Lu Feng was stumped and scratched his head, saying, "Squad leader, I don’t understand this stuff."
Then, after thinking for a few seconds, he added, "But I think you’re smart, squad leader. You can learn anything right away, even the company and battalion commanders, political commissar, and the old chief have said so."
"I think with your smarts, it doesn’t matter whether you’re in the military or in politics, as long as you want to do it, you can do it well."
"And aren’t you doing well right now?"
"Only three months in, and you’ve moved from being a driver to a top secretary in the City Committee. Even the Mayor has to give you face when he sees you."
Song Guanchao gave a self-deprecating smile, "What use is face? What I want is not just face. I entered politics because I want to make Lingjiang better."
Lu Feng said, "Lingjiang is pretty good now."
"Is it?" Song Guanchao shook his head. "You’re not in the system, so you can’t see a lot of things. In this line of work, there are too many people who are deadweight, not taking care of their responsibilities. Those few who do want to commit to their duties also end up being forced to conform to the corrupt norms."
Lu Feng asked, "Squad leader, are you being targeted by someone?"
Song Guanchao still didn’t understand why Wu Qiangwei was so furious.
But it didn’t matter anymore.
He was no longer curious.
He had complete trust in Wu Qiangwei; he thought Wu Qiangwei trusted him completely too.
He always felt that as long as Wu Qiangwei trusted him, no matter what difficulties lay ahead, he could disregard them.
But now, it seemed he was being wishful, thinking too much.
He didn’t care why Wu Qiangwei was angry; he just knew that Wu Qiangwei still didn’t trust him.
"Being a soldier was better."
"Minister, Song Guanchao is in trouble."
Li Jun contacted Minister Zhou immediately after getting the news from Mayor Zheng.
Hearing Li Jun’s report, Minister Zhou was quite surprised, "The Provincial Organization Department? Alright, I got it."
Half an hour later, he had gotten a clear picture of the situation from the Provincial Organization Department.
Song Guanchao had actually offended Tu Zhaorui!
Secretary Tu was not fond of complaining; he was capable and liked to solve issues by himself wherever possible.
He almost never contacted his father-in-law.
He even deliberately kept others from knowing that he had such a significant connection in the province.
But now, Tu Zhaorui had gone to the province in the middle of the night personally to complain.
This clearly showed how desperate Song Guanchao had made Tu Zhaorui this time.
"Minister, what exactly did Song Guanchao do?"
Even the usually composed Zhang Meilin was curious now.
What on earth had Song Guanchao done to force someone as patient as Tu Zhaorui to this extent?
Minister Zhou pulled out a cigarette, held it in his hand without lighting it, and said, "There’s a factory in Dujiang County, it was set on fire last night."
Minister Zhou lit the cigarette, took a puff, and the smoke-filled voice continued, "Song Guanchao was at that factory at the time."
"In the factory, aside from Song Guanchao, there was also a group of hooligans."
"Later, a group of soldiers training nearby came."
"These soldiers ended up beating up the hooligans."
Zhang Meilin was more and more puzzled as he listened.
Are the troops involved in this matter?
Minister Zhou said, "When the factory burned down, locals recorded it and uploaded it to the internet, where it hit the trending topics."
"The trending topic was removed, but media outlets in many places are still reporting on it, and it’s causing quite a stir."
"At the critical moment when Dujiang County is moving toward becoming a city, this news has a negative impact on Tu Zhaorui."
Zhang Meilin frowned, "Does Secretary Tu think it was Secretary Song who started the fire?"
Minister Zhou shook his head, "Who started the fire is not important, what’s important is that it has been exposed."
"Moreover, in this incident, there’s a trace of Song Guanchao."
"Secretary Tu thinks that Song Guanchao is out to get him."
"At this crucial moment, he wants to hinder his progress."
"He can’t afford to provoke the military, and he can’t mention the thugs either—if he does, it proves there’s a problem with security in Dujiang County."
"So, he can only make a fuss at the provincial level, using the province’s power to warn Song Guanchao."
Zhang Meilin suddenly realized, and then somewhat puzzledly said, "Isn’t Secretary Tu afraid of upsetting Secretary Wu?"
After all, Song Guanchao is Wu Qiangwei’s secretary.
Minister Zhou chuckled, "Secretary Wu has backers, does Secretary Tu not? Besides, when it comes to his future, that’s his bottom line."
"If Secretary Tu doesn’t act now, what if Song Guanchao does it again? Rather than waiting for things to escalate beyond control, better to snuff out the spark before it grows."
Zhang Meilin said, "But from what I know of Secretary Song, he doesn’t seem like someone who would deliberately stir trouble. Dujiang County must really have issues."
Minister Zhou sighed, "Whether Dujiang County has issues is not important, nor is the reason Song Guanchao did this. What’s important is, Secretary Tu’s promotion is imminent, and he will not allow unexpected issues during his term."
Zhang Meilin said, "But Secretary Tu’s actions are too radical, especially since this is the first time, he could have had a private talk with Secretary Song first."
Minister Zhou countered, "How do you know they haven’t talked privately?"
Zhang Meilin was startled.
Yes, Tu Zhaorui is also a cautious person, he wouldn’t just act so abruptly.
By his nature, he would surely communicate with Song Guanchao beforehand.
Only if communication failed would he choose such a radical and confrontational approach.
So, their communication didn’t have any effect?
But, knowing Song Guanchao as he did, he wasn’t someone who wasn’t prudent.
Zhang Meilin felt this matter was filled with oddities, unless he could understand the specifics, it was hard for outsiders to make correct judgments based on the fragmented information already available.
"Ah," Minister Zhou suddenly sighed softly, "Xiao Zhang, the position of County Party Secretary might be at risk. You should mentally prepare yourself."
Zhang Meilin was stunned for a moment, only slowly grasping the significance of Minister Zhou’s words.
Did Minister Zhou mean that this incident involving Song Guanchao could affect the personnel changes previously confirmed with Secretary Wu?
"Hmm, I understand," Zhang Meilin said, feeling somewhat downcast, yet powerless.
If indeed he couldn’t become the County Party Secretary of Dujiang County due to this incident, theoretically, it would be Song Guanchao’s doing.
But, he didn’t resent Song Guanchao.
It was just his bad luck.
Secretary Lu put down the file, squinted his eyes, and thought for a few minutes. Follow current novels on 𝕟𝕠𝕧𝕖𝕝⚑𝕗𝕚𝕣𝕖⚑𝕟𝕖𝕥
He picked up his phone and dialed Mayor Zheng’s number.
"Mayor Zheng, if you have the time, come over. There’s something I need to discuss with you."
Twenty minutes later, Mayor Zheng sat across him while Secretary Sun served tea and then left.
Mayor Zheng didn’t show any resentment for being strongly outmaneuvered by Secretary Lu for the spot during yesterday’s meeting.
As a seasoned politician, one must separate emotions from work.
Moreover, he knew why Secretary Lu had invited him over today.
Without any small talk, Secretary Lu got straight to the point, "The County Party Secretary of Dujiang County, I’ll take it. You’ll take the position of Mayor."
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