Inside the private room of the Central Town Hotel, as soon as Li Xiuyuan finished speaking, Zhang Xingdong understood what Li Xiuyuan meant. It was that he didn't really trust Hou Peng. This was normal, as the two had had conflicts before. Although Hou Peng had supported Li Xiuyuan at the last town party committee meeting, it didn't mean that he would continue to support him in the future.

Moreover, since Zhang Xingdong has taken action, he must have been prepared for what happened last time.

The atmosphere in the private room was heavy for a moment. Li Xiuyuan looked at Zhang Xingdong and asked, "Tell me about the other members of the town party committee."

Zhang Xingdong nodded upon hearing this. He had been in the central town for so many years, and his understanding of these town party committee members was far superior to Wang Zhitao's.

“Okay, Mayor Li, this Qi Weihua is a retired soldier. He’s a pretty upright person. I think we can get to know Qi Weihua privately. Although he has a good relationship with Mayor Hou, he doesn’t necessarily support Hou Peng in everything. Anyway, I remember once at a town party committee meeting, Minister Qi abstained from voting, so he didn’t stand against Mayor Hou.”

However, they didn't support Mayor Hou, which caused Mayor Hou to suffer a great loss.

As Zhang Xingdong spoke, Li Xiuyuan nodded, which also aligned with his impression of Qi Weihua over this period.

"In addition, there are Ma Tao and the organization committee member Kang Yong. Kang Yong is determined to follow Secretary Zhang. He was promoted by Secretary Zhang and he is completely obedient to him. As for Ma Tao, well, Ma Tao doesn't seem like a town party committee member. He is someone left behind by the old secretary. But after Secretary Zhang came to the central town, he quickly got Ma Tao under his thumb."

He's a rather timid person. I heard that once, he messed up in front of the old Party Secretary and knelt down right there in the office. Of course, this is just a rumor; I don't know the specifics.

As Zhang Xingdong spoke, Li Xiuyuan's eyes widened. He knelt down? There are many people in the system who are obsequious in order to climb the ranks, but few would kneel down in the office.

Moreover, Li Xiuyuan analyzed that since such a claim exists, it must be true. After all, even rumors shouldn't spread such an exaggerated story. If this story is true and has been spread, then there are only three possibilities: one is that there were people in the office when Ma Tao knelt down; another is that the office door was not closed at the time; and the last is that the old secretary himself spread the story.

Of these three scenarios, the last one is unlikely, because even when bullying someone, it's not done this badly.

The first two scenarios demonstrate Ma Tao's immense determination. Whether he knelt down with the office door open or with other people in the office, these are actions that most people cannot take.

"When this news was first spread, was Committee Member Ma already a member of the town's Party Committee?" Li Xiuyuan asked.

Zhang Xingdong shook his head: "When this rumor first came out, Committee Member Ma was still the director of the town's Party Building Office."

"Where's the former director? Which department is he in now?"

"He's already retired."

Zhang Xingdong said, and Li Xiuyuan nodded without asking any further questions. However, Li Xiuyuan kept this matter in mind, thinking that there might be something he could use to help.

“You already know about Deputy Secretary Lu’s situation, so I won’t go into details,” Zhang Xingdong said.