0167 176 I am but a commoner from Pingcheng, what does the world mean to me? *
"Mayor Ling, this morning we received a lawyer's letter... from the developer of Fuxianlou, demanding compensation for the losses to Fuxianlou. Although no one was inside the building at the time, the reconstruction of Fuxianlou still requires government funding."
Wei Zhou, director of the Municipal Construction Commission, placed the lawyer's letter on the table. Ling Xingzhi glanced at it, smiled, and said to him, "A lawyer's letter? Why don't you just notify us to appear in court? If Fuxianlou wants compensation, they should go to the airline, not the government."
Wei Zhou shook his head. "I don't know. Why don't you call and ask yourself?"
The two had argued in both large and small meetings before, and now that Zhou Xiye was gone, the rift between them had deepened. Most importantly, Wei Zhou was the best candidate to replace Zhou Xiye as the municipal party secretary.
Ling Xingzhi squinted at Wei Zhou, then tossed aside the lawyer's letter in his hand. "Director Wei, I know you were recently nominated by the Provincial Party Committee's Organization Department. If Zhou Xiye hadn't returned, you would very likely have become the Municipal Party Secretary, right?"
A smug look appeared on Wei Zhou's face. He suppressed his smile and didn't notice the two words "maybe" that Ling Xingzhi emphasized in his words. He waved his hand and said, "It's still early. The provincial leaders have all gone to the Two Sessions..." Wei Zhou's expression changed. "But you, why aren't you going to Beijing for the Two Sessions?"
Can Ling Xingzhi go? He finally got out of Beijing, can he go back again?
Wei Zhou was unaware of what was happening in the capital and assumed that Ling Xingzhi was about to lose his position as mayor and had dared to provoke the authorities.
"Didn't I send Vice Mayor Liu?" Ling Xingzhi said softly, "The Fuxian Tower project was approved by your city's construction committee, right?"
"It wasn't me, it was the former director of the Municipal Construction Commission..."
Ling Xingzhi interrupted him, "No matter what, it was approved by your department. They're looking for the person in charge, so you should handle it properly and not tarnish the government's reputation."
Wei Zhou didn't want to get involved in these troubles; he was at a crucial moment in his observation period. "Mayor Ling..."
Ling Xingzhi had no intention of knowing Wei Zhou's wishes. He leaned back and said, "If you don't handle this well, I'll make an example of you."
After issuing the final arrest warrant, Wei Zhou was humiliated. He thought to himself, "How many more days can you, Ling Xingzhi, keep jumping around? Once I become the Party Secretary of the city, I'll be the first to deal with you!" Ling Xingzhi watched Wei Zhou leave the office, sneered, picked up the landline, and dialed a number.
As the saying goes, "Even a tiger fallen into the plains will be bullied by dogs," but each case must be analyzed individually.
Ling Xingzhi is not that down-on-his-luck tiger, and Wei Zhou is certainly not that capable dog.
However, Wei Zhou's appearance served as a reminder to Ling Xingzhi, who hoped the organization would consider promoting him to the position of municipal party secretary. If Zhou Xiye's position couldn't be secured, becoming the municipal party secretary himself wouldn't be out of the question.
However, he still held onto a sliver of hope, and while searching for the people, he also tried to negotiate with them.
Surprisingly, the Two Sessions were convened a week earlier than usual, and the voting by the Provincial Party Committee Organization Department was postponed by two weeks. All the key personnel went to Beijing. Ling Xingzhi didn't know if this was a coincidence, but it certainly gave him a chance to catch his breath.
The Kunming government has relatively few official duties. The only fluctuations are in the number of petitions from the public, resulting in a large volume of visitors to the petition office. Upon learning this, Ling Xingzhi opened a 24-hour mayor's hotline and also periodically visited the petition office to conduct inspections.
This wasn't because Ling Xingzhi had nothing better to do. He had to meet with developers every day, and documents were coming in batches. Besides wanting to understand the actual living problems of ordinary people, more importantly, he wanted to see if he could get information about Zhou Xiye from them.
Li Qingshan took in all of Ling Xingzhi's changes. He had reverted to his usual shrewd and calculating nature; no one could fathom his intentions. Meanwhile, Meng Qinggong continued to secretly monitor Zhou Xiye's movements, but he couldn't see Qiao Senxi. Deep down, he felt… Qiao Senxi definitely knew something.
