Right path to power

"I'm fine, it's mainly Sister Xiaoxue. If I hadn't happened to be eating there tonight, she might have been in trouble..."

It turned out that Song Wanqing came to a newly opened restaurant with her colleagues after get off work.

Not long after, she saw Zhou Yunsong and several other people walk in, including Zhong Xue.

She and her colleagues were sitting in a corner where they weren't seen, and they didn't want Zhou Yunsong to see them, so they didn't go over to greet Zhong Xue.

Judging from Zhong Xue's expression, she clearly disliked Zhou Yunsong, but had no choice but to feign compliance.

After several rounds of drinks, Zhou Yunsong became increasingly unrestrained, not only making outrageous remarks but also physically assaulting others.

Zhong Xue cleverly dodged several times, but not only did it not stop him, it also angered him. Zhou Yunsong angrily threw a glass of wine directly at Zhong Xue.

Although Zhong Xue cried in grievance, Zhou Yunsong did not stop there. Instead, he tried to take the opportunity to put his arm around Zhong Xue's waist.

Just then, Song Wanqing rushed over, roared, grabbed a wine bottle from the table, and smashed it on Zhou Yunsong's head.

Zhou Yunsong covered his head and turned around to retaliate, but when he saw it was Song Wanqing, he immediately wilted.

Seeing this, none of the others at the table dared to step forward.

Then, Song Wanqing took Zhong Xue's hand and coldly said to Zhou Yunsong, "If your father knew what you were doing, he probably wouldn't have the face to go out. You're shameless and despicable."

Now, Zhou Yunsong dared not do anything more.

Others might not know who Song Wanqing was, but he knew very well—she was someone he couldn't afford to offend, not even his father, the mayor of Beicheng.

Moreover, he was in the wrong first.

As she was leaving, Song Wanqing shouted at Zhou Yunsong again, "I'm warning you, if you dare to make a move on Zhong Xue again, see how I deal with you!"

After saying that, the group left the restaurant. The colleagues went home, while she and Zhong Xue found a coffee shop and talked about what had just happened.

"Don't worry, Sister Xiaoxue, that Zhou guy shouldn't dare to do it again. If he harasses you again, just tell me, and I'll deal with him."

"Thank you, Wanqing. If I hadn't run into you today, I wouldn't have known..."

"Don't stand on ceremony with me. You're Lin Xiao's friend, so naturally you're my friend too."

As they chatted, the conversation turned to Lin Xiao.

After listening to Song Wanqing's account, Lin Xiao felt a surge of anger.

Although he looked down on this effeminate second-generation official from the bottom of his heart, he never expected that this guy would be so despicable.

It seems he's taking advantage of his connections to manipulate Zhong Xue with impunity.

Fortunately, he ran into someone like Song Wanqing, whom he couldn't afford to offend. It seems that this guy won't dare to do anything anymore in the future.

To be honest, Lin Xiao might have had a slight crush on Zhong Xue before, but it was nowhere near as intense as Zhong Xue's feelings for him. Especially after Zhong Xue confessed her feelings, Lin Xiao didn't know how to interact with her anymore. Fortunately, the two didn't see each other often, and with the appearance of Song Wanqing, these feelings gradually transformed into the friendship between classmates.

Now that Song Wanqing has helped Zhong Xue solve a big problem, Lin Xiao is much relieved.

"Well done! If I were there, I would have given him two bottles, haha."

Actually, we should not only give him two bottles of wine, but also find a way to ruin his reputation and make him slink back to the north of the city.

This guy came to Fengdu initially to continue harassing Song Wanqing, but when he realized that was no longer an option, he set his sights on Zhong Xue.

"Forget it, it's best not to have anything to do with this kind of person. Just thinking about it makes me want to vomit."

"Okay, I'll listen to you. You guys go back early."

"Um."

Seeing Wei Wenjuan smiling beside him, Lin Xiao felt a little embarrassed: "My girlfriend..."

"It seems the county magistrate has good news coming soon," Wei Wenjuan said with a smile.

Lin Xiao exclaimed in surprise, "It's written all over your face?"

Wei Wenjuan shook her head: "Feelings, a woman's feelings."

Lin Xiao smiled and said, "You women's intuition is truly amazing."

On the other end, Zhong Xue looked at Song Wanqing, feeling very uncomfortable.

Although she knew that Lin Xiao already had someone else in his heart, the love in her heart could not be completely eliminated in a short time.

Especially after this incident, she felt even more how wonderful it would be to have a man to rely on.

Back in Fuchuan, Lin Xiao received a text message from Song Wanqing saying that she had arrived home safely.

Then I received a text message from Zhong Xue: "She is beautiful and kind. I wish you happiness."

Lin Xiao thought for a moment and replied, "Thank you."

