Power doesn't disappear, it just changes.

Zhang Xingguo suffered two consecutive defeats at town party committee meetings, losing control of the meetings and weakening his authority. This weakened power did not disappear, but rather was transferred to others.

In the current situation in Zhongxin Town, it's obvious who has taken over the power that Zhang Xingguo lost. During the lunch break, after work in the afternoon, many people in the Zhongxin Town government mentioned Li Xiuyuan, no longer referring to him as Deputy Mayor Li.

Even in private, he addresses her as "Mayor Li." His tone is always respectful.

Chen Guangda collected the information he had gathered. During the selection process, it was a group of town party committee members, represented by Li Xiuyuan, who supported his Guangda Company. In fact, it could be said that it was Li Xiuyuan's support that allowed Guangda Construction Company to win the project by standing up to the secretary and mayor.

Chen Guangda wasn't particularly happy. Li Xiuyuan's confrontation with the Party Secretary and the Mayor meant that he had offended them by getting the project.

He had previously collected some information about Li Xiuyuan, and knew that Li Xiuyuan was originally the county magistrate's secretary. He went to the central town for the new rural construction project of Meilin Village. Li Xiuyuan also had a lot of say in the new rural construction project of Meilin Village.

This is why he wanted to invite Li Xiuyuan to dinner before.

But he didn't expect that Li Xiuyuan's right to speak came from this: he actually confronted the Party Secretary and the Town Mayor head-on.

The situation in this central town was far more complex than he had imagined, and the intensity of the struggle was extremely high.

Chen Guangda hesitated for a while, then began to inquire about Li Xiuyuan's personal information in detail. Now that he had won the bid, it could be said that he was already on Li Xiuyuan's side to some extent.

Unless he withdraws from the Meilin Village project without depositing the deposit, he has no choice but to follow Li Xiuyuan. However, withdrawing from the Central Town project without depositing the deposit also presents a problem: he will offend Li Xiuyuan.

Losing the deposit, losing a major project, and offending the county magistrate's secretary—nobody does business like this. They have no choice but to follow Li Xiuyuan down this dark path.

On the way to Meilin Village, Chen Guangda obtained some detailed information about Li Xiuyuan. He learned that Li Xiuyuan had good relationships with the heads of the Finance Bureau and the Industry and Commerce Bureau, and could speak up in the town's Finance Office and Industry and Commerce Office. The money for the project was a special allocation, and only Li Xiuyuan's signature would be effective. With this information, Chen Guangda felt much more at ease.

At least this way, once the work is done, you can get paid. If Li Xiuyuan has no say in the finances and can't get paid even after the work is done, then it's a huge pitfall.

At 3:40 p.m., Li Xiuyuan was woken up by his alarm clock. After washing his face, he asked someone to drive him to Meilin Village to prepare for a meeting.

When Li Xiuyuan arrived at Meilin Village, the entire guidance team was already there. Zhang Xingdong was chatting with Chen Guangda, and Wang Yonghua was also present.

Upon seeing Li Xiuyuan's car arrive, Wang Yonghua immediately ran forward with a big smile and opened the car door for Li Xiuyuan.

"Mayor, I heard you drank quite a bit at noon. Why didn't you sleep a little longer?" Wang Yonghua said with a smile, now completely uninhibited, addressing him directly as "Mayor."

“There’s no time to rest when we’re in a meeting. The second phase of the project is about to start, and we need to arrange many things in advance. Yonghua, come to my office for a while. We’ll have a meeting first, and then I’ll introduce you to General Manager Chen,” Li Xiuyuan said to Wang Yonghua.

Wang Yonghua nodded repeatedly: "Thank you, Mayor."

"Hey, what should I call you? Call me Deputy Mayor Li." Li Xiuyuan waved his hand.

“Okay, Mayor.” Wang Yonghua nodded.

Li Xiuyuan looked helpless and shook his head, then looked at Chen Guangda and Zhang Xingdong who were walking over.