Chapter 13: Conference Interviews (Part 2)

  Around noon, the discussion finally came to a temporary end. After a normal lunch break, they would continue in the afternoon. Gu Zixin and other participants withdrew from the conference room, retrieved their voice recorders, organized their meeting records, adjusted their cameras, and walked out of the Finance Bureau building with their bags on their backs.

  Just as she walked to the entrance of the building, Gu Xixin stopped in her tracks. The snowflakes dancing in the air, under the thin layer of cloud that let through a gentle sunlight that was not dazzling, looked crystal clear and translucent. The thin layer of snow on the ground also showed colorful hues under the reflection of the sunlight. But what moved Gu Xixin even more than this beautiful scene was the gray figure leaning against the pillar at the entrance.

  Kang Yue wore a dark gray woolen half-length windbreaker, with his hands inserted in the coat pockets, slightly tilting his head to watch the snowflakes fall, and the sharp light that often appeared behind his black-framed glasses made Gu Zhi Xin feel hazy for the first time.

  Gu Xixin admitted that she was enchanted by such a scene. Snowing, it turned out to be such a beautiful thing.

  Hearing the voice behind him, Kang Yue turned around.

  "How come you haven't left yet?" asked Gu Zixin.

  "Wait for you. Let's have dinner together, we'll still be discussing this in the afternoon, it's inconvenient for you to come and go."

  "After handing over at the newspaper office in the morning, we had a unified arrangement for lunch boxes and had to go back to review the situation in the morning." Just as she was saying this, Gu Zixin's phone rang, it was a call from her unit.

  Gu Zi Xin picked up the phone, answered a few words and then hung up. She threw her mobile phone back into her bag, looked up at Kang Yue and said: "The unit said I don't need to go back, what are you going to treat me to?"

  With only about an hour left, the two of them found a cleaner restaurant nearby, ordered two hot dishes, one soup, and two portions of rice, eating and chatting at the same time.

  The location of the Financial Bureau is no longer considered to be in the city center, and apart from a few relatively large hospitals nearby, the rest are just office buildings. Therefore, there aren't many high-end restaurants around.

  But unexpectedly, when they tasted it, the dish was actually quite good.

  "Not bad, it's really delicious." Gu Zixin was indeed a bit hungry and ate very fragrantly.

  "Well, in such a remote place, the dishes are still so delicious, it's really rare." Kang Yue also echoed.

  "You guys should have a lot of chances to eat out, right? How did you know so many places that aren't good?" Gu Xixin asked offhandedly.

  "Are you talking about our unit? How does it sound like we're being accused of embezzling public funds and harming the people?" Kang Yue joked, then continued, "Actually, it's not as exaggerated as outsiders think. As a journalist, you should know a bit. The various actions of government agencies that are widely circulated outside are just individual cases. Most people, especially those of us at the grassroots level, are relatively honest and down-to-earth. Our workload is no less than others, and our salary is not higher than others." Kang Yue took a sip of soup and added, "However, I still prefer to find good places to eat with friends. Good food is a great way to relieve stress."

  "Uh-huh, I agree with that. Good food is not only a great way to relieve stress, but the taste of food also varies depending on one's mood." Gu Zi Xin said, speaking from experience when it comes to eating.

  "Or it can also be said that who you share food with can determine your taste." After saying this, they exchanged a smile with Gu Zixin.

  "Right, I'll return your recorder tonight." Gu Xixin suddenly remembered something and said.

  "It doesn't matter anymore."

  “？”

  "I asked my colleagues nearby, none of them had a recording device with them, so I bought one from a computer accessories store nearby." Seeing Gu Xiang's intention to speak up, Kang Yue hastily stretched out his hand and waved it, "Don't mention the money issue to me, there wasn't much money to begin with."

  Gu Zi Xin found it amusing and after a while said, "Alright, thank you."

  "You've thanked me enough, if you really want to thank me, then let's have this meal on you."

  Gu Zixin was delighted, "Isn't this a bargain for me?"

  The result was still Kang Yue buying a single ticket. After checking that the time was about right, he sent Gu Zixin back to the discussion location before leaving.

