The pushover offended a top-tier boss

As I opened the car door, a blast of crisp, cold air hit me. A thick layer of snow covered the ground, crunching underfoot.

The village roads were difficult to traverse, and the snow made visibility even worse. Ye Zhenzhen carefully followed Chen Zheng's footprints, when suddenly her foot slipped—

"ah--"

She bought the snow boots on Pinduoduo for 59.9 yuan, and their anti-slip properties were really poor.

An arm steadily supported her arm.

"Walk properly." A deep voice came from above, tinged with impatience, but the hand didn't let go until she was steady.

Ye Zhenzhen's ears burned: "Thank you, leader..."

In a daze, she remembered that day again. It was this same hand that had grasped her wrist. It was this same person who had stood before her, looking down at her.

But that time I pushed her out; this time I supported her.

It seems a bit different.

Before she could think it through, there were already people waiting ahead of her.

The county party secretary, accompanied by a group of officials, came to greet them, extending his hands from afar with a broad smile: "Secretary, you've worked hard! In this cold weather, you still made the trip yourself; it's truly a blessing for the people."

Zhou Huaijin extended his hand and shook it politely: "Let's go."

The group first visited the homes of impoverished households in the village.

The road was difficult to walk on, with each step sinking deep into the mud and sinking into shallow water. Ye Zhenzhen followed at the back, holding a notebook and writing down everything she saw and heard.

There was a family where only an octogenarian grandmother and her elementary school-aged grandson remained. The house was messy and even smelled bad.

Zhou Huaijin bent down and sat on a small stool, asking about the old lady's health, her grandson's grades, and whether the heating was working properly. He spoke slowly and gently.

Ye Zhenzhen stood at the door, looking at his back, and suddenly felt that this person was not so scary after all.

After leaving the home of the impoverished family, the group went to the village's primary school.

The school wasn't big, just a two-story teaching building, a playground, and a few old locust trees. The playground was covered with a thick layer of snow, and a few children were building a snowman. When they saw people coming, they timidly hid behind the trees and peeked.

Media cameras followed, focusing on Zhou Huaijin and the group of officials around him.

The principal led them on a tour of the cafeteria, classrooms, and dormitories.

"The kitchen is currently preparing lunch for the students. Each meal will include meat and three dishes to ensure nutrition," the principal reported methodically, pointing to the menu board in the cafeteria.

"Okay, let's have some here for lunch." Zhou Huaijin nodded.

The principal paused for a moment, then quickly nodded: "Okay, okay, I'll have the kitchen prepare it—"

"No need to prepare," Zhou Huaijin interrupted him. "We'll eat whatever the students eat."

"Yes, yes, no problem."

The group then went to the warehouse where the nutritious breakfasts were stored.

The warehouse wasn't large, but several rows of cardboard boxes were neatly stacked inside.

"This is a free nutritious breakfast. Each student will receive a carton of milk, a loaf of bread, a bag of nuts, and an egg every day to ensure the children get the nutrition they need."

Ye Zhenzhen leaned over for a look, picked up a bag of bread, and flipped it over to check the ingredient list.

She frowned slightly.

"Hey, is this bread for students all the time?" she whispered to Lin Rui next to her.

Lin Rui glanced at her: "What's wrong?"

"This kind of bread with a long shelf life," she pointed to the long list of additives on the ingredient list, "has a lot of sucrose and several preservatives in it. Eating it long-term might not be good for students' health..."

Her voice wasn't loud, but everyone in the quiet warehouse heard it.

The cadres froze, exchanging bewildered glances.

"This... was procured through a unified bidding process..." the county party secretary quickly explained, a thin layer of sweat already forming on his forehead.

Zhou Huaijin took the bag of bread and turned it over to look at the back.

His expression remained unchanged, but the temperature in his eyes clearly dropped.

"Which supplier provides the nutritious breakfast? Who ordered it?" His voice wasn't loud, but every word carried weight.

The county party secretary opened his mouth, but couldn't say anything.

"Contact the Education Department," Zhou Huaijin tossed the bread back into the box, "and make immediate changes. Review the bidding process again, and re-evaluate the qualifications of suppliers. This kind of thing cannot be allowed into schools."

"Yes, yes, yes..." Several cadres nodded repeatedly, sweat beading on their foreheads.

"The welfare provided by the state for children is not for you to put on a show." His gaze swept over everyone present, his words resounding.

"Everyone, gather together and head to the village committee for a meeting." Zhou Huaijin turned and walked out, but stopped after a couple of steps and turned to look at Ye Zhenzhen.

"You and Chen Zheng stay at the school and keep an eye on the students to see if they have any problems. Check on the cafeteria, dormitories, and teaching facilities."

"Okay." Ye Zhenzhen nodded quickly.

The group walked through the snow towards the village committee. Ye Zhenzhen watched their figures disappear around the corner of the village road and let out a long sigh.

She almost thought she had said something wrong again after what happened just now.

Ye Zhenzhen and Chen Zheng walked around the school again.

