Zhang Jianguo exhaled, a thin layer of sweat beading on his forehead despite the cold air conditioning in the private room.
For some unknown reason, facing the young Lu Xuan, he felt a strange, inexplicable guilt.
This kid was too calm, so calm that he didn't seem like a college student who had just come of age.
He reached out, his fingertips pausing slightly as they touched the cold phone screen.
The screen was lit, displaying the very PPT he had earlier scoffed at.
The first page contained a photo of him from half a month ago at “Jingxin Teahouse,” accompanied by a few lines of small text, recording the time, place, private room number, and his “deed” of “helping” an old friend’s child secure an admission slot at a key elementary school, even clearly marking the brand and approximate market price of the purple clay teapot set that the other party had given him.
Zhang Jianguo’s pupils sharply contracted, and his heart skipped a beat.
This… how was this possible?
He forced himself to remain calm, his fingers somewhat stiffly sliding to the right.
The second page, the third page…
Each page was a stain, a transaction, from his “work life” over the past two decades.
Time, place, people (the other parties were blurred), event details, involved amounts or items, some even including snippets of bank transaction screenshots or key excerpts from recorded phone calls.
Those things he had deliberately forgotten, thought long buried, or even believed he had done flawlessly, now transformed into cold text and images, laid bare before his eyes.
He saw a photo from five years ago, in a luxuriously decorated KTV private room, where he was embracing the shoulder of an educational equipment supplier, beaming with a red face, with several thick envelopes on the table.
He then saw a photocopy of a document from ten years ago, bearing his sprawling signature, the content of which was the misappropriation of a special education fund… He remembered having pulled many strings and expended great effort to suppress that matter, believing he had done it without anyone knowing!
The color drained from Zhang Jianguo’s face bit by bit, cold sweat trickling down his temples, dripping onto the dark tablecloth, spreading into a small wet stain.
The hand holding his phone began to tremble uncontrollably.
This was not a PPT at all; this was clearly a ledger recording his sins! A death warrant sufficient to condemn him to eternal damnation!
He flipped through page after page, his heart growing colder and his hands trembling more with each flip.
The terrifying number of 14,888 pages swirled in his mind, almost suffocating him.
Who exactly was this kid? How could he possess so much, such detailed information?!
At this moment, he finally understood how terribly wrong he had been.
He had completely underestimated Lu Xuan's strength and overestimated his own power.
When he flipped to a certain page and saw a blurry photo of himself, eyes hazy with drink, being helped into a high-end hotel by a young woman, Zhang Jianguo could no longer hold on and almost threw the phone away.
“Hoo… hoo…” He breathed heavily, reaching out to haphazardly wipe the cold sweat from his forehead, then coughed heavily a few times, trying to conceal his discomposure.
The air in the private room seemed to solidify, leaving only his increasingly rapid breathing.
Finally, he tremblingly put down his phone, slowly raised his head, and looked at Lu Xuan.
His usually stern face now forced out a smile uglier than a cry, his voice carrying a subtle hoarseness and fawning tone:
“Lu… Lu Xuan, haha, look at this misunderstanding. Actually… we’re all family, why make things so tense?”
He tried to make his tone sound friendlier, even with a hint of an elder's affection: “Your and Yining’s matter, I… I actually noticed it a long time ago. Yining, this child, I’ve spoiled her since she was little, her temper isn’t great, but her heart is kind. For you to like her, it’s her blessing, and it’s also our Old Zhang family’s blessing!”
Zhang Yining listened, dumbfounded, her small face instantly turning crimson, shyly lowering her head, her fingers nervously picking at the corner of her clothes.
She had never expected her usually strict father to make such a complete 180-degree turn in attitude.
“Dad… what… what are you saying?” she mumbled softly, her voice as faint as a mosquito, but her heart was pounding like a small rabbit. Brother Xuan… and my business?
Seeing his daughter’s reaction, Zhang Jianguo cursed “idiot” inwardly, but his face grew even more “amiable” with a smile: “Yining, look at you, you’re still shy. Lu Xuan is so excellent, you must seize the opportunity! Your mom and I both support you two!”
As he spoke, he turned to Lu Xuan, his smile growing even brighter, as if the overbearing Deputy Director from just now was merely an illusion: “Lu Xuan, when you young people are in love, we elders shouldn’t interfere too much. However, since your feelings are so strong, have you considered… when to settle the marriage?”