Zhou Xiye doesn't trust him. When she needs his help, she treats Meng Qinggong like a grandfather, but once she's done with him, she reverts to her cold and ruthless self. He has to treat Zhou Xiye like a grandmother. But Qiao Senxi is different. She does whatever she's told, practically Zhou Xiye's dog.
It wouldn't make sense if they didn't say something. But Meng Qinggong didn't dare say anything in front of Ling Xingzhi, after all... it was obvious what Ling Xingzhi's feelings for Zhou Xiye were. In officialdom, having one more friend is much better than having one more enemy. However, Qiao Senxi's disappearance, nominally due to taking leave, was indeed somewhat suspicious.
That's right, Qiao Senxi is still being held by Ling Xingzhi.
There is someone to take care of them.
Ling Xingzhi would only visit when he had free time. Qiao Senxi, as expected of a former policeman, would definitely have been a good soldier during the Anti-Japanese War. Ling Xingzhi didn't know whether to be happy for Zhou Xiye or angry because he was so stubborn.
A week before the provincial party committee's internal vote, Ling Xingzhi went to see Qiao Senxi again. The two didn't exchange a word. Ling Xingzhi took out a can of beer, opened it with a "click," and placed it in front of Qiao Senxi. He then took out a wine glass and poured himself a glass of red wine.
Qiao Senxi stared coldly at Ling Xingzhi, without touching the beer placed in front of him.
Ling Xingzhi said nothing, watched him finish his drink, then stood up and left. Less than half an hour later, Qiao Senxi was released. This surprised everyone, including Qiao Senxi himself.
When Li Qingshan received the order, he had no choice but to confirm it a second time, "You...are you really going to release Qiao Senxi?"
Ling Xingzhi nodded, his expression unchanged. Flipping through the candidate's file, he casually asked, "How's Wei Zhou's situation?"
The code word has two meanings: first, how is Wei Zhou handling the Fuxian Tower matter? Second, why is Wei Zhou still a candidate?
Li Qingshan fully understood the meaning and immediately handled the three matters cleanly and efficiently.
The day before the voting meeting, Ling Xingzhi went to Fuxian Lake, not to solve the problem, but to relax. Ducks were already swimming on the lake; winter was over. Ling Xingzhi, with a cigarette in his mouth and sunglasses on, leaned back on the bench.
The fishing rod remained motionless.
Zhou Xiye, I'll wait for you until the very last moment before the meeting. If you don't come back, that position is mine. After this period of quiet preparation, Ling Xingzhi is almost certain to get the position of Party Secretary of the Municipal Committee. And the Central Committee won't take action against him for the time being.
There was no reason to do it.
The sun sets in the west, and a cold wind brushes against your face.
He tugged at the fishing rod, then stopped, reeled in the catch, shared all the fish with the other anglers, and left with his empty bucket. He came this way, and he left this way.
A large group of people from the Provincial Party Committee's Organization Department returned from Beijing to convene a meeting to vote on the selection of the Kunming Municipal Party Committee Secretary.
The bright yellow lights in the conference hall shone on the floor, reflecting the light off the marble floor. Footsteps echoed on the lamplight, and the air was filled with a solemn atmosphere.
Wu Qiong sat in the center of the table on the stage in the conference hall, with people on both sides arranged in order of rank.
Ling Xingzhi sat in the very center of the first row below the stage. While the attendees were reviewing the documents, Wei Zhou, accompanied by a high-ranking official, walked over and sat down next to him. "Mayor Ling," Wei Zhou said confidently, "I heard you're also considering vying for this position?"
“It’s not that I want to,” Ling Xingzhi smiled, turned to look at him, and said softly, word by word, “I’m determined to take this position.”
The voice was soft, and the world was noisy, but Wei Zhou heard every single word.
The next second, he broke out in a cold sweat.
Just then, the staff member checking the documents walked up to Wei Zhou. "Director Wei, right? Your documents are not up to standard. Besides the incorrect format, you're also missing a blood donation certificate... Oh, by the way, you've received quite a few complaints before. You approved many illegal buildings in Kunming, didn't you?"
Wei Zhou looked flustered, but Ling Xingzhi was surprisingly open-minded and magnanimous at this moment, saying, "Director Wei, problems need to be solved, we can't delay them."
This is just the appetizer that Ling Xingzhi prepared; the real meal will be served when the meeting begins.
The premise is that Zhou Xiye does not show up.
