Chapter 1543: Associate Professor

"Will the name be changed after the airport is reorganized?"

"Of course it has to be changed, otherwise the money would be spent in vain." Li Xuewu held his notebook, walked toward the elevator entrance with Xue Zhifu, and emphasized with a smile: "I think the name 'Fengcheng Red Star International (Tadong) Airport' is quite good; it's eye-catching and bright enough."

"Hehe—" Xue Zhifu paused his footsteps when he reached the elevator entrance, looked at him, and said with a light smile: "It's eye-catching enough; it displays the group's ambition thoroughly."

"Red Steel's vision doesn't just have international."

Li Xuewu stood at the elevator entrance, raised his eyebrows, looked at Xue Zhifu, and emphasized confidently: "There is also the airport."

"Hahaha, the world is yours."

Xue Zhifu smiled, pointed at him, and turned to walk toward his office.

Li Xuewu also had a smile on his face; he pressed the elevator call button. He still had a meeting to preside over in the morning.

"I heard from General Manager Gao that you want to form an iron ore crude extraction project in Yingcheng? When was the project initiated?"

Jing Yunong talked to Old Li for two more sentences; she arrived at the elevator entrance at this time and was also preparing to attend the meeting.

"You didn't even see the report, which means it hasn't been initiated yet." Li Xuewu turned his head and glanced at her, with an attitude of not wanting to pay attention, "Heard? Hehe."

Heh your sister—

Although she knew he was doing it on purpose, facing this attitude, she suspected even more that Li Xuewu was really doing it on purpose.

What? Not convinced—

The elevator door opened. The elevator driver was surprised to see the deputy director Jing, who was waiting at the elevator door, give the Secretary-General a white look, and it was that kind of... indescribable meaningful look. No wonder it was said in the organ that the two were not on good terms.

"General Manager Jing, good morning, Secretary-General."

The driver greeted with a smile, but there was a bit of awkwardness in her smile.

Li Xuewu was much more calm and didn't wait for Jing Yunong; he stepped into the elevator first and said: "10th floor."

"Okay, leader, 10th floor."

The driver's polite smile became increasingly awkward. The first time she could suspect that her eyes were dazzled and she saw wrong, but just now when the Secretary-General rushed into the elevator first, she saw with her own eyes that Deputy Director Jing frowned and glared at the Secretary-General's back. It was a fierce glare!

Actually, she still didn't see the whole thing. With Li Xuewu's tall figure blocking, Deputy Director Jing also gritted her teeth and pinched him. The driver only saw the second half.

"General Manager Jing, you are also on the 10th floor."

At the same time the elevator door closed, the driver suddenly felt that the temperature in the carriage dropped sharply, colder than outside.

"Hmm." Deputy Director Jing only gave a faint hmm, and her expression of not looking at the Secretary-General made the driver wish she could fly the two of them to the 10th floor.

Fortunately, it was only one floor. The elevator arrived quickly, and the two left the carriage one after another. The driver let out a fierce sigh of relief. This job was really hard!

"Deputy Director Gu." Li Xuewu greeted Gu Weijie, who had arrived early, in the meeting lounge.

"Comrade Yunong, Secretary-General."

Gu Weijie's polite and slightly distant response made the relationship between the three fully apparent.

The forms of address between members of the group's Management Committee could fully explain the closeness of the relationship.

For example, the name without the surname but with the word "comrade"; this kind of address was considered relatively formal on any occasion. It seemed polite, but it also lacked closeness.

Of course, calling them this was much better than directly calling out their positions; at least it represented identity recognition.

For example, Secretary-General?

Savoring it could make one feel it. On formal occasions, Li Huai De was accustomed to calling Li Xuewu Secretary-General; in private, the two called each other Xuewu; if there were others, they called each other Comrade Xuewu, which showed that the relationship between the two was relatively close.

And calling him Secretary-General on any occasion was no different from calling the people below Section Chief Liu or Manager Li when holding meetings, but Li Xuewu's rank was indeed not high.

It had only been a few years since he was a proper section chief; could he be on equal footing?

If the relationship was good, it was fine; giving face was fine, and flattering was fine. Calling him comrade was closer.

In the past two years, the relationship between Gu Weijie and Li Xuewu had gradually become subtle.

It wasn't even as stable as the surface relationship between Li Xuewu and Jing Yunong; the temperature had dropped very sharply.

