Chapter 45

"Xiao Qizhi? Deputy Minister Huang?"

Xu Junran's heart twitched, but his face immediately became incredibly calm, as if he had just heard this name for the first time.

"I don't know him. What's up, Minister?"

If someone who didn't know Xu Junran saw his current performance, they would definitely think he was a young man who was a bit nervous because of the concern from the city's leadership. Little did they know, his heart was almost filled with rage.

Fu Zui nodded hesitantly and smiled, "Nothing, nothing."

He didn't tell Xu Junran that when the Deputy Minister of the Municipal Organization Department, Huang Ziqi, called him, the underlying meaning of his words was to have Fu Zui find an opportunity to suppress this young man, Xu Junran. Of course, his words weren't that obvious. He just said that although Xu Junran graduated from a prestigious university in Beijing, he was still too young and lacked work experience. It wasn't appropriate to let him take charge of a region's work, so it would be best for him to be further polished at the grassroots level.

The underlying meaning of these words was to have Fu Zui intervene when Xu Junran was about to be promoted.

Grassroots officials are different from central ministry officials, especially township officials. It's not easy to be promoted. Everyone is waiting for opportunities, waiting to build up their seniority and time. Generally, when the top leader of a commune is adjusted, it will have a significant impact on the careers of the officials below.

In short, once the top leader leaves, the next leaders move up one level. When the secretary leaves, the deputy secretary takes over, and the organization commissioner becomes the deputy secretary, and so on. Basically, all the leaders of a township have the opportunity to advance.

Or, when an official is transferred, the person who was supposed to replace him doesn't get the position, and a new official is sent down from the higher level.

Just like this time when Xu Junran was appointed to Li Family Town, it should have been the commune's organization commissioner, Feng Hongcheng, who would take over the deputy secretary's position. But the county committee appointed Xu Junran instead.

Fortunately, both the county party secretary and the county magistrate agreed with the appointment. Feng Hongcheng was a smart person and knew that Xu Junran had enough connections in Li Family Town and was not someone he could challenge. Early on, he had extended a gesture of goodwill to Xu Junran through his wife, Hong Yanxin. Otherwise, there would have been inevitable conflicts between them.

Huang Ziqi's hint to Fu Zui was to have Xu Junran stay rooted at the grassroots level and not leave the township.

Throwing a promising graduate from a prestigious university into the grassroots to fend for himself, Fu Zui vaguely felt that this Minister Huang seemed to have a great deal of hostility toward Xu Junran!

But he wasn't stupid. Xu Junran was currently in a very favorable position, and the county committee leadership valued this university graduate who had returned to serve his hometown. If he were to rashly trip him up, he might anger the old secretary, Yan Wangsong. If Yan Wangsong really got angry, Fu Zui might lose his position as the organization minister. Huang Ziqi, who was reportedly sent from Beijing, could just leave, but Fu Zui still had to stay in Wude County.

So, after probing Xu Junran, Fu Zui simply didn't say anything more.

He was a seasoned official and wouldn't show his hostility so openly.

The journey was silent as the jeep slowly approached Li Family Town. Xu Junran's heart, however, remained unsettled.

Huang Ziqhi?

Finally, he heard news of this person again.

In his previous life, Xu Junran was not unfamiliar with Huang Ziqhi, who fell from grace as the deputy secretary of the provincial committee. His uncle, who was in charge of investigating Huang Ziqhi's case, had sentenced him to 15 years in prison, but he was released after just over six years, thanks to his powerful family in Beijing.

Huang Ziqhi and Huang Zixuan were brothers, despite the ten-year age gap.

As the saying goes, "Brothers fight tigers together, and fathers and sons go to battle together."

Huang Ziqhi naturally wouldn't have any good feelings toward Xu Junran. In his previous life, Xu Junran knew very clearly that he had suffered several setbacks in his political career due to this Deputy Secretary Huang. If it weren't for his adoptive father's old classmate being appointed as the top leader of Jiangnan Province, he might not have even become a city secretary. At the time, he didn't understand why he had offended him, but it was because of his adoptive father.

At this moment, it seemed that the Huang family was starting to suppress him. No wonder his adoptive father had never been promoted in his previous life, and even when there was an opportunity, he would give it up. It was because he knew that with Huang Ziqhi around, he couldn't advance any further.

Several thoughts flashed through his mind, and Xu Junran clearly knew that if he wanted to achieve something, Huang Ziqhi was a mountain he had to climb.

Since you've come out, don't blame me for being unfriendly!

He decided to target this future Secretary Huang, the current Minister Huang, and vowed to prevent him from becoming the deputy secretary of the provincial committee.

The jeep slowly slowed down and soon arrived in front of the old office building of Li Family Town. The so-called office building was actually a two-story brick house. To be precise, the commune courtyard was a row of bungalows, with the central brick house being two stories.

The best building in Li Family Town was not the commune but the ancestral hall of the town.

The ancestral hall was the root of the Li family. It not only housed the ancestral tablets but also served as a school where children of the town went to study and receive guidance from Teacher Long Yin.

"Minister, there are a lot of people outside!"

The driver stopped the car and said with some panic.

Fu Zui frowned, "What's going on?" He thought someone was deliberately blocking him.

In this era, motor vehicles were rare in rural areas. The sudden appearance of a jeep was too novel for people.

So Fu Zui's first reaction was that someone was trying to stop the car to file a complaint.

To be fair, this wasn't uncommon in Wude County. Every time the county committee or government leaders went on inspection tours, they would encounter villagers blocking the car to file complaints, mostly over trivial matters. The villagers felt that this was the only way to make it official.

The communicator smiled bitterly and turned to Fu Zui, "It doesn't seem to be that. It looks like they are welcoming us." Following his finger, at the entrance of the Li Family Town commune courtyard, a welcoming crowd of hundreds was standing, some holding red flags, some beating drums, and many just standing there.

"What?" Fu Zui was taken aback, then showed a satisfied expression and nodded, "What is Li Qiankun up to! Nonsense! I'll criticize him!"

Although he said that, the joy on his face didn't suggest he was going to criticize anyone.

Seeing Minister Fu so happy, Xu Junran had a sense of foreboding. He saw Li Youde, the clan elder of Li Family Town, and others in the welcoming crowd. These old gentlemen were not the type to welcome county leaders, and even Mr. Yin had come out. Was this grand welcome for Fu Zui?

Xu Junran vaguely felt something was off.

Sure enough, when Fu Zui got out of the car, there was no enthusiastic applause as he had hoped, and even the people beating drums and gongs stopped.

Looking at the elders standing at the front of the crowd, Fu Zui suddenly felt that something was not right.