Chapter 101: A Dark Curtain, It

Under the twilight.

Tang Ye carried two bottles of fine wine and arrived at the Chen residence as a guest.

Wang Ning hummed a tune while stir-frying in an iron wok.

The casserole of bamboo shoot and pork soup simmered with a bubbling sound, and the aroma drifted out through the carved window lattice.

"Old Chen, time to eat!" Wang Ning leaned out, holding a blue-and-white bowl.

Inside the bowl, the slices of cured meat glistened with an amber sheen, and the garlic sprouts were so emerald green they seemed ready to drip water.

Chen Zhihua and Tang Ye chatted while they ate.

"Wang Kaicheng, has the new position been decided?"

Tang Ye, having learned the information from Cheng Lin, which was quite reliable, told him truthfully, "The director of the County Tourism Bureau has retired; he is going over to take over the director's position."

Chen Zhihua held his wine glass suspended in mid-air and nodded slightly, "A very good position, it suits his personality."

Transferring from a township to a county bureau, although the administrative rank did not change, he was the second-in-command in Pinghu, so going to the county bureau to be the top leader was clearly a promotion.

"The election for the new term is coming up soon, what are your thoughts?"

Tang Ye smiled, "I am a Deputy Section Chief, what thoughts could I have?"

Chen Zhihua knew Tang Ye was being modest, "You accomplished so many practical things last year; the higher-level departments will certainly prioritize promoting you ahead of the usual order."

"I don't have many thoughts on promotion. However, as long as you don't leave Pinghu, I will have room to stretch my legs and show my skills."

Chen Zhihua smiled, clinked glasses with Tang Ye, and said in a scholarly tone, "A youth should have the ambition of a swan, and ride a fine horse to gallop across the flat plains!"

After the County Party Committee Organization Department conducted research in Pinghu for a week, they issued a notice regarding Wang Kaicheng's transfer to the County Tourism Bureau.

At the same time, Tang Ye was appointed to replace his position, serving as Acting Town Mayor.

Correspondingly, his administrative rank was also adjusted to Section Chief level.

Upon learning this news, the Party Committee Full-time Deputy Secretary Xiao Jun smashed his ashtray in his office.

Xiao Jun was a few years older than both Chen Zhihua and Wang Kaicheng, and both of them had successively surpassed him to be promoted to Section Chief, which made him feel indignant.

Now, he had even been squeezed out of his last hope by Tang Ye, a Seconded Official.

For this reason, Xiao Jun wrote real-name reporting materials to the county and city levels, questioning the selection process of this County Party Committee Organization Department.

Tang Ye learned of this matter and laughed it off.

Xiao Jun was the same type of person as Xu Yiping; he lacked the courage to take bold actions and focused all his attention on personal gains and losses.

Of course, by using the "broken jar" approach, Xiao Jun also received a corresponding answer.

Adhering to the principle of turning major issues into minor ones, the County Party Committee Organization Department provided some consideration and arranged for Xiao Jun to go to the County Education Bureau to serve as a Section Chief-level Inspector.

Xiao Jun was actually satisfied with this arrangement. Although he was relegated to the second line, it satisfied his obsession with being promoted to Section Chief.

Mid-February.

The government announced the list of candidates for the People's Congress.

The Town Mayor position followed a single-candidate election, with Tang Ye as the candidate;

The Deputy Town Mayor positions followed a multi-candidate election, with five candidates for four spots: Zhong Hui, Cao Debiao, Liu Minghua, Zhao Mei, and Guo Liang.

Cao Debiao was the previous Deputy Town Mayor;

Zhong Hui was the original Party Committee Member and Armed Forces Minister; being nominated as Deputy Town Mayor this time made him a rival to Cao Debiao, who was once again making a push for Party Committee Member;

Liu Minghua was parachuted down from the County Development and Reform Commission, and Chen Zhihua gave him special attention;

Zhao Mei was transferred to Pinghu from the County Women's Federation and was a candidate strongly backed by Acting County Mayor Guo Zhengting.

As for Guo Liang, he had only recently been promoted to Director of the General Office and his seniority did not match the other four; placing him among the candidates was mainly to satisfy the requirements of the multi-candidate election, effectively making him a runner-up.

However, this was not a bad thing for Guo Liang.

By running as a runner-up this time, he could lead the dance in the next term!

On February 28th, the Pinghu Town People's Congress was formally convened.

At three in the afternoon, the voting officially began.