I went to the supermarket and bought a big bag of things, including toys, snacks, and stationery. I distributed them to the students on the playground.

A large group of children surrounded them, shouting "Me too!" "Me too!"

The two men were surrounded by children, handing out gifts like Santa Claus. The children chattered, calling out "Sister!" and "Brother!", stretching their little hands high. After receiving their gifts, they ran off with smiles, showing them off to their friends.

Ye Zhenzhen squatted down and braided a little girl's disheveled hair. Several other girls watched eagerly, waiting for their turn.

Chen Zheng was dragged by a few boys to play football. They ran around in the snow, their sneakers splashing snow everywhere.

In no time, the two of them became the kings and queens of the kids.

When Zhou Huaijin returned, he saw the two people playing wildly with a group of children.

He frowned but didn't say anything.

Lin Rui smiled and said, "Teacher Ye and Chen Zheng are both childlike, innocent, and unguarded."

"All you do is fool around." Zhou Huaijin snorted.

My gaze fell on the figure wearing a white cotton-padded coat.

My hair was blown about by the wind, and I don't know when I got a speck of dust on my body.

As I stood up, I lost my balance and my foot suddenly slipped—

"ah--"

She plopped down on the snow.

Chen Zheng saw this from the other side, burst into laughter, and even took out his phone to take a picture of him.

Ye Zhenzhen was so angry that she grabbed a handful of snow and threw it at him.

The snowball hit Chen Zheng's shoulder and shattered into a white mess.

Chen Zheng rushed over in a few steps, grabbed her shoulder to prevent her from getting up, and used his other hand to grab snow from the ground and pelt it on her.

Snow poured into her collar, making her scream "Ahhh!" from the cold.

"You bitch! Chen Zheng, you bitch!" she cursed as she struggled, frantically grabbing snow to retaliate, but being held down, she couldn't muster any strength and could only smear it haphazardly on his face.

The two were wrestling in the snow, and the children around them were laughing.

"Uncle, my brother is bullying my sister."

The student who had just had her hair braided by Ye Zhenzhen ran over to complain to Zhou Huaijin.

Zhou Huaijin's face darkened even more when he heard the word "uncle".

He strode over.

"Chen Zheng".

A voice came from behind.

Ye Zhenzhen was lying on the snow when a face suddenly appeared directly above her eyes.

That face was frighteningly cold.

Zhou Huaijin stood two steps away, looking down at the two people on the ground.

"How old are you? What do you look like?"

Ye Zhenzhen hurriedly scrambled to her feet, but her feet were too slippery, and she stumbled again.

Zhou Huaijin reached out to help her up, but let go after only a brief touch.

Ye Zhenzhen frantically shook the snow off her body, but there was a snowball inside her hat that she couldn't shake off.

Zhou Huaijin reached out and pulled out the snowball.

Then, with a flick of his wrist, he threw it at Chen Zheng.

The snowball hit Chen Zheng squarely on the head.

"Hey, bro—" Chen Zheng wiped the snow off his face, took a step back with a grin, and said, "I was just kidding with her."

"I told you two to do something productive here, what are you doing?"

Zhou Huaijin's gaze swept back and forth between the two people before finally landing on Ye Zhenzhen.

Ye Zhenzhen lowered her head, not daring to look at him.

"We've been busy..." she muttered softly, "We've looked at so many questions..."

"What's the problem?" Zhou Huaijin asked, looking at her.

She paused for a moment, then quickly pulled out her notebook and flipped to the pages she had just jotted down: "Currently, many students in the school are left-behind children, living with their grandparents. A lot of teaching now requires online communication and operation on mobile phones, which many elderly people don't understand. Students have no one to tutor them at home, so they don't finish their homework and get criticized at school the next day..."

"Secondly, regarding the living conditions of the special-post teachers, I went to the dormitory and saw that the paint on the walls was peeling, the windows were drafty, and it was especially cold in winter. One special-post teacher left in less than a semester, which was also related to the living conditions."

"And then there's the school's sports facilities," she turned to the next page, "the basketball hoops on the playground have been broken for a long time, and there aren't enough pool tables, so many kids have nowhere to play during breaks."

After she finished speaking, she cautiously looked up at Zhou Huaijin.

He was looking at her, his gaze holding something she couldn't decipher. It wasn't anger, nor impatience, but rather... as if he were confirming something.

"That's all?" he asked.

"That's all for now..." she said.

He didn't say anything more and turned to walk towards the cafeteria.

Ye Zhenzhen followed behind dejectedly, not daring to breathe loudly.

After walking a few steps, Zhou Huaijin suddenly stopped and glanced at her.

"Keep your distance from Chen Zheng from now on."

She paused for a moment, then said, "Oh... okay."

A big question mark popped into my mind.

Keep your distance? What, does he have a crush on Chen Zheng?

No wonder Chen Zheng is so lawless.

Just spoil her.

No, the more I think about it, the more something feels wrong; I'm about to fall for it.