126: Chapter 126 If I go past this point, I'm afraid I'll die a horrible death.

At 5:30 PM, Zhao Yang arrived downstairs at the Criminal Investigation Detachment right on time.

He held a bouquet of flowers in one hand, freed the other to pat Captain Xu on the shoulder, and chuckled, "Alright, Captain Xu, there's nothing left for you to do here."

Xu Yiming twisted his neck, looking a bit annoyed, "What's up? Playing the 'prioritizing romance over friendship' card so blatantly?"

"You're complaining even though I'm not making you treat me to dinner?" Zhao Yang glanced at the flowers in his arms, "In this situation, do you think it's appropriate for you to tag along?"

Xu Yiming shook his head helplessly, "You kid, you really don't give me any chance at all!"

Zhao Yang ignored him, looked up at the building, and shouted at the top of his lungs, "Jiang Nan, time to get off work!"

Jiang Nan, who was busy packing her things, suddenly heard a familiar voice and thought she had misheard.

She hurriedly ran to the corridor and leaned over to look down.

She saw Zhao Yang holding the bouquet of flowers, signaling to her.

This guy loved pulling surprise attacks.

And he was so loud, as if he was afraid others wouldn't know—was he staking his claim?

Still, it did make her quite happy.

She grabbed her bag and hurried downstairs, clatter-clatter-clatter.

Zhao Yang quickly stepped forward to meet her, switched the flowers to his left hand, and opened his arms, "Come here, let's have a hug!"

Jiang Nan stopped and wiped the smile off her face, "You can try it if you dare!"

The girl was thin-skinned, and with her colleagues watching, she definitely wouldn't hug him.

"Just kidding, look how scared you got." Zhao Yang handed over the flowers, "Do you like them?"

A smile appeared at the corners of Jiang Nan's mouth as she whispered, "I like them."

Zhao Yang pointed at Jiang Nan's Santana 2000, "I've arranged to meet some people, come with me to dinner."

A flash of disappointment crossed Jiang Nan's eyes; she had wanted to be alone with Zhao Yang.

Zhao Yang explained, "After being transferred to the Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection, I've been to Tongan so many times, but I haven't had a chance to get together with my old colleagues. I feel a bit bad about it."

On the way here, Zhao Yang had already arranged to meet a group of old leaders and colleagues, including Li Hongyi, Shen Li, Tian Ye, Zheng Lei, and Cui Hao.

In the past, he was afraid of being watched and it wasn't safe.

Now, he didn't have that concern at all.

Although Jiang Nan didn't like lively social gatherings, she nodded in agreement.

"I'll go with you, but you have to promise me that after dinner, you must come home with me to see my dad."

Zhao Yang raised an eyebrow and said unseriously, "What, trying to force me into marriage?"

Jiang Nan rolled her eyes at him, "After my dad found out about our relationship, have you ever formally visited him?"

"Fine, I promise!" Zhao Yang did feel it was impolite, so he nodded without hesitation.

Sichuan Cuisine Restaurant, private room 888.

Zheng Lei and Tian Ye were the first to arrive; the others hadn't arrived yet.

Zheng Lei lowered his voice, "Yezi, the collapse of the Tongan public security system, and Ji Hongwen getting arrested—it's rumored that Brother Yang was behind it all. Did you know that?"

"Huh?"

Tian Ye was stunned, and it took him a while to speak, "Brother Yang is that badass now?"

Zheng Lei gave him a thumbs up, "More than just badass, it's like a little cow on a plane—it's badass to the heavens!"

As the two were talking, Zhao Yang and Jiang Nan pushed the door open and walked in.

Zhao Yang glanced at them and laughed, "Who are you talking about? Being all mysterious!"

Zheng Lei stood up, "Talking about anyone else would be a disservice to you, right, Yezi?"

Tian Ye chose to ignore him and greeted Jiang Nan directly, "Hello, Sister-in-law. When are you handing out the wedding candy?"

Jiang Nan's pretty face flushed, but she didn't shy away, smiling as she said, "That depends on your master."

This remark gave Zhao Yang plenty of face, as if all the initiative was in his hands.

Zhao Yang quickly said, "The Tongan police beauty isn't that easy to woo, is she? I'll keep working on it!"

