Perhaps the more controversy and attention it attracts, the more the doubts arise, revealing that all criticism is nothing more than a thin sheet of paper that can be easily torn in the face of absolute truth and pure goodness. And Zhang Mengxin's name, amidst the public's condemnation, increasingly reveals the traditional and virtuous aspects of her character.
"Mayor, the county head of Qingkou County has arrived. I've brought him to the conference room. Also, the 'most beautiful county head's wife' came with County Head Liu. I've asked her to wait in the other lounge." He Shengming, Shao Qibin's secretary, reported, holding a folder. He was secretly calculating the recent uproar over the "most beautiful county head's wife" in Qingkou County, under T City. If handled properly, this could be a bright spot in his political career. After all, despite his unassuming name, County Head Liu Chang'an of Qingkou County was quite capable. Qingkou County, as a subordinate county of T City, didn't have many special features, and its economic level was barely average. But Liu Chang'an had done some real work; he had invested heavily in the major overhaul of Qingkou County's transportation system alone. Now, with a "most beautiful county head's wife" as his support, it certainly added to his positive image.
Most importantly, Liu Chang'an doesn't belong to any faction; he's a genuinely elected county magistrate from the people of Qingkou County. For outsiders like them, parachuted into T City, such a person, if used properly, could bring significant benefits.
Shao Qibin had considered He Shengming's thoughts as well. The key point was that this woman, now famous and showered with praise, was none other than his first love, the one he had wanted to protect and spend his life with since his youth!
It's said that first love is the most beautiful and unforgettable, especially since Shao Qibin and Zhang Mengxin were childhood sweethearts. Moreover, Shao Qibin had been suppressing his guilt about what happened back then. He hadn't heard from Zhang Mengxin for years, and now he suddenly knew of her whereabouts, only to find she was already married.
Shao Qibin couldn't believe that as the mayor of T City, Zhang Mengxin, having married that Liu Chang'an, wouldn't know he was right there, so close by. But the more he thought about it, the more uncontrollably he began to wonder if he had been too ruthless back then, causing Zhang Mengxin, the girl he remembered as always smiling sweetly, to harden her heart and refuse to even see him. Even worse, she had married someone else!
Even though Shao Qibin now has the fiery and beautiful Hong Xinran by his side, and some of Hong Xinran's qualities are strongly attractive to him as a man, their relationship can be described as inseparable. When faced with wave after wave of slander thrown at Hong Xinran, the two have walked hand in hand through these schemes, and their feelings for each other have deepened even further.
At this moment, Shao Qibin couldn't even recall the fact that he already had a lover. Instead, he was quite resentful that Zhang Mengxin had gotten married!
Whether it was for the sake of political achievements or for personal reasons, Shao Qibin had He Shengming send a notice to Liu Chang'an, asking Liu Chang'an to come to the city.
Upon hearing that Zhang Mengxin had also arrived and was waiting in the lounge, Shao Qibin almost decided to go there to investigate. However, reason prevailed over his impulse. Nodding to He Shengming, he got up and headed to the conference room to discuss the development of Qingkou County with Liu Chang'an. He also wanted to see what it was about this man Zhang Mengxin had married that attracted her so much. Why, despite the man being more than ten years older than her and having a child, did she not return to him, Shao Qibin, but instead married someone else?
He Shengming walked behind Shao Qibin, but for some reason he shivered. He had a feeling that the BOSS was in a bad mood today. Not knowing why, He Shengming could only carefully compose himself.
Meanwhile, in the lounge, Zhang Mengxin held a teacup in her hand, standing by the window, looking down at the scenery below. Her eyes held a turbulent expression, making it impossible to discern her thoughts.
44 Rivals Meet
Chapter 43: Rivals Meet
Liu Chang'an is only in his early thirties, the prime of a man's life. He has the typical rugged features of a Chinese man: thick eyebrows, large eyes, and a natural, peaceful smile. His gaze is warm yet resolute. Unlike Shao Qibin, who exudes an air of refined elegance and gentleness often associated with aristocratic families, Liu Chang'an possesses a more down-to-earth, natural comfort.
Amidst the uproar surrounding Zhang Mengxin, the "most beautiful county magistrate's wife," photos of this county magistrate from Qingkou County have also surfaced online. The charming and sweet Zhang Mengxin, with her radiant smile, stands beside Liu Chang'an; one mature and composed, the other sweet and adorable, they seem exceptionally well-matched. This is a major reason why some believe Zhang Mengxin married Liu Chang'an not for money, but for love.
