Chapter 576: Who Dares Not to Care

Duanmu represented the Provincial Organization Department to talk to me, which was two months after the New Year.

The world at the end of March and the beginning of April, orioles flying and grass growing. Everything in sight was a green spring, and morning glories were blooming wildly in the corner of the wall. The peaches on the peach tree outside the house seemed to be edible.

I stood in the courtyard of the old house, watching the excavator roaring wildly not far away.

This street would be demolished today, and in half a year or a year, this place would be a high-end commercial center.

I followed my mother's order to take a last look at the old house.

On this street, my grandfather opened five herbal medicine shops, and back then, more than half of the medicinal materials in Hengyue Prefecture went out from this street. My grandfather's ancestors lived on this street, and even I grew up on this street until I was over twenty before leaving.

People on this street were all familiar with each other. Whose family had something delicious, whose husband and wife were fighting, whose daughter-in-law gave birth to a boy, would all be known to everyone in a few minutes.

I watched row after row of old houses collapse in the huge digging bucket of the excavator, watching the dust rising, and couldn't help but feel a trace of sadness in my heart.

Hengyue City is vast, and this is my true homeland. From a very young age, I was deeply ingrained with the belief that if I stepped outside this street, I could no longer be considered a person of Hengyue City. After graduating from university, I returned to this small street, thinking I would never be able to leave it again. Who would have known that fate would twist and turn; I left this place and slowly grew into a great tree, only for everything to fall into silence amidst an unseen, insidious wind and rain.

Just when I was full of emotions, Duanmu's phone call came.

He instructed me to go to the Hengyue Municipal Party Committee Organization Department, saying he was waiting for me there. Asked me when I could arrive.

I looked at my watch and estimated the distance. I replied directly to him, "Fifteen minutes."

Just as I walked out of the small street, a loud noise came from behind. Looking back, the house where I lived for more than twenty years had become ruins in the sky-filling smoke and dust. My heart ached for no reason, and my eyes became wet.

From now on, I will never see my old house again, and I will never find a place to mourn the past. As if everything in the past was buried in this ruin.

There were three people sitting in the conference room of the Hengyue Municipal Party Committee Organization Department. Two were from the province, Duanmu and Mei Hua. One I didn't know, who looked very young.

As soon as I entered, Duanmu just nodded and smiled, but Mei Hua stood up, reached out to me and introduced the young man, "From the cadre division of the Hengyue Municipal Party Committee Organization Department, Little Ning, Ning Jing."

I almost laughed when I heard it, a good boy, why did he take a woman's name. Men should dance with knives and guns, being so quiet like a girl, with thick powder gas, not good.

Looking at the boy named Ning Jing again, he was indeed beautiful, looking like a girl.

The inspection talk officially began, everything was routine.

Logically speaking, Duanmu came down, and the Municipal Party Committee Organization Department should at least send a deputy minister level to accompany him. But the situation in front of me was that there was no leader at all, let alone Minister Huang Shan.

My heart skipped a beat and fell into the water.

The higher the level of the person talking, the higher the position arranged by the superior. If it were just an ordinary organization cadre talk, the level wouldn't be that high.

Duanmu's voice was not high, but every word fell into my heart.

According to the inspection of the Provincial Party Committee Organization Department, reported to the Provincial Party Committee leaders for review, combined with the opinions of the local party committee, it was decided to appoint Chen Feng as Deputy Director of the Hengyue Municipal Petition Bureau.

This was no less than a bolt from the blue, and all my beauty collapsed in an instant.

Deputy Director of the Hengyue Municipal Petition Bureau? An idle position, an idle department, an official position that makes teeth itch.

I was finally beaten down at the gate of the provincial cadre, and compared with the twenty-nine students in the class, I was the most miserable one. It was said that even Deng Hanyuan went to the province. Only I was alone, in the local government, and it was a unit that was shameful to say out.

I closed my eyes and pretended to sleep, as if the three people in front of me didn't exist at all.

Duanmu and the others didn't speak either, and I only heard their intermittent impatient tea-drinking sounds in my ears.

After a cigarette's time, I opened my eyes, looked around at them, and expressed my gratitude with a full smile, "Thank you, organization!"

After saying this, I stood up and walked away.

Duanmu called me a few times behind me, but I pretended not to hear, went straight out of the gate of the Municipal Party Committee Organization Department, and left as soon as I got in the car.

I want to find a place where no one is to cry! I thought secretly.

My heart hurt more and more, and my hands and feet began to tremble because

I, your father, now have connections, so why have I ended up in such a state? I can't wrap my head around it!

Could it be that my father-in-law, Huang Qishan, is the obstacle in my path? Could it be that Xu Mengda has the heart but lacks the strength? Could it be that Vice Provincial Governor Lin was just teasing me?

If I had known it would come to this, I shouldn't have hesitated when Vice Provincial Governor Lin asked me to go to the Provincial Public Security Department!

A deputy director of a local Petition Bureau is worth absolutely nothing.

The director of the Petition Bureau is usually concurrently held by a Deputy Secretary-General of the Municipal Government. In the official hierarchy, a Deputy Secretary-General of the Municipal Government doesn't amount to much, let alone me, who is merely a deputy director of the Petition Bureau. This position is far worse than the one I held in Chunshan County!

