In the lobby.
Dong Xuebin's shout of "Auntie" left everyone dumbfounded!
Zhou Yanru froze for a moment, taking a long while to recover.
Director Ling's eyes bulged as he sucked in a cold breath. All the words in his stomach caught in his throat and came to an abrupt stop.
The Ministry of Civil Affairs staff nearby were all staring in shock, looking blankly at them without understanding what was going on.
"Auntie"? That was not some generic form of address like "uncle," "aunt," "grandpa," or "grandma"! You could not just call anyone that!
Dong Xuebin was puzzled too. The middle-aged woman before him was none other than Second Brother Xie's wife, Xie Ran and Xie Jing's mother, Xia Yanzhen. Still angry at Director Ling, Dong Xuebin's mind was not working quite right. When he suddenly saw her, he had not immediately understood it either. "Why are you here?"
Xia Yanzhen smiled. "My workplace is here. Didn't I tell you?"
Dong Xuebin let out an ah. "You transferred to the Ministry of Civil Affairs?"
"I didn't tell you? Oh, I really didn't." Xia Yanzhen remembered as well. The two of them had talked for a long time the previous night, but they had not discussed work, so she had forgotten to mention it.
Dong Xuebin understood now. Minister Xia? So she was a vice minister of the Ministry of Civil Affairs? Damn! What a coincidence!
"Xuebin, why are you here? You said you came to Beijing to take care of something. Was this it?" Xia Yanzhen asked.
Xuebin smiled bitterly. "I'm submitting supplementary application materials for a Model Unit."
When the people around them heard Minister Xia speaking so warmly to Dong Xuebin, calling him Xuebin so affectionately, they all understood. The two were relatives!
Holy shit!
Director Ling was