Official Career Storm
Chapter 250

Chapter 250: Chapter 250

At 6 o’clock in the evening, a mid-range Sichuan cuisine restaurant in Dujiang County.

Song Guanchao arrived early and had already ordered the dishes.

Around 6:20, Fu Ying arrived.

As soon as she entered, she scanned the private room inside and out and asked, "Are you here alone?"

"Uh-huh, the secretary went back."

As soon as he said this, he saw Fu Ying visibly relax.

With just the two of them, Song Guanchao directly asked, "What is the actual situation in Dujiang County?"

Fu Ying was just about to speak when there was a knock on the door.

The door to the private room was pushed open, and a man in his fifties, with half-black half-white short hair, walked in.

This man was full of energy and did not show any signs of aging.

"Minister Cheng." Fu Ying went to greet him, shook hands, and introduced, "This is Secretary Song from the City Committee."

Song Guanchao did not put on airs, and took the initiative to walk over and extend his hand: "Hello, Minister Cheng."

"Secretary Song, hello."

Minister Cheng’s smile was mild, and his gaze was steady, neither servile nor overbearing, his whole demeanor like an unworldly monk who had reached enlightenment.

Song Guanchao suddenly felt somewhat vexed.

He had a knack for dealing with people and had summarized some experiential insights.

Among them, the most difficult to deal with were not the self-righteous and clean officials.

But it was people like Minister Cheng who seemed to desire nothing.

Such people typically don’t take the initiative, don’t refuse outright, and don’t take responsibility.

If you need my help with something, I’ll do it as long as it’s within the rules.

If it’s beyond that limit, well, you’ll have to find someone else.

They never planned to profit from their positions, nor would they collude with corrupt officials.

Of course, they also wouldn’t go around reporting anyone.

In any case, they’d just calmly work until retirement, and then spend time with their grandchildren in their twilight years.

Him agreeing to come to the dinner tonight was just a matter of giving face publicly.

But Song Guanchao was pretty sure that if his request were to offend other leaders in the county, Minister Cheng would absolutely not bother with it.

However, although such people were difficult to deal with, it wasn’t entirely hopeless.

Generally speaking, when people like him first entered the system, they had great ambitions to accomplish real work.

Their current lack of desire was a resigned compromise, having seen through the bureaucracy and knowing they were powerless to change it.

With such people, you had to employ different tactics.

"Here, Minister Cheng, please have a seat."

Song Guanchao picked up the menu, ordered a few home-style dishes, including fish, shrimp, and meat.

Minister Cheng said, "Secretary Song, just order a few dishes, the eight regulations have been in effect for so many years, we shouldn’t be breaking the rules."

Song Guanchao said with a smile, "We’re not being extravagant and wasteful, these are all home-style dishes. The per capita cost at this restaurant is just two to three hundred, and although my monthly salary isn’t much, I can afford a thousand or so for a meal."

By doing this, he observed.

This Minister Cheng was overly cautious to the point of being excessively scrupulous.

He had likely been burned in this area before.

Soon, the dishes were served.

Song Guanchao stood up from the sofa and said, "Minister Cheng, let’s take our seats for the meal."

The three of them took their seats, and Song Guanchao grabbed a bottle of white liquor, to which Minister Cheng hurriedly said, "Secretary Song, let’s skip the liquor."

As the words fell, Song Guanchao had already opened the bottle: "Oh, Minister Cheng, you’re too late, I’ve already opened the bottle, it would be a waste not to drink it now."

He took the glasses, filling each with two ounces of liquor.

Then he stood up, raised his glass, and said, "Minister Cheng, it’s up to you, but I’m drinking."

Minister Cheng hurriedly stood up. Even though Song Guanchao was just a secretary, and he was a minister with actual power, the other man was a secretary of the City Committee.

He, on the other hand, was just a county town’s organization minister.

In terms of authority, they were not on the same level.

Seeing Song Guanchao down his drink in one gulp, Minister Cheng did not prattle on and tipped his head back to drain his glass cleanly.

