299: The close associates of the Party Secretary and Mayor

Lin Zifeng finished dinner at the Jiang Family's home. At Jiang Shiyu's invitation, he spent over an hour chatting with him in the study before the family of three saw him out.

"Mom, Dad, I'll see Zifeng off for you. I'll be back in a bit."

After Jiang Yufei said this, the couple nodded, and she left with Lin Zifeng.

Lin Zifeng and Jiang Yufei walked side by side along the path of the Residential Community. Jiang Yufei whispered, "Zifeng, you heard my parents' opinion just now."

"At the latest, I will leave Yushu County before next year's May Day."

"Having a child with you, a crystallization of our love, is the greatest wish of my life."

"Don't worry, Zifeng. I will arrange everything properly; it definitely won't affect you."

"The only thing I need you to do is, after the New Year and before May Day, you must let me have my wish. I must get pregnant during this period."

"Yufei, having a child is no small matter. This is a major event that concerns your entire life!"

"I still urge you to think it over carefully. Is it worth sacrificing a lifetime of happiness for me? My heart cannot be at peace!"

Lin Zifeng stopped in his tracks and spoke with a complex expression.

"Zifeng, everyone has a different standard for happiness. I feel that being with you like this is my happiness."

"Do you think I would be happy if I left you, pretended nothing ever happened between us, and just married some man I didn't love?"

"As the saying goes, 'Better to be a hero's concubine than a commoner's wife.'"

"You know how I feel about you, so don't try to persuade me anymore."

"If you keep trying to talk me out of it, I'll get angry."

Jiang Yufei said with a look of determination.

Hearing Jiang Yufei's words, Lin Zifeng looked around. Seeing no one was nearby, he reached out and pulled Jiang Yufei into his arms.

Only then did he whisper softly in Jiang Yufei's ear, "Alright, I'll listen to you. It's just that you'll have a hard time ahead."

Jiang Yufei gave Lin Zifeng a tight hug before quickly pushing him away.

With a shy look, she said, "Zifeng, there are old neighbors all around here. It wouldn't be easy to explain if someone saw us."

"So our great Secretary Jiang has moments of fear too?" Lin Zifeng teased, lightly pinching Jiang Yufei's nose.

The two chatted in the Residential Community for over ten minutes. Fearing her parents might become suspicious, they finally parted ways. Lin Zifeng headed toward the entrance of the Residential Community, while Jiang Yufei turned back toward home.

Wang Zhongyu and Li Qiang had finished their dinner outside and were waiting for Lin Zifeng in the car outside the entrance of the Residential Community.

"Brother Wang, our Secretary is quite the favorite of Secretary Cao and the Mayor!"

"Every time the Secretary goes to see Secretary Cao, he doesn't need to make an appointment in advance like other County Leaders."

"Today, he was even invited to the Mayor's home for dinner. Leaders from other districts and counties don't get that kind of treatment."

Li Qiang said while looking at Wang Zhongyu.

"Our Secretary has outstanding working abilities. Over the past few years, he has led all the Cadres in the county to develop Yushu County so well; of course, the Secretary and the Mayor would like him."

"Moreover, the Secretary and Secretary Jiang started working in Heping Town together. They supported each other in their work, making them both colleagues and very close friends."

"With this relationship, it's not surprising that the Secretary came to the Mayor's house for dinner."

Wang Zhongyu said with a smile.

"The Secretary and Secretary Jiang have come all the way from Heping Town to their current positions. Others think their promotion speed is like a rocket."

"Only those of us close to them know how difficult their journey has been. They've earned it every step of the way through hard work!"

Li Qiang said with a sigh of emotion.

"The Secretary almost never takes a day off. Even if he does take a break occasionally, he arranges all the work in advance."

"Especially over the last six months, his average workload has long exceeded the prescribed working hours."

"Fortunately, our Secretary is young and healthy. An ordinary person wouldn't be able to handle such a heavy workload."

"The world only sees the Secretary's glorious side, but they don't know how much effort and hard work he has put in."

"It really goes to show that if you want to look distinguished in public, you must suffer in private."

Wang Zhongyu spoke with deep feeling.

Li Qiang nodded in agreement. Seeing Lin Zifeng walk out of the Residential Community's gate, he quickly said, "Brother Wang, the Secretary is out."

Hearing Li Qiang's reminder, Wang Zhongyu quickly got out of the car and opened the rear door.

Lin Zifeng got into the car, said they were heading back to the county, and began to rest with his eyes closed.

Li Qiang's driving was very steady, and the car was quiet. Before he knew it, Lin Zifeng had fallen asleep.

By the time Lin Zifeng woke up, Li Qiang had already parked the car downstairs at his home.

Lin Zifeng yawned and asked, somewhat puzzled, "Zhongyu, why didn't you wake me up? How long have I been asleep?"

"Secretary, we haven't been back long. Seeing how soundly you were sleeping, Qiang Zi and I didn't want to wake you."

Wang Zhongyu said somewhat evasively, and Li Qiang quickly chimed in to agree.

Neither of them told the truth, as they had already been waiting there for nearly an hour.

To let Lin Zifeng sleep a bit longer, they hadn't made a sound to disturb him.

Seeing it was already past eleven, Lin Zifeng felt a warmth in his heart. He didn't expose their lie and said as he got out of the car, "It's late. You two should head back and rest soon too!"

The two agreed. After seeing Lin Zifeng enter the building's entrance, Wang Zhongyu got back into the car, and Li Qiang drove away.

When Lin Zifeng returned home, Chen Yuxi and the child were already asleep.

Lin Zifeng took off his clothes and carefully lay down beside Chen Yuxi. Chen Yuxi still felt his body heat and turned over in her sleep, snuggling into his arms to continue sleeping.

He gave Chen Yuxi a gentle kiss on the forehead and closed his eyes.

Early the next morning, Lin Zifeng got up early. Without disturbing Chen Yuxi, he put on his sportswear and headed out.

He ran to a small park, found a secluded spot, and began practicing the Eight Extremities Fist.

After finishing a set of the Eight Extremities Fist, he was covered in sweat. Feeling refreshed all over, he jogged back toward home.

Returning home, he went straight into the bathroom, took a satisfying shower, changed into clean, fresh clothes, and then went into the kitchen.

By the time Lin Zifeng had finished making breakfast, Chen Yuxi walked out of the bedroom in her pajamas, looking bleary-eyed.

"Hubby, why did you get up so early? What time did you get back yesterday?"

"I came back quite late yesterday; you and Ningning were already asleep. Go wash up and come have breakfast! Sister Li should be here soon."

Sister Li's working hours started at 8:00 AM. Almost every day, the couple would finish breakfast before she arrived.

Chen Yuxi agreed and went into the bathroom.

Once Chen Yuxi came out of the bathroom, she sat down at the dining table with Lin Zifeng and began eating breakfast.

Before they could finish their breakfast, the sound of Lin Yining's crying came from the room. Chen Yuxi quickly put down her chopsticks and rushed toward the bedroom.