It was already deep winter. The sky over East City was shrouded by heavy leaden clouds, while flakes of snow fell like sharp blades, slicing through every inch of air.
Inside the luxurious conference room atop the State Council building.
A long conference table occupied the center of the room. Its mirror-smooth surface reflected the dim light and shadows around it, giving it an especially austere air.
"Deputy Speaker Qiu, please have a seat."
Huang Shangzong sat in the seat of honor like an insurmountable mountain.
Expressionless, he looked at Qiu Tu and gestured toward the seat opposite Tang Feifei.
Qiu Tu swept his gaze across the other Deputy Speakers.
Li Tingdong wore casual clothes and was bent over the documents in his hands. Like a madman obsessed with data, he was completely unaffected by the outside world, immersed in his own little world.
Ye Mingfeng wore a dark green military uniform and sat ramrod straight. His sharp eyes were fixed on Qiu Tu, and a faint scent of blood lingered around him.
The little old man Liu Xiongyuan had a face like an aged pine carved by time, with deep, hard wrinkles and dark skin like bronze tempered through countless trials. One foot rested on his chair as he smiled at Qiu Tu.
Dai Yukang wore a black suit and had somehow put on a pair of rimless glasses. He looked at Qiu Tu amicably, yet somehow gave off an insincere, falsely smiling impression.
As for Tang Feifei, her wheat-colored skin shone with healthy luster, like a work of art meticulously sculpted by nature, exuding wildness and vitality.
Perhaps to avoid suspicion, she did not meet Qiu Tu's eyes and merely drank her water.
Yet the slight upward curve of her lips still revealed the delight in her heart.