CIATB Chapter 108 Am I a decent son-in-law?
Chapter 108 Am I a decent son-in-law?
Chapter 108 Am I a decent son-in-law?
One light and two heavy.
Yu Huan knocked three times on the dark brown door of the director's office, the sound crisp and clear, echoing in the empty corridor.
"Please come in."
Old Lin's gentle voice came through the wooden door, and although it was a little muffled, it was enough for Yu Huan to hear clearly.
He grasped the doorknob, feeling the cool metal against his palm, and with a gentle twist, the door opened with a soft "click."
A faint aroma of Phoenix Dancong tea wafted into Yu Huan's nostrils. He lifted his leg and stepped into the director's office.
The room was dimly lit. Old Lin sat in the main seat and glanced at the newcomer.
His face immediately broke into a wide smile: "Xiao Yu, you're here!"
The reason was that there was another person sitting in the guest seat opposite Lao Lin, whose hair was gray from behind.
There are outsiders present.
Yu Huan's throat tightened instantly, unsure whether to address him by his title or call him "Dad".
After a moment's consideration, she smiled brightly and said, "Come sit here for a while."
The guest turned around.
His face was thin, his forehead broad, and there were deep nasolabial folds on both sides of his nose. Gold-rimmed glasses perched on his nose added a touch of elegance and wisdom to his sharp eyes.
The nearly sixty-year-old president of the association, Mr. Xu, said with a smile, "Young Yu, you're here to have tea with your father-in-law too, right?"
Yu Huan walked to the tea table without stopping, but was stunned when she heard these words.
Even the president of the company, whom he had never met before, started calling him Xiao Yu.
Old Lin suddenly spoke up: "Why aren't you calling him Uncle Xu yet?"
Upon hearing this, Yu Huan immediately stepped forward and respectfully nodded to Old Xu: "Hello, Uncle Xu!"
Jiangnan Morning Post is a provincial-level public institution, and Lao Xu concurrently serves as the deputy director of the provincial government's propaganda department. In terms of official rank, he is the same as his uncle.
Of course, the editor-in-chief is also at the department level, but the weight is different.
Old Xu is a legitimate high-ranking Party official; even Yu Huan in his past life would have to bow and scrape before him, greeting him with utmost respect.
At this moment, Old Xu stood up slightly, raised his hand to hold the back of the chair beside him, and prepared to pull out the chair: "Well, Xiao Yu, sit down."
Yu Huan quickly offered her help: "I'll take care of it."
He pulled out a chair and sat down next to Old Xu.
Old Xu slightly pushed open the window a crack and took out a box of Furongwang cigarettes from the pocket of his executive jacket.
Seeing that Lao Lin was busy rinsing a teacup with a gaiwan, I took one out and gently tossed it on Lao Lin's table.
As he turned to offer Yu Huan a cigarette, Old Lin looked up and said, "Brother Xu, my son-in-law doesn't smoke."
Old Xu paused for a moment, then put it in his mouth: "It's good not to smoke. This stuff is expensive and affects your health. I can't quit even if I want to."
"Leaving aside the health risks, just not smoking for a lifetime would save hundreds of thousands of yuan," Old Lin said with a smile.
After washing Yu Huan's cup, he poured the tea leaves from the gaiwan into the trash can next to him.
Then he opened a small drawer on the table against the wall and took out a red plastic bag with a smiley face printed on it.
Looking at the familiar bag, Yu Huan couldn't help but stroke her chin.
He secretly thought that Lin's father was about to start again.
Sure enough, Old Lin proudly showed off to Old Xu, saying, "My son-in-law gave it to me; it's ten-year-old dried Banzhang liquor!"
“That’s really rare, we should savor it.” Old Xu took the plastic bag, opened it, sniffed it, and then put it on the table: “Xiao Lin, your son-in-law is capable and filial, I’m a little envious of him.”
Hear the words.
Yu Huan immediately put on a shy smile.
Her lips were slightly closed, with only the corners of her mouth slightly upturned.
He placed the Pu'er tea in front of him and silently began to pry it apart with a tea needle.
“Your son-in-law is quite good too, he’s handsome.”
Old Xu turned to look at Yu Huan and said with a smile, "He's still not as good-looking as your son-in-law."
After finishing breaking up the tea leaves, Yu Huan looked up and said, "Uncle Xu, what you said makes me a little embarrassed."
“What’s there to be embarrassed about? In the past two weeks, you’ve led a dozen or so young people to promote the transformation and upgrading of the newspaper. I think everyone can see how capable you are.” Old Xu gave a thumbs up, paused for a moment, and then said, “Xiao Yu, if the department encounters any problems or difficulties, you can come to me directly if needed.”
“Okay, Uncle Xu.” Yu Huan nodded, but said, “However, I still hope that everything goes smoothly in the department, and I’d better try not to ask you for help.”
When these words were spoken in the tone of a junior, both Lao Xu and Lao Lin smiled knowingly.
The two men smoked and sipped tea.
One person simply enjoys tea.
Yu Huan gently stroked the cup with her fingertips, feeling its smoothness and delicacy.
He was silent.
Listening to the two leaders talk about who should be the editor-in-chief, considering both their qualifications and abilities.
As a public institution, the president and editor-in-chief are appointed and dismissed by the higher authorities six months in advance to prepare for the change of leadership, and there is a seven-day public announcement period before their appointment.
The appointment and removal of department heads are not so strict.
In other words, Lao Lin, the person involved, knew that he was about to take office as editor-in-chief almost half a year ago.
It has to be said that Lao Lin is really good at keeping things to himself; he keeps everything hidden from his son-in-law.
I'm about to become the editor-in-chief, and it was only then that I had a few words with Lao Xu over tea. I didn't try to hide anything from him and frankly revealed some information.
