Power and Wealth

The next day.

Saturday.

It’s a gloomy day with overcast skies. The wind had picked up, and looks like it is going to rain.

Morning. Dong Xuebing looked at the time and decided to have a good rest today. The Subdistrict Office is not open on weekends, but some staff will be on duty. They will inform the Leaders if there are emergencies.

Dong Xuebing will go to work yesterday, even if it is a weekend. But everything is fine after he started work two days. Although there are still some issues like Geng Xinke and his men are trying to bring him down, the Neighborhood Committees are keeping a distance from him, etc. He had established his authority at the Subdistrict Office and has a few followers now. These issues can wait as he had just got appointed less than three days ago.

After washing up, Dong Xuebing checked his fridge to look for food, but it is empty. He took out his phone and called his mother lazily.

Ring… ring… ring….

“Mum, I am not working today. Are you coming over? If you are, help me buy breakfast. I am starving.”

Luan Xiaoping replied helplessly. “I have supplementary classes today, and the first class is starting soon.”

“Alright. Forget it then.” Dong Xuebing replied unhappily. “I will go downstairs to buy something to eat. It’s going to rain, and I wonder if the breakfast stores are open yet.”

“They should be open.”

“I will go now.”

“Oh, I heard Meixia and Yunxuan are moving to the city, and Meixia is going to buy an apartment.”

Dong Xuebing replied with a guilty conscience. “Sister Yu wanted to work at the Neighborhood Committee and had applied for it. Her entry exam is next month, and I think Aunt Xuan will work at the TV station here. But it should be after the birth of her baby in October.”

Luan Xiaoping paused for a second. “You must take care of them if they come.”

“I know.”

“Alright. Go and buy your breakfast before it rains.”

After hanging up, Dong Xuebing grabbed his wallet and keys and is about to leave home. He hesitated for a second and placed a blue foldable umbrella into his bag. The moment he opens his door, he could smell a faint gas smell. He frowned and noticed the opposite apartment’s door is open. The windows are also opened, and there’s a soft hissing sound.

Is there a gas leak?

Who is staying in this unit?

Dong Xuebing knows everyone living in this building is staff and family members of the Subdistrict Office. Still, he had not asked Zhou Yanru, who is staying in the apartment opposite his. He has not seen this unit with its door opened since he moved here three days ago. If the apartments are assigned based on position, Geng Xinke should be living here. But Dong Xuebing saw Geng Xinke entering a unit on the fifth floor yesterday. Other Subdistrict Office’s Leaders are all staying on the fifth or lower floors.

Dong Xuebing thought for a while and decided to help his neighbor. He cannot pretend not to see it, and it might be a gas leak.

Knock… knock… knock…

“Is there anybody in?”

“…. Come in.”

A lady replied. Her voice is deep but sounds pleasant to Dong Xuebing.

Dong Xuebing entered the apartment with his nose covered. The gas smell is much stronger, but the windows and doors are opened. So, it should not be life-threatening.

The lady, in her early thirties, is in the kitchen meddling with a rubber hose at the stove. She is dressed in a white blouse and grey pants and is curvy. Dong Xuebing got surprised when he saw her face.

Pretty!

This woman is beautiful and captivating!

Dong Xuebing took a deep breath and wonder whose family member is she? Her beauty is comparable to Xie Huilan, Qu Yunxuan, and Yu Meixia!

The woman turns and looks at Dong Xuebing from top to toe.

Dong Xuebing asked. “Is there a gas leak? The smell is too strong.”

The pretty woman nodded.

“Have you switch off the main?”

The woman nodded with a straight face before making a call on her phone. She seems to be calling the property manager, but no one is answering.

Dong Xuebing continued. “You had breathed in the gas earlier and should go take a break at the windows. I will check your stove for you.”

The woman replied emotionlessly. “No need. Do you have the Property Office’s number?”

“I don’t know.” Dong Xuebing felt the woman has an authoritative tone, and he walks over to the kitchen stove. He looked at the stove and went over to the sink to grab a piece of soap. He covered his hand with soap and wiped it on the rubber hose before switching on the main. Bubbles quickly form on the hose, and he switched off the main again. “It’s a gas leak.”

Dong Xuebing saw a new green gas hose and removed the old one from the stove. “Sis, can you pass me a pair of scissors?”

The woman looked at Dong Xuebing and went to the living room to get a pair of red scissors.

Dong Xuebing took the scissors and cut the new hose to the correct length. He connects the hose to the main and stove before testing for leaks with soap water again. He had changed his gas hose in Beijing. His family was poor, and he had to do everything himself. That’s why changing the gas hose is nothing to him.

“Alright. This should do it.” Dong Xuebing said.

The woman looks at the stove. “… Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it.”

The pretty woman remained emotionlessly. “Wash your hands first. What tea would you like?”

“Don’t bother. I am leaving.”

Dong Xuebing washed his hands and felt this is very dangerous. It will be his responsibility if anyone dies from gas leaks at the family quarters. He wiped his hands dry and called Zhou Yanru. “Hello, Director Zhou? Are you at home or work?”

“Director?” Zhou Yanru sounds confused. “I am at home.”

“Sorry for disturbing your rest.”

“It’s fine. I just woke up.”

“A gas leak just happened in a unit on the sixth floor. The rubber hose had cracked due to old age, and it’s dangerous.”

Zhou Yanru got shocked. “Gas leak?”

“Monday… no. You should contact the gas company to check the gas hose on all the apartments on the sixth floor today. This is an important safety issue. There’s a gas explosion in Beijing recently, and we should check all units here.”

“Alright. I will call them now.”

“Ok.”

“Oh…” Zhou Yanru asked suddenly. “Are you… referring to unit 601 on the sixth floor?”

“Yes. What’s wrong?” Dong Xuebing asked and looked out of the kitchen. The woman is preparing tea in the living room.

Slap! Zhou Yanru slapped her forehead. “I had forgotten to tell you that our Subdistrict Office’s former Work Party Committee Secretary is staying in the unit opposite yours, 601. This unit’s occupant has not changed….” This is common in government agencies. When a Leader got promoted within the same district, his former Government Agency will not ask him to move and return the keys unless he chooses to move.

Dong Xuebing blinked. “Who is it?”

“Err… it’s District Mayor Yuehua.”

District Mayor Yuehua?! Geng Yuehua?! Nan Shan District’s No. 2?!

Dong Xuebing paused for a second. “I know.” He hangs up.

This beautiful woman is Geng Yuehua?! Geng Xinke’s older sister?! She was formerly from Guang Ming Subdistrict Office?!

Dong Xuebing was surprised. He thought this beautiful woman is the relative of a staff. No wonder she has an overbearing attitude. Why is Geng Yuehua still holding on to this apartment’s keys? But it’s not weird when he thinks about it. She should have an apartment assigned to her at the District Committee Family Quarters. Still, her parents and younger brother are staying in the unit one floor below Dong Xuebing. She should have stayed here after she visited her parents yesterday.

Dong Xuebing has complicated feelings, as he did not expect Geng Yuehua to be so pretty. She looks different from her picture on the Government website!

Dong Xuebing had visited the District Government’s website to look at all the Leaders’ pictures before he comes. He had seen Geng Yuehua’s picture, but she looks nothing like the picture. Her picture looks too ordinary.

Most people’s identity card photographs do not look like them, especially pretty girls.

This woman is Geng Yuehua?!

Nan Shan District’s beautiful District Mayor?!

Geng Yuehua’s particulars immediately appear in Dong Xuebing’s mind. Geng Yuehua, Female, in his early thirties, single, overbearing, strict, and uncompromising.