Deputy Mayor Assistant (Three)

  Geng Fenghuang's hand trembled slightly, the firework burning her hand. She gently tossed the unburned half of the cigarette into the river water, where it was swallowed by a few mischievous small fish. Geng Fenghuang had also been a substitute teacher at Huai Shu Yuan Primary School... She looked at the fish that seemed to be choking on the smoke, those pink love and painful memories had long since quietly flowed away with the gurgling river water...

  The small boat sailed into the Wolongtan, with lotus leaves stretching far and wide, filling the river surface with a refreshing and sweet atmosphere. Longshan Hui couldn't help but recite lines from the Book of Songs: "There is a beautiful person, elegant and refined. We met by chance, just as I wished. In the wild there is a creeping grass, dew drops glisten. There is a beautiful person, gentle as a clear breeze."

  Geng Fenghuang gazed at Longshan Hui with a smiling glance. What kind of heart-stirring and soul-touching encounter would this be? At that moment, there were no vows of eternal love, no romantic moonlit nights, only the beautiful woman's elegant and refined spirit, like "clear and gentle as a spring breeze", and her eyes, bright and clear as autumn water, colliding with those of a young man in a single glance. The reeds and lotus flowers on the riverbank met by chance, exchanged silent gazes, and each left an indelible mark on the other's heart, even if their future was to be a deep chasm or a sea of flames, they were irretrievably in love with each other.

  The bow of the boat was struck by the river water, making a loud noise. Long Shan didn't say a word and continued to row his boat. His mind was racing, thinking about how Feng Huang's skirt had been splashed with river water and was now wet, revealing her beautiful legs vaguely.

  Geng Fenghuang looked at Long Shan and said, "You are unreasonable, dragging a woman onto the boat for no reason. Do you know where I come from? Where am I going?" Her voice was as clear as the gentle flowing water of the Xiao Long River on a sunny day.

  "I don't care where you come from, but I'll be responsible for your destination!" Long Shan said, looking at her.

  Geng Fenghua found his words extremely ridiculous, and only then did he notice the high school classmate beside him: He was wearing a light purple shirt, which was old but clean and comfortable; His half-long hair couldn't hide those big earlobes, his figure was tall and sturdy, with clear and gentle facial features, bright and extraordinary eyes, and a large mouth with a hint of a smile.

  Longshan was about to speak, when Geng Fenghua said: "This time back is just to lead the people of Huai Shu Garden, for the rural education cause, dedication and death."

  "You may be the town head, but you are not familiar with the people's teachers and substitute teachers. I am just a grassroots teacher, for you as the town head, I will go through thick and thin!"

  Longshan is so approachable and considerate; such a clean, gentle, and masculine man is really one in ten, the one that everyone loves! "Shan will be the big brother!" Geng Fenghua suddenly exclaimed, then blushed and looked at the book in her hand.

  Longshan's heart skipped a beat as he listened to Geng Fenghua's sweet words, turning his head to size her up: Her pale face had no powder or rouge, her long eyelashes veiled her deep, expressive eyes, and her waist-length black braid, wet from the river, clung to her chest, accentuating the curves of her body under her damp skirt, her skin tone misty and alluring, stirring his rationality, and he couldn't help but exclaim: "The beauties of Xiaolong River are many, but I've never seen a town head as lovely as you today!"

  "I don't know which of these beauties can match up to Longshan Hui Ge!" Geng Fenghua's words were laced with a sharp confidence.

  "Then help me find one?" Longshan Hui didn't dare to look at her, and after saying this, he regretted it. Why did he bring up this topic with the beautiful female town mayor? Did a grassroots teacher like him still have the luxury of hoping for a romantic relationship with this beauty?

  Geng Feng Huang fell silent for a moment, then asked with a smile, "What do you think about the construction of Huai Shu Yuan Teaching Building and the future of grassroots teachers?"

  At this time, Longshan felt that Geng Fenghuang was his confidant, so he spoke from the heart: "Originally, a town head coming to Xiaolonghe, counting small shrimp and fish, it wouldn't be my turn as a grassroots teacher. But I still came, no other meaning! Just because we are classmates..."

