Official Career Storm

Chapter 1745: Chapter 1745

Wu Qiangwei told him about going to the City Committee in the afternoon and talking with Zhou Zheng, and also told him that the Central Disciplinary Inspection Committee’s investigation on him had already concluded, and that the restrictions on him would be lifted next week.

"Acquisition..." Song Guanchao sneered. "Where do you find such a sweet deal? I’m afraid this Mr. Lin only acquires assets that are actually worth something."

"Let’s talk about it next week."

Anything Song Guanchao could see through, naturally she could see through at a glance too, so from the very beginning she had never included Lin He in her range of consideration.

"There’s one more thing," Wu Qiangwei said. "Chang Hai came to see me yesterday and提出辞去区长和党组书记的职务,只保留副市长职务."

"Tell Mayor Chang to wait a bit longer." This matter couldn’t be rushed for now. The pollution incident had made him see very clearly that in Jiangzhou, Wu Qiangwei was nothing but a duckweed without roots.

When it comes to personnel appointments and removals, especially a position as important as District Mayor, if you want to place your own person, it’s very hard to get past the vote.

Once the District Mayor’s seat is vacant, every faction will start to move.

If Wu Qiangwei wanted to install her own person, she needed to secure at least six votes.

She had to first lock down those six votes before letting Chang Hai resign.

"Commander Wang’s vote can be guaranteed, and then there’s Secretary Hu of the Political and Legal Committee. I’ve observed her—her relationship with Zhou Zheng is so-so, she should be willing to give you this face."

"Then there’s Minister Wang of the Organization Department, and Minister Liu of the Propaganda Department."

"Once we’ve taken these three, we’ll have five votes in our hands."

The disadvantage of having an even number of Standing Committee seats lies precisely here: there is no decisive vote. To pass a resolution, you need at least a two-vote margin.

Wu Qiangwei said, "Let’s see Minister Wang tonight first."

Wang Jinming was the head of the Organization Department, ranked very high in the City Committee, with immense power.

If they could settle him, dealing with others would be much simpler.

But Song Guanchao shook his head. "I think we should see Secretary Hu first. When Secretary Hu cooperated with the Central Disciplinary Inspection Committee in investigating me, she was afraid you’d misunderstand and even came specially to explain. She might not be willing to immediately promise you a vote on personnel appointments and removals, but she can give us some advice."

"We don’t understand Minister Wang at all. If we just barge in like this, he’ll most likely play tai chi with us. We should talk to Secretary Hu, carefully figure out Minister Wang’s weak spots, or find out what he wants, and then prescribe the right medicine."

Wu Qiangwei nodded. Sharpening the axe does not delay the chopping of wood; there was nothing wrong with Song Guanchao’s suggestion.

...

When Hu Yaling received a call from Wu Qiangwei inviting her to dinner, she sounded somewhat surprised.

She didn’t really understand what business Wu Qiangwei could have with her out of the blue, but she still agreed.

By early evening, Hu Yaling entered the private room; besides Wu Qiangwei, Song Guanchao was there as well.

She had long heard that Song Guanchao had once been her secretary, and the fact that he had followed her to Jiangzhou also showed that their relationship was anything but ordinary.

"Secretary Hu." Wu Qiangwei went forward to greet her and shook her hand, while Song Guanchao smiled and greeted from the side, "Hello, Secretary Hu."

At forty-six, Hu Yaling had been in the system for over twenty years and had her own set of experience in dealing with people.

And she was quite a bit older than the two of them. Though her words and forms of address were formal, her expression and smile would naturally make others slip into the mindset of juniors.

But Song Guanchao and Wu Qiangwei were not ordinary people; they didn’t treat her any differently just because of her age.

They politely showed her to her seat. When the waiter brought the dishes, Wu Qiangwei asked, "Secretary Hu, would you like something to drink?"

"I’ll go with whatever the host is having." Hu Yaling didn’t make a point of fighting for the initiative and appeared utterly harmless.

Wu Qiangwei also didn’t show any strong side. "Then let’s just have some tea."

Hu Yaling sighed. "It’s really better to have younger leaders. I’ve been to so many drinking banquets all these years, and you could count on your fingers the number of times I didn’t drink."

