Chapter 843: Elected as President

Ma Rui's eyes suddenly went round: "Big Uncle, aren't you being too awesome? You're going to be the President?"

He Yuzhu was also completely bewildered. Nominating him? On what grounds?

But as he thought about it, he understood—this was Secretary Liu paving the way for him. He had vaguely heard rumors that Secretary Liu was about to retire.

He Yuzhu subconsciously glanced at Liu Rusi. Liu Rusi smiled slightly, her gaze clearly saying: You thought correctly.

At the conference venue, those state-owned enterprise bosses didn't have much of a reaction. Who among them didn't know He Yuzhu?

But it was different for the private business owners. They looked at each other, whispering and murmuring—who exactly was this He Yuzhu?

Voting, verifying the votes, it proceeded step by step.

In the end, He Yuzhu was elected President of the Federation of Industry and Commerce with eighty percent of the vote.

Facing this result, He Yuzhu himself was a bit stunned. He felt he couldn't shoulder this position.

Deputy Mayor Wang walked over with a chuckle, his face full of smiles: "Old Comrade He, congratulations!"

He Yuzhu looked troubled: "Deputy Mayor Wang, to tell you the truth, I don't even have a single enterprise right now. Having me be this President... isn't it a bit inappropriate?"

Deputy Mayor Wang smiled slightly, his words carrying a deeper meaning: "Old Comrade He, you are being too modest. Back when you were the Factory Director at the Red Star Rolling Mill, I was just a small section chief at the Beijing Steel Factory. Later, you single-handedly founded the Hongxing Tractor Factory, the Automobile Factory, and the Electronics Factory; in every era, you have been a trendsetter. And the land auctions in Qiongzhou and Shencheng, don't tell me that was someone else... If you don't take this position as President, then there is no suitable person. I hope that under your leadership, the Si Jiu Cheng Federation of Industry and Commerce can have great development..."

He Yuzhu knew clearly in his heart that this was Secretary Liu's intention, so he had to nod: "Since that is the case, then I will give it a try. If there is anything I do poorly, I hope Deputy Mayor Wang will offer more criticism and guidance."

Deputy Mayor Wang laughed heartily: "Old Comrade He, no need for such formalities. In the future, the commercial revitalization of our Si Jiu Cheng will have to rely on you."

Next came the part for dining and drinking.

On the other side, the Film Academy Dean's office.

At eight o'clock at night, the lights were still on.

Dean Liu poured a cup of tea for the Performance Department's Deputy Director Liu.

Deputy Director Liu was feeling anxious. After the incident where Chen Jiadong was injured, reporters came one after another after the police were called, causing a huge stir in the city.

Dean Liu spoke up: "Xiao Liu, what exactly is going on with the fight in the department this time? How did it get so blown out of proportion?"

Deputy Director Liu said irritably: "It's all because of that Ma Rui! He was the one who called the police; this whole thing is his fault."

Dean Liu said: "I won't hide it from you, Ma Rui came to me personally and told me the whole story from beginning to end. I won't make any comments yet, you tell me about it again."

When Deputy Director Liu heard this, he became even more furious: "Dean, this student is really... our Performance Department can no longer accommodate him. He helped people from the Photography Department beat up students in his own class. In my opinion, we must expel him!"

Dean Liu took a sip of water to suppress his anger: "Xiao Liu, don't act on impulse. Tell me the sequence of events properly."

Deputy Director Liu immediately recounted his own version: "If he really wanted to stop things from happening, why didn't he grab the knife? Instead, he helped Zhao Weiguo knock Chen Jiadong unconscious, and even broke Li Xiang's ribs. Li Xiang is still in the hospital now; they say his heart was even damaged from the beating."

Dean Liu frowned: "What both sides are saying is completely different. The school must investigate this clearly."

Deputy Director Liu immediately stated his position: "You investigate, I will actively cooperate."

Dean Liu said meaningfully: "Xiao Liu, I see you have a lot of resentment toward Ma Rui. This is not good. As a leader, one must hold the scale level."