This era is inherently contradictory and peculiar. On the one hand, people are numb to the news of domestic violence between spouses that are frequently exposed in real life, such as husbands abusing and killing their wives or wives killing their husbands in front of their children, and they begin to question love. On the other hand, they instinctively begin to pursue the light of beauty and have a firm belief in love that they are not even aware of.
This is an era devoid of faith, filled with a jumble of information and conflicting ideas. Finding one's place in this murky water is inherently difficult.
Enough of the digressions. Liu Chang'an had already learned from his wife, Zhang Mengxin, about her affair with Shao Qibin, the mayor of T City. Back then, Zhang Mengxin, having made the decision to run away alone, stumbled and wandered aimlessly to Qingkou County with only a pittance in her pocket, feeling utterly lost for quite some time. It was during this time that Zhang Mengxin met Liu Chang'an. However, at that time, one had just experienced the pain of losing his wife, and the other had just suffered the pain of losing his son and being betrayed by his lover. These two fellow sufferers found solace in each other's pain.
Initially, Zhang Mengxin projected her own feelings of loss due to a missed child onto the child born to Liu Chang'an's wife during a difficult labor. She was then forced into a hospital by Li Jianmei's men and brutally aborted. Unaware of what was happening, she was even deprived of the right to be a mother again.
She was in pain, she was hurt, but she also knew that she couldn't do anything on her own.
Later, with Liu Chang'an's help, she entered a teachers' college, and later still, she married Liu Chang'an.
If you were to ask Zhang Mengxin whether she loves her husband Liu Chang'an, she probably wouldn't be able to answer. As an orphan, even after being adopted by the Zhang family, she still harbored a lot of insecurity deep down. Her biggest dream was to have a home of her own. She once thought she would build this home with Shao Qibin, but that dream was shattered by cruel reality. Now, Liu Chang'an has given her the stable, peaceful, and warm family life she's always longed for. She thinks she is grateful to Liu Chang'an and respects him, but if she were to say anything more... perhaps because she invested too much emotion in her relationship with Shao Qibin, she truly no longer possesses that burning passion that once fueled her life.
Zhang Mengxin had thought she would live a peaceful life in this small town, but fate had other plans. When Shao Qibin was transferred to T City and became its youngest mayor, her heart was never at peace. After much turmoil, Zhang Mengxin finally confided in her husband about her life before coming to Qingkou County. What made Zhang Mengxin happy was that this steady man tolerated her youthful impetuosity and even applied a warm, healing ointment to the wound in her heart that had never truly healed, giving her the opportunity to ooze pus and heal the wound that had been aching for years.
She deliberately avoided certain things, and with Liu Chang'an's help, Shao Qibin had no idea that his first love had gotten married right under his nose.
Unfortunately, fate had other plans. Zhang Mengxin had no regrets about saving the mother and child. In her fragmented childhood memories, she vaguely remembered that her biological parents had died in a car accident, which led her to grow up in an orphanage, where she met Shao Qibin.
However, she never expected that this act of bravery would put her in the spotlight. If she could, she wouldn't care about the title of "most beautiful county magistrate's wife." Even if her reputation in Qingkou County wasn't particularly good, time would tell. She was living her own life, and in time, the people of Qingkou County would naturally accept her.
While the current situation has earned her widespread praise, it has also exposed some things she was unwilling to face. Sure enough, the city sent a notice requesting Liu Chang'an to come to the city.
Since Liu Chang'an already knew about his wife's affair with Shao Qibin, he was quite calm about the sudden summons from the city government. As a man, he was quite open-minded. He had always known that Zhang Mengxin had married him, but in reality, many people had gossiped about her behind her back. Now that this online uproar had occurred, it wasn't necessarily a bad thing to clear Zhang Mengxin's name. As for Mayor Shao Qibin summoning him to the city, that was even better.
Qingkou County needs to develop. In fact, they've already formulated some plans, and their transportation network is well-developed. With strong support from the city, developing forestry and animal husbandry will definitely elevate Qingkou County to a higher level. However, when they try to solicit funding from city leaders, they always encounter various excuses and delays. For example, last year, the city's finance department directly stated that their main projects were focused on the redevelopment of the old city area. They weren't unwilling to help Qingkou County develop, but things had to be done step by step. There are always so many reasons for their refusal.
Deep down, Liu Chang'an didn't really want Zhang Mengxin to come along. However, Zhang Mengxin was right; Mayor Shao Qibin was probably just using him as a pretext to discuss the planning for Qingkou County, but his true intentions were likely elsewhere. He couldn't very well stop Mayor Shao from seeing his wife.
As soon as the conference room door opened and Shao Qibin, dressed in a suit and wearing a friendly smile, entered, Liu Chang'an quickly stood up and said, "Mayor Shao."