“I know, your family’s financial situation might… well, temporarily be a bit difficult. It doesn’t matter!”
Zhang Jianguo waved his hand grandly, appearing to be generously offering help, “The car, the house, our family will cover it all! As long as you two young ones are happy and harmonious, that’s better than anything! Haha, hahahaha…”
He laughed, his eyes narrowed into slits, as if Lu Xuan was already his son-in-law.
Zhang Yining, beside him, her cheeks so red they looked like they might bleed, kept her head down, but couldn't help but let a small smile creep up at the corners of her mouth.
Dad actually agreed, and he’s even going to buy us a car and a house…
This foolish girl was completely immersed in her unrealistic fantasies, not noticing the strange and tense atmosphere in the private room at all.
“Heh.”
A very soft scoff broke Zhang Jianguo's self-directed show of warmth.
Lu Xuan's crossed leg swayed gently, cigarette smoke curling around his fingers. He looked at Zhang Jianguo with a half-smile, his eyes filled with undisguised disdain and mockery.
“Deputy Director Zhang,” he said slowly, each word like a slap across Zhang Jianguo’s face, “What time is it? Are you already talking nonsense? Or perhaps, you haven’t even had a drink yet, but you’re already drunk?”
Zhang Jianguo’s smile instantly froze on his face, his muscles twitching unnaturally twice.
“Your precious daughter,” Lu Xuan’s gaze shifted to Zhang Yining, who was still blushing, a playful curve on his lips, “If I tell her to go east, does she dare to go west? If I tell her to kneel, does she dare to stand? Based on that, you want to talk about marriage with me? Deputy Director Zhang, don’t you think that’s ridiculous?”
Upon hearing this, the blush on Zhang Yining’s face instantly faded, turning deathly pale. Shame, embarrassment, and a hint of inexplicable grievance surged into her heart, and her eyes immediately reddened.
Zhang Jianguo’s facial muscles twitched even more violently, alternating between red and white, the veins on his forehead throbbing.
Suppressing the anger and humiliation in his heart, he said in a dry voice, “Lu Xuan… my young friend, always leave a line in everything, so you can meet again in the future. You are still young, and you have a long road ahead; there’s no need to be so absolute, is there?”
“Oh?” Lu Xuan raised an eyebrow, “Does Deputy Director Zhang mean you want to go down with me?”
“You!” Zhang Jianguo suddenly stood up from his chair, almost knocking over the chair behind him because he rose too quickly.
His face flushed crimson, his eyes wide, he pointed at Lu Xuan, his voice trembling slightly with anger: “Lu Xuan! Don’t push your luck! I, Zhang Jianguo, have been in Dongting City for decades; I’m not some soft persimmon to be kneaded by just anyone! If you push me too hard, then fine, we’ll all go down together!”
He tried to use this mutually destructive stance to regain a bit of dignity and initiative.
However, Lu Xuan merely looked at him indifferently, his eyes as calm as if watching a clown.
The next second, Lu Xuan suddenly reached out and picked up the cup of tea that Zhang Jianguo had just filled on the table.
“Smack—!”
A cup of boiling hot tea, precisely, was splashed entirely onto Zhang Jianguo’s face, distorted by anger!
Tea leaves and water droplets streamed down his startled cheeks, making him look utterly dishevelled.
“Ah!” Zhang Yining screamed in fright, covering her mouth.
Zhang Jianguo was stunned by the sudden splash of hot tea, his mind blank, feeling only a burning pain on his face.
“Damn it, I gave you face, didn’t I?” Lu Xuan’s voice suddenly turned cold, carrying a chilling murderous aura, “Still dare to go down with me?!”
He abruptly stood up and slammed the empty cup in his hand heavily onto the table, producing a dull thud.
“Come on! I have nothing to lose; do you think I’m afraid of you, who has everything to lose?”
Lu Xuan took a step closer, his gaze sharp as a knife, piercing directly into Zhang Jianguo’s heart, “I’ll post all this online right now! I’ll make you, Deputy Director Zhang, a trending topic in minutes! Do you believe that before you even walk out of this door today, people from the Disciplinary Inspection Commission will come to ‘invite’ you back for tea?!”