The Beauties Help Me Become the No.1 Official

Chapter 24: Chapter 24: Sure Enough, There’s a Problem

They dined, shopped, watched movies—an entire afternoon, and the smile never once left Chu Shihan’s lips.

Her lively and outgoing nature was like that of a butterfly, fluttering around Lin Fan, who naturally found it inconvenient to start probing into her background. But on a weekday, for a newly appointed junior clerk to just take off from work was nearly impossible. However, where did she obtain such privilege? That needed no further explanation. noveldrama

"Feng, you’re from Lotus Town, aren’t you?"

At dinner, the two of them sat in a Western restaurant, with Chu Shihan curiously blinking her big eyes while holding a knife and fork.

"Yeah, from Victory Village Team 2 of Lotus Town, what about it?"

Lin Fan looked at Chu Shihan with puzzlement—why had she suddenly brought up this subject?

"Nothing much, I just recently heard that there’s going to be a scenic tourism area developed in Lotus Town, and I heard they plan to select a Deputy Mayor from the agency to be stationed there. I also heard that this is a golden opportunity for career advancement. You’ve been a junior clerk in the agency for such a long time without a promotion. Don’t you want to strive for it? Become a Deputy Mayor, and once the tourism district is established, you could return to the agency and at least be promoted to a full-fledged department head."

Chu Shihan’s words almost made Lin Fan certain that she definitely had a powerful background; after all, this information hadn’t even reached Zhu Defu’s level yet, and those below hadn’t been informed. Not to mention that a junior clerk from the human resources department would never have access to such information without a strong background.

"Such a fast track is always reserved for those with connections, how could it be my turn."

Lin Fan was eyeing this opportunity as well, but he certainly couldn’t say that now. The only thing he could rely on, for the time being, was the pillow talk with Zhang Caini—a five percent chance was already pretty good.

"You’re so talented, and you’re a local from Lotus Town; you definitely know the place better. Why wouldn’t it be your turn? You have to have confidence in yourself. Your gold will surely shine."

Chu Shihan’s words, so certain, clearly had a special meaning, especially since these kinds of external assignments were not about self-nomination but entirely depended on leadership arrangements. If this was to be applied for from the bottom up, it would essentially require a request at Qu Liping’s level and then escalation to the leader in charge for submission up to the Deputy Mayor responsible for the issue—a process which was nearly as difficult as ascending to the heavens.

"Let’s hope so, after all, these matters still depend on the leaders’ discernment," Lin Fan said.

Of course, Lin Fan could not actively ask Chu Shihan to help him out as that would entirely change the nature of the matter. So, he simply smiled nonchalantly. Perhaps for those with connections, this was a trivial issue, but for someone like Lin Fan with a rural background and impoverished conditions, it was harder than reaching the sky.

"I believe you can definitely do it."

There was a fullness of love in Chu Shihan’s sparkling eyes.

After the meal, the two left the restaurant, but instead of heading towards the parking lot, Chu Shihan surprisingly pulled Lin Fan towards the nearby riverside. They walked and stopped intermittently, and seeing that it was already past nine o’clock, Lin Fan halted and looked at Chu Shihan.

"It’s getting late, let me take you home."

Chu Shihan turned her head to look at Lin Fan, "We’ve had dinner, watched a movie, I even drank ice water, and now you want to send me home?"

"What else?"

Lin Fan said, with a wry smile, but in the next moment, Chu Shihan had already wrapped her arms around Lin Fan’s waist and buried her head in his chest.

"Feng, I’ve liked you for so long, and now that you’re single again, could you be my boyfriend?"

"Shihan... actually, we’re not from the same world."

Feeling the warmth in his arms, Lin Fan’s heart couldn’t help but beat a few times faster.

"I can come to your world, really, I came to Jiangning just for you, I really like you so much, please let me be your girlfriend."

Chu Shihan’s sincere confession, on the contrary, made Lin Fan suddenly feel at a loss, as the sudden changes of the past few days had already turned his life upside down. Now facing a pure girl, he truly didn’t know if he still had the right to love.

"Shihan, I know you’re good to me, but life is about more than just poetry and songs, there’s also the mundane everyday life. Once the poet’s garb is shed, I’m just an unsuccessful, single man of a certain age, not as good as you imagine."

Lin Fan gently stroked Chu Shihan’s hair and she slowly lifted her head.

"I don’t care, the only person in this world with whom I wish to marry and have children is you..."

Without giving Lin Fan any chance to speak, Chu Shihan stood on her tiptoes and clumsily kissed Lin Fan’s lips. Her inexperienced kiss banged against Lin Fan’s teeth painfully, but the inexperienced Chu Shihan was still determinedly leaning in, her persistence finally made Lin Fan only have the choice to hold her and gently use his tongue to pry open her tightly closed teeth. Only at this moment did she realize that a kiss also involves the tongue.

"Phew..."

It wasn’t until they were nearly out of breath that Chu Shihan reluctantly parted, and with her cheeks blushing, she said with her head lowered, "This was my first kiss... so am I your girlfriend now? Can you not take me home?"

"Little Scoundrel, ambushing me."

At this point, all Lin Fan could do was smile and gently pinch her nose, but just as the two of them were wrapped up in their love, Lin Fan’s phone rang. Seeing that the number was his mother’s, he hurriedly pressed the answer button.

"Lin Fan... you haven’t gone to bed yet, have you?"

On the other end of the phone, his mother’s voice sounded a bit timid.

"No, I haven’t, Mom. Is something wrong?"

Lin Fan knew that parents in the countryside seldom took the initiative to call him.

"It’s been raining these past days... your dad fell and injured his leg... he’s been lying down for several days now, and I’m a bit worried about him. Could you find some time to come back this weekend and take your dad to the County Health Clinic for a check-up?"

His mother’s words struck Lin Fan like a bolt of lightning, and he said anxiously, "Mom, I know, I’ll make time to come back."

After hanging up the phone, Lin Fan apologetically said to Chu Shihan, "I have to go back right now. We’ll talk about us when I return."

"Okay, you take my car to go see your Uncle. I’m a bit tied up these next few days. Once I’m done, I’ll make sure to visit."

Chu Shihan really wanted to go back with Lin Fan, but thinking about her commitments for the next day, she held back as this matter was related to Lin Fan’s future.

Consequently, Lin Fan drove her home before setting off to Lotus Town without delay. The two-hour journey took him to the town before midnight, but it was only then he learned that the mountain road to the village was blocked due to a landslide from the rain and that it wouldn’t be cleared until the next morning at the earliest.

With no choice, Lin Fan could only stay in the town for the night. Just as he found a random motel to stay in and lay on the bed replying to Chu Shihan’s messages, there was a sudden knock at the door.

Curious, Lin Fan walked to the door and peered through the peephole. Standing in the corridor was a young woman who immediately caught Lin Fan’s attention, as she happened to be Chang Wanyun from his own village, whom he was supposed to address as his cousin-in-law. What could she possibly want by knocking on his door without any apparent reason?

While Lin Fan was still pondering how his cousin-in-law knew of his whereabouts, Chang Wanyun said in a hushed tone through the door, "Big brother, do you need some special service?"