"County Chief Liu, please sit down, there's no need to be so formal." Shao Qibin smiled and shook hands with Liu Chang'an. Even though he had some reservations and criticisms about Liu Chang'an in his heart, he appeared poised and generous, without revealing any unusual emotions.
"Mayor Shao, this is our Qingkou County's development plan for the next three years. We have already established an orchard experimental base, and the reputation of our county's tangerines is quite good among neighboring counties and cities. We..." As soon as Liu Chang'an sat down, he took out the plan and began to rattle off a long, detailed explanation of Qingkou County's plans. When talking about official business, Liu Chang'an seemed to shed his rustic and ordinary demeanor and instead exuded a commanding and authoritative air.
Shao Qibin felt a lump in his throat, but he had no choice but to listen. The more he listened, the more he absorbed it, becoming increasingly interested in Liu Chang'an's idea of developing Qingkou County into an orchard base for several neighboring counties and cities. If this were done well, not only would Qingkou County's economy reach new heights, but it would also undoubtedly add a bright spot to his political resume.
This man does have some skill!
Men are generally like that. When it comes to serious matters, even though Shao Qibin initially had some reservations, he immediately became serious and had He Shengming write down the relevant points. Only then did Shao Qibin smile and say, "County Chief Liu's plan is good, but it involves a lot of manpower, material resources, and financial resources. As you know, the city focused a lot of effort on the renovation of the old city last year, and it doesn't have much funding available right now."
“I know that. Funding is secondary right now. What I'm thinking is that although our county's fruit has already gained some fame, if we could invite experts from the College of Agriculture and Forestry to conduct on-site inspections and provide guidance to our fruit farmers, or establish an orchard experimental base in our county, we could improve both yield and quality. With the city's help in promotion and finding some buyers, our Qingkou County would definitely be able to develop even better.”
The two men chatted for a long time about the development plan of Qingkou County, and before they knew it, it was lunchtime. Shao Qibin smiled and patted Liu Chang'an on the shoulder: "It's gotten so fast before we knew it. We've been so uncooperative. Madam Liu came with County Chief Liu, right? Speaking of which, Madam Liu and I are old acquaintances. It's lunchtime now, and I've already asked Secretary He to make a reservation. We can have a proper talk at the table."
When Shao Qibin said this, the resentment in his heart had faded a lot. Although he still had mixed feelings of regret and guilt about Zhang Mengxin, she was now married and Liu Chang'an was indeed a man of proper manners. All he could do was offer his blessings.
Seeing the openness in Shao Qibin's eyes as he spoke of his wife, and the feigned strangeness he had displayed upon entering the room fading away, Liu Chang'an breathed a sigh of relief. If Shao Qibin truly had no feelings for his wife, that was for the best. Otherwise, he was genuinely afraid he wouldn't even be able to protect his own wife. Although Zhang Mengxin had analyzed Shao Qibin's personality before, mentioning that given his arrogant nature, he wouldn't do anything ruthless, this confirmation was naturally the best outcome.
"I've also heard my wife mention Mayor Shao. She said that Mayor Shao was very kind to her back then and treated her like a younger sister."
Despite his apparent reassurance, Liu Chang'an still spoke with an open and honest demeanor.
Shao Qibin was taken aback upon hearing this, assuming that Zhang Mengxin hadn't told Liu Chang'an the truth. However, for some reason, a strange feeling welled up inside him. Could it be that his relationship with her had become something that needed to be vehemently concealed?
45 is too high to reach
Chapter 44: Unable to Afford It
"Mayor Shao, it's been a long time. You're still as radiant as ever, even more mature and charming than before." Zhang Mengxin casually linked her arm with her husband Xu Chang'an's, adopting a petite and affectionate posture, her smile exceptionally sweet. Yet, both her actions and expression, along with her cold address, created a palpable distance between them. She was telling Shao Qibin that his first love was now another man's wife, and that their relationship seemed unusually close.
"Mengxin still looks the same as she did back then, so beautiful and charming."
Shao Qibin felt a pang of bitterness in his heart. No matter how well he had gotten along with Xu Chang'an, seeing Zhang Mengxin nestled affectionately against Xu Chang'an left him with a touch of bitter regret.
"Thank you for the compliment, Mayor Shao. I also think my wife is very beautiful. She is young, beautiful, capable, and so kind. As her husband, I feel like she is a beautiful flower stuck in a pile of cow dung." Liu Chang'an seemed oblivious to the jealousy churning in Shao Qibin's heart, instead showering his wife with praise. His smug, self-satisfied demeanor only made Shao Qibin feel more irritated.