Chapter 1761: Very Ashamed

"Perhaps." Secretary Jin chuckled and said. He knew in his heart that even if Su Qing were given the courage of a lion, she would absolutely not dare to go against him. However, once this incident occurred, the old man's opinion of Su Qing shifted significantly, and he became even more inclined toward Li Changping regarding the promotion to Deputy Secretary.

Under Secretary Jin's prodding, the topic gradually shifted to that night's events. From the lines between Secretary Jin's words, Su Qing understood that he must have already sensed something and was highly likely to be suspicious of her. She truly had not expected that what was supposed to be a perfect counterattack would have the opposite effect, instead pushing Li Changping and Secretary Jin onto the same boat. Now, she was at an even greater disadvantage; she feared that her desire to concurrently hold the position of Deputy Secretary was undoubtedly a pipe dream.

"Secretary Jin, you didn't ask me here today just to talk about this, did you?" The reason Su Qing asked this was that she did not want to continue dwelling on this topic; if it went on like this, she would have no way to remain sitting here.

The officialdom is like a battlefield. The only difference is that this battlefield has no billowing smoke, no flashing swords or shadows, and no rivers of blood, yet it hides murderous intent and surging undercurrents everywhere. Every step must be taken with caution and careful planning; if one fails to grasp it well, a single wrong step leads to total defeat. Su Qing understood that she had already taken a wrong step. Whether it would lead to total defeat depended on her fortune in the coming days. If Secretary Jin were truly determined to deal with her, she feared she would not even be able to sit securely in her current position as Minister of the Organization Department.

"Oh, of course not. It just so happened that you came, so I mentioned it in passing." Secretary Jin chuckled, denying that he had asked Su Qing here specifically to discuss this matter.

"Then does Secretary Jin have other matters to instruct me on?" Su Qing asked with a faint, deeply uneasy smile.

Secretary Jin picked up his teacup, took a sip, smacked his lips, and chuckled, "There's nothing to instruct you on. I just have a piece of news I wanted to disclose to Minister Su."

"Please speak, Secretary Jin." Su Qing said with a smile, full of suspicion.

Secretary Jin set down his teacup, leaned back on the sofa, and with a peaceful smile on his face, said unhurriedly, "It's like this: our Deputy Secretary Yang is currently being investigated by the Commission for Discipline Inspection regarding some issues. In these next two days, the Commission will announce the investigation results. I estimate that Deputy Secretary Yang will no longer be able to serve as Secretary. Once his position becomes vacant, the province will immediately report a candidate to the Central Committee to fill it. I wonder if Minister Su has any interest in this?"

Secretary Jin's words made Su Qing feel even more confused. Since she had already offended him, why would he disclose this news to her at this time? Su Qing glanced at Secretary Jin with great confusion, then smoothed a stray lock of hair at her temple and said with a smile, "That depends on the arrangements of the provincial authorities. Personally, I have no such thoughts."

"Truly no thoughts?" Secretary Jin repeated the question.

Su Qing was stunned for a moment, feeling a bit bewildered by Secretary Jin. She shook her head hesitantly and said, "That depends on the arrangements of Secretary Jin and other provincial leaders. I will obey all arrangements made by the organization."

"I, for one, would like Minister Su to concurrently hold this position of Deputy Secretary, but I still need to consult with other leaders. What do you think, Minister Su?" Secretary Jin said, trying to hoodwink Su Qing. This tactic of his was called "openly repairing the plank road while secretly crossing the Chencang." Only by stabilizing the unstable factor that was Su Qing on the surface could he more smoothly promote Li Changping.

Su Qing was truly bewildered; her mind was a tangled mess. She did not know what act Secretary Jin was putting on. Looking at Secretary Jin with a sense of helplessness, she smiled slightly awkwardly and stammered, "This... this depends on Secretary Jin's intentions. Whatever the organization arranges, I will... I will do."

Secretary Jin laughed heartily and said, "Minister Su, what the province needs is a leader with high ideological awareness like you. How about this, you go back down and wait for news. I will move things along for you up here. Alright, Minister Su, shall we end it here?"

Su Qing did not express a stance, but stood up while smiling and said, "Then I won't disturb your work any further, Secretary Jin. I shall take my leave."

"Alright, Minister Su, walk slowly. I won't see you out." Secretary Jin stood up and chuckled, watching with a gentle smile as the deeply anxious Su Qing walked out of the reception room. Then, the expression on his face turned extremely cold, his eyes filled with murderous intent. After sitting back down, he called for his secretary and ordered, "Bring me Li Changping from the Organization Department!"