  Geng Fenghuang liked straightforward men, the more arrogant the better. But when she heard him say that, her face was like a layer of ice had formed on it. "Let me off the boat," she shouted while pounding on the cabin, but the boat was moving too fast and Long Shanwei seemed not to have heard. Helpless, Geng Fenghuang grabbed his arm and raised her voice: "Stop the boat! Take me ashore!"

  Longshan comforted her like an elder brother, "Prefect! This is not a place to moor the boat. Ahead, under the big pagoda tree, there's a ferry crossing. You can go there and continue on your own."

  The mysterious beauty's icy demeanor melted away in an instant, revealing a hint of a smile. The storm from earlier had dissipated. She said warmly, "Don't be so formal, from now on you can call me classmate, teacher, or Phoenix girl! Take the county secretary to Huaihua Gang and come back, I'll treat you to dinner! Don't forget, I want to study with you." The beauty's voice was as enchanting as her appearance. Her tone carried the heartbeat of a young girl, the secrets of youth, and blessings for the future...

  Smoke from cooking fires drifted across the strait as the small boat continued on its way.

  "This time for the civil service examination, you should thank Secretary Pang Shunxing." Long Shan said.

  "You think so too. At first, I was really stupid, how could I fall in love with Pang Shunxing? I did so many stupid things, I just wanted to lie low and wait for opportunities, and then put the tears of grievance into my stomach, silently enduring the pressure of work and body and mind, still dedicating myself to the post of a private teacher. This time, except for your pen, no one else helped me." Geng Fenghua covered her eyes with her hands, not letting them see her moist eyes.

  "Sorry, I made you bring up this unpleasant matter again today! You're the town head now, you shouldn't be afraid of him!" Long Shan looked at Geng Fenghuang who was deep in thought, and felt a sense of sympathy for this substitute teacher who had such a hard life.

  "Yes, with him it's fifty-eight, without him it's forty. Look at the sky in front of you, so high and blue! Longshan will set sail!" Geng Fenghuang said, turning around to admire the small Long River filled with lotus flowers under the sunset.

  "There isn't a bee that stirs up honey to eat like that. I believe you can stand on your own!" Long Shan said, looking at her waterfall-like long hair cascading down her back, feeling that she was so gentle and yet so beautiful.

  "Longshan will be the most cultured person here, putting aside university and insisting on coming to a mountain village as a grassroots teacher. Why can't I return here to revitalize rural education and make bricks and tiles?" Geng Fenghua said without thinking.

  "You and I are different: you are the principal's daughter of County No. 1 Middle School, while I am a farmer's son. Now rural girls are all keen to develop in cities, but you want to go back to the countryside. If the development zone can't be opened up, it will be ruined. This is a matter of principle, good horses don't eat grass that has been turned over."

  "The Xiaolonghe Street Office is the poorest and most complicated town in Xiaolongcheng County. Who would want to come here? Those who are assigned to work here, no one wants to send them off, nor does anyone want to receive them. I was a girl from this family, within a year, completed the pilot work of Huai Shu Yuan Primary School's public-private partnership, founded a first-class school in the development zone. The development, salary, regularization and future prospects of private teachers. The configuration, funding sources and usage of the school's hardware and software facilities, as well as the protection and development of cultural landscapes such as ancient locust trees. In short, it is to borrow the strong east wind of the development zone to develop our education, and do something practical for my hometown."

  Longshan said, "In recent years, the rain has been heavy, and the classrooms have not been repaired for many years. When it rains, the outside is heavily flooded, while the inside is slightly flooded, and students take classes in the water. The higher authorities have repeatedly issued instructions requiring the demolition and reconstruction of the back row of houses, and local governments can build teaching buildings through voluntary fundraising channels. Who would have thought that at the fundraising meeting, my mother was the first to object, saying that the old tree house in the back row should not be demolished but repaired, and a monument should be erected to commemorate it."

  "The school can completely move westward," said Geng Fenghuang.

  "Going west is my brother-in-law, Pang Shunlu's contracted pagoda tree forest. The development zone doesn't allow even half an inch of land to be taken. I think you should study this 'topic' first!" Longshan said with a stern face, staring at Geng Fenghuang who was rowing the boat.

  Huai Shu Yuan Primary School is a school retained in the unified planning of the development zone. Since it can't be relocated westward, just make do with the old tree, what's the big deal? It's summer vacation now, hurry up and raise funds.

  PT thief, building station is easy!

  Thief