Chapter 76: Xu Yunfei's Shrewdness

  The night after Liu Zhihua was caught by the Huaiyang Municipal Public Security Bureau's Criminal Investigation Brigade, Xu Yunfei already knew the news, despite the fact that the whole thing was still very confidential.

  Xu Yunfei knew all about the process, except for how the police caught Liu Zhihua in the act in Yudu District. Xu Yunfei's first reaction was shock, followed by anger and finally contemplation. As the district party secretary, Liu Zhihua had a promising future ahead of him, possibly becoming the vice mayor of Huai'an City. But now that this has happened, everything is over, everything is lost. Liu Zhihua has no hope left, having been caught in the act, and after being dealt with by the Public Security Bureau, he will be handled by the Discipline Inspection Commission next. This case is too simple, with all evidence readily available, so the municipal Discipline Inspection Commission only needs to follow the disciplinary regulations and issue an opinion. If Xu Yunfei's estimate is correct, Liu Zhihua may be expelled from the party, and if he can keep his job, that would be a good outcome. This matter will definitely be handled by the Huai'an City Discipline Inspection Commission, and what Xu Yunfei needs to consider now is whether to speak up for Liu Zhihua when the time comes, so as to make his punishment lighter.

  Xu Yunfei understood that Liu Zhihua could no longer continue to serve as the Secretary of Yudu District Committee. Xu Yunfei and Liu Zhihua had some connections between them, Xu Yunfei used to work in Yudu District, at that time, Liu Zhihua was still the deputy secretary of the commune, Xu Yunfei was also a typical sent-down cadre, who had worked in the district committee office, served as deputy secretary of the district committee, district head, and secretary of the district committee, later became vice mayor, and deputy secretary of the municipal party committee. When Xu Yunfei worked in the countryside, Liu Zhihua was one of his supporters and helpers, Liu Zhihua was older than him, with more experience and knowledge, the two often chatted together, as Xu Yunfei's position rose, Liu Zhihua also followed step by step, but unfortunately, Liu Zhihua's level improved too slowly, Xu Yunfei often reminded him to have a long-term vision, and improve his quality, Liu Zhihua was from a rural cadre background, with some limitations.

  Something happened in Yudu District, Xu Yunfei knew about it. Although Xu Yunfei wasn't very clear about Xu Shaojie's background, he knew that Xu Shaojie was not simple. He deliberately sent Xu Shaojie to take office just to remind Liu Zhihua, but Liu Zhihua's old habit couldn't be changed. After Xu Yunfei took office as the mayor, his work was really busy and he didn't have time to remind Liu Zhihua. Unexpectedly, something happened so soon. Xu Yunfei could conclude that Liu Zhihua got into trouble because of Xu Shaojie's manipulation behind the scenes.

  Liu Zhihua has fallen, and the Yudu District needs to appoint a new district party secretary. Xu Yunfei is now very concerned about this matter, and he believes that Municipal Party Secretary Zhao Deling must also know about it. It's highly likely that during work hours, they will exchange opinions on this matter. The first candidate that comes to Xu Yunfei's mind is Zhang Shiqiu. As the district head, Zhang Shiqiu is someone who listens to Xu Yunfei's arrangements, and according to the rules for cadre appointments, it should be Zhang Shiqiu. As for the candidate for district head, Xu Yunfei reluctantly thinks of Xu Shaojie.

  Xu Yunfei would not intentionally target Xu Shaojie, there was no need for that. Xu Shaojie was young and directly from the municipal party committee office, similar to his own situation in the past. There was no need to offend such a rising star, besides, he could also take some measures to win over Xu Shaojie.

  Having thought through these things, Xu Yunfei felt a bit more at ease. As for Liu Zhihua, he would try to help him as much as possible when the time came, and if possible, keep his public office and party membership intact.

  On Monday after work, Xu Yunfei had just walked into the office when the phone on his desk rang. As his secretary was about to answer it, Xu Yunfei waved his hand to stop her and answered it himself.

  The phone call was made by Zhao Deling, the secretary of the municipal party committee. 20 minutes later, Xu Yunfei appeared in Zhao Deling's office.

  "Lao Xu, you know about Liu Zhihua's matter, right?"

  "What happened to Secretary Zhao and Liu Zhihua?"

  "Oh, you don't know yet? The day before yesterday, Liu Zhihua and the Women's Federation director of the district were caught in the act by the police from Huaiyang Public Security Bureau, they might be put under administrative detention."

  "What's going on? Something big must have happened! The Municipal Public Security Bureau should inform us in a timely manner!"

  "Yesterday afternoon, Director Xin of the Municipal Bureau called me and said that the matter has been investigated clearly. The opinion of the Municipal Bureau is to detain for 5 days, and the materials are being prepared to be transferred to the Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection. What's your view?"

