Chapter 332: A Turn of Events

Everything was as I expected. Three days later, the Chunshan County Three-Level Cadre Conference was grandly held in the county auditorium. Unexpectedly, on the nameplate on the rostrum, I clearly saw the name Guan Peishan.

Not only was I shocked, but everyone who came to the meeting was shocked as well.

More than half a year ago, Guan Peishan had quietly disappeared from the political stage of Chunshan County. Later, rumors spread that he had been placed under "double regulation" (investigation), and subsequently, Liu Qimeng took office, which seemed to confirm the truth of the rumors. Everyone thought that from then on, they would never see him on the political stage of Chunshan County again, but life played a joke on everyone. At this first large-scale conference since the Reform and Opening-up, Guan Peishan had been resurrected, and he was so alive that people couldn't adjust for a moment.

At the county's three-level cadre meeting, township cadres were the mainstream personnel. The position for Suxi Town was arranged on the far right of the first row, a place where one could see the people behind the curtain just by looking up.

Next to me was Mao Shi Town, and further over was Zhou Shi Town. Mao Ping saw me, smiled sheepishly, and said nothing.

I sat down in my seat and opened the materials provided by the conference. Before I could even look at them, I heard a burst of applause. I looked up and saw the leaders of the County Party Committee and County Government walking out one after another from the right side of the stage.

Leading them was Liu Qimeng, his face grave, seemingly deaf to the tidal wave of applause. Following him was the County Magistrate, a completely bald man, so obese that one worried he would have to stop and catch his breath with every step he took. The third was Guan Peishan, wearing a smile, his steps steady, responding very enthusiastically to the applause from the audience. I had no interest in looking at the leaders behind him; my eyes were fixed on Guan Peishan, as if I wanted to find an answer in his smile that would put me at ease.

Liu Qimeng walked straight to the center of the rostrum, looked up to scan the whole room, pulled over a chair, and sat down.

The applause stopped, and the County Party Committee Office Director, serving as the moderator for this conference, announced the start of the meeting.

As usual, everyone stood up to sing the national anthem.

My mouth moved along with the music, but I knew I wasn't making any sound at all. My eyes remained fixed on Guan Peishan, and I noticed his expression was solemn and respectful, his mouth opening and closing wide, as if he were singing with great gusto. I looked at Liu Qimeng again and found his lips tightly shut, his head slightly raised looking at the ceiling of the auditorium, his eyes half-closed, making it impossible to tell if he was singing along with the national anthem.

Seeing this scene, I almost laughed out loud. These two completely different expressions faintly revealed that there was more hidden inside.

Mao Ping, next to me, stood tall and straight, roaring the song with a loud voice. Unfortunately, he was tone-deaf, singing the stirring national anthem like a Qin opera from the Northwest.

Twenty-four townships were lined up in the first row. Behind every nameplate sat the Party Secretary and Town Mayor. Only behind the Suxi Town plate sat me, all alone. Behind the twenty-four township cadres sat the other cadres and village branch secretaries and village directors—commonly referred to as village heads—of those townships.

After the national anthem, there was a clatter of chairs in the auditorium.

The auditorium in Chunshan County still used flip-up wooden chairs from the sixties; to sit on them, one had to flip them down, and every chair flipped down was bound to make a crisp sound.

The County Party Committee Office Director was an old director from the Guan Peishan era. After Liu Qimeng took office, he was a senior cadre who hadn't been replaced yet.

Once everyone was seated, the County Party Committee Office Director tapped the microphone lightly with his finger, and a "pop-pop" sound came from the speakers. Just as he was about to speak, a sharp, glass-scratching sound suddenly came from the speakers, stimulating people's teeth.

Someone in the audience laughed, forming a very embarrassing contrast to the solemnity of the national anthem just now.

The County Party Committee Office Director's face darkened, and he leaned close to the microphone. "The 1999 Chunshan County Economic Work Three-Level Cadre Conference now begins. Please, representatives, pay attention to the meeting discipline."

His sudden, inexplicable remark made people find it funny. For such a large-scale meeting and such a serious venue, the moderator saying such an inappropriate thing was truly jaw-dropping.

