Chapter 775: Provincial Party Secretary

Song Zhong naturally expressed his endless gratitude; this way he at least saw hope.

At noon, he insisted on treating Su Yang to a stir‑fry meal; he had originally said he would also buy Su Yang a drink, but Su Yang had something in the afternoon, so the drink had to be postponed.

At 3:30 p. m., Su Yang arrived on time at the foot of the Provincial Party Secretary's compound.

At 3:45, he called Bai Zhantang, who told him to go straight upstairs and wait in the office.

After he went upstairs, Bai Zhantang was already waiting for him at the office doorway.

"County Magistrate Su, you've had a hard journey; have some tea first and wait a moment."

Su Yang said, "Director Bai, this makes me truly humbled and startled; I'm so excited I can barely speak."

Bai Zhantang laughed heartily, "Alright, don't give me that act; you're not seeing this kind of scene for the first time."

Saying that, he kindly led Su Yang into the office.

The leaders queued in the office to report their work saw this young man being ushered in, and Chief Secretary Bai still seemed so enthusiastic; it made them jealous enough for their eyes to turn red.

Among those present, not a single one could speak with Bai Zhantang or be personally greeted by him.

They couldn't help developing a strong interest in Su Yang's identity.

This is the Provincial Party Secretary's office; even a secretary of another leader delivering documents would not be personally greeted by Chief Secretary Bai.

Other province-level departments and prefecture-level cities have no officials this young; could he be from Jingcheng?

Just as they envied Chief Secretary Bai's enthusiasm toward Su Yang, Chief Secretary Bai personally brewed a cup of Tieguanyin for Su Yang.

"The other teas here have just been finished; this Anxi Tieguanyin will have to do for now. Once the people inside finish reporting, you may go in."

He said just make tea, and even gave his own seat to Su Yang.

The others present all sat on small stools.

Such an attitude stirred a storm of emotions in the hearts of those present.

One must know that a secretary is the leader's shadow, representing the leader's will in many respects.

Chief Secretary Bai's attitude therefore suggests that Secretary Sha values this young man highly or has a special connection with him.

Some quick‑witted people began thinking of probing Su Yang's information, perhaps inviting him to a meal.

In this circle, forming a good relationship with someone powerful and well‑connected is a tremendous boon.

Facing so many intentional and unintentional gazes, Su Yang always felt uneasy.

Indeed, any person they could pull out of the room is at least department-level, several are deputy ministerial level; they sit on small stools, so what merit does he have to sit in Chief Secretary Bai's chair?

He hurriedly declined, "Thank you, Director Bai, I'll just stand here for a while."

But despite his words, Bai Zhantang didn't care and pressed Su Yang onto the chair.

"Sit if you're told to sit; you came a long way, so a proper rest is fine. You'll report to the leaders later."

Those words made the others present mutter; weren't they all exhausted from long journeys?

Could it be that Su Yang is human while they are not?

Of course, they only thought about it and dared not say more.

In the Provincial Party Secretary's office, there's no room for their complaints.

Su Yang sat there, truly like a needle on a cushion; if he could, he'd rather squat in the corner.

But Bai Zhantang insisted he sit; for cadres across Ganzhou Sheng, that's an honor.

Countless people wish they could have it.

In those few minutes, time dragged like a year; fortunately the person reporting had emerged, but his expression was pale, indicating poor news.

When that person left, he seemed a bit absent‑minded, only exchanging a brief greeting with Bai Zhantang.

That shows today's report was far from ideal and may affect future development.

Of course, Bai Zhantang had no need to dwell on it then; his mind was on Su Yang, and as soon as the person left he said to Su Yang, "You go straight in."

Su Yang gave a hum, gently knocked on the inner office door, then softly pushed it open and entered.

Secretary Sha was not unfamiliar to him; the reason being he had certainly seen him countless times on television before.

After all, Secretary Sha often appears in local TV news, and Su Yang later saw him on site in Jincheng County.

Secretary Sha was not, as he imagined, reading documents or reviewing files.

Instead, he smiled brightly at Su Yang.

Su Yang couldn't help feeling nervous, about to open his mouth to greet.

Secretary Sha said, "Don't be bound by those formalities, have a seat. I'm well acquainted with your father and have met you, so I'm essentially an uncle‑generation to you."

Su Yang, climbing the pole, replied, "Thank you, Secretary Sha, I wouldn't dare to overreach."

Secretary Sha laughed, "Hehe, not that extreme; it's just the two of us here, no outsiders. Even if you call me 'Uncle Sha', it won't…"

The olive branch has already been extended here; if Su Yang still doesn't take it, he'd be clueless about human relations. "Hello Uncle Sha, I'm mainly here to report on the work in our county."

Even though he said that, he still felt rather guilty; a deputy division-level official running to the Provincial Party Secretary to report work.

He must have lost his mind.

Secretary Sha said, "Report work? Coming to me to report sounds odd; your rank isn't even high enough. Just say what you need directly, no roundabout talk."

Su Yang was very embarrassed; he couldn't just say he was here to help someone get a promotion, even to Huang Dacheng he couldn't utter that.

"Uncle Sha, actually I'm here to vent my grievances to you, and also to explain the problems. Because this big incident happened, as an official of Lieshan County I bear responsibility. Now anyone who knows me either keeps their distance or wishes to tear me apart. Meanwhile the county is riddled with holes; even if the distillery collapsed, the finances could still sustain a few months."

"But now the matter has blown up so much that many people feel uneasy and can't lift their spirits at work. The members of the county party committee haven't been able to take their posts in time; I feel insecure, fearing I won't do the job properly and will delay the county's development. As the payday approaches, the county finance clutches the little money and dares not disburse it all, otherwise even daily expenses can't be maintained."

"Alright, stop. You should report these issues to Guo Haiyan; any problems should be solved by him."

"As for your reputation, it's thunderous. The county's team isn't that the Organization Department is passively cultivating candidates; comrades hear you're still in the county, so they shake their heads like rattles. They'd rather stay in their current posts than go to your county."

"Before, because of that black‑evil gang you have, comrades were unwilling to fight such a social tumor. Now the tumor has been eliminated, but in their eyes you, a political assassin, seem even more toxic than the tumor. They don't want to get themselves tangled up at such a young age. How do you view this situation?"