Chapter 1361

Xue Xingyuan waved his hand again and said, "That's enough, County Magistrate. You can go ahead and handle some matters yourself. I won't be going to Matou Town; I'd rather avoid having certain people feel annoyed at the sight of an old man like me."

Ling Anguo chuckled inwardly. This was Xue Xingyuan being concerned about his pride. If he were to take the initiative to inspect the work in Matou Town, he would lose face; it would be almost equivalent to him backing down to Su Xinghui.

In Changshan County, Xue Xingyuan had never lost face like that before.

In fact, judging from his interactions with Xue Xingyuan over these past few days, Xue Xingyuan had already accepted Su Xinghui—at least in his heart, he had acknowledged Su Xinghui's work capability. Otherwise, he would not have agreed to Ling Anguo's proposals several times in a row, objectively providing support to Su Xinghui.

Ling Anguo had worked with Xue Xingyuan for many years, and he knew that Xue Xingyuan was not actually a bad person. He had his merits; he was relatively clean in his personal conduct, neither accepting money nor gifts, and he was also quite upright. If he believed something was the right thing to do, he would persist in it.

However, Xue Xingyuan also had some shortcomings: he was somewhat headstrong, a bit obsessed with his reputation, and occasionally overbearing. This was also because he held immense prestige in Changshan County, and basically no one dared to defy his will. Sometimes, even when he made a wrong decision, no one dared to speak up, which had gradually fostered this personality of his.

Only Ling Anguo understood Xue Xingyuan; he would go along with Xue Xingyuan's temperament and would not confront him head-on in front of others. Moreover, there was a time in the past when he had saved the life of Xue Xingyuan's son, so Xue Xingyuan had always been very grateful to Ling Anguo. He still gave Ling Anguo face, and Ling Anguo, utilizing this, had also accomplished quite a bit of work beneficial to Changshan County with Xue Xingyuan's support.

Having probed Xue Xingyuan's intentions, Ling Anguo understood his mindset. He prepared to remind Su Xinghui the next time they met, suggesting that he also find an opportunity to report his work to Xue Xingyuan. After all, Xue Xingyuan was the County Party Secretary, and many tasks would be much easier to carry out with his support.

Just as Ling Anguo was communicating with Xue Xingyuan, in Ren Guisheng's office at the Yulin Municipal Government, Vice Mayor Zhang Shiming was also speaking with Ren Guisheng: "Mayor, that Su Xinghui really has some tricks up his sleeve. He's only been there for a month, and he's already made quite a few big moves."

Ren Guisheng gave a muffled snort and said, "Isn't he just relying on his background? If it weren't for his background, what ability would he have to pull off so many big moves on his own?"

Zhang Shiming nodded and said, "That's true. By the way, Mayor, Su Xinghui forced a normally operating quarry to shut down for no reason, and after it had been closed for ten or twenty days, he bought that quarry at a low price. Isn't this just daylight robbery?"

Ren Guisheng looked at Zhang Shiming suspiciously and said, "Who did you hear that from? You can't just say things like that; if it's not true, you'll have to take responsibility."

Zhang Shiming was the older brother of Changshan County's Vice County Magistrate, Zhang Shiqing. It was strange to say, but although Changshan County's economy was backward, it was quite capable of producing cadres; many cadres in the city were from Changshan, whereas there were not many Shangjun people working in the city.

After the Matou Town Government bought the Baiyun Mountain Quarry, Zhang Shiqing felt resentful, so he called Zhang Shiming and, adding his own embellishments, filed a complaint about Su Xinghui's behavior. Today, Zhang Shiming had come to Ren Guisheng to badmouth him.

Zhang Shiming felt a bit guilty. Of course, he knew that his younger brother's stake in that quarry was also something that couldn't see the light of day. Therefore, the situation he reported to Ren Guisheng today was also self-serving. However, he also knew that Ren Guisheng had always had an opinion about Su Xinghui, and there were also leaders in the provincial government who had opinions about Su Xinghui and had hinted for Ren Guisheng to make things difficult for him.

