Right path to power

Li Guozhu was caught in a dilemma, so he could only quickly introduce, "Director Sun, let me introduce you. This is Comrade Lin Xiao, Secretary of the Zhenxing District Committee. This time, we are meeting with a leading enterprise under the Supply and Marketing Group. It's a very high-level meeting. We will absolutely control the order on site and will not cause any trouble for the Provincial Office in Beijing."

Lin Xiao stepped forward politely and said, "Hello, Director Sun, I am Lin Xiao. All the attendees are heads of reputable large companies; there are no idle personnel. The entire event is under control, quiet, and orderly, and will not interfere with the leaders' work."

Sun Tianzhen sized Lin Xiao up and down, his eyes filled with disdain and disbelief: "You're the Party Secretary of Zhenxing District? So young?"

Lin Xiao smiled and said, "It's mainly because of the leadership's trust. Director Sun, attracting investment at the grassroots level is not easy. We had to coordinate with many parties to get this opportunity, and we traveled such a long distance. We hope you will continue to support us."

Sun Tianzhen scoffed, "I said no, and that's final. The Beijing office is for official receptions of the province, not for public use. You'd better find somewhere else. Don't waste time here; the leaders will be arriving soon."

Lin Xiao felt very uncomfortable.

This person is simply using their position of power to put on airs and making a mountain out of a molehill.

There's no way to change the venue now, and representatives from over twenty companies are already on their way. How will the business owners react to a last-minute address change? This rare opportunity to attract investment could be ruined.

A brief silence fell over the scene.

At this moment, Li Guozhu leaned over and whispered a few words, and Lin Xiao's eyes lit up immediately.

The next second, he smiled and said to Sun Tianzhen, "Director Sun, I know Secretary Lou. Secretary Lou has always supported grassroots investment promotion work, so he certainly won't mind us reporting the investment promotion meeting here. You can rest assured."

It turned out that Li Guozhu told him that the provincial party committee leader who was coming later was Lou Changyang, the deputy secretary of the provincial party committee.

That's why Lin Xiao tried to bring up her acquaintance with Lou Changyang.

To everyone's surprise, Sun Tianzhen only paused for a moment before scoffing, "You know Secretary Lou?"

He paused, then laughed and said, "I know Secretary Lou too. Who among you doesn't know Secretary Lou? I said no, and that's final. You'd better pack up and leave. Stop making trouble here."

Lin Xiao stood there speechlessly.

Li Guozhu whispered, "Director Sun, Director Wen is here."

"It's no use who comes," Sun Tianzhen said coldly.

At that moment, a light footstep sounded, and Wen Lidan, deputy director of the provincial office in Beijing, walked over slowly.

Looking at the tense situation, she smiled faintly and said, "Director Sun, who made you angry?"

Sun Tianzhen frowned and said coldly, "Director Wen, Secretary Lou will be here soon. Why did you let them hold this special investment promotion meeting here without my permission?"

Wen Lidan said calmly, "Our meeting room was just sitting idle anyway. It's not easy for grassroots officials to come to Beicheng to hold an investment promotion conference. Our Beijing office is here to serve cadres and grassroots officials throughout the province. What's wrong with borrowing it for a bit? Besides, it won't interfere with our normal work."

Sun Tianzhen immediately became angry: "This is the Quanzhou-Ningxia Provincial Government Office in Beijing! Not the Quanzhou Municipal Government Office in Beijing! They don't have the space in their city, so why are they using the province's resources?"

"Their venue is indeed quite small, and there weren't enough seats for all the companies this time, so I agreed to it on a case-by-case basis." Wen Lidan remained calm and composed, without making a fuss, and simply explained the situation.

The two were openly competing, which was obvious to everyone present.

The two were fighting for a spot, taking the opportunity to step on each other.

No one wanted to say anything, so they could only stand aside and watch the "show".

On the contrary, Li Guozhu felt somewhat aggrieved. He originally only wanted to help Zhenxing District set up a platform for investment promotion, which was a good thing, but he was dragged into the infighting among the leaders of the provincial office in Beijing.

Wang Feipeng, who was standing to the side, was annoyed and sneered, "A service position in the Beijing liaison office, yet he acts more like a high-ranking provincial leader. That's quite rare."

Song Minghao stepped forward, his tone firm: "Rules are for serving people, not for obstructing grassroots work. Lin Xiao, there's no point in saying more. We'll hold the investment promotion meeting right here today. I want to see who can drive us away. Also, I'll ask Secretary Lou later whether this practice of deliberately making things difficult for grassroots staff is appropriate."

Sun Tianzhen's face turned red with anger as he retorted, "You...you dare to cause trouble, huh? Fine, if you don't get out, I'll call the police and have you all kicked out."

Wen Lidan stood aside, watching Sun Tianzhen throw a tantrum with disdain, too lazy to say anything more.