At the venue, Cao Debiao kept handing out cigarettes to People's Congress Representatives he knew and didn't know, his face smiling like a fresh flower.

When the vote counts began to be announced, Cao Debiao also wore a confident smile on his face.

However, when the process was halfway through, every time the vote counter read Guo Liang's name, his eyelids would subconsciously twitch.

Quietly and without notice, Guo Liang gradually caught up, squeezing himself from second place to third.

With five candidates and four Deputy Town Mayor positions to be filled, it meant one person had to be eliminated.

The vote counts for the last three were very close.

The moment the vote counting stopped, Cao Debiao opened his mouth like a catfish deprived of oxygen, and it took him a long time to react, "I actually lost the election!"

Immediately, he stood up and said loudly, "A dark curtain, this is absolutely a dark curtain. I want to audit the votes."

He had originally thought that it was finally his turn to be the First Deputy Town Mayor.

He did not expect that he would fail the vote and be directly eliminated.

Tang Ye and Chen Zhihua exchanged a glance.

The result was within their expectations.

Tang Ye gave Ren Jun a look.

Ren Jun took two subordinates, grabbed Cao Debiao by the arms, and unceremoniously "invited" him out of the venue.

"What right do you have to kick me out of the venue?"

"The election is still in progress. If you have any questions, you can apply for a vote audit; do not disrupt the order."

"I will definitely expose you all; you are too shameless, actually engaging in such underhanded dealings!"

Tang Ye frowned and said in a low voice, "Cao Debiao's self-restraint is too poor."

Chen Zhihua's eyes were cold, "You don't pay attention to the occasion; you have no sense of the big picture at all!"

Guo Liang, down on the floor, stared fixedly at the frozen vote count!

His brain felt dizzy, as if he had drunk half a jin of liquor.

In just a few short months, he had silently jumped two levels from Deputy Director of the Office to become a Deputy Town Mayor directly.

The reason was!

He had chosen the right side!

Sure enough, choice is greater than effort!

He knew many people said in private that he was Tang Ye's lackey.

This bunch of people were all jealous and envious of him.

Now that he was a Deputy Town Mayor.

Their psychological imbalance would be even greater.

Through this People's Congress meeting, Chen and Town Mayor Tang were determined to carry out a thorough purge of the original Pinghu staff.

They wanted to promote young and bold cadres.

……

Next was the Town Mayor voting session.

Because there was only one candidate, Tang Ye, it only needed to be ensured that the affirmative votes exceeded half!

Finally!

Ninety-eight votes cast, ninety votes received. The representatives were all knowledgeable; the achievements Tang Ye had made while holding his post in Pinghu were plain for all to see.

Tang Ye was elected Town Mayor with an extremely impressive result!

Chen Zhihua smiled and reached out a hand, "Congratulations, Town Mayor Tang."

"Thank you, Chen!"

Amidst the applause of the crowd, Tang Ye and the other four Deputy Town Mayors walked onto the stage.

"Next, I invite Comrade Tang Ye to deliver his inaugural report!"

Facing the People's Congress Representatives, Tang Ye focused on the changes the Health and Wellness Town Project would bring to Pinghu.

"Comrades!

The times are different now. We must look at the development of Pinghu with a long-term perspective.

As a Government cadre, I am willing to lead by example, devote my utmost efforts, and strive to build a happy and prosperous Meihao Jiayuan for the twenty thousand fellow townsfolk of the entire town.

Thank you all!"

Tang Ye bowed sincerely to the representatives.

Thunderous applause erupted from the floor.

……

The meeting concluded.

Tang Ye treated the Government team members to a meal at the Jindu Hotel.

The atmosphere was lively.

Tang Ye's phone rang, and Cheng Lin's voice came through.

"Congratulations on being successfully elected Town Mayor of Pinghu Town."

"Thank you for the well wishes."

It was noisy on Tang Ye's end, so Cheng Lin quickly brought up the real matter, "Are you free tomorrow? My classmate wants to invite you to dinner."

Tang Ye readily agreed, "Sure, see you tomorrow!"

Hanging up Tang Ye's call, Cheng Lin sighed softly.

The Pinghu Town election had not been smooth sailing. Especially Cao Debiao's defeat, which was clearly a good show directed by Tang Ye.

She had watched Tang Ye grow up. She suddenly realized that, silently, he had already risen to the Section Chief level.

He was only half a level away from her now...

A sense of urgency sprouted in Cheng Lin's heart.