Official Career Storm

Chapter 1724: Chapter 1724

"I have to say, I admire Director Song a bit."

At dinner that night, a businessman said in the group chat: "A hundred million placed right in front of him, yet he remained totally unmoved."

Chairman Qian replied, "I told you earlier, he wouldn’t take it."

Despite saying so, Chairman Qian was still surprised.

That was a hundred million!

A hundred million in cash, with unmarked foreign bank cards.

If he took it, even the Disciplinary Committee wouldn’t find any evidence.

Being completely unmoved by such a sum, it’s really difficult.

"Not greedy for money, then we’ll have to play hard."

"But be careful, Song Guanchao is no fool. He probably suspects we’re after him and must be prepared."

Gentle measures failed, so even hard ones need to be carried out cautiously.

It’s not about sending some people to beat him up or threaten him.

During this sensitive time, any accident happening to Song Guanchao, who is caught in the center of the vortex, would directly anger Wu Qiangwei.

As the mayor, Wu Qiangwei certainly wouldn’t let it go lightly.

So, they needed to make Song Guanchao feel fear without blowing things out of proportion; a delicate balance was required.

...

After leaving the restaurant, Song Guanchao got into his car and called Wu Qiangwei to report the situation of the night.

"A hundred million... they really are willing." The number surprised even Wu Qiangwei.

Besides being surprised, she was deeply worried about Song Guanchao.

The fact that the other party hadn’t managed to settle the matter even with so much money revealed their next move quite clearly.

"I’ll ask Director Liang to send someone to protect you."

"No need," Song Guanchao said. "Tomorrow I’ll contact Governor Lu first, and ask him to have the Provincial Disciplinary Inspection Committee investigate the Park Management Committee. Using the Provincial Committee to send a message to the City’s Standing Committee members."

If Song Guanchao said it was unnecessary, it meant he already had a response plan.

Wu Qiangwei gave a short acknowledgment without mentioning it further.

Song Guanchao asked, "How many votes can we pull in for next week’s Standing Committee meeting?"

Bringing this up gave Wu Qiangwei a headache.

Her relationships with the Standing Committee members in Jiangzhou were average; she had been trying to foster them for months without much success.

The Standing Committee members didn’t particularly show her much face.

On top of that, the issue with Zhang Yan made her somewhat out of tune with the entire Jiangzhou Standing Committee, and she even sensed a vague ostracism from other members.

You have to understand, Jiangzhou and Lingjiang aren’t on the same level.

The latter is just a regular prefecture-level city, where the top leaders typically have impressive backgrounds, making it easy to manage other committee members.

Jiangzhou, however, is the provincial capital of Nanjiang Province, where every Standing Committee member has the opportunity to enter the provincial level and all boast notable backgrounds.

So, the situation Wu Qiangwei created in Lingjiang becomes exceptionally difficult to implement in Jiangzhou.

Everyone has connections; no one should expect to boss others around.

They may not actively oppose Wu Qiangwei, but expecting them to risk offending those businessmen to support her is almost impossible.

Besides those Standing Committee members, there’s Zhou Zheng.

Last time she sent the resolution to Zhou Zheng, his attitude clearly showed he disagreed with the shutdown and reorganization approach.

He is the City Secretary. Even if his position isn’t that solid, a secretary is still a secretary. His stance on some level represents Jiangzhou City, carrying a certain guiding effect.

Furthermore, several Standing Committee members have good relations with him.

So, if he doesn’t support Wu Qiangwei, those who are close to him won’t either.

Having the Provincial Disciplinary Inspection Committee intervene as Song Guanchao suggested might only make them neutral at best.

"I can secure Commander Wang’s vote from the Military District," Song Guanchao assured.

Wu Qiangwei softly replied, "Get some rest early, let’s talk about work tomorrow."

Although she didn’t know how Song Guanchao would secure that vote, even if he did, it wouldn’t solve the problem.

Jiangzhou has ten Standing Committee members; those closer to Zhou Zheng include Secretary Bao from the Disciplinary Committee, Minister Liu from the Propaganda Department, as well as Secretary-General Guo Han and Deputy Secretary Lv Jie of the City Committee.

Additionally, Sun Jiajun has consistently opposed Wu Qiangwei.

As of now, at least five votes are known to oppose.

Out of ten Standing Committee members, five vote against.

The decision to shut down and reorganize is almost impossible to pass in next week’s meeting.

But even knowing how difficult this path is, Wu Qiangwei didn’t plan to back down.

She’s already prepared to escalate the situation to the provincial level.

They exchanged a few more words before ending the call.

Previously, on such reporting occasions, Song Guanchao would find a way to report face-to-face.

Now he only makes phone calls.

Wu Qiangwei knew it was because Song Guanchao feared being monitored and didn’t want to get too close, lest he implicate her.

Even so, there’s a psychological burden on Wu Qiangwei, and she was really eager to see Song Guanchao.

...

The next day, around noon, Song Guanchao received a call from Lu Zhizhong and got some bad news.

The Provincial Disciplinary Inspection Committee was unwilling to intervene.

Song Guanchao was a bit surprised but felt he shouldn’t have been.

If he could think of having the Provincial Committee intervene, how could those businessmen have overlooked reaching out to provincial contacts?

Such an outcome was to be expected.

Just as he hung up, Wu Qiangwei called: "Come over for a bit."

When Song Guanchao arrived at the office, he noticed the worry on her face.

"The Provincial Disciplinary Inspection Committee isn’t stepping in," Wu Qiangwei said.

So it was that matter.

Song Guanchao asked, "I remember Secretary Xu of the Provincial Disciplinary Committee has a good relationship with you?"

Back when they were still in Lingjiang, Song Guanchao had received a bribe, and Wu Qiangwei personally took him to report it to the Provincial Committee.

From the tone of the conversation between Secretary Xu and Wu Qiangwei back then, it was clear they were more than acquainted.

He guessed Secretary Xu must know Wu Qiangwei’s family elders.

Wu Qiangwei shook her head: "No matter how good the relationship is, it’s useless. I have connections, and so do they. Secretary Xu can’t help me, nor them, so it has to go by procedure."

Procedurally, if there’s an issue in the park, the City Disciplinary Committee should handle it. There’s no reason to bypass it and directly report to the Provincial Committee unless the City Committee needs to be excluded.

"Let’s not bring up the pollution issue at next week’s Standing Committee," Wu Qiangwei sighed.

Seeing no certainty it would pass at the meeting, Wu Qiangwei felt there was no need to bring it up for discussion now.

"We have to bring it up!" Song Guanchao insisted. "This matter can’t drag on. The longer it drags, the worse it is for you."

"As time goes on, these pollution-involved enterprises will complain to Mayor Sun, or even to Secretary Zhou. Later they’ll accuse you of stalling for so long, just halting work without addressing it, branding you as obstructing businesses. How would you explain that?"

"Once the news reaches the provincial level, the leaders there will start questioning your work capability."

"So, this issue must be discussed in next week’s Standing Committee. It should also be discussed in the subcommittee meeting before the Standing Committee."

"Whether or not it passes, at least it leaves a trace."

His reminder made Wu Qiangwei realize how wrong her previous thoughts were.

She nodded, and suddenly, her phone rang. It was Secretary Xu from the Provincial Disciplinary Committee calling.

Her eyes brightened, thinking there might be a turning point, she quickly answered, "Secretary Xu..."

Moments later, the smile vanished from her face, and she slightly lost her composure, "What?"

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