The following morning, Lin Xiao received a call from Xia Yingjie, the boss of Jianhong Construction Company, who said that he had arrived in Fuchuan and wanted to visit him.

In fact, Lin Xiao does not reject businessmen from "making money," but he hopes that everyone who invests in Fuchuan will not only make profits but also do practical things well, operate in accordance with regulations, and achieve mutual benefit and win-win results.

Therefore, he wouldn't refuse an investor's visit without a valid reason.

Not long after, Xia Yingjie appeared at the office door.

After chatting for a while, Xia Yingjie expressed his interest in participating in the development of Changning Ancient Street, and boasted that Jianhong Company had a lot of experience in creating urban landscapes and would definitely be able to make Changning Ancient Street a calling card for Fuchuan.

Lin Xiaoxian welcomed Jianhong Company to invest in Fuchuan, but pointed out that the Changning River Valley cultural tourism project is managed by Dayuan Real Estate. The county government does not interfere with the specific operation except for supervising the progress and quality of the project. He suggested that Jianhong directly contact Dayuan for negotiations.

Xia Yingjie also mentioned that he heard the city would soon allocate special funds for river cleaning and maintenance, and asked Lin Xiao if Jianhong could undertake projects within the jurisdiction of Fuchuan County.

Clearly, he had already learned about the fund's movements from Luo Jinlian in advance—this was his true intention.

"Please rest assured, County Chief Lin, the quality of our project is absolutely guaranteed, and we can also coordinate the allocation of special funds afterwards. Now that we've become friends, I will naturally do my best to share the burden for County Chief Lin and for Fuchuan."

Watching Xia Yingjie talk on and on, Lin Xiao listened patiently, wanting to see what other tricks Xia Yingjie could come up with.

So he endured it for another two minutes, and finally dismissed him with a few words.

As he was leaving, a cold smile crept onto Xia Yingjie's lips—he could tell that Lin Xiao was just going through the motions.

Back in his car, increasingly angry, he called Luo Jinlian: "Director Luo, I met the person, but it seems he's only going to do things officially and won't give me any face."

"Saving face is mutual. I want to see if he's really that tough," Luo Jinlian sneered.

Around 10 a.m., Wei Wenjuan came to report to Lin Xiao: The Municipal Finance Bureau said that the agricultural subsidy funds need to be allocated in a queue and that Fuchuan County should wait. The bureau will arrange it as soon as possible.

Clearly, last night's dinner was a waste.

Although she could have predicted this outcome, Lin Xiao was still very annoyed.

This is clearly a misuse of public resources for private purposes.

He then went to Juliet's office.

"Secretary Zhu, there's a situation that requires your intervention..."

Lin Xiao explained the situation regarding agricultural subsidies, then said in a deep voice, "Secretary Zhu, although the financial situation in Fuchuan County has improved somewhat, the foundation is still so weak, and there has been stagnation in recent years. There are simply too many places where money needs to be spent, and the city cannot deduct special funds without reason. Moreover, there is a saying circulating outside that we are eating what we have while eyeing what we have in the pot, which is completely irresponsible."

Juliet had certainly heard these rumors, and she was quite annoyed by them.

As the saying goes: If you haven't experienced someone else's suffering, don't judge them for what they are good or bad.

"I understand the situation. I will communicate with the city. You're right, Fuchuan has many other places where it needs money. The city can restrict funds, but not ours."

She paused for a moment, then said, "However, the city is the superior authority after all, so we have to be careful to maintain good relations with them, otherwise we will be in a very passive position in our future work."

Lin Xiao said helplessly, "I also want to build good relationships, but some people take the opportunity to make all sorts of demands. For example, just now someone wanted to get involved in the project. Do you think I can just agree to that? Once I open the door, it will be even harder to guard against them in the future."

Therefore, we can only strictly follow the procedures from the very beginning. If you are genuinely committed to doing business in Fuchuan, you can certainly earn legitimate profits through formal channels. I know that doing so will definitely offend some people, but I think that in order to be responsible for ourselves, for Fuchuan, and for the people, we must insist on doing it this way.

To be honest, compared to being a historical sinner, what does offending a few leaders matter? At worst, I can just go back to being among the masses.

Julie sighed and said earnestly, "I understand your good intentions, but this is a society based on personal relationships, and all sorts of interpersonal interactions exist between different levels. As the saying goes, 'If the water is too clear, there will be no fish.' Perhaps sometimes, without violating bottom-line principles, we need to handle things flexibly. This is a skill that must be mastered in the system."

Lin Xiao fell silent; Zhu Lishu's words were all relevant to reality.

He knew in his heart that there were not many people like him in the whole city or even the whole province. He was indeed not afraid of any pressure, but what about the others?

No matter how high one's position is in officialdom, it is impossible to do everything personally.

Each person can only take care of themselves first.