Chapter 1701

The pale red on Su Qing's face deepened because of this sentence from Secretary Jin, and her expression also became extremely embarrassed, looking as if she were at a loss. She smiled awkwardly, wanting to tactfully express her thoughts to Secretary Jin, but who knew that before she could even speak, he had dealt her a trump card. For a moment, she couldn't express herself due to the change in her emotions.

Seeing that Su Qing's expression had changed significantly, clearly unable to withstand his insinuating criticism, Secretary Jin did not reduce his firepower. Instead, he continued to smile kindly and said, "Minister Su, the work of your Organization Department has always been excellent. You must absolutely not be affected by Deputy Secretary Yang's affair. Especially you, as the top leader of the Organization Department, you must take responsibility, start from yourself, and engage in more criticism and self-criticism."

Su Qing had never expected that she would finally make up her mind to come to Secretary Jin to build a relationship, only to be struck by him to the point of having no power to fight back. The flush on her face grew heavier, and with an extremely embarrassed and uneasy expression, she kept nodding, unable to say a single word.

Of course, as the top leader of Hexi Province's political scene, Secretary Jin was unwilling to offend anyone too blatantly. The reason he said these words to Su Qing was, first, to give her a psychological wake-up call, letting her understand that even if Deputy Secretary Yang stepped down, she wouldn't necessarily be the one to move up, allowing her to prepare herself psychologically. Secondly, it was also to tactfully indicate his own stance: he didn't want to see scandals of internal power struggles between high-level officials erupt during this extraordinary period when the Hexi Provincial Party Committee and Government were pushed to the forefront of the storm. In Chinese officialdom, one emphasizes progress while maintaining stability. As the top leader of Hexi Province, Secretary Jin naturally didn't want a series of negative impacts triggered by power struggles among high-level provincial leaders during his tenure. One serves as an official for a lifetime; no one wants to be saddled with a bad reputation!

Seeing that Su Qing had been made to look extremely embarrassed, sitting on the sofa feeling restless and uneasy, to the point that she hadn't even said a complete sentence since entering the office, Secretary Jin smiled warmly again and said, "Minister Su, you have done an excellent job in the Organization Department over the past two years. Both the Governor and I have seen it. I still hope that you will not be affected by other matters for the time being and will focus on your current work. Regarding some situations, the provincial leaders will certainly consider them accordingly." Seeing that his words just now had been a bit too much, Secretary Jin threw out another smoke bomb to fool Minister Su, with the goal of not offending Su Qing.

Sure enough, Su Qing, who had originally been extremely disappointed, was fooled by Secretary Jin's words. Her face, which had looked extremely despondent, immediately bloomed with an overjoyed smile. She nodded and said, "Secretary Jin, I know. I will certainly strive to do a good job in the Organization Department. You don't need to worry."

Secretary Jin nodded, picked up his teacup, took a sip of water, lit a cigarette, took a deep puff, and then, thoughtfully and slowly, said, "Minister Su, to tell you the truth, I probably know why you came to find me today." Saying this, Secretary Jin looked at Su Qing with sharp eyes and continued, "It is because Deputy Secretary Yang is being investigated and is highly likely to be dealt with by higher-level departments, and his position will become vacant. You came for that soon-to-be-vacant position, right?"

Secretary Jin was truly worthy of being the top leader of the province; his guess about the real purpose of every visitor was indeed very accurate. He first gave Su Qing a warning, then cut to the chase. Looking at Secretary Jin's sharp gaze, Su Qing knew he must be fully aware of her thoughts. Deliberate denial would only invite disgust, so she smiled awkwardly, nodded slightly, and stammered, "Secretary Jin, you are truly... truly sharp-eyed, seeing through... seeing through my thoughts all at once."

With the words out in the open, Secretary Jin appeared much more amiable. He chuckled and said, "Minister Su, you also know that our Hexi Province is currently at the center of a storm. A major traffic accident occurred some time ago, and the responsibility hasn't been fully pursued yet. Now Deputy Secretary Yang is being investigated by the Commission for Discipline Inspection. In this extraordinary period, provincial leaders must be united and strive to do a good job, wipe away those negative influences, and not cause any more trouble for the province. I understand all your thoughts, but now is not the time to form cliques and engage in struggles privately. Today, since you were too embarrassed to say your thoughts, I helped you say them. Since I am in charge of the Party and government work in Hexi Province, I cannot allow any other things that damage the reputation of the Hexi Provincial Party Committee and Government during this extraordinary period. I have a count of your thoughts in my heart. Even if Deputy Secretary Yang is found to have problems and steps down, this Deputy Secretary position won't just fall into the hands of either of you; it still has to be reported to the Central Committee for decision." After finishing, Secretary Jin saw that Su Qing's slightly eased emotions were gradually becoming heavy again, so he added with a chuckle: "However, the Provincial Party Committee leadership team will focus on considering each person's contribution before making a decision on who to recommend. Minister Su, you should focus on the work of the Organization Department for the time being and not be distracted in your work. You must remember, this is an extraordinary period. If any trouble is caused, it is highly likely to trigger a major earthquake in Hexi Province's officialdom. Minister Su, you must carefully ponder my words..."

