Chapter 2664

Zhou Andong was organizing the reform proposal; Jinshi Guang's trash had been cleared, leaving only some rotten vegetable scraps to be slowly cleaned up, which wouldn't affect the overall situation. He estimated the city was also eager, and he would send the proposal over tomorrow morning.

The city would certainly hold a meeting to study it, but the reform of the woolen mill was already urgent, and that sense of urgency could be felt from the central to the local level, so the city's meeting wouldn't last too long—he estimated there would be a result within a week.

Thinking this, Zhou Andong glanced at the calendar on his desk; today was the last day of August. Tomorrow was September 1st, and Zhou Andong suddenly felt a bit dazed, as if there was something important he couldn't recall.

"Pap-pap-pap..."

At that moment, the office door was lightly knocked, Zhou Andong came to his senses and shouted: "Come in!"

The office door was gently pushed open, and Chen Gong walked in cautiously: "Factory Director!"

"Oh!" Seeing it was Chen Gong, Zhou Andong nodded calmly: "Old Chen, what's the matter?"

Chen Gong bent slightly, speaking very respectfully: "Just now, gatekeeper Chen Xinggui called me, saying Deputy Director Hou Guanghai of the Municipal Bureau Office wants to see you."

Zhou Andong said without expression: "Just this?"

"Yes!" Seeing Zhou Andong's face still expressionless, Chen Gong bent his waist even more noticeably, his small eyes constantly stealing glances at Zhou Andong's face.

"Old Chen!" Zhou Andong lit a cigarette: "In the future, for such matters, just assign someone to come over—you don't need to come yourself."

"Okay!" Zhou Andong's attitude left Chen Gong feeling uneasy.

"Alright!" Zhou Andong waved his hand: "Go back, and let Hou Guanghai come in."

"I'll tell Chen Xinggui to let him in right away." Chen Gong dared not linger; after speaking, he turned and left, gently closing the door behind him.

After coming out, Chen Gong let out a long breath, then straightened his bent waist abruptly, first informing Tang Wenjuan, then striding toward his own office. Meanwhile, his mind began to ponder the thing he had never figured out.

On the first day of Zhou Andong's tenure, he dealt with Guan Mingli, head of the Finance Department, and forced Union Chair Nian Shihua to voluntarily apply for sick retirement. Then he promoted Tang Yun, deputy union chair, and Dou Jingcheng, deputy finance head who had sat on the cold bench for years.

But when it came to the factory office, it was different—knowing Zhang Hesheng had offended the factory director the most, yet the director hadn't punished Zhang Hesheng; instead, Zhang Hesheng had frightened himself into illness.

However, Zhang Hesheng's fate had nothing to do with him. What he couldn't understand was: since both were deputy positions, why had Tang Yun and Dou Jingcheng been promoted, while he remained a deputy?

Although the fact was he had been fully in charge of the factory office work, the "deputy" remained "deputy." One day without replacing "deputy" with "acting," his chance to become director would be very slim.

The more Chen Gong thought, the more depressed he became—he was Tan Sheng's man, and everyone knew it. But before Tan Sheng turned from dark to light, starting from when the factory director handled Guan Mingli and forced Nian Shihua to apply for sick retirement, he had decided to switch sides, firmly standing with the factory director. One could say he had sided with the factory director much earlier than Tan Sheng.

And during this period, he had done exactly that—every day's work was diligent, he arrived ten minutes earlier than others, handled big and small matters personally, and had never offended the factory director. So why wouldn't they promote him?

Zhou Andong watched the closed office door and suddenly laughed. How to describe Chen Gong? After all, he was an old comrade, absolutely capable, and absolutely skilled at reading the situation.

One must know that on the first day of his tenure, this guy had already leaned toward him. Although he had killed Guan Mingli, that chicken, in front of Chen Gong, that monkey, to achieve a great deterrent effect, he still had to admit this guy was quite clever.

Originally, he kept Chen Gong because he had no trustworthy people. More importantly, removing both the factory office's director and deputy at once would surely disrupt its normal operation.

What he hadn't expected was that Chen Gong would unhesitatingly stand with him and proactively turn over over ten thousand yuan in illegal gains. Although he didn't believe a factory office deputy could have embezzled only that much over ten years, Chen Gong's attitude was commendable. Combined with Chen Gong's decent ability, Zhou Andong decided to keep him.

As for why he kept suppressing Chen Gong, giving him no good looks—it was because this guy had too many petty thoughts; if not pressured, he might one day rekindle his rebellious heart and cause trouble.

"Pap-pap-pap..."

The office door was knocked again, Zhou Andong thought it was Hou Guanghai: "Come in!"

As the office door was pushed open, Tang Wenjuan entered: "Factory Director, Kong Limin, secretary of Qiao Mingkang, president of the Enterprise Federation, has come to see you."

Hearing the name of the Enterprise Federation, the thing Zhou Andong had forgotten suddenly surfaced: tomorrow, September 1st, the Sino-foreign Management Official Industry-Academia Forum would be held, and he needed to attend.

"Let him in!" Saying this, Zhou Andong stood up, walked around the desk toward the door.

Just as he reached the door, a young man in his early thirties, wearing glasses, gentle and refined, walked in. Upon seeing Zhou Andong standing at the door, he froze slightly—clearly, he was there to welcome him.

Kong Limin, honored and startled, extended his hand respectfully: "Factory Director Zhou, hello, I'm Kong Limin, secretary of the Enterprise Federation president."

"Secretary Kong, hello!" Zhou Andong shook Kong Limin's hand, smiled, and pointed to the sofa: "Please have a seat."

The two sat down; Tang Wenjuan poured tea for both, then silently withdrew. As she closed the door, she saw two middle-aged people in police uniforms appear at the stairwell.

The two glanced left and right, saw Tang Wenjuan standing at an office door, and hurried over. Then they noticed the plaque for the Factory Director's Office hanging on the door frame.

"Comrade, is Factory Director Zhou in the office?" Hou Guanghai first glanced at Tang Wenjuan, assuming she was a clerk from some department who had just come from reporting work to leadership. After all, regardless of whether they were government or enterprise leaders, to avoid suspicion, they always sought same-sex secretaries.

Tang Wenjuan sized up the two: "You're the two comrades from the Municipal Bureau, right? The factory director is receiving a guest—please wait a moment."

A look of surprise flashed in Hou Guanghai's eyes as he heard from Tang Wenjuan's words that this beautiful girl was actually Zhou Andong's secretary. Simultaneously, a sigh rose in his heart—he estimated only Zhou Andong would dare employ a female secretary.

"Sure, sure!" Hou Guanghai's mind was turning, but his mouth showed no delay.

Tang Wenjuan smiled faintly: "Come to my office first and sit for a while."

Du Changhe was very anxious, but since Zhou Andong was receiving guests, he naturally couldn't barge in, and he didn't dare either, so he followed Tang Wenjuan into the office.