Dong Xuebing looked out the window for a long time and finally saw Xiao Dongnan, dejected, getting into his car. He placed the roses on the passenger seat and drove out of the residential area. From his appearance, it seemed he still hadn’t given up on pursuing Fang Wenping."
Regardless of age, he’s still playing this flower-giving game.
Dong Xuebing grunted and closed the curtains. After tidying up the bedroom, he quietly left Fang Wenping’s residential area. He hailed a taxi to the bus station, bought a ticket, and sat on the long-distance bus, enduring the bumpy ride back to the county, looking weary.
Dong Xuebing arrived a bit late, but fortunately, he made it before noon.
"Director." Meng Hanmei greeted with a smile.
"Dong Xuebing said, 'Director Meng, are you busy?”
"Meng Hanmei replied, 'Yes, just giving some instructions."
Dong Xuebing looked at his watch. 'There was traffic on the way, so it’s a bit late now. Please note that the morning meeting will be rescheduled to the afternoon. Otherwise, it will be too rushed."
"Okay," Meng Hanmei replied. "I'll go notify."
"Dong Xuebing asked, 'How is the renovation of the county committee compound going?'"
"The project is still ongoing and everything is going smoothly," Meng Hanmei replied. "The bidding process was completed last month, and the prices are quite reasonable. The renovation is underway and expected to be completed in three to four months."
Dong Xuebing nodded, 'Thank you for your hard work, Old Meng."
In his temporary office, Dong Xuebing leaned back in his chair, lighting a cigarette, feeling relaxed and humming a little tune with his legs crossed. His mood was quite good, and Dong Xuebing had a good read on Fang Wenping’s attitude, judging from her demeanor when she left this morning. She was not upset. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have just glared at Xiao Dongnan. There was no anger directed at him, Dong Xuebing. Moving to work-related matters, Dong Xuebing had already completed the key task of attracting investment, and now it was time to enjoy the fruits of victory. He believed that within half a year, under his leadership, the economic data of Jiaolin County would show a significant rise. This was a solid political achievement. Despite being relatively new to the role and having only spent a few months on the job, no one could overlook his capabilities. The changes Dong Xuebing brought to Jiaolin County, though not earth-shattering, were still significant. No previous leadership had achieved results like his."
Everything was going smoothly.
Now, he was waiting for the discovery of the ancient tomb in two to three months.
Dong Xuebing no longer felt the urgency and pressure he had when he first took office. The past few weeks were filled with so many things, one wave after another, it was almost impossible to keep up. Now, he was finally relaxed, and everything was well-prepared. Dong Xuebing’s only task was to wait, to wait for the discovery and excavation of the ancient tomb. At that time, Dong Xuebing would hardly need to do anything; sitting in his office almost guaranteed his nomination for a county-level position. He had endured many hardships and gone against opposition to take up this role in Jiaolin County. Wasn’t he waiting for this moment? Every bit of his work before was for this event. His focus had always been on this.
It was still early for lunch.
Well, let’s read the newspaper.
Dong Xuebing pulled open the drawer and took out several evening and morning newspapers from Saturday to today. Su Yan brought them over, and Dong Xuebing had previously requested them. Having been away from the county for the past few days, he would read through the newspapers. Reading the newspapers became a habit for Dong Xuebing since he came to Jiaolin County. Previously, when he was not in a county-level leadership role, it didn’t matter much. But now that he was the county party secretary, knowing about major and minor events in the county was beneficial for him. It helped him discover and understand problems.
Dong Xuebing was casually flipping through to get an overview, not paying much attention. As the head, he was too busy and had no time to delve into every news article and report. If someone got hit by a car or someone's social security was cut off, Dong Xuebing couldn’t possibly keep track of everything. However, when he saw the news on the third page of this morning’s newspaper, he was suddenly taken aback, something he had not paid much attention to before.
"Villagers unearthed antiques."
The headline was this, and Dong Xuebing’s eyes widened upon seeing it. As he followed the news, the words 'Qingluan Mountain' instantly jumped into his eyes.
"Unearthed antiques."
"On Qingluan Mountain in Jiaolin County."
Dong Xuebing inhaled sharply and hurriedly read through the news at the fastest speed possible. This was about some villagers in the nearby Qingluan Mountain who went up the mountain to collect herbs. While on the mountain, they found some herbs and began digging in that area. However, as they dug, they unexpectedly unearthed a severely corroded antique from the soil. Although weathered and corroded, it still looked like a copper mirror. The villagers didn’t know much about it and didn’t pay much attention. After descending the mountain, they handed it over to the village secretary, a village official trusted by the villagers for several years and highly respected due to his knowledge. Many villagers sought his help with their issues. The village secretary didn’t know if it was a cultural relic, but he had basic legal knowledge and knew that if it was a cultural relic, it belonged to the state once unearthed. He then reported it to the Jiaolin County Cultural Bureau and sent the item. The specific identification results were not yet out, which was only reported in yesterday evening’s news, briefly describing the circumstances of this matter.
Unearthed antiques from the field were not anything new; they were pretty standard and not worth getting so surprised about. The newspaper’s layout showed this, on the corner of the third page, indicating that the media didn’t pay much attention either.
However, Dong Xuebing was different because he knew the history.
An ancient tomb was unearthed. How could this be possible so early?
Dong Xuebing clearly remembered that when he looked at the future newspapers, the discovery of the ancient tomb was supposed to be two to three months later, not yet. The discovery also differed from what Dong Xuebing had seen in the newspapers. But upon further thought, Dong Xuebing was relieved. History had changed; it wasn’t surprising because the County Party Secretary back then was Zhang Dongfang. However, Dong Xuebing had taken up the role, essentially altering history from the moment Dong Xuebing took office.
The cultural relic was discovered ahead of schedule.
This was not surprising in the least.