Chapter 175: Secret Rivalry

The meeting was held in a lukewarm, uninspired manner, and the cadres below listened with dejected spirits. Guan Peishan repeatedly emphasized that cadres at all levels must intensify the rectification of their work style and push the work style of Chunshan County to a new level, stressing that rectifying work style was a campaign, and to conduct a campaign, one must bring the passion of a campaign, and in the process of the campaign, root out a batch of unqualified cadres; the implication was that when necessary, one must kill the chicken to scare the monkey.

He spoke with murderous intent, his large hands waving incessantly, as if the cadres below were lambs waiting to be slaughtered.

Liu Qimeng sat with his eyes half-closed, occasionally opening them to scan the meeting hall, his face terrifyingly calm. With twenty-four townships in the whole county, each township having one Party Secretary and one Town Mayor, plus the heads and deputies of the various bureaus, committees, and offices directly under the county, over a hundred people were in attendance; the formation was not to be underestimated.

The meeting was scheduled for two days, and all attendees were required to stay at the County Guesthouse, with no exceptions for cadres whose homes were in the county seat. Guo Wei and I were assigned to a room at the back of the third floor; next door was Linshui Township, and opposite was Maoshi Town. Walking along the way, I looked at the labels pasted on the room doors and suddenly realized that of the twelve townships on the entire third floor, not a single one had entered the top ten for economic development in the county. It seemed our floor was synonymous with backwardness and poverty.

Having made this discovery, my interest was immediately piqued, and I dragged the Town Mayor of Maoshi Town directly up to the fourth floor. The fourth floor housed the economically prosperous townships led by Deng Hanyu, and the meeting reception offices for the County Party Committee Office and the Government Office were also located on the fourth floor. Passing the entrance of the reception office, we poked our heads in for a look and found it piled high with large and small bags. Mao Ping, the Town Mayor of Maoshi, dragged me inside; seeing only two young girls in the reception office—whom we didn't really know—Mao Ping said with a grin, "Busy, huh!"

Seeing two men enter the room, the young girls didn't need to guess to know they were definitely cadres from the townships below. As young girls who had seen the world, they didn't hold us township cadres in any regard at all, so they snapped unpleasantly, "Who are you? What are you doing in here? Get out!"

Mao Ping was still being glib, and I felt a surge of anger, questioning, "Isn't this a reception office? Is this the attitude you use to handle reception?"

Seeing I wasn't someone to be trifled with, the girl softened her tone slightly: "The meeting reception matters are already finished, your room and board are all arranged, is there anything else you're looking for?"

"Yes!" I pointed at the pile of items and said, "How come we didn't receive these meeting souvenirs?"

The girl laughed and pointed at the pile of things, saying, "They haven't been handed out yet. These are meeting souvenirs that Secretary Guan asked a Guangdong boss to sponsor."

I gave an "oh," pulled Mao Ping out of the reception office, and said casually, "Town Mayor Mao, you've got a good temper."

Mao Ping answered me with a smile: "They're just young girls, no point in getting angry with them. Besides, these young girls handling reception—who knows which aunt or cousin of someone in the county they are? Offending her doesn't matter, but offending the person behind her is no good."

I teased him, "In that case, Town Mayor Mao, you can be considered a shrewd operator."

"Town Mayor Deng is the real shrewd operator. I haven't even touched the edge of that," Mao Ping said, his eyes fixed on the label on the door. "How about we go find him and sit for a while?"

"Sit for what?"

"That guy Deng Hanyu is a landlord! We're from the old, young, border, and poor regions; coming to his turf, we have to strike the local tyrant. Let's go strike his local tyrant tonight." Mao Ping, full of zest, grabbed me and insisted on finding Deng Hanyu.

I helplessly followed him as he searched room by room, and seeing the door with the Chengguan Town sign ajar, we pushed it open and walked right in.

The room was full of people; chairs and beds were all occupied. Looking closely, they were all township cadres from our third floor.

Deng Hanyu had sharp eyes; he spotted me at a glance, came over enthusiastically to shake my hand, and introduced me: "Everyone, get to know him—Town Mayor Chen Feng of Suxi Township, the youngest Town Mayor in the whole county."

Several town mayors came over to shake hands, exchanging polite greetings.

"Town Mayor Chen, what brings you here? Any guidance?" Deng Hanyu teased me, picking up a pack of "Great China" cigarettes from the table and generously handing them out.

"Town Mayor Deng is humorous," I retorted, neither humble nor pushy: "As expected of a wealthy township; one pack of the cigarettes you smoke is worth a whole carton of ours."

Deng Hanyu's expression tightened; he stopped his hand and, examining the cigarette in his hand, said, "How could I afford to smoke these myself?"

"It's fine as long as someone gives them to you," I said, not intending to stay and preparing to leave.

Deng Hanyu laughed at himself: "Hehehe, the bosses give a few cartons of cigarettes—it's all a relationship between brothers. We rely on them to develop the economy, and they rely on us for policy support. Each takes what they need, each takes what they need."

"Besides, the bosses are all quite cheap; if you don't smoke theirs, they'll get suspicious. Actually, we're all forced into it with no other choice. However, I have one principle: smoking and drinking, whatever, I don't refuse, but women and money—I absolutely do not touch." Deng Hanyu was adamant, his attitude firm.

Other township cadres chimed in, talking all at once about the difficulties of their work. Regarding this work style rectification meeting called by the County Party Committee, many people did not understand it.

