After finishing his irritable reply, Secretary Chen set down his teacup and stood to leave, his brow still furrowed.
"Hurry up. If you're too late to stop it, don't expect me to do anything about it."
Secretary Chen glanced at him through drooping eyelids. "Can't you show a little more ambition?"
"I've shown plenty. I've only been going out to sea for less than six months. You can't get fat in one bite."
Secretary Chen shook his head and walked out with his hands behind his back.
Watching him move so slowly made Ye Yaodong anxious on his behalf.
Lin Xiuqing sat in front of the stove fire cooking. She had heard everything from beginning to end without saying a word. When she heard him claim he was impotent, she nearly dropped the Fire Tongs, her ears turning red with embarrassment. This man really would say anything.
"He left?"
"Yeah, he left. He said he had good news for me and got my hopes up for a moment, but that was all?"
"If only we had ten thousand yuan." Lin Xiuqing felt rather regretful. She also thought it was a rare opportunity.
"Having ten thousand yuan would be good, but there's no need to announce it to everyone. There'd be no end to the trouble that followed, and do we have the ability or all that spare time to deal with it? Fame brings trouble to people just as fattening brings trouble to pigs. Once we have enough money that we don't care about people coming for handouts, it won't matter."
Lin Xiuqing blinked, finding that quite reasonable too.
Ye Yaodong flicked her forehead. "Hurry up and cook. I've worked all day. I'm starving."
The couple thought that would be the end of the matter Secretary Chen had brought up.