  "Secretary Zhao, I can tell you the truth, after hearing what you just said, I was very surprised. The way Huaiyang Municipal Public Security Bureau handled this is not good, but since it's already happened, investigating these matters won't make much sense anymore. Liu Zhihua is the district party secretary, such an incident occurred, of course, should be seriously dealt with, let the municipal discipline inspection commission handle it according to requirements."

  "I think so too, Liu Zhihua is a party member and leading cadre, such a thing happened, our municipal party committee and government are losing face, how to deal with it, the municipal discipline inspection commission will first come up with an opinion, we will discuss it in detail at the standing committee meeting."

  "Secretary Zhao, I agree with this approach."

  "As for the matter of the candidate for the district party committee secretary in Yudu District, I have given it some thought. Liu Zhihua obviously cannot continue to serve as the district party committee secretary. We need to handle this matter quickly and minimize its impact. In my opinion, Comrade Xu Shaojie, the current deputy secretary of the district party committee, should take over as the district party committee secretary. Xu Shaojie is a cadre sent by the municipal party committee office, a graduate of Xilin University, young, capable, and has done many things in Yudu District in nearly a year, with very good feedback from the masses. We should boldly use such young cadres and give them opportunities."

  Xu Yunfei couldn't express his own thoughts. On personnel matters, the secretary has the final say. Zhao Deli's words were already very clear, leaving no room for discussion. The so-called solicitation of opinions was just a figure of speech. Zhao Deling was so affirmative about Xu Shaojie that the district party committee secretary of Yudu District had to be Xu Shaojie.

  "I agree with Secretary Zhao's opinion, Xu Shaojie is young, a university student, sent by the municipal party committee office, I've also heard that he did well in Yudu District. At this critical moment, taking on the role of district party secretary, he will definitely achieve results."

  "Alright, we've reached a consensus. I think we shouldn't delay any further. Let's convene the Secretary's office meeting this morning and the Standing Committee meeting this afternoon to finalize our opinions. We'll get the documents out as soon as possible. Given the sudden nature of the incident, let's not go through too many procedures. The sooner Xu Shaojie takes office, the sooner we can stabilize the situation in Yudu District. Right now, Liu Zhihua's case hasn't been fully exposed yet, and time is crucial for us."

  After the secretary's office meeting ended, Xu Yunfei returned to his office. He never expected such an outcome: Xu Shaojie took over as district party secretary, and previously he thought it was already a stretch for Xu Shaojie to become district governor, let alone directly taking on the role of secretary. At this point, Xu Yunfei would no longer underestimate Xu Shaojie; what kind of abilities did Xu Shaojie actually have?

  Xu Yunfei believes that the people behind Xu Shaojie are not ordinary, and Huai'an City has a special status in Huaiyang City. Compared to other counties and cities, it is implicitly superior. This can be seen from the arrangement of the municipal party committee secretary. All former secretaries who did not commit fundamental errors were promoted, taking office as vice mayor of Huaiyang City or even directly as a member of the municipal party committee. Therefore, the leaders of the Huaiyang Municipal Party Committee and Government are relatively polite to the main responsible persons of the Huai'an Municipal Party Committee and Government. Of course, this also depends on who it is. The secretary and mayor of Huaiyang City do not need to be polite, who dares not listen to their words?

  Xu Yunfei felt a chill, the person behind Xu Shaojie would not be Liao Hongyun, Liao Hongyun did not have such great abilities. Xu Yunfei suddenly thought of it, Liao Hongyun was following Municipal Party Secretary Ding Yuan. Could it be that Xu Shaojie's backer was Ding Yuan? That would be too frightening. Liu Zhihua treating Xu Shaojie like this was no different from seeking death himself. Even the main leaders of Huai'an City did not dare to speak loudly in front of Secretary Ding Yuan.

  Xu Yunfei felt a cold sweat on his forehead. Today, he had played it smart by pretending not to know about Liu Zhihua's situation, originally thinking of taking advantage of the Huaiyang Municipal Public Security Bureau. After all, Liu Zhihua and himself had a good relationship. Unexpectedly, he almost made a mistake. If Zhao Deling had asked for his opinion first, he would have expressed his thoughts. Not to mention the district party secretary or district head positions, Xu Shaojie wouldn't even have been considered temporarily. What kind of situation would that have been? If Ding Yuanshuai knew about it, what would his thoughts be? Xu Yunfei couldn't help but feel a little grateful towards Zhao Deling for directly expressing his opinion.

  Xu Yunfei did not expect that Zhao Deling would let him express his opinion, things arranged by Secretary Ding Yuan, Zhao Deling wouldn't even give a fart, must be implemented in the shortest time.

