“Right, Dad, I wish to ask you about something. Help me.”

  “What is it?”

  “Brother Zhai has a childhood friend who has just been transferred back to Ping Cheng this year. His name is Zheng Liang. Help me find out the positions currently held by the other Zheng family members after they returned to Ping Cheng.”

  “Fine, I’ll make a call.” After eating and drinking to his fill, surprisingly, Shi Peng’s temper was less impatient than before. He dialed a number quickly and was prepared to give Shi Qing an answer. “Hello, good day, I’m Director Shi. Right…… I’d like to find out more about someone from you. He’s called Zheng Liang. Okay, okay…… Fine. Thank you.”

  Within three minutes, Shi Peng hung up the phone.

  Shi Qing had only consumed half a glass of water. “So fast? You’ve found out?”

  “Yes.” Shi Peng revealed a very odd smile. “This time, Zhai Sheng was really harsh. He’s so merciless.”

  “It has something to do with Brother Zhai again?” Shi Qing asked curiously. “What’s happening? Quickly tell me.”

  “Zheng Liang’s father is called Zheng Chenggong. How should I describe this person? He does everything in moderation. He’s not radical but he’s also not passive such that he will create trouble for himself. His only merit is that he does everything in moderation.

  This makes it easy for him to sustain a business but difficult to start one. This is really quite rare. Since ancient times, it has always been easier to start a business and difficult to sustain it. He’s the opposite. Zhai Sheng made Zheng Chenggong come back. This will really change Ping Cheng’s political scene.”

  Shi Peng was well aware that he belonged to the pioneering kind while Zheng Chenggong belonged to the kind that would keep things going in a steady way.

  With these two kinds of politicians in Ping Cheng, the future development of Ping Cheng would certainly not go wrong.

  Zheng Chenggong’s appearance coincidentally made up for his shortcomings. His pioneering and progressive style also complimented Zheng Chenggong’s weakness.

  “Dad, isn’t Brother Zhai working in the army? Can he intervene in the matters of the police?” Shi Qing did not understand. Wasn’t this beyond his scope?

  \r \r \r

  “As long as you have the ability, there’s nothing impossible in this world.” He was aware right from the start that Zhai Sheng was very capable. Nevertheless, facts had proved that Zheng Sheng’s capability was beyond his imagination. “Do you know whose position did Zheng Chenggong assume?”

  “Who?”

  “Qiu Qin.”

  “Oh my god!” Shi Qing was utterly stunned.

  “After one year of hard work, Qiu Qin really ran into some luck and encountered something good. I heard that an archaeological site was discovered and one of the territories was managed by him. As it was discovered early and managed well, it was thus in good condition. The provincial archaeologist team even came to look at it. Riding on this chance, the Qiu family pulled all the strings available and hoped to send Qiu Qin back.”

  “I understand now. Once Zheng Chenggong is back to assume that role, although uncle-in-law has contributions, it’ll be awkward for him to return to Ping Cheng and be part of the leadership team again. This is because there’s no longer any role suitable for him.”

  There were no more roles!

  The Qiu family was ambitious. They could not wait to climb up the corporate ladder through the Zhai family and the Shi family.

  It had not been easy to encounter such a good matter. The least the Qiu family would do was to use various means to let Qiu Qin resume his previous role. They would then think about the future later.

  Of course, if Qiu Qin could take on a role that was more senior than his former one, that would be the best. If that was the case, the one-year demotion might be a blessing in disguise as it created an opportunity for him to succeed.

  However, now with Zheng Chenggong’s appearance, the Qiu family would not be able to fulfill even their smallest wish.

  Moreover, given Qiu Qin’s ability and the Qiu family’s means, they were not good enough to make Qiu Qin take on a more senior role.

  In short, although Qiu Qin was able to return as the leadership team in Ping Cheng, there were no longer any good roles available. It was useless even if he had contributions.

  Was there anything that could be more shameful and frustrating than this in the world?

  There was another advantage if Qiu Qin could not resume his previous role. After Qiu Chenxi and Qiu Qin returned to Ping Cheng, Qiu Chenxi was no longer fit to display her arrogance in front of Qiao Nan.

  That incident last year—the offspring of the government official and veteran revolutionary hired a group of triads to hurt others—was apparently the biggest scandal in Ping Cheng. It had badly tarnished the reputation and image of the Chinese government officials in the hearts of the citizens.

  The impact of that incident was extremely adverse.

  If not for the fact that there had been no deaths and injuries, and if this matter had been blown up further, Qiu Qin would have most likely been implicated by Qiu Chenxi. He could then bid farewell to his political career forever, let alone just having a demotion.

  If Qiu Qin was the one who gave Qiu Chenxi the power to do that, then Qiu Qin could face the danger of being expelled from the party.

  In short, that mess created by Qiu Chenxi last year had vividly portrayed a drama of betraying one’s father.

  Since Qiu Qin could not resume his previous role, Qiu Chenxi had to restrain herself when she returned to Ping Cheng. At the very least, she should not provoke Qiao Nan again.

  Otherwise, if a similar incident happened again, the Qiu family would have to return to the place they had just come from.

  There was truly no room for leniency regarding such a situation.

  “Brother Zhai has destroyed the lifeline of the Qiu family for Qiao Nan’s sake.” The Chen family was not exempted from this too.

  Once the father-son pair returned, Brother Zhai helped Qiao Nan deal with her two annoying enemies. Full of admiration!

  Wasn’t Brother Zhai very tied up recently due to the increase in the number of missions? Half a year had passed and she had only seen Brother Zhai once. Brother Zhai was so busy. How was he able to spare the effort to plan these small plots and subdue the two enemies of Qiao Nan in such a deadly manner?

  As long as he kept this up, even if Brother Zhai’s missions increased and he was so tied up that he had no time to take care of the situations at Qiao Nan’s side, most probably, nothing much would happen to Qiao Nan.

  In other words, Brother Zhai was trying to build an impregnable stronghold around Qiao Nan.

  Shi Qing exclaimed. Shi Peng felt even more regretful. “Qing Qing, this can only prove that you really did not like the wrong person all this while. But it’s a pity that you lack a little luck.”

  Zhai Sheng was a good child. If Qing Qing could be together with Zhai Sheng, he could completely let down his worries and focus on his career without any reservation and fear.

  It was fine that Qiao Nan, such a good daughter, was not his. But even an outstanding youngster such as Zhai Sheng was not his son, and neither could he be his son-in-law. Shi Peng felt depressed thinking about it.

  Why was it that all the good ones had to get together? Did that mean those like him, who were not that outstanding, would not have the chance to change the genes of their future generations?

  Shi Qing curled the corners of her lips. “Dad, do you want to make Qiao Nan and me go against each other and cause a rift between us? I don’t have that kind of feelings toward Brother Zhai anymore. No matter how good Brother Zhai is, it doesn’t have anything to do with me.” By saying that, wasn’t her father trying to create misunderstanding and trouble between her and Qiao Nan? Had her father become muddleheaded after starving too much?

  “Forget it. Let’s not talk about it. If it’s not ours, it’s not ours. No matter how good, it doesn’t have anything to do with us.”