However, I could understand. Behind us sat hundreds of village branch secretaries and village directors who had come from the countryside. In their eyes, such a meeting was essentially no different from calling a meeting of the common people at home. They didn't care about the atmosphere of the venue because they didn't know what "serious" meant.

Liu Qimeng was clearly stunned by the County Party Committee Office Director's words. He looked up at the Director, remained calm, and tapped the table.

The first process of the meeting was for County Party Secretary Liu Qimeng to give a report on developing Chunshan County's economy. After the County Party Committee Office Director spoke, he suddenly seemed to remember something. He had already walked away from the podium but hurried back, smiling apologetically, and said, "Let me introduce the leaders attending the meeting today first."

This sudden change of events caused Liu Qimeng, who was about to speak, to have his words stuck in his throat, and his face became a bit awkward. He picked up the teacup in front of him, took a slow sip, and adjusted his emotions.

First, of course, was the introduction of County Party Secretary Liu Qimeng. The County Party Committee Office Director called his name three times, but Liu Qimeng seemed not to hear, sitting upright without the slightest intention of standing up to express his thanks.

Now it was the County Party Committee Office Director's turn to be embarrassed. He stood there blankly, his mouth half-open, unable to make a sound.

A tidal wave of applause erupted from the audience again. This time, I was the one who started the applause. I saw the Director's face turn red and then white, and only after the audience fell silent did I raise my hands and clap vigorously.

My applause drove the entire venue, and the intermittent applause allowed the County Party Committee Office Director's expression to gradually recover. He looked at me, seemingly with deep gratitude. My heart stirred; I knew that taking the lead this time had left him with a good impression.

Amidst the applause, Liu Qimeng finally stood up and bowed slightly to express his thanks. Guan Peishan, sitting beside him, cast his gaze toward me, and I could see approval in it.

Next was the introduction of the County Magistrate. The bald County Magistrate was surnamed Xie, full name Xie Xian. Perhaps because his surname wasn't good and he was bald, everyone called him "Xie Baldy" behind his back.

County Magistrate Xie was originally the Executive Deputy County Magistrate of Chunshan County, but he only managed Chunshan County's agriculture. According to Guan Peishan's original intention, Chunshan County was a major agricultural county, and if one could manage agriculture well, one could basically stabilize the overall situation. In fact, an Executive Deputy County Magistrate had many things to manage: industry, agriculture, finance, trade, economy, population, birth control, policies, and regulations; some even had to concurrently hold the work of the Political and Legal Committee. The complexity of the affairs was not something an ordinary person could handle.

County Magistrate Xie was a man who didn't contend with others. Although he held the title of Executive Deputy County Magistrate, since Guan Peishan only let him manage agriculture, he was happy to be idle.

In fact, County Magistrate Xie was a top student who graduated from the Zhongnan University of Economics and Law in Wuhan and had a very good grasp of economic work.

After Guan Peishan stepped down as County Party Secretary, Liu Qimeng was promoted to Secretary, and the first thing he did was promote Xie to replace himself, fully taking charge of the overall situation of Chunshan County's future economic development.

When County Magistrate Xie heard his name called, he hurriedly stood up to express his thanks, but in his panic, he flipped over the chair he had been sitting on, causing the village cadres in the audience to burst into laughter.

I was left speechless; such a meeting would ruin the leaders' image! I thought.

The third person introduced was actually Guan Peishan. When the County Party Committee Office Director introduced Guan Peishan, he sounded very clear and resonant. He didn't call him "Secretary Guan" but changed it to "Director Guan," the leader of the Economic Reform Leading Group dispatched to Chunshan County by the Hengyue Municipal Party Committee. He also emphasized that only Chunshan County in the whole city had such a dispatched agency because Chunshan County was an old revolutionary base. He further emphasized that the Economic Reform Leading Group was directly under the leadership of the Hengyue Municipal Party Committee and was the navigator of Chunshan County's economic reform.

Under the introduction of the County Party Committee Office Director, Guan Peishan stood up and greeted the cadres below. His demeanor was peaceful, his complexion calm; one couldn't discover at all that he had once been placed under investigation.

Many people knew about the Guan Peishan incident. There was no applause from the audience; instead, there was a buzz of whispers.

