Right path to power

The next day, an inspection team from the county party committee's organization department arrived in Nangang Township to investigate relevant personnel, which sparked various discussions.

"Do you know who got promoted?"

"It seems to be that selected graduate."

"You mean Lin Xiao? No wonder. Sigh, those who have gone to university have a brighter future. I remember he's only been working for two years, and he's about to become a deputy section chief. Look at us, we're all working ourselves to the bone, but we'll probably never even get to the deputy section chief level in our entire lives."

"If I'm bad at studying, whose fault is it?"

"There are probably only a handful of deputy township heads this young in the entire province. Everyone has their own destiny!"

"No, what I heard was that he's going back to the county to work as something?"

"That's more like it. The county is always better than the township."

……

At this moment, He Saihua, who was mediating a family dispute in the village, saw the heated discussion in the group chat and excitedly sent a text message to Lin Xiao:

"Xiao Lin, congratulations! It's my turn to treat you to drinks to celebrate tonight!"

"Sister Hua, this matter hasn't been decided yet, so thank you anyway."

"This will definitely work out, there's no doubt about it, I believe it."

"Thanks!"

Lin Xiao simply replied indifferently and then ignored it. There were a few times when he could feel He Saihua's unusually intense gaze, which made him somewhat afraid. Although He Saihua genuinely cared about him, Lin Xiao always felt it was necessary to keep a certain distance from her, otherwise, if he made a mistake, the consequences would be immeasurable.

The delegation that came to Nangang Township for inspection was led by Executive Vice Minister He Zhiqiang. While he was instructing Yan Zhao to organize a democratic recommendation meeting, he was also conveying the county's inspection requirements to Yan Zhao.

Ten minutes later, all the attendees had arrived, and He Zhiqiang and Yan Zhao walked into the conference room together.

Upon seeing the leader enter, the previously bustling meeting room fell completely silent.

Yan Zhao glanced around and then began to chair the meeting: "Comrades, let's begin the meeting. First, let me introduce the leaders attending this recommendation meeting..."

After some introductions, he finally got to the main topic of the meeting:

"Ladies and gentlemen, the main task of this meeting is to conduct a democratic vote on the candidates for promotion. Please take a look at the ballots in your hands. Just check the box next to the 'Do you recommend?' column. I believe I don't need to explain this further."

Minister He and I both hope that everyone will vote with an objective and fair attitude to ensure the successful completion of the tasks and goals assigned by the county party committee.

Also, after voting, please don't leave; wait in the meeting room for further instructions. Furthermore, after the entire voting process is complete, the inspection team will have a discussion with everyone.

Upon hearing this, many people were a little confused. They had already voted but were not allowed to leave. Was the intention to tell everyone that the vote had to pass, and if the county committee's intentions were not met, they should vote for "pass" before leaving?

"Everything's clear now, let's begin!"

Everyone looked at the ballot in their hand and then at the person next to them. Some quickly put down their ballots, while others hesitated to make a decision.

Sitting in the back, Ding Shangkun also had a gloomy face. He hesitated for a moment while holding the pen, and finally frowned as he ticked the box next to "Recommended".

In fact, there was only one candidate recommended by the democratic system, and that was Lin Xiao. In reality, apart from a few people who were a little slow in their hand movements, the rest of the people made their choices very quickly.

Of course, everyone knows perfectly well that only one candidate's intentions are so obvious that they're practically shouting "Vote for him!" So all that's left is to go through the legal process.

Afterwards, the staff of the county organization department opened the ballot boxes, checked the ballots, and counted the votes. They were quite busy for a while, while the attendees from the township government were whispering among themselves.

"Our Nangang Township hasn't promoted any cadres for several years. This time, not only was he promoted, but he's also a selected graduate. Hopefully, he can set a good example for us!"

"He is him, and we are us. The key is having connections and backing; otherwise, how would we get a chance? So, do you have those?"

"You can't say that. What kind of backing does Lin Xiao have? Yet he still got promoted, didn't he? Don't forget he's a provincial-level selected graduate. So you should really study more. As the saying goes, 'In books, you'll find houses of gold and beauties like jade.'"

