Apart from the party's celebratory reception, Lu Ming tried his best to postpone all other drinking parties, banquet invitations, etc. However, he had to deal with such interpersonal interactions for nearly half a month.
Fortunately, according to the Chinese tradition, January 1st is the Little New Year, and January 18th is the Big New Year, which is of course the most important festival of the year and a time of family happiness.
From high-ranking officials to peddlers, rich or poor, the Spring Festival is a time for everyone to take a breath, ignore the troubles of the outside world and reunite with their families after a year of fatigue. It is also a time for everyone to completely relax their stretched muscles and start a new beginning by refueling.
A few days before the New Year, these social activities suddenly came to a halt.
…
The Lu Mansion on Hepu Road was decorated with lights and was in a festive mood. The owner of the house was promoted to the position of deputy mayor. It was also the New Year, a double happiness. Every servant received a generous red envelope of 1,000 yuan. The mansion was filled with laughter and joy.
Starting at eight o'clock in the evening, Kunlun TV's Spring Festival Gala officially went online, with various types of programs and a very cheerful rhythm. Although there were not many stars, the ratings based on real-time telephone surveys continued to rise.
There are not many stars because most of them charge very high appearance fees, but I think that by next year, the number of stars willing to appear for free will increase significantly.
A large TV was newly installed in the servants' activity room on the first floor of the annex building on the left side of the mansion. In Lu Ming's eyes, it was probably about 13 or 14 inches long. There were singing and dancing on the screen, and the pictures were gorgeous.
Except for Sun Bo and the Nanyang slave gunners on duty as guards, all the servants in the mansion were in the activity room. Their special treatment today was that they no longer had to wear the mansion's maid uniforms. Instead, they changed into all kinds of beautiful clothes, put on their most beautiful makeup, and happily watched TV programs to celebrate the New Year. They sat in neat rows, and in front of the long table were candies, exquisite snacks, various nuts, drinks, etc.
What made them feel even more honored was that the head of the family, his two concubines and Miss Bisi sat in the first row and celebrated the New Year with them.
Lu Ming originally thought that it was the New Year, and that the servants should have fun freely. He would just come to their residence to take a look and say a few words of concern. But who knew that Sun Erniang said that it was an incomparable favor and a great honor for both the Ditra slaves and the Nanyang slaves to celebrate the New Year with the master. Some of the maids who were bold and high-ranking had secretly asked Sun Erniang if the master would summon them to talk to them on New Year's Day. The most beautiful Ditra slaves with the Luo character in their names were looking forward to being treated as women by the master for a while on New Year's Day. They knew that they were of low status and did not dare to have any delusions. They only hoped that they could be treated as women by the master for a few minutes on New Year's Day. Then, their good luck for the year would naturally reach the extreme.
When Sun Erniang relayed their extravagant hopes, she only said that according to their customs, celebrating the New Year with the head of the family would be an extremely sacred thing, and it was also the most ceremonial and grand moment they were looking forward to.
Although Lu Ming finds it difficult to understand this kind of thinking, during the Chinese New Year, isn't it the happiest thing to have fun and have freedom
But since such a moment was very important to these servants, Lu Ming brought Hanzhu, Pamela and Bisi with him, and moved the happy time of watching the party to this servants' activity room.
Originally there was a billiard table and other things here, but now they have all been moved aside.
However, among the beautiful girls in the room, Lu Ming was the only male creature. Lu Ming couldn't help but smile bitterly.
Normally, in Lu Ming's eyes, these servants are lifeless background boards and thoughtless NPCs. They are indeed like robots, serving the masters and mistresses of the houses.
But today was a little different, they all wore their most beautiful clothes, especially several extremely gorgeous Didara slaves, who were wrapped in the most beautiful gauze skirts, their graceful figures were looming, and they had the custom of wearing belly button rings, and the gauze skirts would reveal their snow-white flat bellies. Several of the most beautiful and coquettish female slaves, with beautiful belly button rings of various shapes sitting side by side, brought an exponential increase in visual impact, and more importantly, their watery and deep colorful eyes all had a glow today, and they dared to look at the head of the family. Lu Ming could feel it vaguely, and felt helpless, as if he had become some kind of Tang Monk's meat on New Year's Day.