What was the reason?

When the two first met at the large meeting venue, it couldn't be called harmonious, but it couldn't be called repulsive either.

Later, at the second meeting at Dong Wenxue's house, with Han Shu and Dong Wenxue acting as matchmakers, the two tacitly determined a political and interest alliance relationship.

In the subsequent work, Li Xuewu also supported her very much, and she also actively provided feedback.

At that time, the conflict between Li Xuewu and Jing Yunong was almost public, and his relationship with her was even closer, even reaching the point of entering the house and exchanging personal feelings.

And then?

From close comrades-in-arms to strange comrades, they only used 4 years. What happened in these 4 years?

Did Li Xuewu do something wrong?

No, Li Xuewu was still Li Xuewu, but Gu Weijie's heart had changed, or rather, her goals had changed.

After Gu Weijie went to work at the Red Star Plant, the situation changed several times, and she experienced many people and things.

In this process, her status gradually stabilized, and the support she received and the influence she harvested increased day by day. Her mentality and goals naturally changed accordingly.

Then why did she part ways with Li Xuewu?

Rather than saying she parted ways with Li Xuewu, it was better to say she took the initiative to distance herself from Li Huai De, showing a relatively independent attitude in terms of ideology.

And Dong Wenxue, who had always supported Li Huai De, became increasingly distant in his alliance relationship with Gu Weijie due to the lack of participation in the Steel Rolling Plant's work during the creation and development of the Steel City Industrial Zone.

After experiencing several fluctuations in the situation and active choices, although the relationship hadn't reached the point of breaking, Han Shu's face was almost useless.

Two years ago, she could still go to Dong Wenxue's house to play mahjong and eat dumplings during the New Year; in the last two years, where was that?

Li Xuewu left the Security Department to work in the Management Committee Office, facing the critical moment of taking over the post in Liaodong. Gu Weijie didn't stand firmly on their side.

This also made Dong Wenxue completely disappointed in her, because loyalty to class feelings that wasn't absolute was absolute disloyalty.

So in this alliance relationship, it was Gu Weijie who first showed a maverick side, causing Dong Wenxue to have to actively stop the relevant cooperative relationship.

On the surface, the group's Management Committee team naturally maintained a united comrade relationship under Li Huai De's emphasis, but in reality, undercurrents were surging, and the taste had long changed.

Of course, some people said that relationships were complex. Dong Wenxue's choice to terminate the cooperative relationship didn't mean Li Xuewu lost the possibility of continuing cooperation.

This sentence also depended on the situation. When Li Xuewu, with Li Huai De's support, completed the determination of relevant organ systems and the combing of relevant organizational personnel, it was inevitable that he would touch the minefield of Gu Weijie, who was planning for more influence.

At the same time, Li Xuewu was too young and entered the Management Committee too early, which also made Gu Weijie raise her vigilance.

Gu Weijie was certainly not fighting alone. With Su Weide as a troublemaker, plus the successive activities in these few years, she had many opportunities and many means.

With the help of the Workers' New Village project, her prestige was very high now. At least she had a bit of strength to wrestle with Old Li, and Old Li had to fully consider her opinions on some important issues.

Developing according to this line of thinking, within three years, after Old Li made progress, the one to take over would definitely be her.

Gu Weijie thought so; whether others thought so, it wasn't known.

However, Li Xuewu determined that Old Li didn't think so, and he and Dong Wenxue didn't think so either.

Gu Weijie couldn't become Li Huai De's successor because she lacked a bit of ruthlessness.

Old Li could choose to quit smoking and drinking to work for a few more years, could endure Xiong Bencheng's rascality and Su Weide's arrogance, and could tolerate Cheng Kaiyuan and Zhang Jinsong. Just looking at this magnanimity to consider the overall situation, how many people could do it?

Back then, Cheng Kaiyuan was in trouble, but Gu Weijie wasn't seen reaching out to help. This was the main reason why Li Xuewu determined she couldn't rise to the top.

Look at Cheng Kaiyuan's reaction again. He naturally thanked Li Huai De for reaching out to help, but he was still unconvinced.

But it was also after that time that Cheng Kaiyuan's means were all open and aboveboard, and he never played any more dirty tricks.

A gentleman's contest compares real skills.

What about Gu Weijie's side?

