Chapter 1822
As the Spring Festival approached, shops along the street gradually closed down, and the bustling provincial city that was once lively and prosperous seemed to wither like flowers and trees entering autumn and winter in the blink of an eye.
That’s just how it is in China; the more prosperous the city, the more desolate it becomes during the Spring Festival.
If you happen to walk alone on the street on New Year’s Eve, you might feel like you’re in a ghost town.
So the focus of the various departments’ work is mainly the homecoming tide just before New Year’s Eve and the wave of migrant workers returning after the Spring Festival.
The period in between ends up being much more leisurely.
This year marked Wu Qiangwei’s first Spring Festival after coming to Jiangzhou. She didn’t have experience governing a provincial capital like Jiangzhou, so initially, she was in a state of high alert, afraid that large crowds at the train stations would linger, causing a stampede.
She hadn’t slept for several nights, and sometimes just a phone call would make her heart skip a beat.
Song Guanchao approached her several times and noticed her restless state. Upon inquiry, he found out she was worried about this, and he amusedly told her not to be so tense.
Wu Qiangwei lacked experience, but Song Guanchao did.
When he was in the army, every year during the New Year, the local government would enlist him as a laborer.
He had traveled from third-tier cities to first-tier cities and was well aware of the differences between various cities during holidays.
As he explained this, Wu Qiangwei was momentarily stunned, her mind following his thoughts and realizing it truly was the case.
She wasn’t really being foolish; it was truly counterintuitive.
Any normal person would believe that the larger the city, the busier it would be during the New Year.
Yet reality played out in the opposite manner.
In the blink of an eye, time brought the arrival of New Year’s Eve.
Departments had already prepared multiple contingency plans for the homecoming wave and held several meetings in advance.
Everyone stayed at their posts; Zhou Zheng and Wu Qiangwei were stationed at the high-speed rail and long-distance bus stations.
Soldiers from the Military District were also temporarily requisitioned by the local government to assist either in traffic guidance or in strengthening station patrols.
The police from the police station weren’t allowed to take leave unless for special reasons.
The call volumes were tens of times higher than usual, and the switchboard operators’ voices were nearly breaking; the station’s vehicles were refueled several times due to continuous use.
Despite the highly tense state of all departments, incidents of petty theft were inevitable.
The City Government specifically established an emergency rescue team dedicated to providing psychological support to homecoming victims of theft and offering them assistance to return home, promising them that the lost money would be recovered, allowing them to have a peaceful New Year at home.
Journalists from the city and provincial stations, as in previous years, were stationed at busy stations to capture public officials at work and citizens seeking help amidst trouble.
At around four in the afternoon, Song Guanchao had just finished his tasks and took a moment to fish out his phone and call Hu Xing.
"Auntie Hu, are you at home?"
"Xiao Song, yes, I’m home. What’s up?"
𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢
Hu Xing was Liang Jiajia’s mother, and Song Guanchao had seen her only once or twice, not enough to claim familiarity.
Catching a call from him suddenly, Hu Xing was quite surprised.
"I’ll be heading to Beijing after I finish work tonight. I was wondering if you could make a pot of dumplings that I can bring to her."
"You’re going to Beijing?" Hu Xing was extremely surprised: "It’s New Year’s Eve today, aren’t you going home for the holiday?"
Song Guanchao explained that the elders of his family were spending the holiday at his uncle’s house this year.
Hu Xing asked him with a smile if he had told Jiajia beforehand. Song Guanchao said he specifically didn’t tell her, planning to surprise her, so he asked Hu Xing not to leak the secret.
This was music to Hu Xing’s ears, and she cheerfully invited him over to pick up the dumplings after work.
Song Guanchao wasn’t certain how long he would be busy tonight, so he booked a later flight, one at eleven o’clock.
As it turned out, he was occupied until past nine before the junior clerks from various divisions left.
As a director, leaving early wouldn’t have been appropriate, so he stayed until the very end.
After turning off the lights, he grabbed his car keys and went downstairs, dialing Wu Qiangwei as he got into the car.
She had just finished too, sounding fatigued: "Drive safely on your way back."
Song Guanchao asked, "Are you flying back to Modu tonight?"
"Yes, the flight’s at eleven." Wu Qiangwei asked: "You..."
She suddenly remembered that Song Guanchao would likely spend New Year’s Eve alone since his family wasn’t around.
It was only a bit past nine, so there were nearly two hours remaining.
Even if something were to be done, there was still plenty of time.
But since the secretary was in the car, it wasn’t convenient to discuss any of this.
So she hung up the call abruptly and, instead, sent him a message asking about his evening plans.
Song Guanchao debated internally for a few seconds but decided to speak frankly, revealing he had booked a flight to Beijing for that night.
Wu Qiangwei’s eyes dimmed slightly; her relationship with Song Guanchao had long changed.
The breakdown of that barrier signified both her unrestrained affection for Song Guanchao and her acceptance of his unclear involvement with other women.
However, no matter how good the intentions, practical realities often presented discrepancies.
When Song Guanchao saw no reply from her, he guessed she might be angered.
He thought he would first pick up the dumplings to avoid any delay.
He arrived home just after Liang Jianfeng, who usually showed no warmth to him. But upon learning he was bringing dumplings to his daughter, Liang Jianfeng exceptionally smiled.
Hu Xing handed him the neatly packed dumplings in a lunchbox, instructing: "When you get there, just boil them to eat. Don’t forget these packs of chili oil, Jiajia loves to dip them in this."
Song Guanchao nodded repeatedly, and just then his phone in his pocket vibrated; he guessed it was a message from Wu Qiangwei.
Seeing that Liang Jianfeng wanted to chat more, Song Guanchao quickly excused himself, saying he needed to catch his flight, fearing he’d miss it.
Liang Jianfeng was rare to show interest in speaking more, but indeed didn’t want to delay him, so accompanied him toward the exit.
Leaving the complex, Song Guanchao parked by the roadside, took out his phone, and found the message was indeed from Wu Qiangwei.
"See you at the airport."
Just those three words prompted a simple response from Song Guanchao: "See you soon."
He headed home to change clothes and packed a few sets of underwear.
Before exiting, he recalled that he hadn’t taken some crucial equipment, so he dashed back to grab the unused small umbrella from the bedside drawer.
It had been several months, and it seemed Liang Jiajia’s pent-up energy might explode; tonight was bound to be an intense battle.
At this hour, the expressway leading to the airport was clear and unobstructed.
A journey that would usually take an hour took Song Guanchao less than half an hour to reach the parking lot.
With his suitcase in hand, he completed check-in procedures before messaging Wu Qiangwei to inquire about her location.
Wu Qiangwei didn’t disclose her whereabouts but instead asked where he was.
The airport was vast; after about ten minutes, he finally saw Wu Qiangwei, clad in a long black down jacket, wearing a pink knit hat and mask, walking towards him.
It was the first time he saw her wearing such a cute hat, rendering him momentarily stunned.
As she approached, Song Guanchao chuckled: "You dressed up so thoroughly, afraid of being recognized?"
Unexpectedly, Wu Qiangwei simply acknowledged with a "mm," producing a mask and knitted hat to hand him: "Put it on."
Bewildered by her actions, Song Guanchao obeyed and wore them.
With their faces concealed, Wu Qiangwei clutched his arm and proceeded further afar.
While Song Guanchao intended to inquire, he saw her heading towards the restroom, suddenly triggering a suspicion of her intent.