Family connections: From special recruitment by the county committee to the pinnacle of power

"I understand, thank you, Director Xu."

Li Qiang said with great reluctance.

Given the size of Zhang Juan's current office, she should have at least given a potted plant that was over 1.5 meters tall. Back then, that was no cheap gift; it would easily cost several hundred yuan, almost equivalent to Li Qiang's monthly salary.

To say he wasn't heartbroken would be a lie, but he could only swallow his pride and bear it.

Who told him to offend someone?

"Alright, lunch break is over. Section Chief Li, go ahead and get busy. I need to go check on the cafeteria too."

Xu Changqing stood up, put his hands behind his back, and walked out of the office.

Li Qiang glanced at Xu Changqing's retreating figure and sighed softly. This start was not as wonderful as when he first arrived at the Secretariat. Just thinking about the meeting in the afternoon made Li Qiang feel a tightness in his chest.

……

On the other side, Xu Hansheng also quickly walked out of the county committee compound during his lunch break.

Back home, he quickly went up to the fourth floor and searched through drawers and cabinets for a long time before finally finding the two tempered glass ashtrays that Xu Weidong had bought during the Chinese New Year.

These two ashtrays were high-end items at the time, costing over fifty yuan each. They were usually only used in larger entertainment venues.

Xu Hansheng carefully inspected the ashtrays again to make sure there were no flaws before putting them back into the box.

"Hansheng, what are you doing with the ashtray?"

Seeing Xu Hansheng rush up to the fourth floor as soon as he returned, Li Xiuru followed him with a curious expression. Watching Xu Hansheng put two ashtrays into his pocket, she asked him in bewilderment.

"It's nothing. Our boss's office is short of two ashtrays, and we happen to have some new ones at home, so I thought I'd bring them over for him."

Xu Hansheng smiled and walked downstairs with Li Xiuru, saying as they went, "Perfect timing. I'm tired of eating in the cafeteria these past few days. I'll ask Chef Lin to stir-fry some beef brisket and make a bowl of soup. I have to rush back to my meeting after we finish eating."

Li Xiuru nodded slightly and followed Xu Hansheng down to the first floor.

Soon, spicy stir-fried beef brisket and a borscht were served.

Xu Hansheng wolfed down his food, then grabbed the ashtray and hurried to the county committee compound.

He had to put the two ashtrays in place before Zhang Juan returned to her office for her lunch break, and the packaging boxes also had to be thrown into the trash can in Zhang Juan's office.

There are too many layers of meaning here to go into detail, but anyway, just do it this way.

He jogged to Zhang Juan's office and saw that the door was ajar. He knocked a few times and waited for a full minute. When no one answered, he pushed the door open and went inside.

Xu Hansheng deftly opened the packaging, placed the two brand-new high-end ashtrays on either side of Zhang Juan's desk, adjusted the angle, then took out two tissues, laid them underneath, poured in some water, closed the door, and left Zhang Juan's office.

I had only taken a few steps when I heard footsteps coming from downstairs.

Two young men in their late twenties were carrying a potted asparagus fern upstairs.

As Zhang Juan walked up the stairs, she said to the two logistics staff members, "It's in this office on the third floor..."

Upon seeing this, Xu Hansheng hurriedly stepped forward and helped the two logistics staff carry the potted asparagus fern into Zhang Juan's office.

"Xiao Xu, Xiao Liu, Xiao Wang, you've worked hard, have some water."

As they were talking, Zhang Juan took three bottles of mineral water from the table and handed them to the three of them.

The two logistics staff members simply took the bottled water, thanked them, and turned to leave.

After accepting the bottled water, Xu Hansheng thanked Zhang Juan, but did not unscrew the cap. Instead, he bowed slightly and said to Zhang Juan, "Director Zhang, if there's nothing else, I'll head back now."

As he spoke, Xu Hansheng glanced at the half-dead asparagus fern and frowned.

This potted plant must be the most prized possession of the logistics department. It looks like it never sees sunlight, and even the edges of its leaves are turning yellow.

"Okay, you can go ahead and get busy."

As Zhang Juan spoke, she picked up a pair of scissors and carefully cut off all the yellow leaves in the flowerpot before throwing them into the trash can.

She inadvertently noticed the packaging boxes in the trash can and subconsciously glanced at the desk.

When she saw the two high-end ashtrays, a satisfied smile appeared on her face.

The two ashtrays look very impressive and aesthetically pleasing; it seems Xu Hansheng put a lot of thought into them.

What a fine young man he is! Why does Xu Changqing look down on him?

Xu Hansheng returned to his workstation, opened his diary, and added a comment after Zhang Juan's name: "Likes to tend to flowers and plants." Then, he closed the diary, turned on the computer on his desk, and searched online.

"The Sun Tree?"

Xu Hansheng looked at a bonsai tree that was about 1.8 meters tall, and the corners of his mouth turned up slightly. He glanced at the symbolism of the sun tree and thought to himself, "This is it."

He then quickly walked out of the office, went to the smoking area in the backyard, took out a cigarette, lit it, and made a phone call to his driver, Old Chen.

"Have my mom prepare two thousand yuan. This afternoon, go to the flower, bird and fish market in Qingshan City and buy a potted sun tree."

After saying that, Xu Hansheng hung up the phone and then called Gu Chenglong again.

A short while later, Gu Chenglong's voice came from the other end of the line: "Is that Xiao Xu?"

"Director Gu, hello, how did you know this was my number?" Xu Hansheng said with a smile.

"This is my private phone number. I don't usually get calls from unknown numbers. What's up? Go ahead and say it," Gu Chenglong said in a friendly tone.

"Director Gu, I'm calling you today for two reasons. First, to thank you for your previous help; otherwise, my work wouldn't have gone so smoothly. Second, I have some details regarding investment promotion that I'd like to ask you about. Is today a convenient time for you?"

Xu Hansheng asked with a smile.

"Um……"

Gu Chenglong thought for a moment before slowly saying, "It's convenient, but wait, you mean you've made contact with Tiancheng Holdings?"

Xu Hansheng nodded slightly and said, "It should be pretty much a done deal. Anyway, I think Tiancheng Holdings is interested. So, I would like to ask you what the key points of the follow-up work are, so as not to be caught off guard later."

hiss!

Gu Chenglong gasped when he heard this. It had been more than half a year since Xu Changqing had managed to close the deal, but Xu Hansheng had actually done it?

Judging from this, it seems very likely that this project will be located in Yutong County?

"Well, that's fine, but there's not much I can do to help you with that."

Gu Chenglong said calmly.

"Director Gu, you're too modest. How about this: after get off work tonight, in room 207 of Hongyunlai, we can meet and discuss things in detail?" Xu Hansheng asked with a smile.