At noon in the cafeteria, Lu Zhizhang asked Li Ye quietly, "Lai Jiayi came looking for you this morning, right? What did you say to her?"
"What else could I have said?"
Li Ye curled his lip. "She came to talk to me about the selection, asking you and me to use our connections to support her.
Of course I had to say I supported her. I said I'd hold a meeting with you and notify the other Party Members, and that you'd chair it when the time came. I'm not as good as you at fooling people. Don't let her really get De Yi in the end."
Lu Zhizhang said in surprise, "You actually gave her verbal support? Your cultivation has clearly improved! But when I saw her just now, her face was so furious she looked ready to eat someone alive. I thought you'd let your hot temper loose again and spat in her face!"
"I'm a civilized man. How could I casually spit in someone's face?"
Li Ye brushed a grain of rice from the corner of his mouth and sneered. "But she told me she wanted to send her son abroad to earn U.S. dollars. You should've seen the way she looked at me then—as if anyone who didn't go abroad was an idiot.
It struck a chord in me, so I told a story on the spot. But I wasn't deliberately telling it for her to hear, all right? Wu Yan was in the office too!"
"..."
Lu Zhizhang stared blankly at Li Ye, his cheeks twitching several times before he said, half laughing and half crying, "Don't you know a woman's weak spot is her son? Saying she's ugly is enough to offend her. But if you say her son is worthless... that's far