Chapter 133: The Astute Li Heqing

  Ding Yuan's idea is even more distant than Xu Shaojie's. Among the deputy secretaries of the municipal party committee, Lu Changzheng's attitude has become somewhat clear. Lang Shifou doesn't need to be mentioned. Only Zhu Zongxiang has made up his mind to follow Huang Haitao closely, which makes Ding Yuan naturally dissatisfied. Now that Xu Shaojie has discovered this situation, it's like installing a surveillance camera next to Zhu Zongxiang, making him dare not make any rash moves. Many things, as long as there is a hint of news leaked out, are not good things, especially in such a collective with existing contradictions, which will be infinitely magnified. As the person in charge of political and legal work, how could Zhu Zongxiang not understand?

  The next day, Ding Yuan found Zhu Zongxiang and talked to him alone about adjusting the agricultural industry structure. Zhu Zongxiang didn't say much and expressed his support. Ding Yuan smiled, and Xu Shaojie made another great contribution. However, Ding Yuan also knew that Zhu Zongxiang's heart was filled with resentment, which was directly aimed at Xu Shaojie. If he couldn't think of a way to protect Xu Shaojie, Xu would be in danger. The mayor and the vice secretary in charge of politics and law didn't like Xu Shaojie anymore, and his days wouldn't be easy.

  Li Heqing has been working in the municipal party committee office for many years, and he has come into contact with many leaders from the municipal government, directly affiliated units, and counties. Li Heqing knows a thing or two about the situation in Huaiyang City, although not very clearly. Over the years, Li Heqing has never been promoted, mainly because he doesn't have any strong backing, his waist is soft, and it's not easy to climb up to the leadership of the municipal party committee and government. Although every day he has the opportunity to deliver materials to the secretary-general and deputy secretary-general of the municipal party committee, this is just his regular work, and in the end, it only means that he appears a few more times in front of Secretary-General Liao Hongyun, with no other effect.

  Li Heqing does not have any outside income, so he cannot take out a large sum of money to run for office or buy an official position. Until now, he is still at the deputy department level. The difference between being at the deputy department level in the municipal party committee office and being a clerk is not very big, it's just that the salary is slightly higher, sometimes participating in some unimportant meetings, and occasionally going out to eat with others.

  Opportunities still exist, Yu Huaxiang extended an olive branch. Li Heqing remembered very clearly that a year ago, when Ding Yuan's secretary was still Li Ming, Yu Huaxiang specially came to the municipal party committee office and found himself. After two casual chats, Yu Huaxiang invited him to dinner, and during dinner, Yu Huaxiang made his intentions clear: he asked Li Heqing to occasionally share some information about the situation at the municipal party committee. As someone who had worked in the municipal party committee office for a long time, Li Heqing couldn't help but understand what Yu Huaxiang meant. From this, Li Heqing knew that there was a significant conflict between Ding Yuan and Huang Haitao. Originally, it was normal for the secretary of the municipal party committee and the mayor to have conflicts due to issues with the division of power and responsibilities. However, it was abnormal for the mayor to need to know some information about the municipal party committee. Moreover, Li Heqing was the head of the comprehensive department and wouldn't normally be aware of certain things that happened at higher levels. Li Heqing hesitated and didn't immediately respond. As a small person, he didn't have the ability to get entangled in the conflict between Ding Yuan and Huang Haitao. Yu Huaxiang spoke up and said it wasn't a big deal, just some work related to scheduling, such as who had gone to Secretary Ding's office, etc. If you know something, just say it; if not, then forget it. Thinking about these things, most people in the office knew that Li Heqing agreed to go along with it.

  After that, Li Heqing often called Yu Huaxiang, all talking about the whereabouts of Ding Yuan Secretary and Li Ming's affairs. Not long after, Li Ming was suddenly transferred to Sha Long County as vice county magistrate, not even a member of the county party committee. Li Heqing knew something was wrong. During that time, it was just before the Chinese New Year, Li Heqing was nervous and anxious, and couldn't have a peaceful new year.

  After Xu Shaojie took office as Secretary Ding Yuan's secretary, Li Heqing made up his mind not to contact Yu Huixiang again. The drawbacks of doing so were too many: first, if time went on, everyone would know; second, the information had been passed through Yu Huixiang, and he himself had not seen Mayor Huang Haitao; several times when Huang came over, seeing him without any expression on his face was almost like not seeing him at all. Li Heqing even suspected that Yu Huixiang had never told Huang about this matter. Thirdly, with Yu Huixiang's character, it could be foreseen what kind of character Huang Haitao was; doing these things were all unmentionable, and in the end, he would probably not come to a good end. Fourthly, and most importantly, Li Heqing did not think highly of Huang Haitao. Although Huang was from Salong County and had a deep foundation in Huaiyang City, Li Heqing believed that Huang would not succeed and could not surpass Secretary Ding Yuan. Li Heqing thought that the biggest difference between Secretary Ding Yuan and Mayor Huang Haitao was that Ding had a lot of sunshine, while Huang had a lot of gloom; when dealing with leaders who were deep and thoughtful, if you were not cunning or knowledgeable, you would die miserably, and eventually be ruthlessly abandoned by your leader.