  In the afternoon, at the municipal party committee meeting, there was no controversy. Xu Yunfei knew that Zhao Deling must have exchanged opinions with all the standing committee members in advance. The situation proved Xu Yunfei's speculation: behind Xu Shaojie was Ding Yuan. Only when Ding Yuan arranged things would Zhao Deling act so quickly. As for other reasons, they were just excuses. Liu Zhihua's matter had not been exposed yet. Zhao Deling did not explain the reason for the adjustment at the secretary's office meeting and the municipal party committee meeting. It was completely unnecessary to adjust the district party committee secretary so quickly, even the organization department had not conducted an assessment.

  After the meeting, when Zhao Deling solicited opinions, Xu Yunfei took the initiative to say that he would go to Yudu District to announce the municipal party committee's decision. At first, Xu Shaojie went to Yudu District to take office and was sent by himself. He also said that he had worked in Yudu District and was familiar with the situation in the district, so he could make a special emphasis on it. Zhao Deling considered it for a moment and agreed, suggesting that Xu Shaojie did not need to come to the municipal party committee. The municipal party committee office notified the members of the Yudu District Party Committee and government offices to hold a meeting at 10 o'clock tomorrow morning, and no one was allowed to be absent.

  When Xu Shaojie arrived at the Yu Du District Government, his perspective had completely changed. Looking at the busy officials in the district government, he suddenly had a strange idea. Everyone was rushing around, talking and doing things, because they were paid to work, of course, but also hoping to stand out and advance through their performance. These weren't strange thoughts at all. Previously, he had made everything seem so complicated, but actually, it wasn't that big of a deal. In the end, it was just this simple.

  Xu Shaojie returned to his dormitory and went to Liu Zhihua's dormitory door on purpose. The lock was intact, and Xu Shaojie couldn't imagine what had happened in this room last Saturday night. Anyway, Liu Zhihua was already done for.

  The district office is unusually quiet, and the people here still don't know about Liu Zhihua's situation. As for Liu Zhihua not coming to work, no one will ask about it. The main leader controls everyone's time, but no one can control the main leader's time.

  "Yang Chen, today we go to Qinghua Town Government, to see how Zhao Deli is doing."

  Yang Chen smiled and didn't ask anything. From Xu Shaojie's calm expression, Yang Chen already understood something. Now, Xu Shaojie suggested going to the Qinghua Township government to see Zhao Deli. Yang Chen understood that the Yudu District was about to change owners, but unfortunately, the district public officials still didn't know.

  "Yang Chen, have you been to Qinghua Town Government? How is Old Zhao doing?"

  "It's not great, I was directly assigned to Qinglin Village, Qinglin Village is what everyone knows as the village of five sons: foolish son, stupid son, blind son, lame son and deaf son. Who knows what kind of evil this village has committed, it's always producing people like that."

  "Oh, where is Old Zhao usually at? Is he at the township government or in the village?"

  "Of course it's in the village, the cadres of the township government, where will they have a good face? Besides, the leader of Qinghua Township is Secretary Sun, you think, will the situation be better?"

  "Alright, let's go directly to Qinglin Village and take a look."

  After a bumpy ride, the Jeep finally arrived at Qinglin Village after nearly four hours. To get to Qinghua Township, there is only one bus every two days, and the transportation is extremely inconvenient. After arriving in Qinghua Township, there are still about 20 miles of road to reach Qinglin Village. Yang Chen was familiar with the route, so the speed was always very fast. If it were a driver who didn't know the way, it might take half a day. Xu Shaojie didn't know how Zhao Deli had endured this period of time, being rejected by the township government and only able to stay in the village.

  Xu Shaojie was the first time to Qinglin Village, he had been to the township government several times, the conditions were not very good, the house was very old and dilapidated, but he saw the situation of Qinglin Village. Xu Shaojie felt that the Qinghua Township Government was relatively good. The Jeep drove all the way, Xu Shaojie saw that most of the houses were earth-walled, and most of the roofs were thatched with straw, rarely seeing tiled ones. The village road was not a highway, but a narrow path, if it wasn't for the Jeep, it would be impossible to get in.

  The car stopped.

  "Secretary Xu, the highway ends here. To get to Village Secretary's home, we still need to walk two miles. Please wait a moment, I'll park the car and take you there."

  Xu Shaojie's mood was very heavy. At this time, he thought not only of Zhao Deli's experience, but also of the poverty-stricken village that Xu Shaojie had not expected. The village had only a short highway, and the village secretary lived on the edge, not in the center of the village. Strictly speaking, the village was still inaccessible by highway. As he was about to take office as the district party secretary, how would he face such a situation and change the backward appearance of poverty? It was his responsibility.

  Xu Shaojie felt starving, he had only eaten breakfast at home in the morning before leaving, now it was already past two o'clock in the afternoon, his stomach had been protesting for a long time.