The middle-aged man glanced at Zhou Xuan and Lao Li before looking away without paying them any attention. However, his gaze lingered on Fu Ying for quite a while, clearly stunned by her beauty.
Fu Ying's appearance was already breathtakingly beautiful, but what was even more surprising was that very few girls came to this fishing spot. Even those who came with men were not as beautiful as Fu Ying; in fact, there had never been any.
Fortunately, Li Wei had been wandering around lately. If he had been there, he probably wouldn't have been able to resist kicking the middle-aged man's fishing rod. What he couldn't stand the most was other people's impolite behavior and stares towards the female members of his family.
However, Zhou Xuan and Fu Ying were much more open-minded. Beautiful things will always be seen by someone. Everyone has a love for beauty. Besides, the other person was just looking and didn't say anything or make any advances to tease them. So Zhou Xuan didn't get angry. He was no longer the same person he was a year ago.
A year ago, Zhou Xuan might have immediately taken action against this middle-aged man. However, he is now calm and composed, and besides, he has Old Li by his side. Even a great general who commands thousands of troops has not made a move, so why should he be unable to restrain himself?
The middle-aged man was indeed tempted by Fu Ying's beauty. Although he sometimes looked away, he would still peek at Fu Ying from time to time, enjoying her breathtaking beauty.
Zhou Xuan had exceptional hearing and overheard the obsequious man beside the middle-aged man whisper, "Director Lin, your son has arrived. Should we head to the dinner party now...? Old Chen said everything is ready..."
Zhou Xuan thought to himself, "This guy really is an official. I wonder what kind of bureau chief he is. He looks down on people like he has eyes on his forehead. I wonder if he's the police chief. If he is, I can ask Fu Yuanshan. If he's one of his men, I'll definitely make things difficult for him."
Volume 1, Chapter 519: Wrath
Chapter 519 Wrath
The man was dressed in plain clothes and had no identification on him. Zhou Xuan probed him for a while and then ignored him. As long as he wasn't too outrageous, he could let him be.
The man referred to as Director Lin casually replied, "Tell them to wait a little longer."
The phrase "Tell them to wait a little longer" sounded incredibly authoritative, and the errand runner immediately chuckled in a low voice, "Alright, alright, I told them Director Lin is fishing and to wait a little longer."
This sycophantic errand boy was very experienced. He said things that pleased Director Lin greatly. He told the person who was hosting to wait a little longer, but it wasn't that Director Lin had told him to say it. It was that he said it himself. On the surface, it was Director Lin who said it, but the sycophantic boy deliberately took the blame for himself.
Zhou Xuan heard Director Lin speak with great authority, as if he were an emperor. But Zhou Xuan was certain that Director Lin could not possibly have the same background and status as Old Li. And frankly, if he were someone of such high status, how could he not recognize Old Li?
Clearly, Director Lin's circle isn't that high-level. It's easy to guess that a bureau chief like him, trying to recruit another bureau chief in Beijing, depends on what kind of bureau chief he is. At most, he'd only be at the provincial level. Let alone Old Li, even Zhou Xuan himself wouldn't be worthy of his attention. If it's someone from the public security system, then it's perfect for Fu Yuanshan to take action and clean up the corrupt elements.
Judging from his attitude and expression just now, Zhou Xuan could believe that such a person, even if he was honest, wouldn't be that honest. He would easily fall into the trap with the slightest temptation, and it was impossible for him to control his heart. If he were a truly honest official, he certainly wouldn't speak in that tone.
However, Zhou Xuan still did not intend to make a move. He felt that judging Fu Ying by her appearance was not worth his time, so he continued to fish for her and wait for her to take the bait.
Although Zhou Xuan's superpower is powerful, even the most powerful superpower cannot make fish bite his hook unless he jumps into the fishpond to catch fish with his superpower. The result would naturally be much more effective than fishing.
From a distance, Zhou Xuan noticed a slick-haired young man, about twenty-three or twenty-four years old, walking arrogantly towards them. He was whistling and looking around, dangling a keychain with a Ferrari sports car logo on it.
There were no women fishing, so the young man just looked around without any other expression. Compared to Director Lin, he did look quite similar, even their expressions were about 70% alike.
No wonder they say dragons beget dragons, phoenixes beget phoenixes, and rats beget rats. Look at how similar this father and son are; they've learned about 70-80% of each other's traits.
When the young man approached, he caught sight of Fu Ying and immediately stopped whistling. He was surprised to find such a beautiful woman among the fishing enthusiasts. And this beautiful woman was right next to his father, which gave him a strange feeling that she might be his father's mistress.
The reason he had this idea was that he knew his father had a mistress outside, and his mother had caught him doing so before. Although it wasn't made public to outsiders, it was an open secret within their family, which made his mother keep a tighter grip on his father.
The young man had met one of his mistresses; she was about his age and had everything he wanted. When he saw his mother, she was simply unbearable to look at.
This young man is named Lin Guodong. Because of his father's connections, he just graduated from a prestigious university. Of course, if it were based on his own abilities, he wouldn't have been able to get into even a diploma mill, let alone a prestigious university. In terms of his knowledge, he's only at the junior high school level. To say he's at the junior high school level would be an exaggeration. He might not even be able to answer junior high school exam questions.
