Chapter 81

Entering the room, Lu Zheng said, "Have you made contact with the business in Beijing?"

Lu Zheng knew that relying solely on a few nude photos to make Huang Zixuan submit was impossible. He feared that Huang Zixuan would eventually strike back lethally. After all, he was on the political path, with many taboos, and entangling with Huang Zixuan would bring more harm than good, and many hidden dangers.

A few days ago, Huang Zixuan called to get closer, actually trying to probe and gauge Lu Zheng's stance. Lu Zheng went along with it, introducing Huang Zixuan to Du Botao, effectively connecting him with his brother-in-law Hu Deli's company.

Du Botao came from Guangning, and through Du Botao, Huang Zixuan was linked to a major trading company in Beijing, making it seem less abrupt.

But at the same time, with Huang Zixuan's shrewdness, he would surely realize that Lu Zheng might have deep connections with the Beijing elite.

This way, it could make Huang Zixuan abandon his thoughts of revenge and save him from further pointless entanglements.

"Pretty good, but to be honest, Zhengzi, the people you know are on too high a level. What does their company do? What do we do? It's not a good match," Huang Zixuan scratched his head and became serious when talking about business.

Lu Zheng smiled, "Then tell me, what do you do?"

Huang Zixuan sat down on the sofa without hesitation, called for Xiao Li to make tea, and seemed to have become the host. He took a cigarette from the ashtray on the coffee table, lit it, and said, "To put it simply, I've been dealing with mink fur recently. The mink fur from several counties is now mine. I set the price, and others don't dare to buy it. I thought the profit was good, but compared to Hu's company..." Huang Zixuan shook his head repeatedly.

Lu Zheng frowned, "Don't meddle in the emerging farming industry. Bullying farmers is no good. It's all hard-earned money. You, your level is too low!"

Huang Zixuan laughed, "Don't look down on this industry. To put it simply, the income from this season alone is more than the Five Continents Hotel can handle! And this is just a side business, run by people below me. I also want to do some high-level business. Recently, I want to build a building."

Huang Zixuan laughed again, defining himself, "I'm like a leech, wherever there's blood, I go there."

Lu Zheng nodded slightly and lit a cigarette, "If it's not for the business in Beijing, what else is it?"

Huang Zixuan laughed and moved closer to Lu Zheng, "It's like this, the Emerald Dance Hall, you know, right? I have shares in it. But there's news that the city is going to clean up the wind? Give me a heads-up, can the dance hall continue? If not, I'll quickly withdraw my shares! While Chen and Cai are still in the dark, I need to get my money back."

Lu Zheng was speechless. He really resembled his former self, only caring about his own gain, regardless of his companions' lives.

"I don't know," Lu Zheng shook his head.

"Zhengzi, look at you!" Huang Zixuan's expression was somewhat "grieved," "Why can't you give your brother a heads-up? Do you think I don't know? You're part of this cleanup, and you're even the deputy leader of the cleanup team. How can you not know anything?"

Lu Zheng frowned, thought for a moment, and said, "No need to withdraw for now!"

Huang Zixuan immediately clasped his hands together, raised them to the sky, and said, "Thank heaven, thank all the Buddhas. That place isn't big, but it makes a lot of money every year. If I had to leave now, I'd really be reluctant! Guan Gong, you're a man of principle! Take care of your brother!" He saw the statue of Guan Gong on the living room cabinet and gave it a thumbs up.

Lu Zheng ignored him, took the tea Xiao Li handed over, and took a sip.

Seeing this, Huang Zixuan laughed, "Zhengzi, are you so confident in her? Not afraid she'll drug you? Is it that you've seen her naked and have a bit of a bond? Why don't you keep her to stay with you tonight?"

Xiao Li's tray clattered to the ground, her face turned red, and tears welled up in her eyes.

"Slap!" Lu Zheng gave Huang Zixuan a slap on the back of the neck, making him see stars and let out a scream.

"Speak to me properly! Respect your girlfriend! Respect yourself!" Lu Zheng said, getting up to answer the ringing phone.

Watching Lu Zheng's back, Huang Zixuan rubbed his neck and muttered, "Damn, you hit so hard. I've never been hit by my old man, but I keep getting hit by you!"

Xiao Li looked at Huang Zixuan in surprise. She had been with him for over three years, and while others might not know, she could see through his every emotion. Now, although Huang Zixuan was cursing, Xiao Li knew he wasn't angry; rather, he seemed a bit happy and even enjoying it.

A masochist? Xiao Li shivered, thinking of some twisted characters in movies, feeling truly chilled.

...

At the end of May 1985, a joint law enforcement team from the cultural, public security, and industrial and commercial departments began to inspect and rectify the city's cultural market. Dance halls, music tea houses, cinemas, video halls, printing companies, bookstalls, newspaper kiosks, bookstores, and audio-visual rental and sales stores were all key targets for regulation.

