At that time, Ma Xudong was on a study tour far away from home.
It had always been popular for governmental agencies to engage in study tours. Initially, this was a great way to foster progress and development, but gradually, it degenerated. Learning and inspection became secondary, while the main focus shifted to the consumption of public funds.
Don't think that because Ma Xudong was in a remote township in Yangbei, the town couldn't afford to send its leading officials on travel and consumption trips under the guise of learning and inspection.
In fact, for a long time, from the past into the present and perhaps even into the future, due to general policy guidelines, there was significant support for remote areas. There was plenty of money allocated, and it had to be spent. If it wasn't spent one year, the next year's allocation would be reduced.
Without extensive study and inspection, how could you demonstrate your pursuit of progress? How could others truly believe that you had made efforts for local development?
At that time, Ma Xudong, due to the Old Town Mayor's daughter, continued to be valued and nurtured as a promising young official, and he was quite influential.
However, being young, Ma Xudong couldn't resist the influence of the political culture and slowly strayed onto the wrong path.
He thought of Qingqing's mother in his heart, but in practice, he turned to other women. In his words, if you weren't bad, no one would lead you on the right path. The Old Town Mayor was notorious for his lecherous behavior, and his son was no different. The Party and government officials close to him were all the same, at that time as well.
When Ma Xudong was about to go on an inspection trip, he earnestly told Liu Zhizhong that he had succumbed to all the vices and was truly planning to marry the Old Town Mayor's daughter.
But unexpectedly, during their inspection of a coastal garment factory—which was established in their home town after economic reforms and had a lot of foreign trade orders and booming business at that time—
The factory owner had come here to set up the business nearly 20 years ago and had almost forgotten what home was like. Moreover, he had bought villas by the seaside here, and his family and friends had moved here too, with no thoughts of returning to develop their hometown—or rather, he had forgotten his hometown, with no plans of returning.
The town wanted to see if they could convince the owner to create more job opportunities for the local community, perhaps by organizing local young men and women to work in his factory.
If they could achieve this, it would reflect well on the town, and the owner would have contributed to his hometown.
The Old Town Mayor and others came to this developed coastal city actually for tourism, casually organizing some ideological learning—listening to a few Ma Zhe lectures would suffice; however, the inspection deliberately chose this factory.
It was during the factory visit that Ma Xudong saw his lover, Qingqing's mother, whom he had lost contact with for nearly 9 months.
By then, Ma Qingqing was just barely a hundred days old. When her mother was pregnant, she left the city where she studied and drifted here, working in this factory. Fortunately, having a high school education, she became a clerk in less than two months, receiving a decent salary and a less strenuous job.
It was only close to the time of giving birth to Ma Qingqing that she took her maternity leave. After Ma Qingqing's first month, she returned to work here with her child. The owner had considered his fellow townsfolk in his management decisions, a reflection of humanity's inherent goodness.
Seeing his lover again filled Ma Xudong with a mix of emotions and immense shame, yet in that moment, he dared not acknowledge her due to fear of jeopardizing his future since he had decided to marry the Old Town Mayor's daughter.
This time, the Old Town Mayor's daughter was also along for the trip, indulging in tourism and taking advantage of public funds—how normal was it? Of course, the Old Town Mayor's wife couldn't possibly join them. If she came, how could her husband freely indulge outside? After all, the Old Town Mayor had reached his current position by relying on his father-in-law, who was once a deputy county mayor. Relationships through officialdom and marriage promotions had always been a traditional way.
Behind the scenes, however, Ma Xudong couldn't help but secretly make contact, embracing the mother and daughter tearfully, weighed down with pain.
Sadly, Ma Xudong no longer knew what to do. Should he marry her and bring her and their daughter home, or should he use his position to leave a large sum of money and then never contact her again?
Of course, that night, Ma Xudong rekindled his relationship with her. Right beside this perfection was the fully-fed, sweetly sleeping Ma Qingqing. The latest_epɪ_sodes are on_the 𝚗𝚘𝚟𝚎𝚕·𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚎·𝚗𝚎𝚝
After completing the factory inspection, Ma Xudong and the team continued their tourism and consumption in the city, casually attending a few Ma Zhe lectures to fulfill their task. This stay lasted over twenty days. The administrative management of the Party and government was quite lax at the time; they handled the duration as they saw fit, after all, they were spending public money, and no one felt the pinch.
Ma Xudong found opportunities to meet with the mother and daughter ten times. Each time, it was only after satisfying the Old Town Mayor's daughter and waiting for her to fall asleep that he would quietly leave to meet them.
Yet, it was during their final parting that trouble arose.
The Old Town Mayor's daughter noticed something suspicious, followed him successfully, and quite an incident occurred.
Had it not been for the mother's pleading, Ma Qingqing might have been seriously hurt.
Ma Xudong received slaps from his girlfriend and from the Old Town Mayor and was kicked to the ground, not allowed to get up.
And the more shameless events that followed…