Chapter 883

Furthermore, it was already December, and the new year was just around the corner. County Party Secretary Comrade Ji Tao had already been in Shangjun County for four years. Now that the economic development situation in Shangjun County was good, there were rumors in the city that Comrade Ji Tao would very likely be promoted this time. At this critical moment, if such a major incident occurred in the County Party Committee, the higher-ups would question Comrade Ji Tao's ability to control the situation, and voices of opposition would certainly emerge, which would definitely affect Comrade Ji Tao's future.

If Comrade Ji Tao were promoted, who would succeed him as County Party Secretary? The most likely candidate was, of course, Zhang Kaishan. This was a matter where one move could affect the whole situation. It could be said that as long as the county remained stable, Zhang Kaishan could steadily become the County Party Secretary. At this time, Su Xinghui would certainly not act recklessly.

Besides, the relationship between Jia Hequn and Shu Rong hadn't been caught in the act; it was currently only what Lei Ming had seen. And nowadays, matters of personal conduct could be big or small. Without evidence from other aspects, it would be impossible to cause Jia Hequn any real damage, as Jia Hequn also had his own background.

Su Xinghui added, "Brother Lei, don't go investigating County Magistrate Jia anymore. This isn't a good thing for you either. If he really has any problems, the truth will eventually come out. One day, he will naturally reveal his own flaws."

Lei Ming smiled somewhat embarrassedly. If it weren't for Su Xinghui, he really would have had the idea of investigating Jia Hequn. But hearing Su Xinghui say this, Lei Ming really felt that it was indeed inappropriate for him to investigate Jia Hequn. For a subordinate to investigate a leader was a major taboo in the Chinese officialdom. If it got out, it would indeed have a significant impact on Lei Ming's reputation.

Su Xinghui raised his glass and said, "Come, Brother Lei, I'll toast you. I know you're doing this for my own good, but please don't investigate this matter anymore. Come, this drink is my way of thanking you!"

Lei Ming said he had accidentally seen Jia Hequn enter Shu Rong's clothing store, but how could there be so many coincidences? Su Xinghui knew he must have been staking out the place. Why would Lei Ming do that? Of course, it was because Jia Hequn had once strongly advocated for an investigation into Su Xinghui, and Lei Ming wanted to vent some anger for him. However, for Su Xinghui, this was unnecessary. He didn't want Lei Ming to ruin his impression in the eyes of the leaders and end up delaying his own future.

Lei Ming raised his glass and drank with Su Xinghui. The two looked at each other and smiled, everything understood without words.

The next morning, Su Xinghui accompanied Zhang Kaishan to Zhuangyuan Lane to take a look. The Hou family was returning today, and the county government had carried out protective renovations on the Hou family's old residence. Su Xinghui wanted to see how the renovations had turned out, and Zhang Kaishan also wanted Su Xinghui to see if there was anything amiss.

As soon as they reached the entrance of Zhuangyuan Lane, Su Xinghui saw that the massive white marble archway had been scrubbed clean, and the four large characters "Zhuangyuan Men Di" (Zhuangyuan Residence) on the archway shone brilliantly in the sunlight.

Walking into the lane, the winding bluestone path had also been washed very clean, almost spotless, and the blue bricks on the walls had been scrubbed one by one. Some damaged areas had also been replaced with new blue bricks, seemingly restoring the original appearance from a hundred years ago.

Zhang Kaishan pushed open the gate of a courtyard. He saw that all the sheds in this courtyard had been completely demolished, and the house had been repaired. The broken tiles on the roof had each been replaced, and the new tiles were specifically fired according to the original style, exactly the same as the original ones.

The courtyard had also been repaved with blue bricks and swept clean. Several flower beds had been replanted with flowers. Although it was early winter and the flowering trees were not in bloom, it had already added a lot of vitality to the courtyard.

There were also several large vats placed in the courtyard, filled with water. These were used by wealthy families in the past for fire prevention. Although there were now water faucets, such large vats were still placed in Hou Dali's courtyard. This was a tradition of the Hou family for many years, and Hou Dali was using this way to preserve the Hou family's traditions.

The doors and windows of the main rooms and side rooms had also been repaired, maintaining the same style as the original old residence. There were carved wooden lattices on the doors and windows, and the entire courtyard looked antique, a far cry from the crowded tenement Su Xinghui had seen last time.

Zhang Kaishan smiled. "Xinghui, you have an eye for art. Help me take a look, how is this courtyard repaired?"

Su Xinghui gave a thumbs up and nodded. "Uncle Zhang, you're truly amazing. To be able to repair this courtyard so well in such a short time, I admire you!"