"Okay, have fun!" Lu Ming stood up. It felt like more than an hour had passed. It was about time. It was New Year's Day, and he, Hanzhu, and Pamela still had a lot of private conversations to talk about.
As soon as the master stood up to leave, the maids immediately knelt on the ground, blessing the master and his wives in various original languages. After all, it was a new year and great ceremonies were required. Kneeling was the most solemn etiquette in traditional Central Plains. Normally, these maids did not have to kneel.
In the workplace, the most solemn etiquette of the people of Zhongzhou has evolved into a deep bow, which is exactly the same as some countries in the Chinese cultural circle in Lu Ming's previous life. This is the fundamental place of the Chinese cultural circle, because the appearance of a great man broke many taboos, created a great history, and cut off many inequalities. However, inner equality requires a longer time to evolve.
…
Lu Ming returned to the third floor more than half an hour late because he wanted to bestow blessings on the girls.
What is even more ridiculous is that the New Year's blessing that the Nanyang slaves need is a hard slap on their buttocks. This is obviously an outdated custom in the emirate and a violation of women's dignity by an extremely patriarchal society.
In comparison, the way a Dharani slave obtains his master's blessing is by kissing his master's toes, which is also quite ridiculous, but compared with the Nanyang slaves, it seems much more civilized.
…
"You two have worked hard this year!" Lying on the soft big bed, on Lu Ming's left was Hanzhu, curled up in his arms like a cat, and on his right was Pamela, who would occasionally push away Lu Ming's outstretched hand.
Bisi's little head was against Lu Ming's head, and her little body was lying on her back. She had played to her heart's content all day and was so tired that she had fallen asleep.
But no matter what, their daughter was lying on the same bed. Pamela still couldn't tolerate Lu Ming's aggressive behavior and would push him away from time to time. Even though Lu Ming just wanted to interlock their fingers, she still felt that the action was too aggressive and her daughter was right above her, which made her feel ashamed.
However, it still feels good to lie on the big bed and talk like this, and my heart is filled with tenderness.
“Hanzhu…” Lu Ming wanted to say something, but found that Hanzhu’s little nose was slightly open and closed, and she was asleep.
I wanted to ask Hanzhu about some things in Wuan, but it seemed that she didn't know much either.
By now, the person or force that wants to wipe out the Lu family has probably already known where he is.
But now that I am in Beiguan, I am not afraid of them. No matter how strong the dragon in the north is, once it reaches the East China Sea, it will coil itself up.
I have also sent people to the north to contact Jinbao. At the same time, I want to investigate the situation of my grandfather's business partners and even competitors. However, this kind of hatred may be very old, maybe it is from my grandfather's previous generation. In the short term, I may not be able to find any clues. This is just a start.
"Hiss..." Lu Ming retracted his hand, but Pamela pinched his finger gently, "Ten times the pain, ten times the pain..."
Lu Ming lowered his voice and looked at Pamela fiercely.
Pamela seemed to be startled as well, and then she remembered this taboo. She hurriedly took Lu Ming's hand and carefully checked his pinched fingers.
Lu Ming glanced at her extremely delicate long hands with manicures, and his heart suddenly moved. He smiled and said in a low voice: "Mi Mi, Mi Mi, do you want to accept the blessing from Nanyang?"
"No!" Pamela knew without hesitation that it would not be a good thing.
Lu Ming laughed dryly, thinking about the scene just now, when those little Nanyang slaves knelt at his feet with their buttocks sticking out, and even took off their pants to expose their buttocks, and the harder he beat them, the stronger the blessing, he couldn't help shaking his head, what was this all about? But if he didn't do it, they would be like their parents had died, and they would be depressed for a year, and some might even commit suicide.
Speaking of which, the skin of the black slaves in Southeast Asia is still very delicate and surprisingly elastic. They regard today as the most important day of the year. They wash their skin every day a few days in advance. They all smell good, but no matter what, they can only close their eyes and wear thick cotton gloves.
