Li Lin opened the door and walked in with a smile on his face.

He walked to Qian Lingyun's desk, with a smile on his face, and said respectfully, "Boss, I'm here."

However, Qian Lingyun just looked at him quietly, with a serious expression and without a trace of smile.

Li Lin's heart tightened and the smile on his face disappeared instantly. He subconsciously straightened his back, his expression became solemn, and he waited quietly for Qian Lingyun to speak.

The two looked at each other in silence for a moment. The atmosphere was so heavy that it made people feel a little breathless.

Qian Lingyun sighed, slowly stood up, walked to Li Lin, stood face to face with him, and asked in a stern tone, "Xiao Lin, do you know why I called you here today?"

Li Lin shook his head slightly and answered honestly, "I don't know."

Qian Lingyun reached out and picked up a yellow envelope from the desk, handed it to Li Lin, and said, "Take a look at this first."

The moment Li Lin took the envelope, his eyes shrank slightly, but he quickly regained his composure.

He thought to himself, I have always behaved uprightly, who on earth would report me?

With this doubt, he quickly pulled out the letter from the envelope, scanned it quickly, and read it carefully.

Then he put the letter back into the envelope and put it back on the table. Throughout the whole process, his movements were steady and calm, without any panic.

Qian Lingyun stared at Li Lin and asked seriously, "Did you see it clearly? Do you have anything to say?"

Li Lin shook his head again and said softly, "No."

Qian Lingyun frowned, raised his voice a few notches, and asked, "So, you accept the contents of the letter?!"

Li Lin looked calm and said calmly, "During this period, the comrades in the county did send some holiday gifts, I don't deny this. But the matter of accepting cash mentioned in the letter is completely fabricated and completely false!"

Hearing this, Qian Lingyun felt relieved.

He always believed that Li Lin was a sensible person and would not easily accept expensive gifts.

In official circles, accepting gifts during festivals is a sensitive topic, but in reality, almost no official can completely avoid it.

He himself would also receive some gifts, but he was always discerning and did not accept gifts from everyone, nor did he accept all gifts.

At this moment, his expression relaxed a lot. He raised his hand to signal Li Lin to sit on the sofa and said, "Sit down and talk."

After Li Lin sat down, he continued to ask, "Besides the money, you didn't receive any other valuables, right?"

Li Lin answered seriously, "Everyone just came to express their feelings. If anyone brought valuables, I would not let them into the house. I was thinking of asking my aunt to fry some meatballs, chicken and other New Year's goods for you. I thought you would be lonely spending the New Year alone... Do you think this is considered bribery?"

Qian Lingyun was stunned for a moment, the corners of his mouth slightly raised, revealing a bitter smile, and waved his hand and said, "What are you talking about! Who told you to say this now?"

After saying that, he sat down next to Li Lin, and the atmosphere in the office eased a little.

Li Lin turned slightly to look at Qian Lingyun and asked, "Boss, someone reported me for accepting bribes. Do you believe it?"

Qian Lingyun said without hesitation, "Of course I don't believe it! Especially this Jiang Weihua, his intention is too obvious, he just wants to ruin your reputation. But Xiaolin, people's words are scary! We are in key leadership positions, and our every move is under close scrutiny. If we can't set an example, it's easy to attract gossip. I don't want you to ruin your bright future because of such a small matter."

Li Lin listened quietly. Qian Lingyun's words made him feel familiar and warm.

Whenever he encountered problems in the past, Qian Lingyun also taught him patiently.

Qian Lingyun raised his head slightly, looking into the distance, and continued, "I used to be like you. I couldn't tolerate any grain of sand in my eyes. As long as I found that the cadres around me showed signs of corruption, I wanted to hand them over to the Commission for Discipline Inspection for handling. But what was the result of doing this? Gradually, no one around me was willing to follow me. Everyone kept a distance from me. In the end, I became a lonely man. The people under me said one thing in public and another in private. The government orders could not be implemented at all, and no matter how good the policies were, they could not be implemented... In the end, I could only leave Pingyang in disgrace. You know what happened later."

He paused for a moment, his eyes fell on Li Lin again, and he said earnestly, "Since you have been in charge of Shannan, I can see that you have some of my past self in you. I am not saying that you did something wrong, but I just want to advise you that being too rigid will only lead to failure! Handing your subordinates over to the Commission for Discipline Inspection is a last resort.

Think about it, if you really investigate strictly, most of the cadres in Pingyang may have problems. Do you want to send them all to jail? Who will do the work? Wouldn't the government be paralyzed? Even if new people are added, can you guarantee that they are absolutely honest and will not make mistakes? Think about it carefully, this is definitely not the result we want, nor is it the situation that our superiors want to see..."

Qian Lingyun talked incessantly while Li Lin sat beside him, listening quietly and nodding silently from time to time.

He agreed with some of Qian Lingyun's words, such as there is no absolutely honest person in the world, that is just an ideal state of being a saint.

But he has his own different understanding of the saying "too rigid will easily break".

In his opinion, the saying "too hard to break" simply means that one's own strength is not strong enough. If one is strong enough and firm enough, how could one be easily broken?