Chapter 5

Update time: June 29, 2012

Ge Yongqiu picked up the phone and dialed the direct line to Mayor Gao Tianhe, briefly reporting what had just happened at the city steel plant.

Zhou Dazui, sitting opposite the desk, heard the voice on the phone suddenly rise, clearly indicating that Gao Tianhe was extremely angry upon hearing the news.

No mayor would remain calm upon hearing that government staff had engaged in a fight at a company. Zhou Dazui vaguely heard Gao Tianhe loudly instruct Ge Yongqiu over the phone: "Report this directly to Mayor Chen and see how he handles it!"

Zhou Dazui also knew the bigger picture was important, but the anger in his heart was hard to suppress. Hearing Gao Tianhe directly tell his brother-in-law to report the incident to Chen Mingde, he looked at his brother-in-law with anticipation.

If Ge Yongqiu were to report this directly to Chen Mingde, Chen Mingde would naturally not be able to publicly cover up for Shen Huai.

Ge Yongqiu swallowed a mouthful of saliva. He knew that Mayor Gao would be furious upon hearing this and might not think deeply about the matter for a moment...

After waiting for about four or five seconds, until Gao Tianhe's mood had calmed down a bit, Ge Yongqiu continued: "I'm afraid Mayor Chen will use this as an excuse to make more trouble..."

"..." Zhou Dazui didn't hear clearly what Gao Tianhe said on the phone.

Ge Yongqiu continued: "Shen Huai, who isn't very smart, said a lot of strange things at the city steel plant today, directly pointing to the plant's recent business failures. Given Shen Huai's level, he shouldn't be able to see that deep. It's likely that Mayor Chen is studying the problems at the city steel plant behind the scenes. If Mayor Chen uses the investigation of the fatal accident as a breakthrough, the implications could be significant..."

At this point, Ge Yongqiu paused; Zhou Dazui didn't hear any sound coming from the phone, indicating that Ge Yongqiu's words had made Gao Tianhe think deeply.

After a long silence, Ge Yongqiu spoke again into the phone: "Yes, I think so too. Shen Huai causing trouble at the city steel plant might be instigated by Mayor Chen... Alright, I understand, I understand." Saying "I understand" twice, Ge Yongqiu hung up the phone.

"Is that it? Mayor Gao just told you to let it go?" Even for the sake of the bigger picture, Zhou Dazui found it hard to accept that this matter would be quietly swept under the rug. Without a resolution, how could he face people at the city steel plant in the future?

"If not, what do you want to do?" Ge Yongqiu was also frustrated, trying to suppress his anger. He glared at his incompetent brother-in-law and said, "Even if there's no conspiracy, do you really think reporting this to Chen Mingde will do anything to that scoundrel?"

"Why wouldn't it?" Zhou Dazui's anger hadn't subsided. Hearing his brother-in-law speak so weakly, he couldn't help but get angry again. He shouted in a rough voice, "Isn't Shen Huai just a dog for Chen Mingde? If this dog runs out and bites people, even if Chen Mingde protects him, he should still give everyone an explanation!"

"What kind of tone is that? Are you angry at me?" Ge Yongqiu shouted sternly. If he couldn't control Shen Huai, he certainly wouldn't let his brother-in-law get away with it. He glared at him.

Zhou Dazui was afraid of Ge Yongqiu. As soon as his brother-in-law's voice got rough, his own气势 (momentum) was broken, and he slumped in his seat: "How can I be angry at you? Even though my face was beaten up, in the end, it's still your face that's lost. You've never been bullied like this in Donghua City. If we can't handle it openly, I'll find a few people at night to beat this scoundrel up in a bag. We can't just let it go like this."

"Nonsense, if you do something reckless and cause trouble, no one will be able to protect you." Ge Yongqiu stared at his brother-in-law with a sharp gaze, afraid he would act rashly behind his back. He tried to reason with him, "This Shen Huai is not as simple as you think..."

"How is he not simple?"

"Chen Mingde was sent to Donghua from the provincial level, and we can't ignore his background," Ge Yongqiu explained, "Shen Huai was brought to Donghua by Chen Mingde from the province. Do you think we would overlook him?"

"..." Zhou Dazui remained silent. He had heard that Chen Mingde's arrival in Donghua might threaten Mayor Gao Tianhe's position, so it was normal for Gao Tianhe to investigate Chen Mingde's background.

He knew Chen Mingde had a powerful backer, but he didn't understand why even a dog by Chen Mingde's side couldn't be touched.

"Before coming to Donghua, Chen Mingde was the deputy director of the provincial planning commission, and Shen Huai was a lecturer at the provincial economic college for over a year. No one knew where he had studied abroad, but he had no real abilities or professional skills, just living off the provincial economic college. He was a teacher in name only. Just before he came to Donghua, he got a female student pregnant and forced her to have an abortion, which led to her cutting her wrists and dying..."

"Damn, he's really not a good person!" Zhou Dazui spat, not thinking to look at himself in a mirror.

"This incident caused a big stir at the provincial economic college, with many teachers going on strike demanding Shen Huai's dismissal. In the end, the college only suspended him for reflection. Two months later, Shen Huai came to Donghua with Chen Mingde..." Ge Yongqiu explained the situation to his brother-in-law in detail.

