Chapter 267: with translation of chapter title

After the event ended, Lu Fan returned to his room intending to rest, when a knocking sound came from the door.

Opening the door, he saw that it was Ningyang Employment Bureau Chief Xu Zhen; Lu Fan warmly invited him in. This was an old friend—back then he had helped several brothers with their work.

After sitting down, Xu Zhen felt deeply moved and said, "Welcome back, Secretary-General, to your hometown—aren't you having trouble without a drink?"

Lu Fan laughed and said, "Brother Xu, we've been friends for years; calling you Secretary-General sounds distant—just like before, call me by my name, it's friendlier."

Leaders can be polite to you, but you cannot be impolite; Xu Zhen still understands this principle.

After some small talk, Xu Zhen explained his purpose: "The county is about to undergo a major personnel reshuffle, leaving many important positions vacant. You know my situation—I've been the Employment Bureau chief for many years and have made some achievements. After Bureau Chief Daqiang was promoted to Deputy County Chief, the Health Bureau became vacant, and I'd like to transfer there. I've talked to Secretary Bian several times, but he politely refused each time. If you can speak up, could you help me out? Staying at the Employment Bureau long-term is really not suitable."

Lu Fan thought seriously and said, "Brother Xu, moving from the head of a public institution to leading an administrative functional bureau is no small feat. I will definitely help you with this, but I cannot guarantee that you'll get the Health Bureau as you wish; I hope you can understand."

Lu Fan's words pleased Xu Zhen greatly; the Health Bureau was his ideal choice, but actually any unit would do—his goal was to resolve his civil servant status.

But that's how things work—you must first set the highest goal; if resistance is too great, settling for second best can also be accepted gladly.

After finishing the business, the two began catching up, chatting about many past events.

Lu Fan's feelings toward Xu Zhen were complex: grateful for his help arranging work for the brothers, yet worried he was a time bomb, fearing he might detonate someday.

But now I've come to terms with it—he was a participant in those past events, and even for his own prospects he wouldn't easily spill the beans. So we need to give him a future, and also make sure the position is suitably high or low; in short, it must stay within my sphere of control.

Furthermore, I need to make a name for myself; if everyone ends up in high positions, we won't have to worry about these messy matters. Sometimes whether there's a problem is up to the leader to decide. Even if you have a problem, if the leader doesn't pursue it, then it isn't a problem!

Thinking of this, Lu Fan asked, "Brother Xu, is Fang Hui still the deputy director of the Revitalization Office?"

This is another key person; Lu Fan likewise prepared to help him out.

Xu Zhen sighed and said, "We all come from the countryside; just getting to a deputy section-level rank is not easy. Without good opportunities, most people spend their entire careers at the deputy section level, retiring only after attaining the treatment of a second- or first-class section chief."

Lu Fan said, "Brother Xu, please pass a message to Fang Hui, asking him to bring me his resume tomorrow around seven."

Xu Zhen laughed, "People who cherish old ties like you are rare. You should rest early; I won't disturb you further—I'll call Fang Hui later when I go out."

The next morning, Bian Jide came to the guesthouse to have breakfast with Lu Fan.

While eating, Lu Fan whispered, "Old leader, has the Health Bureau chief been decided?"

Bian Jide, without changing expression, replied, "What does it have to do with you?"

Lu Fan said, "It's a connection I can't refuse; you know my situation—I only spoke up because I had no choice!"

Bian Jide nodded and said, "Fine, I'll note this down!"

Lu Fan continued, "Anyway, since you're an old leader, I don't need to save face! There's another person who helped me a lot back then—the deputy director of the Revitalization Office in our Personnel Bureau. Could you help transfer him to the Functional Bureau as a deputy director?"

Bian Jide straightforwardly said, "No problem, I'll say hello to the Organization Department."

Lu Fan laughed, "It's still easy dealing with an old leader; please handle things confidently and without hesitation!"

Bian Jide laughed, "In a few years, you might become my leader! Lu Fan, work hard, follow Secretary Mingzhou well, strive to reach the provincial or central level someday—anywhere I can lend a hand, don't stand on ceremony with me!"

"Your expenses are small, and you're unmarried; if you ever need money, send someone over to do some small projects honestly—just never make financial mistakes!"

Lu Fan felt warm inside and smiled, "It's still the old leader looking out for me; I don't have big material needs, but if I run into trouble, I'll definitely come to you!"

Looking up, I saw Fang Hui loitering at the doorway; Lu Fan waved him over and introduced him to Bian Jide: "Secretary, you know him, right? This is Fang Hui, the one I just mentioned."

Fang Hui nervously said, "Hello, Secretary Bian!"

Bian Jide smiled and said, "Hmm, not bad—keep working well!"

Not long after, the Municipal Education Bureau chief, swaying as he walked, entered the restaurant; seeing the two, he came over to sit, while the secretary hurried to fetch the food.

Di Bin gave a wry smile and said, "Secretary Bian, you got me drunk last night—after all, I'm still an outsider!"

Lu Fan laughed, "Director Di, that's Secretary Bian looking out for me. We need to hurry back to the city soon—the provincial Public Security Department comrades have already set out from Chang'an; we must not be rude, please understand! When we have free time another day, I'll join you for a proper drink—no stopping until we're drunk!"

"Fine, I'll remember that!"

After breakfast, Lu Fan and Di Bin bade farewell to Secretary Bian and the Ningyang leaders, returned to the city, and naturally their luggage was filled with the local specialties prepared by the Education Bureau.

