"This is reality. You'll get used to it."

It took the motorized tricycle nearly half an hour to reach the government compound. Both the County Party Committee and the County Government were housed in a newly constructed high-rise building.

Fang Qingye was stopped by the security guards at the main gate and was only allowed in after registering.

The County Party Committee Office was on the fourth floor. Fortunately, there was an elevator in the high-rise; otherwise, carrying things up pot by pot would have exhausted someone to death.

Fang Qingye parked the tricycle at the entrance of the lobby. Without rushing to move the plants, he and Bai Ou went up to the fourth floor first, as he needed to find Chen Zhidong, the deputy director in charge of administrative affairs at the County Party Committee Office.

Fang Qingye still had some impression of this man, but he couldn't remember which office he was in. There were several doors in the hallway bearing the title of Deputy Director.

Noticing that the door to the General Affairs Section was slightly ajar, he knocked and pushed it open. He saw a young man in his early twenties sitting by the door, lowering his head and playing with his mobile phone.

Hearing movement at the door, the young man quickly put his phone down and looked up at Fang Qingye.

"Hello, could you tell me which office Director Chen is in?" Fang Qingye asked politely.

Instead of answering directly, the young man looked at him with a hint of vigilance. "Why are you looking for Director Chen?"

"We are from the Four Seasons Nursery, here to deliver potted plants for the office," Fang Qingye replied.

"Oh, he went down to the townships."

"When will he be back?"

"I don't know."

This...

Fang Qingye hesitated for a moment before asking, "Then can we bring the potted plants up first?"

"Suit yourself."

Having said that, the young man ignored them and picked up his phone again to play.

Without any further hesitation, Fang Qingye took Bai Ou downstairs to start moving the potted plants.

"Yezi, I noticed several office doors are closed. How are we supposed to deliver to them if they're locked?" Bai Ou asked in a low voice as they walked.

"Logistically speaking, whoever handles the general affairs of an office in each department holds a spare key to every room, especially the leaders' offices. This is to ensure that if a leader goes out and there's an urgent matter requiring entry, the room can still be opened," Fang Qingye explained softly.

"But given the situation, let's deliver to the occupied ones first, and we'll deal with the rest later."

Bai Ou didn't say anything more. The two went downstairs and began hauling the potted green plants upstairs via the elevator.

Some of the potted plants were relatively small, and Fang Qingye could carry them to the office by himself. Others were quite large and required Bai Ou's assistance, especially the Dracaena draco destined for the General Affairs Section office. Fang Qingye and Bai Ou exerted all their strength just to move it from the elevator entrance into the middle of the office.

Fang Qingye was already sweating all over, and when he looked at Bai Ou, her face was flushed red too.

The young man from earlier remained completely indifferent, sitting behind his desk playing with his phone!

What the hell...

He couldn't even lend a hand.

Never mind. People like that looked down on those doing manual labor at the bottom, and besides, he was currently providing a service to them—they were the customers, practically gods.

After finishing this pot, Fang Qingye walked out and saw a middle-aged man in his thirties holding a briefcase and walking briskly toward them. It was none other than Chen Zhidong, the deputy director of the County Party Committee Office.

"Director Chen," Fang Qingye greeted him promptly.

"Who are you?" Director Chen stopped in his tracks.

"We're from the Four Seasons Nursery, here today to replace the potted plants in the offices," Fang Qingye replied.

"Oh, go ahead and change them," Chen Zhidong said, continuing on his way. Then, noticing Bai Ou standing behind Fang Qingye, he asked an extra question:

"Why isn't that fellow Xiao Zhang delivering the plants today? Are you college students doing an internship at the nursery?"

"Neither of us is. My name is Fang Qingye, and I work at Dongfang Bank," Fang Qingye smiled. "I'm just helping out my grandfather."

"Your grandfather is Boss Fang from the nursery? Then you must be Principal Fang's son from Chengguan Middle School?" Director Chen asked.

"Yes."

"Then Director Fang from the Finance Bureau must be your second uncle, right?"

"That's right, my own second uncle," Fang Qingye answered truthfully.

Chen Zhidong's attitude instantly became warm and enthusiastic: "Your father and your second uncle—I'm very familiar with both of them. I even had dinner with your second uncle not long ago."

"I've heard my dad and second uncle mention your name too," Fang Qingye smiled.

"Well, the young man is certainly a talent," Chen Zhidong praised, then looked at Bai Ou beside him. "Is she your girlfriend?"

"No, she's my childhood friend, Bai Ou. She's currently pursuing her master's degree at East China University of Political Science and Law. Her father is Bureau Chief Bai from the Education Bureau," Fang Qingye explained.

