When I arrived at the door of Liu Ke's office, the secretary's attitude this time was completely different from before. He smiled and said to me enthusiastically: "Hello, Director Guan! Secretary Liu has been waiting for you inside for a long time."
I nodded slightly without saying much. I have always kept a certain distance from the staff around the leader. Sometimes they appear arrogant, and sometimes they are too attentive. This behavior of pretending to be pretentious by taking advantage of the leader's power makes me feel a little dissatisfied. Especially after experiencing the huge change in my perception of Zhang Weiguo, I have a deeper impression of this.
The secretary knocked on the door gently, and after getting permission, he pushed the door open and said to Liu Kexiao who was inside, "Secretary Liu, Director Guan from the development zone is here." Liu Kexiao immediately responded, "Let him in." The secretary stepped aside to let me in, then closed the door gently.
As soon as I entered the room, Liu stood up from his seat with a warm face, came to greet me, and held my hands tightly. He enthusiastically guided me to sit on the sofa, and I sat down too. Faced with such courtesy, I seemed a little reserved, not as relaxed as the last time I spoke frankly in this office.
He said amiably, "Comrade Hongjun, have you been very busy with work recently?"
I humbly replied, "The development zone has always kept Secretary Liu's instructions in mind, conscientiously implemented the policies of the county party committee and county government, and did a good job in all aspects of work. Although we have done some things, compared with Secretary Liu's busy schedule and diligent work for the people, it is simply insignificant."
He laughed heartily: "Comrade Hongjun, don't be too restrained and don't speak these official terms. I asked you to come here today just to talk about something relaxing and pleasant."
Seeing that the atmosphere was harmonious, I thought the time was right, so I took out the tea box I had prepared in advance and gently placed it on the tea table.
Before I could open my mouth, Liu Ke picked up the tea box, weighed it in his hands, and then put it on the table, still with a warm smile on his face: "Comrade Hongjun, this is not like your style. I'm afraid there are no less than 50,000 in this box, right?"
I once heard someone say that a leader can tell how much money is just by weighing it, and I thought it was a joke. Now it seems that I am just too ignorant.
I quickly explained, "Secretary Liu, this is just a small token of my appreciation."
His expression suddenly turned serious: "Comrade Guan Hongjun, your action was beyond my expectation and made me very disappointed. In my mind, you have always been a righteous and down-to-earth young cadre. I didn't expect that you have learned such vulgar practices now. This really disappoints me."
I looked into his eyes and could clearly feel his sincerity and disappointment, so I whispered, "Secretary Liu, I was wrong."
After that, I quickly put the tea box back into my bag. Seeing this, his face immediately relaxed and his tone became calm: "Today, we are not talking about work as leaders and subordinates, but about the relationship between seniors and juniors, and we are talking about our inner thoughts."
I nodded in agreement.
He went on to say, "In the past, people often said, 'You can't help yourself in the world.' As a party cadre, I used to disagree with this statement. But in recent years, as I have taken up leadership positions, I have deeply realized that some things, whether you call it going with the flow or going along with the crowd, can easily make people unconsciously relax their vigilance and lower their expectations of themselves. Sometimes, if someone gives you a gift and you don't accept it, the other person will think you are unkind and unsure about the things entrusted to you, and many relationships will be difficult to maintain and many tasks will be difficult to carry out."
There is a hint of helplessness and frankness in his words. You can say that he speaks in a high-sounding manner or speaks from the heart, but this reality is real.
I continued to nod and did not interrupt. After all, it was impolite to interrupt the leader before he explained his thoughts.
He went on to say, "I was born 150 years ago. At that time, every family in the countryside lived a hard life, and no one thought there was anything wrong. After all, no one was better off than anyone else. But do you think that kind of average life really brought much happiness? I don't think so. At that time, no one wanted to study, and there were no books to study even if they wanted to. As for me, I started at the age of 19, as an accountant in the brigade, and this lasted for more than 10 years. From everything being based on class struggle to focusing on economic construction, the focus of work has changed, but I have been promoted all the way. What do you think is the basis for this?"
When the leader asked a question, I naturally couldn't remain silent, otherwise it would be like letting the leader play a one-man show. So I started to say: "It's because the leader is down-to-earth and has outstanding abilities."
He smiled and said, "You are right, but I can sum myself up in one word: respect the elders, be friendly to the peers, and help the younger ones."
Although I knew what he meant, I pretended to not fully understand and wanted to hear his further explanation.
Seeing this, he explained, "Respecting seniors means showing basic respect to them. We should learn from what we are used to seeing, and we can take it as a warning from what we are not used to seeing, but our attitude must be sincere and we must pay attention to the proper method in everything. Therefore, along the way, every time I reached the stage of promotion, I basically encountered no resistance."
I was convinced by what I heard, and had to admit that I was still a little lacking in self-cultivation when faced with things I was not used to.
Seeing my convinced attitude, he said more cordially: "This is not only a way of doing things, but also a kind of life wisdom. You are young and energetic, but you must also learn to respect your elders, so that you can go further. Remember, respecting others is respecting yourself. You still have a long way to go in the future, and you still need to experience more and learn more."