"You're being too hasty. Reading more books is certainly useful, but it's definitely not the deciding factor. There's a saying, 'No connections, no favors, no progress.' How do you explain that? Besides, think about those who got promoted quickly—which one of them didn't have connections? Within the system, connections are the primary driving force!"

......

These discussions annoyed Ding Shangkun, but he still took some of the comments to heart and even secretly analyzed them: "Is Gong Lei the only powerful backer this kid has? Or is there someone even more powerful? And who could it be? The new Party Secretary? Impossible… absolutely impossible…"

Soon, the results of the democratic voting evaluation were tallied. Lin Xiao's recommendation rate was close to 100%, but still not 100%. It seems that there were still a very small number of participants with strong personalities. Fortunately, it was anonymous, otherwise they might have been dragged out and "criticized".

Subsequently, Yan Zhao announced the end of the recommendation meeting and asked the participants to return to their respective offices to await further notice.

Soon, individual conversations began.

The interviews were divided into two groups: He Zhiqiang and one staff member were responsible for interviewing middle and senior-level cadres, while two other staff members were responsible for interviewing ordinary cadres. The content of the interviews was largely the same, mainly focusing on Lin Xiao's strengths and weaknesses.

He Zhiqiang first spoke with Yan Zhao, who pointed out that Lin Xiao not only has a high level of education and a solid theoretical foundation, but is also pragmatic and hardworking. However, he lacks work experience and has not been trained in multiple positions. Overall, he is a young cadre who is very worthy of being cultivated.

"Minister He, Xiao Lin is an outstanding young cadre in our Nangang Township. We all think his promotion by the county is very appropriate, but we don't know what his next step will be..."

Yan Zhao didn't finish speaking. Before the inspection team arrived, he received a call from Huang Zaichuan, who told him to cooperate with the inspection team and handle the relevant matters properly without any mistakes.

Yan Zhao was somewhat puzzled by Huang Zaichuan's instruction, but he was even more surprised when he saw that the person leading the inspection team was He Zhiqiang, the executive deputy minister of the county's organization department. This was enough to show how much importance the county attached to this matter.

More importantly, why did Lin Xiao, who was "abandoned" from the county and sent back to his hometown, suddenly become a "hot commodity"?

He Zhiqiang smiled slightly and said, "Secretary Yan, this matter still needs to be decided by the county in a meeting. As you know, this is the democratic recommendation stage, so it will definitely be a suggestion from some leader in the county. So, let's wait for the county's decision."

"Oh, I see, I see. What I meant was that when Xiao Lin was seconded to the county government office, his work was recognized, and the leaders must have noticed him. That's a good thing."

He Zhiqiang gave a polite smile again. If he didn't know what had happened before, he would have really thought that Lin Xiao had indeed won the favor of the township leaders.

In other words, if the situation hadn't changed so drastically, Yan Zhao wouldn't have been so polite.

Next, He Zhiqiang talked with the township head Kong Changgeng and several other members of the leadership team. They were all veterans of the officialdom and knew the situation well. Naturally, they would only talk about the good aspects during the conversation, while the shortcomings were just minor details.

Finally, He Zhiqiang had a conversation with Lin Xiao himself.

"Xiaolin, congratulations! You've taken a solid first step. The future is bright for you."

The staff member who was taking notes nearby couldn't help but turn to look at He Zhiqiang, a look of surprise on his face:

"Minister He was just saying that we needed to wait for the county's decision, but now he's offering his congratulations directly. This isn't like his usual meticulous style. It's really strange. Could it be...?"

Lin Xiao smiled and said, "Thank you, Minister He. I will need your continued support in the future."

"Haha, no need to be so polite. We should be looking out for each other. Isn't it said that the Organization Department is everyone's home? So we'll need everyone's support in our work in the future."

He Zhiqiang nodded and smiled, then paused before continuing, "Alright, time is tight, so let's get down to business. Comrade Lin Xiao, please talk about your strengths and shortcomings in your work."

Lin Xiao briefly discussed a few points and then walked out of the meeting room shortly afterward.

"Xiaolin, are you done talking? Why don't you come and sit in my office?"

Yan Zhao happened to see him come out, and then said with a smile.

"Yes, Secretary Yan."