Looking back now, Zhou Xuan wasn't faking being drunk. If he were, he would usually have a purpose. If he was faking being drunk, his only purpose last night was her. But after sleeping with her all night, he was startled and ran away as soon as he woke up today. This doesn't seem like he was trying to take advantage of her.
Downstairs at Zhang Lei's building, Zhou Xuan hailed a taxi. On the way home, he wiped away a cold sweat and carefully recalled the events of the previous night. Thinking back on his antics, he blushed deeply. If he hadn't been drinking, he probably wouldn't have acted so recklessly at the nightclub. And later, after drinking more by the river, he was truly drunk. He couldn't even remember how he woke up in the same bed as Zhang Lei, embracing her.
The thought of this made Zhou Xuan blush. If he had woken up and was hugging Wei Xiaoqing or Wei Xiaoyu, it would have been fine, but he was hugging Zhang Lei, a girl with whom he had never had anything going on. He felt really embarrassed.
While in the car, she was thinking again about how to tell Fu Ying when she got back. She definitely couldn't tell her about it; it would only cause misunderstandings. It was better not to say anything.
When Zhou Xuan arrived at Hongcheng Square, he realized he had no money on him. He only had the two checks from the fat man and the rich young man, and a Maserati car key in his pocket. He had no cash whatsoever. He could only apologize to the driver, saying, "Brother driver, I'm sorry, I don't have any money on me. Could you please drive me to my apartment complex? I'll go home and get the money for you."
The driver didn't mind, he just drove a little further and charged a little more fare, and continued to drive into the residential area according to Zhou Xuan's instructions, stopping at the entrance of the villa's garden.
Zhou Xuan got out of the car and said, "Driver, please wait a moment, I'll go inside and get the money."
The driver smiled and nodded, saying, "It's alright."
When Zhou Xuan returned home, his mother was the first one up in the living room. He quickly asked her for a hundred yuan, took out the money, and handed it to the driver, saying, "Brother driver, I'm sorry, keep the change."
The driver didn't refuse. The passenger gave it to him himself, it wasn't a fake gift, and he wasn't asking for it. There was nothing wrong with it. Besides, after seeing Zhou Xuan's villa, he knew that Zhou Xuan was a rich man. A hundred yuan was nothing to him.
Back in the living room, Jin Xiumei said with a hint of annoyance, "Son, what's wrong with you? You didn't come home last night. Yingying and I waited until after 1 a.m. I said I'd call you, but Yingying wouldn't let me, saying you were probably busy. Being a policeman is different from other jobs; it's normal to be busy. Look, it's made Yingying unable to get up this morning. I secretly checked on her; she was still fast asleep. People with children are naturally sleepy."
Zhou Xuan quickly said, "Mom, I really had something to do last night. I'll go upstairs to check on Yingying first."
Jin Xiumei quickly added, "Son, try to coax her. Yingying doesn't mean to blame you or be angry. Although she's from a wealthy family, she's never had the temper of those rich girls. She's very filial to our family. I treat her the same as your sister, like a daughter, not a daughter-in-law."
"I know, I know, I will," Zhou Xuan replied as he hurried upstairs. He stopped at the door of his room on the third floor and gently pushed it open.
Fu Ying was fast asleep, her face turned outwards, her face like a baby's, her long eyelashes trembling slightly, as if she was still dreaming. Zhou Xuan's heart was filled with love, and he couldn't help but lean in and gently kiss her on the face. Then he took off his shoes, quietly slipped under the covers, and stretched out his arms to hug her.
This finally woke Fu Ying up. She opened her eyes, looked around, and snuggled closer to Zhou Xuan, whispering, "You're back? What time is it?"
"Go to sleep, don't be afraid, it's only 8:30," Zhou Xuan replied casually, but he didn't expect that Fu Ying would sit up immediately and quickly get dressed as soon as she heard that it was 8:30.
Zhou Xuan asked in surprise, "Yingying, what are you doing? I can't see you've slept well, go back to sleep a little longer."
Fu Ying shook her head and said anxiously, "I get up at 7:30 every day. How can a wife stay in bed when everyone else in the family is up?"
Zhou Xuan pulled at her but ignored her, and could only smile wryly and let her be. This made him lose his sleepiness. However, Fu Ying did not ask him why he did not go home at night. She probably trusted him, or perhaps a pregnant woman is not so careful and her heart is focused on the child in her belly.
