Chapter 94

As Zhou Ci, Su Mu's woman, she was quite efficient. After receiving Su Mu's hint, she had someone bring over a very ordinary Santana. The car looked quite old from the outside, making people not want to look at it a second time. However, despite its unimpressive appearance, the car's performance was actually quite good.

After the driver parked the car at the designated spot and left, Su Mu, after confirming that no one was paying attention, walked over and drove the car. Once Nie Yue got in, the car sped off in a puff of smoke.

"Secretary Nie, it will take us until the afternoon to get from our county to the provincial capital. You should take a nap in the car, and I'll wake you up when we arrive," Su Mu said.

"Alright! Drive slowly, no rush," Nie Yue said softly.

"Understood!"

Su Mu didn't say much more. Sometimes, silence wasn't a bad thing. Compared to silence, forcing conversation could be annoying. Su Mu's driving skills were indeed good, and he drove very steadily. Perhaps because he was thinking about something, or perhaps because he had been under a lot of stress recently, Nie Yue actually fell asleep in the car.

By the time they arrived in Shengjing, it was around three in the afternoon. Su Mu had just parked the car on the side of the road when Nie Yue opened his eyes. He smiled at Su Mu in satisfaction and directly gave a location.

"Su Mu, do you know where this is? If you don't, I'll take a taxi, and you can follow behind," Nie Yue said with a smile. Because no one in the provincial capital recognized him, Nie Yue's mood was clearly much more relaxed.

It was only now that Nie Yue truly acknowledged Su Mu. This journey was his final test for Su Mu, and the facts proved that Su Mu had passed the test, successfully earning Nie Yue's recognition. Otherwise, Nie Yue wouldn't have hinted that Su Mu should follow him.

"No need for that, Secretary Nie. I actually graduated from Jiang University, and I'm more familiar with Shengjing than Xingtang County. When I was a student, I even worked part-time as a taxi driver for a while. So just sit back, and I guarantee I'll take you there!" Su Mu replied with a smile.

"Then let's go!" Nie Yue said, smiling in satisfaction. He now had a much better impression of Su Mu. Not to mention other things, just the fact that Su Mu was clean and honest made him worth cultivating.

How many college students really do part-time jobs? And among those, how many would work as taxi drivers? As for whether Su Mu had a driver's license, Nie Yue didn't care. What mattered to him was Su Mu's attitude. Not hiding anything from him, even mentioning this, clearly showed that he considered Nie Yue a close friend.

The address Nie Yue gave was a high-end residential area in Shengjing. After safely delivering Nie Yue, Su Mu found an excuse to leave and didn't go in. He found a roadside restaurant and started eating noodles. Nie Yue also seemed to have some concerns and didn't let Su Mu go in. He just asked him to wait here and return to the county together after he came out.

"Should I investigate this Secretary Nie's background?" Su Mu lit a cigarette, squinting his eyes in the rising smoke. Honestly, if he really wanted to investigate, he wouldn't even need Zheng Mu; he could just send a text to Du Pinshang, and he would know soon. However, doing so would leave him with the sin of privately investigating a superior. In the political arena, such behavior should be avoided if possible. Even the Public Security Bureau wouldn't dare to do this without an order, let alone him.

Forget it. Since he had decided to walk this political path, he couldn't rely on others for everything. Having the Official List, which allowed him to predict the future and make early arrangements, was already a stroke of luck. Thinking about other things wouldn't increase his political skills but might instead lead him into a trap. If that happened, it wouldn't be good.

As long as he followed Nie Yue closely, one day Nie Yue would trust him and reveal his cards. Compared to investigating now, this approach had incomparable advantages.

So, he would just wait!

After thinking it through, Su Mu stopped worrying and quietly waited in the car. This time, he didn't plan to notify Ye Xi or anyone else. This trip was clearly different from others, and he couldn't be careless.

Nie Yue didn't take long inside. About an hour later, he came out, and the smile on his face was clearly different from the stern expression he had when he went in.

"Secretary Nie, are we heading back now?" Su Mu asked with a smile.

"Exactly, we'll head back to the county tonight. Su Mu, you'll have to work hard. I'll treat you to a good drink when we get back," Nie Yue said, his mood greatly improved, and his words were filled with warmth.

"Alright!" Su Mu knew that Nie Yue had probably accomplished his mission this time, though he didn't know exactly which position he had targeted. County Magistrate? Or County Party Secretary? Regardless, it was good news for Su Mu. As long as Nie Yue could smoothly ascend, he would definitely win over a group of people. That would definitely help Su Mu's future work.

Just knowing this was enough for Su Mu!

The major political earthquake in Xingtang County temporarily ended on the tenth day after Xie Wen was placed under double regulation. All the county-level and department-level cadres, as well as the main leaders of the four major bodies, were sitting in the county party committee meeting room. Everyone was whispering, speculating about who would take the most important position after this earthquake.

Although everyone knew that County Magistrate Zhao Ruian had been the most prominent figure during this period, before the final results were announced, anything could happen. At this point, whether those who had already aligned with Zhao Ruian or those who were temporarily neutral, were all speculating about who the new County Party Secretary, announced by Cai Le, the Secretary of the Organization Department of Qinglin City, would be.

Because the confidentiality was very tight, except for a few core people, the others in the meeting room, including the County Party Secretary, didn't even know if he was an outsider or promoted from within Xingtang County.

Around ten o'clock, footsteps were heard outside the meeting room. Then, accompanied by County Magistrate Zhao Ruian, County Party Secretary Nie Yue, and other county party committee leaders, Cai Le appeared in the meeting room, and applause immediately broke out.

Cai Le was a middle-aged man who looked very refined, with a smile on his face. He clapped and sat on the stage.

On the stage, besides Cai Le, Zhao Ruian, and Nie Yue, there were two new faces. Strangely, no one in the room knew who these two men were, and everyone was speculating about what was going on.

Su Mu quietly sat in the corner, observing the people on the stage, especially Zhao Ruian, whose face seemed much gloomier than before. The confidence and vigor he had shown recently were all gone, replaced by a sense of frustration.

"Could it be that things have really changed as I suspected?"

As Su Mu speculated, Zhao Ruian slowly stood up and began to chair the meeting. After a brief opening speech, he handed the microphone to Cai Le. Cai Le was very familiar with the procedure and began with the usual political jargon. However, because this meeting was different from the past, as it was to announce new appointments after two county party committee members were placed under double regulation, he didn't waste much time and got straight to the point.

"Now, I will announce the appointment and dismissal of cadres in Xingtang County on behalf of the Municipal Committee..."