Official Career Storm
Chapter 586

Chapter 586: Chapter 586

When he received a call from Song Guanchao that afternoon, Chen Zixiang had actually guessed a bit.

Now, hearing him speak like this, he was quite certain that the other party wanted to pull him into their camp.

But Chen Zixiang wasn’t excited, nor was he pleasantly surprised; he remained very calm.

Song Guanchao was taken aback; Chen Zixiang’s response was not quite what he had anticipated.

A county education bureau chief—if doing well—actually has many ways to make money.

But since Mr. Xu Xin recommended him, this person must not be short-sighted and likely harbors great ambitions.

Having ambitions, why would he react in such a way when faced with the olive branch he extended?

"What is the truth, and what is the lie?"

"The truth is, I’m interested. The lie is, I’m not interested."

Song Guanchao furrowed his brows; what kind of nonsense was this?

Chen Zixiang took a swig of alcohol and asked, "Does Secretary Song know about An County?"

"No," Song Guanchao said. "Perhaps Director Chen can enlighten me?"

Chen Zixiang said, "Actually, there’s not much to say. All the county towns around the country are quite similar. Dujiang County is like this, other counties are too, and thus, An County is not any different."

His words were cryptic, but Song Guanchao could read between the lines.

Song Guanchao said, "Director Chen must have heard about the situation in Dujiang City. Dozens of main and deputy positions in the bureau and committee were cleared out; the anti-corruption efforts are unprecedented. Saying that Dujiang City is now open and honest, and the citizens live and work in peace and contentment, wouldn’t be an overstatement, right?"

Chen Zixiang chuckled lightly, "So what?"

"Power is a poison, turning a normal person into a beast. How long can the situation in Dujiang City last?"

"In my view, it’s just a case of the emperor taking turns; today it’s my family’s turn."

Song Guanchao’s eyebrows knitted tightly; he realized that Chen Zixiang’s mindset was so pessimistic it was close to despair.

Chen Zixiang shook his head, "I’ve been a director for decades. In a couple of years, I’ll retire. I don’t want to get involved and don’t have the capacity to interfere. A vice-county head can’t change anything."

"If you can’t change it, do you just let it be?"

Song Guanchao suddenly asked, "How much does Director Chen know about me?"

Without waiting for a response, Song Guanchao answered his own question, "I’ve been in the system for less than half a year. After retiring from military service, I was assigned to be Li Fuhai’s driver."

"After driving for half a month, my direct supervisor dragged me out to play the scapegoat. The Disciplinary Committee and the police interrogated me overnight, accusing me of abusing public authority for private gain and taking money to arrange public jobs for others, with both direct and circumstantial evidence, just a step away from prison."

"Later, when Li Fuhai was arrested, it was proven that I was framed, but I was still implicated."

"I was marginalized by the city government; no one dared to employ me, everyone treated me like a plague. Not many people have experienced this, right?"

"If I had Director Chen’s mindset, perhaps the moment Li Fuhai was arrested, I would have directly resigned."

Chen Zixiang wasn’t provoked by his sarcasm and laughed, "You were lucky, admired by Secretary Wu. If it weren’t for Secretary Wu, you might have already resigned. Things that haven’t happened are meaningless when brought up by Secretary Sun."

"Lucky?" Song Guanchao laughed loudly and downed a drink, "Does Director Chen really think I got to drive for Secretary Wu at the City Committee because I was lucky? Was it Secretary Wu who actively chose me?"

This made Chen Zixiang startled, and he instinctively asked, "Isn’t that the case?"

As soon as he spoke, he knew he had asked a foolish question.

Song Guanchao didn’t give a clear response, but instead said, "Man proposes, God disposes."

"I’m not Director Chen; I don’t blame everyone and everything at the first sign of opposition."

"I am Song Guanchao, if the road ahead is blocked, I won’t detour, I’ll dig through, and if I can’t dig through, I’ll climb over it!"

"While serving as Secretary Wu’s driver, I was appointed to the advisory group to solve the Chengda Company’s funding freeze issue."

"The head of the advisory group was the office director of the tax bureau, and the deputy head was the office director of the Industrial and Commercial Bureau. Among the entire group, I was the lowest in rank."

"If Director Chen were in my shoes, what would you do? Just follow their lead for experience?"

"Heh, does Director Chen know what I did?"

"The very first day the advisory group was founded, in the first meeting, I managed to suppress the head and deputy head, taking control into my own hands. The power of the entire advisory group was in the hands of this driver."

"Doesn’t Director Chen find this incredible? Or do you think I’m bragging?"

"I’ve also been through plenty of dirty business in officialdom. I’ve been targeted over the past few months, and others have wanted to ruin me completely, but I resolved each issue one by one."

"To use Director Chen’s words, I was just lucky."

"But what Director Chen might not know is that the ’luck’ you speak of is all the result of my careful planning."

He lit a cigarette and said, "Yang Yongqiang, vice director of the Cultural Bureau, and He Yong from the Industrial and Commercial Bureau set me up, but that same night, I turned the tables on them. They were judged last month for ’gathering a crowd to cause disturbance.’"

"The few cases in Dujiang City, from Hou Wen to Chen Guanyun, to Lu Xiaotian, were all firmly handled by me."

"The 7 billion that Hou Wen fled with, I retrieved it."

"The airplane hijacked by Chen Guanyun... oh, this incident has not been reported yet. Director Chen probably doesn’t know."

"Lu Xiaotian’s case is also being suppressed for now; you don’t know, no matter, it won’t be long before you’ll see it in the news."

"You’re worried that Dujiang City will repeat its mistakes, and that’s fine, but to be deterred by that fear, I think that’s sick, seriously sick."

"Similarly, if there is a problem in An County, then resolve it, report it. If the city doesn’t handle it, go to the province, if the province doesn’t handle it, go to Beijing!"

"I don’t believe a small An County can really be so tainted."

Chen Zixiang grew increasingly silent the more he listened.

Song Guanchao said, "Courage enough to lay down one’s life, daring to pull the emperor off his horse! In my eyes, all Director Chen does is talk tall and walk short. You’re really not suitable for this vice-county head position."

Chen Zixiang remained silent.

But Song Guanchao changed his tone and said, "However, I can sense that Director Chen has a heart full of integrity, and for this vice-county head position, I can’t find a more suitable person at the moment."

"Director Chen, I’ll ask again, are you interested in this position as vice-county head?"

Chen Zixiang grabbed his glass and downed it as if venting, "Secretary Song is right. I can only lament the injustice, lacking even the courage to report it. It’s an honor to be considered by Secretary Wu."

Song Guanchao smiled slightly and raised his glass.

Drinking this glass, Song Guanchao and he talked a lot.

Perhaps it was the preceding conversation that allowed Chen Zixiang to find a shared set of values with Song Guanchao, he held nothing back.

However, Song Guanchao was currently uninterested in An County; his main targets were Zheng Bihui and Li Zhuang.

When he steered the conversation in that direction, Chen Zixiang suddenly scoffed, "This Li Zhuang, he’s got serious issues!"

"What kind of problems?"

"Flashy lifestyle, high-profile actions! A town party committee secretary living in a big villa in the county, driving a million-yuan luxury car. Tell me, does he have problems?"

The source of this c𝐨ntent is freewe(b)nov𝒆l

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