  The discussion in the afternoon was apparently much more formal than that in the morning, and the content of the discussion was not limited to the study of work reports. Everyone expressed their own opinions and made suggestions, which was quite lively.

  Gu Xixin sat for two hours, took some snapshots of the discussion, and quietly walked out.

  When she came outside, the snow had stopped and the sun was shining brightly from behind the clouds. Compared to the cold wind of this afternoon, it's much more peaceful now. Gu Zhen thought of Kang Yue telling her to call him after work and he would come pick her up, but looking at the time, it was only around 4 o'clock, probably when they were busy, so she hailed a taxi and headed back to the newspaper office.

  There is still a closing ceremony tomorrow afternoon, and today's work must be finished. Gu Zixin returned to her desk, made a cup of coffee, and started typing on the computer.

  After finishing the working dinner ordered by the unit, at around 6 o'clock, Gu Zixin finally completed the discussion draft she was going to write. She checked it twice from front to back, saved and closed the document, then sent the draft together with the photos of the discussion scene to the editor's mailbox.

  After dinner, there were not many people left in the newspaper office, only a few colleagues who participated in today's meeting were still entangled in the details of the manuscript. Gu Xixin thought that since there was nothing to do at this time, he might as well invite the few people who hadn't been interviewed during the day.

  After making a round of phone calls, only one was connected. Gu Zixin explained the situation and requested half an hour for an interview. The other party was also someone who had been in the organization for a long time and had dealt with various media outlets before. After listening, they didn't make things difficult and readily agreed.

  The interview had already ended at eight o'clock, and Gu Zixin hailed a taxi on the side of the road and rushed to the newspaper office. Today, she must get the draft out, so that tomorrow and the day after tomorrow would be easier. Rushing back without stopping, overtime workers were busy with their own tasks, each one looking exhausted and holding cups to gulp down coffee. When Shen Zihuan saw Gu Zixin rush in, her hands didn't stop typing, and she gave her a flying glance.

  Gu Xixin didn't have time to care about anything else, took out her notebook and recorder and started working hard. She had only listened to half of the recording when Kang Yue's call came in: "Still working overtime?"

  "Yeah, I'm busy, still have one more manuscript left, gotta finish it today."

  "Are your colleagues all here?"

  "There are still eleven or twelve people left, the others have all gone home after work."

  "How much longer?"

  "It's hard to say, but it would be good if we can finish before 10 o'clock."

  Kang Yue hung up the phone without saying anything. Gu Xi felt it was quite strange, this person called but didn't say anything important. She was busy with her own things and didn't pay attention to it either.

  Less than twenty minutes later, Kang Yue's phone came in again: "I'm under your newspaper building, I bought some night snacks for you and your colleagues, come down and pick them up." Gu Xi Xin was a little surprised, hung up the phone, put on her coat and ran downstairs.

  Kang Yue was holding two big bags of food downstairs, waiting for her. When he saw her running down, he stuffed them into her arms and looked at her open coat, furrowing his brow: "Why didn't you even button up?"

  Gu Zi Xin ignored him and asked: "Don't tell me you're just passing by and giving me food?"

  "It's really on the way. I was having dinner with friends in Xiangdu, and you were all working overtime. I took the opportunity to come over and express condolences on behalf of the Party and the government."

  "Alright, on behalf of the masses, I'd like to express our gratitude for your condolences."

  "Alright, stop joking around, hurry up and go in. Finish it quickly so we can head back early. I'll send you back later, okay?"

  Gu Xixin hastily waved her hand, she had already troubled him too much today, and couldn't treat him as a personal driver.

  See off Kang Yue, Gu Xixin carried the food and walked upstairs, looking at it while walking, inside was a pile of milk tea, coffee, small pastries, fruit and so on.

  Gu Xixin suddenly thought of something after tossing and turning for half a day, "Xiangdu is far from here, how did he manage to pass by?"

  Digression

  Guys, don't miss it when you pass by, the author guarantees that this is a very wonderful story and won't disappoint everyone!