Zhou Cheng’s concerns were justified. While he and Xiao Lan were sleeping in each other’s arms, Nie Wei Guo did indeed try to strike back.

However, Nie Wei Guo’s retaliation wasn’t about targeting Zhou Cheng and Xia Xiao Lan. Not all bad people are vicious – Nie Wei Guo was both wicked and cowardly. Once his backers abandoned him, he began making foolish moves, withdrawing twenty thousand yuan from his savings to attempt bribery.

Well, they were still investigating his plagiarism case, and now he added bribery to his charges.

And where there’s bribery, there’s corruption.

Nie Wei Guo casually producing twenty thousand yuan suggested substantial hidden wealth.

So they investigated the source of his money.

Once started, the investigation couldn’t be contained. Nie Wei Guo’s arrest was remarkably swift. After he was taken away, facing multiple charges with no hope of redemption, those he had oppressed over the years finally dared to step forward and report him.

The Provincial Design Institute was thrown into chaos, and news of Nie Wei Guo’s downfall spread quickly in the wake of the symposium.

Many attendees hadn’t left after the conference, staying to watch Nie Wei Guo’s situation unfold.

Now gathered together, Xing Li Xin, ever the nice guy, sighed deeply:

“I never imagined Old Nie had done so many bad things, but justice prevails in the end – Old Nie finally fell.”

Hou Qi gave him a look, “You still call him Old Nie? I don’t believe nobody in the Architectural Society knew about Nie Wei Guo’s reputation. Why has no one dared to deal with him these past two years? Isn’t it because—”

Hou Qi left her sentence unfinished. You might know someone’s face but not their heart – she dared not speak truthfully in front of Xing Li Xin.

Those who appeared honest might not be truly so. For all she knew, Xing Li Xin might betray her for his benefit. Hou Qi remained cautious.

Mao Kang Shan opened his drowsy eyes:

“Enough. Nie Wei Guo’s arrest is good for the architectural circle. There’s nothing new under the sun – this corrupt trend just won’t die, but it should serve as a warning to others like Nie Wei Guo. Flourishing creativity? How can we create works that break boundaries when the creative environment itself is polluted!”

Ning Yan Fan’s eyelid twitched – so much for thinking Mao Kang Shan had changed.

The old firebrand had aged, but his temperament remained explosive, just usually hidden.

Listen to him – immediately talking about cleaning up the creative environment. People like Nie Wei Guo might not be everywhere, but there were quite a few. Cleaning them all out would be a massive undertaking.

Take the Chinese Architectural Society – since its establishment in October 1954 until November 1983, it has gone through six elections.

Ning Yan Fan and Mao Kang Shan were both former executive directors. In the ’83 election, Ning Yan Fan remained an executive director, while Mao Kang Shan became an “advisor.”

Above executive directors were positions like Secretary-General, Vice Chairman, and Chairman.

“Advisor” was a position created in the sixth election of ’83.

Ranked between Vice Chairman and Secretary-General, it was an honorary position for senior members who no longer handled specific affairs.

It meant someone didn’t want Mao Kang Shan firing off at people anymore, so they elevated him to “advisor” to keep him at arm’s length.

Ning Yan Fan’s executive directorship didn’t necessarily carry much power either.

The Architectural Society had one Chairman, four Vice Chairmen, three Advisors, one Secretary-General, and thirty-five Executive Directors like Ning Yan Fan!

Of course, there were even more regular directors – 141 across the country.

When Mao Kang Shan talked about rectifying the creative environment, corruption at the top meant corruption below – any cleanup would have to start with the Architectural Society itself.

Even a regular director had complex relationships and connections – reforming the Architectural Society wouldn’t be simple.

Mao Kang Shan snorted:

“Rather than let these lowlifes occupy positions without contributing, we should clear them out and bring in fresh blood!”

Hou Qi and Xing Li Xin dared not speak.

Mao Kang Shan could say whatever he wanted – even the Chairman couldn’t do anything about his words.

But they two had less seniority than Mao Kang Shan and their career aspirations, so they dared not express opinions freely.

Fresh blood?

Xia Xiao Lan certainly wasn’t qualified yet.

Neither was Xue Ning.

Having two undergraduates attend the symposium could be said to bring new ideas.

But having two undergraduates become “directors” of the Architectural Society, equal to directors who had struggled for years, was unthinkable.

“Comrade Kang Shan, we can’t rush this matter. Nie Wei Guo is an exception – his swift handling can’t be replicated. We can’t copy his case of distributing flyers to create public pressure whenever we suspect someone. If the target is wrongly accused, recovering their normal work and life after such ‘big-character posters’ would be difficult.”

Only Xia Xiao Lan would use such extreme methods.

It certainly didn’t match Ning Yan Fan’s style.

Speaking of which, Xia Xiao Lan and Mao Kang Shan should have much in common – both were like firecrackers.

Mao Kang Shan was a cannon, hurting others while getting himself caught in the blast, resulting in mutual destruction.

Xia Xiao Lan was a dud firecracker – seemingly harmless until stepped on, then exploded viciously… But Xia Xiao Lan was smarter, setting off her explosions and then running.

Just as Ning Yan Fan thought this, Hou Qi awkwardly changed the subject:

“Nie Wei Guo’s arrest is good news. I was worried he might retaliate against Little Xia later. That child is humble, studious, and talented. With proper nurturing for a few years, she’ll surely become a new star. Teacher Ning has good eyes to have discovered this beautiful jade so early.”

Listen to that – Xia Xiao Lan was so clever at winning people over that Hou Qi didn’t even suspect she was behind Nie Wei Guo’s downfall.

Unpolished jade was called rough jade; for someone showing initial brilliance like Xia Xiao Lan, Hou Qi naturally described her as “beautiful jade.”

She truly was beautiful jade indeed.

Mao Kang Shan raised an eyelid: “Old Ning since you recommended her to the symposium, is Little Xia your disciple now?”

Ning Yan Fan shook his head, “She hasn’t accepted me as her teacher.”

No teacher?

Then this beautiful jade was like a stone just washed ashore, exposed on the riverbank, unclaimed – wild!

Mao Kang Shan’s expression turned strange.

Old Ning must be focusing on nurturing his granddaughter now, to resist teaching such promising talent before him.

Mao Kang Shan lowered his eyelids, lost in thought, appearing to fall asleep.

…

On the passenger ship.

After a good night’s sleep, Xia Xiao Lan woke up refreshed to a new day. Zhou Cheng looked at her with slight resentment – it had taken tremendous willpower last night to keep his word!

The kitchen staff cast nets in the river, cooking porridge with their fresh catch. The fish porridge was so delicious it made one want to swallow their tongue.

“Won’t you get bored on the ship? If you’ve had enough, we can switch to land travel.”

Zhou Cheng gave Xia Xiao Lan two options, but she shook her head, “The boat is nice. We can see lots of scenery along the way, some of which might not be there in the future. We’ll reach Shanghai tomorrow?”

Zhou Cheng nodded, “We’ll reach Nanjing tonight. Would you like to go ashore and look around?”

Visit Nanjing?

Besides duck blood vermicelli soup and salt-water duck, Nanjing also had the Jiang family!