Official Career Storm
Chapter 291

Chapter 291: Chapter 291

Song Guanchao was very surprised and asked, "What method?"

"There’s a certain risk involved in this method."

"Go ahead."

"Find the residents who are going to report you in advance and pay them to keep quiet."

Song Guanchao furrowed his brow, pondered for a few seconds, then shook his head and said, "No, that won’t do."

Indeed, it was a method.

But the feasibility was extremely low.

Not to mention whether he could find these people before they reported him, even if he did, how could he ensure they would definitely keep quiet?

And what’s more, even if they did keep quiet, there would still be other people who would continue reporting.

This method only treated the symptoms, not the root cause.

Liang Jiajia pursed her lips, as she also couldn’t think of a better solution.

"I’ll go talk to my dad; he must have a way."

Liang Jiajia got up to grab her clothes but was pulled back by Song Guanchao.

"Don’t disturb Uncle Liang’s rest in the middle of the night."

"At a critical time like this, who cares about sleep!"

"Alright, alright, let’s talk about this later. Even if Mayor Zheng arranges for someone to report, it won’t happen in a day or two. We’ll always be able to come up with a countermeasure."

"Whenever you think of a countermeasure, you have to tell me. If it doesn’t work out, we’ll go to my dad."

"Okay, deal."

...

Early next morning, as soon as Song Guanchao picked up Wu Qiangwei, without waiting for him to speak, Wu Qiangwei said, "Give the car keys to Wu Ming later. Focus on the project and don’t get distracted."

Wu Qiangwei noticed his dark circles and was worried about him running around outside every day and coming to pick her up early in the morning, not getting enough rest.

"Oh, okay."

Song Guanchao didn’t pay much attention.

"Secretary, I talked with Mr. He yesterday."

Song Guanchao shared Liang Jiajia’s analysis from the previous night with her.

Wu Qiangwei nodded and asked, "Have you thought of what to do yet?"

"Not yet."

He had thought about it the entire night and still hadn’t come up with a good solution.

Wu Qiangwei found it just as tricky; this open conspiracy seemed unsolvable.

She gave a light sigh and said, "If it really doesn’t work, I’ll accompany you to the province to see Secretary Xu."

Even without evidence, Wu Qiangwei believed Secretary Xu would trust her word.

Song Guanchao felt touched inside; he could feel the concern in Wu Qiangwei’s gesture.

"Let’s wait a bit longer."

Song Guanchao said, "I’ll think about it for a few more days."

"At the latest by this weekend, if you still can’t think of a solution, come with me to the province."

"Alright." Song Guanchao didn’t stubbornly refuse.

After all, this directly affected his political future.

Once reported, he truly wouldn’t be able to clear his name.

While out surveying with Mr. He at noon, Song Guanchao was somewhat distracted, constantly thinking about the issue.

Just as things were ending, he received a call from Minister Zhou.

He then remembered that he had agreed to have dinner with Minister Zhou today.

"Secretary Song, do you have time tonight?"

"Yes, I do. I’m really sorry, Minister Zhou; I’ve been so busy today that I forgot to call you back."

"No problem, then I’ll send you the address."

"Thank you."

After hanging up, Mr. He said, "If you have an appointment, you should go ahead. I’m almost done here too."

"Okay, then I’m taking off."

He checked the address sent by Minister Zhou and took a taxi there directly.

He arrived at the place around six o’clock, only to realize that the restaurant was actually near Lingjiang University.

The restaurant was a very ordinary one, just a notch above a street stall.

Upon entering the restaurant, he immediately spotted Minister Zhou.

Wearing a white shirt with an administrative jacket over it, his ensemble was completed by suit pants and leather shoes.

Minister Zhou gave Song Guanchao the first impression of being an intellectual, a scholar, with his refined and composed demeanor, never hasty in doing anything.

This kind of temperament he had so far only observed in Minister Zhou and Secretary Lu.

Secretary Xu from the Provincial Disciplinary Inspection Committee, on the other hand, felt to him like a hidden sword, sharp and intimidating, hard to look straight at.

"Minister Zhou."

Song Guanchao came over and sat down, and Minister Zhou said with a smile, "I’ve ordered a few dishes, see if they suit your taste."

Song Guanchao took the menu and glanced at it, "No problem."

Minister Zhou asked, "Would you like to drink alcohol or tea?"

Song Guanchao couldn’t figure out Minister Zhou’s purpose for meeting him, but the man had given him face by not arranging drinks in advance, which would have obligated him to drink.

He needed to show appropriate respect in return.

"It’s up to you, Minister Zhou."

"Then let’s have a bit of alcohol. We won’t drink much. We can share a bottle and drink as much as we can."

"Sure."

As the meal was served, Minister Zhou took the initiative to pour him wine, and Song Guanchao politely declined at first.

After a few glasses of wine, Minister Zhou started to open up.

He gazed out the window at the brightly lit street, where most of the passers-by were university students.

"This is my alma mater. When I was a student, I used to eat at this place often with my classmates."

"Minister Zhou must have had good grades at that time," Song Guanchao said.

"Indeed, my grades were quite good."

This topic piqued Minister Zhou’s interest, "I studied law at the School of Political Science and Law, and I had been first in my class until graduation. With my grades, I originally could have stayed on as a faculty member..."

He suddenly stopped there, picked up his glass, and drank it all in one go.

There was a subtle change in his mood, very subtle, but Song Guanchao still caught it.

Minister Zhou continued pouring wine, smiling, and said, "During university, two girls pursued me, one of whom I also liked, and she became my first love. After graduating, we broke up, and later on, I got together with the other girl."

"She is now my wife, and back then, her father was the chairman of the local CPPCC, haha."

Song Guanchao listened in silence, neither commenting nor expressing curiosity.

Minister Zhou was telling him all this just to get closer to him.

However, he was somewhat interested in Minister Zhou’s experiences.

First in the School of Political Science and Law, with such an excellent academic record, a career in the system was almost guaranteed.

Yet he had ultimately forsaken love for reality.

There had to be a story behind it, which was evident from the expression on Minister Zhou’s face as he reminisced about the past.

And the support from his father-in-law must have been instrumental in his climbing to his current position as the head of the Organizational Department.

It just wasn’t clear how he felt about his wife now.

After all, he had given up his first love for her.

"Regret is a part of life," Song Guanchao said with an idle smile.

"Regret..." Minister Zhou mused, then shook his head with a smile, "I don’t have any regrets."

He looked at Song Guanchao and said, "I heard that you and Mayor Zheng have had some conflicts recently?"

Song Guanchao was startled.

How did he know about that?

Could it be that Secretary Sun was behind this?

Song Guanchao denied it without betraying any emotion, "What kind of conflicts could I possibly have with Mayor Zheng?"

Minister Zhou did not expose the lie, continuing with a smile, "I heard that Mayor Zheng handed over the entire high-speed rail project to you."

"Yes, that’s true."

"That’s not necessarily a good thing."

Minister Zhou took a sip from his glass and said, "The project is still in the research phase. If Mayor Zheng truly wanted to target you, stepping back from the project would be useless. He’s got you pegged."

He observed Song Guanchao’s reaction, roughly assessing that Song Guanchao had not thought of a countermeasure.

"Let me give you a piece of advice."

Whether Minister Zhou cared for an acknowledgment or a denial was immaterial.

He dipped his finger in the wine and wrote two characters on the table: "Disciplinary Committee."

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