Ah, when talking about crazy ideas, Liu Zhizhong even dared to fantasize about the future with Lu Yuqing.

He said if he could be with Zhao Yan and Lu Yuqing, enjoying life together, it would be sheer bliss.

Lu Yuqing laughed and said, "You are really crazy. I fear Zhao Yan and I together wouldn't stand a chance against you! I don't mind, though. It's just whether you can handle Zhao Yan." But clearly, the difficulty lay there.

Liu Zhizhong also felt a bit depressed; it was a taboo, extremely hard to handle. Zhao Yan, this woman, ah, conquering her felt tougher than ascending the heavens.

After these years of marriage, indeed he was not satisfied with his life and even faced the danger of divorce!

Of course, hopefully, now that she's transferred back to the city as the deputy district mayor, the couple could have more opportunities to bond!

Meanwhile, Lu Yumei went back to her room to wash and tidy up, then lay on her bed feeling displeased.

She called her second daughter, Zhao Yan, informing her of the situation, expressing that she had lost, and that Liu Zhizhong still had to stay at home, which was infuriating.

Zhao Yan was also quite shocked; she hadn't expected her promotion, even one involving age adjustment. Ah...

But on the path of officialdom, what could she do? Not being implicated by Ma Xudong and still getting promoted was indeed fortunate.

She had no reason to refuse, and was even somewhat excited.

However, regarding her marriage with Liu Zhizhong, she felt indifferent. To divorce or not was fine either way; but her mother's opinion puzzled her.

A promotion followed by a divorce was one of the taboos in officialdom. Spouses are like birds in the same forest, but when great fortune arrives, they fly separately; that would only invite criticism and mockery.

Yet, if she didn't divorce, now that Zhao Yan was returning to the city for her promotion, she would have to live at home, right? Facing Liu Zhizhong every day would be awkward.

What to do?

Zhao Yan was quite annoyed.

But what she couldn't foresee was, in the future, her husband would return from training at the Party School to be the vice mayor of Jiangdong District, ha, even ranked above her. How could she handle this?

If she knew about this, she probably wouldn't have returned to the city.

Fortunately, Liu Zhizhong hadn't mentioned this to Lu Yumei either, heh... he was clever, knowing his wife's temper; thus, he only mentioned it to Lu Yuqing, which should be fine.

But toward the end, Lu Yumei fueled her daughter's determination: "Don't be silly. If you want to divorce, be resolute. Have you forgotten about Mr. Liu flirting with his former leader's daughter? How would you feel if he disgraced you? It makes me so uncomfortable!"

Zhao Yan gave a bitter smile, "Mom, don't worry about that. If they really get together, the chances of a divorce are even higher, right?"

"Ah? You're actually... looking forward to that?"

"Hehe, just speaking practically. Mom, you see, isn't it?"

"Seems like… um, there's some truth to it. Maybe, encourage Liu Zhizhong a bit? Let him develop something with that Ma Qingqing?"

"Oh no, Mom, what are you saying? That's not how you should..."

"…"

Regardless, Liu Zhizhong had opened up opportunities through his ruthless tactics.

The next morning, he went hiking to West Mountain with the Lu family sisters as usual.

However, Zhang Zhenglong did not come; he messaged Lu Yumei that he flew to the south for business early in the morning and wouldn't be back for a few days.

Whether Zhang Zhenglong came or not did not affect Lu Yumei's enthusiasm for hiking.

Really, climbing the mountain every other day lately, she felt younger and more energetic. Even her thoughts in some aspects had solidified.

That morning, her collapse was seeing Liu Zhizhong carrying their belongings, leading the way up the mountain energetically; his broad back, attractive buttocks, and iron-like straight legs actually stirred a trace of heat in her eyes.

Lu Yumei secretly blushed and scolded herself. How could she be so shameless? What was Mr. Liu anyway? Moreover, he was her son-in-law; how could she think like this?

Who said a widow like Lu Yumei wouldn't have desires? Heh, it's just unknown to the average person.

Liu Zhizhong, of course, had no idea that his masculine charm was mysteriously lethal to his mother-in-law.

Not to speak of Lu Yumei, even Lu Yuqing, watching Liu Zhizhong's silhouette, felt an unstoppable itch in her heart, wishing to reach the mountaintop, find a dense forest, and let Liu Zhizhong charge at her!

In a couple of days, indeed, new personnel assignments were released, quite as expected.

Du Yuesheng, acting secretary of Yangzhou Municipal Committee, was officially appointed by the Provincial Committee, solidified his position. Zhang Hongyang's father's nephew once again made the Zhang family the foremost family in Yangzhou, their influence still enveloping the land.

Zhao Yan also took office as the deputy mayor of Jiangdong District, placed after the executive deputy mayor, even surpassing Du Yuesheng's daughter Du Man by one rank. This, Du Man was quite angry about.

Liu Zhizhong, too, was recommended for the mid-career training program at the Party School with Zhang Hongyang.

After the opening day of school was set, Liu Zhizhong drove Zhang Yuxing's private Mercedes-Benz SUV, taking her on a trip to Dingkang County, expecting a round trip in five days, just in time for the start of school in the provincial city.

Going to Dingkang County already required passing the provincial city; on their return to the provincial city, he didn't need to return to Yangzhou — Zhang Yuxing could drive back herself.

This departure, ha... was thrilling indeed…