Chapter 3880

Wu Min smiled and said, "If you don't have any urgent work on hand now, then come find me, let's discuss the support fund!"

Zhao Desan agreed quickly, "Alright, I'll be right over."

After putting down Wu Min's phone, Zhao Desan rushed to Wu Min's place with his ideas without stopping. When he arrived at Wu Min's district party secretary office, Wu Min signaled him to sit down, let the secretary pour tea for Zhao Desan, got up and walked toward Zhao Desan, and sat down beside him. Suddenly, Wu Min frowned slightly, looked at Zhao Desan with a puzzled face, and asked, "Did you not sleep well last night? Your dark circles are so obvious?"

Zhao Desan was stunned for a moment, then rubbed his eyes and said with a smile, "I was thinking about the support fund, thought about it for a whole night."

Wu Min glanced at him with a strange look and laughed, "Still forgetting to eat and sleep!"

Zhao Desan laughed "hehe," and Wu Min immediately stared at Zhao Desan with that charming look and said, "In my opinion, you must have been with some woman last night!"

Hearing Sister Wu say this, Zhao Desan shook his head quickly and said solemnly, "No, really no!"

Wu Min was also testing him. Seeing Zhao Desan's reaction was a bit too formal, she despised him and asked, "If not, then why did I hear a woman's voice when I called?"

"How could that be? Sister Wu, you must have heard wrong..." Zhao Desan was stunned for a moment, then laughed "hehe" unnaturally.

Wu Min still stared straight at Zhao Desan's dodging eyes and said, "I'm not old, and my ears aren't deaf!"

Zhao Desan looked at Sister Wu's appearance, and hearing her say this, he wondered if Fang Qi had told her. Helplessly, he smiled awkwardly and stammered, "I was... I was with Qiqi..."

Wu Min had originally asked tentatively, but didn't expect to really find out the truth. She couldn't help but get angry in her heart, glared at him and said, "Then you still said no, I knew you were lying to me!"

Zhao Desan looked at Wu Min with an extremely awkward expression and explained, "It was Qiqi who let me go to her house. She laid down harsh words, saying that if I didn't go, I would bear the consequences, so I... so I went..."

Wu Min suddenly realized her reaction was a bit intense. After all, it was normal for her cousin Fang Qi and Zhao Desan to be dating; it wasn't like she didn't know. So she softened her tone, smiled coldly, and said, "So you stayed at Qiqi's house for a whole night last night?"

Zhao Desan nodded honestly, not daring to look into Wu Min's eyes.

Having received Zhao Desan's affirmative answer, Wu Min felt a trace of loss in her heart. After all, her relationship with this young and handsome little man had risen to the level of physical contact, so naturally, she felt a bit hard to accept. However, Wu Min also knew that she was a married woman with a husband and children, and her status and position were different from ordinary people. Her relationship with Zhao Desan couldn't surface, and Zhao Desan was also at the age where he should get married. Finding a girl of similar age to date was all within reason. She had no right to blame him. It was just that the girl Zhao Desan was dating now happened to be her cousin. The two sisters serving the same man made Wu Min a bit unable to accept it.

Seeing Zhao Desan not daring to look up and not daring to face her, Wu Min softened her tone, smiled slightly, and said, "You've already done it, what are you afraid of!"

Zhao Desan heard Sister Wu's tone soften a lot, so he quietly raised his eyes and stole a glance at her. Seeing her expression was very calm and didn't look angry at all, he raised his head and used the little man's clever trick, asking Wu Min with a grin, "Sister Wu, you don't blame me, do you?"

Wu Min rolled her eyes at him and said indifferently, "Why would I blame you! You date your love, what right do I have to interfere with you!"

"You are the leader!" Zhao Desan said with a grin.

Wu Min glared at him again and scolded, "Leaders can't manage people's waistbands either!" As she spoke, Wu Min's eyes became charming again, staring at Zhao Desan's eyes, and she asked bluntly, "You slept at Qiqi's house last night?"

Zhao Desan nodded awkwardly.

Wu Min then asked, "To what extent has the relationship developed? Is it already that?"

Zhao Desan didn't expect Sister Wu to ask so bluntly, so he couldn't help but touch his nose, a bit speechless.

Zhao Desan's expression and actions had already let Wu Min know the answer. She couldn't help but sigh, "Sigh! You're really lucky, kid, the two of us sisters actually started serving the same man!"

Hearing Sister Wu's words, Zhao Desan realized she wasn't angry, so he laughed "hehe."

Wu Min saw Zhao Desan's smug expression, glared at him fiercely, and said, "Forget it! I won't talk to you about this, let's start talking about serious business!"

