"Around five o'clock this afternoon, a woman called me and said that Qi Yun was having an affair outside... I was confused for a moment and actually rushed to Dongtai... Sigh..." Cao Zhang tilted his head back, drank another glass, and sighed.
Fang Zhicheng helped Cao Zhang analyze the situation. "Zou Yu usually leaves work very early, but today he was so late. I think it must have something to do with her. Brother Cao, it has already happened. Don't dwell on it. You have to trust County Magistrate Qi in the future."
Cao Zhang nodded, glanced at the indifferent Qi Yun, and smiled awkwardly: "You are right, I was too impulsive. It was all my fault today. I must apologize to my wife."
Fang Zhicheng felt relieved when he saw that Qi Yun had been ignoring Cao Zhang. After all, he would feel uncomfortable if she flirted with Cao Zhang in front of him, so he changed the subject and started drinking with Cao Zhang.
However, Qi Yun and Cao Zhang really had nothing to say to each other. Cao Zhang blamed himself for his impulsiveness and did not dare to face Qi Yun, so he drank a little faster.
After a while, a bottle of liquor was finished, and another bottle was ordered. Cao Zhang had a good alcohol tolerance, and Fang Zhicheng was a little drunk, so he deliberately played a little trick and let Cao Zhang drink a lot more. It was already past ten o'clock after dinner, and Cao Zhang had not fallen down, but he began to stutter. Fang Zhicheng carried Cao Zhang with his arms, and Cao Zhang kept cursing Zou Yu, "That slut... She also said that you and Qi Yun had an affair... Damn... You are my little brother... You are talking nonsense..."
Fang Zhicheng smiled awkwardly and comforted him, "Brother Cao, the official system is like this. There are too many people who are trying to overthrow each other and are afraid that the world will not be in chaos. You don't have to worry too much."
Cao Zhang nodded, tilted his head to glance at Qi Yun who was walking behind him, and said angrily: "Wife... I'm sorry... I misunderstood you."
Qi Yun sighed and still did not respond to Cao Zhang.
Fang Zhicheng helped Cao Zhang to get a room at the county party committee guesthouse. He sent him to the bedroom. Cao Zhang lay down on the bed, and soon he began to snore softly.
Fang Zhicheng helped Cao Zhang cover himself with the quilt, took a look at his leather shoes, and said to Qi Yun with a smile, "You won't take off your shoes, right?"
Qi Yun was slightly stunned, knowing that Fang Zhicheng was afraid of Cao Zhang's invincible stinky feet, and nodded slightly.
After they left the bedroom, Qi Yun finally spoke up, whispering, "We should be more careful recently. I think it's not just Zou Yu who has noticed."
Fang Zhicheng subconsciously touched his chin. There is no impenetrable wall in the world, and truth will come out sooner or later. Now that they are at the center of the storm, it is reasonable for them to keep their distance.
Chapter 0290 Qi Yun's Balancing Strategy
Zou Yu instigated Cao Zhang to come to Dongtai to cause trouble, and Fang Zhicheng naturally linked it to Sun Weiming. From this detail, it seems that Sun Weiming is very likely to have doubts about Qi Yun. If Qi Yun's strong support is missing in the county government, it will be too difficult to advance the later plans.
Therefore, Fang Zhicheng has reduced the number of times he meets Qi Yun recently, and Qi Yun has also cooperated with Fang Zhicheng tacitly.
As for Cao Zhang, he was also very regretful after he woke up. His relationship with Qi Yun was not good to begin with, and now it was even worse. Naturally, he was very upset. Before returning to Qiongjin, Cao Zhang called Fang Zhicheng. Because of the wine, Cao Zhang regarded Fang Zhicheng as his friend and said a lot of things from his heart.
Fang Zhicheng could only listen patiently, comforting Cao Zhang from time to time, feeling somewhat guilty towards him. Cao Zhang was a relatively simple person, without too many bad intentions, and he was also very tolerant towards Qi Yun.
Fang Zhicheng is several years younger than Qi Yun. Qi Yun's personality definitely makes her look down on men younger than herself, so Cao Zhang also thinks that the possibility of Fang Zhicheng and Qi Yun being related is extremely low. Moreover, Fang Zhicheng behaves naturally in front of him and does not feel guilty at all. Cao Zhang is more and more convinced that it was Zou Yu who was making trouble and set a trap for himself in order to discredit Qi Yun.