What if it was Pamela instead
Lu Ming felt a warm feeling in his heart and shook his head quickly, not daring to think about it anymore, for fear of desecrating the beauty.
"This year, I hope we can get better and better!" Lu Ming gently held Pamela's hand, gradually inserted his fingers into hers, and finally interlocked his five fingers. He really liked this feeling, as if his heart was also attached to this beloved woman.
He gently kissed Hanzhu's beautiful hair as she fell asleep, "Hanzhu, you will be happy all year round." He held Pamela's hand and squeezed it tightly, "In the new year, everything goes well for you." He touched Bisi's little head with his head, "Bisi has become a top student in school, her grades are getting better and better, and she is becoming more and more like a little lady..." He paused, this blessing seemed a little difficult to fulfill.
"We will all get better and better..." Pamela's waterfall-like golden hair gradually leaned on Lu Ming's shoulder, and she whispered softly.
Lu Ming stopped talking and lay quietly, enjoying the warmth. His heart was filled with peace and joy.
…
On the 25th, the annual holiday ends.
Lu Ming came to the City Hall. The reform of the Municipal Committee allowed the four municipal commissioners to share the power of the chief commissioner. At the same time, the four municipal commissioners also had their own separate offices in the City Hall.
This morning, Bucklo held its first municipal committee meeting.
When the municipal committee was just elected, the five members met together as a preliminary contact, and today is the formal meeting.
In fact, common sense tells us that if they have reached this position, they cannot be unfamiliar with each other.
However, as fate would have it, due to major changes in staff downsizing, council elections and so on, the political groups had no way of predicting the final result of the list of this municipal committee even before the election.
At the meeting before the New Year, Lu Ming's deepest impression of Old Bucklo was that he always had a gloomy face.
But today, old Bucklo is in high spirits and smiling all the time. It seems that he has recovered somewhat from the extreme shock and disappointment at the beginning. For politicians, everything has to look forward.
The meeting room is not big, and it can accommodate seven municipal commissioners and the auditor general for meetings.
The round conference table has no obvious distinction between the primary and secondary areas. Beautiful flower baskets are placed in the hollow space in the middle, but the flower baskets are very short, and the highest position does not exceed the horizontal line of the round table.
Five municipal commissioners sat around the table, and next to each of them sat his or her daily affairs officer, who took minutes of the meeting and reminded the boss of certain matters.
After all, the political system in Donghai is such that a businessman might have suddenly become a municipal commissioner, and in this case, he would need the assistance of a real professional government official.
In addition, there is Auditor General Li Shandong, who routinely attends municipal meetings.
From a certain perspective, the political status of the Auditor General of each district and satellite town in Donghai is similar to that of the Chief Commissioner. Of course, in terms of power, they do not face the public directly, and they mainly audit matters related to the municipal committee's financial budget, expenditure, etc.
Conventionally, the Auditor General, like the Chief Commissioner, is nominated by the Privy Council and approved by Parliament.
However, the Auditor General is basically an expert in accounting and cannot be a member of parliament himself.
Li Shandong, the Auditor General of Beiguan, is a little old man in his fifties and very serious.
In actual municipal meetings, he was more like an observer, and the content of the meetings rarely had anything to do with him, but he would attend every formal meeting.
Coincidentally, the person sitting opposite Lu Ming was Gao Wangshi, who was wearing a beige professional suit and had her long hair cut into a slightly fluffy, back-combed style. This added a bit of toughness to her temperament, and it was obvious that this was the image of a professional female politician designed for her by her hairstylist.
She ignored Lu Ming's contempt and kept smiling.
Lu Ming was not too surprised that Gao Wang was selected. She was able to get one neutral vote for herself, plus 9 votes from the Justice Party, which made 10 votes.
The Grand Ducal Party coalition cast 13 votes for her, adding up to 23 votes.
The situation of this election is rather chaotic. Even with these 23 votes, she could be ranked fourth in the total number of votes, not to mention that she must have also pulled in a few votes from other places.
Although the total number of votes is 57, if there is no coalition of several political parties with more than half of the votes, the top four may not necessarily need half of the votes.
On the other hand, theoretically, it is possible to lose the election with 56 votes, because the top four can theoretically get full votes.