Deputy Director Liu shook his head and denied it: "I have no grudge against him, why would I target him? It's just that he has always been dissatisfied with the department, relying on his family's influence to bully others."

Seeing this attitude, Dean Liu stopped trying to persuade him and asked directly: "Now that the police have intervened, how do you plan to handle it?"

Deputy Director Liu said angrily: "Then let the police investigate, and let them judge as they see fit! But in school, all participants will receive a major demerit. Ma Rui won't be able to escape it either; after all, he did hit two students from our class."

Dean Liu waved his hand and said: "Go back and properly comfort the students!"

At nine o'clock in the evening, the banquet on He Yuzhu's side finally ended.

He didn't take Xiao Tian's car, but instead got into Chen Xueru's car and went straight back to the Siheyuan.

Ma Rui was dropped off at the Film Academy dormitory by Xiao Tian.

Zhao Hu saw him drunk and asked: "Ma Rui, where did you go to eat tonight?"

Ma Rui took a few packs of Zhonghua cigarettes from his pocket and mumbled: "Beijing Hotel, the food was quite to my taste."

Zhao Hu happily put away the cigarettes and said: "Ma Rui, I heard... your department seems to be planning to deal with everyone involved in this fight, and you've been included too."

When Ma Rui heard this, his temper flared up: "I was clearly there to break up the fight, how did I become a participant?"

Zhao Hu explained: "This matter was told to me by Director Ma of our department. He is an old classmate of the Dean."

Ma Rui gritted his teeth in anger: "If they dare to give me a disciplinary record, I will report them to the higher-ups!"

Zhao Hu quickly advised: "Ma Rui, I think you shouldn't make too big of a scene. Otherwise, how will you stay in the Performance Department?"

Ma Rui disagreed: "If I don't make a scene, that's when I won't be able to stay. Now that Deputy Director Liu has already marked me as a thorn in his side, the two of us must have a winner."

Zhao Hu lowered his voice and said earnestly: "The key is that you need to find someone who can testify for you. Your classmates are probably not reliable. Yu Zhiwei did see it, but he isn't from our school and has already graduated; he is an outsider, so it's not easy for him to testify for you."

Ma Rui pondered for a moment: "Liu Wei could testify for me. But she's a girl; if she stands up to speak for me, will she have any good outcome in the future?"

Zhao Hu sighed: "That's why you need to find connections."

The next day, as soon as Ma Rui arrived in class, he was called to the Department Head's office.

Along with him were the others who had participated in the fight that day. Only Li Xiang was missing.

The one holding the meeting for them was still Deputy Director Liu. The Department Head still hadn't shown his face.

Deputy Director Liu scanned them and said coldly: "The nature of your group fight this time is extremely vile. The case of Chen Jiadong has already been filed, and it is estimated that he will be sentenced to at least three or five years. Although you people didn't make a move, the nature of the incident is just as vile. The school is preparing to give you all a major demerit."

"Deputy Director Liu," Ma Rui couldn't hold back, "I was the one breaking up the fight, how did I become a participant?"

Deputy Director Liu was expressionless: "Didn't you hit Chen Jiadong? Didn't you hit Li Xiang? Let me tell you, Li Xiang's heart was damaged by you, and he is still in the hospital under observation."

Ma Rui replied: "Deputy Director Liu, it was Li Xiang who struck first to hit me, so I fought back!"

Deputy Director Liu slapped the table: "Regardless of who hit whom first, this is fighting and brawling!"

Ma Rui also got angry: "Deputy Director Liu, if you are going to say that, then I will report this to the higher-ups!"

The other few people looked at each other.

Although they didn't like Ma Rui much, Ma Rui standing up to speak had no downsides for them—they clearly hadn't made a move, yet they were inexplicably going to be given a major demerit.

For freshmen who had just enrolled, this was a huge deal. With this disciplinary record on their backs, it was hard to say if they could even graduate.