Chapter 2594: Quite Talented

Xing Guodong had once tried to use his advantage of having worked in the Planning Commission and the Policy Research Office for many years to make Su Xinghui dependent on him, thereby drawing them closer.

Who knew that Su Xinghui was not a power-hungry person? He had nothing he needed to fight for in the Policy Research Office, and his status there was transcendent. Consequently, he did not have close relationships with anyone in the office. His relationship with Xing Guodong was only slightly closer than with others, and that was only because Xing Guodong's Economic System Division was directly under his supervision.

Such progress naturally could not satisfy Xing Guodong. He had considered giving Su Xinghui gifts, but Su Xinghui was a wealthy man, and his wealth did not come from corruption or bribery, but from selling paintings. He was a member of the China Artists Association and a great painter.

Xing Guodong was also a man living on a salary; how much savings could he have? He estimated that the gifts he could afford would not impress Su Xinghui, so he abandoned that idea.

This troubled Xing Guodong greatly. However, this time, he finally found an opportunity. Xia Song was clearly Su Xinghui's trusted aide, like a younger brother to him. If he could introduce a girlfriend to Xia Song, wouldn't that bring him closer to Su Xinghui?

He specifically asked his wife to scout for a girl with good qualifications in the Youth League Committee, as there were many young women there. His wife truly found a good girl for him: Qi Hongyu.

Through the deliberate efforts of Xing Guodong's wife to build a friendship, Qi Hongyu had dinner at the Xing residence once. Xing Guodong was immediately very satisfied with her. Qi Hongyu was well-educated, straightforward in character, and came from a good family—a perfect match for Xia Song.

Xing Guodong estimated that if he introduced Qi Hongyu to Xia Song, Xia Song would certainly be satisfied, and Su Xinghui would surely be happy as well. Wouldn't his relationship with Su Xinghui then naturally draw closer?

Looking at it today, the effect was indeed quite good. With today's poker game and the introduction of a partner for Xia Song, Su Xinghui's face indeed showed much more warmth.

Xing Guodong then made an effort to improve his relationship with Su Xinghui. To be honest, he was a relatively talented person. If he lacked talent, he could not have become a division chief without a background. Some leaders also wanted to use capable people like Xing Guodong.

Xing Guodong was intimately familiar with both the Planning Commission and the Policy Research Office. He was very well-versed in business and had a high level of theoretical knowledge, especially in economic theory, which he had a head full of, though he had few opportunities to put it to use.

As he deliberately drew closer to Su Xinghui, the two had many common topics. While playing poker, Xing Guodong brought up several of Su Xinghui's articles. Once these articles were mentioned, everyone present praised them endlessly, saying that Su Xinghui's articles were well-written and every word was a gem.

They were not just randomly flattering him; they were all skilled writers themselves and naturally knew what constituted a good article.

For a good article, the primary requirement was, of course, good writing. In this regard, Su Xinghui naturally had no issues; he was a great talent from the Chinese department, and his writing was top-tier even within the Policy Research Office.

However, for an article to be good, just having good writing wasn't enough—unless the writing reached the level of the *Tengwang Pavilion Preface*. At that level, one didn't need to look at what it was saying; one just needed to open their mouth wide and say "Good, good, good." For an average person writing an article, to be called good, it needed to have substance.

Having substance meant having sufficient arguments to support one's thesis. Su Xinghui's articles naturally lacked no arguments. He had spent over seven years in practical work at the grassroots level and had achieved outstanding results; when it came to arguments, no one in the Policy Research Office could compare to him.

With these, Su Xinghui's articles were indeed worthy of being called good. These people had naturally read the leader's articles, and they immediately cited classics and praised Su Xinghui's work.

Among them, Xing Guodong's comments were the most insightful. He had deliberately studied Su Xinghui's articles during this period, and at this moment, it naturally came in handy. He did not blindly say Su Xinghui's articles were good; he also offered some of his own opinions and suggestions, which truly caught Su Xinghui's attention.

Su Xinghui discovered that this Division Chief Xing was indeed quite talented. It seemed that this Planning Commission was truly a place where hidden talents resided!

The soft-sleeper carriage was filled with laughter, and the atmosphere was very harmonious. What made Su Xinghui feel most comfortable was that although Xing Guodong, Old Tang, and the others were heavy smokers, they didn't smoke at all today. This was naturally to accommodate Su Xinghui, as he did not smoke.

Chatting in such an environment was quite pleasant.

The group played cards until past ten o'clock and chatted until past ten, at which point they each went to their beds to rest.

The next day, it wasn't until past twelve noon that the train arrived at the Shanghai Railway Station. At this point, it was already an hour behind the scheduled arrival time. For the railway department at that time, a one-hour delay was not a major event.

A deputy director from the Shanghai Municipal Government General Office came to meet them. He had arrived at the station more than ten minutes before the scheduled time, but he hadn't expected the train to be delayed. He waited at the station for over an hour before the train finally arrived.

At the exit, a staff member under the deputy director held up a sign with Su Xinghui's name on it. Seeing this, Su Xinghui walked over with Xing Guodong, Xia Song, and the others. Xing Guodong asked the staff member, "Are you here to meet our Director Su?"

The staff member nodded and said, "Yes, which one is Director Su?"

Xing Guodong introduced Su Xinghui's identity. The staff member ran toward the ticket inspection office at the exit and called out the deputy director. It turned out that the deputy director had been so impatient from waiting that he had gone into the ticket inspection office to rest for a while.

After the deputy director came out, he said to Su Xinghui with a face full of smiles, "Director Su, right? Hello, I am Mu Dezhang from the Shanghai Municipal Government General Office."

The staff member said, "This is our Director Mu."

Su Xinghui shook hands with Mu Dezhang and said, "Hello, Director Mu!"

Mu Dezhang said, "Director Su, let's go, get in the car."

Mu Dezhang had brought two cars. He had Su Xinghui and Xing Guodong ride in the same car as him, while the other three members of the research team rode in the other car. After they got in, the cars headed toward the Municipal Government Guest House.

Mu Dezhang laughed and said, "Director Su is truly young and promising! I have seen many young cadres in the Planning Commission, but this is truly the first time I have seen a leader as young as Director Su."

Su Xinghui smiled slightly. Today, Shanghai had only sent a deputy director from the Municipal Government General Office to meet them, which was a slight disregard for him. He was here representing the State Planning Commission for research; generally speaking, shouldn't Shanghai have sent a vice mayor in charge to meet them?

The Planning Commission was a major government office, and its officials were considered three ranks higher than local officials. Although this Deputy Director Mu was of the same rank as Su Xinghui, making it seem appropriate for him to meet them, according to unwritten conventions, this was a slight. ===== CHAPTER 2596 =====