Right path to power

In no time, news of the newly appointed municipal party secretary's visit to Nangang Township for research spread throughout the township government's courtyard.

Knowing that the two main leaders had been severely reprimanded by County Party Secretary Huang, everyone was extremely cautious, afraid of getting caught in the crossfire.

After returning, Yan Zhao smoked silently in his office. Every now and then, there were clanging sounds of ceramics colliding and thumping sounds of wooden objects being hit.

Everyone tacitly agreed that unless it was something extremely urgent, no one would go into the Party Secretary's office at this time.

"Why!"

Yan Zhao sighed deeply. He had been following in Huang Zaichuan's footsteps, hoping to use this relationship to advance his career in the near future, even if it meant becoming a deputy in the county people's congress or the county political consultative conference.

Seeing that he could seize the rare opportunity of the new Party Secretary's visit to the countryside to make a good impression, he never expected that he would end up putting himself in a very difficult position.

It seems that even the possibility of being promoted to deputy director level is gone; it's likely just wishful thinking.

He grew angrier the more he thought about it, and finally picked up the phone and called Ding Shangkun, asking him to come to his office immediately.

Ding Shangkun was well aware of the rumors that had been circulating in the village, and when he entered the office, he immediately sensed that the atmosphere was noticeably different. It was not only oppressive, but also seemed to be filled with a burning anger about to erupt.

Sure enough, after Ding Shangkun said, "Secretary Yan, you wanted to see me?" Yan Zhao's anger erupted.

At the last moment, Yan Zhao said in a slightly more conciliatory tone, "Tomorrow you will retrieve that notice, and the punishment against Lin Xiao will be rescinded."

"Yes, Secretary Yan."

Ding Shangkun reluctantly agreed. The county party secretary immediately demanded the revocation of the punishment. If even the township party secretary dared not have a single question, then he, as the director of the township party and government office, had even less right to say anything.

But wasn't he just following orders from his superiors?

However, he could only keep his "grievances" to himself, at least in front of Yan Zhao.

Fortunately, in the small township party and government office, he was the leader, and everyone else was his subordinate.

So, after returning to the Party and government office, he finally transferred all his grievances to Wu Di and instructed Wu Di to draft a notice to revoke the punishment as soon as possible.

Wu Di was also aggrieved and angry, but when he glanced around the office, he realized that the only person he could still give pointers to based on his "senior" status was Lin Xiao.

So he shook his head, opened the document with a helpless and frustrated expression, and began to edit the notice to revoke the punishment against Lin Xiao.

However, he secretly went to the bulletin board after most people had left work, tore down the original disciplinary notice, and then replaced it with this notice revoking the disciplinary action.

Within the system, this kind of "passing the parcel" game is commonplace!

Wei Shaogong, the instigator of Lin Xiao's punishment, stood by the office window, smoking silently, completely baffled.

"Did this kid really just get incredibly lucky?"

Wei Shaogong muttered this to himself, but in his heart he had many questions: For example, why did the new secretary come to Nangang Township for his first inspection? And how did he know about Songmao Village?

In his view, all these coincidences were a bit too much, but if they weren't coincidences, what was the reason?

Fengshan County has 25 townships and 280 natural villages under its jurisdiction. The new secretary has only been in office for a week, and his first inspection was to go straight to Songmao Village, which is really quite unbelievable.

"Could it be that Lin Xiao and Wang...?"

A strange hypothesis suddenly popped into Wei Shaogong's mind, but he immediately dismissed it the next second!

Because he could see Lin Xiao's file clearly.

The only thing he's certain of now is that he probably won't be able to touch this kid anytime soon, because the kid has already received the approval of the municipal party secretary in public.

What he's more worried about right now is whether Yan Zhao, who's in a fit of anger, will come after him to "settle scores" later, since it was he who suggested disciplining Lin Xiao in the first place.

As it neared the end of the workday, Wei Shaogong still hadn't received a "summons" from the Party Secretary, which eased his anxiety a little.

Meanwhile, He Saihua, who had just returned from mediating a conflict in the village, also heard everyone's discussion. Although she knew that Lin Xiao's punishment would be revoked, she still excitedly called Lin Xiao.

"Xiaolin, where are you now? I just came back from the village and heard that your punishment is going to be revoked. Is that true? That's great!"

Lin Xiao was taken aback, sensing a different emotion hidden in He Saihua's tone. He said frankly, "I'm on my way back to the township. Today, Secretary Wang came to the village for an inspection, and Lao Liu told him about my situation. Secretary Yan said it was a misunderstanding and there would be no punishment, so..."

"That's absolutely true! That's wonderful. However, this isn't a misunderstanding; they're clearly trying to frame you. Here's what I'll do: I'll take a picture of that notice and show it to Secretary Wang to see if it's a misunderstanding!"

He Saihua's tone was firm, showing that she was not just talking about this.

"No, no, no, Sister Hua!" Lin Xiao quickly stopped her. "Since there's no punishment, there's no need to do that. I already said it's nothing, see? Now it's all fine, isn't it?"

"Yes, yes, it's alright, it's alright."

He Saihua smiled radiantly, genuinely happy.

"Oh, right, everyone says you're lucky. I bet it's not just simple luck. You also got to see Secretary Wang perform. Come on, tell me, what exactly happened?"

Lin Xiao paused for a moment before speaking, "Sister Hua, I was in the car, so it was a bit noisy. Also, this can't be explained in just a few words. In short, we can't let people look down on us."

For some reason, Lin Xiao always kept a certain distance from He Saihua without realizing it, even though he was very grateful for her concern for him.

"Okay, okay, then how about this, I'll treat you to dinner tonight as a way of celebrating."

"Sister Hua, tonight..."

Lin Xiao wanted to refuse, but hesitated for a few seconds before the words were on the tip of her tongue. In those few seconds, He Saihua spoke again.

"What? You think it's bad luck to even have a meal with me? Or are you afraid I'll eat you alive? If that's the case, then forget it. Consider it my good intentions met with a cold shoulder."

"Sister Hua, that's not what I meant..."

"It's settled then. I'll treat you to dinner tonight, and I'll send you the address later. See you then, I need to organize today's documents. Bye, I'll hang up now."

beep...

Immediately, the call ended abruptly, and Lin Xiao reluctantly put the phone away.

When Lin Xiao returned to the township government courtyard, it was nearly seven o'clock. The lights in the Party and Government Office were still on. When Lin Xiao went in, he found Wu Di tidying up something.

Although she was still taken aback for a moment, Lin Xiao ignored it and continued to busy herself with something at her desk.

"Kid, you don't think you can get away with anything just because you got a compliment from Secretary Wang, do you? You know, the mountains are high and the emperor is far away, you have a long way to go."

As Wu Di walked towards the door, he spoke sarcastically. Before leaving, he tossed a piece of paper to Lin Xiao and then strode away.

Although Lin Xiao was a little angry, he didn't hold it against him, but he still turned over the paper.

So it was the notice that had previously given him a disciplinary warning!

He smiled, crumpled the paper into a ball, and threw it into the trash can. Just then, his phone rang with a text message notification. Lin Xiao guessed it was from He Saihua, so he opened it and glanced at it:

Jindong Street, Manyi Fried Rice Restaurant!