  Li Heqing thought about making progress, especially after working in the municipal party committee office for a long time. This desire could no longer be suppressed. Seeing capable people around him being promoted one by one, either to county or city governments, or to municipal units, they all slowly became county-level leaders. However, he himself was still stuck in place, which wasn't going to work. But Li Heqing couldn't find a good solution. Li Heqing thought about getting close to Xu Shaojie, but quickly negated his own idea. If Yu Huaixiang found out about this matter, who knows what kind of scheme he would come up with? At that time, he himself might fall into the trap and wouldn't know it.

  In such a contradiction, Li Heqing was struggling, however, Li Heqing's struggling days also couldn't last long, Yu Huaixiang found him and invited him out for a drink.

  In the small restaurant, Yu Huaxiang spoke bluntly without reserve.

  "Director Li, you've been looking a bit distracted lately, is everything okay? Has something happened?"

  "Director Yu, what are you talking about? I'm fine, nothing's wrong."

  "Oh, I'm so surprised. Why haven't I received a call from Director Li these days? I thought you were either worried or not feeling well."

  Li Heqing's smile on his face was retracted, Yu Huixiang's words were not pleasant to hear, with a hint of sarcasm, Li Heqing would not harden with Yu Huixiang, but some things also need to be clearly stated.

  "Director Yu, I've been feeling a bit unwell lately. I'm getting older and my body isn't as good as it used to be. To tell you the truth, I'm two years older than you are, and at this age, one should know their place in life and not have too many grand ambitions. You're a leader, following Mayor Huang every day, thinking about big things all the time. As for me, every day is just receiving documents and sending them to leaders for review. My body can't hold on for much longer. I've been thinking of telling you, maybe it's better if I go work in logistics."

  Yu Huaxiang never expected that Li Heqing would speak like this, Li Heqing's attitude is very clear, he doesn't want to promote him, he has resigned himself to his fate, and will be like this for the rest of his life. In official circles, the most invincible people are those who have no desires or demands, they don't pursue anything, and even the biggest leaders, in their eyes, are just that.

  "Director Li, you can't think that way, just joking, not old yet, not even 40 years old, saying it's too much, come on, Director Li, I'll toast to you, what we're saying is all drunken talk."

  Li Heqing's face revealed a meaningful smile.

  "Director Yu, I'm telling the truth. What's meant to be will be, and what's not won't be forced. Once you accept everything, that's just how it is. From now on, Director Yu can ask others about any situation he wants to know about. I've already prepared my resignation letter, and from now on, I won't know or care about anything."

  Li Heqing felt refreshed and enlightened when he left the restaurant, thinking that he had seen through the worldly affairs. However, Li Heqing was not yet at that point, but continued to do things for Yu Huixiang. Li Heqing would not be able to do so anymore, as he had already seen clearly that Yu Huixiang was taking advantage of him. Huang Haitao did not know about this matter, and even if Yu Huixiang became a county head in the future, it would still require great effort and struggle. By then, he might have already forgotten about Li Heqing. The things Li Heqing had done for Yu Huixiang were not glorious, and Yu Huixiang was too busy avoiding trouble to help him.

  Li Heqing was satisfied with this move, thoroughly drawing a line between himself and Yu Huaxiang. Originally, Li Heqing wasn't even sure if Huang Haitao knew about the matter. As a high-ranking leader, Huang's emotions were never revealed on his face. Maybe he did know, but seeing Li Heqing wouldn't have given it away. However, during their conversation earlier, Yu Huaxiang said something that caught Li Heqing's attention - "From now on, I won't be able to serve Mayor Huang." Li Heqing immediately understood the implication. Serving a leader was a duty for all subordinates, but providing information to a leader was different. There was a natural disparity between the two. At that moment, Li Heqing felt intense anger inside, but didn't show it at all. That's just how things were in official circles - those with higher status could speak and act freely, while others couldn't, and definitely couldn't lose their temper.

  Li Heqing did not submit a request for transfer, he was not so foolish as to ruin his own future with his own hands. Li Heqing was confident because he had learned some important information: the deputy director of Huaiyang City's Beijing Office was about to leave due to health reasons. The Beijing Office was a deputy department-level unit, and the deputy director was at the level of a full section chief. Li Heqing thought that this might be an opportunity for him to leave the municipal party committee office and work in the Beijing Office for a while, taking a detour to possibly break through to a higher position.

