The Tempting Road to Becoming an Official

Blink, and it's the weekend again.

In a few days, Li Duming's studies would come to an end.

Chen Fang was aware that he would soon have to say goodbye to his leisurely days.

However, what was unexpected was that the county office and the County Party Secretary's Office had been calm in recent days, which took Chen Fang somewhat by surprise.

During the time Song Lanre had been there,

the house was always neat and clean.

It hadn't been long since she left,

and it had already reverted to the state of a single man's rental.

Chen Fang couldn't be bothered to clean up.

In a few days, he was planning to move into the apartment Qi Kexin had given him; after all, why not live in such a nice place if it's available?

He slept until noon.

Washed up and was about to go out to grab something to eat.

He had just changed his clothes

when he heard a knock at the door.

Who would come at this time?

When Chen Fang opened the door, a middle-aged woman bustled in.

Close behind her were a middle-aged man and a young man.

After entering, the middle-aged woman glanced around the messy living room, disdainfully threw Chen Fang's jacket, which was on the couch, on the floor, and then sat down with great aplomb.

"Have a seat, what are you standing there for, looking so pathetic? Isn't your nephew's home just like your own?" the middle-aged woman said to the middle-aged man who was shivering beside her.

The man chuckled and duly took a seat on the couch.

The other young man, meanwhile, sat down on the armrest of the sofa, casually took an unopened pack of cigarettes from the coffee table, tore it open, and started smoking right away.

This series of actions was done in one fluid motion.

Making Chen Fang feel like an outsider in his own home.

"Ah Fang, sit down," the middle-aged woman called out and gestured.

Chen Fang's head ached.

The middle-aged man before him, who wasn't much of a talker, was his real uncle, his father Chen Zhiguo's biological brother, Chen Yangmin.

Chen Yangmin was nowhere near the simple, honest farmer type.

He worked in the county's water conservancy bureau but never made anything fancy of his life; at retirement, he was just an ordinary low-level official.

The middle-aged woman was named Xu Caifeng, Chen Fang's real aunt, who had been the head nurse of the gynecology department at Changming County Hospital before retiring.

As for the smoking young man, he was naturally Chen Fang's cousin; his name was Chen Yu, a year younger than Chen Fang. He had served two years in the military but had been loafing around since returning and was known as an unsuccessful layabout.

It begs the question.

Why, when Chen Fang had real uncles and aunts, was he adopted by Tan Yandong after the death of his parents?

Logically, he should have been raised by his own relatives.

In Chen Fang's memory,

none of his uncles or aunts were good people.

When his parents were alive, they often visited his home, each time leaving with large and small packages of things, but the moment his parents died, Xu Caifeng was the first to jump out and claim her own family was not well-off either and couldn't afford to send Chen Fang to university.

Chen Fang vaguely remembered

that his uncles and aunts had organized his parents' funeral.

Having been doctors all their lives, Chen Zhiguo and his wife had made many good deeds and connections; quite a few people came to pay their respects, and they received a considerable amount in condolence money.

However, Xu Caifeng pocketed all that money, claiming she was keeping it safe for Chen Fang.

Later, when Chen Fang needed some money for university living expenses, Xu Caifeng told him that the money was all spent on buying an apartment for her then 17-year-old son and that she couldn't offer any money at the moment.

It was because of this,

that Tan Yandong ended up taking Chen Fang away.

Over the years,

these people had never appeared before Chen Fang.

Nor did he expect

them to now.

After many years.

They actually showed up again, and even found their way to his rental room.

Speechless.

Chen Fang sat down opposite them.

He asked, "What brings you here?"

"Ah Fang, I heard you became the secretary to the County Party Secretary?"

Xu Caifeng's face was filled with a smile she had never shown before.

Chen Fang nodded and said, "That's true."

"Good, good, good, you've really made something of yourself, I knew you would since you were a child. 'No pup is born to a tiger without its stripes,' Our old Chen family finally has someone to hold up the family honor," Xu Caifeng said.

Chen Fang knew that no good was coming of this.

So he simply kept silent.

Xu Caifeng chuckled and said, "Ah Fang, we're all family here, family shouldn't talk like strangers. We've come to ask for your help with two things today."

"Go on."

Chen Fang wanted to end this meeting as soon as possible, so he spoke with an emotionless face.

Xu Caifeng said, "The first thing is about your cousin's job. He's been looking for a while and still hasn't found a satisfactory one. Now that you're the secretary to the County Party Secretary, arranging a job for him is just a word away, isn't it?"

"And the second thing?" Chen Fang asked.

Xu Caifeng, seeing that Chen Fang hadn't refused, was delighted and continued, "The second thing, Ah Yu recently got himself a girlfriend, and they're talking marriage. The girl's family is demanding a dowry of three hundred thousand, and your uncle and I honestly can't afford that. So we came to ask for your help. I took a look, and your situation probably isn't great either, but we won't make it hard for you. How about you, as the secretary to the County Party Secretary, act as a guarantor for Ah Yu at the bank, and we can take out a loan from the bank."

Chen Fang furrowed his brows.

He asked, "I can understand the first request, but the second one I don't get. Uncle and Auntie are both public servants. You could be guarantors for Ah Yu just as well. Why does it have to be me?"

As soon as these words came out.

Xu Caifeng's expression turned ugly.

Chen Yangmin, who had been silent all this time, said indignantly, "Isn't it all because of your aunt's spoiling? In the past few years when Ah Yu was doing business, it was us who guaranteed his loans, and after they all failed, now we both have bad credit, we can't guarantee anything."

Oh.

So that's how it is.

Chen Fang sneered inside.

The money borrowed for the business before wasn't even paid back, and now they wanted to take out another bank loan—weren't they just pushing him into a pit of fire?

"Uncle and Auntie, I can't help with either of those favors for the time being, but..."

Facing a request from his elders, Chen Fang couldn't simply turn them away; he actually wanted to suggest waiting a while until Chen Yu's work situation stabilized, but before he could finish his thought, Xu Caifeng interrupted him, "Ah Fang, aren't you being insincere now? We are family after all. If you can't even help your family, are you still human?"

He was already suppressing his anger.

Xu Caifeng's words completely ignited Chen Fang.

He stood up abruptly and said, "I'm not human? Auntie, how about you take a good look at yourself and ask if you've acted with any conscience. After my father passed away, how did you treat me? And now you talk to me about family?"

"How did we treat you? We took care of the funeral; what else did you expect from us?" Xu Caifeng also stood up and demanded.

Chen Fang sneered and said, "What about the money? Did you give me that money?"

With that question posed.

Xu Caifeng's face flushed red.

She said, "We handled the funeral, so naturally, the money is ours. You were just a little brat back then; what did you know?"

"Okay, since Auntie has put it that way, let me tell you straight then—I'm not helping with any of it. You understand that, don't you?" Chen Fang said through clenched teeth.

Xu Caifeng was no pushover.

She grabbed the ashtray from the table and hurled it at Chen Fang.

If it hadn't been for Chen Fang's quick reflexes, there would have been bloodshed that day.

The ashtray smashed into the television across from him, breaking the screen with a loud crash and shattering into pieces on the floor.

"Are you helping or not?" Xu Caifeng angrily pointed at Chen Fang's face and demanded.