Li Xuewu knew, or rather, mentioned by Dong Wenxue, that she would stop at nothing to achieve her goals.

That's right, she was anxious. She was afraid that the higher-ups couldn't wait for Old Li to leave early; she was afraid she didn't have enough influence and prestige to take over this post.

If she really missed this term, she wouldn't have a chance in the next term, and she would also leave the Red Steel Group.

Previously, it was said that coming to the Red Star Plant wasn't a sweet spot, but the Red Steel Group now was different.

As long as one had eyes, who couldn't see that the Red Steel Group was flourishing? In the eyes of the higher-level leaders, it was the favorite son, the touchstone for experimenting with the market economy.

Working here, one didn't need to worry about wind and rain, and any decision had experimental experience to support it.

Walking to this step, leaving the Red Steel Group had only two directions: either there was no higher place to go, transferring to other units to make progress, or directly being laid off.

According to the age of this group's team members, few of them had the qualifications to stay in the group to retire. Among these people, only Xiong Bencheng had this qualification.

Old Li's future was almost clear; flying up from the Red Steel Group was almost a foregone conclusion.

And those of them who were young could wait for another term; those who were old couldn't fight for the successor position and could only circulate to other units, and getting a top position wasn't a problem.

But this was the last choice, and also the most helpless choice. She clearly had a chance; why not fight for it?

Readers who have mixed in the world know that the first step to getting ahead is naturally not stealing the second sister-in-law, but betraying the big brother.

Stealing the second sister-in-law and betraying the big brother are two different things.

Only by carrying the flag yourself to be the big brother do you have a chance to recruit troops and horses, and have a chance to compete in the Central Plains.

In Gu Weijie's view, following Li Huai De's butt to wait for the successor like Li Xuewu was purely muddled.

Even if Li Huai De was kind and particular, could he wait for him in the Red Steel Group for three years?

Give Li Xuewu three years; could he rank before her?

Different concepts and ideals led to Gu Weijie's change in attitude toward Li Xuewu.

This is called "those with different paths do not plan together."

Look at Deputy Director Jing again, who was at odds on the surface but hooked up behind the back; this relationship was very different.

Jing Yunong had self-knowledge. She knew what she lacked to reach Old Li's position.

She came down from the ministry and had been working in the organ before. In this kind of heavy industrial enterprise, she lacked grassroots management experience and even more lacked professional technical cognition.

You could say Old Li didn't understand business work, but you couldn't deny that it was under Li Huai De's leadership that the Red Star Plant opened a new chapter of technological transformation and technological innovation.

Even in the future group development history, this period would definitely be highlighted, and the content introduced would definitely be how the group's first general manager, Comrade Li Huai De, attached importance to technological innovation and technical development, led all comrades in the factory to deeply cultivate business, open up and forge ahead, and created brilliant achievements.

With today's development achievements, no one dared to say Li Huai De didn't understand business or technology.

But what about her, Jing Yunong?

Lacking external work experience in economic work, compared with Gao Yaqin, who had thoroughly revitalized the group's economic work and external work today, she knew very well what her second disadvantage was.

Look at Gu Weijie today; she looked like she was building high buildings and feasting guests, but where was the foundation?

A deputy director in charge of organizational and propaganda work, who could neither pick up organizational personnel work nor completely influence enterprise propaganda work, what advantages did she have?

To master an enterprise and drive a group, first of all, you must have a certain business ability, at least you must have your own decision-making power in personnel work.

But think about who was responsible for the group's personnel work?

That's right, it was she, the chief accountant in charge of financial work, who was actually in charge of the group's personnel and labor department.

Even if the personnel department hung the two words "labor and capital," should it be under the jurisdiction of her, the chief accountant?

But the fact was just so. With the support of General Manager Li Huai De, she firmly grasped the personnel work and cooperated with Li Huai De to complete the group's personnel transformation from top to bottom in the past year and a half.

In the past three years, the Red Star Plant experienced the merger of seventeen enterprises, experienced the reorganization of group organizational personnel relations, and then experienced the formation of the Beijing No. 1 Plant.

Personnel work was completely in a pressure peak state, grasping the group's steering wheel to complete a historic transformation, assisting the group to complete industrial upgrading and transformation.

In this year's opening work report, there was the personnel transformation and financial work report she did.

What did this mean?

