Chapter 80

Having already realized that the content of the Lancheng Daily might contain errors and that the truth of the matter might be as Su Yang said.

Li Qingsheng had already intended to end the meeting hastily and return immediately to investigate thoroughly, so as not to turn it into a political farce.

But he hadn't expected such a turning point to occur suddenly. He felt confident in his heart and immediately said, "Which Mayor Li? Is it Mayor Li Tian?"

That farmer said, "Yes, yes, yes, it is Mayor Li Tian, Mayor Li Tian."

"The people in our village have come to thank him."

Hearing this, Li Tian stood up and said, "Uncle, why did you come all the way to the town? I only did what I was supposed to do."

"At that time, there were over 300 people in the village. If I hadn't gone to transfer them urgently at the first moment and hadn't allocated supplies at the first moment, then I, as the mayor, would have been derelict in my duty. So, everything I did was my basic job."

"Don't talk about thanks or no thanks. If you say it like that, it makes me feel ashamed."

Li Tian was as smug as he could be at this moment, thinking to himself: Su Yang, oh Su Yang, did you think I only prepared a newspaper report? Did you think I only created a bit of public opinion? Wrong, I even brought the genuine human witnesses. Let's see how you turn the tables today.

Su Yang glanced outside. Besides this unfamiliar villager, a group of people followed behind. Although one of them was wearing a hat, he had yellow hair and a tattoo on his neck; at a glance, he was not a good sort.

He was almost certain that these were not people from Huatian Village at all, but people Li Tian had found elsewhere to impersonate them. To dare to use such base tactics—it seems Li Tian's brain was only capable of this.

Qin Chuan naturally saw that these were not people from Huatian Village at all, but he did not express his stance; he just quietly watched the development of the situation.

From his perspective, whether Su Yang slapped Li Tian in the face today or Li Tian caused Su Yang to capsize, it was beneficial to him. Moreover, the meeting at this moment was presided over by Minister Li; if he said anything more, it would only make Minister Li lose more face.

He simply watched silently and let these people continue to perform.

Such ups and downs were simply more satisfying than watching a movie.

At this time, Li Qingsheng said, "Mayor Li, you first have someone arrange for these fellow villagers. Let them go have a cup of tea and wait for a while. We will finish the meeting."

Li Qingsheng himself came from the government apparatus, and after working in the Municipal Publicity Department for a few years, he was directly parachuted into Jincheng County to become the Publicity Minister, so he had no understanding of the situation at the grassroots level.

Therefore, in his view, since villagers stood up to thank Li Tian, then this matter should be more or less correct. Everything Su Yang said was nothing but sophistry.

He said very sternly, "Comrade Su Yang, what else do you have to say? And you, the deputy mayor from just now."

"Not only do you people not work in a down-to-earth manner for the disaster-stricken masses, but you also form small cliques to engage in fraud and resist the organization. In view of your situation, I, on behalf of the organization, propose to suspend Su Yang from his position as mayor."

"Let Executive Vice Mayor Li Jian be temporarily responsible for the overall work of the town government. Meeting adjourned!"

This sudden suspension left everyone dumbfounded. You are not the Organization Department Head, you are only the Publicity Minister. Although you are also a member of the County Standing Committee, this is not within your scope of authority.

Normally, the only people who can suspend a subordinate chief are the superior's number one, number two, and the Organization Department Head in charge of personnel.

For you, a Publicity Minister, to do this is indeed going too far; after all, this is not the work of the publicity sector.

Moreover, this matter ultimately has to go through a collective decision by the County Standing Committee. If it doesn't pass, that would be slapping his own face.

But the reason Li Qingsheng made this decision directly was that he was certain this was something Li Jianguo wanted to see. If Li Jianguo agreed, then United Front Minister Gao Tongwei would certainly support it as well.

Moreover, Li Jianguo had already defected to the newly arrived County Party Secretary Zhou Hongtai yesterday.

There were only so many people in the County Committee team. Li Jianguo, Gao Tongwei, plus him and Secretary Zhou, that was already four people, and the Director of the County Committee Office would certainly follow Secretary Zhou's lead.

Thus, it could basically be concluded that they could pass this resolution at the Standing Committee meeting.

Every word he said, having reached his position, seemed to be spoken off the cuff, but in reality, it had already been carefully considered.

Moreover, he was certain that once this matter spread, some of the bigwigs in the county would very much support and endorse him, as most of these people were those who had received promotion or favors from Zhao Shanhe.

It was only because the County Party Secretary and the County Magistrate had both just arrived that he dared to say this; otherwise, he would have dared to speak of dismissal directly just now.

Upon hearing this, Qin Chuan hypocritically said, "Minister Li, shouldn't this matter be discussed further? After all, although Mayor Su hasn't been here long, and I don't know much about his work style, since the organization was willing to send him down, I believe he is still willing to do some things for the people."

He wanted to let Su Yang and Li Tian fight to the death, while also wanting to hypocritically sell a favor to Su Yang.

Of course, he also knew that since Li Qingsheng had made such a decision, it was impossible for his one or two sentences to change it. Otherwise, this County Standing Committee member would have no face.

Sure enough, Li Qingsheng said gloomily, "Secretary Qin, this matter is a decision I made on behalf of the organization, and it will go through the County Standing Committee afterward. So, before the result comes out of the Standing Committee, saying anything is useless."

"Such irresponsible cadres must be severely punished so they know the price of fraud, and this is also an explanation to the Municipal Committee and even the province."

Su Yang did not say a word. He quietly watched Qin Chuan's performance while feeling slightly surprised at Li Qingsheng's decisiveness.

This act might have been a bit over the top; he had never seen such a thing in both his lifetimes combined.

Of course, he also knew that the reason Li Qingsheng dared to do this was that he certainly had something to rely on.

Now, if he continued to stand up and contradict Li Qingsheng, it would only make things worse, so he remained silent.

Of course, by this time, he also understood what Jin Zhe had told him about at the time; what he needed to guard against was this reporting matter, but even if he knew about it, he could not prevent it.

After the meeting ended, the gazes of the crowd looking at Su Yang had a few different shades, and some even began to deliberately keep their distance from him.

Li Tian, meanwhile, quickly followed Li Qingsheng's footsteps and said, "Minister Li, why don't we have a meal together? Since you've come from so far away, you must give us a chance to fulfill our duties as hosts."

Li Qingsheng thought for a moment, nodded in agreement, and then said to Qin Chuan, "Secretary Qin, then let's just have a simple meal, but don't have many people, and don't be too extravagant. Just the two of you, me, and Secretary Liu will have a meal together."

"Now we advocate diligence and thrift; I must resolutely implement it."

This was an even more naked act of slapping faces. Logically speaking, generally, the ones accompanying superior leaders for social meals are the mayor and the secretary.

If necessary, other people would also attend, but it would absolutely not be arranged like this.