The evening, the second-floor private room at the guesthouse.

All the leaders gathered and sat around the table.

Zheng Bihui's face no longer showed the suppressed anger from the day. He raised his glass and said, "Welcome, Governor Qu. I hope you can lead Lingjiang to greater developments."

The others also raised their glasses one by one.

The secretaries sat at the adjacent table.

Secretary Sun's files had not been transferred yet, but Zheng Bihui was adamant about bringing him over.

This guy's luck couldn't be judged as good or bad.

Lu Zhizhong was gone. He should have been all alone, inevitably facing marginalization.

Yet, he clung to Zheng Bihui's leg.

Unfortunately, this leg wasn't strong enough.

Song Guanchao kept his head down, focusing on eating, without going over to toast.

A whole table of leaders giving a welcome banquet to Qu Xiangru, it wasn't his place to show off.

Suddenly, his phone vibrated.

Seeing the caller, he was a bit surprised. It was actually Uncle Hong.

He wiped his mouth and answered the call.

"In a moment, a short-haired female server will come in to serve wine. Watch to whom she pours the wine."

Song Guanchao looked towards the door and asked, "What's going on?"

"I'll explain later. Just keep an eye on it and don't hang up the call."

"Okay."

Song Guanchao regained his composure. It seemed something was about to happen.

Sure enough, in no time, a short-haired female server came in with a bottle of Moutai.

Song Guanchao's eyes followed her as she headed towards Wu Qiangwei... next to Qu Xiangru, filling the decanter in front of Qu Xiangru.

Song Guanchao quietly said, "Qu Xiangru."

"Keep an eye on Qu Xiangru, make sure nothing happens."

"Should we inform Secretary Wu?"

"I've asked Wu Ming to go up, you don't have to worry."

"... Can he handle it?"

It wasn't that he looked down on Wu Ming... well, maybe he did.

"I'm here." Uncle Hong sighed.

He hung up, and Song Guanchao quickly edited a message to send to Qu Xiangru.

Qu Xiangru picked up the wine the server just poured, about to drink it, when her phone vibrated.

"There's something in the wine."

Qu Xiangru glanced over at Song Guanchao, put down her phone, and drank the wine in one go.

This woman...

Song Guanchao gritted his teeth.

Thinking for a moment, he sent another message to Wu Qiangwei, then got up and left the private room.

Two minutes after going out, Wu Qiangwei also came out.

"What's going on?"

"Someone drugged Secretary Qu." Song Guanchao recounted Uncle Hong's call.

Drugging Qu Xiangru at her welcome banquet, this was no small matter.

And she just took office today. If anything happened, it would become big news.

Who was targeting her?

Wu Qiangwei asked, "Uncle Hong asked you to watch her?"

"Yes."

"Go back inside and keep an eye."

Wu Qiangwei turned and headed down the corridor, just as Wu Ming came up.

The two walked towards the hallway together.

Song Guanchao went back to the private room, observing Qu Xiangru's reaction.

This woman had some nerve, drinking knowing there was something in it.

Wasn't she afraid it might be poison?

A few minutes later, Wu Qiangwei and Wu Ming came in together.

Wu Ming sat next to Song Guanchao, and quietly said, "It's Lin Daoquan."

Song Guanchao suddenly realized, was this guy seeking revenge on purpose?

"Did he come to Lingjiang?"

"Yeah, just outside."

"Did Uncle Hong restrain him?"

"No," Wu Ming said, "My sister asked you to figure it out. If you can't, she'll handle it."

Song Guanchao added a piece of beef, chewing it thoroughly.

After swallowing the piece of beef, he put down the chopsticks: "Have Uncle Hong keep an eye on his temporary residence, leave the rest to me."

He already had a plan in mind.

The leaders at the table were still toasting, but no one was urging drinks.

As a joke, would a group of city-level leaders dare to urge an Executive Deputy Governor to drink?

He took out a cigarette and lit it, squinting his eyes.

Lin Daoquan!

He had clearly stated his position in Tongzhou City.

If this guy dared to come to Lingjiang, he shouldn't expect to return unscathed.

Yet this guy really came.

And he specifically chose the day Qu Xiangru assumed office.

The biting dog doesn't bark.

He really hadn't expected that a Deputy Governor in charge of education would have the guts for revenge.

"I'm going to the restroom, everyone take your time drinking."

Qu Xiangru stood up and walked outward.

Song Guanchao extinguished his cigarette and followed.

Coming out of the private room, the two of them walked one behind the other in the hallway.

Reaching the end, Song Guanchao suddenly grabbed her arm and headed toward the emergency stairwell.

The corridor was pitch black, and the motion sensor lights didn't even turn on.

Stepping forward, Song Guanchao could smell the alcohol on her lips: "There's something in the wine, didn't you see the message?"

"I saw it."

"You saw it and still drank!"

"Are you teaching me how to do things?"

"Damn it!"

At a time like this, she was still keeping up appearances.

Song Guanchao hooked her waist, saying, "Lin Daoquan is just outside, he's coming for you!"

Then asked, "Do you feel any discomfort?"

"A little dizzy."

"Anything else?"

"I want to sleep with you."

Qu Xiangru's voice changed suddenly, and in the pitch-black corridor, her eyes were filled with desire.

Her body seemed boneless, hanging onto him.

Their lips drew closer, suddenly pecking gently on his.

Song Guanchao hurriedly steadied her: "Can you hold on?"

"The drug seems not too strong. Otherwise, I'll go back and drink two more glasses? Lin Daoquan will definitely find me, just in time to sleep with him."

"..." Song Guanchao couldn't tell whether this woman was genuinely under the drug's influence or was deliberately provoking him.

He wanted to slap her on the buttocks but was afraid it might delight her.

At this moment, a text from Uncle Hong came in.

Song Guanchao glanced at it and said, "Lin Daoquan has reserved a room in the guesthouse. Go back to the private room first. When the drug takes effect, step out. A server should lead you to the room."

"Didn't you want to sleep with him? Go ahead."

Qu Xiangru looked at him steadily. Two seconds later, she said, "Alright."

She turned to leave.

Song Guanchao smoked a cigarette in the hallway. When he came out, he just saw Qu Xiangru staggering out of the private room.

The short-haired female server was supporting her towards the elevator.

Song Guanchao didn't follow; he entered the private room, went to Jiang Yuan's side, and whispered a few words.

Jiang Yuan's smile faded slightly.

Then, Song Guanchao went to Minister Zhou's side and whispered a few words.

Minister Zhou and Jiang Yuan exchanged a glance, both stood up, and Jiang Yuan suddenly said, "Fang, come over."

Secretary Fang Wei came over.

Jiang Yuan pointed at the wine at Qu Xiangru's seat: "Take this wine for testing at the hospital."

At these words, the seated leaders were taken aback.

What was going on?

Someone had spiked the wine?

No,

It was Qu Xiangru's wine that was spiked.

Fang Wei was also momentarily stunned, immediately responding to collect and preserve the wine.

Zheng Bihui asked, "Mayor Jiang, what's wrong?"

Jiang Yuan said, "Someone spiked Governor Qu's wine. Everyone, please follow me."

With that, he turned and walked out.

A group of standing committee members, including the secretaries, all understood that tonight's welcome banquet had gone awry.

Song Guanchao followed Wu Qiangwei, who quietly asked, "Is this your way of solving it?"

She hadn't expected Song Guanchao to escalate the matter publicly.

The key was, how to handle the aftermath?

Song Guanchao said, "Lin Daoquan is like a mad dog that bites. You can't reason with a mad dog. To have peace, we've got to put him down!"

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