Very simple, this year's personnel work was still her responsibility. What did it mean to control personnel work for another year? Others didn't know, but didn't Li Xuewu know?

He could display his skills in Liaodong, with smooth politics and harmony; could he be so carefree without Jing Yunong's support behind his back?

When the personnel change application documents reported by the Liaodong Industrial Leadership Group occasionally had requirements for supplementary materials, could it be seen that the documents signed by the Secretary-General were denied and returned?

On the surface, Deputy Director Jing couldn't stand the Secretary-General and made things difficult everywhere, and the people below were also very nervous.

But in reality?

The documents all passed, which made it look like Li Xuewu worked hard for the development of Liaodong industry and was wronged.

Jing Yunong knew very well that she couldn't work long in the Red Steel Group; this kind of outsider could only use Red Steel as a springboard.

Either choose to return to the ministry, or choose to work for another term as a main deputy in other heavy industrial enterprises, or find a chance to jump out directly to carry the beam.

Returning to the ministry meant she possessed enterprise work management experience and could take on the role of person in charge in important departments.

Going to other heavy industrial enterprises to serve as a main deputy was an extension of her work position in the Red Steel Group; in the future, it would still be a bright future.

What about the chance to carry the beam?

It was very rare; it depended on luck, so she wasn't anxious and was still waiting, waiting for Li Xuewu to help her.

Jing Yunong knew that Li Xuewu would definitely help her. In the future group management team with Li Xuewu as the core, there wouldn't be a position for her; this was certain.

It wasn't a conflict in management concepts, but the necessity of iteration of the group management layer.

The higher-ups wouldn't watch Li Xuewu skip over her to serve as the main person in charge; it would seem too rash.

Without the right timing, Li Xuewu wouldn't push her to make progress; it wasn't worth it, and of course, he wouldn't push her to roll away.

Compared to Gu Weijie pushing herself to be roasted on the fire, Jing Yunong appeared much more low-key and pragmatic.

One day, when the higher-ups had to consider moving the group's team, they would definitely consider Gu Weijie first, rather than her, who had always been responsible for financial and personnel work.

In this way, she had a chance to exercise her organizational and personnel capabilities and could also control the group's finance.

Grasping both people and money, can you say she is not important?

In the Red Steel Group, you could say she lacked grassroots management experience and lacked business management foundation, but when she went to other enterprises, you had to say she possessed rich enterprise management experience and was fully qualified to take on the role of main person in charge.

Think about it, what must the main person in charge understand?

Of course, it's not business, it's personnel, it's finance!

What does a pen sign? It's personnel, it's finance. As long as these two guns are held well, who dares not run!

So Gu Weijie was anxious, distanced herself from Li Huai De, seemingly independent, seemingly lively, but in reality, it was like cooking oil on a fire, and she would slowly know the taste of being alone.

And Jing Yunong, seemingly firmly following Li Huai De, in reality, the seriousness shown in work and life had already made the group respect her and not dare to underestimate her.

Under the means of boiling a frog in warm water, she grasped the group's personnel and financial power. Does Old Li respect Gu Weijie more, or does he respect her, Jing Yunong, more?

Looking at it this way, in the group's organizational ecology, is Gu Weijie more independent, or is she, Jing Yunong, more independent?

Jing Yunong didn't know about others, but this meeting today wasn't presided over by Deputy Director Gu Weijie, who was in charge of organizational work, but precisely by Secretary-General Li Xuewu.

Under the secretary's reminder, Gu Weijie walked in front. After Jing Yunong glanced at Li Xuewu, the corners of her mouth curled up slightly, and she walked behind Gu Weijie.

The three walked into the large conference room on the 10th floor of the group office building one after another, and the applause at the scene was like thunder.

Above the rostrum of the meeting venue, a row of large characters written in yellow on a red background, "Red Star Steel Group's Second Active Learning and Application of *** Thought Activists, Four-Good Units, Five-Good Fighters Representative Conference," was quite clear.

Li Xuewu was the last to ascend the stage and the last to take his seat, making it look like he was the protagonist today.

Actually, looking at today's arrangement, thinking this way wasn't necessarily wrong; the Secretary-General was indeed the first to speak.

"Comrades, entrusted by the group's Management Committee, I represent the group's Management Committee, and the Management Committee Director and Group General Manager, Comrade Li Huai De, to preside over today's meeting..."