Dong Wenquan was very calm, and the look in Bucklo's eyes when he looked at him was not as ferocious as when they first met.
After all, among the five members, it seems that Lu Ming, Gao Wangshi, and Dong Wenquan may be an alliance, while the chief member, Bucklo, has an ally in his own party member Sherlock.
The chief commissioner has lost his three votes again. If there is anything that requires a vote by the municipal committee, if Bucklo wants to dominate the committee, he must break up the alliance of Lu Ming and the other two.
Lu Ming knew that old Bucklo had not tried to win him over.
In the political circle, it is said that there are no eternal enemies. In fact, that is not necessarily true. There are always many mortal enemies.
Not to mention that sometimes political parties are simply incompatible. From the perspective of the East China Sea, the Grand Duchy Party and the Free Citizens Movement Alliance are like eternal rivals.
Moreover, in order to frame himself, old Bucklo actually ordered four border commissioners to be shot.
Old Bucklo must have understood that he was somewhat suspicious of him.
Therefore, the relationship between him and me is not one where we can forget all grudges by just smiling when we meet.
Take yourself for example, who is the affairs officer around you
It’s Li Zhongliang.
That is the border commissioner who survived the disaster and now has entered his office and become one of his affairs officers.
As a boundary commissioner of the free citizen share, he was originally an employee of a small company. Originally, he was going to go back to work as a clerk after the election. There was no way he would be lucky enough to win the lottery and become a boundary commissioner in the next election.
In other words, the second half of last year should have been the peak moment of his entire life.
As a boundary commissioner, I witnessed and monitored major events such as the North Gate Council election.
But the day the election is over, he will return to his humble life.
But now, as a blessing in disguise, he received a letter of appointment from the deputy mayor's office just after being discharged from the hospital after the New Year. For him, this was something he didn't have to think about at all.
Before the meeting started, Lu Ming specifically introduced Li Zhongliang's identity.
Lu Ming praised the former border commissioner who survived a disaster, his outstanding abilities, his prime years, etc.
There was nothing unusual on old Bucklo's face, but he must have felt uncomfortable in his heart.
To be precise, Lu Ming didn't have any specific intention in bringing Li Zhongliang here. He just felt that it was ironic to bring Li Zhongliang in and out of the Baklo official hall.
Anyway, as a newcomer, I don’t understand anything about political operations. I will learn slowly. On the other hand, I just need to make sure they don’t understand me.
Now, the four of them are probably wondering what it means to recruit this former border commissioner who was not killed into the office? What is the meaning of bringing him to such an important meeting
…
"Okay, now that we know each other, let's get down to business." After everyone exchanged greetings, old Bucklo cleared his throat.
"For our first formal municipal meeting, let's first assign our future work items. First of all, it is our duty as Commissioner Lu to lead the town's legal affairs. This is as it should be, right? I hope that our Legal Affairs Office can open up new prospects under the leadership of Commissioner Lu."
"In addition, our municipal commissioners are actually supervisors elected by the citizens. They coordinate and supervise various industries to create the most comfortable living environment for the citizens. The prosecutor's office and the town's legal profession need Commissioner Lu to be a supervisor elected by the citizens. Commissioner Lu cannot be said to be a supervisor in the Ninth Circuit Court, but if there are cases that attract more public attention, Commissioner Lu will also pay more attention to digest the signals brought to us by public opinion."
Lu Ming listened and nodded.
Beside Lu Ming, Li Zhongliang was taking notes quickly. In fact, he was so excited that if he were asked to speak now, his voice would probably tremble. Fortunately, he was just taking notes with a pen and would not embarrass himself.
"Commissioner Gao Wangling, health, education, public welfare, etc. require your concern and supervision..."
Bucklo spoke in an orderly manner. It was obvious that he had already given comprehensive consideration to how the municipal commissioners should divide the work.
As expected, the financial and personnel assessments were handed over to Commissioner Sherlock.
Dong Wenquan is in charge of public works, agriculture, etc.
In addition to leading the overall situation, Baclo is also in charge of patrol, business, taxation, etc.
The first municipal meeting ended peacefully.