The game of power begins with the police officers at the local police station.

Chen Shi waited at the entrance of the Water Cube for nearly an hour before Huang Ao's car finally drove into the Water Cube at 7:10.

Chen Shi still remembered the license plate number of Huang Ao's car, and the license plate number of the car following behind it was Dong B00007.

Chen Shi had never met Zhou Yun before. Huang Ao's car stopped, and Chen Shi jogged up and opened the car door.

Huang Ao got out of the car, smiled and said, "Xiao Chen, I'm sorry to have kept you waiting."

"Secretary-General, it is my honor to have waited for you."

Zhou Yun's car stopped, and Chen Shi jogged up and opened the car door.

As Zhou Yun got out of the car, Chen Shi said, "Hello, Minister Zhou, I am Chen Shi, the director of the Education Bureau of Chunyang County."

What does it mean to make your presence known? It means that in order to make your boss remember you, you have to actively show up in front of him.

Zhou Yun heard Huang Ao mention Chen Shi and that he was going to have dinner with him that night. Since Chen Shi was Wang Mingzhang's nephew, Zhou Yun did not object.

Zhou Yun was also Xiao Chong's confidant, so Wang Mingzhang should be given face.

Seeing that Chen Shi was a handsome and talented man, he nodded as a greeting.

Chen Shi said, "The private room has been arranged. Please come in, gentlemen."

Chen Shi led the way to the private room. Who sat in the main seat was not something he could arrange.

Huang Ao invited Zhou Yun to dinner and asked Zhou Yun to sit in the main seat.

Chen Shi learned from Zhang Kai that Huang Ao prefers light flavors, and since Zhou Yun is close to Huang Ao and often eats with him, his tastes must also be light.

Huang Ao likes to come to the Water Cube. He and Zhou Yun must have come here quite often. Chen Shi found the restaurant manager of the Water Cube, gave him a tip of 1,000 yuan, and found out that Huang Ao and Zhou Yun always ordered the same dishes when they came to the Water Cube. These dishes showed that the two of them liked to eat them.

Just as Chen Shi had guessed, it was a light-flavored dish.

Chen Shi ordered the same dishes they had ordered when they visited the Water Cube before, and after taking their seats, he asked the waiter to serve the food.

If your boss doesn't like to order food, it's considered inconsiderate of you to let him order.

When you order food, you have to order what the boss likes to eat. If you order the wrong thing, the boss will be even more dissatisfied.

Chen Shi prepared three bottles of fine wine. Zhou Yun loved to drink, and he would gladly keep him company tonight.

Open the wine bottle, take the decanter, and pour wine for Huang Ao and Zhou Yun.

Soon the food arrived. Huang Ao glanced at Chen Shi and said, "You're a sensible kid; you ordered all the dishes we like."

Huang Ao and Zhou Yun were chatting, and Chen Shi was listening from the side, unable to get a word in edgewise. Seeing that they had almost finished eating, Chen Shi stood up, raised his glass, and said, "Both leaders, this is a toast from Chen Shi."

Huang Ao waved his hand: "Xiao Chen, you can't toast like that. You have to toast me and Lao Zhou one cup at a time."

Chen Shi smiled and said, "Please drink this cup first, and then I will toast you one cup after another."

Zhou Yun raised his glass: "Director Chen, no need to stand up. Lao Huang and I have been friends for many years, so it's very casual. I heard you're doing well in Chunyang. Young people should dare to take on challenges."

Chen Shi quickly replied, "Minister Zhou, just call me Xiao Chen. In front of you, I am just a new recruit. When I encounter difficulties, I will face them head-on and take one step at a time. I will always find a solution."

The three clinked glasses and drank it all in one gulp.

Chen Shi poured wine for Huang Ao and Zhou Yun, poured himself a cup, ate a couple of bites of food, raised his wine cup, first toasted Zhou Yun, then toasted Huang Ao.

Chen Shi gritted his teeth and drank five or six cups of wine in one go.

Zhou Yun looked at Chen Shi: "Little Chen, you have a pretty good alcohol tolerance."

Chen Shi smiled and said, "I still need to work on my drinking capacity."

Huang Ao added, "Old Zhou rose through the ranks step by step from the grassroots. He once drank two kilograms of baijiu and was completely unharmed."

"That won't work now. One kilogram of liquor is my limit. I like to drink, but I don't like to drink too much. Two or three ounces is just right."