Those with clear minds in the audience had already heard a different meaning from the Secretary-General's first sentence.

And Jing Yunong, who was sitting beside Gu Weijie, had her eyes raised, and she secretly scolded him for being a little fox.

Old Li meeting him was really eight lifetimes of bad luck!

"Shouldn't economic work be the responsibility of General Manager Gao?" Li Xuewu glanced at Ji Jiuzheng, who was standing in front of the desk on the right, and said: "This kind of thing also comes to me?"

"It was arranged by Director Li."

Deputy Secretary-General Ji Jiuzheng had no embarrassment or awkwardness on his face because he was just a messenger.

If it wasn't arranged by Director Li, and the object of the arrangement wasn't Li Xuewu, he wouldn't have come personally.

"Really want to tire me to death."

Li Xuewu complained directly in front of Ji Jiuzheng without caring who arranged the work.

"Secretary-General, there is still time to prepare."

Ji Jiuzheng was also an old man of the Red Star Plant, having served as deputy director of the Technology Department before, and had known Li Xuewu for a long time.

But back then, Li Xuewu was just a security officer who had just arrived at the Red Star Plant, but now he was his immediate superior.

Thinking about Li Xuewu's work achievements over the years and his experience of stepping on people's heads to get to the top, he was under great pressure.

There was another reason for Ji Jiuzheng's lack of spirit, and that was his tenure at the United Energy General Company.

He regarded this experience as a failure in his life, failing to seize the opportunity and affecting his career planning.

United Energy General Company, the group's first important enterprise to reach technical and management cooperation with foreign capital.

The group's positioning for the United Energy General Company was to base itself on the present, look forward to the future, and the goal was to develop mining resources, regardless of domestic or foreign. The future was limitless.

It was just that United Energy was newly established, and the middle-level cadres who were useful in the Red Star Plant back then were all leading one side, and there was a temporary shortage of manpower to fill the positions, which gave him a chance.

Pity, pity, he didn't seize the opportunity.

Now looking at Bu Qingfang tossing and turning, and no group leaders worrying about the performance of the United Energy General Company, it made his incompetence in business even more apparent.

Swapping positions with Bu Qingfang seemed to be returning to work in an important department of the group, but in reality, the group leaders were deliberately shaming him, letting him stand in the back and learn a bit.

For nearly a year, he hadn't recovered from this energy, and his spirit was much worse.

Li Xuewu scanned him. Although he was very unwilling to take over this work, he still took the document and read it.

"Is it led by the Comprehensive Management Department?"

He asked while reading the document: "Which departments did Director Li instruct to assist?"

"Director Li didn't give special instructions, just said that you are responsible for organizing and coordinating relevant work."

Ji Jiuzheng looked at him cautiously and reported: "If you have any needs, I will contact them later."

"The 25th? Saturday?" Li Xuewu frowned and pointed at the time on the document, raised his head to look at him, and said: "Don't I need to manage the work in Liaodong?"

He pushed the document in his hand with some dissatisfaction and said: "Tell Director Li that I don't have time. I'm preparing to return to Liaodong on Wednesday; there is still work to be busy with over there."

"This—" Ji Jiuzheng was in a dilemma now. Li Xuewu could say these words, but he couldn't feed these words back to Director Li.

The group's top leader; Li Huai De could communicate with Li Xuewu on the phone, and there was no problem meeting and talking, but he couldn't do it by passing the message; he couldn't withstand the pressure.

"Director Li considered that the other party's identity is special after all, and there are few in the group with external work experience."

Ji Jiuzheng naturally couldn't go back with a refusal, thought for a moment, and took the initiative to explain: "Sanhe Stock Company is after all a foreign enterprise that has been cooperating with the mainland for many years. You see this..."

"This kind of work should be the responsibility of General Manager Gao; she is the professional counterpart."

Li Xuewu looked at him, tapped the document in front of him, and emphasized: "Clearly knowing it is external trade work, needing to deal with foreign trade, not finding General Manager Gao but finding me, do you think it's appropriate?"

"Yes, yes, I can't figure this out either."

Ji Jiuzheng was embarrassed by him and nodded repeatedly, standing there with his head slightly lowered, listening to Li Xuewu's dissatisfaction.

"The enterprise was contacted by me, so all work must be handed over to me?"

