Chapter 14: Age Gap

When she received a call from Old Gu, Gu Yao had just started the car, preparing to head back.

In the quiet car, the vibration of the phone sounded particularly loud. She glanced at the big leader in the backseat—his expression unreadable—and after hesitating for two seconds, she discreetly pressed decline, then sent a message.

[To: Director Gu]
I’m tied up right now. Will call you back later.

After hitting send, she turned off the screen.

A few minutes later, the Volkswagen slowly drove out of the parking lot.

The speed was steady the entire way.

From her smooth and practiced driving, one could tell: this girl, no matter what she did in daily life, took everything seriously and responsibly.

Just like how she loved this land deeply, and thus, would give her all for it in any way she could.

It was 5 p.m.

The soft glow of dusk stretched across the sky, filtering through the leaves of the trees lining the road. Flecks of golden light fell like scenes from a film, frame by frame brushing over the sharply defined profile of the man in the backseat.

Zhou Zhengliang gazed out the window, taking in the warm and grounded atmosphere of the small city. In his mind, the county’s latest economic data from the past few days overlapped significantly with what he had personally seen and heard that afternoon.

What seemed like a casual people-centered inspection was, in fact, orchestrated step-by-step within Comrade Xiao Gu’s subtle planning.

The young calf nurtured by Tang County had indeed channeled her raw determination into the right place.

His thoughts drifted—until a few grey buildings on the roadside dragged him back to reality as the scenery outside moved past.

It was a long-abandoned residential development.

His gaze paused for a few seconds before he asked without revealing emotion, “That development’s quite large. What caused it to be left unfinished?”

His tone was flat.

Clearly, the leader wanted a direct answer.

Gu Yao slowed the car and, after a brief moment of consideration, explained calmly:
“I heard the original developer ran out of funds midway and declared bankruptcy. The government then proactively sought new investors. At first, things were progressing smoothly, but for some reason, it just… fizzled out.”

After she finished, silence settled inside the car.

Until a short, low chuckle came from the man in the backseat.

It vanished in an instant—impossible to read.

Gu Yao’s grip on the steering wheel tightened. Her palms began to sweat.

Clearly, the leader had easily seen through the sugarcoated explanation.

She dared not feign ignorance any longer.

Steadying herself, she added,
“Later, after some digging, I found out the tender was suddenly suspended. Apparently, it got held up at an approval stage in the city-level government.”

The moment those words dropped, Xu Mo’s eyelids twitched reflexively.

His instinct wasn’t wrong.

Just as the girl finished speaking, he received an instruction from the man in the backseat.

“Look into the full story behind it—what departments were involved—and report it through the proper channels. Don’t gloss over the details.”

At this point, his words paused.

Zhou Zhengliang withdrew his gaze and spoke again:
“Also, this concerns the livelihood and rights of thousands of residents. I’d like to hear what the county committee has to say.”

Just two short sentences—yet they could change the fate of so many.

In a fifth-tier small county, most families had limited income. Buying a home on a mortgage meant pouring in everything they had.

Gu Yao was deeply moved.

As the light turned red, she glanced at the rearview mirror and said sincerely,
“On behalf of the homeowners, thank you, Secretary Zhou. If all our officials could care about the people the way you do, then Tang County, and even the entire Qionghai area, would surely get better and better.”

Her tone was earnest—but the listener’s expression remained calm.

After over a decade in politics, Zhou Zhengliang had long grown accustomed to flattery.

But coming from this girl’s lips, the same words felt free of pretension or calculation.

He didn’t find them annoying. In fact, they felt unexpectedly genuine and valuable.

When no sound came from the back seat for a while, Gu Yao suddenly realized how her words might’ve come across as brown-nosing. Regret tugged at her as she quickly pulled her focus back to the road.

Just as she let her guard down, the big leader threw her a curveball out of nowhere.

The car window rolled down slowly, and Zhou Zhengliang asked in a gentle voice:
“How old are you, Xiao Gu?”

Xu Mo, who knew the answer, held his tongue. The leader’s intentions were rarely straightforward, so it was best not to interrupt.

Caught off guard, Gu Yao hesitated briefly out of politeness and respect before replying honestly:
“I just got officially appointed less than two months ago. I’m 23 this year.”

Why add the part about just getting appointed?

Her own little agenda.

She hoped the leader might, out of leniency for a rookie’s inexperience, let some of her earlier missteps slide.

Zhou Zhengliang naturally picked up on the cautious tone in her response.

Thinking back to their first meeting up to now, the impression she had left on him was simple, yet somehow vivid.

When driven by emotion, she was full of passion, charging ahead fearlessly in pursuit of her beliefs.

But once calm, she instinctively shrank into the background, sheltering herself in a tough shell—obedient and gentle, easy to mistake for harmless.

But setting aside personality—

She was just barely into her twenties.

Even younger than he had imagined.

For once, Zhou Zhengliang found himself falling silent, not because of her words, but because of the sheer weight of their age gap.