Half an hour.
An hour.
An hour and a half.
The plane slowly descended.
They had chatted the entire way. Seeing that they were about to part, neither wanted to leave, and they began speaking much faster, trying to squeeze in a little more conversation.
Hou Wen asked, "Xuebin, you have a child too?"
Dong Xuebin hummed. "My wife just gave birth. A boy."
Hou Wen said happily, "Hey, that's great. Done, then—I'm taking him as my godson."
Dong Xuebin smiled. "Heh, sure. But the baby's with the nanny, so he didn't come this time. Wait until we get back. I'll introduce you to him then. We're both in Jiangnan Province anyway."
Hou Wen said, "So you'll be developing over here from now on? You got transferred?"
Dong Xuebin shook his head. "No, I'm still in the Capital City. My wife is the one over here."
"Oh, so your wife is on a business trip this time, and you came along?" Hou Wen asked.
"Yeah, heh. I'm riding her coattails and taking the chance to have some fun," Dong Xuebin said.
Hou Wen looked at him. "What company is she with? State-owned? Private? Or is she in a government office? Which city?"
Dong Xuebin answered, "She works in Xiaxing City. More or less the same as me—we're both civil servants."
Hou Wen slapped his thigh. "Then that settles it. I'll put in a word with my dad when the time comes. He's got some pull in Jiangnan Province, and in Xiaxing City... he should know quite a few leaders. Don't worry, your wife is my—ah, no, that's not what I mean. Anyway, you get the idea. If your wife runs into any trouble over here, come find me. I guarantee I'll get it handled. I couldn't really help everyone much