Chapter 481

Zhou Ruohan's voice came through the receiver: "You should know by now, right? Your appointment has run into a problem—it's the Deputy Secretary Gao in the city meddling."

"The specific situation is like this……"

The carefree, guileless Xie Siyang leaned right in, straining their ears to hear what was going on.

However, Gao Peixia grabbed Xie Siyang and pulled them away, saying, "It's fine to say you're clueless and lack boundaries, but you can't be this oblivious—when a leader takes a call, you shouldn't be hovering to listen; that's a bit much."

"'What are you doing? I'm just paying attention, I'm not trying to dig for information.' Xie Siyang muttered."

Gao Peixia pulled her over to her desk and said, "Why don't you use your brain? When someone calls, you go over to listen—is that appropriate? And besides, it's a woman."

Xie Siyang muttered, "What's the big deal? I'm just being open-hearted, wanting to show a little concern, to see who's behind this causing trouble and whether there's a chance to turn things around."

Gao Peixia, exasperated, tapped Xie Siyang on the head: "All right, you're right, but try to avoid doing this kind of thing in the future—leaders also need personal space. For example, if you're making a call here and a bunch of guys gather to listen, do you think that's appropriate? Hurry up and get back to work."

Su Yang watched the two disappear, then replied, "It was Minister Gao who told me, but the problem is, I don't know what you're talking about regarding this Deputy Secretary Gao—I haven't offended him."

Zhou Ruohan said, half-laughing, half-exasperated, "You've already offended them, though you might not realize it. To be precise, you've offended Deputy Secretary Gao, who is Cui Mingjiu's sworn older brother."

Originally, the position of Township Party Committee Secretary was supposed to be reserved for Cui Mingjiu by him. Moreover, Cui Mingjiu has been arrogant and lawless these past years, and the county hasn't touched him—fundamentally because of Secretary Gao.

Hearing this, Su Yang was somewhat puzzled: "Really? What's his relationship with Cui Mingjiu? Even if he were his own son, he wouldn't go this far to protect him."

Zhou Ruohan said, "Didn't you say earlier that this Deputy Secretary Gao directly called Secretary Fang, trying to get Cui Mingjiu released? And then we didn't give this Secretary Gao face, offending him in the process."

Su Yang said, bewildered, "But the problem is, even if you pull strings or have some unknown connection, normally helping Cui Mingjiu this thoroughly once would already be going above and beyond—so why keep going? Is their relationship really that close? This defies common sense unless he's his own son."

Zhou Ruohan snorted, "That's ridiculous—you're not using your brain at all. How could he be his son? Deputy Secretary Gao is over fifty; could he have fathered a nearly fifty-year-old son? That's a joke."

"'Secretary Gao is able to interfere with your appointment precisely to take revenge for our earlier slight—we didn't give him face and didn't release Cui Mingjiu.'"

"'You know how things work in official circles—sometimes we just follow procedure, but those who try to go through back doors, exploit loopholes, or use influence to pressure others, and fail to achieve their goals, will face retaliation. And I don't see this Secretary Gao as someone with much magnanimity.'"

"'Of course, the most important thing here is their relationship. Think back: when Secretary Gao's father was exhausted, hungry, and ill during that special period, he collapsed in the wind and snow, and it was Cui Mingjiu's father who rescued him.'"

"'Furthermore, in that era of material scarcity, Cui Mingjiu's father secretly killed one of the family's old hens, stewed it for Secretary Gao's father to eat, and then kept him in their home for over a month, fully nursing him back to health. Only later did Secretary Gao's father return to the city to resume work, and before leaving he made a promise to take good care of Cui Mingjiu's family.'"

"'Back then, if Cui Mingjiu had gotten into college and entered the workforce as a graduate, by now he would at least have risen to a division-level post.'"

"'It's precisely because Cui Mingjiu disliked studying and loafed around from childhood that he was assigned to the village, where he became the village clerk, then village head, then village Party secretary, and finally Secretary Gao promoted him step by step to the township head.'"

"'According to his original plan, Cui Mingjiu's career prospects were not limited to just being a township head, which is why he has become increasingly arrogant and overbearing, sometimes even showing no respect to county-level leaders.'"

"'This time, when Cui Mingjiu got into trouble, he thought a simple phone call would get him out, but instead it not only failed—it sped up the process of transferring Cui Mingjiu to the procuratorate. Consequently, your appointment has naturally been stalled in their hands.'"

"'I was just saying that Fang Jingwen was acting in good faith, getting held up at this time point—I didn't feel comfortable saying it before, but now you see...'"

"'Besides, it's no big deal—I called him anyway; the appointment and adjustment of township heads and secretaries are handled by our county committee, the city can't directly interfere.'"

"'But their attitude is really hardline—they insist on holding onto the fact that you were previously punished for a mistake and won't let it go.'"

"'Of course, this isn't a big deal either—you just do what you need to do. I just called Uncle Huang, and he said it was originally just a matter of these two or three days, so let them stir things up if they want; the more they stir, the uglier it will get.'"

Su Yang then understood the situation—it was all because of Cui Mingjiu. "All right, then, I might as well let these people in the township show their true colors."

"'If it weren't for this incident, selecting usable talent from the township would also be a hassle—in fact, for me this is actually a good thing.'"

"'I really want to know what expression Secretary Gao would have if the province directly appointed someone.'"

Originally, we had agreed to go out for a meal, but because of that phone call just now, Su Yang decided not to go.

Now that Bai Yutang and company are feeling pleased, he, Su Yang, has holed up in his office, just to let them know he's not up to the task, letting them become even more arrogant.

Sure enough, the next morning, his office door was kicked open violently.

Reeking of alcohol, Bai Yutang and Gao Haisheng walked one after the other into Su Yang's office.

Bai Yutang said with a sarcastic tone, "Hey, what time is it? Our Director Su is still asleep—did you go out last night to do something shady? Too exhausted to get up in the morning? That shouldn't be, I hear you're very disciplined."

"'And you still have to turn around the work ethic of the entire township in front of all its cadres? Saying one thing and doing another.'"