The two sides chatted idly about family matters; the atmosphere was very pleasant. Though older, Hu Yaling had none of the vulgar shrewdness that women of her age often carried.

Her speech was measured, her manner composed, her tone easy on the ear. When the conversation occasionally touched on private life, she stopped at just the right point, her sense of boundaries perfectly controlled.

By comparison, Wu Qiangwei seemed slightly outclassed; at least in the art of small talk, she clearly couldn’t match Hu Yaling.

When she felt the timing was about right, Wu Qiangwei shifted the topic to the industrial park, and from the park to Chang Hai.

Someone as sharp as Hu Yaling understood immediately upon hearing it that Chang Hai was going to resign from his posts.

Inviting her tonight was to get her to support the person that Wu wanted to place as the new District Mayor.

Hu Yaling deftly steered the conversation elsewhere, and both Wu Qiangwei and Song Guanchao understood that she didn’t want to respond head-on.

So Wu Qiangwei didn’t insist on having her state a position on the spot, and according to Song Guanchao’s suggestion, she shifted the topic to Minister Wang.

Hu Yaling picked up the subtext—that they wanted to get to know Minister Wang properly through her.

She raised her teacup, moistened her lips, and said, "Minister Wang is quite young."

The two of them perked up, waiting for what she would say next.

"I remember, Minister Wang is actually two years younger than me," Hu Yaling said.

Wu Qiangwei seemed thoughtful, and Song Guanchao said, "Secretary Hu looks even younger. If you didn’t mention your age, I’d think you’re just in your early thirties."

It was a rather crude piece of flattery, but even crude flattery depends on who is saying it.

For someone like Song Guanchao to say something like that was quite rare.

And aside from the trappings of his position, he himself was a very handsome man.

Receiving such blunt, heavy-handed praise, even someone like Hu Yaling felt a flicker of joy, though she said, "I’m already forty-six. My daughter is in college—what does that have to do with being young? But Minister Wang does look a bit older than his age, and that can’t be helped. People with ambition worry more, and that makes them age faster."

"Unlike me. I don’t have any great ambitions. Becoming Secretary of the Political and Legal Committee is already the pinnacle for me; even if I wanted to go higher, I don’t have the ability."

"Besides, the Political and Legal Committee isn’t the Organization Department. For someone in my position, this is pretty much the end of the road. If in a few years I can be transferred to the People’s Congress or the CPPCC, I’ll be quite content."

Hearing this, Wu Qiangwei and Song Guanchao finally understood the real message hidden in her words.

Having gotten the answer they wanted, Wu Qiangwei no longer made a point of dragging things out. After eating a while longer, she took the initiative to end the evening and sent Hu Yaling to her car.

After that, the two of them got in their own car.

Since they hadn’t been drinking, Song Guanchao drove and they headed home.

When they reached the building, Song Guanchao asked, "Is anyone home?"

Wu Qiangwei blushed and felt embarrassed to answer directly. "I don’t know."

"Then I’ll go up for a cup of tea." Thick-skinned as ever, Song Guanchao turned off the engine and went upstairs with her.

As soon as the door opened, the place was pitch-dark; clearly, no one was home.

Click.

Just as Wu Qiangwei turned on the light, she felt Song Guanchao press up against her from behind.

His arms were like iron bars, full of strength.

"Let go." Wu Qiangwei patted his arm. "We’re talking business."

"We’ll talk while I’m holding you."

Song Guanchao kicked off his shoes, picked her up, and carried her to the sofa, placing her on top of him. One hand kneaded the soft flesh at her waist, the other cupped her round, perky butt.

Wu Qiangwei lay on her side in his arms. Her clothes were a mess and badly wrinkled, very uncomfortable, yet his hands made her feel very comfortable; her breathing was already a little heavy.

"From what Secretary Hu meant, Minister Wang should want to move up another step," said Song Guanchao.

What Hu Yaling had said was fairly veiled. She mentioned that Minister Wang was still young, that he had drive... it was clearly telling them that if they wanted to handle Minister Wang, they had to target this point.

Hearing him bring up business, Wu Qiangwei also forced down the strange feeling in her body and said seriously, "He’s already head of the Organization Department. To move up another step... he can only go to the province. And at the very least, it has to be the Provincial Committee."

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