as I thought."
Lu Jianhua laughed and said, "What kind of answer is that? But I can also understand. Of course, with your intelligence and wisdom, my question is unnecessary. "
When Bo Yubing heard this, she tilted her head and glanced at Li Rui. Before she could take a closer look, she turned her head back.
Lu Jianhua noticed her small movements and introduced, "County Magistrate Bu, let me introduce you. This is Li Rui, the Deputy County Magistrate of Shuanghe. He used to work in the Political Research Department of the Municipal Party Committee and just started working in Shuanghe this month. He is smart and careful, and his work ability is outstanding. In the future, when you work together in Shuanghe, you should take care of and support each other."
When Li Rui heard this, he suddenly realized that Lu Jianhua's so-called asking him to come over to accompany him was completely a pretense. With Lu Jianhua's status and friendship with him, why would Lu Jianhua ask him to accompany him? Lu Jianhua's real purpose was to introduce him and Bo Yubing to each other, and then let the two of them work together. It could not be said that they were fighting against the local officials of Shuanghe, but at least they would not be bullied by the locals. Of course, this would mainly benefit Bo Yubing, because after she became the Acting County Magistrate, she would be in the eye of the storm. Under the premise of being isolated and without help, it would be easy for her to be oppressed and restrained, and it would be difficult for her to carry out her work. Tsk, tsk, what kind of background did Bo Yubing have? Why would a big shot like Lu Jianhua take care of her so much?
Bo Yubing did not know if she thought as much as Li Rui, or if she did not care about the difficulties that she might encounter in the future. After listening to Lu Jianhua's words, she did not take the opportunity to make friends with Li Rui. She only said a perfunctory sentence with a blank expression, "County Magistrate Li, please cooperate with me more in the future."
Although she used the word "please", everyone could hear that she was not polite at all. She clearly put on the airs of a County Magistrate and wanted Li Rui, the Deputy County Magistrate, to treat her as the center, listen to her, and cooperate with her in the future.
From the moment Li Rui sat down, he had already observed that this beautiful County Magistrate should be a proud and aloof person. She was almost the kind of person who considered everything and everyone beneath her. Of course, with her capital, she was also qualified to have this kind of personality. She was beautiful, had a strong background, and became a County Magistrate at such a young age. Why would she be afraid of anyone? Why should she care about other people's opinions? He thought to himself, "Since you have this kind of personality, don't expect me to warm up to you in the future. If we need to deal with each other, we will do it according to business. If we don't need to deal with each other, then we will go our separate ways. I will not flatter you all the time like the secular men and cadres." He smiled and replied with two words, "Well said."
Lu Jianhua observed the attitude and reaction of the two people and secretly smiled bitterly. These two people were younger than the other, more arrogant than the other, and more successful than the other. It was good enough that they did not fight with each other. How could they take care of each other and support each other? In any case, no matter what, he had already expressed his good intentions. Even if Bo Yubing didn't appreciate it, the person behind her would still feel some favor towards him after hearing it. That was enough. He didn't say anything else at the moment and just continued to eat.
In this kind of occasion, there was no lack of toasts. Although they did not drink, it was not impossible to drink tea instead of wine. After Fang Qingyun, Chen Kui, and the others toasted Lu Jianhua, they turned their attention to Bo Yubing, the new county magistrate. Bo Yubing was not pretentious in this kind of social interaction and did not refuse. She calmly responded to whoever came to toast her, even though she only responded by taking a sip of water.
After a few rounds of toasts, except for Li Rui, the other county leaders had all toasted Bo Yubing. If Li Rui was not respectful, it would seem that he was disrespectful to the new county magistrate.
Thinking of this, Li Rui was a little worried and stole a glance at Bo Yubing. Unexpectedly, Bo Yubing seemed to have telepathy with him. Coincidentally, Bo Yubing turned her head and a pair of beautiful eyes happened to meet his gaze. When Li Rui met her eyes, his heart skipped a beat. He wanted to quickly lower his head, but the other party's reaction was faster. She quickly turned her gaze away as if she did not see him.
Li Rui turned his head and secretly sighed in relief. He lowered his head and thought silently. Did County Magistrate Bo really not see him, or did she pretend not to see him after seeing him? If it was the latter, then she was a little bit too powerful. He was afraid that he would encounter difficulties when interacting with her in the future.
Speaking of which, this was just a small episode. It was over after it happened, but Li Rui still had to face the previous problem — whether to toast her or not. Coincidentally, Lu Jianhua could not stay any longer after eating a bowl of rice. He said that he had to hurry back to the city for a meeting. If he left, of course, the others would not be able to eat, so they could only get up and send him off. However, everyone was almost done eating. Even if they were not full, they were definitely not hungry.
In this way, Li Rui's problem instantly disappeared. He also did not have any psychological burden. He leisurely followed the crowd to send Lu Jianhua off and then rushed back to work.
At around four in the afternoon, the Executive Deputy County Magistrate You Gongjie came to visit. Li Rui hurriedly got up to welcome him and let him sit on the sofa. Since the last time they talked in Binhe Park, they had regarded each other as close friends. In their hearts, they did not treat each other as outsiders. They got along very comfortably and happily. Therefore, Li Rui was very welcoming of County Magistrate You.
"Did the new County Magistrate ask you to report your work?" After exchanging a few pleasantries, You Gongjie suddenly said this. Perhaps this was the real reason why he came.
Li Rui was slightly surprised and said, "No, why? Did County Magistrate You already be called?"
You Gongjie nodded and said, "Yes, she sent someone to call me over at around two in the afternoon. I briefly reported my work to her, but I feel that she is a difficult person to communicate with."
Li Ruixin's head jumped. This Bo Yubing was almost as practical and efficient as him. She had just become the Acting County Magistrate, but she had already grabbed the County Magistrate's work and asked several deputies to report to her. This was the rhythm of controlling the overall situation. Tsk, tsk, this woman. He had already thought highly of her, but it turned out that he still underestimated her. He smiled and asked, "There are many ways to understand a person who is difficult to communicate with. What kind of way are you talking about, County Magistrate You?"
You Gongjie said, "I am not speaking ill of her behind her back. I am just speaking the truth. When she was listening to my work report, she interrupted me from time to time and questioned me. I feel that she is a little self-centered and arrogant. She does not put us in her eyes and she can arbitrarily oppress us. Moreover, her questions are very tricky and mean. It seems that she is not asking for work, but deliberately questioning and suppressing me. She wants to show that she is the County Magistrate. After I finished my report, she directly asked me to go back. She sat in the chair and did not move. She did not even get up to send me off. She really does not care about the friendship between colleagues. Although I have never been picky about this, I feel that she has gone a little too far. "
Li Ruixin said that Bo Yubing was showing her authority. Since ancient times, there were many ways for officials to show their authority to their deputies and subordinates. For example, directly beating and scolding, catching people's mistakes, or killing the chicken to warn the monkey. The method that Bo Yubing used was actually not considered too aggressive. It was just that You Gongjie was very bookish. He could look down on the nobles and officials, but he could not stand being looked down on by others. Therefore, he could not accept Bo Yubing's attitude. However, when it came to the last question that he picked on Bo Yubing, it could not be considered a mistake. It was a favor to give, but there was nothing wrong with not doing so. At least it did not violate any rules. He smiled and said, "She is such a person?"
As soon as he finished speaking, there was a knock on the door. Both of them turned to look at the door.
"Please come in!" Li Rui said politely.
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