Zhou Dazui smacked his lips; he wouldn't dare to act so recklessly even with his brother-in-law's backing at the city steel plant.

"Shen Huai has been in Donghua for only a few months, and he's not a good person," Ge Yongqiu, who was reluctant to admit he couldn't control his subordinate, couldn't help but frown when he thought of Shen Huai's face, "He was very arrogant in the city government, even pointing out to an old bureau chief who came to see Chen Mingde that he should go clean his shoes because his shoes were dirty..."

"Who?"

"Don't ask who it is; it's not a good thing to know. There are only a few people who know, and it would cause trouble if it got out," Ge Yongqiu, who had been in office for half his life, was more cautious than others imagined. Otherwise, he wouldn't be Mayor Gao Tianhe's confidant. He continued, "This little scoundrel doesn't even respect me, and he even has designs on Zhou Yu, both openly and secretly..."

"Zhou Yu? That scoundrel dares to have designs on Zhou Yu, who is his superior?" Zhou Dazui opened his mouth, thinking of Zhou Yu's beautiful face, and couldn't help but drool.

"Hmph!"

Ge Yongqiu's "hmpf" was filled with disdain, envy, and bitterness.

In the political arena, beautiful women, especially those whose husbands were bedridden due to a car accident, were hard to avoid trouble, but Zhou Yu was an exception.

Unlike Zhou Dazui, Zhou Yu, the deputy secretary-general of the city government, came from a family with extensive connections in Donghua City.

Not to mention the older generation of the Zhou family, Zhou Yu had many siblings, some in business and others in politics, all of whom were influential in Donghua City and had connections in the province.

Zhou Yu herself had worked in the city government for a long time and later married into the family of the former party secretary. Even as a woman, she had a smooth political career in Donghua, and at the age of less than thirty, she was already the deputy secretary-general of the city government.

Not to mention that the Zhou family wouldn't tolerate outsiders bullying them; Zhou Yu's father-in-law was the former party secretary, and although he had retired, his influence remained. Who would dare to have designs on his daughter-in-law?

Zhou Dazui never thought that this scoundrel Shen Huai would openly have designs on Zhou Yu after coming to Donghua City.

Of course, Zhou Dazui, no matter how shortsighted, knew a truth: all arrogant people who haven't been crushed must have the means to continue being arrogant.

Zhou Dazui no longer mentioned finding people to secretly deal with Shen Huai, but he was curious about the scoundrel's background and asked, "What's this guy's background?"

"The personnel department's file only mentions that his parents divorced when he was young, and his mother died of illness when he was twelve. After that, his guardians were his grandparents. He studied in Yanjing and then went abroad. He returned to China three years ago but didn't return to Yanjing. Instead, he loafed around in Huaihai for half a year before entering the provincial economic college as a lecturer. It was said to be a job application, but there were people pulling strings behind the scenes..."

"How old is this guy?"

"Twenty-four." Ge Yongqiu had been secretly paying attention to Shen Huai for a while, and the information in the file came easily to him, but the file was too brief to reveal much.

"That doesn't show a strong background. He can't possibly be the child of a central leader," Zhou Dazui speculated, "Since Chen Mingde is so protective of him, could there be some other relationship that can't be mentioned?"

Ge Yongqiu knew his brother-in-law wasn't very smart, but he was surprised that he could still figure out some things. He thought that working as a mid-level official at the city steel plant had given him some training.

Secretaries have always been a fast track to promotion in the political arena. Being close to the core of power and easily getting promotions is one aspect; another is that as a leader's confidant, they can share the power and authority that should not be theirs:

For example, although Shen Huai was only a section-level official, he could beat up Zhou Dazui in front of Ge Yongqiu without restraint, essentially sharing the power and authority that should belong to the vice mayor, Chen Mingde.

Because of these special characteristics, secretarial positions in power institutions are often occupied by young people with backgrounds who lack experience and need training.

However, no matter what, when leaders choose their secretaries, they always select someone who is cautious, capable, and trustworthy.

Shen Huai, who was not only arrogant and trouble-prone but also uneducated and incapable, was an exception.

Chen Mingde, a scholar-type official who values work efficiency and has strict, even harsh, requirements for his subordinates, could tolerate such a person as his secretary, which was hard to understand.

Some people in the city government even speculated that Shen Huai might be Chen Mingde's illegitimate child...

Indeed, apart from this relationship, it was hard to explain why Chen Mingde would force such a troublemaker to be his secretary.

Looking at Chen Mingde's resume, he had been in a central ministry until just before Shen Huai left Yanjing to study abroad. Later, he was transferred to Huaihai and served a term at the provincial economic college before joining the provincial planning commission.

Comparing the resumes of Chen Mingde and Shen Huai, a more careful observer could see the connection...

To say that Shen Huai's background was so strong that Chen Mingde had to tolerate him, unless Shen Huai was the child of a central leader.

But the children of central leaders, if they wanted to enter politics, even if they took secretarial positions, would have many opportunities in central ministries, provinces, and municipalities. Why would they come to a city like Donghua, which is only at the prefecture level and is a remote place?