Li Xuewu's eyelids drooped. Seeing that he was submissive and didn't speak, he reached out and pulled the document back.

January 25th, the former cabinet minister of Japan, honorary doctor of law of Waseda University, Japanese politician Matsumura Kenzo would lead an economic and trade team to visit the mainland.

Sanhe Stock Company, as an enterprise that had been cooperating with the mainland for many years, was naturally also in the visiting team.

The inquiry letter brought by Ji Jiuzheng was an inquiry from Sanhe Stock Company, consulting whether a new round of inter-enterprise trade cooperation could be reached during this visit.

"What the hell is this? Forcing the palace?"

After reading the document, Li Xuewu sneered, pushed the document aside, and hummed: "Who gave them the courage."

"The inquiry letter was transferred by the Ministry of Foreign Trade. The leaders above should also have paid attention to this cooperation intention."

Ji Jiuzheng carefully deliberated and then replied: "I believe Director Li is also afraid of problems, which is why he asked me to hand the inquiry letter to you to handle. After all—"

He raised his hand to signal embarrassedly, meaning that the relationship between Sanhe Stock Company and Li Xuewu was not shallow, so it should be solved by Li Xuewu.

Li Xuewu scanned him, didn't lose his temper at him, leaned back in his chair, and looked out the window.

The air in the office seemed to freeze. After a long silence, he opened his mouth and said: "I know. You go back and prepare first. I will go to the meeting on the 25th."

"Okay, Secretary-General." Ji Jiuzheng finally waited for his reply, the stone in his heart fell, moved his stiff neck, and nodded: "If you have any needs, I will make preparations in advance."

"When will General Manager Gao return?" Li Xuewu turned his head to look at him and asked: "Still in Jin Ling?"

"I heard it's in Jin Ling." Ji Jiuzheng replied cautiously: "If you need to contact General Manager Gao, I will arrange for the office to inquire about the dynamics in Jin Ling."

"Forget it, we'll talk about it then."

Li Xuewu sat up straight, picked up his teacup, sized him up, and asked: "Did you go for this year's physical examination?"

"Ah? I went, I went."

Ji Jiuzheng didn't know why Li Xuewu suddenly asked him this, and his answer was a bit hasty.

"Any problems?"

Li Xuewu's eyelids drooped, and he took a sip of hot tea, looking as if he was very concerned about his health.

Ji Jiuzheng had also been in the organ for many years; how could he not hear the different meaning in his words.

"Nothing much, just that the prostate is a bit big."

He couldn't figure out what Li Xuewu's intention was, so his answer couldn't be too simple or too hypocritical.

So he said what should be said and didn't say what shouldn't be said.

This confirmed his work requirements and style of conduct in the position of deputy secretary-general: low-key, cautious.

Li Xuewu put down the teacup in his hand and said: "Sitting in the office, which middle-aged person doesn't have a big prostate?"

He raised his head to look at Ji Jiuzheng, his gaze sharp, and said: "Is it because the prostate is big that all the spirit is consumed? Don't know how you are so listless?"

Without waiting for Ji Jiuzheng, who was looking at him with surprise, to speak, he lowered his eyelids again and said faintly: "If there is no unspeakable difficulty, then find a good doctor to regulate it. Don't be listless all day long. People who don't know might think you are muddling along in the organ."

"……Yes, I know."

Ji Jiuzheng received a head-on blow. Li Xuewu said this sentence extremely ordinarily, but the force was sufficient.

Until he walked out of the office, his brain was still buzzing, which showed that the power was extraordinary.

"Deputy Secretary-General Ji, you are?"

Zhang Enyuan came out of the room holding documents and saw Ji Jiuzheng standing at the leader's doorway with his face changing several times, so he asked softly.

"Secretary Zhang, I'm done here. You go, busy with yours."

Ji Jiuzheng waved his hand in a panic, carried his notebook, passed Zhang Enyuan, and went toward the office direction.

Zhang Enyuan turned his head to look at him, his eyebrows raised slightly, and he turned and entered the Secretary-General's office.

"Leader, there is a call for you."

He walked to the front of Li Xuewu's desk, picked up the phone and said something to the group's communication class, and then handed the phone to Li Xuewu, "It's a call from the Garrison District."

"Hmm, I am Li Xuewu."

Li Xuewu didn't care at first. In the past year or two, whether it was the Garrison District or the 3rd Garrison Regiment, it wasn't that there were no calls, and he wasn't a lost person.

