Chapter 1022: This is the real chameleon

Minister Xia was very pleased with this. Indeed, Comrade Zhou Weiguo is no ordinary provincial‑ministerial level cadre.

Besides the heads of the directly administered cities and those two special provinces, Comrade Zhou Weiguo holds a special position. Although he has not entered the bureau, he has begun attending some important economic meetings, especially those of the institute, and he basically sits in on them all. So at times he cannot even control his own schedule.

He was in the middle of saying this when the office door was knocked.

Minister Xia frowned; obviously he did not want to be disturbed at this time. Usually, whoever knocks on his door at this hour, aside from his secretary with urgent work to report, are just a few deputy department heads and department committee members.

Although displeased, he still said, "Please come in."

As his words fell, Executive Vice Minister Pang De walked in smiling, still holding a tea canister: "Minister Xia, I'm not disturbing you, am I? I've come first to report on work, and second, an old friend gave me some Wuyi Mountain Da Hong Pao a few days ago, so I brought it to brew you a cup."

As he spoke, he turned his gaze to Su Yang: "Oh, this must be Little Su from Lieshan County? We've already met earlier—please sit down, don't be so formal; as they say, once unfamiliar, twice familiar."

He then set the tea canister on the table and was about to brew tea.

But Minister Xia lightly said, "Heh heh, I'm not used to Wuyi Mountain Da Hong Pao; I'm accustomed to the pre‑rain Longjing I brewed earlier."

You judge the drum by its sound, the speech by its tone—especially at their level.

Sure enough, Pang De's face changed slightly—how could he not hear Minister Xia's dissatisfaction with him? It seems the relationship between Su Yang and Minister Xia is really good.

He had just thought of this in the office: he knew exactly who stood behind Su Yang. If he weren't the old Jia family's brother‑in‑law, he would surely have to shift his position. But sometimes such blood‑line nepotism is unavoidable—whether you acknowledge it or not, the Jia family's mark is on you.

He said, "Minister Xia, I'm here mainly to offer suggestions about the work style, methods, and conduct of some comrades in the department."

"Some people, because they have long held important posts and our department is special, grip the approval of national key projects, so they are flattered and courted by cadres from all over the country, to the point of losing themselves."

"Especially some deputy directors, who think they're bigger than the heavenly king and earthly tiger, clearly should handle matters but drag their feet, clearly need only a few forms to prove something, yet they insist on repeated submissions and set up all kinds of obstacles."

"Some poverty‑alleviation support projects they give entirely to their so‑called relation households, not to those in need. Take, for example, Comrade Su Yang's Lieshan County: because of the local political ecology, it has suffered all sorts of problems, and basically no one is willing to spend great effort building roads."

"Comrade Su Yang proposed building a highway, but the county's finances are extremely tight; they simply cannot come up with the matching funds."

"The Provincial Transportation Department has contributed a part, but there is still a shortfall of over one billion, and this situation fully meets our policy support criteria."

"I personally suggest that the Ministry of Transport cover all the funding gaps and also provide certain technical support—not only for this highway under application, but for any other road‑construction projects as well, we should give full support."

"After all, it's not easy for a poor county to develop, and harder still is finding a cadre willing to devote himself to development. Yet the comrades in the Planning Department, with various excuses, make things difficult, even calling the local Transportation Department to veto the project. This makes me very dissatisfied; the work atmosphere in our department is truly heartbreaking."

"I think it's necessary to straighten things out, so some people recognize their proper place, stop cultivating that lofty attitude, and thoroughly rectify work style; then we will set a model, and that comrade is Gao Yanqing, vice director of the Comprehensive Planning Division. Minister Xia, what do you think?"

Minister Xia gave no clear answer, only saying, "The department's daily work is all under your charge; I've hardly inquired about these matters. If responsibility is to be traced for today's situation, I think it should be pursued from our top leaders."

"Of course, the lower‑level cadres' work style indeed has problems; I don't care how to fix it specifically—I just want to see results. As for Lieshan County's affairs, you decide."

Su Yang secretly clicked his tongue—this is the art of leadership; a few words already depict power dynamics vividly.

Although Minister Xia usually doesn't concern himself with department affairs, being often away at events, the top leader remains the top leader—as long as he's in office a day, everything is his say. And someone like Director Gao, who surely has many violations in daily conduct, usually gets a wink and a nod, muddling through; this time, however, he may not get away with it.

What really annoyed him was this Pang De, the department head—just earlier he wanted to act as a strict father educating him, teaching him rules and urging stepwise reporting, but upon reaching Minister Xia, his attitude did a complete 180‑degree turn.

Just earlier he had said that Director Gao was a chameleon—actually, with Pang De it's no different; the only distinction is that his status here prevents him from appearing as abject, yet such a lowly stance already says everything.

Su Yang also knew when it was time for him to speak up, he hurriedly said: "Thank you, two Department Heads, I only represent the 480,000 Common People of the whole county in thanking you. With your support, our project will be able to get underway, and it will be completed within the scheduled time. With the boost of the expressway, investment promotion projects will also go much more smoothly, and the county's economic development will see a great improvement. If it's convenient, I would like to invite the two Department Heads to a simple meal."