Zhou Xuan sat up and put on his shoes. After Fu Ying finished washing up, they went downstairs to the living room together. His sister-in-law Li Wei and the others had already eaten breakfast and gone to work. Only Jin Xiumei and Aunt Liu were in the living room. Breakfast was ready, but Jin Xiumei insisted on waiting until Fu Ying got up before eating, since she wasn't hungry anyway.
Fu Ying blushed and quietly complained to Zhou Xuan, "I told you, you didn't wake me up when you came back. It's so early in the morning, and Mom is hungry and waiting for me. How can you be so shameless?"
Zhou Xuan was naturally embarrassed and cheerfully pulled Fu Ying to the restaurant for breakfast. As long as Fu Ying didn't mention that he hadn't come home last night, it would be fine. Moreover, Fu Ying didn't seem to be thinking about that matter at all, so he pretended not to know and didn't touch on the topic.
After breakfast, Fu Ying sat in the living room for a while, but kept dozing off as if she were fishing. Jin Xiumei could not bear it any longer and ordered Zhou Xuan to take Fu Ying to the room to sleep.
Fu Ying couldn't hold on any longer and couldn't keep her eyes open. Zhou Xuan helped her upstairs to her room to lie down, and before a minute had passed, Fu Ying had already fallen asleep.
After getting downstairs, Zhou Xuan told his mother, "Mom, Yingying didn't get enough rest, don't disturb her, let her sleep a little longer. I'm going to work."
"You're the only one who knows how to pamper your wife," Jin Xiumei said irritably. "Yingying's pregnant, it's normal for her to be sleepy. She's carrying my grandson, how could I not care? Go to work."
"Wait a minute," Jin Xiumei suddenly called Zhou Xuan back. "Come home early after get off work today, don't linger outside. If you have anything else to do, ask Director Fu for leave. You're not the only policeman here."
"Okay, I'll be back soon." Zhou Xuan quickly went out the door. The old lady's nagging was terrible, so it was wise to leave quickly.
Zhou Xuan still didn't drive to work. The roads in Beijing are extensive and full of side streets, and his sense of direction is extremely poor, so driving is a hassle. Back in his hometown, there's only one road to go back and forth, so he doesn't have to worry about getting lost.
He took a taxi to the Municipal Bureau, arriving after 9:30, which was considered late. However, the gatekeeper already knew that Zhou Xuan was a special person and could not be treated like an ordinary person. Instead, he greeted him with a smile and words.
After Zhou Xuan arrived at the four offices, he first glanced at Zhang Lei's location. Zhang Lei was already there and was focused on looking at the documents on the computer, not paying any attention to him.
Zhou Xuan breathed a sigh of relief, then quietly sat down in his seat, turned on his computer, and started playing Four Kingdoms on QQ Games.
However, thinking about what happened last night made him a little uneasy. Zhang Lei, on the other hand, didn't move an inch, and Zhou Xuan couldn't see what was going on in her mind, so he didn't know if she would cause trouble or throw a tantrum today. Distracted, he lost the four-player chess game and was even called a "stupid pig" by his opponent. He was furious, but there was nothing he could do about it. No matter how powerful his superpowers were, he couldn't mess with people online unless he was a hacker. But Zhou Xuan had little experience with computers; besides watching movies and TV and chatting on QQ, he hadn't done much else. Hackers... well, they're probably dark-skinned.
Zhou Xuan was furious and felt extremely uncomfortable, as if he had needles stuck in his buttocks. After a while, the newly appointed section chief came over with a smile and said to Zhou Xuan, "Little Zhou, Director Fu invites you to come upstairs."
Zhou Xuan breathed a sigh of relief. Fu Yuanshan's order came at just the right time. He didn't even turn off the computer game and went straight outside. The section chief pretended not to see him and slowly walked out with his hands behind his back.
Zhou Xuan has special privileges here, everyone knows that, but they don't know much about Zhou Xuan's background, and they think that Zhou Xuan has a different relationship with Fu Yuanshan.
While others were unaware, Zhang Lei knew some things. To outsiders, Zhou Xuan seemed to be just a nepotism hire, an idle playboy. But Zhang Lei understood that after experiencing several things with Zhou Xuan, she knew that with such amazing abilities, he was definitely not an idle person. In fact, Zhou Xuan was Fu Yuanshan's most powerful pawn.
