Chapter 124: Chen's Goal Selection

  Time flies quickly, and more than a month has passed in the blink of an eye. Xu Shaojie and Qian Dazhi still have many opportunities to meet, and when they talk, they are extremely cautious. Many topics are touched upon but not delved into deeply. Now, the two are key figures being closely watched by the municipal party committee office cadres. Qiao Yurong has finally achieved her wish and become the head of the personnel department, a position that is very suitable for a female comrade. After taking office, Qiao Yurong was extremely happy, finally escaping from the comprehensive department where she no longer had to face countless files every day. The comprehensive department temporarily did not have a deputy director, but strangely, Li Heqing's work became even more outstanding, with files being organized very well. Xu Shaojie felt that the classification of files was more standardized than before, and it wasn't until then that he understood the underlying reason - previously, it was Qiao Yurong who had been organizing them. Female comrades are meticulous, but when it comes to grasping the overall situation and understanding, there is still a certain gap. Moreover, Qiao Yurong's husband is the deputy secretary-general of the municipal government, following Vice Mayor He Yiming. Li Heqing was sometimes afraid of hurting Qiao Yurong's self-esteem. After seeing through this layer, Xu Shaojie felt complicated and discussed it with Qian Dazhi, who didn't think much of it. The municipal party committee office is the most concerned about these things because it is the center of power.

  Lu Changzheng slowly underwent a change, over the course of several months, Xu Shaojie saw Lu Changzheng enter Secretary Ding Yuan's office several times, which was rare in the past. At this time, Xu Shaojie and Qian Dazhi had more opportunities to chat together. Through several conversations with Qian Dazhi, Xu Shaojie vaguely understood that Lu Changzheng was not a leader who liked to stand by idly. After all, his identity was different now, as the executive vice secretary, if he couldn't support the secretary's work, it would be unacceptable. Later, Ding Yuan affirmed the party building work several times at meetings, and Lu Changzheng felt that Ding Yuan's style had changed, his attitude gradually becoming firmer, coupled with Qian Dazhi's timely suggestions, which caused Lu Changzheng's attitude to slowly change.

  Xu Shaojie was somewhat worried, he faintly felt that the municipal party committee and government would produce a fierce collision in a short period of time. Secretary Ding Yuan's emotions were clear to Xu Shaojie, and over the past period, Secretary Ding Yuan's attitude had gradually become tougher, whether it was towards the municipal government or other units and leaders.

  Xu Shaojie was eager to meet Chen Mubiao, since they met at the cadres' conference, Xu Shaojie had not seen Chen Mubiao again. He believed that Chen Mubiao must have been supported by Huang Haitao, and the key to Chen Mubiao lay not in himself, but in his father Chen Dengxiang, and in the people behind Chen Dengxiang. Chen Mubiao had just taken office and needed to familiarize himself with many situations. As the deputy secretary in charge of agriculture, he was extremely busy in the county, especially during the current farming season. Therefore, it was not easy for Xu Shaojie to meet Chen Mubiao.

  Opportunities often come unexpectedly.

  On that day, Xu Shaojie was accompanying Ding Yuan Secretary to inspect the work at the Municipal Education Commission. As the college entrance examination approached, Secretary Ding Yuan had always been concerned about education and had given a speech at the oath-taking conference 100 days before the college entrance examination, encouraging students to study hard and achieve good results in front of thousands of teachers and students at Huaiyang No.1 Middle School.

  Secretary Ding Yuan was listening to the collective report of the Education Commission, when Xu Shaojie's mobile phone rang. During meetings, his mobile phone was always set to vibrate. Xu Shaojie took out his mobile phone and saw that it was a call from Chen Mubiao. Chen Mubiao had arrived in Salong County and got a new phone card. The phone number was already known by Xu Shaojie and stored in his mobile phone. Xu Shaojie walked out of the conference room.

  "Hello, is this Director Xu?"

  "Secretary Chen, hello, I'm Xu Shaojie."

  "Haha, I've been thinking of meeting you for a long time, but I didn't have the chance. I just arrived in Huaiyang City and haven't found a place to settle down yet. How about it? Is it troublesome for me to find you?"

  "Secretary Chen, are you kidding me? As the deputy secretary of the county party committee, you've come to Huaiyang City and don't even have a place to stay. However, I'll follow your arrangements since I'm here to serve the leaders. Tell me, where am I supposed to go?"