Back in the city, Lu Fan went straight to the Municipal Public Security Bureau, where he and Ye Chen discussed in advance how to "receive" the "plague gods" from the Provincial Public Security Department.

Around eleven o'clock, a police car entered the Municipal Public Security Bureau; Lu Fan and Ye Chen, accompanied by the bureau's leadership team, went out to greet them at the gate.

The deputy commander of the Provincial Criminal Investigation Corps, Tian Wubin, was the first to alight; Ye Chen went up to him, shook his hand, and introduced, "Captain Tian, this is Lu Fan, Deputy Secretary-General of the Yingjiang Municipal Party Committee and Director of the Municipal Party Committee Office."

Lu Fan smiled and said, "Welcome, Captain Tian, to come to Yingjiang for research—we will certainly provide good service!"

A flash of light passed through Tian Wubin's eyes, then he smiled broadly and said, "Sorry to disturb you, Secretary Lu; we're just here for routine supervision—no need to trouble the Municipal Party Committee."

Lu Fan said, "That's not right—the Provincial Public Security Bureau fully supports Yingjiang's work; Secretary Mingzhou specifically instructed me to make the provincial leaders feel welcome, so I must provide 24-hour service for everyone! These past two days I've consulted with Bureau Chief Ye and set eight research points; Captain Tian can review them later. But for now, we need to fill our stomachs and try Yingjiang's specialty cuisine!"

Indeed, it was mealtime; Tian Wubin couldn't resist Lu Fan's enthusiasm, and a crowd of people drove mightily toward the Yingjiang Guesthouse.

Along the way, Ye Chen quietly asked, "How are we going to do this?"

Lu Fan laughed, "Of course we eat and drink well—if you're capable, get them drunk at every meal!"

Ye Chen had a brainwave: "Then we need to make use of our Deputy Bureau Chief Wu Aoran's talent—he's a master at urging people to drink!"

Sure enough, when they reached the table, at the leaders' prompting, "jokester" Wu Aoran went online, cracking jokes and making everyone laugh hysterically, causing Tian Wubin to unconsciously pick up his glass and start drinking.

The leaders all raised their glasses, and the other provincial department personnel naturally responded—thus a drinking battle commenced!

After drinking until past two o'clock, those from the provincial department couldn't hold up, collapsed one by one, and staggered back to their rooms to sleep soundly.

Lu Fan and Ye Chen exchanged a smile; today was essentially over, and tonight they'd see if they could continue plying these people with alcohol!

The two reached an agreement: talk only about food and drink, not work. If forced and with no way out, they'd plead ignorance and play dumb!

The next morning, Lu Fan and Ye Chen rushed to the guesthouse to accompany the provincial department leaders for breakfast.

Tian Wubin raised doubts about the research plan, saying, "Bureau Chief Ye, before we came, the department head specifically instructed us to supervise some cases, especially the Le Xuezhi case, since we've received many reports about it—we should still focus on the case!"

Lu Fan asked doubtfully, "Captain Tian, I read the provincial department's research notice, and it doesn't seem to involve case supervision, does it?"

Tian Wubin laughed and explained, "This is a temporary order from the department head, also part of our normal internal duties—please understand and cooperate! If necessary, we'll participate fully in investigating this case; many hands make light work!"

Lu Fan furrowed his brows and said, "Captain Tian, this sudden change in work approach catches us off guard! While we must comply with the provincial department's work, this case has provoked strong public reaction and is specially monitored by Municipal Party Committee Secretary Li; therefore, any change must first be reported to the leadership before we can answer you."

Tian Wubin's face showed displeasure as he said, "Secretary Lu, is your Municipal Party Committee overreaching? This is internal work of our public security system; we don't need to report to anyone, do we?"

Lu Fan replied, "Captain Tian, your remark is mistaken—the Public Security Bureau bears the prefix 'Yingjiang City,' operates under the leadership of the Yingjiang Municipal Party Committee, and is also an important component of the City Government; we must first be responsible to Yingjiang! Speaking frankly, doesn't the Provincial Public Security Department also fall under the leadership of the Provincial Party Committee and Provincial Government?"

Tian Wubin said embarrassedly, "Some things shouldn't be said carelessly—I didn't mean that! Anyway, we have plenty of time, Secretary Lu, go ahead and request instructions! Let's first go observe; that should be fine, right?"

Lu Fan calmly said: "I'm afraid not, we need to first report to the leadership!"

"This is a bit excessive, right? Could it be that this case really has something unspeakable? Others can't even see it?"

Without arguing, Lu Fan still had a light-hearted demeanor, saying lightly: "Sorry, this is Yingjiang; we must report to Yingjiang's leadership! It's all for work, please understand, Team Tian!"

Tian Wubin said angrily: "We have hands and feet, please Chief Ye cooperate a bit; the work team must get in touch with this case today!"

Lu Fan said doubtfully: "Did the research team become the work team? We Yingjiang haven't had any problems, right? Oh, right, Bureau Chief Ye probably hasn't reported to Team Tian; the suspect has been taken elsewhere these two days to gather evidence, so we probably can't even see it!"

Tian Wubin pursued: "Where did they go? Can we go ourselves?"

"This case is too sensitive, attention too high, temporarily needs confidentiality!"

"Nonsense, confidentiality your grandpa! He's not in prison? Keep it secret from the provincial department too? Totally forcing an argument! But Tian Wubin is helpless; he realized he can't command the Municipal Bureau Chief Ye Chen!"