The paper money was quickly burned, and after a burst of blazing flames, it turned into black charcoal ash, slowly drifting away under the north wind, and soon there was no trace left.

Li Rui held Lu Qingman and looked at the tombstone with a sad expression. It seemed that a middle-aged woman who described her as a very similar person to Qingman could be seen looming inside. She said to her silently: "Mom, don't worry, I will definitely be nice to Qingman and I will take good care of my father."

After returning from the cemetery, the couple drove back to Qingyang. Tomorrow is the seventh day of the lunar month, the first day of work after the holiday, so they must go back today. Of course, the party and government organs cannot do any serious work in the first few days after the New Year. People basically visit each other to worship their old age, eat and drink, and only after the fifteenth day of the first lunar month can they enter the formal working period.

Many friends may have discovered that in the first week after the New Year, that is, from the seventh day of the lunar month to the fifteenth day of the first lunar month, government agencies basically do not do anything, and even if they do things, they are extremely efficient. For example, when you go to the police station to apply for an ID card or change a household registration book, the other party will usually tell you what the network is bad, or the computer is broken, and find various excuses to deal with you. In short, it is just that they don’t do anything wrong. Why? It’s because they haven’t recovered from the annual leave, and it still needs a week’s buffer period. This kind of thing is also an unspoken rule of the agency, and it is common throughout the country.

When the couple returned home, Lu Qingman listed the local specialties brought back from Phuket. Among them, cashew nuts and dried tropical fruits were edible by Li Jianmin, while the remaining batik products and tin pots were handicrafts. They could not be eaten, so they could only be seen.

Li Jianmin tasted the cashews curiously and said, "It tastes the same as the one we bought at home." Lu Qingman smiled and said, "The cashews are not the same as the one we bought." Li Jianmin tasted a few, and he praised them repeatedly, saying that he had never eaten them before, and then invited Xiaohong, a nanny who was busy with housework at home, to come and eat it.

Seeing Xiaohong, Li Rui suddenly remembered the gifts he received during the Chinese New Year. He could hardly put them in the garage, so he had to send them out quickly. He hurried downstairs, picked up four gifts in the garage, mentioned them to his home upstairs, and told Xiaohong to take them back when he went home in the evening.

Xiaohong was grateful for his kindness, as if he had taken advantage of his family.

Indeed, from her perspective, these gifts cost at least seven or eight hundred yuan. Taking them out of thin air is indeed a big advantage for his family; but from Li Rui's perspective, these gifts have no value at all. After enough food and clothing at home, these gifts become burdens. They just want to send them out as soon as possible to avoid adverse effects of accepting other people's benefits. But then again, it is nothing now that government officials receive gifts (pure gifts) during the holidays, and they will not be criticized by anyone. After all, this is an ordinary matter. Leading cadres are still giving gifts themselves, so why are they afraid of receiving gifts?

Li Jianmin suddenly remembered something and said, "Xiao Rui, your old classmate Zhang Bing came over a few days ago and said he was here to pay New Year's greetings. Seeing that you were not at home, you left again without staying there. Call him and ask, is there anything wrong?"

Li Rui said oh, took out his cell phone and entered the inner room, and called Zhang Bing. The phone rang and was answered just after the phone rang.

Zhang Bing smiled and said, "Xiao Rui, are you back?" Li Rui smiled and said, "Yes, I just came back from the provincial capital. How about the New Year? I wish you a new year." Zhang Bing said, "It's great, haha, our old classmates don't have to be polite." Li Rui said, "I'm just looking for you, I want to ask you for help." Zhang Bing was puzzled when he heard this, and said, "I didn't listen, right? Do you ask me for help? What else can you do?" Li Rui smiled and said, "Let's talk about it when you meet, I'll have lunch first, and after lunch, I'll go to your house to find you." Zhang Bing was very happy and said, "Okay, then I'll wait for you, and I'm going to talk to you about something." Li Rui said, "Well, let's talk about it when you meet."

After lunch, Li Rui picked four gifts from the garage, put them in the trunk of the BMW car, and drove towards Zhang Bing's house. Zhang Bing was already waiting for him at the entrance of the community in advance. He was very surprised when he saw him driving a BMW, but when he thought of his identity, he felt that there was nothing strange about it. He sat in the passenger seat in the car with a little respect, guided him to drive into the community and parked downstairs of his own.

After getting off the car, Li Rui opened the trunk and took out the four gifts and placed them on the ground. Zhang Bing came over and said in surprise: "Oh, come here, why are you doing these things? Isn't this a thing in my house?" Li Rui smiled and said: "There are all this stuff in the house, and I can't put it down. Please help me eliminate a small part, haha."