Zhao Desan smiled "oh" and said, "Sister Wu, which aspect do you think it's better to use this support fund for?"

Wu Min got up from the sofa, paced to the desk, picked up her stainless steel teacup and took a small sip of tea, thought for a moment, then turned around and said, "Xiao Zhao, there's no need to hide anything between us two. To tell the truth, do you know why I value this support fund so much and let you fight for it?"

Zhao Desan laughed "hehe," and didn't beat around the bush, saying, "Sister Wu, then I won't beat around the bush either. I think you should want to use this support fund to make some political achievements, is that right?"

Wu Min didn't answer yes or no, but smiled noncommittally, pacing in the office, and said, "You also know the situation in the district now. It's in a period of rapid development, but funds are short. It's a good thing that this support fund can be fought for, but where it's used and what effect it will have is very important. Since we're not outsiders, I'll just say it straight: I think if this money can be used to launch some people-benefiting projects and create an image, it will be a good thing for both you and me. Both of our faces will be brightened, what do you think?"

Zhao Desan had been in the officialdom for such a long time, so he still had a deep understanding of this. Although words like "image project" and "political achievement project" had gradually evolved into derogatory terms, being in the officialdom and deeply influenced by officialdom culture, one must act according to officialdom rules to remain invincible in this mixed environment.

So-called political achievement projects and image projects refer to projects that certain leading cadres, for the purpose and interests of individuals or small groups, disregard the needs of the masses and local reality, and do not hesitate to use the power in their hands to create projects that are laborious and money-wasting, flashy and ineffective, but may label themselves and small groups with political achievements. As officialdom rules have gradually become known to everyone, words like "image project" and "political achievement project" have evolved into derogatory terms.

Investigating the reasons, there are three reasons for the formation of image projects: First, being fond of greatness and success, and being eager for quick success and instant benefits. Some officials think all day about how to add luster to their faces, how to "do more, faster, better, and more economically" to win outstanding political achievements for themselves, and rarely care about the balanced development of local social, economic, and cultural life, people's living standards, and market demand. Second, unlimited power and lack of restrictions. The main leaders are in charge of the government's financial power, deciding everything with one pen and one mouth, lacking democratic decision-making mechanisms and public supervision guarantees, and having convenient conditions for engaging in "image projects." Third, unscientific development concepts and incorrect political achievement concepts are still at work. Guided by the one-sided development concept and political achievement concept with GDP as the core, some people think that as long as the hard indicators of economic construction are raised, it is easy to produce political achievements. Some people think that engaging in large-scale civil engineering development is even more visible political achievement. And Wu Min undoubtedly held such ideas at this time. Because in Wu Min's view, she had offended Vice Mayor Tang in the city, and if she wanted to enter the city's leadership team in the future, it would be a very difficult thing if there were no visible and tangible political achievement projects. Only by adding rich and colorful strokes to her resume would her path to promotion increase the chips for success.

In the "Modern Chinese Dictionary," the general meaning of "image" refers to: the specific shape or posture that can cause people's thoughts or emotional activities. Therefore, image is an important external manifestation that can give people a deep impression.

In modern social interaction, "image" is often raised to an important height and paid attention to. In recent years, "image" has often been suffixed with the two words "project" to highlight the meaning of shaping, management, and systematic nature, especially the importance of the word "image" in officialdom is particularly prominent. Many local top leaders, for the sake of their future, do not hesitate to engage in large-scale civil engineering, launch projects, and solicit image projects for themselves. Because in the extremely complex ecological structure of China's officialdom, it is difficult to observe whether a leading cadre is good or bad, capable or not, through daily work. Therefore, in such a complex officialdom ecological environment, the advantage of attaching importance to image is particularly obvious. For individuals, a good image is a medium to shorten the distance with strangers and make people feel happy. For a city, a beautiful urban environment is like a business card that only needs to be understood and does not need to be spoken. It can make investors stop, make tourists stay, make residents happy, make superiors gratified, and make city managers proud. As for the intentional management of unit image, community image, citizen image, product image, etc., all produce many good economic, social, and humanistic effects. And for the leading cadres who advocate image projects in local areas, what they need is the gratification of their superiors. In this way, the benefits brought by image projects to those in power will be highlighted.

Originally a good commendatory term, with social development, it has become a derogatory term. The meaning of "image project" has changed, becoming a synonym for a few officials' showing off, exaggeration, fishing for fame, and disregarding the lives of the masses, and becoming an obstacle and target for the Party and government to change their style and govern for the people.