Chapter 589

"You guys have this arranged, or what? Bureau Chief Mao Kai just called me, and before I could even put the phone away after hanging up, your call came in."

"What's up? Want to treat me to a meal, or what's the occasion? No need to comfort me. A real man can bend and stretch; it's just a suspension, not removal from office—nothing to worry about, don't fret for me."

"Of course, even if it's a problem, there's no issue a good meal can't solve; if one meal doesn't do it, have two. I'm in the provincial capital right now—why don't you come over?" To prevent Wang Huan from launching into a long speech, he simply spoke up first.

Wang Huan burst out laughing: "Old brother, you're too interesting—I was about to say all that, but you beat me to it. Alright, I'm coming to see you now. Go ahead as you said, let's have a good drink together. Oh, forget it, since Bureau Chief Mao Kai is coming, the three of us should just eat and drink; these things aren't a big deal. I reckon after the New Year you'll be back on your feet, so wait for me in the provincial capital—don't go anywhere, I'm setting off now."

Su Yang grunted, then hung up. As for the situation of those two, he was still fairly clear, because in the previous seal incident, the Bureau Chiefs of the Industry and Commerce Bureau and the Fire Detachment Commander of Lancheng Shi were both taken away.

These two positions remain vacant to this day; it's only natural that these two elders have thoughts of advancement. One can't say their concern for him is free of ulterior motives; one can only say that everyone harbors ambitions for promotion, especially within the system—this is quite normal.

To put it bluntly, if you can't offer others any benefit, why would they associate with you? Could it be because they think he's handsome? Or because he's young? That's nonsense. The reason these people want to be so close to him is simply that they value his connections behind him.

Of course, these people currently only know that he has a good relationship with the Municipal Party Committee's Organization Department, which is all they're speculating about. After all, during the previous inspection of the Xiushui Xiang administrative zone, Vice Provincial Governor Huang showed Su Yang various favors, which also speaks volumes.

Within the system, there's no love or hatred without reason, especially when every move of a vice‑provincial‑level cadre clearly releases political signals. Anyway, for them this is already enough, and most importantly, there's a successful case laid out before them.

Liu Fusheng, the Deputy Chief of the Finance Bureau, suddenly became its head. Know this: the Finance Bureau post is unlike other posts—it's held in the mayor's palm, and normally one would never appoint anyone who isn't one's own trusted aide.

But Su Yang settled this matter, and Liu Fusheng is probably still in the dark about it. Still, his ability to become chief of the Finance Bureau shows he's no political novice; after taking office, he frequently reports to Secretary Gao, whether there's business or not, which also earned Gao's appreciation—yet Liu Fusheng attributes all the credit to Su Yang.

Afterwards, he received calls from Liu Fusheng, Gou Xiong, and Li Xunhuan, all of whom were concerned about his current situation and wanted to visit him in the countryside, but he had already made other arrangements. The reason is simple: even when it comes to exchanging favors, there's a priority order. Discussing these two people's affairs in front of so many people is indeed inappropriate.

After that came phone calls or messages from township officials such as Li Chunsheng, Bai Jing, and Li Hu, to which Su Yang responded one by one.

Finally, he called Sun Chengjun again, asking him to come to the provincial capital tomorrow. Although for Sun Chengjun, becoming Deputy Director of the Public Security Bureau in one step would be a foot in the door, Lieshan Xian is a place fraught with danger—one misstep could spell disaster—so he still wanted to respect Sun Chengjun's personal opinion.

If Sun Chengjun truly refuses to go, he'll have to look for someone else, because some things can't be forced. Just as Huang Dacheng could have simply assigned him there, but still repeatedly sought his opinion.

After receiving Su Yang's call, Sun Chengjun said he would set off immediately. Although he's living quite comfortably in Huatian Township, both the current Township Party Committee Secretary Tan Donglai and Township Chief Li Chunsheng give him plenty of face.

Within the system, Bureau Chief Lan was originally his old superior, and with Su Yang's connection, he could be said to be the most prominent among all police station directors. Of course, this doesn't include the Director of the Chengguan Paichusuo, since that post is held concurrently by the Deputy Director of the Public Security Bureau and is therefore not of the same rank.

After finishing the call, he simply took a nap, because tonight was surely going to be a tough battle and he needed to rest and recuperate.

At 6:30 he was awakened by a knock on the door; he hadn't even asked the attendant to bring anything up, and moreover neither Wang Huan nor Bureau Chief Mao Kai could have arrived that quickly. Puzzled, he got up to open the door and saw Lai Junchen standing there, holding two bottles of wine.

"Lai Brother, you showed up without even calling first—I was about to go downstairs to meet you. Besides, you came, so why bring wine? Wasn't the plan for me to treat you to a meal, with me handling everything?"

Lai Junchen laughed and said: "You little brat, quit being so formal with me! Don't you think about whose turf this is? Why would you need to arrange things for me? The higher-ups just said the work wrapped up today, and I didn't have time to call you, so I just came straight over."

"Besides, how can you have dinner without wine? These two bottles were given to me by someone else; they've been sitting untouched in my place, and now that you're here, we two brothers can drink them. I've booked the cafeteria here for our meal—don't look down on it just because it's a cafeteria. Actually, the cafeteria I'm talking about is accessed directly from our internal building; essentially it's run for outside business, with a sign out front reading 'Guofu Yipin'."

Su Yang naturally understood that many government guesthouses operate outward-facing businesses, and outsiders generally don't realize that these places are actually their cafeterias; some private rooms remain closed to the outside and are used only by internal staff. Of course, he knows that in theory, but he's never actually experienced it—today could be considered an opportunity.

"How could I look down on it? I'd originally said I'd treat Lai Brother to a meal, but something's just come up on my end, and I don't even know how to tell you about it."

He was thinking about how to explain this to Lai Junchen, after all, Lai Junchen is the chief aide to the Executive Vice Governor—frankly speaking, mayors and secretaries of prefecture‑level cities have to queue up just to treat him to a meal. Now that Lai Junchen has come to him for a meal, his hemming and hawing is clearly untenable; but in fact he's already promised Mao Kai and Wang Huan, and those two are on their way over—he can't very well stand them up.

Just as he was thinking of what to say, Lai Junchen told him: "Don't go looking for excuses; I won't take no for an answer—refusing means you're denying me face. Unless the leadership summons you, no matter who's eating, you might as well bring me along."