A cadre patted his belly and said, "Revolutionary liquor makes us drunk every day, ruining the Party's style and ruining our stomachs! My Party style is still there, but my stomach is only half left." I followed the gaze of the person speaking and recognized him as the Party Secretary of Linshui Township, who had undergone surgery last year to have half his stomach removed.

The age of township cadres is generally on the lower side, usually around thirty-five or older. Forty is a hurdle; if you step over it, you can soar, but if you don't, you have to prepare yourself for the thought of being a township official for life.

When township cadres get together, besides joking, there is another more important activity—playing cards.

Playing cards is truly a good activity; it not only increases the feelings between people but also allows one to figure out the other's character.

Therefore, after joking for a while, a cadre took out a deck of playing cards and started shouting to start the game.

Mao Ping was the first to pull a hundred-yuan bill from his waist bag, slapped it onto the table with a *thwack*, and shouted with his neck straight: "It's starting, it's starting! The winner treats us to drinks."

Deng Hanyu laughed: "How big are we playing? We're at a work style meeting; you dare to gamble? You've got guts."

Mao Ping cut him off: "What kind of gambling is this? Just a bit of entertainment to liven up the atmosphere. It has absolutely nothing to do with the meeting."

After finishing, he urged me to put up money, saying that big bets hurt the body, but small bets soothe the spirit, and meetings are the most boring things; if you don't have some activities, a person will get bored to death.

Seeing I hadn't moved for a long time, Deng Hanyu pulled a stack of money from his bag and threw it on the table, took the cards from someone else's hand, and tapped the table, saying: "All in, all in, I'll be the dealer."

Mao Ping covered the money with his palm, shouting incessantly: "Deal, deal. Deal a hand to Town Mayor Chen, are you going to let him off?"

Deng Hanyu began to deal, pausing after each card, saying: "Test your luck."

Mao Ping glanced at his cards and shouted: "Nothing to test."

Having said that, he flipped his cards over and yelled: "Nine points." Then he flipped over the hand dealt to me: "Eight points." Holding three cards in one hand, he stared at Deng Hanyu: "Show your cards, show your cards."

Deng Hanyu carefully brought the cards to his eyes and slowly spread them out one by one. A smile appeared on his face, then he threw the cards into the pile and cursed: "Damn, I was honest all last night, and I'm still unlucky."

Everyone laughed, knowing he had the smallest hand, and all reached out their hands, calling: "Pay up, pay up."

Deng Hanyu pulled a dozen bills from a stack of money, paid us one by one, and started dealing again.

After a few rounds, I hadn't put up a cent of my own capital, but instead had won several hundred yuan. Mao Ping exclaimed: "As expected of a young man, high energy and good luck." He handed the money to me and said: "You want to play yourself?"

I shook my head and refused, standing behind him to watch them play.

Suddenly my cell phone rang. I pulled it out to look, and it was actually Guo Wei calling, asking why I hadn't returned to the room and where I had gone.

I was flattered; Guo Wei hadn't called me once during this period. Since he was calling today, it seemed he had something to find me for? I quickly replied that I was just upstairs and would be down immediately. While speaking, I made a gesture to Mao Ping to tell him the money won was all his, then pulled the door open and slipped downstairs.

Guo Wei was holding the TV remote, absent-mindedly flipping through channels. Seeing me enter, he said unpleasantly: "Went to the fourth floor to build relationships?"

I shook my head and said: "What kind of relationships to build? Town Mayor Mao dragged me to see which townships were staying on the fourth floor."

"Saw it all clearly?"

I smiled awkwardly and didn't answer.

"What's there to see," Guo Wei said to himself: "The ones staying upstairs are all wealthy townships; it was arranged like this years ago. Our township has no money, so we should be stepped on by others."

I smiled and said: "Secretary Guo, we aren't without money now. It's easy to handle if you have no money; it's only truly hopeless if you have no resources."

"Are you thinking about that mineral water plant of yours?"

"No, besides the mineral water plant, Suxi Township has plenty of resources."

"It's best not to think about it." Guo Wei threw the remote onto the bed: "Deng Hanyu won't let go easily. If we pull his people, it's equivalent to carving meat from his heart. No matter how impressive your Boss Qian is, can an arm twist a thigh? Deng Hanyu can think of a way to make him wish he were dead. When the time comes, he'll drag us down with him; we won't have eaten the mutton but will have gotten the smell all over us. Is it worth it?"

"It's not that complicated, is it?" I hesitated.

"Town Mayor Chen, be a little rational, okay? Have you not thought that you're trading land with them, and when the time comes, they'll pull a half-finished project, and you won't even understand how you died."

"Then wouldn't he be losing even more?"

"He isn't losing a damn thing. The money isn't just Boss Qian's alone, and besides, there's a Deng Hanyu standing behind him."

"We're really not doing it?"

"Not doing it."

"We're riding a tiger and can't get off now," I lamented. "If we stop now, I'm afraid it will scare others away from investing in the future."

"What does that have to do with us?" Guo Wei said. "If there's no one, then there's no one. People in Suxi Township have lived for generations, and I've never seen anyone die from a lack of investment. Besides, do we even plan on staying in Suxi for the rest of our lives?"

"I don't plan to either," I said, smiling, and went into the restroom.

"Of course you don't need to think about it; even if you wanted to, others wouldn't let you stay in this mountain ditch," Guo Wei shouted through the door. "Call that guy surnamed Qian when you get back and tell him our Suxi Township isn't doing this project anymore."

I turned on the faucet, splashed a handful of water on my face, lifted my head to the mirror on the wall, and gritted my teeth while making a face.