During the rectification, Lu Zheng adhered to the "three no's" principle of the Gu Committee, merely observing coldly. However, he seized the opportunity to write an article titled "Reconsidering the Layout of the City's Cultural Industry" under the name of the Gu Committee Office. In the article, he not only summarized the significant achievements of the city's cultural market rectification and praised the leaders but also provided some ideas for the development of the cultural industry based on his knowledge of the future. When the article was published, Lu Zheng deliberately put Director Cheng's name first, with himself as the second author.

The article was published in both the city and provincial newspapers, causing a stir in the Gu Committee. Lu Zheng believed that perhaps Director Cheng had a hand in it.

Lu Zheng knew that he was too young and lacked a solid foundation, so he was in a stage of accumulating strength. To get things done, he often had to leverage others' power.

In Guangning, he leveraged Jiang Haiyan and her network. Although he was demoted, he accomplished what he wanted to do.

Compared to the layout in Guangning, the leverage in his work was much smaller.

Coming to Wushan, especially joining the Gu Committee, Lu Zheng did not regret it. In just three months, the people he met and the things he experienced were far beyond what he had in Guangning.

For example, Cheng Kai, the first person he met in the Gu Committee Office besides Pei Aihong, was a quiet and talkative person. He was the nephew of Commissioner Cheng from Wuxiang Region.

However, Cheng Kai had his own worries. The illness of Elder Zhu seemed to have a significant impact on him, and he sighed all the way.

Lu Zheng also had his own concerns. On June 15th, the three-month middle and young cadre training program at the Party School would end. What about him? Should he still take the graduation exam and get the certificate?

Thinking about it, perhaps he should ask Elder Huang for advice. After all, he hardly attended any classes, and Elder Huang was the one who initiated it.

At the entrance of the Workers' Hospital, Lu Zheng dropped off Cheng Kai, who was visiting Elder Zhu, and then drove straight to the People's Hospital.

Lu Zheng was visiting Elder Zhang, who had called him to come to the hospital after work.

Lu Zheng had only visited Elder Zhang twice, but Elder Zhang was particularly kind to him, likely because Director Cheng had said something to him.

But Lu Zheng never expected Elder Zhang to have his son call him, and he didn't know what it was about.

With doubts in his mind, Lu Zheng went upstairs and saw that there seemed to be guests in the room. He didn't pay much attention and knocked on the door, entering the ward. When he saw who was inside, he was slightly taken aback.

He saw that the gray-uniformed official sitting and chatting with Elder Zhang's son was none other than Liu Baojun. Since coming to Wushan, Lu Zheng and Liu Baojun had met a few times, but each time was filled with sighs. As a deputy director of the research office who was in favor and a former political star who was now in the cold, they naturally had fewer topics to discuss. Especially Liu Baojun, who sometimes had to be cautious in his words to avoid hurting Lu Zheng. Perhaps both felt uncomfortable meeting, and they hadn't been in touch for over a month.

Liu Baojun probably didn't expect to meet Lu Zheng here either. He was clearly taken aback but then stood up with a smile, shook hands with Lu Zheng, and said, "Zhengzi, you're here to visit Elder Zhang?"

While shaking hands with Liu Baojun, Lu Zheng caught a glimpse of the person sitting by Elder Zhang's bed turning to look. It was a tall and imposing gray-uniformed official, none other than Liu Baojun's old leader, the director of the Wushan Municipal People's Congress, member of the Municipal Party Committee, and deputy secretary, Zhang Yugong, one of the three key figures in Wushan. However, he was getting old and would likely retire in a few years.

Would he be one of the next Gu Committee's director and deputy director?

In a way, he was also part of Zhang Yugong's team.

Lu Zheng thought to himself with a self-deprecating smile but greeted Zhang Yugong with a smile, "Secretary Zhang."

Zhang Yugong smiled and nodded.

Elder Zhang, who was half-sitting up, looked slightly surprised. He moved his lips, but his voice was muffled. Zhang Yugong listened intently.

"Yes, old leader, I know Lu Zheng," Zhang Yugong raised his voice and answered with a smile.

After listening to a few more words from Elder Zhang, Zhang Yugong said, "Yes, this young man is good. I've always valued him. Testing him is for his own good." Zhang Yugong spoke sincerely, and for a moment, even Lu Zheng doubted whether Zhang Yugong had been watching him all along and never given up on him.

But Lu Zheng soon smiled bitterly. It was all a show, and who knew what was real and what was fake? These people were well-trained, and he was far from their level.

Lost in thought, he didn't hear what Zhang Yugong and Elder Zhang were saying, but he already knew why Elder Zhang had his son call him. He wanted to introduce him to Zhang Yugong to find a way out for him.

Elder Zhang was truly thoughtful.

Lu Zheng sighed softly, feeling grateful.