Official Career Storm
Chapter 288

Chapter 288: Chapter 288

Mayor Zheng was an outsider in Lingjiang, and by the time he arrived, the local powers had long divided and controlled the territory.

This made his work incredibly difficult to carry out, as subordinates simply would not listen, instead only heeding Deputy Mayor Jiang Yuan.

Over the years, he too had been actively cultivating his own team, but to little avail.

After all, as a figurehead with less actual power than even the department heads with real authority in the city, nobody was buying what he was selling.

Left with no other choice, he had to extend his reach into the lower levels of townships.

Li Zhuang was Xu Xin’s relative, and though lacking in formal education, he was very reliable and somewhat clever in his dealings.

Most importantly, he was obedient.

When Mayor Zheng told him to go east, he would never go west.

He hadn’t treated Li Zhuang poorly either, using his position to secure him a job in the town.

To his surprise, the young man had actually managed to climb the ranks to become the Town Party Committee Secretary purely through his abilities.

This was beyond his expectations.

He lit a cigarette, leaned back in his chair, and leisurely puffed smoke into the air.

His plan was nothing short of perfect.

Without moving a single soldier, he struck the enemy invisibly!

"Trying to fight me? You’re still way too green!"

"Ssss~"

He smiled, but the act pulled at the half of his face that had been hit by Song Guanchao, causing a twinge of pain.

"Knock knock."

"Mayor."

Li Jun entered, holding a report: "Here are the recent findings from the high-speed rail research."

Mayor Zheng gestured dismissively, "No need to show me, send it to the City Committee, to Secretary Song."

"Ah?" Li Jun looked surprised: "But Mayor, Secretary Song is just the head of the project team."

Mayor Zheng said sternly, "Trust those you employ, don’t employ those you can’t trust. Have faith in Secretary Song’s abilities. Besides, it’s still only the research phase. From now on, don’t report this kind of issue to me, just take it straight to Secretary Song."

"Oh, okay, I got it."

Li Jun fell silent for two seconds, nodded quietly, and left.

He didn’t understand what Mayor Zheng was really after.

After all, the potential benefits of this project were enormous.

There were so many leaders in the city eyeing it.

And this project wasn’t just a chance to make money; for the leaders in charge, it also represented a dazzling achievement.

With Mayor Zheng in desperate need of such achievements, it would have seemed logical for him to scrutinize every detail to avoid any slip-ups.

Yet, he had entrusted the entire matter to Song Guanchao.

Even though it was still in the research phase, shouldn’t he have kept a tight grip on the overall direction?

Instead, he had even surrendered the most significant guidance to Song Guanchao.

He just couldn’t make sense of it.

Leaving the city government building and getting into his car, Li Jun dialed Minister Zhou’s number.

"Hello, Minister Zhou, are you busy?"

He held great respect and politeness towards Minister Zhou.

If it weren’t for Minister Zhou, he wouldn’t have had the opportunity to enter Mayor Zheng’s field of vision and to serve as the secretary for the city government.

"Li Jun, what is it?"

"Minister Zhou, it’s like this..."

He reported to Minister Zhou in detail the decision Mayor Zheng had made.

Minister Zhou pondered for two seconds and said, "Follow Mayor Zheng’s instructions, and for the time being, don’t touch this project."

"All right, I understand."

"When you have the time, look into whether there are any conflicts between Mayor Zheng and Secretary Wu."

"Okay, I’ll keep an eye out."

In his office, Minister Zhou set down his phone, stood up, walked to the window, and gazed out at Lingjiang. His mind was in overdrive.

What on earth did Mayor Zheng intend to do?

In the last two sessions of the Standing Committee, he had noticed some subtle discord between Mayor Zheng and Wu Qiangwei.

For instance, Wu Qiangwei had proposed Liu Jie for the position of Secretary of the Municipal Committee, yet in the end, Xu Xin had taken the role.

And Xu Xin was Mayor Zheng’s man.

There must be something going on between these two.

But now, Mayor Zheng has completely handed over the high-speed rail project to Song Guanchao.

Such behavior, coming from a number two in command who is vigorously working on the economy and achievements, is too discordant, too abnormal.

On the surface, it seems that Mayor Zheng is making overtures to Wu Qiangwei.

But Minister Zhou felt it wasn’t that simple.

This guy might be up to no good.

There’s probably going to be a problem with this high-speed rail project.

At that moment, the desk vibrated.

He walked over, grabbed the phone, and was immediately somewhat irritable.

It was Director Qin again.

He really wanted to pretend he hadn’t seen it.

"Director Qin, what is it?"

"Minister Zhou, have you heard about Mayor Zheng and Song Guanchao?"

Minister Zhou’s heart skipped a beat: "What could possibly be going on between them?"

"Heh, looks like Minister Zhou isn’t in the know yet."

Director Qin was a bit smug.

He hadn’t intended to speak with Minister Zhou about this issue, but when he told He Kang, He Kang simply didn’t care.

His intuition told him that this matter was probably not simple, hence he wanted to have a chat with Minister Zhou.

Minister Zhou was getting impatient; this fool had even learned how to play coy.

"Yeah, I don’t know."

"I heard that Song Guanchao has offended Mayor Zheng, and Mayor Zheng is now catching hold of his weak points."

"What’s the reason?"

"I’m not sure about that."

"Heh, probably just rumors."

Minister Zhou said lightly, "A mayor and a secretary, besides, Song Guanchao is clever. How could he possibly offend Mayor Zheng? Your news doesn’t sound credible."

Director Qin got anxious: "This news is definitely reliable!"

"Oh? Secretary Li told you?"

"Don’t worry about where the news came from, it’s absolutely true! Minister Zhou, do you think I should keep siding with Mayor Zheng or start contacting Song Guanchao?"

Director Qin said, "And I feel that it may not be Song Guanchao who is at odds with Mayor Zheng, probably Secretary Wu. What do you think?"

Minister Zhou said, "Stop speculating, your information is most likely unreliable. If there’s nothing else, I’m hanging up now, I’m busy."

He didn’t wait for Director Qin to reply and hung up the phone directly.

He immediately dialed Li Jun’s number.

Li Jun was driving; seeing the incoming call, he pulled over to the side.

"Minister Zhou."

"Has Mayor Zheng been to the City Committee these past few days?"

"He was just there this morning."

"Good, I know now."

"Minister Zhou, is there trouble?"

Minister Zhou rarely contacted him directly, and to start asking such questions immediately made Li Jun a bit worried.

"I’m not sure yet." Minister Zhou thought for a few seconds and said, "When you have time, help me test Mayor Zheng."

"How should I test him?"

"Bring up Song Guanchao in his presence; I’ve got news that there’s discord between Mayor Zheng and Song Guanchao. Aren’t you going to deliver documents to Song Guanchao? When you come back later, just drop a couple of hints, and see what Mayor Zheng’s attitude towards Song Guanchao is like."

"Alright, I understand."

...

"Secretary Li, shouldn’t this document be given to Mayor Zheng? Why has it been sent to me?"

Looking at the document that Li Jun had delivered, Song Guanchao found it odd, thinking Li Jun had come to the wrong door.

Li Jun said with a smile, "Mayor Zheng said that since you’re in charge of the project now, it should naturally be handed to you."

Song Guanchao, deep in thought, took it with a smile: "Alright, then I’ll take charge. Convey my thanks to Mayor Zheng for his high regards."

"Sure, I’ll make sure to pass on the message."

No sooner had Li Jun stepped out, Zeng Li leaned her head to the side, looking at him with a sly smile, "Looks like Mayor Zheng is about to make a move on you, huh?"

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