The meeting began with speeches and commendations, proceeding through each step of the procedure. Then came the voting on the position of Party Secretary of Kunming. Wu Qiong finished her speech explaining the importance of the vote, and then the voting began.
Voting for the top three candidates has ended, with Ling Xingzhi receiving the most votes.
The last candidate who needs to be voted on is Zhou Xiye.
But she didn't come.
At this point, the head of the organization department said, "Given that Zhou Xiye did not attend this meeting, we consider her to be..."
“We should vote!” Ling Xingzhi broke the silence, standing up and saying, “Zhou Xiye hasn’t done anything wrong; she just has health problems. We have no reason to disqualify her from voting for the position of Party Secretary. If someone within the organization loses their usefulness, the organization should abandon them. Theoretically, that’s unfair, and emotionally, it chills the hearts of those who have served the organization. If I were the next one to fall, would I also be discarded?”
This statement is too pretentious and empty. Ling Xingzhi has the most votes, so he will be the next municipal party secretary. Many people think that his statement at this time is just posturing, trying to make his rise to power more reasonable and to show that he was elected by the people and that he did not deliberately take Zhou Xiye's position.
However, those in the know are aware that Ling Xingzhi's words were not false.
"Therefore, the Kunming Municipal Party Committee hopes that although Zhou Xiyeren did not come, he can still be a candidate and be voted on."
This statement sparked a flurry of discussion among the crowd.
Wu Qiong simply smiled, and after a moment of discussion, she spoke up, "Mayor Ling is right, the organization will not let anyone down, and we are not people who abandon principles for personal gain. Then... let's start voting."
Upon hearing this, the director of the organization department was somewhat surprised. After taking a few seconds to compose himself, he read out, "Those who agree to let Zhou Xiye continue to serve as the secretary of the municipal party committee, please raise your hands."
The moment the voice was uttered, the conference room fell completely silent.
Ling Xingzhi slowly raised his hand.
A few seconds later, Meng Qinggong also raised his hand.
One minute had passed for voting, and thirty seconds had already gone by. The red countdown on the big screen was slowly ticking away, second by second.
A person sitting at the very edge of the stage silently raised their hand. Someone next to them saw this and secretly kicked the person on the floor, causing them to lower their hand again.
At that moment, Wu Qiong raised her hand. Almost instantly, everyone on the stage raised their hands, as did the members of the Kunming Municipal Party Committee in the audience.
It passed unanimously.
It received more votes than Ling Xingzhi.
This was an unexpected vote result. Zhou Xiye, usually so outspoken and prone to offending people, was the only one to receive a unanimous vote. People, after all, still have some conscience. Zhou Xiye was an iron-fisted politician, a man who did things his own way and was completely unafraid of others' opinions.
But she is a person who gets things done.
Political struggles and partisan disputes are all about strength. A fox borrowing a tiger's power is still only powerful because of the tiger behind it; no matter how strong one's authority, it's still because of the tiger behind them. When the emperor is far away, even the most powerful tiger is just a paper tiger.
Zhou Xiye was like a tiger right in front of us; she had the ability and the ambition, and with her subtle personal charm, she won everyone over. Kunming's development also had a bright future because of her. This shows that she had potential.
People shouldn't be shortsighted, and politicians even less so. Nobody wants to be arrested after retirement, only to face imprisonment and public judgment at their advanced age.
In short, following her is a promising path. The affairs of the capital are complex and multifaceted; power struggles between the central government and local authorities have been commonplace since ancient times. Since the central government has given them the power to choose, they should choose someone reliable.
This is the nature of gambling and investment. Those who don't want to take risks won't be sitting in this hall voting. Zhou Xiye passed unanimously, but the problem is, she's not there. Wu Qiong cleared her throat and said to everyone, "Given... Zhou Xiye's current health condition, she is unable to attend the voting meeting. After unanimous decision by the Provincial Party Committee's Organization Department, her appointment will be suspended as her substitute..."
Before she could finish speaking, she saw the door at the back of the conference hall being opened.
A familiar figure appeared in Wu Qiong's eyes.
Everyone turned to look.
The crazy woman, dressed in an elegant suit, stood spiritedly at the door.
Last time, she schemed meticulously. This time, she truly deserves it. With no background, no connections, no support, everything she has is of her own making. She endured countless hardships, dodged death's clutches countless times, and single-handedly, she has reached this point through sheer courage and determination.
"...Zhou Xiye will continue to serve as the Secretary of the Kunming Municipal Party Committee."
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