His father's name was Lin Yuefeng, the director of the Finance Bureau branch in the eastern part of Beijing. He was a powerful figure in the local area. Although there were many high-ranking officials in Beijing, it was still relatively difficult to meet high-ranking officials such as Li Lei, Wei Haihe, and Wei Haifeng, let alone people like Old Li or Old Master Wei.
A powerful figure like Lin Yuefeng frequently appeared in local areas, even more so than a county magistrate. At the grassroots level, Lin Yuefeng was a figure of great prestige.
In a megacity in China, the head of the finance bureau of a district in Beijing is a person who controls the economy. He has more cash in his hands than a bank president, and the leaders of various units in the system dare not underestimate him. Otherwise, they might hold you hostage, making it so that your unit has to make dozens of trips to get a salary, which would cause you a lot of trouble.
Any excuse can be made to justify this, and it's hard for superiors to object. Every unit needs money, and tight finances are commonplace everywhere.
Zhou Xuan, of course, did not know that this was a person. He usually met high-ranking officials like Li Lei, Wei Haihe, and Wei Haifeng, and was influenced by them daily. If he were placed among ministerial or departmental officials in the system, Zhou Xuan would certainly not show any fear.
Those who were slightly less powerful were mostly officials like Fu Yuanshan, whose ranks were higher than Lin Yuefeng's, just from different systems. But in reality, if Lin Yuefeng saw Wei Haihe, the secretary of the Beijing Municipal Party Committee and the number one figure in Beijing, he would probably be kneeling on the ground, not daring to say a word.
If Lin Yuefeng knew the true identity of the old man sitting two seats away from him, he would probably be so scared that he would wet his pants. People outside the system wouldn't have such thoughts; at most, they would only admire the senior. But people within the system, especially those whose hands aren't clean, would feel differently.
Seeing his son staring blankly at Fu Ying, Lin Yuefeng snorted before asking in a deep voice, "Guodong, what are you doing here?"
Lin Guodong paused for a moment, then realized what was happening and immediately said, "Dad, Mr. Chen from Yuanhe Company insists on inviting me to dinner. He asked me to come and invite you over, but I'm afraid of disturbing you, as Mr. Chen and a few others are waiting outside."
Lin Yuefeng snorted. This President Chen certainly knew how to use his methods to bring his son to work as a mascot. However, he also knew that President Chen had given his son a few deals, allowing Lin Guodong to make millions out of thin air. This was a form of bribery. After graduating, his son started a company. How could Lin Yuefeng not know his abilities?
Lin Guodong is a natural spender who doesn't know how to make money. Now he has opened a company, is just a figurehead, and does nothing, yet he has tens of millions of yuan in net profit in a year. This is actually what Lin Yuefeng got for him by using his power.
"Looks like we can't catch any fish this time," Lin Yuefeng said, tossing down his fishing rod and clapping his hands. He stood up, suppressing his urge to look at Fu Ying's beauty in front of his son, and said, "Guodong, let's go, I have something to tell you."
Lin Guodong then realized that Fu Ying was not on his father's side, because Fu Ying's eyes and heart were completely focused on Zhou Xuan beside her, which was obvious even to a blind man.
Lin Guodong was very jealous of Zhou Xuan. She wasn't good-looking and didn't seem to be a powerful or wealthy person, so how did she end up with such a beautiful girlfriend?
If he weren't with his father, Lin Guodong would have really tried every means to flirt with Fu Ying. In his eyes, there was no woman he couldn't win over. Of course, it's just that he hadn't met a girl that money and power couldn't win over.
The father and son basically shared the same idea, but Lin Yuefeng didn't want to openly show such a face in front of his son, so he called his son over and went out together.
Seeing that the group had left, Fu Ying snorted and said to Zhou Xuan, "If it were before, I would have kicked them into the fishpond and made them drink some water."
Zhou Xuan smiled faintly. Although he had not become an official, his self-cultivation skills had deepened with the increase of his supernatural abilities. If he had to get angry and violent over such a thing, he would never have a peaceful day.
Old Li seemed oblivious, remaining completely focused on his fishing rod. Meanwhile, Li Wei was lying in a hammock by the trees, enjoying the shade and fast asleep. If he had been there, the Lin father and son would probably have suffered another injustice.
Fu Ying then paid close attention to her fishing rod, because the float on her rod was bobbing on the water, indicating that a fish had taken the bait.
Fu Ying tensed up, gripping the fishing rod tightly with both hands. She was ready to pull hard to catch the fish when the float sank a little deeper into the water, but the float only moved slightly, as if it were being gently pecked by a bird's beak.
Looking at Zhou Xuan and Old Li's fishing rods, still no bite, and Old Li having already baited and prepared, yet still no fish biting, Fu Ying said smugly, "Grandpa Li, Zhou Xuan, I think fishing is all about luck, not technique. Grandpa Li's technique is good, but if the fish don't bite, they just won't bite. Zhou Xuan..."
Fu Ying then looked at Zhou Xuan and said with a smile, "Aren't you... Hmph, always showing off? How come you can't catch any fish?"
Old Li chuckled and said, "That's not necessarily true. They say you won't be satisfied until you reach the Yellow River, so it's too early to say who will win."