Chapter 613

Su Yang looked at Jiao Qiang's obsequious, fawning demeanor, and in his mind he redefined the influence Geng Miao had over the whole Lieshan Xian.

It seems Geng Miao's influence in Lieshan Xian exceeds his imagination; someone like Jiao Qiang is already about the ceiling for a section-level cadre.

Government Office Director, if there's no problem, next step is likely promotion to vice county magistrate.

Such a promising section-level cadre, when mentioning Geng Miao, actually shows excitement on his face.

It seems just being able to have a meal with Geng Miao is practically like seeing green smoke rise from one's ancestors' grave.

Today's welcome banquet is arranged at Lieshan Hotel.

Jiao Qiang brought Su Yang to the largest luxurious private room upstairs; upon opening the door, he found several people already there.

Deputy County Party Secretary Zhou Yinru, Organization Department Head Zhang Guodong, Discipline Inspection Commission Secretary Hou Junping, and Publicity Department Head Ji Minjia were already here.

Seeing him come, everyone smiled and greeted him, but no one lifted their butt from the seat, nor offered him a cigarette.

Of course, Su Yang wouldn't mind such petty behavior.

He casually picked a seat, sat down, and said: "Tonight, please don't bother arranging a welcome banquet for me; if you ask me, it's really not necessary. After all, everyone's work is busy, and there will be plenty of chances to get to know each other later."

Not minding it is not minding it, but this group's attitude makes him very unhappy; he ought to retaliate.

Hearing this, Zhou Yinru gave a light smile without speaking; instead, Organization Department Head Zhang Guodong said: "Xiao Su, I'll call you that—you won't mind, right? Frankly, your age is about the same as our liaison officer's; if we used our usual nicknames like Old Zhou, Old Wen, Old Xiong, we'd be calling you old."

"Within the system, they say age is a treasure—keep up step by step. You're keeping up one step, and you could keep up ten or a hundred steps ahead, but being too young isn't necessarily good either, because lack of experience makes it easy to make a fool of yourself."

The welcome banquet is a traditional form within the system that sticks to the rules, not because of your personal charm that we hold it here. So, although we all work within the system, nobody should consider themselves too important.

Moreover, our situation here is not comparable to other places. As an elder brother Within the System, I still need to add a couple of sentences: do what should be done, say what should be said, and never think about doing what shouldn't be done. The current favorable situation in Lieshan Xian is hard-won; no one should engage in heroism just because of a couple of loud slogans—this is absolutely unacceptable.

He's someone who works in the Cultivation Organization, and his speech is always formulaic. If he were to spout a few empty words here relying on his seniority, Su Yang would just ignore them. But he actually presumes to lecture Su Yang here—can we tolerate that? Moreover, everyone is present; once Zhang Guodong opens this door, those after him will come forward wave after wave, surging upward.

He took out a cigarette from his pocket, lit it, and said slowly: 'Department Head Zhang is right—age is a treasure; keeping pace step by step beats rushing ahead. Some people get up early and stay late, yet they often complain there about lacking opportunity or bad luck, but have they truly reflected on themselves? Have they done anything meaningful for the Common People?'

Within the System there are all kinds of cadres; some are young and have already done many practical things for the Common People, while others have lived out their years in vain, knowing only how to indulge in pleasure, only how to flatter superiors, and thinking only about Climbing Up.

Such people often meet a bad end; don't be fooled by their seemingly glorious moments—if something were to happen one day, it wouldn't be good.

In short, in my view, achieving something young is far better than idling away waiting to die. I've just arrived, and you all don't know me well yet; I also want to hear what distinguished record Department Head Guodong has built over the years, and learn from any points worth emulating.

But if there are any unsavory aspects, I'd like to steer clear of them early. After all, we're all comrades on the same team; making up for each other's shortcomings and progressing together is essential.

His words left Zhang Guodong flushed and embarrassed; he was originally the type to rely on his seniority, hoping to give Su Yang a stern lesson while Su Yang was still unsteady on his feet.

First, because he had previously made Geng Miao scold him like a grandson, and this resentment had been bottled up inside with no outlet;

Moreover, he is a staunch supporter of the top leader, Secretary Ye; Secretary Ye was publicly confronted by Su Yang today, and due to his position he won't personally engage in a verbal spat with Su Yang, so this task falls to him. But who would have thought Su Yang is a Hotheaded Youth who gives no face to anyone and dares to talk back.

The others, seeing this, swallowed the lecturing words they had intended to say. They of course knew Su Yang's purpose in coming; tonight, over dinner, they had already planned how to warn him.

But Zhang Guodong was talked back to right at the start, and the others, also caring about face, simply kept quiet—after all, they weren't the ones being talked back to.

Just as the awkward atmosphere was about to freeze over, County Party Secretary Ye Xianggao, County Magistrate Wen Qiren, and Town Party Committee Secretary Ma Lifeng of Shuanggou Town walked in together.

Seeing the scene, Ma Lifeng guessed what had happened and said with a cheerful laugh: 'Everyone's here, comrades? Was the topic just now too heavy, causing everyone to fall silent? As comrades on the same team, unity comes first; today we're here to welcome Comrade Su Yang. Secretary Ye and County Magistrate Wen have both arrived—I think we should serve the drinks first.'

As a veteran female cadre, a few words from her were enough to greatly ease the earlier awkward atmosphere.

Ye Xianggao also said then: 'Well, hurry up and serve the dishes; we keep saying we welcome little Su, but we shouldn't just stop at words—we need to act.'

Just as his words finished, Ma Lifeng picked up two bottles of wine from beside him and opened them personally: 'Our old custom in Lieshan Xian is to serve the wine before the dishes. County Magistrate Su, you've just arrived and may not be familiar with the situation. So I think we should wait a bit, serve the cold dishes first, and then start drinking properly—what do you think?'

Su Yang didn't know whether Lieshan Xian actually had this custom, but the winery's rules are all sorts of odd; since they'd brought it up, he had to go along with it. He smiled calmly and said: 'When in Rome, do as the Romans do—since the custom is to serve wine before dishes, I'll follow Lieshan Xian's practice.'

As soon as he said that, a fleeting hint of mockery crossed the others' faces. Lieshan Xian does indeed have this custom, but generally speaking, in occasions like this, it's basically not used.

Because after this round of drinking they still hadn't seen the cold dishes, people were already under the table—really a bit of bullying. Raising this today was just meant to give Su Yang a hard time; if he accepts the challenge, they'll go straight to drinking; if he doesn't dare, they'll have something to hold over him.