Chapter 1905

Before long, the driver returned with Duan Qi. Duan Qi was a lean, middle-aged man wearing glasses. He had jogged the whole way over, and his forehead was already beaded with sweat.

Running up to Su Xinghui, Duan Qi panted and called out, "County Magistrate Su!"

When Su Xinghui was being welcomed earlier, Duan Qi, as the director of the County Government Office, had of course attended. If the director of the County Government Office didn't even recognize the county magistrate, that would be a huge joke. He had also personally witnessed the scene where Su Xinghui walked out on the banquet.

Seeing this, Duan Qi was deeply shocked. He knew all too well what kind of "smiling tiger" Yuan Yifu was, yet Su Xinghui had simply refused to give him any face at all and walked away just like that. This was something Duan Qi wouldn't have even dared to imagine.

The new county magistrate had caused such a scene on his very first day in office; Chongjin County was going to be lively from now on. This left Duan Qi feeling incredibly uneasy.

As the director of the County Government Office, he certainly wanted to strive to become a trusted aide to the county magistrate. However, the Chongjin County Party Secretary, Yuan Yifu, was exceptionally powerful in the county. Now that they were at odds, how was he, Duan Qi, supposed to conduct himself? That was the question.

Caught in the middle, he couldn't please anyone no matter what he did.

When the previous county magistrate, Chen Bingkun, was transferred from the city and promoted Duan Qi to director of the County Government Office, it was because he saw that Duan Qi had no background and was a relatively "clean" cadre. Duan Qi had always been cautious in his conduct and work, and it had taken great effort to earn Chen Bingkun's trust. But who would have thought that Chen Bingkun would be transferred away without any warning, replaced by this new county magistrate, Su Xinghui?

And the moment the new county magistrate arrived, he ended up in such a state with Yuan Yifu. This made Duan Qi feel deeply unlucky. He estimated that his days as office director were likely numbered.

Regardless, he didn't dare offend Su Xinghui. Just now, when Nie Xin called him over and the driver told him Su Xinghui had arrived and wanted to see him, he hurriedly apologized to Nie Xin and ran all the way over, fearing that if he were late, he would make Su Xinghui angry.

Su Xinghui's temper was so tough; he must be very scary when he gets angry, right?

But to Duan Qi's surprise, Su Xinghui said very kindly, "Director Duan, where is my office? Take me to see it."

Duan Qi nodded hurriedly. He took a set of keys, led Su Xinghui out of the office, and walked toward the east end. He stopped at the door of an office, took out the keys to open it, and said to Su Xinghui, "County Magistrate Su, time was very tight. If you are not satisfied, just tell me, and I will make improvements."

Su Xinghui looked at the office. The walls had clearly been painted not long ago, and the desk, chairs, and sofa in the office had all been replaced with new ones. The room still emitted a faint smell of lime, but a few potted green plants in the corner made the air in the room much fresher.

Su Xinghui nodded and said, "Mm, not bad. Let's leave it as it is."

Duan Qi placed the keys on the desk and asked, "County Magistrate Su, do you have any other instructions?"

Su Xinghui pointed to the sofa and said, "Sit. Let's have a chat."

Duan Qi sat on the edge of the sofa, feeling somewhat restrained, and looked at Su Xinghui.

Su Xinghui smiled and said, "Director Duan, don't be nervous."

Duan Qi hurriedly said, "County Magistrate Su, please don't call me Director Duan; just call me Duan Qi."

Su Xinghui nodded. "Comrade Duan Qi, I heard you were among the first batch of university students after the resumption of the college entrance exam, and that you graduated from the Chinese Department of Hongzhou University? Then we are in the same major!"

Duan Qi said, "I can't compare to you, County Magistrate. My skills are only good enough for writing documents."

In the files Ke Zhifang gave Su Xinghui, he naturally wouldn't omit Duan Qi, the director of the County Government Office. He was among the first batch of graduates after the resumption of the college entrance exam and was a famous "pen-pusher" in the Chongjin County Government Office, but because his personality was too honest, he had never been highly valued.

It wasn't until Chen Bingkun was transferred to Chongjin County as county magistrate that he saw Duan Qi was honest and had no background, so he promoted him to director of the County Government Office.

Chen Bingkun was a trusted aide to the City Organization Department Minister Jiang Danian, so Yuan Yifu had to respect his opinions. Moreover, the director of the County Government Office was basically the county magistrate's chief steward, and the county magistrate's opinion was decisive; that was why Duan Qi became the director.

Since Su Xinghui had arrived in Chongjin County, he certainly couldn't make enemies with everyone. He needed to unite some forces worth uniting and use a few capable people. Duan Qi was one such person; he had no background and didn't belong to any faction. If one said he was Chen Bingkun's man, well, Chen Bingkun was already gone, so now he was effectively a lone wolf.

Furthermore, Su Xinghui had sized Duan Qi up. Duan Qi was a thin, gaunt middle-aged man with thick spectacle lenses, and the fingers of his left hand were stained a charred yellow by cigarettes. This allowed Su Xinghui to see at a glance that Duan Qi had been staying up late writing documents.