  "Haha, listening to you, I'm scared. I'm outside the municipal office, preparing to ask for your instructions and report on my work. You see, I'm not familiar with agricultural and rural work, I've just arrived, so I can only ask for your guidance."

  "Just kidding, just kidding, wait for me, I'll be right there."

  "What's wrong, do you have something outside? Am I disturbing you?"

  "Don't worry, I'm with Secretary Ding at the Municipal Education Commission. There's nothing major going on. Since you're here, I must spend some time with you. It's been a long time since we last met."

  "How embarrassing."

  "Haha, let's put the meaning aside for now, what kind of relationship are we in?"

  Xu Shaojie hung up the phone and entered the conference room, whispering a few words to Secretary Ding Yuan. A look of surprise appeared on Ding Yuan's face, and he nodded slightly, speaking softly to Xu Shaojie. Xu Shaojie nodded and smiled at the leaders of the Education Commission before leaving the conference room. The Deputy Director of the Education Bureau quickly stood up under the gaze of the Director and went to see off Xu Shaojie. The Deputy Director stuffed a pack of Chinese cigarettes into Xu Shaojie's briefcase, repeatedly inviting him to come for lunch, but Xu Shaojie smiled and declined, saying he had things to attend to.

  The deputy director arranged for a sedan to pick up Xu Shaojie, and Xu Shaojie did not object. Master Ma Yaping's car was too eye-catching, the number one car, whoever saw it knew it was Secretary Ding Yuan of the Municipal Party Committee.

  Chen Mubao's goal has not changed, his skin is slightly darker, Xu Shaojie estimated that during this period, Chen Mubao must have been traveling around the countryside to understand the situation, spending a lot of time in the fields and gardens, so his skin was tanned. After meeting, they shook hands tightly, Chen Mubao did not bring a car, which was unexpected by Xu Shaojie.

  "No need to look, I arrived at the municipal party committee yesterday and went home. This morning I rushed here, thinking that it's been a long time since we met, so when I arrived in Huaiyang City, I should come visit you. The driver has gone back to Shalang County and will pick me up tomorrow."

  "Hehe, Secretary Chen, so it seems we have a day of free time today."

  "That's reporting to you and briefing on work, how can it be casual? It must be solemn."

  "All right, then I will give a warm reception to the leaders of Shalong County Committee today and listen to their instructions."

  The two of them burst out laughing, and it was almost time to eat. Xu Shaojie took Chen Mubiao upstairs, put away his briefcase, and casually handed him a few packs of Zhonghua cigarettes, tossing one pack at Chen Mubiao.

  Xu Shaojie and Chen Mubiao took a taxi to the restaurant where he often had dinner with Qian Dazhi. The restaurant was not large in scale, but the dishes were delicious and very clean.

  "Brother Chen, I'd like to toast you a glass, congratulations on your promotion."

  "Thanks, I won't be polite then, I'm finally on par with you, but there's still a gap between us."

  Two people drank it all up, the small glass cup in the restaurant, a cup of wine had at least one or two liang of wine.

  "Old Xu, to be honest with you, I'm not familiar with rural work. After going down there, I studied hard and didn't dare to speak easily in daily life. Fortunately, Secretary He and County Mayor Chen took care of me very much. It turns out that County Mayor Chen and I are from the same clan, we only knew this after talking at the county level, haha. With their help, I barely got familiar with it."

  Xu Shaojie had a smile on his face, and his guess was correct. Huang Haitao was very considerate of Chen Mubiao, otherwise, He Xiong and Chen Dazhi would not have been so attentive. At present, Chen Mubiao did not know about the situation in Huaiyang City. The relationship between him and Chen Mubiao had changed, and he must clarify this today and let Chen Mubiao make his own choice. Chen Mubiao worked in the county and temporarily did not know about the game above. However, if he let Chen Mubiao understand himself, it might be too late. Xu Shaojie couldn't help but admire Huang Haitao for such an arrangement, which seemed to be seamless. But what Huang Haitao didn't expect was that Chen Mubiao's relationship with him was extraordinary.

  "Do you want to know about Liu Hong's situation?"

  "Of course I did, in front of Brother Chen, I'm telling the truth."

  "Alright, to be honest, Liu Hong is doing very well now. Before I came to Huaiyang City, Liu Hong was just promoted and is now the deputy director of the General Office of the Municipal Government. Mayor Tan thinks highly of Liu Hong, I reckon it won't take long for Liu Hong to become Mayor Tan's secretary."