Zhang Kaishan said, "Are you being sincere? Is this courtyard really repaired well? I don't have much confidence in my heart."

Su Xinghui said, "Of course I'm being sincere. I think this courtyard is repaired really well. I estimate that when the Hou family returns and sees this courtyard, they will definitely be very satisfied."

Hearing Su Xinghui's words, Zhang Kaishan finally felt relieved. Zhang Kaishan trusted Su Xinghui's aesthetic judgment and cultural cultivation very much. Since he said the courtyard was repaired well, it must be true.

Zhang Kaishan nodded. "Then I can rest easy."

Su Xinghui said, "Actually, repairing this courtyard doesn't need to be too complicated or flashy. The main thing is to restore the original appearance. This courtyard looks about the same as Hou Dali's, and the materials used look the same as the original ones. That's already enough."

Zhang Kaishan nodded. "Right, that's what I thought at the time. If it were made too flashy, it would be gilding the lily."

Su Xinghui gave another thumbs up. "Uncle Zhang is wise!"

Zhang Kaishan laughed and said, "Stop flattering me. By the way, Xinghui, you said they should arrive on time this afternoon, right? There won't be any accidents, will there?"

Su Xinghui smiled. "What accidents could there be? There won't be any problems, don't worry."

Zhang Kaishan said, "Haha, I'm not afraid of you laughing at me, but these days, because of this matter, I've always felt uneasy. Seeing that they're coming this afternoon, I've been on edge. I wasn't even like this when Secretary Gu came to the county."

Su Xinghui said, "That's also normal. The Hou family returning might bring a large investment, which is very important for the county's economic construction. It's only right that you're concerned about it. But don't worry, there won't be any accidents."

Su Xinghui had been quite confident that there wouldn't be any accidents, but he didn't expect that there really would be one.

At about a quarter past one in the afternoon, all the members of the County Party Standing Committee, the relevant leaders and staff of the United Front Work Department, plus Su Xinghui—a group of about twenty people—were gathered in the courtyard, preparing to set off for the eastern outskirts to welcome the Hou family. Everyone was beaming; everyone knew that if the Hou family could really bring back a large investment, it would be beneficial for everyone.

Just then, Su Xinghui's pager went off. He took a look and saw it was a Jiangcheng number. He said to Comrade Ji Tao, "Secretary Ji, I'll return a call."

Comrade Ji Tao nodded. "Go ahead, but be quick. The cars are about to set off."

Su Xinghui nodded, ran into the County Party Committee office, picked up the phone, and dialed. The phone only rang once before it was picked up; clearly, the person on the other end was very anxious.

The person on the other end was Hou Dali. He asked in a hurried voice, "Is that Xinghui? I'm Hou Dali."

Hou Dali? Why was he still in Jiangcheng? Hadn't they set off? Su Xinghui asked with a belly full of questions, "Is that Uncle Hou? Where are you? When did you arrive in Jiangcheng?"

Hou Dali said, "Xinghui, I'm really sorry. We arrived in Jiangcheng after ten o'clock this morning and are now at the Bai Meigui Hotel. I estimate we won't be able to return to Shangjun today."

Su Xinghui said in surprise, "What's going on? Uncle Hou, take your time, did something happen? Are you all okay?"

Hou Dali said, "We're fine. It's like this: as soon as we got off the plane, we were surrounded by a group of people from the Jiangcheng Municipal Government's Investment Promotion Office. They were especially enthusiastic and insisted that we get into their cars, and they brought us directly to the Bai Meigui Hotel. At first, we thought they were sent by you to pick us up at the airport. We only realized they weren't after we arrived at the hotel. But they were too enthusiastic and wouldn't let us leave, saying they wanted us to play in Jiangcheng for a few days."

Su Xinghui's brows were already furrowed. Jiangcheng Municipal Government's Investment Promotion Office? Were they here to snatch investors from their Shangjun County? He knew that such things were not uncommon nowadays; local governments would do anything to snatch investments. But the problem was, how did they know the Hou family was returning today?

Su Xinghui said, "Uncle Hou, our county has already made preparations. The County Party Standing Committee members are all waiting here, ready to welcome you."

Hou Dali said, "I know, but they brought so many people, watching us one-on-one, not letting us leave the hotel. But they were also especially enthusiastic, using soft tactics, making it impossible for us to get angry at them. I was afraid you'd be anxious, so I pretended I wanted to go to the restroom and ran outside to page you. Xinghui, don't worry, I will definitely try to get away as soon as possible and rush back to Shangjun."

Su Xinghui said, "Uncle Hou, I understand. Don't be anxious, I'll go report this to the leaders." ===== CHAPTER 885 =====