Chapter 854

Listening to the endless applause, Su Yang felt somewhat excited in his heart; this was recognition from the Common People. To him, the Common People's recognition was far more important than leaders' praise and Commendation.

He bowed deeply to the crowd, then continued: "Since the problem has been solved, our County Party Committee and County Government team, under the leadership of County Magistrate Zhao Nanxing, will definitely start work on schedule within two days; please disperse, everyone."

As his words fell, the crowd then dispersed. Watching the Common People recede like a tide, Zhao Nanxing's face alternated between green and white; in his official career, he had never suffered such a heavy blow.

Although this was not a direct contest, it was more embarrassing than a face-to-face arm-wrestling match. This round was directly pressed to the ground and rubbed by Su Yang; his reputation was earned by Su Yang, his benefits were taken by Su Yang, and he had nothing except the phrase 'dog official bastard'.

The most embarrassing part was that, after all this fuss, nothing changed at all; the road was still built as planned.

He walked back to the office with a black face, and everyone else also lost face; some who had been thrown rotten eggs wanted to hurry back to wash up. Chen Bo and the others exchanged a glance, barely holding back laughter. Such a humiliating scene, they had never truly experienced before.

Returning to the office, Zhao Nanxing fiercely smashed his teacup on the ground: "Fine, you just wait for me!"

At that moment, Jiang Tao, having washed his face, knocked and entered: "County Magistrate Zhao Nanxing, don't get angry; the angrier you get, the more you let Su Yang and them succeed. Lieshan Xian is ultimately not up to them to decide, and all the achievements they have made should rightfully be ours."

"If this road is completed, when it is finally reported upward to the city, it will definitely be recorded as a project completed under the leadership of the County Party Committee and County Government, not under Su Yang's leadership. Moreover, once we take back the Finance Bureau and the Lie Shan Public Security Bureau, Su Yang will be a bare commander; we can just have him focus on attracting investment."

"Moreover, today he made a promise to these Common People in front of everyone, using your name; as far as I know, the Finance Bureau certainly cannot come up with that much money, so we need to convene another meeting to let him figure out how to solve the funding problem himself."

Zhao Nanxing, whose anger had gradually subsided, said: "No need; since he insists on launching this so-called road project, let him do it. If the road runs out of money halfway through, that will be our problem, and we will deal with whoever is responsible. By the way, at the next meeting we will definitely list Su Yang as the overall person in charge of this project."

Jiang Tao immediately reacted: "County Magistrate Zhao Nanxing is still the clever one; in the end, if anything goes wrong, the responsibility will be his. Moreover, it's obvious that this amount of money is insufficient; I'll see how he resolves it. Besides, regarding the expressway, I think we shouldn't obstruct it either; we should, under public scrutiny, recommend him to take charge of this matter."

"You know the situation of the Provincial Transportation Department; for a remote county like ours, where even uncle doesn't love and aunt doesn't care, how could they possibly tilt resources toward us? As long as we find a way to get this project approved, we could even urge him to complete all the surveyed items along the route; then we'll throw out a Messy Situation and see how he solves it."

Zhao Nanxing said: "That's right; as long as enough problems arise, Lieshan Xian will have nothing to do with him. The best outcome would be to make him leave, because not promoting him this time already shows that superiors have opinions about him. Oh, by the way, I heard our County Party Secretary might be promoted to a higher position; when that happens, no matter who comes, we must unite as one and firmly separate him and Su Yang's group."

"Provincial-level departments, we also have some acquaintances; in the future, whether it's about projects or personnel, we should have absolute initiative; then even if he is the top leader, he won't be able to do anything to us."

"By the way, speaking of this, I suddenly realized that we cannot always be at a disadvantage in personnel matters. This time, Su Yang and his group took advantage, letting Li Lingyu concurrently serve as Town Party Committee Secretary of Shuanggou Town. The final decision originally lay with the Municipal Party Committee; he has thwarted our plans, and even my nominated Director of the County Party Committee Office wasn't approved, which is really hard to justify."

"I think we shouldn't stay silent like this; no matter what, we need to do some personnel work. Yao Daya, the Town Party Committee Secretary of Guantan Gou Zhen, has consistently performed well, and his age is approaching retirement; I think at the next Standing Committee meeting we should directly push him into the position of Vice Chair of the People's Congress."

"Although this means little to us, for Yao Daya it also counts as moving onto a Division-level post. Most importantly, we must let all the county's cadres know that the heavens of Lieshan Xian must change and will change; it is not something that a Vice County Magistrate who merely presides over a period of work can control."

"Taking advantage of the situation, we could also seize the position of Deputy Township Party Committee Secretary of Malianshan Township, and we should also make our voice heard in personnel matters. By the way, what's up with Department Head Pak? Weren't we all in agreement when we ate together before we came? He's acting a bit oddly; if it weren't for him, the first Standing Committee meeting wouldn't have involved them at all."

Jiang Tao said: "I'm not really clear about this; earlier he had promised quite thoroughly. But his attitude now isn't especially important; as long as we defeat Su Yang once, he will naturally turn around and stand on our side."

"We should start cultivating a candidate for the Director of the Lie Shan Public Security Bureau; Mo Tai will retire in a few months, so the time has come to begin nurturing a candidate for Public Security Bureau Director, and during this period we need to urgently assess candidates."

Zhao Nanxing said: "Fine, if that's the case, then we will seriously nurture a candidate within the Political and Legal Affairs system; if that really doesn't work, we can also let Old Qi serve concurrently. Holding both the positions of Secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Commission and Public Security Bureau Director is not unprecedented."

"Yes, let Comrade Qi Guohui serve concurrently; this is the best approach, as holding both the positions of Secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Commission and Public Security Bureau Director is quite persuasive. This way, we will have enough time to nurture a new candidate. Comrade Qi Guohui probably now hates Su Yang and his gang to death; today he certainly hasn't lacked in making a spectacle of himself."

The two of them thoroughly analyzed the situation, and instantly felt that the earlier blow was nothing; the future still belonged to them. Those rotten eggs and spoiled vegetable leaves made them unconsciously toss them out of their minds at once.

"In their minds, people like them, who are parachuted in, are already quite formidable; they all have backgrounds, they came together, and they can pool their strength—just thinking about it makes them feel the future is smooth sailing. They just don't know whether, after the true County Party Secretary takes office, they will still have such confident thoughts."

At this moment, Qi Guohui in the office directly let out a string of vulgarities; after venting, he directly picked up the phone and called Mo Tai: "Is Bureau Chief Mo? Come to my office right away."