Right path to power

The following day, Zhuang Jingshu, deputy director of the editorial department of Legal Daily, and two others arrived in Quanzhou City.

Following standard procedures, she first reported her interview itinerary to the Municipal Party Committee Office, and then directly contacted the Municipal Political and Legal Affairs Commission, stating the focus of her trip: to investigate grassroots legal system construction and law enforcement governance involving enterprises.

At the same time, she also pointed out that this time, Zhou Huayu's case in Zhenxing District would be treated as a key typical case, followed up and analyzed, and finally compiled into internal reference materials for upward feedback.

Zhou Zizheng, the secretary-general of the municipal party committee, understood immediately.

This is Lin Xiao's backup plan.

He immediately stated that the Municipal Party Committee Office would fully cooperate with her interview mission.

These past few days, Su Anji, the secretary of the Municipal Political and Legal Affairs Commission, has also been feeling a heavy weight on his mind.

Tomorrow, Huang Chunning, vice chairman of the Provincial People's Congress, will lead a team to conduct research in Quanzhou City.

To this end, the Provincial People's Congress Office issued a special notice, and relevant leaders from the Provincial High Court and the Provincial Procuratorate accompanied the delegation.

Such a large-scale operation clearly indicates a determination to win.

Furthermore, given that some people in the Intermediate People's Court were already eager to make moves, Zhou Huayu's case might actually be loosened.

As soon as Zhuang Jingshu arrived, Su Anji breathed a huge sigh of relief.

After that last time, he vaguely felt that Zhuang Jingshu's background was unusual. Moreover, she had the identity of a national legal media cadre, and the need to report the interview content to internal reference materials.

This undoubtedly brought the entire case into the open and brought it to the attention of higher-level leaders.

Even if Huang Chuning has a powerful background, and even if the leaders of the provincial courts exert pressure, the municipal court would not dare to make arbitrary judgments or loosen its grip on the case openly.

That evening, Lin Xiao and Song Wanqing invited Zhuang Jingshu and her colleagues to dinner.

During the meeting, the conversation touched on the recent rectification efforts in Zhenxing District, as well as the complex web of personal relationships and local chaos behind the Zhou Huayu case.

Zhuang Jingshu listened attentively and said she would conduct the interviews truthfully, organize the information objectively, and report it up the chain of command.

After dinner, Song Wanqing invited Zhuang Jingshu to her home for a visit.

As they chatted, Zhuang Jingshu ended up staying overnight.

The next morning, the sky was clear and the mist was light.

Zhuang Jingshu stood on the balcony, stretched, and took a deep breath of fresh air.

Seeing Song Wanqing approach, she smiled and whispered, "Your Secretary Lin won't mind if I monopolize you for the whole night, will he?"

"He dares?" Song Wanqing smiled shyly.

"My main concern is that I'm afraid it will affect the fruition of your love."

"Sister Jing Shu, you..."

Song Wanqing's face flushed red all the way to her neck.

"Alright, I'm not kidding anymore," Zhuang Jingshu said with a smile. "I think the air here is pretty good, there are so many people doing their morning exercises downstairs."

Song Wanqing's face darkened: "That's because you came at the right time. If you had come a while ago, I wouldn't have dared to invite you to my home. Some companies in the industrial park were illegally discharging sewage and waste gas, and the stench wafted all the way here. During that time, I didn't dare to open the doors and windows at home, let alone stand on the balcony like this."

Zhuang Jingshu frowned slightly: "Businessmen only care about how to make money, and officials only care about achieving political achievements. How could they have any concept of 'green mountains and clear waters'? Naturally, they don't value it."

Song Wanqing said helplessly, "Yes, it's like this in many places. Attracting investment and economic data are the hard indicators, and the terms of office are relatively short. Everyone wants to make achievements, gain experience, and strive for promotion during their term, so there is no long-term planning. And the environmental pollution and the mess that needs to be cleaned up during their term are all left to the next term."

Zhuang Jingshu nodded, then suddenly turned to Song Wanqing and asked seriously, "Your Secretary Lin wouldn't do that, would he?"

"Definitely not!"

Song Wanqing answered without hesitation, and with a very confident expression.

"Oh, can't I even make a joke?" Zhuang Jingshu pouted.

"If he were that kind of person, he wouldn't have called you. Besides, if he did this, how would he explain it to all the elders in his family?" Song Wanqing said seriously.

"Yes, yes, your husband is the best."

"Of course, haha." Song Wanqing's face was full of happiness.

Zhuang Jingshu smiled and said, "Actually, this is a case of a distorted view of political achievements. The higher-ups have also noticed these kinds of grassroots problems. My coming down here this time wasn't just because Lin Xiao made a phone call; the newspaper itself has been focusing on researching these kinds of issues. Economic development cannot be separated from the rule of law, nor can it sacrifice the environment. This is the focus of our in-depth report and internal feedback this time."

Song Wanqing smiled and changed the subject: "Alright, let's not talk about work so early in the morning. Let's talk about you and Wang Feipeng. My brother said he's been thinking about you a lot. What's going on between you two?"

Zhuang Jingshu rolled her eyes: "That brat Song Minghao dares to tattle on you? When we get back, I'll definitely teach him a lesson."

