19: Chapter 19 My Governor Father

The day I returned to Hanzhou for summer break, there was a torrential rain.

Xu Weidong had taken the train from Yancheng overnight, arriving at the station at six in the morning.

The black Audi from home was not at the exit. Only Shen Ziwei was standing in the rain with an umbrella, waving at him.

"Mom, why did you come yourself?"

"Your dad said he wanted to give you a surprise."

Shen Ziwei tilted the umbrella toward him and said, "He's cooking at home."

Xu Weidong was stunned. The Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, on a workday at six in the morning, was cooking at home.

"Mom, has Dad been very tired lately?"

Shen Ziwei glanced at him and asked, "Why do you ask?"

"I don't know, just a feeling."

Shen Ziwei didn't answer. She drove the car into The Government Compound, parked it in front of their building, and turned off the engine.

"Comrade Weidong, your dad is the type of person who never says he's tired."

She paused and added, "But since you are his son, being able to feel it is enough."

Xu Weidong nodded and opened the car door.

The rain had eased a bit. He walked through the courtyard and saw the kitchen light on.

He stood at the door, suddenly hesitant to go in.

Xu Weidong didn't know how to bring it up—the one million, Heishui, Yuanhang Capital, and those strangers he had never met who wanted to use his father's name to make a profit.

He had rehearsed all night on the train, but by dawn, everything was discarded.

The door opened. Xu Tianhua was wearing an apron, holding a spatula in his hand.

"Standing in the rain at the door?"

"Come in."

Xu Weidong went in. On the dining table were three dishes and a soup: shredded pork with green peppers, stir-fried vegetable hearts, tomato scrambled eggs, and a pot of pork rib and lotus root soup.

These were all things Xu Weidong loved to eat as a child. Xu Tianhua took off his apron and sat down at the table.

"Your mom said you've lost weight. Is the school cafeteria food not good?"

"It's alright."

Xu Weidong took the bowl and said, "It's just that I was busy during the competition and didn't eat well."

"That agricultural machinery project?"

"Yeah."

Xu Tianhua nodded and didn't ask further.

Father and son ate in silence, the sound of rain pattering outside.

The TV wasn't on, the phone didn't ring; it was a rare moment of quiet.

Xu Weidong put down his chopsticks and said, "Dad, there's something."

Xu Tianhua looked at him without speaking.

"Last semester, a venture capital firm wanted to invest one million in my project."

Xu Tianhua picked up some greens, put them in his mouth, and chewed slowly.

"I didn't take it."

"The school blocked it for me."

"Mm."

"That company is called Yuanhang Capital."

"Associated with Heishui, right?"

Xu Weidong was stunned. "You... know?"

"I know."

Xu Tianhua's tone was calm, as if discussing whether it would rain tomorrow.

"Their boss's surname is Ding, from Hanzhong, started out in the coal business."

"Going through all that trouble, it would be them."

Xu Weidong opened his mouth, wanting to say something, but didn't know what to say.

"I knew about it before they even found you."

Xu Tianhua wiped his mouth and said, "Someone from the Ning Office passed a word to me."

Ning Office...

"Dad, did I cause you trouble?"

"Comrade Weidong, do you know what I was doing when I was twenty-three?"

Xu Weidong shook his head. His father rarely talked about his past experiences.

"I was a clerk in the Education Bureau of Dongjiang City. My daily work was pouring tea for leaders, handling documents, and cleaning the conference room."

"At that time, no one wanted to use me to make a profit because I wasn't worth it."

"You are worth it now. This isn't trouble; it's just that you've grown up."

Xu Tianhua's tone was plain, stating a fact he had long known, but Xu Weidong saw a faint smile in his father's eyes.

"You don't need to take those little tricks to heart."

"All they can do is try to get close to you and see if they can fish something out."

"If you don't take the bait, they won't get anything."

"But what if in the future..."

"It will be the same in the future."

Xu Tianhua interrupted him. "You focus on your studies and do your own things."

"As for the messy stuff outside, your old man has got you covered."

When Xu Tianhua said this, his tone remained very plain.

Xu Weidong lowered his head, pretending to drink the soup.

The pork rib and lotus root soup was very hot, scalding his tongue.

He didn't make a sound and drank it spoonful by spoonful.

"Dad, I have a decision."

"What decision?"

"I want to go into politics."

When Xu Weidong said this, he didn't hesitate.

He had thought about it all night on the train—the one million, President Chen Bing, that student senior from Southwest Lu he had never met, and those strangers who used him to make a point about his father.

"I've made up my mind. In the future, I want to be like you and serve the people."

After saying this, he felt it was a bit formal, like a student cadre speech competition.

But this was his true heart, and saying it out loud made him feel lighter.

"Good."

Just one word. Xu Weidong waited for a long time, but there was no follow-up.

"Dad, don't you have anything to instruct me?"

"Instruct you on what?"

Xu Tianhua started drinking soup again. "If I told you not to go into politics, would you listen?"

"No."

"Then there you go."

Xu Weidong laughed. He remembered when he was a child, his father had the same tone.

Xu Weidong asked why his father came home so late every day, and his father said he was busy with work.

Xu Weidong asked what the work was, and his father said meetings.

Xu Weidong asked what meetings, and his father said meetings for adults.

At that time, he thought his father was very dull; now he thought it was good.

"Dad, I won't let you down."

"You have never let me down."

Xu Weidong immediately lowered his head to eat, not letting his father see his reddened eyes for those few seconds.

In September, when school started, Xu Weidong was elected President of the Student Union at Civil Engineering University.