Otherwise, Ren Guisheng would not have proposed transferring Su Xinghui to Changshan County that time. If viewed purely from the perspective of carrying out work, Su Xinghui staying in Shangjun County would clearly have been more conducive to pushing forward the work in Shangjun County.

Therefore, Zhang Shiming said to Ren Guisheng, "I also just happened to hear it from comrades in Changshan County, but others shouldn't be telling lies, right?"

Ren Guisheng asked, "Who exactly bought the quarry you mentioned? Did Su Xinghui buy it himself? He shouldn't have the guts for that, should he?"

Zhang Shiming replied, "It was bought by the Matou Town Government."

Ren Guisheng glared at him and said, "The Matou Town Government bought it, so what are you telling me for? It wasn't bought by him personally. If he had bought it personally, then you telling me would make some sense."

Zhang Shiming said, "Mayor, regardless of who bought it, he forced a normally operating quarry with complete documentation to shut down—isn't that a problem? By what right can he do this? He made the Matou Town Government buy this quarry—isn't it just for his own political achievements and to increase the town's fiscal revenue? Isn't this called competing with the people for profit?"

Ren Guisheng still stared at Zhang Shiming suspiciously and said, "Old Zhang, we aren't outsiders. Tell me the cause and effect of this matter clearly—what exactly is going on? Don't keep me in the dark. Is there something involving you in this matter? Otherwise, why would you be so eager?"

Zhang Shiming was only a Vice Mayor in charge of culture, education, and health, and he hadn't even entered the Standing Committee yet. Although he was only one rank below Ren Guisheng, in terms of real power and status, he was far behind. Moreover, he had been promoted by Ren Guisheng, so he had always considered himself a subordinate in front of Ren Guisheng.

Hearing Ren Guisheng say this, Zhang Shiming knew he couldn't hide it from him, so he said, "This quarry was opened by Li Bokun's brother-in-law, and my brother has a share in it. Mayor, you also know that Changshan is too poor; it only has a lot of rocks, and if one wants to make some money, one can only rely on this quarry. Who knew that as soon as Su Xinghui arrived, he made it shut down for no reason, and in the end, he forced Li Bokun's brother-in-law to sell it to the Matou Town Government at a low price."

Only then did Ren Guisheng relax and say, "No wonder you're so eager; so it turns out your brother has shares in it? But although Su Xinghui is young, he isn't a fool. Why would he offend Li Bokun as soon as he arrived in Changshan? And your brother—these are all county leaders. What is he after? Tell me, why exactly did he make the quarry shut down?"

Zhang Shiming said, "It's not just the two of them who have shares; there are also Qi Sheng and Wang Yuwen. Su Xinghui claimed that the quarry violated safety production and labor protection regulations and stubbornly refused to let it operate. But the quarry's various documents were all complete, and the county hadn't said anything—where did he get the right to speak?"

Ren Guisheng was stunned for a moment and said, "Those two are involved too? Aren't Li Bokun and the others all old subordinates of Xue Xingyuan? And that Wang Yuwen is even like a son to Xue Xingyuan. Does Xue Xingyuan just ignore this?"

Zhang Shiming said, "Mayor, don't even mention it. Didn't Su Xinghui get a bit tense with Xue Xingyuan as soon as he arrived in Changshan?"

Ren Guisheng nodded and said, "That's right. Zhao Tong came back and told me too, saying that Su Xinghui and Xue Xingyuan had a bit of an unpleasant time at the welcome banquet. Since Su Xinghui did that, why wouldn't Xue Xingyuan discipline him?"

Zhang Shiming said, "That's true, that's the logic. But who knows what medicine Xue Xingyuan took? He actually didn't say a word to Su Xinghui. Instead, when Li Bokun came to him to complain, he lectured Li Bokun. He said that Li Bokun and the others were all obsessed with money. Then, Wang Yuwen was the first to withdraw his shares. With things like this, everyone had no choice but to withdraw their shares and let them sell the quarry to the Matou Town Government."

Ren Guisheng looked at Zhang Shiming and asked, "Did Xue Xingyuan really do that?"