Official Career Storm
Chapter 304

Chapter 304: Chapter 304

After lunch, Song Guanchao said, "Secretary, I’m going to the province to see Secretary Xu."

"I’ll give Secretary Xu a call," Wu Qiangwei picked up her cellphone.

Song Guanchao did not refuse.

In doing things, one must be thorough.

After all, according to the procedure, if related documents of the project were missing, they should first be reported to the leadership of Lingjiang City.

It would be decided by the city leadership whether to resolve it within the city or to report it to the province.

"Hello, Secretary Xu, I have something to report to you."

"Okay, I’ll come over in the afternoon."

After hanging up the phone, Wu Qiangwei looked at the time and said, "Let’s go."

Song Guanchao was surprised, "Secretary, you’re going as well?"

"Otherwise?"

"Uh, I could go by myself."

"That wouldn’t be in accordance with the process."

Wu Qiangwei asked, "By the way, have you spoken to Mr. He?"

"Not yet."

"Tell him about it, and ask him to come along."

"Okay."

Song Guanchao contacted He Songming and asked him to go directly to the province, and they would meet there.

Ten minutes later, he and Wu Qiangwei arrived at the parking lot; Song Guanchao was driving his own car.

At two thirty-three in the afternoon, he and He Songming met at the entrance to the Provincial Committee’s agency compound.

"Xiao Song, what’s going on?"

He Songming was puzzled when he received the call; why suddenly come to the province and moreover meet here.

What had happened?

Song Guanchao said, "The documents for the high-speed rail project were stolen."

"What?" He Songming was shocked, "When did this happen?"

"It was discovered at noon today; it must have been stolen last night."

"Where... where did you put the documents?"

"In the City Committee, in the office."

"How... how could they be lost?"

He Songming couldn’t understand.

Who would be bold enough to steal something from the City Committee?

Song Guanchao shook his head, "I thought it impossible too, but they are gone."

He looked at the car and said, "Secretary Wu is here too, we are going to see Secretary Xu of the Provincial Disciplinary Inspection Committee and report to him."

He Songming, who had seen major events, nodded, "We should report to the leadership, let’s go."

Security at the Provincial Committee was much stricter than at the City Committee; ordinary people simply couldn’t get in.

Secretary Xu had sent an auntie over to bring them into the compound.

Song Guanchao parked his car outside a two-story building, Wu Qiangwei got out of the car, and followed the auntie through the gate.

The auntie led them to the living room, where Xu Wu was drinking tea and reviewing documents.

"Secretary Wu," Xu Wu greeted her with a smile and shook her hand.

Because there were outsiders present, he couldn’t display too much intimacy.

"Secretary Xu," the three greeted.

"Sit."

The three sat down, the auntie brought them tea and then left.

Wu Qiangwei said, "This is my secretary, Song Guanchao, and this is He Songming, the engineer for the Lingjiang City high-speed rail project."

She didn’t beat around the bush; forgoing redundant pleasantries, she went straight to the point.

"Secretary Song is currently in charge of surveying and research for the high-speed rail project, out of five districts, he has completed surveys in four. Just today, Secretary Song discovered that the project’s documents were missing."

Xu Wu raised his eyebrows slightly but said nothing, continuing to listen.

Wu Qiangwei explained, "Among the project documents, the most important is the route map of the high-speed rail, which directly affects which areas the city will expropriate."

They were all astute individuals; some things didn’t need to be stated so explicitly.

Xu Wu understood her point.

Still, the situation was odd.

Even He Songming found it peculiar, and Xu Wu, being a high-ranking official from the province, would be even more sensitive and could not fail to notice the problem.

First, acquiring land for high-speed rail in any city is a juicy piece of meat eyed by many.

Even the strictest supervision can’t prevent some from profiting from it.

And the easiest profit to snatch up is from the compensation funds for the land acquisition.

So, it is quite natural for some to want to know in advance exactly which areas will be acquired by the high-speed rail.

However, even if the other party wanted to know, why would they steal the documents?

Put another way, if they could get hold of the documents to steal them, why not just photograph them and take them away?

In doing so, no one would notice that the contents of the documents had been taken.

It’s both safe and would not arouse suspicion.

Thus, if this matter were thoroughly analyzed, it is full of holes and unreasonable aspects everywhere.

Xu Wu nodded and said, "What does Secretary Wu think we should do?"

Wu Qiangwei said, "My suggestion is to pretend we don’t know for now. On one hand, resurvey; on the other, just wait quietly. Once the new route is set and announced, those who stole the information will naturally not be able to resist jumping out."

"Alright, let’s do it that way."

"Okay."

Wu Qiangwei stood up and said, "Secretary Xu, we’ll take our leave now."

He Songming was quite surprised by their brief exchange; he thought the two leaders would engage in extended pleasantries, perhaps even talking over dinner.

That’s it?

The whole affair didn’t even last five minutes, and there weren’t more than ten sentences exchanged.

"Don’t rush, Secretary Wu, come with me to the study. I have something else to discuss with you."

"Okay."

Wu Qiangwei followed him into the study.

After closing the door, Xu Wu said, "Tell me, what is really going on?"

Wu Qiangwei wasn’t surprised by his questioning.

Those who could rise to provincial-level high office, especially leaders in substantial positions of power, were those who had climbed up step by step from the grassroots level and had substantial experience in governance.

What they lacked least was experience in dealing with all sorts of situations.

Especially since he was part of the Disciplinary Committee, a project like a high-speed rail was nothing new to him.

When Wu Qiangwei spoke the first sentence, he almost guessed the situation.

Thus, Wu Qiangwei, without any concealment, meticulously explained the situation to Xu Wu.

After listening, Xu Wu admired, "Secretary Wu’s experience is becoming more mature. To think of such a response method in such a short time is not easy."

For a leader of her age, to come up with such a perfect response method was really rare.

Wu Qiangwei felt a bit embarrassed by the praise, and candidly said, "It’s not my method."

"It isn’t you?" Xu Wu asked. "Could it be Secretary Song?"

"It’s not him either," Wu Qiangwei said. "It was Minister Zhou’s suggestion."

"Minister Zhou? Zhou Yimin?"

"Yes."

"Oh."

Xu Wu was somewhat surprised. "He spoke with you?"

"No."

Wu Qiangwei also told him about Minister Zhou inviting Song Guanchao for a meal.

Xu Wu smiled, "It looks like you manage the city very well. Even Minister Zhou is showing goodwill and taking the initiative to align with you. That’s not easy."

"But you shouldn’t trust Minister Zhou too much; this man has deep schemes and wide connections. However, since he has shown you goodwill, he likely doesn’t want to be your enemy."

"I understand."

"Are you leaving tonight?"

"I’ll be heading back shortly."

"Alright, then you better get going early to avoid traffic."

"Oh, right," Xu Wu said. "Also, notify the City Disciplinary Inspection Committee."

"Okay."

"Additionally," Xu Wu’s tone became slightly uneasy, "your mother asked me to advise you not to always be busy with work, but to take some time to think about your own matters."

Wu Qiangwei was startled, then her eyebrows furrowed and her breathing became a bit quick.

Xu Wu, feeling slightly embarrassed under her gaze, coughed and said, "These are your mother’s words; I’m just conveying them. If there’s nothing else, you should head back soon."

Wu Qiangwei didn’t say a word, simply turned around and left.

Xu Wu sighed, also feeling a bit distressed.

Such matters, having him act as a go-between, really put him in a difficult position, yet he couldn’t easily refuse.

And judging by Wu Qiangwei’s reaction, she was clearly resistant.

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