By this time, Chen Shi had already drunk two bottles of baijiu, and he opened the third bottle.

Zhou Yun said, "This is enough. Wine is a good thing, but you can't drink too much. Drinking too much is bad for your health."

Chen Shi repeatedly said yes, already seven-tenths drunk, but he forced himself to stay sober tonight, wanting to give Zhou Yun a good impression.

Gradually, Chen Shi was able to join the conversation and chat with Zhou Yun for a few words. Suddenly, Zhou Yun thought of something and looked at Chen Shi: "Little Chen, did you work in the Public Security Bureau before?"

"Minister Zhou, in 2011, I first served as the captain of the Public Security Management Brigade in Chunyang County, and later I took over as the deputy director of the Public Security Bureau."

Zhou Yun nodded: "No wonder, your name sounds familiar. In Chunyang County, you caused a major upheaval in the officialdom. More than half of the deputy-division-level cadres in Chunyang County were sent there by you."

Huang Ao added, "When Hu Hai was in charge of the work, the officialdom in Chunyang County was extremely corrupt. The sooner this malignant tumor is removed, the better it will be for the people of Chunyang."

Chen Shi forced himself to offer a toast and drank another bottle. He felt dizzy and lightheaded, as if he might collapse at any moment, but he persevered.

Huang Ao looked at Chen Shi: "Xiao Chen, are you alright?"

"Secretary-General, I'm fine."

Zhou Yun laughed and said, "Your alcohol tolerance is alright, but you still need to practice."

Huang Ao looked at Zhou Yun: "Old Zhou, we're one short tonight, let's play Dou Dizhu, perfect."

Zhou Yun chimed in, "When it comes to playing Landlord, who can beat you? Your hands get itchy if you don't play Landlord for three days."

"When it comes to mahjong, no one can beat you," Huang Ao laughed.

"Old Huang, that's enough. Last time I played mahjong with Secretary Xiao and Mayor Wang, I lost every time. I never won."

Huang Ao chimed in, "Even when playing cards with Secretary Xiao, I was a loser."

Chen Shi thought to himself that when he played mahjong or poker with Xiao Chong in Mingzhou, no one dared to beat him.

Chen Shi felt a churning in his stomach and felt like he was about to vomit, so he rushed to the bathroom and vomited uncontrollably.

I vomited up stomach acid. Drinking alcohol is really dangerous. I shouldn't push myself next time. Health is the foundation of everything.

Without health, no matter how high a leadership position you hold, it's meaningless.

Back in the private room, Huang Ao pulled Zhou Yun to play cards, and Chen Shi quickly followed.

Huang Ao is indeed skilled at playing Dou Dizhu (a popular Chinese card game); he can win even without Chen Shi letting him win.

Chen Shi played landlord games with Huang Ao several times, and he lost every time.

Zhou Yun's card skills in Dou Dizhu are average, and Chen Shi has to rack his brains to make him win naturally.

After playing for more than two hours, Chen Shi lost tens of thousands of yuan, Huang Ao won the most, and Zhou Yun also won tens of thousands of yuan.

Zhou Yun yawned and said, "I'm not going to yawn anymore. Let's go back and rest. There's an important meeting tomorrow."

Huang Ao looked at Zhou Yun: "Old Zhou, Xiao Chen is pretty good at mahjong. Next time we need one more player, we can invite him."

"Okay."

Huang Ao looked at Chen Shi: "Xiao Chen, get Lao Zhou's phone number. He needs to be available whenever we need to play cards."

Chen Shi smiled and said, "Yes."

Zhou Yun was not averse to Chen Shi. There were many officials who tried to get official positions by lobbying for them. Some even cried and begged for his sympathy, and some even knelt down to express their loyalty.

After a drinking session, Zhou Yun gained a preliminary understanding of Chen Shi, finding him to be a sensible young man.

Most people would be incredibly arrogant if their uncle was the mayor, constantly talking about how their uncle was the mayor, as if they wanted to wear it on their sleeves.

Throughout the entire dinner, Chen Shi didn't mention Wang Mingzhang once, which earned Zhou Yun some goodwill.

Zhou Yun left his phone number with Chen Shi, who was overjoyed.

After seeing Huang Ao and Zhou Yun off, Chen Shi felt very excited. Zhou Yun had given him his phone number, which meant he had a good impression of him, and he had achieved his goal.