  Because of the importance of the Beijing office, the director and deputy director are both in charge of cadres by the municipal party committee vice secretary or organization department head. The municipal party committee will not study the appointment of the deputy director. As long as the leader has expressed their attitude, they can take office. Li Heqing had already thought about it and decided to directly find Xu Shaojie or Qian Dazhi. Finding Xu Shaojie would be more convenient. Li Heqing and Qian Dazhi's relationship had always been lukewarm, so going to find him at this time would be pointless. But Xu Shaojie was different, there were no conflicts between the two of them, making it easy to speak up.

  Xu Shaojie held up his wine glass, he already knew Li Heqing's purpose. This wasn't a big deal, Xu Shaojie had also considered it. Li Heqing had been working in the municipal party committee office for so long without being promoted, was it because he offended some leader or his work ability wasn't good? Therefore, when Li Heqing asked to change places, Xu Shaojie understood. Approaching 40 years old and still working in the municipal party committee office as a deputy department head, indeed felt somewhat stifled.

  Xu Shaojie did not hesitate and agreed to Li Heqing's request, promising to mention it to the relevant leaders at the right time. In fact, Xu Shaojie understood that as long as he told Qian Dazhi about this matter, Qian Dazhi would tell Lu Changzheng Secretary about it, and everything would be settled, and there was no need to make a fuss about it.

  Xu Shaojie quickly called Qian Dazhi and explained Li Heqing's requirements, which were just a normal transfer without promotion or evaluation. Moreover, even if the Beijing office unit was good, being deputy had no great significance. Qian Dazhi agreed, but reminded Xu Shaojie that Li Heqing was somewhat sinister, afraid of doing good for others, and didn't want to do good deeds. It's best to have less contact with such people.

  At this time, Xu Shaojie only knew that Li Heqing had such a personality, but since the words were already spoken, there was no need to take them back. Xu Shaojie still entrusted Qian Dazhi to hurry up and handle the matter, which wasn't a big deal anyway.

  Xu Shaojie thought of the occasional pain on Li Heqing's face during meals, shaking his head, perhaps what Qian Dazhi said was true.

  Three days later, Li Heqing received a notice that he would take up the post of Deputy Director of Huaiyang Municipal Government's Beijing Office.

  Li Heqing was overjoyed, this was the route he had carefully planned out, to go work at the Beijing Office. Li Heqing's main thoughts were two-fold: first, being in close proximity to the municipal party committee and government leaders, because Li Heqing came from the municipal party committee office and was familiar with all the leaders, and could go to Beijing, and specifically to the Beijing Office, which is usually only for municipal party committee and government leaders, so he would have the opportunity to directly serve the leaders and have one-on-one time with them, which would be very beneficial for his career advancement. Second, taking advantage of being at the Beijing Office, he could also save some money, because in official circles, not having money is unacceptable, nothing can be done without it, just like this transfer, in other people's eyes, it's not even considered a big deal, and he had to pay out of his own pocket for Xu Shaojie's meal, and forced himself to say it wasn't expensive, when in fact he spent an entire month's salary on it. Luckily Xu Shaojie left quickly without finishing the meal, saying he had something urgent to attend to, Li Heqing found a bag and took some of the better dishes back home. In this day and age, doggy bags are a rare sight. So Li Heqing wanted to make money, people aren't born stingy, most stingy people are that way because they don't have money.

  Li Heqing was worried again, and Xu Shaojie helped him with this matter. No matter what, he had to thank him. Nowadays, Chinese cigarettes cost 400 yuan per pack, at least two packs of cigarettes, which he couldn't afford to buy himself. Other cigarettes were not good enough to take out, fortunately, when Li Heqing was still hesitant, Xu Shaojie followed Secretary Ding Yuan to the county and would only be back in a few days. By the time he returned, Li Heqing had already taken office in Beijing. Li Heqing could only comfort himself that once he got to Beijing, he would think of a way.

  Li Heqing received a call from Yu Huaixiang, who congratulated Li Heqing over the phone and said that Li Heqing had indeed gone to the logistics department. The reception office of Huaiyang City stationed outside was all part of the logistics organization. Li Heqing hurriedly expressed his gratitude. Since he was going to leave the Huaiyang Municipal Party Committee Office, Li Heqing didn't care anymore.

  When Li Heqing took office, no one from the municipal party committee came to see him off. Li Heqing himself insisted that he didn't want anyone to send him off. Xu Shaojie and Qian Dazhi made a phone call to each other, and both of them burst out laughing without saying anything.