"Bureau Chief Bai's daughter, and a graduate student at that! A boundless future, a boundless future," Chen Zhidong said with a smile. "Come on, let's go to my office, I'll pour you both some tea."

"No thank you, Director Chen. I need to hurry and bring the potted plants up; they shouldn't be exposed to the sun for too long," Fang Qingye politely declined.

"Alright then, I'll have someone give you a hand," Chen Zhidong offered.

Right in line with my thoughts.

Thinking this, Fang Qingye still had to decline out of courtesy: "No trouble at all, I can manage."

"How can that do! Those are large flowerpots and they're very heavy," Director Chen said, pushing open the half-closed door of the General Affairs Section. Just as he was about to speak, the previously indifferent young man jumped to his feet.

Wearing a beaming smile, he said, "Director Chen, let me help."

This guy must have overheard the conversation outside.

"Alright then, Xiao Wang, thank you for your hard work."

"No trouble at all, no trouble at all," the young man named Xiao Wang replied with a full face of smiles.

This sudden shift from haughty to deferential—wasn't the attitude change a bit too fast?

Fang Qingye and Bai Ou exchanged glances, but neither said anything.

The three of them headed downstairs, with Fang Qingye and Bai Ou walking in front.

"Sigh..." Bai Ou suddenly sighed softly. "Now I can truly imagine what it was like when Zhang Xiaoqiang came to deliver potted plants."

"This is reality; you'll get used to it," Fang Qingye said indifferently.

Reaching the ground floor, the three of them began loading the potted plants into the elevator. Naturally, the heavy lifting was primarily done by Fang Qingye and Xiao Wang. They transported the plants to the fourth floor via the elevator, and then, following the list provided by his grandfather, delivered them pot by pot to the various offices. Even the locked offices of those who were out were opened by someone so the new plants could be swapped in.

Finally, they had to water the plants and load all the old potted plants back onto the vehicle. The whole process took a full hour of busy work.

Once everything was done, Fang Qingye found Director Chen to sign the rental checklist. He would take it back to his grandfather, and after accumulating half a year's worth, he would return to the County Party Committee Office to settle the accounts with Director Chen uniformly.

At last, Fang Qingye and Bai Ou drank some tea in Director Chen's office before leaving. They then went to the Organization Department on the fifth floor to tend to the potted plants there—watering the thirsty ones and clearing away withered leaves. However, Fang Qingye didn't get his hands dirty this time.

Bai Ou took care of it.

Watering plants was quite a profound science, and in this regard, Bai Ou was much better than him.

After another half hour of hard work, today's tasks were finally considered completely finished.

"We're finally done," Bai Ou said in a low voice as they walked down the hallway. "Your grandfather's business is really huge."

"That's all thanks to my second uncle's credit," Fang Qingye smiled.

Fang Qingye knew very well in his heart that the reason his grandfather managed to secure the plant rental business for so many government agencies was primarily because of his second uncle.

Such a minor matter, and not a matter of principle—why wouldn't the leaders of various departments gladly offer a favor of convenience?

Now that his second uncle had become the head of the Finance Bureau, his grandfather's nursery business would probably expand even further.

Initially, Fang Qingye had wanted to find Liu Dong for a chat, but after asking at the Publicity Department on the 7th floor, he learned that Liu had gone down to the townships for field research with the leaders.

Truly a very busy man.

Since there was nothing else to do in the government compound, Fang Qingye rode the motorized tricycle back to the nursery with Bai Ou, and it was already approaching 12 o'clock.

"Xiao Ye, Xiao Ou, go wash up quickly, look how hot you both are," his grandmother greeted them warmly. "Come over for lunch once you're done."

Naturally, Fang Qingye wouldn't stand on ceremony. He sent a text message to his mother explaining the situation, and after some modest hesitation, Bai Ou agreed to stay. It wasn't her first time eating here.

Garlic chives with fish balls, stir-fried spring chicken, luffa with green soybeans, and shepherd's purse tofu soup, served with a bowl of white rice for each of them. Fang Qingye ate with hearty satisfaction.

You have to admit, his grandmother's cooking was simply delicious!

After the meal, Bai Ou helped wash the dishes and utensils before the two of them left.

"Bai Ou, I'll drive you back," Fang Qingye said.

"No need, I rode my bicycle," Bai Ou pointed to a small light-framed bicycle parked outside the gate.

Seeing how it was, Fang Qingye didn't insist. After saying goodbye to his grandparents, they left the nursery. Just as he was about to get on his vehicle, Bai Ou suddenly called out to him.

"Yezi, tomorrow is Saturday, and our class is planning a reunion. Are you going?"