Zhang Lei still hadn't completely uncovered Zhou Xuan's secrets, but she did learn some of them, such as his address and family members. However, she still didn't understand Zhou Xuan's secrets. She knew he was incredibly skilled, but what happened last night was something she couldn't figure out. She had asked him, and it seemed that Zhou Xuan was going to tell her when he was drunk last night, but at that moment, he collapsed and fell into a deep sleep. He would definitely not tell her now that he was sober.
Zhang Lei pondered how difficult it would be to uncover Zhou Xuan's secrets. However, she now knew one of his weaknesses: Zhou Xuan lost all self-control when drunk. If she could get him drunk, she might be able to extract some secrets from him.
Zhang Lei shook her head inwardly. Zhou Xuan had drunk over a hundred bottles of wine last night without getting drunk. How much wine would she have to get him drunk? She might end up drinking herself out of house and home without getting him drunk, which would be a huge waste.
However, Zhang Lei also realized that Zhou Xuan hadn't really drunk the more than one hundred bottles of wine he drank last night. The only time he actually drank was when he was with her later. So Zhou Xuan's actual alcohol tolerance might be very low. If she could prove this, Zhang Lei would have a chance to get Zhou Xuan drunk again and extract his secrets. It might not be difficult. But first, she would have to prove whether Zhou Xuan really had a low alcohol tolerance.
Zhou Xuan darted out as if fleeing, then took the elevator to the top floor and entered Fu Yuanshan's office before finally letting out a long sigh of relief.
Fu Yuanshan chuckled and asked, "What's wrong? You look like you're being chased by a ghost. You get scared sometimes, huh?"
"No, no, I was a little tired and thirsty when I came, so I thought I'd have some tea brewed with your finest tea leaves," Zhou Xuan said, trying to cover up his feelings as he sat down.
Fu Yuanshan was only asking; he didn't actually have those kinds of thoughts about Zhou Xuan. Zhou Xuan's abilities weren't something that could be intimidated. He walked over with a smile, holding a check in his hand, and handed it to Zhou Xuan, saying, "Brother, did you go crashing a nightclub last night? Hehe, a nightclub came to report it last night. Of course, they have connections, and very strong ones at that."
Seeing Fu Yuanshan's smiling face, Zhou Xuan knew that his tough talk wouldn't harm him, so he said awkwardly, "I drank some alcohol last night and got into trouble, but I escaped. They didn't catch me, and I didn't leave any evidence."
Fu Yuanshan laughed and said, "No evidence yet? Hehe, brother, have you forgotten what era we live in? This is the high-tech era. Nightclubs have countless surveillance cameras. The video of you and Zhang Lei is evidence. Although those few blurry videos can be denied, or you can say that without detailed identities, you swiped ten million in cash. Although you didn't sign to cancel it, the bank has records. Ordinary people can't find out, but for people with powerful connections, it's not difficult. So they found out your identity. Of course, if they can find out, we can find out too. Once the branch office finds out, your identity is in the city bureau. How dare they easily touch you?"
Fu Yuanshan chuckled as he brewed tea, "Then naturally, the case came to me. The strongest backer of that nightclub is a family member of the city's executive vice mayor. In a way, it wouldn't be an exaggeration to say it's him. The trail led to me. He's not stupid. And since he's connected to Secretary Wei, he had no choice but to swallow this bitter pill. Not wanting to offend Secretary Wei, he sent the gambling debts from last night—a check for six million—to my office."
So that's how it is. Zhou Xuan understood. The executive vice mayor, in other provinces, is equivalent to an executive vice governor. In Beijing, the position is half a rank higher than in other provinces and cities. In fact, he is a huge figure, a formal vice-ministerial level figure. However, Wei Haihe is currently at the height of his power, and Fu Yuanshan has just been appointed as the director of the municipal bureau and acting secretary of the municipal political and legal committee. The position of secretary of the political and legal committee is already no less important than Wei Haihe, who carries even more weight. After the vice mayor investigated and obtained the results, he severely reprimanded the family member of the nightclub who was related to him, then made him write the betting check and personally deliver it to Fu Yuanshan's desk, and then sent the Maserati to the police station.