After returning from Secretary Jin's office to her own in the Organization Department, Su Qing sat down, her mind echoing with Secretary Jin's inscrutable words. She began to feel confused: what exactly was Secretary Jin trying to do? Could it be that he was actually supporting her in private?

The more Su Qing thought, the more chaotic her mind became. She pondered for the entire morning but could not fathom Secretary Jin's true intentions.

Before leaving for lunch, Su Qing's phone vibrated on the desk. She glanced at it and saw the name Zhao Desan. Thinking of how she had called him so many times last night and he hadn't answered, she became angry. She reached out, grabbed the phone, pressed the green answer button firmly, and held it to her ear. Without waiting for Zhao Desan to speak, she asked furiously, "You brat, you finally know how to return a call!"

Su Qing's opening line left Zhao Desan feeling completely baffled. He asked blankly, "Sister Su, you... what's wrong with you? Did you eat gunpowder?" As he spoke, he chuckled, trying to ease the somewhat overwhelming opening.

"You're the one who ate gunpowder!" Su Qing said angrily, then asked, "Why didn't you answer the phone last night? Was it inconvenient to answer because you were with some beauty?"

"You actually guessed right!" Zhao Desan muttered in a low voice with a sinister chuckle. Just as he was feeling smug, he heard Su Qing's voice rise several decibels on the phone, asking sternly, "What did you say?"

"No, no, I didn't say anything." Zhao Desan quickly denied it, then said with a cheeky grin, "It wasn't that it was inconvenient to answer; I just fell asleep last night. When I woke up this morning, the phone was out of battery. I only just finished charging it for a while, so I hurried to call you, Sister Su."

"You finally know how to call me! I thought you were having such a good time in Beijing that you'd forgotten your sister!" Su Qing said crossly.

"How could that be? I wouldn't forget Sister Su even if I forgot everyone else. You are my dearest!" Zhao Desan said with a grin, trying to sweet-talk Su Qing.

"Alright, enough with the flowery words! What's the matter?" Su Qing had things on her mind, so she spoke quite bluntly on the phone.

"Nothing much. It's just that I didn't answer your call last night, so I'm calling now to ask, Sister Su, did you have something important to discuss since you called so many times?" Zhao Desan asked.

"Of course I did," Su Qing said.

"What is it?" Zhao Desan asked.

"It's about that night. Didn't you say the matter was handled and that I should wait to see a good show?" Su Qing countered.

Zhao Desan said with some doubt, "That's right, it was handled. Why? Could it be that..."

"It's not at all what you thought. There was an accident. That night, Secretary Jin of the Provincial Party Committee and several other provincial leaders were also at the scene. Who would dare to arrest them? Now, Li Changping is completely fine, and instead, it's your sister who might lose this opportunity because of it." Thinking of the result that went against her wishes, Su Qing said with disappointment.

"Sister Su, are you saying Li Changping is completely fine?" Zhao Desan asked with some disappointment.

"Yes, not only is he fine, but the current situation is leaning more and more in his favor," Su Qing said with extreme regret.

"I thought... I thought this brilliant plan of a desperate counterattack would completely topple Li Changping. I didn't expect Secretary Jin to be there too. Sigh!" Realizing that the brilliant plan he had racked his brains to come up with had been aborted because of Secretary Jin's unexpected presence—and not just aborted, but had essentially seen the sword aimed at the enemy hit a shield and bounce back, likely to injure Sister Su—this result greatly exceeded Zhao Desan's expectations.

"Aren't you full of tricks? Then tell me, what should your sister do now?" Su Qing said this, partly because she harbored a bit of resentment toward Zhao Desan.

"I... I don't know either." Zhao Desan felt like a deflated ball, losing all his confidence in his speech.

"Forget it, we can only take it one step at a time now. Secretary Jin called me in for a talk this morning. Help your sister fathom what Secretary Jin's words actually meant," Su Qing said, softening her tone.

"What did he say?" Zhao Desan asked hurriedly.

"From his subtext, I can tell he seems to know that it was your sister behind the scenes, reporting the gambling. But later, he asked if I had any thoughts about concurrently holding the position of Deputy Secretary and said he would discuss it with other provincial leaders, telling me to focus my mind on the Organization Department's work and not to worry about this matter anymore. This makes me a bit confused. Logically, he should be angry and thinking of dealing with me, so why would he say such things?" Su Qing handed the problem she had been unable to understand all morning over to Zhao Desan to think about.