  Xu Shaojie nodded, and Mayor Tan was Tan Changxuan, a standing committee member and vice mayor of Xilin City, who had worked in the municipal party committee before and had long appreciated Liu Hong.

  "It seems Liu Hong's official career is going smoothly, becoming Mayor Tan's secretary, promotion is just around the corner."

  "That's for sure, but I think Liu Hong can't compare to you. Before becoming an official, the first thing he thinks about is how to benefit himself, using everything and everyone without considering the consequences. Everyone is just a stepping stone for him to move forward. Although he has succeeded, I don't admire him. I believe his way of thinking has some unusual flaws."

  "Alright, Chen Ge, let's not mention Liu Hong anymore. He works in the provincial city and has nothing to do with us. Besides, you're already working in Shalong County, and it'll be hard for you to come into contact with Liu Hong from now on. Let him have his own way, we'll walk our own plank."

  "Lao Xue, this is uncertain, the mountain doesn't move but the water does, who knows when we'll run into each other."

  "The boat will naturally go straight to the bridgehead, let's talk about it when the time comes, and we'll have a drink."

  After three rounds of drinks, Xu Shaojie thought, he must get down to business now.

  "Brother Chen, if I'm not mistaken, your appointment as deputy secretary of the county party committee in Shalun County this time must have been proposed by Mayor Huang Haitao or arranged by Uncle Chen to meet with Mayor Huang Haitao directly."

  "There's something I don't need to hide from you, when my dad was working in Huaiyang City, he had a good relationship with Mayor Huang, and Mayor Huang is also very familiar with me. Although it's been many years since we last met, this time when I saw Mayor Huang, he still looked dignified and majestic, I'm really envious."

  "Oh, I see, so Chen Ge must be very respectful of Mayor Huang as well."

  Chen Mubiao looked at Xu Shaojie, his face gradually becoming serious. He couldn't possibly not understand what Xu Shaojie was saying.

  "Lao Xue, you must speak clearly now, our relationship is different, whatever it is, don't hide it."

  "Brother Chen, it's precisely because our relationship has changed that I'm asking you these things after we meet. If it were someone else, why would I care?"

  "Lao Xue, although my position is ordinary and I won't be able to get involved in city affairs, but I don't want to be a headless turtle. If you have anything to say, just speak directly, our relationship has changed."

  Xu Shaojie nodded and instructed the waiter outside not to come in and disturb them. After the waiter left, Xu Shaojie began to slowly describe the situation in Huaiyang City. All his words were carefully considered, and he tried to speak in a calm tone. How to judge was Chen Mubiao's own business.

  Chen Mubiao fell silent for a long time without speaking, and after a while, Chen Mubiao spoke up.

  "Dad asked me to focus on my work in Huaiyang City and not worry about other things, do a good job with the essential tasks. At that time, I didn't understand what he meant. Today, after hearing you say it, I finally understood. Originally, these things are nothing special, they exist everywhere. But I understand, with my identity, wanting to stay out of trouble is just a fantasy."

  "Brother Chen, what I'm saying is to make you understand the situation we're in. Our relationship isn't ordinary anymore. You can completely avoid it if you want. What Uncle Chen said makes sense. Now that you know, just do your own job well and don't interfere with other things. That's the most beneficial way."

  "Lao Xue, what do you take me for? After so many years in the officialdom, I know the pros and cons of the relationships. To achieve something, one can't avoid making choices. If I want to stay out of the game between Ding Secretary and Mayor Huang, I might end up falling hard. Besides, even if I wanted to do that, would those above allow it? Rather than being at the mercy of others, I'd rather take the initiative."

  In an instant, Xu Shaojie felt that Chen Mubiao's image became clearer and clearer. To be able to say such words, one must have a thorough understanding of the officialdom, which can only be gained through intuition. Xu Shaojie's confidence was shaken once again. It seems that his perception of the children of officials needs to change - not all of them are spoiled brats, there are many formidable ones among them.

  "Old Xu, I understand what you're saying. I have to make a choice. Although I'm not very clear about the contradictions in Huaiyang City, I believe in you. When we were in the provincial capital, I said that we are brothers and will go through thick and thin together. Our relationship is one of shared honor and shared loss. Whatever you choose, I'll choose the same."

  Xu Shaojie felt an unusual sensation in his heart. He picked up the wine bottle and poured a full cup for Chen Mubiao, and also poured one for himself.

  "Brother Chen, just for what you said, let's have a drink. No matter what the outcome is later, we must take care of each other. Although we are not biological brothers, it's better than being biological brothers."