Mao Ping, next to me, leaned over and said in surprise, "Old Chen, are you confused?"

I nodded and said, "Not very confused."

Mao Ping laughed and lowered his voice. "Thirty years east of the river, forty years west. Old Guan coming out of the mountains this time isn't that meant to embarrass Old Liu?"

"It's better for us to meddle less in political matters," I warned him.

"Bullshit, do you think you're not in politics? It's just that we are nobodies and can't stir up big waves," Mao Ping said, turning his head to look at me. "People like us are just sailors on this ship; the helmsman decides where the ship goes."

I didn't respond to him. In fact, I had deep feelings about what Mao Ping said. People who are cadres spend their whole lives choosing sides; choose the right side, and you rise to the clouds; choose the wrong side, and you deserve to die!

Looking back over the past few years, I had never really considered choosing sides. This actually told me that on the road of politics, I was still a naive, green youth.

Just as I was about to think deeper, the County Party Committee Office Director took the lead in applauding, and a storm of applause followed from the audience.

Guan Peishan had managed Chunshan County for decades, and there wasn't a corner of the Chunshan County officialdom that wasn't filled with his tangled relationships. Secretary Liu Qimeng had been in office for less than a year and hadn't had time to prune the branches and leaves.

Among the twenty-four townships below, who knew how many cadres were on Guan Peishan's ship?

The subsequent introductions were understated.

After introducing the leading cadres, the County Party Committee Office Director finally stepped down and invited Secretary Liu Qimeng to speak.

Liu Qimeng's face was filled with anger; he was clearly very dissatisfied with the scene the County Party Committee Office Director had staged. In Chunshan County, who could surpass him, Liu Qimeng, now?

Everyone waited eagerly for Secretary Liu to speak, but after waiting for a long time without hearing him speak, they all looked up and stared at Secretary Liu.

Liu Qimeng gave a faint smile, moved the microphone at the entrance, and said very humbly, "Let us first invite Director Guan to speak. Director Guan is our old Secretary and old leader of Chunshan County; he knows our Chunshan County inside and out and knows every inch of land like the back of his hand. Today, entrusted by the Municipal Party Committee, he leads us to reform and develop Chunshan County's economy. This is the care and love of the higher-level leaders for us, and it is also Director Guan's earnest expectation for our future. Therefore, inviting Director Guan to say a few words is an urgent request of our County Party Committee and County Government, and it is also the heartfelt wish of all eight thousand party members and cadres in our county."

Guan Peishan was stunned for a moment, then smiled complacently.

Another tidal wave of applause erupted from the audience.

Guan Peishan looked around the room, cleared his throat, and said, "Fellow cadres, you have worked hard!"

Everyone laughed, waiting for him to continue.

"I, Old Guan, am very happy to sit here and hold a meeting with all the cadres today." He looked at Liu Qimeng and nodded. "Secretary Liu just said I should say a few words to everyone. Since Secretary Liu has set the tone, I can only say a few words. Then I will say three things. The first is to thank all the cadres present for your concern for me, Old Guan! The second is that I have come this time with the heavy trust of the Hengyue Municipal Party Committee, and of course, it's not an empty check; it's a solid eighty million in development funds. Anyone with good projects can come directly to me. The third is that I have come alone this time, and I don't want to be a commander without troops. Therefore, I want to request the Chunshan County Party Committee and County Government to select a few outstanding young cadres for me to enrich my Economic Reform Leading Group. Of course, I welcome those present to self-recommend. Alright, I have finished speaking."

Guan Peishan's three sentences were each profound in meaning.

The first sentence was to tell everyone: I, Old Guan, am fine! I know very well who is who and what is what.

The second sentence was essentially a declaration of war against Liu Qimeng: I, Old Guan, have not only brought political tasks but also money. Everyone can bypass you, Old Liu, and come directly to me, Old Guan, if they have matters.

The third sentence was essentially bait; he wanted people, and he was telling Liu Qimeng: I am not a commander without troops; not only do I want people, but I also want to poach your wall!

I rolled the three sentences over in my mind several times, and I seemed to smell a hint of something.

Looking at Liu Qimeng again, his face was dark, making him look like a terrifying Bodhisattva. ===== CHAPTER 333 =====