Taking someone's salary and not doing work wouldn't work.

In coordinating the training base, organizing militia training, docking with the light weapons institute experiments, etc., there was his contact.

But he was psychologically prepared for this call because the last time he came back from East Germany, relevant leaders had talked to him and asked for his attitude.

If this call wasn't business-related, it must be that there was a result regarding his next arrangement in the Garrison District.

When he was in the Security Department, the 816th Regiment merged with the Security Brigade and formed the 3rd Garrison Regiment. With his help, the 3rd Garrison Regiment became an ace regiment, the most capable regiment.

And just when the 3rd Garrison Regiment achieved fame, Li Xuewu chose to retreat bravely.

Qi Yaowu didn't quite understand his approach, and other comrades in the 3rd Garrison Regiment also had some thoughts.

Including Wang Xiaoqin, several people contacted him separately and asked about his thoughts in private.

He only had one answer, and that was that he couldn't leave the Red Star Plant, and his attitude was very firm.

Wang Xiaoqin had worked in the Red Star Plant and could already understand his thoughts; it was quite complicated.

It was precisely because of Wang Xiaoqin's explanation that the 3rd Garrison Regiment defaulted to his invisible state.

In these two years, Li Xuewu had almost never been to the 3rd Garrison Regiment's station, even though it was very close to the Sihe Academy.

Qi Yaowu and others also tacitly chose to support and wait—support his choice and wait for the Garrison District's choice.

Actually, Li Xuewu also knew that he had made it difficult for the Garrison District, and the longer it dragged on, the more awkward it became.

Fortunately, someone thought of a way.

In the last talk, Li Xuewu had stated his position: retreat if possible, and obey the organization's decision.

The leader who talked to him was also very surprised that he would have this idea, and had never thought that his attitude would be so firm.

But thinking about his position in the Red Steel Group, he could also understand his choice from other aspects.

In the eyes of that leader, working in an enterprise was nothing more than faster progress and better salary treatment.

But in the currently relatively complex environment, not knowing what kind of situation changes would happen in the future, if it were him, he would definitely choose to stay in the 3rd Garrison Regiment.

Even if it wasn't him, if it were someone else, they would make this choice. Stability wins over everything.

If Li Xuewu stayed in the 3rd Garrison Regiment, with his work ability and strong physical quality, as well as his special identity background, he would also have good development opportunities.

This was one of the reasons why those leaders deliberated.

Another reason was the contribution Li Xuewu made to the development of the 3rd Garrison Regiment and other Garrison District units.

If Li Xuewu's opinion was agreed to, would there still be such close cooperation in the future? This had to be questioned.

If it were them, what would they do?

So after much consideration, there was a result today.

Li Xuewu listened to the requirements on the phone, nodded, and said: "Okay, I'll go over now. Hmm, goodbye, Director Lu."

"Secretary-General, shall I prepare the car for you?"

Zhang Enyuan listened to his phone call and didn't leave, just waiting for the leader to have any instructions.

Now hearing the leader say on the phone that he was going over now, he needed a car.

"Hmm, in ten minutes."

Li Xuewu raised his wrist to look at the time, stood up, and said: "You accompany me to the Garrison District."

"Okay, I'll go contact the car now."

Zhang Enyuan agreed very readily, helped him tidy up the document bag, and turned to leave the room.

Li Xuewu pushed open the rest compartment and looked at the green military uniform hanging on the wall. The 3rd Garrison Regiment would send a set over every year, including an overcoat and leather shoes.

He also thought about it, but closed the door and decided to just wear the navy blue jacket he had on to go over.

The collar of the white shirt was stiff, like his attitude and determination. The jacket hid the sharpness of his youth. He ultimately had to make a choice; one couldn't have both fish and bear's paw.

After washing his face and just putting down the towel, Zhang Enyuan walked in and reported: "Secretary-General, the car is ready, it's downstairs."

"Okay, let's set off."

Li Xuewu's action of putting down the towel was very casual; he was no longer hesitant as he was when he answered the phone.

Zhang Enyuan looked at him and silently took the wool overcoat from the hanger to help him drape it over his shoulders.

The car only stopped for a moment at the gate of the Garrison District. After the duty post looked at his certificate, they saluted and let him pass; they should have been notified.

