"Excuse me, Committee Member Ma, the mayor had something to discuss with me earlier, which took a while. I'm sorry to have kept you waiting." Li Xiuyuan walked into his office with a smile, looking at Ma Tao as he spoke, while observing Ma Tao's expression.

Seeing that Ma Tao's face was pale, although he was trying his best to hide it, his expression was already very obvious. Li Xiuyuan immediately understood that Ma Tao must have read the letter of complaint.

"No, no." Ma Tao held onto the armrests of the chair, trying to stand up. After all, Li Xiuyuan, as the owner of the office, had returned, and it wouldn't be appropriate for him to sit there casually without getting up.

But Ma Tao felt his legs were a little weak.

Li Xiuyuan reacted quickly. Seeing that Ma Tao's legs were about to give way, he knew he couldn't let Ma Tao expose himself. He immediately stepped forward and gently held Ma Tao's shoulder.

“Committee Member Ma, please sit down. Let’s have a casual chat, mainly about the open bidding process.”

As Li Xiuyuan spoke, he walked around the desk, sat down at his own seat, and then chatted with Ma Tao about the public bidding process, discussing work discipline with Ma Tao.

Of course, most of the time Li Xiuyuan was the one talking, and Ma Tao was listening.

At this moment, Ma Tao was in a state of utter confusion. Where Li Xiuyuan couldn't see, his legs were trembling violently. He placed his hands on his lap, trying his best to control his legs, lest he be unable to walk after the work meeting.

Throughout the conversation, Ma Tao struggled several times with the decision of whether or not to kneel down before Li Xiuyuan again and beg him to suppress the whistleblower letter.

But ultimately, his status and position are different now, and he's become a bit more assertive. He used to be just a section-level cadre, kneeling before the old Party Secretary without hesitation; now he's a deputy section-level cadre, and also a discipline committee member.

Li Xiuyuan was just a deputy section-level cadre and a young man. Of course, more importantly, the incident happened so suddenly that he was completely unprepared.

After about ten minutes, Li Xiuyuan estimated that the time was almost up and Ma Tao should have recovered a bit, so he prepared to end the conversation.

"Committee Member Ma, we still need your Discipline Inspection Commission to work hard on this public bidding process and ensure that work discipline is maintained."

"Okay, Mayor Li, definitely." Ma Tao nodded, and when he stood up, he was trembling, clenching his back teeth, as if afraid of losing his balance.

Seeing Ma Tao like this, Li Xiuyuan's heart skipped a beat. Although he knew Ma Tao was timid, he was still somewhat surprised that he was so frightened that he could hardly maintain his composure.

To avoid using too much force, Li Xiuyuan smiled and reached out his hand to Ma Tao.

"Committee Member Ma, we hope you can give us your strong support for this open bidding process."

Li Xiuyuan's words made Ma Tao's eyes light up, as if he had grasped a lifeline. He had originally thought that he and Li Xiuyuan were not on good terms, but now that Li Xiuyuan had something on him, he would definitely try to destroy him.

But now it seems that's not necessarily true. Li Xiuyuan is still useful, and we can still talk to him. Things may not have gotten that bad yet.