They set off early, but upon reaching the Provincial City, they managed to waste an extra hour.

Arriving at the parking lot of the Provincial Committee Building, Qu Xiangru sat in the car, and tidied up her clothes and hair slightly.

Song Guanchao held the steering wheel, looking at her with a smile.

Qu Xiangru seemed oblivious to his gaze; after finishing her adjustments, she opened the door and got out of the car.

"Here we go again."

Song Guanchao pouted; the woman's mood was as fickle as the weather.

She wasn't like this in the restroom at the service area earlier.

Fortunately, he was used to it.

Soon, they were outside Secretary Gao's office.

After the secretary informed them, he opened the door and welcomed them in.

"Secretary Gao." Qu Xiangru greeted, sitting across from him.

Song Guanchao also politely addressed him and sat side by side with Qu Xiangru at the desk.

Secretary Gao was approachable and unpretentious, showing none of the airs of leadership, very ordinary indeed.

But to underestimate him as harmless to people and animals would be a big mistake.

The Provincial Committee Secretary is a governor figure anywhere.

No one who has held this seat is simple.

What you see and feel are what he lets you see and feel.

Song Guanchao was no longer a rookie in office; he had this level of discernment and self-awareness.

The secretary served tea and then left.

Qu Xiangru first handed over the report.

Secretary Gao scrutinized it carefully, taking about half an hour before setting it down.

His face remained neutral, showing no discernible attitude toward the case.

Qu Xiangru began explaining the current progress of the case.

After she finished, Secretary Gao suddenly looked at Song Guanchao and asked, "Is District Chief Song handling this case?"

Song Guanchao nodded modestly, "Yes."

"Smoke?"

Secretary Gao took out cigarettes, and while it seemed like a question, the cigarette was already tossed over as he finished speaking.

Song Guanchao caught it, Secretary Gao lit his own, and then tossed over the lighter.

Secretary Gao tapped the report with his finger, "This naked loan, it needs to be taken down. Universities must never be swayed by unhealthy trends; this is the bottom line."

"Investigate with the naked loan case as your focus."

"If this involves the club, also investigate it."

"Are you confident?"

"Yes!"

"Young people with such vigor, that's great."

Secretary Gao smiled, glanced at the time: "It's not early, you should head back too. Handle the case well, I have high hopes for you."

Qu Xiangru smoothly straightened the creases on her pants and stood up gracefully: "Secretary Gao, we'll be heading back now."

Song Guanchao felt a bit surprised, not expecting Secretary Gao to call him in just to say a few words.

The whole meeting lasted less than five minutes and it was over.

He had a few questions left unanswered.

He believed Secretary Gao knew what he wanted to ask, but he said nothing.

It was his first official conversation with Secretary Gao, and he found the secretary's style unfamiliar.

It wasn't until they left the Provincial Committee Building and got into the car that Song Guanchao asked, "What does Secretary Gao mean?"

Qu Xiangru fastened her seatbelt, and said, "Literal meaning."

"So how to investigate the club? Should the officials involved be arrested?"

"Didn't you understand Secretary Gao's words?"

"..." Song Guanchao was a bit confused; what did Secretary Gao say?

He told me to focus on the naked loan, and said if the club is involved, to also investigate.

But he didn't mention anything else.

Secretary Gao not drawing a clear boundary would make him hesitant.

Qu Xiangru said, "Secretary Gao's meaning is, you can expand, but not infinitely. Yunhai Club will certainly involve some officials, and the number won't be small, it might even involve officials from the provincial level."

"But not all officials have deep ties with the club; some may have just been there for a meal, enjoyed some services."

"Can you arrest those people?"

"Even if you arrest them, at most it's only a cultural issue; is that a big problem?"

"Trivial matters, knowing yourself is fine, making a big deal would cause significant trouble."

Song Guanchao was even more confused: "So should we investigate or not? Where exactly is this line?"

"This line is the Yunhai Club."

"Investigate, you must investigate. But it's limited to the Yunhai Club."

"If the club's person in charge committed a crime, arrest that person."

"As for the club's operations, if it's not your business, don't meddle."

"Understood?"

Song Guanchao suddenly understood: "Got it."

But he fell into doubt again: "Not expanding, just investigating this club alone, what's the point?"

Qu Xiangru looked at him for a few seconds, suddenly saying an unrelated line: "Secretary Gao thinks highly of you."

"Hmm?"

"Secretary Gao plans to promote you."

"???"

What's this nonsense?

How did I not see that?

Qu Xiangru said, "The naked loan case can be closed at this stage, but Secretary Gao lets you continue investigating upward, and yet restricts you from expanding."

"Because a naked loan case isn't any notable credit, but add a Yunhai Club to it, and this piece of credit carries some weight."

"But if you continue investigating beyond the Yunhai Club, it isn't a credit, it's offending people."

"Secretary Gao drew the boundary line for you, you just need to follow this standard to investigate. Once the right person is arrested, the case ends, and based on this credit, in at most half a year, you can move up."

Listening to her careful analysis, Song Guanchao realized that Secretary Gao was indeed grooming him.

He rubbed his chin and said, "Secretary Gao has insightful eyes, recognizing my extraordinariness in one glance."

"..." Qu Xiangru's corner of the mouth twitched; how had she not noticed before that this guy was so narcissistic.

Song Guanchao changed the subject: "Secretary Qu, your thoughts are astute; without you saying it, I really couldn't hear so much information hidden in Secretary Gao's words."

"It's already so late, I'll treat you to dinner, and after dinner, I'll treat you to some chicken."

"..."

Song Guanchao didn't leave the Provincial City immediately; he had dinner with her nearby, then headed straight to the nearest hotel.

Qu Xiangru didn't say anything either, letting him arrange everything.

After getting the room, Song Guanchao handed her the room card, letting her go up first.

After all, this was the Provincial City; if someone saw them, he didn't mind, but it wouldn't reflect well on Qu Xiangru.

Song Guanchao waited for the next elevator before going upstairs.

Swiping the card to enter the room, he saw Qu Xiangru sitting by the bed, holding her phone while making a call.

He didn't make a sound but walked over to sit beside her, his hands starting to mischievously touch her.

Qu Xiangru rolled her eyes charmingly at him like a frisky male dog trying to undress her.

"Talking to me about this is useless; the City Committee only recovered part of the money, and there's still a portion we can't recover."

Hearing Qu Xiangru's words, Song Guanchao suddenly paused his actions.

Was she talking about that fraud case against the City Government?

Could the person on the phone be someone from the Jiang Family?

He leaned his ear closer to Qu Xiangru's ear, hearing a familiar voice on the phone.

This voice seemed to be Qu Xiangru's third uncle, apparently named Jiang Xiuwen.

Jiang Xiuwen's voice was angry: "Qu Xiangru, this money concerns your brother's future, are you really going to stand by and watch?"

Qu Xiangru's tone was as calm as ever, even cold: "I said, the money is overseas. Mr. Jiang, don't call me unless it's something important, I'm quite busy."

After finishing, she hung up the phone, tossing it aside.

She turned her face, looking at Song Guanchao who was close at hand, suddenly hugged his neck, flipping him onto the bed beneath her.

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