The charming young woman let out a startled cry and hurriedly struggled out of Ethan Taylor's arms, her tender cheeks flushing red, adding even more delicate allure to her beauty.

Ethan Taylor frowned. Who is this Sam now? Flirting with women in public—what is this behavior? Why does it feel like he’s gone back to the old days?

Seeing the group of young men laughing uproariously and Sam about to get handsy, Ethan Taylor couldn’t help but interject, “Hey guys, that’s enough, don’t go too far. How about this—today, your table is on me. Do me a favor, will you?”

“Do you a favor? Who the hell are you?” Sam raised his eyebrows, looking utterly disdainful.

Daniel Brooks chuckled, leaned in, and whispered a few words to Sam. Sam's expression changed immediately, looking at Daniel Brooks with suspicion, but Daniel Brooks grabbed him and called out loudly to Ethan Taylor, “I’m full. I’ll take the guys out for a walk and head straight back to town.” Without giving him a chance to object, he dragged Sam outside, the rest of the young men following, all looking puzzled.

Ethan Taylor smiled. Looks like he dropped his name—does the name Daniel Brooks carry weight even in the county?

Most of the diners had already paid and left during the commotion, and the once-packed little restaurant now had only a few tables occupied. The charming young woman looked at the mess inside and couldn’t help but sigh softly, a hint of helplessness showing at the corners of her brows.

“Thank you for helping me out.” The charming young woman turned and gave Ethan Taylor a sweet smile, her earlier melancholy quickly fading. Clearly, she was someone who knew how to protect herself.

“Xiao Ling, add a bowl of braised pork to this table,” the woman called to the waitress at the bar.

Ethan Taylor quickly said, “I’m already full. If you add more dishes, I really can’t eat anymore.”

The woman smiled charmingly. “You have to eat it even if you’re full. Are you going to waste my kindness?” As she spoke, she gracefully sat down across from Ethan Taylor and asked, “Are you a student?”

Ethan Taylor was momentarily speechless. He did have a youthful face—strangers wouldn’t doubt it if someone said he was seventeen or eighteen—but did he really give off a student vibe?

“Not talking? You look so well-mannered, you must be a student. You’re very brave, you know. Not many students dare to deal with street punks.”

Ethan Taylor smiled helplessly. She really thought he was a student, and her tone was like she was talking to a child.

“Hey, why aren’t you talking again? Are you shy?” The charming young woman giggled.

Ethan Taylor really had no experience dealing with such alluring women. He scratched his head, not knowing what to say, suddenly realizing he’d turned into a block of wood.

“Hehe, you really are shy. Alright, I won’t tease you anymore. Enjoy your meal—today, it’s on me.” With a waft of fragrance, the charming young woman smiled and got up to leave, leaving Ethan Taylor feeling thoroughly frustrated.

She said it was her treat, but when Ethan Taylor left, he still insisted on slipping a hundred yuan to the bar. Given current prices, that should more than cover both his meal and the young men’s table.

……

The county committee office was on the third floor. The office director, Mrs. Clark, was a kindly woman nearing sixty. When Ethan Taylor handed over the documents, she looked him up and down as if he were some treasure, praising him as she did: “So young and handsome! Xiao Tang, do you have a girlfriend? Want Auntie to introduce you to someone?”

Ethan Taylor smiled and shook his head. There were only two desks in the office—one for Mrs. Clark, one for the deputy director. The desks were piled high with all sorts of files, making it look like there was a lot of work, but in reality, it was extremely leisurely. Often, a newspaper and a cup of tea would fill an entire workday. Government offices were probably all like this.

“Come with me. These documents need to be archived and entered into the computer. For some things, you’ll need to check with Little Reed.”

The archive room was right next to the county committee office, the only office with a security door. Before they even entered, they could hear a commotion inside. Mrs. Clark's face darkened—the archive room was under her direct supervision, and any trouble there would reflect badly on her.

She opened the archive room door and coughed. The group of young people who had been chattering inside immediately fell silent and dispersed, leaving only Little Reed at the computer desk, staring at the machine with a troubled expression.

“Beep... beep...” The computer let out a long beep, the screen completely black.

“Director Clark, the computer’s broken,” Little Reed reported to Mrs. Clark with a miserable face. Little Reed was in his twenties, a computer science graduate from Wuhan University of Science and Technology, and was known as a talent in the county government.

“I don’t know what’s wrong—maybe it’s a hardware issue. It won’t turn on.” Little Reed looked helpless.

At that time, computer operating systems weren’t graphical yet—they were character-based DOS systems—so ordinary people couldn’t make sense of those lines of commands. Computers still had an air of mystery for most people, and the county government only had this one 286 machine. The only person who understood it was Little Reed.

Listening to the long beeps, Ethan Taylor shook his head. A decade or so later, many families with computers would know that two long beeps meant a bad or loose memory stick. But in this era, just being able to type with Wubi made you a computer expert, let alone understanding hardware. It wasn’t like a decade later, when even seven- or eight-year-old kids dared to take apart a computer to see how it was built inside.

“Director Clark, let me take a look.” Ethan Taylor stepped over. Mrs. Clark was taken aback. “You?”