Secretary Jin's meaningful words were reasonable and true, making Su Qing think carefully. Indeed, Hexi Province was currently at the center of a storm. If scandals of power struggles among high-level leaders were exposed during this extraordinary period, it would highly likely cause a huge reaction. Once the Central Committee paid attention, it would certainly not promote someone from within Hexi Province to concurrently serve as Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee. Thinking this, Su Qing's nervous and uneasy mood eased slightly. Plus, Secretary Jin's sentence, "The Provincial Party Committee leadership team will focus on considering each person's contribution before making a decision...", could be considered a reassurance, making her feel that whether in terms of routine promotion procedures or work achievements, Li Changping, as her deputy in the Organization Department, simply couldn't compare to her. Therefore, Su Qing's nervous expression eased, and she nodded to indicate her stance, saying, "Secretary Jin, I understand your meaning. I know what to do. I will definitely not cause trouble for you and the Provincial Party Committee and Government at this critical juncture."

Seeing that Su Qing had made her stance very seriously, Secretary Jin chuckled and said, "Minister Su is a sensible person. I won't say much else. I believe you also know which aspects should be prioritized as the top priority, Minister Su."

Su Qing's delicate and refined face accompanied with a smile, kept nodding and saying she knew, and the words she had organized beforehand didn't come in handy at all.

Secretary Jin smiled kindly at Su Qing and asked in a warm tone, "Minister Su, do you have anything else?"

"Oh, no... nothing else." Su Qing was stunned for a moment, then answered with a smile, looking as if Secretary Jin had the intention of closing the door to guests.

Sure enough, hearing that she had nothing else, Secretary Jin said, "I still have many things to handle on my hands. If you have nothing else, Minister Su, should you go back first?"

Since Secretary Jin was closing the door to guests, Su Qing couldn't be embarrassed to stay, so she got up and said, "Then I won't delay your work, Secretary Jin. I shall take my leave." Saying this, she respectfully exited Secretary Jin's Provincial Party Secretary office.

Coming out of Secretary Jin's office, Su Qing spent the whole way back savoring every word Secretary Jin had said. She was more and more confused about Secretary Jin's ambiguous attitude. One moment he gave her a warning, and the next he revealed a hint that he would consider her. It really left Su Qing not knowing what Secretary Jin was thinking, leaving her somewhat confused and bewildered as she returned to the floor where the Organization Department was located. When passing by the door of Li Changping's Deputy Minister office, Su Qing suddenly heard Li Changping talking on the phone inside. That abnormal, fawning attitude made Su Qing guess immediately that it must be a call from a member of the Provincial Party Committee leadership team, at least someone with a higher rank than Li Changping's Deputy Minister of the Provincial Organization Department. Out of curiosity, Su Qing stopped her steps, and immediately heard Li Changping speaking fawningly in a low voice: "Secretary Jin, I know, I know... Yes... I will pay attention... Yes... Then Secretary Jin, I will trouble you... Yes... I will definitely cooperate well with Minister Su's work... Absolutely not... Yes... Then Secretary Jin, goodbye..."

After hearing Li Changping's fawning conversation, Su Qing realized that this call was from Secretary Jin to Li Changping. It seemed Secretary Jin had told Li Changping that she had gone to find him. Thinking of this, Su Qing fell into extreme unease again, because this sign indicated that Secretary Jin might lean more toward Li Changping in future promotions and appointments. But Secretary Jin had also revealed in his office that he was very affirmative of Su Qing's work achievements, which left Su Qing truly bewildered. Her brain felt like a ball of paste as she returned to her office. After sitting down, she once again carefully savored every word Secretary Jin had said in his office, carefully pondering the true meaning of every sentence.

In the blink of an eye, Zhao Desan had been in Beijing for almost a month. Because he had just arrived in Beijing to participate in relevant professional knowledge training for the Ministry of Housing and Urban-Rural Development, he lived in a hotel arranged by the Ministry. Every day was a three-point line between his room, the training room, and the restaurant. Plus, having just arrived in Beijing, participating in such a high-standard and high-level training for the first time, he really didn't dare to be negligent at all and had no extra energy to care about the major events happening in society recently. It wasn't until the afternoon of this day, when a Deputy Division Chief of the Planning Division of another provincial Construction Committee chatted with him and mentioned several major events that had happened in Hexi Province recently, that Zhao Desan realized that in the nearly one month since he left, Hexi Province had actually experienced two major events in succession. That afternoon, as soon as he finished eating, Zhao Desan rushed back to his room, turned on his computer, and checked the news about Hexi Province online. He spent two hours carefully reading through the major events that had happened in Hexi Province recently. Naturally, he thought of Su Qing. Because Zhao Desan was too busy, and Su Qing's mind had also been entirely focused on power struggles recently, the two had only spoken on the phone twice in this month, and each call lasted at most two or three minutes. Thinking of Su Qing, Zhao Desan, who was studying far away in Beijing without any acquaintances, suddenly felt particularly lonely and missed her very much. He couldn't help but get up and walk to the bedside, picked up his mobile phone from the bedside table, flipped to Su Qing's mobile phone number, leaned back on the head of the bed, and put the phone to his ear, waiting for Su Qing to answer the call. ===== CHAPTER 1702 =====