It was the first time the group's car pool driver had come to this kind of place, and it wasn't a coincidence that Zhang Enyuan was the same.

The two sat in the front, relying entirely on Li Xuewu, who was sitting in the back, to guide them, and only then did they find the location of the office building.

"You wait for me in the car, don't come down."

Li Xuewu gave instructions and didn't wear the overcoat, walking into the office building alone.

Zhang Enyuan hadn't waited for the leader before, but coming to the Garrison District this time, thinking he might have to wait a while longer, he didn't expect to wait for a full hour.

If it weren't for the strict rules here, he would have wanted to get out of the car to find the leader, afraid that the leader would have any needs.

Seeing Li Xuewu come out of the office building, Zhang Enyuan jumped out of the car and helped him open the car door.

"Let's go, back to the group."

Li Xuewu only gave one instruction. After getting in the car, he leaned back in the back seat and closed his eyes to rest.

Except for the complex emotions felt when welcoming the leader just now, Zhang Enyuan really couldn't figure out or understand what the leader had experienced here.

The group office building was busy. After Li Xuewu returned to the office, Zhang Enyuan didn't arrange for anyone to report work, blocking those who weren't urgent.

He wasn't sure what state the leader was in; at least after returning to the office, the leader had no work.

Reading, the leader took a thick red book from the bookshelf and read it, sitting on the sofa.

Until the bell for getting off work rang, Zhang Enyuan tidied up the documents in his office, looked at the time on his hand, and determined that it was ten minutes past the off-work time, only then did he knock on the leader's office door.

Without waiting for the leader's permission, he pushed the door and walked in. Seeing the leader still sitting on the sofa reading, he reminded softly: "Secretary-General, it's off-work time."

"Hmm." Li Xuewu just responded with a hmm, and it was a long time before he put down the red book in his hand, leaned on the sofa, and closed his eyes to think.

Zhang Enyuan didn't dare to disturb him, determining that the leader already knew he had come in and knew it was off-work time, which was fine.

The larger the office, the harder it was to tidy up, especially since the Secretary-General had returned to work in the capital for a few days. The departments below all wanted to save time, avoiding reporting to Steel City, and handed over audit documents here.

He tidied up the documents that the Secretary-General had already audited and signed, placing them in a corner of the large conference table.

He didn't need to distribute them, nor did he need to notify the office; someone would come to take them away early tomorrow morning.

And the documents that hadn't been approved, he would reorganize and place them on one side according to urgency. If there were any particularly urgent ones, he would take them out separately, wait until they were in the car, and hand them to the Secretary-General, reminding him that he must give his opinion today.

This was the necessity of secretarial work.

Being the leader's assistant and also the leader's alarm clock, reminding him what he should do at what time.

"No need to send me off; you go directly to the guesthouse." Li Xuewu opened his eyes, looked at Zhang Enyuan, and said: "Save the trouble of you running back and forth."

"It's no trouble." Zhang Enyuan tidied up the documents, turned back to look at the leader, smiled, and said: "There is no particularly urgent work today; I was thinking of going into the city for a stroll."

"Then call Peng Xiaoli and the others."

Li Xuewu also smiled, looked at him, and said: "We might stay in the capital for a bit longer; you can stroll around more."

"Peng Xiaoli has to accompany his wife after getting off work."

Zhang Enyuan had a bit of friendship with this "predecessor" of his, and it was Peng Xiaoli who took the initiative to invite him.

The two could be considered to have inherited the same lineage, having a natural relationship network, and were friends who could sit together and drink.

He was just answering the leader's concern and didn't mean to talk about Peng Xiaoli.

At this moment, he sized up Li Xuewu's mood and asked softly: "Leader, going to the Garrison District this afternoon was..."

"Hmm, a bit troublesome—"

Li Xuewu let out a long sigh, tapped the red book he had just read with his hand, looked at Zhang Enyuan, and asked: "Do you think I have the image of being a teacher?"

"Ah? This—" Zhang Enyuan was stunned by his question, then tentatively asked: "Are you being invited to be a teacher somewhere?"

"Hmm, the Institute of Political Science and Law, associate professor."

Li Xuewu stood up, walked to the window, and looked out. The Liangma River Industrial Zone was in full view.

"Associate professor, I didn't even know I had this ability." ===== CHAPTER 1544 =====