"My dear sister, I'm serious."

"Don't mention him. Just thinking about him makes me angry. I can't be bothered with him."

Despite her outward expression of disdain, Zhuang Jingshu couldn't hide the smile on her face.

Seeing this, Song Wanqing didn't ask any more questions, but turned around and went back to the kitchen to make breakfast.

After breakfast, Ji Jianghua came to pick up Lin Xiao for work.

Song Wanqing then drove Zhuang Jingshu to the hotel to pick up her colleagues Guan Yongmei and Dai Liying, and then they went together to the Zhenxing District Publicity Department to coordinate the interview.

Song Wanqing is a mid-level cadre in the Municipal Party Committee's Publicity Department, so it's perfectly normal for her to personally accompany Zhuang Jingshu and others on their research and interviews.

Luo Hongqi, a member of the Standing Committee of the District Party Committee and Minister of Publicity, warmly received the four people.

One is a key mid-level manager in a higher-level unit and the wife of the district party secretary; the other three are from central media outlets in Beicheng, one of whom is a deputy division-level leader.

From any perspective, he must do a good job in receiving guests.

At the last district committee standing committee meeting, he had originally promised Yang Songfeng to support their candidate, but Lin Xiao completely controlled the overall situation of the standing committee. He wanted to express a neutral stance halfway through, but Lin Xiao forced him to take sides.

After that, Yang Songfeng had a problem with him.

Throughout Zhou Huayu's affair, he remained extremely cautious, avoiding offending either side, refraining from expressing his opinion, or interfering.

The district news center had specifically consulted him about the issues raised in several reports, but he gave vague answers and resolutely refused to get involved in this mess.

Now, Lin Xiao's wife is accompanying a reporter from the Legal Daily to conduct research and interviews, and he has no choice but to cooperate.

However, he immediately told Yang Songfeng the news.

As for what Yang Songfeng does, that's none of his business.

After a brief exchange with Zhuang Jingshu and others at the District Party Committee Propaganda Department, Song Wanqing went directly to the District Political and Legal Affairs Commission to find Qu Ningbo.

Qu Ningbo was pleasantly surprised, realizing that this was Secretary Lin's doing.

He was even a little curious about how Huang Chunning and the others would "jump".

At 10:00 AM, the District Party Committee Office received a supplementary notice from the Municipal Party Committee Office: First, it informed that Huang Chunning, Vice Chairman of the Provincial People's Congress, and his delegation would arrive in Zhenxing District half an hour earlier for research and discussion; second, it confirmed the participants of the discussion, requiring the main leaders of the District Party Committee, the leaders of the District People's Congress, the leaders of the two courts, and the director of the Public Security Bureau to attend.

Yang Songfeng was overjoyed upon receiving the notification.

At 10:30, Huang Chunning and his entourage arrived in Zhenxing District.

Lin Xiao and a group of cadres greeted them downstairs.

Cai Zili, member of the Standing Committee of the Municipal Party Committee and Executive Vice Mayor; Su Anji, member of the Standing Committee of the Municipal Party Committee, Secretary of the Municipal Political and Legal Committee and Director of the Public Security Bureau; Zhang Jingsong and Deng Shixiang, Vice Chairmen of the Municipal People's Congress; Huo Tianqiong, President of the Municipal Intermediate People's Court; and Jia Xiaoyan, Deputy Chief Prosecutor of the Municipal People's Procuratorate, accompanied the research visit.

After a few brief pleasantries, the group went directly to the conference room.

After everyone was seated, Lin Xiaoxian briefly introduced the attendees, and then specifically introduced Zhuang Jingshu and others, explaining that the three of them were conducting a special interview on grassroots rule of law in Zhenxing District. Upon hearing that provincial leaders were visiting for research, they wanted to listen in on-site to learn and make some notes.

Huang Chunning's face instantly darkened, and his tone was undeniably forceful: "Today is just an internal work research meeting. There are no plans for external publicity, so we will not accept media interviews or reports."

After a pause, he suppressed his anger, maintaining a calm facade, but his eyes revealed a hint of condescension as he slowly spoke:

"Xiao Zhuang, a while ago when I went to Beicheng, I had dinner with your Vice President Zhang Hongyu and Director Yuan Zhengjie of the Ministry of Justice. President Zhang mentioned you. I didn't expect to meet you here. The Legal Daily is a leading force in legal publicity nationwide. You are welcome to visit Fengdu for interviews when you have time."

Zhuang Jingshu smiled and said, "Director Huang, the main purpose of our visit this time is to conduct in-depth research on whether judicial fairness can be achieved in cases involving enterprises during economic development. We saw the case of Zhou Huayu hiring thugs to injure people and instigating security guards to beat and injure people online, and we think it is very typical."

Today, I happened to meet with all the leaders here in Zhenxing District for research, and I was hoping to hear your perspectives on this matter. Since Director Huang has other commitments, we won't disturb you any longer. Goodbye.

After saying that, Zhuang Jingshu and her two colleagues got up and walked out.

Huang Chunning's face grew increasingly grim, and he raised his voice, "Please wait a moment, you three..."

Zhuang Jingshu stopped and turned around with a smile, saying, "Oh, Director Huang, is there anything else?"