While they were chatting and laughing, Li Hongyi and Cui Hao arrived, followed by Shen Li and Yuan Gang.

What Zhao Yang didn't expect was that Yuan Gang had actually come uninvited.

This showed that his actions in Tongan had leaked out to some extent, making the old fox Yuan Gang fear him a bit and want to get on his good side.

Zhao Yang understood this but didn't point it out.

After a few rounds of drinks, Zhao Yang whispered to the Li Hongyi beside him, "Director Li, how much of the PT Agricultural and Commercial Cooperative did you buy?"

Li Hongyi looked somewhat smug and held up five fingers.

Zhao Yang raised an eyebrow, "Five thousand shares?"

Li Hongyi shook his head, "At 6.8, I bought 50,000 shares."

Damn, this old guy had such good financial luck that even Zhao Yang was a bit envious.

By next May, when the stock price rose to 30, this old guy would make a killing.

During that time, Zhao Yang participated in the bidding every Friday and only managed to get on board at over eight yuan.

Envy aside, Zhao Yang still reminded him, "My classmate said, you must sell when this stock hits 30."

Seeing Zhao Yang whispering with Li Hongyi, Yuan Gang felt a bit uncomfortable.

"Xiao Zhao really did come from the news department; his relationship with Director Li is just different."

Zhao Yang quickly stood up to toast him, "Not at all, if it weren't for Director Yuan's promotion, I'd probably still be a section member right now."

During the meal, everyone flattered each other, and the atmosphere was extremely harmonious.

After the banquet, Zhao Yang and Jiang Nan held hands at the entrance and said goodbye to everyone one by one.

Just then, two people, a man and a woman, walked over from the opposite side and greeted Yuan Gang and the others.

Treating old colleagues to dinner right at the entrance of his former workplace, it was indeed a bit awkward to run into colleagues he hadn't invited.

Zhao Yang subconsciously wanted to dodge, but he noticed the woman had big wavy hair and wore exquisite makeup.

It was his ex-girlfriend, Su Yawen.

Beside Su Yawen was, naturally, Director Xiong Bo.

When Director Xiong Bo saw Jiang Nan, he immediately put on a fawning face and greeted her, "Jiang Nan, what a coincidence?"

Jiang Nan nodded indifferently, "Director Xiong Bo, long time no see."

She immediately turned her head and whispered to Zhao Yang, "His dad is from the Propaganda Department. We live in the same neighborhood, but we're not close."

Su Yawen had long recognized Zhao Yang, and seeing them completely disregard Director Xiong Bo, she immediately felt annoyed.

She raised her voice, "Oh, isn't this Zhao Yang? Heh, the Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection—that's a unit that offends people."

Zhao Yang turned around and smiled slightly, "Indeed, I've offended quite a few people lately."

Su Yawen lifted her chin, "Today's society is a society of human relationships. If you offend others, I'm afraid you won't have any good fruit to eat yourself!"

Jiang Nan looked at Su Yawen and couldn't help but frown.

She was still as utilitarian and snobbish as ever, and Zhao Yang didn't want to waste any more breath on her.

He immediately laughed meaningfully, "The people I've offended recently—Ji Hongwen, Guo Mingkai, Huang Shixun... there are so many. You might want to ask around and see which of them has had any good fruit to eat!

A friendly reminder: the propaganda front isn't a pure land, and some people need to be careful too!"

Su Yawen's heart skipped a beat; she had heard of these people long ago, and for a moment, she didn't know how to respond.

Director Xiong Bo knew more than she did, and Zhao Yang's last sentence in particular made his expression change slightly.

His own old man wasn't clean and had even tried to set him up before—why would you antagonize him at a time like this?

He glared fiercely at Su Yawen, "Su Yawen, shut your mouth!"

Su Yawen looked at Director Xiong Bo in surprise, her eyes overflowing with grievance, "Director Xiong Bo, you... you actually yelled at me!"

Zhao Yang sneered; the days of him yelling at you were probably yet to come.

Ignoring them, Zhao Yang took Jiang Nan to get the car.

Jiang Nan asked in a low voice, "Are we going to my house? You promised me."

Zhao Yang shook his head, "If I go over at this hour, I'm afraid I'll end up dying a miserable death."

"How about we go get a hotel room instead!"