As the car got onto the outer ring road, I pressed down on the accelerator, staring blankly ahead, driving like a madman.

After driving the entire length of the outer ring road, I dejectedly parked the car on the side of the road, got out, pulled out a cigarette, and smoked in silence.

My mind is currently in chaos; I don't know where I should head next.

After a long and agonizing wait, this is the result I got. I am not only disappointed but also deeply heartbroken.

My phone rang; it was Duanmu calling to say he was returning to the province in the afternoon and had a few words to say to me in person.

I said lazily, "Just say it over the phone."

Duanmu pondered for a moment and said, "It's a few things Mengda asked me to bring to you."

My temper flared, and I said loudly, "Even if it's words from Provincial Governor Chen, can't they be made clear over the phone?"

Duanmu hung up the phone. I angrily threw it onto the car seat, looked at the busy construction site in the distance, and my mind went blank.

Hengyue City is accelerating its urban expansion; the old city district can no longer meet the needs of the city's development. The outer ring road planned ten years ago now seems to have become an inner ring. The high-rise buildings constantly rising along the roadside have divided this city into two worlds.

The old city district inside the outer ring road is dilapidated everywhere but bustling with people. The new city outside the outer ring road is magnificent and opulent, yet sparsely populated and appears incredibly desolate.

I am not at all surprised by this change; it is now hard to find the past appearance of the city that remained in my heart from childhood. This is an era of nationwide urban expansion! Every place, regardless of size, is building new cities, big or small. It seems that if local leaders don't build cities, they are seen as incompetent.

The phone rang sharply again. I returned to the car, saw it was still Duanmu, and said impatiently, "Director Duanmu, if you feel that speaking isn't clear, you can send me a text message."

Duanmu chuckled on the phone and said, "Can't keep your cool, can you?"

I sneered and said, "Am I that kind of person? I am a person of principle; I don't fuss over personal gains and losses."

"Go ahead and keep lying to ghosts." Duanmu teased me bluntly, "Mengda had already guessed your state of mind, so he asked me to bring these words. If you don't want to listen, forget it."

"Speak, I'm listening," I said indifferently.

"I won't speak; I want to tell you in person. This is a matter entrusted by Mengda, and I must handle it well. If you don't want to listen, then I won't say it, and I'll just go back and return the words to Mengda." Duanmu seemed a bit displeased, his tone sounding as if the matter had nothing to do with him.

I sighed and said, "Fine, where are you? I'll come find you."

"No, where are you? I'll come find you."

"This is Hengyue City; are you familiar with it?" I mocked him, "I don't want to wait until my hair turns white before I see your shadow."

Duanmu sneered, "No matter how big Hengyue City is, it's still a place managed by Central Province. I, Duanmu, am not from Hengyue City, but on the land of Central Province, I am confident I won't get lost."

I had no choice but to tell him I was on the outer ring road, spotted a landmark building, and gave him my specific location.

Duanmu arrived in just over ten minutes. He parked his car behind mine, got out alone, and walked straight toward me.

When I saw him, a smile spread across my face, and I said, "I'm sorry, Director Duanmu, for the trouble."

Duanmu's face darkened, and he glared at me, saying, "Can someone who can't keep their cool accomplish great things?"

I felt guilty and quickly put on a smiling face, saying, "Director, I'm from a small place; my level of cultivation isn't very high."

This remark seemed to strike a chord with Duanmu. He smiled with satisfaction, reached out a hand to me, and said, "Give me a cigarette."

Duanmu, Xu Mengda, and their circle don't smoke. This fact made me look down on myself for a long time. Anyone who holds a high official position or has a lot of money doesn't smoke. Some even say that people who smoke are poor and lack quality.

But I know that our founding leader never had a cigarette out of his hand.

Duanmu lit the cigarette and actually took a puff with relish, saying, "Good cigarette!"

I couldn't help but laugh; I've only heard people praise good wine, never someone praising a good cigarette.

"What words does Brother Xu have for you to bring me?" I couldn't help but ask.

"Want to hear it now?" Duanmu looked at me with a half-smile and cast his gaze into the distance, saying, "This city of Hengyue is truly extraordinary."

I was left confused by his words. Could it be that Xu Mengda's words have something to do with this city?

"Mengda asked me to tell you that going to the Petition Bureau is just the first step of the Long March. Only by taking this step can you achieve final victory."

I was baffled and asked, "Why am I getting more confused the more I listen?"

"If you understood it right away, would I need to come here and ramble on?"

"You mean, Brother Xu is playing a game of chess?" I asked without confidence, "Am I just a chess piece in his hand now?"

"Why don't you say you're a deck of cards? A single chess piece, if it has no other helpers, will eventually end up with nowhere to be buried. But a deck of cards, as long as the trump card is in your own hand, who would dare not be wary?"

I smiled bitterly and said, "Director Duanmu, whether I am a chess piece or a deck of cards, I understand that I have only one task: to charge into battle."

Duanmu patted my shoulder and said, "Actually, you understand better than anyone! I'm leaving now, going straight back to the province to report. You are the last one to be settled; once you are settled, the matter of the Cadre Training Class will be put to rest."

After seeing Duanmu off, I pondered the meaning of his words for a long time, but still couldn't make sense of it.