Jin Rong braced himself to answer the phone.
"Jin Rong, do you know how much effort I had to expend to convince the province to set up a research team? Do you know how hard I worked to get you to lead that team?"
"I sent you there to build good relations with the city and get a share of the spoils, not to lord it over others like a tyrant!"
"If there’s a next time, roll back on your own, and don’t embarrass us out there!"
Qu Xiangru scolded him fiercely and hung up.
Jin Rong’s face turned a sickly shade of green and white; it was not a pleasant sight.
He took a deep breath and forced a smile, "Secretary Wu, my apologies."
Director Xiao and a few others also quickly bowed their heads in apology.
Wu Qiangwei didn’t speak; she turned and went back to her seat.
Secretary Lu coughed lightly and tried to smooth things over, "Alright, everyone, go back to your seats. Drink less alcohol; we still have work this afternoon."
Jin Rong and the others repeatedly agreed and returned to their seats, quietly eating their meal without daring to speak again.
One would think that as a provincial research team drawn from some of the most powerful departments, wherever they went, they would be treated like VIPs, to the point that even Vice Mayors wouldn’t dare provoke them.
They certainly had the clout to put on airs.
But this bunch was really out of touch.
No matter how important you might consider yourself, you shouldn’t have tried to establish dominance over Song Guan Chao.
That was a clear misjudgment of the power dynamics.
Seeing this, everyone in the city government just smiled and said nothing.
After the meal, people dispersed.
Song Guan Chao followed Wu Qiangwei back to the City Committee.
In the car, Song Guan Chao said, "Secretary, was I too harsh in scolding them just now?"
Wu Qiangwei couldn’t help but roll her eyes, "You think it was harsh now? What were you doing at the time? You stirred things up precisely to have me scold them, didn’t you?"
"Hehe." Song Guan Chao chuckled, "That Secretary Jin is quite sly, just not very bright."
Wu Qiangwei said, "You be careful these few days. Jin Rong is Qu Xiangru’s secretary, and Qu has criticized you in the province this time."
"Qu Xiangru? The Executive Vice Governor?"
"Why would she criticize me? I haven’t provoked her, have I?"
"It’s not necessary to provoke someone to be criticized."
Wu Qiangwei said, "She probably has nothing against you personally. Criticizing you is likely just her way of trying to intervene in the affairs of Lingjiang City."
Song Guan Chao said, "How would she intervene? By sending someone down?"
"Perhaps." Wu Qiangwei said, "Just be careful; Secretary Jin might still try to cause you trouble."
Song Guan Chao pondered for a couple of seconds, then suddenly said, "Secretary, if Secretary Jin makes a mistake, it won’t have any repercussions, right?"
Wu Qiangwei glanced at him and said, "As long as he doesn’t go too far, don’t make an ugly scene out of it. Lingjiang City has just gotten off the hot seat; we should lay low for a while."
She knew what Song Guan Chao was thinking.
The man was the type to hold a grudge; if possible, he wouldn’t let it last overnight.
It wouldn’t be an issue at another time, but right now, it was best not to take such actions.
Moreover, no matter what, they were a provincial research team.
Even if trouble arose, it couldn’t happen in Lingjiang.
"Secretary, I’m going to handle the high-speed rail matters with Mr. He tomorrow."
"Okay." Wu Qiangwei said, "If there’s anything, I’ll have Zeng Li do it."
Song Guan Chao was now capable of standing on his own, often acting as her spokesperson.
A leader’s secretary is generally divided into personal and executive secretaries.
If you really want to get into it, Song Guan Chao isn’t strictly either.
He’s more like someone Wu Qiangwei is grooming to be her successor.
At least, that’s what outsiders believe.
But Wu Qiangwei herself knew that she hadn’t really groomed him much; their relationship was more like colleagues, rather than a hierarchical leader-secretary dynamic.
At three in the afternoon.
As he entered the office, the first person he saw was Zeng Li, who he found stunning.
Then his eyes caught Song Guan Chao.
Quickly concealing his initial admiration, Jin Rong approached with a smile and extended his hand, "Hello, Secretary Song."
After shaking hands, Song Guan Chao asked, "Are you looking for Secretary Wu, Secretary Jin?"
"I’m looking for you."
Jin Rong said: "I heard that Secretary Song is in charge of the high-speed rail project?"
"Could Secretary Song tell me what stage the high-speed rail project is at now?"
Jin Rong said, "It’s within the scope of our research. I happen to be responsible for it."
Song Guan Chao hummed a response and briefly filled him in.
This talk went on until the end of the workday.
During that time, Song Guan Chao handed over several documents and took more than a dozen phone calls.
After work, when Song Guan Chao was about to dismiss him, Jin Rong said, "Secretary Song, are you free this evening? Could we have dinner together to continue our chat?"
Song Guan Chao could see that this fellow must have had something else in mind.
Thinking back to what Wu Qiangwei had said in the car, he wanted to find out what Jin Rong was really up to.
"Sure, let me treat Secretary Jin."
They went to a nearby restaurant and reserved a private room.
As the food was served, Jin Rong kept talking about this and that.
It was towards the end of the meal that Jin Rong finally said, "I’ve heard that the province might investigate Dujiang City’s leaders to see if there’s any connection of interests with Lingjiang City."
Song Guan Chao raised an eyebrow.
If this were true, then if Jin Rong knew about it, Wu Qiangwei should have known as well.
But he hadn’t heard Wu Qiangwei mention it.
The guy was probably bluffing him.
Playing along, Song Guan Chao said, "That would be worth investigating."
Jin Rong smiled, "It’s not necessarily true, there’s just a possibility."
"Besides, Hou Wen’s downfall will surely implicate some people."
"The fact that Hou Wen was able to transfer assets so smoothly shows his absolute control over Dujiang City. I suspect that quite a few of the main city-level leaders have some issues."
"Some of the city departments’ leaders are likely to be replaced."
"Heh, just electing these department heads will be a big project."
After expressing his sentiment, Jin Rong casually added, "I heard that Secretary Song and Secretary Zhang of Dujiang City have a good relationship. Actually, I do have a few candidates. If Secretary Zhang feels troubled about who to choose in the future, Secretary Song could put in a word for them."
The rascal was finally showing his true colors.
Wu Qiangwei had guessed right.
The intention was to take advantage of the personnel changes in Dujiang City to secure some positions for his own people.
Song Guan Chao showed a troubled look: "Actually, I’m not that close to Secretary Zhang. I hardly get to see him; I’m afraid I won’t be able to help you pass on that message."
Jin Rong let out an ’Oh’, seemingly indifferent, but then he casually dropped another bombshell. Thɪs chapter is updated by 𝔫𝔬𝔳𝔢𝔩⁂𝖿𝗂𝗋𝖾⁂𝔫𝔢𝔱
"Actually, as per convention, given such a serious case in Dujiang City, normally, within three to five years, the heads and deputies of key departments would need to start a transfer process."
"Oh, and when I say ’transfer,’ I don’t mean outside of Dujiang City, but outside of Lingjiang City."
This content is taken from (f)reewe(b)novel.𝗰𝗼𝐦