Jiang Xiaochuan thought as he walked and returned to his new home in the municipal compound. He opened the door with the key. According to his experience, Jiang Encheng was usually watching TV in the living room at this time, maybe already cooking.

But when he opened the door, he saw that the living room was empty and Jiang Encheng’s door was closed. He immediately frowned, took a few steps and rushed to Jiang Encheng’s door, knocked on the door, “Dad, what’s wrong with you? Are you in there?”

A voice came from inside, “Xiaochuan? I am, I am…”

After a while, the door opened. Jiang Encheng stood in the door, looking at Jiang Xiaochuan. Although he looked very old, Jiang Encheng’s eyes were very stoic, and he could vaguely glimpse the deep iron blood he once had.

He was a veteran who had experienced the baptism of the Vietnam War. Even though he had been frustrated in his life, he was a true soldier at heart.

Every time Jiang Xiaochuan saw Jiang Encheng’s eyes, he felt that he would receive a sacred baptism. Even he himself didn’t know why.

As Jiang Encheng’s son, he felt ashamed that he would take such a path in his previous life and felt sad for himself.

Jiang Xiaochuan adjusted his mood and smiled, “I thought something happened when you were in there.”

Jiang Encheng looked back at the table with many papers scattered behind him, walked out, but turned around and closed the door.

Jiang Xiaochuan felt a little strange. Looking at the papers inside, they looked like many old documents.

Was his father sorting out old things? Speaking of which, it was rare to see Jiang Encheng tidying up things.

Jiang Encheng asked, “Why did you come back at noon today? You just took office over there; you must be very busy, right?”

Jiang Xiaochuan shook his head and explained, “I saw that you were feeling a little unwell the past few days, so I still thought you should check it out. You need to be paid great attention on your body.”

“You, you will make such troubles.” Jiang Encheng was a little helpless, didn’t he still know what his own body looked like?

“You may think I’m old now, but I’m in very good health. I was a soldier back then. Don’t underestimate us soldiers. My body is stronger than yours.”

“Yes, yes, your health is the best, but even if you are not sick, it is still necessary to go to the hospital for regular check-ups. How do you say that – nip in the bud.” Jiang Xiaochuan sighed secretly, what Jiang Encheng said was in the early years, a few years ago, the father and son still lived in the countryside, and Jiang Encheng was still busy with farm work. Although he was lame in one leg, he was one of the best in the village at work.

But after all, he was severely injured during the Vietnam War. After those busy years, the old injuries had not healed completely, leaving hidden dangers. Ever since Jiang Xiaochuan went to college, Jiang Encheng’s health was not as good as before, but by that time Jiang Xiaochuan had already been able to support his life through work-study and various scholarships and bursaries. Jiang Encheng’s burden wasn’t heavy.

But it was absolutely true that Jiang Encheng’s physical condition was getting worse day by day. But in front of the old man, Jiang Xiaochuan couldn’t say these words, so he had to follow him.

.

After eating, Jiang Xiaochuan went back to the room, took his self-examination letter, read it again, then sealed it and put it in his bag. This bag also contained Jiang Encheng’s medical records and so on, so it didn’t look conspicuous when put together.

He called Wei Lai and asked him to clear the pile of things on his desk if he still in the office this afternoon. He had already written notes and instructions on many things, and he believed Wei Lai could solve them.

Speaking of which, the secretaries of the mayors and deputy mayors were almost equal to one person and more than ten thousand people. The mayor and deputy mayors also leave many things to them, so there was a lot of oil and water in this position.

He just didn’t know this Wei Lai, whom Jiang Xiaochuan didn’t have any information.

Although Jiang Xiaochuan thought Wei Lai was a good person, at least he had some ability to do things, but after all, he knew people and faces but not hearts.

After experiencing what happened in his previous life, he had already doubted his own vision of people. Moreover, the same person as Wei Lai was Liu Xiu. Wasn’t this person outstanding in his previous life, but in the end, he became an accomplice of the Rong family?

He couldn’t trust too many people.

After explaining the matter, he took Jiang Encheng out of the house. When he arrived at the garden road of the municipal compound, he saw Zhou Qian driving over in a car with a beautiful strange woman sitting in the car.

Seeing Jiang Xiaochuan taking his father, Zhou Qian stepped on the brakes and rolled down the window: “Mayor Jiang, where are you taking the uncle? Shall I give you a ride?”

Sitting in the passenger seat, the woman raised her eyebrows impatiently and pulled Zhou Qian’s sleeves.

Zhou Qian frowned quietly but didn’t say anything.

Jiang Xiaochuan guessed that the person sitting in the car was his fiancée, Zheng Qi, the daughter of Provincial Party Committee Secretary, Zheng Liangyou.

This was actually very similar to a political marriage, but this kind of thing was very common, but the general public rarely saw it, and the media and newspapers would not report these things.

He shook his head, “I’ll take my dad to the hospital so I won’t disturb the date between Mayor Zhou and future Madam Zhou.”

This title of future Madam Zhou made Zhou Qian’s face darken inexplicably. The woman was a little happy. She obviously knew Jiang Xiaochuan and actually smiled at Jiang Xiaochuan. “It’s Mayor Jiang. Let’s leave first.”

Jiang Xiaochuan nodded gently. Zhou Qian looked back at Zheng Qi and his chest bulged, but then he pressed back and smiled at Jiang Xiaochuan again, “Goodbye, Mayor Jiang.”

“Goodbye.”

Jiang Xiaochuan supported Jiang Encheng and watched the car leave, but he sneered in his heart.

He had made Zhang Xiaoli’s belly bigger, and now he was driving out with another woman. Seeing his unwillingness to do so, he really felt that Zhou Qian was a bit cheap.