After tasting two dishes of Lao Ban Zhang, the two leaders didn't immediately make a decision. Old Xu suddenly turned to Yu Huan and said, "Little Yu, are you going home for dinner tonight? Do you want to come with me to the cafeteria for a quick bite? It's on me!"
Old Lin jokingly chimed in, "Although Uncle Xu usually eats at the cafeteria buffet, he has special hot pot dishes for guests."
"Then I shall humbly accept your offer," Yu Huan said with a smile.
After Lao Lin finished cleaning up the mess.
After a while.
The three of them immediately got up, went up the stairs, and went down to the cafeteria.
Yu Huan followed closely behind the two leaders, and as they passed by, there were constant greetings of "Hello, President!" and "Hello, Director Lin!"
His position as acting deputy director was truly unimpressive, and there weren't many familiar faces in the entire Lianhe Zaobao building.
The canteen at Jiangnan Morning Post is a self-service cafeteria, with options for two meat and two vegetable dishes or three meat and three vegetable dishes, plus a soup. You can take as much as you want, and there's a fairly wide variety of dishes.
Without the meal allowance, it's not cheap, but with the allowance, the cost of a meal is only three to five yuan.
Of course, if you eat the maximum of three meat and three vegetable dishes a day, your nutritional supplements will be almost used up, so Yu Huan usually just eats lunch here.
Two meat dishes and two vegetable dishes would allow me to have two regular meals in the cafeteria every day.
As soon as Yu Huan reached the food pick-up area, she spotted Zhao Yuan waving at the cafeteria lady, saying repeatedly, "No, no, no, two meat dishes and two vegetable dishes will do!"
Say it.
The cafeteria worker prepared the food behind the window.
Zhao Yuan hurriedly raised his hand and pressed his fingerprint on the fingerprint machine.
As she took the tray from the cafeteria lady and scooped out two spoonfuls of food, she inadvertently turned her head and met Yu Huan's gaze.
Especially when you see that Yu Huan is surrounded by two big shots, Lao Xu and Lao Lin.
He gave an awkward smile, stiffly nodded to Yu Huan, and then hurriedly turned his head back.
After hurriedly getting the food, they turned around and left.
What's wrong with this guy?
Yu Huan couldn't help but think to herself, "Is it necessary to panic like this? I'm not some kind of demon!"
Old Xu, however, stepped around to the side and went behind the window, calling out to the burly middle-aged head chef, "Xiao Qian, I'm treating everyone today. You can simply cook four dishes."
The head chef hurriedly put his phone into his pocket, hesitated for a moment, and said, "Alright, President Xu, how about stir-fried pork with chili peppers, stir-fried tripe, braised fish, stir-fried spinach, and maybe a tomato and egg soup as well? What do you think?"
"No problem, there are three of us. Just make the portions smaller to avoid waste."
After Old Xu came out of the window, he pressed his fingerprint on the fingerprint machine, but did not take his father-in-law and son-in-law to the private room.
They were all newspaper staff members, so there was no need to treat them like guests. He moved to the corner and sat down, following his own habits.
Yu Huan has been eating here for over ten years, watching the head chef grow from a young man to an old man, so he is naturally very familiar with the canteen's flavors.
It's like an everyday meal; I no longer have any expectations for it.
When the cafeteria lady brought the dishes over, she greeted Lao Xu and Lao Lin respectively, and then looked at Yu Huan with curiosity: "I see this handsome guy every day, but I still don't know his name!"
Old Xu smiled and continued, "This is the deputy director of the new media department, named Yu Huan."
"So young and already a director?" The cafeteria lady looked surprised.
In less formal settings, it is perfectly common to refer to a deputy as a full-fledged official, using a flattering title.
Yu Huan corrected him with a reserved expression: "Not director, but acting deputy director."
"They're all directors, they're all directors." The cafeteria lady laughed, putting down the stir-fried tripe and braised fish in her left and right hands respectively, and then turned to go to the window.
Yu Huan smiled and gently shook her head, but didn't say anything more. She immediately got up to serve the rice.
Watching him scoop rice from the large rice cooker, bowl after bowl, Old Xu chatted and laughed with Old Lin: "Little Yu is quite diligent."
Old Lin nodded slightly, a hint of smugness creeping into his voice: "My son-in-law is alright, isn't he? At home, he always insists on washing the dishes, mainly because he's quite popular with his mother-in-law."
Upon hearing this, Old Xu immediately clicked his tongue in disapproval.
It's lunchtime, and the cafeteria is bustling with activity.
The three of them didn't talk much and just kept eating.
After finishing the four dishes and one soup, Lao Xu and Lao Lin went upstairs to handle some business.
Yu Huan said goodbye to them and went straight out of the Zaobao building.
He subconsciously looked around but didn't see any suspicious people holding cameras. Instead, he saw Zhao Yuan sitting on the flower bed, and their eyes met.
Upon seeing him, she quickly got up and rushed up the steps.
She was clearly waiting for him.
After receiving some guidance from Old Zhao, Zhao Yuan secretly resolved to improve his relationship with Yu Huan, his lifelong rival.
Approaching Yu Huan, he greeted her with a warm smile, saying, "Yu Huan, did you have a good dinner?"
These words, coupled with his expression, left Yu Huan completely bewildered.
I wanted to congratulate him on being transferred back to the advertising department, but then I realized there was no need to mock him like that.
Yu Huan said amicably, "Zhao Yuan, is there anything I can help you with?"
"What could possibly happen to me!" Zhao Yuan winked and teased in a friendly manner, just like when they got along on campus: "I really envy you! Not only are you successful in your career, but you also have a stable wife at home and mistresses on the side, and they're all rich women!"
(End of this chapter)