Just then, a black sedan slowly drove into the yard. Seeing a group of people gathered at the gate, the driver gently honked the horn.

The moment Sun Tianzhen saw the car, his expression changed instantly. He immediately suppressed all his arrogance, hurriedly rushed down the steps, stared at the black sedan, and bent over slightly, his whole body full of flattery.

A hint of mockery flashed in Wen Lidan's eyes, but she quickly regained her composure and whispered to Li Guozhu, "Secretary Lou is here. Don't move yet. Wait quietly until you've settled the leader in and finished your official business. Then you can make arrangements quietly, and try to keep things as quiet as possible."

"Thank you for your understanding, Director Wen," Li Guozhu said quickly.

Wen Lidan nodded slightly and then walked down the steps.

One is fat and the other is thin; one is restless and the other is calm. The contrast between the two standing together is particularly striking.

After the car came to a stop, a person got out of the passenger seat and opened the back door.

Ding Hongfei, director of the provincial government's Beijing office, got out of the car from the other side, quickly walked around, and said with a smile, "Secretary Lou, everyone knew you were coming, so they were all waiting in the courtyard."

Lou Changyang got out of the car, while his secretary Zhang Longjie opened the car door.

Lou Changyang's expression remained calm: "There's no need for these formalities."

As soon as he finished speaking, his gaze swept across the crowd and instantly landed on Lin Xiao, a look of surprise clearly appearing on his face.

"Hello, Secretary Lou." Sun Tianzhen bowed and greeted him.

"Hello, Secretary Lou," Wen Lidan greeted him.

Lou Changyang nodded, smiled, and shook hands with the two of them. The next second, he walked straight towards Lin Xiao.

"Hello, Secretary Lou." Lin Xiao greeted him.

"Lin Xiao, what are you doing in Beicheng?"

This question was mild and familiar, completely unlike the attitude of a provincial party committee leader towards grassroots cadres.

Sun Tianzhen's head buzzed, his heart tightened, and he panicked instantly.

He never imagined that this young district party secretary would know the deputy secretary of the provincial party committee, and that their relationship seemed to be quite special.

Seeing this, Lin Xiao took the opportunity to speak up: "Secretary Lou, we're holding a special investment promotion meeting in Beicheng. The municipal office in Beijing is too crowded, so we're borrowing the meeting room from the provincial office in Beijing."

Lou Changyang smiled and nodded: "That's great. I heard you're now in charge of the Zhenxing District, and the top leader is personally leading teams to attract investment. That's commendable."

Lin Xiao humbly smiled and said, "Zhenxing District is currently lagging behind in development and has many shortcomings. I must do more to make up for them as soon as possible."

"That's right, grassroots development requires seizing opportunities and making the most of time," Lou Changyang said in a friendly tone, then asked, "When is the investment promotion conference scheduled?"

"At 3 p.m., this event is mainly aimed at companies in the supply and marketing, agricultural materials, and logistics industries. The venue is set up simply, with a focus on practicality."

Lou Changyang nodded and then said, "I happen to be free this afternoon. I'll come over and show my support, and give the grassroots investment promotion work a boost."

Upon hearing this, Lin Xiao was both surprised and delighted, and quickly expressed her gratitude: "Thank you so much, Secretary Lou! With your support, this investment promotion conference will definitely be successfully held and achieve tangible results."

Sun Tianzhen was dumbfounded and filled with regret.

He never expected that Lou Changyang not only knew Lin Xiao, but also had such a close relationship with her.

The deputy secretary of the provincial party committee actually took the initiative to endorse a district-level investment promotion conference.

This is such an incredible thing.

At this moment, he panicked even more, feeling a chill run down his spine.

He deliberately made things difficult for Lou Changyang and embarrassed him. If Lin Xiao were to mention it to Lou Changyang later, his career would likely be affected.

He was filled with regret. If he had known earlier that Lin Xiao had such a powerful background, he would never have put on airs or deliberately caused trouble.

Now, all we can do is hope that Lin Xiao won't retaliate.

Although Wen Lidan remained outwardly calm, she was inwardly shocked.

She agreed to lend the venue simply because the meeting room had been vacant for a long time, and she wanted to help out the grassroots staff while earning some conference fees. She didn't think much about it at all.

She knew Lou Changyang was coming, but she was certain that a district-level investment promotion conference wouldn't interfere with the leader's official duties, which is why she agreed to Li Guozhu's request.

Besides, she saw through it all. She knew that Sun Tianzhen wasn't worried about the investment promotion meeting affecting the leaders at all; he was just using it as an opportunity to flaunt his official power, especially since she had approved the venue.

Therefore, Sun Tianzhen deliberately picked fights and suppressed him in order to seize the position of director of the provincial office in Beijing.

Thinking of this, Wen Lidan secretly chuckled to herself. Sun Tianzhen had brought this upon himself; he had kicked a hornet's nest.

At the same time, she was determined to get along well with Lin Xiao.