Gently touching the self-examination letter with his fingertips, he felt he had some confidence in his heart. He turned to Jiang Encheng and smiled: “It’s okay, that’s Mayor Zhou from the municipal government, colleague.”

Jiang Encheng turned his head and glanced at the high-end car that sped away didn’t say anything and just shook his head.

“I’m afraid this country will perish if this continues.”

Jiang Xiaochuan naturally understood this sentence. Jiang Xiaochuan did not dare to say that the things his father was worried about were entirely possible in Chengzhou. But he couldn’t say anything; he could only smile and say, “Let’s go, the appointment time is almost here.”

He waved for a taxi and then took Jiang Encheng to the Provincial No. 1 Hospital.

.

When Jiang Encheng went in to check, Jiang Xiaochuan took the opportunity to make a phone call. He had saved Xue Yan’s contact information. Now the self-examination letter was in his bag. He was carrying the letter like a heavy stone, making his hands sore.

In fact, if he thought about it carefully, it was just a watch, and those verbal deals had not yet been put into any action. Logically speaking, this was not a serious corruption, but Jiang Xiaochuan was afraid that something behind his back would be exposed – things that even he himself didn’t know existed.

These things were like some untimed bombs. He didn’t know where they were hidden, and he didn’t know when they would explode.

But what was certain was that as long as Jiang Xiaochuan hands this letter to Xue Yan, then these hidden bombs would soon be revealed, and then exploded at a certain time – maybe blowing Jiang Xiaochuan’s hidden enemies to pieces or maybe blowing Jiang Xiaochuan himself to pieces.

His fingers were shaking when he made the call. While waiting for the call to be connected, he couldn’t help but reach out and touch his heart. After five long beeps, the call was connected.

Xue Yan was not in the office now, but eating in his room, so he didn’t hesitate to speak. “Mayor Jiang?”

Hearing Xue Yan’s voice, Jiang Xiaochuan suddenly calmed down, and his voice became steady. His fingers touched the position of his heart, feeling the blood being recovered from the heart and then transported to various parts of the body through the blood vessels.

He said: “Where are you now? I have something to trouble you.”

Jiang Xiaochuan was a deputy mayor, why should he bother Xue Yan?

Xue Yan pondered for a moment. “I’m at home now. What’s the matter with you? If it’s not convenient to talk, we can discuss it in person.”

Jiang Xiaochuan stood outside the corridor and took two steps forward. The smell of disinfectant became much lighter.

“This matter is very important to me, so – can you please come to Yihu Restaurant in an hour? I’ll wait for you there.” He raised his wrist and looked at the time. The watch was still very old, but suddenly he really liked this old and dilapidated feeling.

Xue Yan over there responded, “I’ll be there.”

Jiang Xiaochuan was about to say goodbye, but suddenly a loud shout came from behind: “Give way, give way! First aid! Give way…”

Jiang Xiaochuan looked back and saw a group of people rushing to the operating room pushing a man covered in blood. His fingers holding the phone suddenly curled up, and he could not hold the phone firmly.

Xue Yan’s voice could be heard in his ears: “Mayor Jiang, are you in the hospital now? Mayor Jiang?”

He blinked, and the door of the operating room was pushed open with great force. Then, the red and dazzling “Under Operation” light came on, casting everything in a bleak, bloody color.

He heard his own stiff voice, “I just saw Uncle Qiu being sent to the emergency operating room…”

Xue Yan’s voice stopped suddenly, and he remained silent for a long time.

The two of them were silent on the phone. Jiang Xiaochuan felt his throat blocked, unable to say a word.

Xue Yan still didn’t speak.

Jiang Xiaochuan took a few deep breaths, forced himself to turn around, faced the garden outside the corridor, looked at the snow-blue sky, and said in a solemn voice, “I’m in the Provincial No. 1 Hospital.”

Then a series of “beep beep beep beep” came from the microphone of the mobile phone.

“Beep” — the hang-up sound.

Xue Yan hung up the phone immediately upon hearing this.

Jiang Xiaochuan looked at his mobile phone and suddenly became confused — why did something happen to Uncle Qiu? Uncle Qiu was covered in blood…

What went wrong? The police were still investigating the matter, and Uncle Qiu had already agreed to wait for the results under Xue Yan’s persuasion. Everything was planned, so why did he see Uncle Qiu being pushed into the operating room covered in blood now?

Jiang Xiaochuan pressed his temples, then clenched his hands into fists and hit his forehead hard. He turned and walked towards the ward where Jiang Encheng checked.

Jiang Encheng had just finished taking pictures of his legs and was ready to come out. He turned around and saw the gloomy look on Jiang Xiaochuan’s face, so he asked, “What’s wrong?”

“I just saw something related to work,” Jiang Xiaochuan didn’t say much, and Jiang Encheng didn’t ask much either.

He took the initiative and said, “Send me out for a ride, and then go back and deal with your own affairs.”

At this time, Jiang Xiaochuan also understood the importance and nodded, then sent Jiang Encheng to the car back, and asked him to be careful on the way.

.

After that, Jiang Xiaochuan hurriedly walked back. Just as he turned around the corner of the operating room, he bumped into a very handsome young man putting on a windbreaker while walking — Yue Qingci.

Seeing Jiang Xiaochuan, his movements subconsciously paused. This pause allowed Jiang Xiaochuan to see clearly what was happening on him. There was just a sleeveless T-shirt underneath, with a lot of white gauze exposed on the shoulders, and a belt colored with blood.

Yue Qingci just paused and quickly put on his windbreaker, then took a step forward and smiled at Jiang Xiaochuan, “What a coincidence, Mayor Jiang.”