Unanimous vote, no suspense.

During the competitions in the second semester of freshman year, President Chen Bing personally guided him, from the "Challenge Cup" to "Internet+" to the National College Student Energy Conservation and Emission Reduction Competition, winning awards until his hands were soft.

People in the lab joked that the President was grooming Xu Weidong as his final disciple. Everyone at Civil Engineering University knew that Xu Weidong, who became Vice President in his freshman year, was now the President's direct disciple.

On the day of the handover meeting, Bai Bing sat in the audience.

She watched Xu Weidong receive the flag from the previous president and turn to face the audience.

The spotlight hit his face, and his expression was calm, as if he were receiving a mundane assignment.

When Xu Weidong spoke, he glanced at the audience. She knew she was in that glance.

That was enough!

After the meeting, she sent a text message to congratulate him. He replied, "Thank you, Senior."

Same address, same tone.

That was perfectly fine.

On the first weekend of October, Sun Ming let out a strange cry in the dormitory.

"Holy shit!"

Yang Liqun was wearing headphones playing a game and was so startled by this shout that he threw his mouse away.

"What the hell are you doing?!"

"New Governor!"

Sun Ming held up his phone, his eyes wide.

"Our Xishan Province's new governor!"

Zhang Xun poked his head out from the bed and asked, "The appointment is down?"

"Just announced this morning!"

Sun Ming read the text on the screen, "Xu Tianhua, former Deputy Secretary of the Hanzhong Provincial Party Committee, transferred to Deputy Secretary of the Xishan Provincial Party Committee, Vice Governor, Party Secretary of the Provincial Government, and Acting Governor!"

"Governor Xu, also surnamed Xu."

After Sun Ming finished speaking, he subconsciously glanced at Comrade Weidong.

Comrade Weidong was reading and didn't even lift his head.

"There are many people surnamed Xu. My junior high school homeroom teacher was also surnamed Xu."

"What, do you suspect Comrade Weidong is the governor's son?"

He laughed twice. Seeing no one respond, he shut his mouth awkwardly.

Zhang Xun adjusted his glasses and didn't speak.

Sun Ming withdrew his gaze and continued scrolling on his phone.

"My mom sent a message. Their Provincial Party Committee Policy Research Office held a meeting this morning, and everyone says this new leader is not simple."

"How is he not simple?"

Sun Ming read one by one, "He became a County Party Committee secretary at thirty-five, the youngest in the province at that time."

"When he was mayor in Dongjiang, he closed down all the polluting enterprises by the river, fought hard against black and evil forces, and was rumored to have an iron fist in cleaning up corruption."

"Later, when he went to the province as Deputy Secretary, he focused on real estate regulation and forced down the skyrocketing housing prices in Hanzhong..."

Yang Liqun was stunned as he listened, "Damn, that awesome?"

"Of course!"

Sun Ming was as proud as if he were the governor himself, saying with a quite satisfied tone, "Our Xishan has developed a bit slowly over the years, and we just need this kind of leader who can do things and dares to do things."

"My mom said that the young and middle-aged cadres in the province have high expectations for this new governor."

Sun Ming paused and added, "And he's only forty-four."

"A forty-four-year-old governor, there aren't many in the whole country."

Zhang Xun said thoughtfully, "Forty-four... then he was born in sixty-five."

"Right, born in sixty-five."

"The first batch of college students after the resumption of the college entrance examination?"

"Should be. The resume says he started working in eighty-four, so he should have started college in eighty."

"College students in the eighties, many figures came out of that batch."

Yang Liqun didn't understand these things; he only cared about one thing.

"Is this guy corrupt?"

Sun Ming rolled his eyes at him, "My mom said that when Governor Xu was in Dongjiang, he directly removed a building materials company owned by a leader's relative from the municipal engineering supplier list. No matter how many people called to intercede, it didn't work."

"You tell me if he's corrupt?"

Yang Liqun said with respect, "That's great, you Xishan people are blessed."

"Of course."

Sun Ming put down his phone and said happily, "My mom said that this leader's biggest characteristic is being pragmatic, not doing things for show."

"If he comes to Xishan, our place will definitely be able to develop."

Sun Ming turned to Comrade Weidong, "Comrade Weidong, you are from Hanzhou. Have you heard of Governor Xu in your hometown?"

"Heard of him."

"How is his reputation?"

"Pretty good."

"I told you!"

Sun Ming slapped his thigh excitedly, "Hanzhou's housing prices were pushed down by him. Can you Hanzhou people not thank him?"

The topic quickly turned elsewhere. Yang Liqun asked what delicious food there was in Xishan, and Sun Ming started introducing the local specialties.

Zhang Xun occasionally chimed in, asking questions like whether Xishan women are fierce.

Comrade Weidong continued to read, the words on the pages passing before his eyes line by line, but he didn't remember a single one.

On the bed opposite, Sun Ming was still happily discussing the development prospects of Xishan after the new governor took office with Yang Liqun.

He said that those dead-end roads in Tianzhou City that had been under construction for three years might be opened next year.

He said that those section chiefs who were slacking off in his mother's unit had become honest recently, and Sun Ming also said that his dad said, to see if a person can govern, look at whether he dares to take real action.

When Sun Ming said this, his eyes were bright, as if he were talking about something very proud.

Comrade Weidong didn't look up, but the corners of his mouth curved up.

At night, the dormitory lights went out.

Yang Liqun's snoring started first, and there was an occasional sound of tossing and turning from Zhang Xun's side. Sun Ming was probably still happy for his hometown, his breathing lighter than usual.

Hello, my Governor Father.