The two of them sat in Cao Zhang's car. Fang Zhicheng handed Cao Zhang a cigarette, took two puffs, and sighed, "Brother Cao, I actually admire you. It's easy to fall in love with a strong woman, but to marry a strong woman and live with her for so many years, you can imagine the bitterness of it."
Cao Zhang narrowed his eyes in the smoke and smiled bitterly, "I can't help it. Who made me like her?"
Fang Zhicheng sighed, "This is why I admire Brother Cao. If it were any other man, he would have given up long ago, but you have persisted."
Cao Zhang shook his head and smiled bitterly, "I am also exhausted physically and mentally. I have thought about divorce many times, but I didn't have the courage in the end. Marriage is a lifelong event. When I married her, I promised to treat her well and never leave her. How can I break my promise so easily?"
Fang Zhicheng was slightly startled, thinking to himself that although Cao Zhang looked big and strong, he was actually a love-sick man at heart. The guilt in his heart became more and more intense, and he comforted him: "The clouds will clear and the moon will shine. Brother Cao, you have such a heart. Even if County Magistrate Qi is cold again, he will be warmed by you."
Cao Zhang laughed bitterly and said, "I hope so... Well, the main reason is that I am not very romantic and usually quite dull. Qi Yun and I don't have much in common, so our relationship is getting weaker and weaker."
Fang Zhicheng smiled and said, "What's so difficult about being romantic? Just buy a bunch of flowers and send them over."
"Is it that simple?" Cao Zhang asked doubtfully.
Fang Zhicheng nodded, put out his cigarette, and said, "There is a flower shop not far from here. Go and pick eleven roses and give them to County Magistrate Qi. She promises to forgive you and change her mind about you."
Cao Zhang was skeptical for a long time, and then he sighed, "Well, let's try it out. Today I'll listen to Zhicheng and have a romantic moment."
When I arrived at the flower shop, the female proprietress came to greet me and asked with a smile: "Sir, would you like to buy flowers? Who are you sending them to? Your lover? Your mother? Or a patient?"
Cao Zhang waved his hand, pointed to a bouquet of roses not far away, and said, "Buy roses for my wife."
The proprietress nodded, took a bunch of roses, and said softly, "Two hundred and forty-nine yuan."
Cao Zhang was quite generous. He took out his wallet from his pocket, took out some money and handed it to the proprietress. The proprietress was giving change at the counter, and Fang Zhicheng asked, "Do you have a greeting card?"
The proprietress took one and gave it to Fang Zhicheng, who handed it to Cao Zhang and said with a smile, "Brother Cao, write a few words. The more corny, the better!"
Cao Zhang pondered for a moment, sighed, took a pen, and wrote a paragraph on the greeting card. Fang Zhicheng took a look and sighed secretly. The handwriting is like the person. Cao Zhang's handwriting is loose and a bit sloppy. It's really not very good.
Cao Zhang raised his head, blushed, and asked, "Zhicheng, how do I write these few sentences?"
"It's really heartfelt...but..." Fang Zhicheng hesitated.
Cao Zhang scratched his head and said with a wry smile, "My handwriting is not good to look at. Zhicheng, how about this, you help me copy it?"
Fang Zhicheng quickly evaded the offer and said, "That won't do. How about you ask the lady boss of the flower shop to write for you? My handwriting is not good either. Besides, I often submit various documents. County Magistrate Qi should recognize my handwriting. If County Magistrate Qi recognizes it, it will be bad."
Cao Zhang thought about it, sighed, and said with a smile: "Then let's ask the flower shop owner to write it for us."
After buying the flowers, Cao Zhang drove to the county government, and then went into the county magistrate's office holding the flowers. Fang Zhicheng secretly breathed a sigh of relief, and the crisis was finally resolved.
Although Zou Yu did not find an opportunity to directly expose the relationship between Fang Zhicheng and Qi Yun last night, Cao Zhang's coming to the county magistrate's office to make a scene still damaged Qi Yun's image, and rumors would inevitably spread. Fang Zhicheng persuaded Cao Zhang to send flowers to Qi Yun, which was undoubtedly a great way to completely eliminate the rumors.
As Fang Zhicheng entered the office, his phone suddenly rang. It was Qi Yun calling.
Qi Yun sighed and whispered, "What kind of magic potion did you give Cao Zhang?"