Chapter 1378

After selecting the gift, when it was a few minutes before seven o'clock, Lu Zhenghong took Su Xinghui to Gu Shanmin's house.

It was still winter, so it got dark early. By seven o'clock, it was pitch black. The provincial party compound was very quiet, and as the two walked along the path, they arrived at Gu Shanmin's home in just a minute or two.

Lu Zhenghong knocked lightly on the door. A moment later, the door opened. The person who opened it was a graceful and elegant middle-aged woman. Lu Zhenghong called out, "Director Yu," and the middle-aged woman smiled slightly and let the two in.

Gu Shanmin's home was full of children and grandchildren. His own children were not in Hudong Province; some worked in Hujiang, others in the capital. Seeing guests arrive, they all took the children upstairs. Before going up, they all smiled and nodded to greet Lu Zhenghong and Su Xinghui.

Gu Shanmin smiled and gestured, saying, "Zhenghong, Xinghui, sit down. Jingxian, pour some tea for our guests."

The middle-aged woman was Gu Shanmin's wife, Yu Jingxian. She personally poured tea for the two, placed it on the coffee table, and then sat to one side.

Gu Shanmin said to Yu Jingxian, "Jingxian, this is the Su Xinghui that Ruizhi and Sister Sister Ruoqiu often mention to you."

"Su Xinghui?" Yu Jingxian's eyes lit up. "No wonder Ruizhi and Sister Sister Ruoqiu mention you so often; you truly are a young talent."

Su Xinghui bowed slightly and said, "Director Yu, you are too kind!"

Yu Jingxian was a deputy director at a ministry in the capital. Her work was relatively leisurely, so she could often come to Hudong Province to visit her husband and stay for a few days. Now, during the Spring Festival, the whole family had returned to Hudong Province to reunite with Gu Shanmin.

Yu Jingxian smiled and said, "I heard from my father that you call him Grandpa, so why do you still call me Director Yu?"

Su Xinghui said, "Then I shall call you Auntie."

Yu Jingxian nodded and said, "Mm, that's right. You should call him Uncle Gu as well."

Su Xinghui had been a bit nervous, but Yu Jingxian's warmth caused his tension to dissipate quite a bit.

Gu Shanmin nodded with a smile and said, "Xinghui, I've wronged you by transferring you to Changshan County. Do you have any objections?"

Su Xinghui shook his head and said, "Uncle Gu, I have no objections."

Gu Shanmin said, "Truly no objections? I transferred you away from Pengjiawanzhen. Pengjiawanzhen is developing so well that I estimate its annual output value in the future could equal several Changshan Counties. If you hadn't been transferred, the position of Party Secretary of Pengjiawanzhen would have been yours, and that is a deputy county-level position."

Su Xinghui said, "Uncle Gu, if I only worked for the sake of rank, wouldn't that be lacking in ambition?"

Gu Shanmin asked with interest, "Then what do you work for?"

Su Xinghui said, "I wouldn't dare claim to have any grand aspirations or goals, but this afternoon I went to pay a New Year's call to my university teacher, Professor Qin Jie. He taught me that I must do more for the common people, so as to live up to the talent I have been wasting."

Gu Shanmin said, "Professor Qin Jie? He is a titan of traditional Chinese studies in Hudong Province, a man of high virtue and great prestige. I respect him greatly as well. He spoke very well. Does the talent he says you are wasting refer to your talent in calligraphy and painting?"

Su Xinghui nodded and said, "Yes, and also in traditional studies. Originally, Teacher Qin wanted me to follow him and pursue scholarship after graduation, but I chose a different path, which always makes me feel I have let him down."

Gu Shanmin said, "Your talent in calligraphy and painting is indeed excellent; you became a member of the Provincial Artists Association at such a young age. However, the path you are taking now may contribute even more to the country and the people."

Su Xinghui said, "I hope so."

Gu Shanmin added, "I hear you are doing an excellent job in Changshan County. You've only been there for a month, and you've already opened up the situation."

Su Xinghui said, "Uncle Gu, I wouldn't dare say I'm doing an excellent job. It's just that I feel time is never enough. If Changshan County wants to escape its current predicament, it must seize the day. So I don't dare waste time; I try to utilize every single day, striving for Changshan County to have a different look with each passing day. That is why the work in Changshan County is progressing relatively quickly."

Gu Shanmin said, "Well said—seize the day. If all our Party cadres had your sense of urgency, why would we worry about our country not joining the ranks of the world's powerful nations?"

Lu Zhenghong said, "Indeed, Secretary. I feel that a sense of urgency is an essential quality for our cadres. Otherwise, if everything is done at a snail's pace, how can we talk about improving work efficiency? I hear that when some investors want to open a factory, they have to get hundreds of stamps from start to finish, taking several months. This is too detrimental to our work."

Gu Shanmin said, "Indeed. I think your provincial government could introduce some measures and plans to improve work efficiency."

Su Xinghui said, "Uncle Gu, Uncle Lu, I actually have an immature idea."

Gu Shanmin looked at Su Xinghui and said, "What idea do you have? Let's hear it."

Gu Shanmin and Lu Zhenghong both looked at Su Xinghui with interest. They knew that Su Xinghui had many good ideas; sometimes, things he said offhandedly were things others couldn't think of even after racking their brains.

Su Xinghui said, "I think we could put all the service windows of administrative departments together and form an administrative service center. This way, people wouldn't have to run everywhere for one thing. For example, to register a company, one needs a business license, an organization code certificate, a tax registration certificate, and so on; all of this could be handled in one place. This would improve efficiency."

Gu and Lu's eyes both lit up. Gu Shanmin said, "What Xinghui says is a good method. Comrade Zhenghong, I think your provincial government could launch a few pilots to test the results."

The administrative service center Su Xinghui spoke of was something that, in his previous life, only began to be slowly promoted nationwide at the beginning of the 21st century. These administrative service halls played a very good role in helping the government improve efficiency.

But in the mid-1990s, the concept of an administrative service hall had not yet been proposed domestically, though it was emerging in developed countries in Europe and America. Therefore, when Su Xinghui proposed it, Gu Shanmin and Lu Zhenghong both felt it was very novel.

At that time, domestic administrative organs generally suffered from the phenomenon of "doors hard to enter, faces hard to look at, and matters hard to handle." Submitting an application and waiting ten or twenty days for a response was very normal. And once one office finally stamped it, you had to take it to another; some approval procedures required dozens of stamps.

At the time, newspapers reported that an investor in a certain place wanted to build a factory and, for the sake of the land, had to get over three hundred stamps, taking over half a year to finish all the procedures. This became a joke at the time. In fact, if you look closely, that investor's efficiency was actually quite fast; excluding weekends, he managed to get two official stamps a day.

Gu Shanmin and Lu Zhenghong were, of course, very clear about such phenomena. Upon hearing Su Xinghui's solution, they were both very interested.

Lu Zhenghong nodded and said, "This is indeed a good method. However, how to set up this administrative service center will need to be discussed thoroughly at the provincial government's executive meeting."

Su Xinghui said, "If we really want to run a pilot, we cannot let it become a mere formality. Accompanying this, we must simplify relevant procedures. Some project approval procedures require hundreds of stamps; that is truly too exaggerated. Some processes can be completely omitted. Additionally, I have another suggestion: stipulate that every procedure must be completed within a certain number of working days from the date of the applicant's request. If it cannot be completed, they can file a complaint, and if the complaint is found to be true, disciplinary action can be taken."