Official Career Storm

Chapter 1700: Chapter 1700

Du Canyang laid it on thick, analyzing the park’s pollution issue in great detail, spelling out all the points that might affect Song Guanchao.

What he said was exactly what Su Rong had already thought of, but on the surface she still put on a look of pleasant surprise, letting Du Canyang’s vanity be greatly satisfied.

"Right now we still need to first determine how serious the pollution is. If it’s just normal levels, the impact won’t be big. But since the other side reported it to our inspection team, the pollution probably isn’t light."

Su Rong asked, "Brother Du, what do you think we should do?"

"Find someone to investigate." Du Canyang had already made up his mind, and followed her question by saying, "Having ordinary people check is meaningless, we need to get reporters involved. I have a friend I know well in the Ministry of Propaganda; I’ll contact her later, see if she has time and can come over once."

Su Rong said gratefully, "Thank you, Brother Du."

Du Canyang smiled faintly. "What are you thanking me for? Someone reported it, we go and check in the course of our duties, this is our job to begin with."

He didn’t claim credit, just brushed it off lightly.

But seeing the grateful expression on Su Rong’s face, Du Canyang knew their relationship had clearly gotten a bit closer.

...

"Those two really have it easy. Five workdays a week, they show up one or two days now and then, make an appearance, stroll around and then leave."

After dragging the progress bar and finishing the unit’s surveillance footage, Song Guanchao said, "Director Yao doesn’t rein them in?"

Yao Linghua gave a wry smile. "I can’t."

"Oh? What kind of background do the two of them have?"

"Yan Jing’s father is deputy director of the district Human Resources and Social Security Bureau, and Zhang Zhixiang’s uncle is the captain of the traffic police brigade."

The two of them indeed had backing, both relatives were leaders of middling rank—not much put next to the City Committee and Municipal Government, but within the park’s management committee, it counted as quite the background.

"Write up a disciplinary report and send it to the City Government."

Yao Linghua nodded, and seeing him flipping through the list of polluting enterprises, quietly withdrew.

After she left, Han Lan asked, "When are we meeting these companies?"

She didn’t care about two petty clerks coming late and leaving early; pollution in the park came first.

"This afternoon." Song Guanchao pushed the list in front of Ma Hongyuan. "Secretary Ma, sorry to trouble you, contact these companies and have them come over for a meeting this afternoon."

"All right." Ma Hongyuan didn’t think this work was tedious; having something to do was good enough, there would always be a chance to perform.

While he made the calls one by one, Song Guanchao sent a message to Wu Yun, asking her to come over.

Time quickly moved to noon, and Wu Yun came in right at lunchtime.

"Secretary Ma, take a break, go find a place to get something to eat first." Song Guanchao called out.

"Director Song, you go eat, just bring me a meal later." With his head down dialing the next company, Ma Hongyuan looked completely immersed in work.

Song Guanchao agreed with a smile, and went out with Han Lan and Wu Yun.

As soon as they came out, Yao Linghua and the others who were working outside immediately lowered their voices and buried their heads, pretending to work.

The two clerks who were always late glared at him resentfully. They’d already learned from Yao Linghua that, to discipline them, Song Guanchao had actually pulled surveillance footage from the past month.

They were terribly stifled inside, feeling that Song Guanchao was simply being unreasonable.

Song Guanchao didn’t notice their looks at all, and even if he had, he wouldn’t have cared.

After leaving the office, Song Guanchao said with a smile, "Secretary Ma is quite a diligent worker."

His words sounded like praise, but the mocking tone was clearly putting him down.

He didn’t have any real issue with Ma Hongyuan, he just found this kind of petty cleverness a bit off-putting.

It was only a little more than twenty phone calls, not some huge workload, yet he was acting as if all the work were piled on him alone.

Make a few calls and somehow he couldn’t even find time to eat.

There’s nothing wrong with putting on a show, but overacting inevitably makes people feel annoyed.

Han Lan didn’t comment; she had never liked talking about others behind their backs.

They grabbed a casual bite outside and brought back a takeaway meal for Ma Hongyuan when they returned.

"Secretary Ma, are you done notifying them?"

"I’ve reached them all, but the notice was too rushed, very few company heads are actually in the park. We’ll probably have to set another time."

"How many have confirmed they can come?"

"Two."

"Then two it is."

They had indeed notified them a bit late; the company heads weren’t any freer than they were, they couldn’t sit in their offices all day.

Running around all the time was the norm.

Two companies were fine; he was mainly in charge of this matter now, he could take his time investigating.

At two in the afternoon, the two company heads arrived.

"Director Yao."

These two heads dealt frequently with the management committee, so they were no strangers to Yao Linghua.

"Chairman Zhu, Chairman Qian." Yao Linghua stepped forward and led them toward the office.

Chairman Zhu walked slowly and lowered his voice. "The one who called me was Mayor Sun’s secretary, said the Director of the City Government Office and the Secretary General wanted to see us. Isn’t Mayor Chang here?"

When he got the call he knew something was off—how had this matter ended up in the City Government’s hands?

He tried calling Chang Hai that afternoon, but no one picked up, which only made him more uneasy.

Yao Linghua said, "Mayor Chang has been removed from his post."

The two company heads exchanged a look, faces grave. "What’s the City Government’s attitude on this?"

Yao Linghua shook her head. "The City Government has set up an inspection team specifically for this, but what their exact attitude is, I don’t know either. I only found out this morning myself."

The two men nodded thoughtfully, and soon they were outside the office. Yao Linghua knocked, pushed the door open, and said, "Secretary Han, Director Song, Chairman Zhu and Chairman Qian are here."

Song Guanchao was very cordial, stepping up with a smile to shake their hands.

Maybe it was because he was so warm that the two men’s mood relaxed a lot.

"Could you two tell me how your companies plan to deal with the park’s sewage discharge problem?" Song Guanchao’s tone was mild, as if discussing things.

Uncertain of the City Government’s stance, Chairman Zhu said cooperatively, "Our company will definitely discharge strictly according to the standards."

Chairman Qian said the same thing.

"It’s best if you two are willing to cooperate. Let me ask one more thing—regarding the sewage treatment equipment, has your company started procurement yet?" Song Guanchao asked.

Chairman Zhu said, "We’re already making inquiries."

The moment he heard that, Song Guanchao knew they were just using this line to test the government’s attitude.

"All right, then once you two have any progress on that front, keep me posted in time."

"Of course, of course."

"But there’s something I need to make clear to you in advance, so we don’t end up unhappy afterward."

Song Guanchao said, "Before your sewage treatment equipment is installed and in place, you’ll have to suspend production."

Their brows furrowed at once.

Chairman Qian said, "Director Song, we’ve already been shut down for almost a week. Every day we stop production is a loss."

With an expression of full understanding, Song Guanchao said, "This is what the higher-ups are requiring; I’m just the messenger."

After a pause, he asked again, "Roughly how long will it take for the sewage equipment to be installed and ready?"

The two of them looked a little embarrassed—they hadn’t made any inquiries at all, let alone bought anything. They were just saying that to fob Song Guanchao off.

"Well... it might take some time. Director Song, look, why don’t you let us resume production first? We can’t just keep stopping like this forever."

"Sigh." Song Guanchao let out a breath. "Don’t put me on the spot, you two. The pollution issue has blown up; Mayor Wu just held a meeting last night to highlight it. This time, if you want to resume production, you must first meet the discharge standards."

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