Song Guanchao smiled and said, "Minister Cheng has a good capacity for liquor."

It was clear from his demeanor that he was also a man who enjoyed his drink.

At the dinner table, Song Guanchao brought up nothing in particular, simply engaging him in light conversation.

The flow of alcohol in their glasses never ceased.

And they were drinking by the glassful; even though they had switched to smaller three-ounce glasses, with his way of drinking, half a pint would be gone in the blink of an eye.

Only a quarter-hour into the meal, a whole bottle of white liquor had already been emptied by the two of them.

Song Guanchao himself had consumed seven ounces.

He grabbed another bottle of white liquor to open. Minister Cheng wanted to stop him, but Song Guanchao said, "It’s fine, I’ll drink by myself. See, I just hit it off with Minister Cheng, and when I’m happy, I feel like drinking."

Minister Cheng merely smiled, not picking up that thread of conversation.

He was clear that Song Guanchao was definitely seeking something from him.

As for what it was, he didn’t know, nor did he want to know.

His presence there was purely to give face to the other party.

If the other party truly made any requests, he was ready to refuse outright.

To his surprise, by the time the second bottle was gone, Song Guanchao still hadn’t broached the subject.

This young Secretary Song had quite the endurance.

Soon, the second bottle of liquor was also finished.

Song Guanchao then opened the third bottle of white liquor.

Fu Ying looked on worriedly, wanting to tell him to drink less, but she also knew that Song Guanchao wanted to discuss matters with Minister Cheng, so not drinking was out of the question.

When the third bottle was finished, and Song Guanchao opened the fourth bottle of white liquor, Minister Cheng finally couldn’t bear it anymore.

Before coming tonight, he had thought that Song Guanchao would ask him to do certain things.

And he had been prepared to refuse.

But he never expected that Song Guanchao would drink three bottles of white liquor in one go without uttering a single word.

He knew that although Song Guanchao had not brought anything up, he was using this method to press him.

"Come, Minister Cheng, let’s continue."

"I’ll finish mine, you’re free to do as you wish."

Song Guanchao lifted his glass and drained it in one gulp.

Of the three bottles of white liquor, he had single-handedly drunk two.

Yet he showed no sign of drunkenness. On the contrary, his eyes seemed to grow brighter with each drink.

But Minister Cheng was beginning to panic inside.

Who drinks liquor like this?

With this drinking, something could go wrong.

If he, the Secretary of the Municipal Committee, ended up in the hospital with stomach bleeding from drinking too much in Dujiang County, what would people think of him?

Minister Cheng sighed somewhat helplessly.

This Secretary Song, young as he may be to have entered the City Committee, was certainly no ordinary person.

As he watched Song Guanchao raise his glass to toast him again, he gave a wry smile and held back his hand, saying, "Secretary Song, please be straightforward. As long as it’s within my power, I will help. But I also ask you not to make things difficult for me."

He and Song Guanchao had laid their cards on the table.

It had to be done—he truly feared that Song Guanchao would drink himself to death here tonight.

Song Guanchao smiled and, after downing his glass, picked up some eggplant with his chopsticks to settle his stomach, and then said, "How much do you know about County Magistrate Hou?"

Minister Cheng sighed inwardly. This Secretary Song had indeed targeted the leadership of the county.

He cautiously spoke, "I don’t have much overlap with County Magistrate Hou in our work, apart from committee meetings, we hardly see each other at other times."

This sort of evasive answer wasn’t what Song Guanchao was looking for.

He remained silent, picking up the bottle to continue drinking.

One glass, two glasses, three glasses...

Seeing the fourth bottle nearly emptied by Song Guanchao, Minister Cheng offered a bitter smile, "Why must you put me in such a difficult position, Secretary Song?"

As he continued to drink, Song Guanchao said, "Minister Cheng, as the head of the organization department, the city has placed you in this position with the hope that you would get real work done. If it were just about managing files, then anyone could fill your role."

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