Zhang Bing heard him speak casually and humblely, without any arrogance, and was not a show-off tone at all. Instead, he had a sense of modesty. He secretly thought, if it were Li Zhichao, he would never give him gifts, even if he gave it, he would definitely give him some worthless garbage gifts, and would definitely say something exaggerated to remember his favors. Compared to the two, Li Rui was more good at being a human being and more practical. If you make friends, you have to make friends like him. There was a layer of regret in your heart and regret having been with Li Zhichao for so many years.

The two of them each brought two gifts, went upstairs with jokes, and soon sat down in Zhang Bing's living room.

Zhang Bing's wife had already prepared the tea set. As soon as the two of them entered the door, they immediately made tea. When Li Rui was sitting on the sofa, she had already handed over the tea cup as soon as she smiled on her face, looking respectful and careful.

After his wife finished the tea, Zhang Bing drove her back to the bedroom because he had to talk about some private matters next, and it would be bad to tell her about it.

Zhang Bing whispered, "Let me tell you something first." Li Rui said with a happy expression, "Okay." Zhang Bing said, "Li Zhichao and I were shocked a few days ago and went to Ding Yijing's house..." Li Rui's heart was shocked, and he immediately put down his teacup and asked, "Is Ding Yijing at home?" Zhang Bing said, "Are you there, of course, she is divorced, and of course she has to go home for the New Year." Li Rui asked, "What did Li Zhichao and the others do in the past?" After saying this, he felt that he had no need to ask this. What else could Li Zhichao do when he went to find Ding Yijing? It was nothing more than being very attentive and teasing. But unfortunately, he didn't know that Ding Yijing was already in love with him and he had no chance. Zhang Bing said, "It was said that he was going to pay New Year's greetings to Ding Yijing, but in fact he was chasing her."

Li Rui said oh, and asked, "Ding Yijing is still at home now?" Zhang Bing shook his head and said, "I don't know this, why don't you call her and ask. Actually, I want to tell you that Ding Yijing's mother once called Li Zhichao to a room and asked something. When Li Zhichao came out, he would know that you had once..." Li Rui frowned and asked, "What did I have ever been?" Zhang Bing carefully observed his expression and said tentatively, "You have hugged Ding Yijing, and... kissed her." Li Rui's expression remained unchanged, but he knew in his heart that this must be what Ding's mother told Li Zhichao. It was very strange. I don't know why Ding's mother told him this? Should I remind him that Ding Yijing has already gotten along with him and he should stop pestering her? Zhang Bing said again, "After hearing about this, Li Zhichao was very unhappy and wanted to mess with you."

Li Rui didn't say anything, his expression on his face did not change, and he acted lightly, as if he was not surprised by this, but his heart was already in a state of uproar. He thought that in order to help Li Zhichao be promoted to the deputy director of the Shibei District Industrial and Commercial Bureau, he did not hesitate to make friends with Gao Hongliang, the director of the Municipal Industrial and Commercial Bureau who had never dealt with him. Finally, he got the chance to get his wish and became the deputy director as he did. It would be fine if he had no thanks. Today, he still had to become a gangster because of a woman who turned against him and wanted to plot against him. Is this still a human being? This is simply not a thing than a beast.

Seeing that he was silent, Zhang Bing secretly admired his demeanor. If it were him, he would have been furious. No wonder he could be the secretary of the municipal party secretary. He stood up and refilled the tea for him. After sitting back, he began to express his opinion, saying, "This Li Zhichao is not me who said he is really not good enough. Who doesn't know that without your strong help, how could he become the deputy director of the District Industrial and Commercial Bureau? With his little connections and skills, no one would turn to be the deputy director. If you helped him so much, he wouldn't have any expression to you. After all, they are old classmates, and you don't expect him to repay you, but he is just turning against you because Ding Yijing wants to turn against you and secretly deal with you. This is not a thing, right? Alas, how could there be such a person? I'm so blind, how could he make such a friend?"

Li Rui smiled slightly and said, "I just think this person is quite interesting. I don't know where he got the courage to do something, but he actually wants to do something to do something to do something to do something to do something to do something to do something to do something to do something to do something to do something to do something to do something to do something to do something to do something to do something to do it? Haha."

In the past, Li Rui had always maintained a low-key and humble nature, and rarely had erratic and boasted. Since marrying Lu Qingman, he became a formal member of the Lu family, and he was more or less proud. Of course, this is just like saying this to an old classmate Zhang Bing. If it were an outsider, he would not dare to say that. Furthermore, he did not need to rely on the power of the Lu family to deal with a small person like Li Zhichao. With his current identity as a secretary of the municipal party committee, he could help Li Zhichao to be obedient.
Chapter completed!