The music had reached its final notes, and the two slowly danced out of the room.

No one knew what the two of them had done inside the room. Henry White and Michael Reed both had peculiar expressions, and their gazes toward William Harris were somewhat cold.

William Harris pretended to be oblivious, walked over, took a sip of tea, and sat down. To ease the tension between the two, he casually pulled a hostess over and said, “Let’s sing ‘The Heavenly Match’ together.” Now his headache had noticeably lessened, and he no longer minded the deafening music.

He quickly picked out the song, and as the music started, William Harris and the hostess began to sing.

Seeing William Harris like this, Michael Reed and Henry White’s expressions changed again. To be honest, when they saw Little James and William Harris enter that small room together, both Henry White and Michael Reed were filled with jealousy toward William Harris, especially since the two of them didn’t come out until the song was over. This made them suspicious about what exactly William Harris and Little James had done inside, and they regarded William Harris as their biggest rival. But what they never expected was that after coming out, William Harris ignored Little James and instead pulled a hostess to sing “The Heavenly Match.” This seemed to indicate that William Harris had definitely been upset or hadn’t made any progress with Little James. Once they figured this out, both felt secretly pleased, and their guard against William Harris relaxed considerably.

Although Michael Reed and Henry White were quite tempted by the hostesses, they didn’t dare make any bold moves and spent the whole night pretending to be gentlemen.

For the rest of the time, Little James didn’t bother William Harris again. Instead, she kept pulling Henry White to dance, which made Michael Reed almost want to beat up Henry White.

After a night of singing and dancing, Little James didn’t accomplish her original plan, Michael Reed lost money and ended up frustrated, while Henry White was the most lively—he felt he was one step closer to his goal.

Watching the others, Henry White and Michael Reed kept their distance from the two hostesses, as if afraid of getting involved, while William Harris was the opposite, constantly pulling the two hostesses to joke and sing, looking the most at ease.

People, the more they sulk, the faster they get drunk. It didn’t take long for Michael Reed to be nearly out.

Henry White was also a shrewd one. Afraid that Michael Reed would pass out and no one would pay, he insisted on dragging the tipsy Michael Reed to settle the bill.

The next day, when they entered the office, Little James had already wiped down the desk and even refilled the tea in David Carter’s cup, once again putting on the air of a simple, fresh-out-of-school student.

Glancing at Little James, William Harris walked to his seat and sat down, ready to start another day of work.

Looking at David Carter sitting steadily at his desk, both William Harris and Little James were secretly observing him. The two had made an agreement last night: to bring down David Carter. It sounded easy, but actually doing it was extremely difficult. He was the secretary’s trusted aide, and ordinary means wouldn’t work on him. What should they do? Time was running out—if they waited until the actual layoffs began, it would be too late.

Sneaking a glance at David Carter’s desk drawer, he noticed a notebook kept there. Although David Carter was usually very careful, sometimes in a rush he’d forget to lock the drawer. William Harris didn’t believe Little James hadn’t noticed this; he figured Little James was eyeing it too.

“Old Qian, send someone with me to do an investigation.” Deputy township chief Richard Howard walked to the door and said to David Carter.

Seeing it was Richard Howard, David Carter didn’t show any particular expression and casually said to William Harris, “Little William, go with Deputy Chief He.”

Everyone knew that Richard Howard was not on the same side as Secretary Zhang and had always been suppressed by him. He was in charge of rural economy, industrial economy, investment promotion, and urban-rural integration. The current township secretary was Zhang Yang, the deputy secretary and township chief was Edward Clark, and the other deputy secretary was George Cooper. Basically, these three called all the shots in the township, and Richard Howard had little say. Because he had little power, leaders of powerful departments like David Carter didn’t pay much attention to people like Richard Howard.

Acknowledging, William Harris put down what he was doing and walked out.

Richard Howard didn’t say much either, carrying a black bag as he walked ahead.

This wasn’t the first or second time William Harris had gone to the countryside with Richard Howard, so he knew his temperament. He generally wouldn’t share his true thoughts with his companions, and although they’d gone out together many times, they’d never really built a relationship.

“Old He, off to do an investigation?” As they reached the parking lot, township chief Edward Clark had just gotten out of his car and greeted them.

“Just got back?” Richard Howard asked with a big smile.

Richard Howard and Edward Clark shook hands warmly, chatted for a bit, and then went their separate ways. On the surface, they seemed very cordial, but who knew what they were really thinking.

It was just a routine chat, but William Harris looked at Richard Howard in astonishment.