Chapter 58 A Most Agreeable Conversation

"Do you drink Tieguanyin?" Ye Ziyi asked with a slight smile.

"It doesn't matter, as long as it's tea. I'm not that particular about it," Lu Hao replied as he sat down.

Lately, the tea he drank most often came from an old tea tree on the back mountain of the Fangshui Township Government. It was given to him by Tang Chunyan, and finding the flavor quite pleasant, Lu Hao had been drinking it ever since.

Ye Ziyi smiled and poured Lu Hao a cup of Tieguanyin. "I rather enjoy tea, and this Tieguanyin is of the highest grade. Have a taste."

Lu Hao took a small sip. A refreshing fragrance rushed to his senses; it entered smoothly without any bitterness, leaving a lingering aroma in his mouth. He immediately praised, "This tea is wonderful, truly delicious."

Although he did not know much about tea, he knew high quality when he tasted it.

"The highest grade of Tieguanyin costs over three thousand yuan a jin," Ye Ziyi said, picking up her own teacup and taking a small sip.

"So expensive?" Lu Hao was surprised.

"Indeed."

"If the tea produced in our county could also sell for this price, that would be wonderful," Lu Hao mused thoughtfully.

"Anxing County produces tea as well?" Ye Ziyi asked, slightly surprised.

"Yes, but it's black tea, and the texture is a bit rough. However, there is an old tea tree on the back mountain of our township government. Every year, after its leaves are pan-fried—though the taste is different from the Tieguanyin we're drinking—I think it's just as good."

Hearing Lu Hao speak with such certainty, Ye Ziyi's curiosity for the tea was piqued. "Is that so? When will you invite me to try some?"

"It's harvested and pan-fried by some of the older female cadres in the township. After I was transferred to Fangshui Township, a colleague gave me some, and I've almost finished it. I'll go back and check if there's any left in the older ladies' office at the town government." Lu Hao made a mental note of this.

"If you call them older ladies, you certainly won't get any; you have to call them older sisters. But now that you've been promoted to deputy township head, I imagine they'd be willing to give you whatever you ask for. After all, who would miss an opportunity to butter up a superior?" Ye Ziyi said half-jokingly.

Lu Hao was momentarily stunned. True enough, this well-informed woman before him already knew about his promotion.

"Speaking of which, I was just about to ask you. Did you find someone to help me out?"

"Yes. When I saw the video of you putting out the fire, I gave a friend at the municipal television station a call," Ye Ziyi said with a faint smile, making no attempt to conceal it.

"It really was you, Ziyi. I don't even know how to express my gratitude." With his suspicion confirmed, Lu Hao felt a surge of excitement.

Had it not been for Ye Ziyi's assistance, he would not have smoothly weathered the crisis, let alone received a blessing in disguise and been promoted to a deputy section-level official.

"You don't need to thank me. I merely added fuel to the fire and helped you along the way. If you hadn't rallied the villagers and risked your life to put out the fire, I wouldn't have been able to help you even if I wanted to," Ye Ziyi said earnestly.

"As for taking advantage of this incident to promote me to deputy township head, did you pull strings for that as well?" Lu Hao asked again.

Li Zhen certainly didn't want to see him promoted. He probably would have rather given him a citation, party cadre honors, or even a cash bonus, rather than let him hold this substantive position of deputy township head. Yet, in the end, he did get promoted, which indicated that someone in official circles had spoken on his behalf, leveraging his heroic act of fighting the fire.

"The last time we had dinner, you mentioned wanting to be promoted to deputy section-level. A friend of mine in official circles said it wouldn't be easy, because promoting a cadre requires sufficient grounds to convince the majority. Your fire-fighting feat became the opportunity. Rather than saying my friend spoke up for you, it's more accurate to say you earned it yourself through your own merit," Ye Ziyi said with a smile.

In official circles, many decisions are not dictated by a single leader, especially when the top two officials are outwardly harmonious but inwardly at odds and constantly undermine each other. Therefore, any decision requires a justification.

"Today, I use tea in place of wine. Although I am drinking your tea, I am truly grateful to you and your friend. Without you both, I wouldn't have achieved this deputy section-level rank," Lu Hao said with sincere earnestness.

On the surface, his promotion to deputy section-level seemed completely natural—wasn't it just a matter of someone speaking the crucial word at the critical moment and fighting for the benefits he deserved?

Yet, some people work at the grassroots level their entire lives, performing exceptionally well and possessing great capability, but simply because they lack a noble person to speak up for them at the crucial moment, they remain mere clerks for life.

Ye Ziyi was his noble benefactor right now.

"You saved my life; helping you was only right."

Ye Ziyi offered a warm, gentle smile. "Now that Liu Yuanda is out of trouble and you've been promoted to deputy section-level, the two things you mentioned have both been realized. I asked you here today to see if there is anything else you need my help with."

"You've already helped me so much; I don't need your help with anything else," Lu Hao answered decisively, shaking his head.

"You answered so quickly. Aren't you going to think about it carefully? If you're short on money, you can tell me too," Ye Ziyi said, slightly surprised.

She assumed that having tasted the sweetness of her help, Lu Hao would carefully consider what else he might need. Instead, he refused without a second thought, which somewhat exceeded her expectations.

Furthermore, when she had discussed Lu Hao saving her life with her family, they had suggested she meet with him again and find out what he needed. Even if he needed several hundred thousand or a million yuan, it would be best to settle it all at once to prevent Lu Hao from developing greed in the future and becoming a nuisance. That was why Ye Ziyi had invited Lu Hao out again tonight.

"Money?"

Lu Hao paused, his thoughts involuntarily drifting to the matter of an apartment.

He had originally planned to buy an eighty-square-meter two-bedroom apartment, but Fang Jing had mentioned that evening that he should buy a large apartment of one hundred and forty square meters. The difference in price between the two was substantial. Even if Su Hong pooled all the savings she had accumulated over the years to help him buy the place, it might still not be enough.

As for being short on money, he certainly was. If he obtained a sum of money from Ye Ziyi, it could naturally solve his urgent need. But the thought of asking a woman for money felt utterly shameless.

Besides, when he saved Ye Ziyi back then, it was purely out of instinct. Furthermore, he was wearing a military uniform at the time; it was the responsibility and obligation of a soldier. He had never expected Ye Ziyi to repay him, let alone asked for money.

Lu Hao firmly shook his head once more and said earnestly, "I truly don't need your help with anything else."

"Have you really thought it through? Don't regret it later," Ye Ziyi teased.

Most people lack self-control when faced with money and power, especially after tasting the benefits.

Moreover, she felt that as a grassroots cadre, it was impossible for Lu Hao to be entirely without greed. Now that he had been promoted to deputy section-level, he would surely have an urgent desire to advance to full section-level next. Yet, Lu Hao did not bring up his career advancement at all. This undoubtedly made Ye Ziyi view him even more favorably.

Of course, this was merely habitual leadership thinking and did not involve any romantic feelings.

"What's there to regret? I've already been promoted to deputy section-level. In my new position, I will certainly have the opportunity to do more practical work for the common people of Fangshui Township and strive to lift the township out of poverty as soon as possible." Lu Hao took a sip of Tieguanyin, his entire being brimming with fighting spirit.

Seeing Lu Hao's boundless enthusiasm, Ye Ziyi couldn't help asking, "Then what kind of practical work do you plan to do?"