Official title: Refused to stay at the university, started his career in a rural town.

April 16, 1998, Ninghe County Party Committee compound.

Yang Fan had his luggage from Qingping delivered back to his office, and was immediately summoned by Liu Xiangdong.

"Director Yang, the Party Secretary is waiting for you in his office."

This building is in the old Soviet style, with a corridor wide enough to drive a tractor. Half of the green paint on the window frames has peeled off, revealing the grayish wood underneath.

Yang Fan followed Liu Xiangdong's secretary, Zhao He, to the easternmost office, the door of which was ajar.

He raised his hand and knocked three times.

"Please come in!"

"Secretary, Yang Fan is here to report for duty."

Liu Xiangdong looked up from behind his desk, forcing a smile.

He stubbed out his cigarette in the ashtray—there were already seven or eight cigarette butts in the ashtray, some still smoldering.

More than three months had passed since Liu Xiangdong last saw him. He had lost weight, his cheekbones were higher than when he was in the Municipal Organization Department, and there were dark circles under his eyes.

"Alright, alright, you already closed the door behind you, what are you pretending for!"

Yang Fan sat down on the guest chair, and Liu Xiangdong took out a cigarette case and handed it to him.

After exchanging pleasantries, Liu Xiangdong inquired about Yang Fan's studies, and Yang Fan replied that everything was fine.

Liu Xiangdong took out a cigarette case, lit one for himself, tossed the lighter and cigarette to Yang Fan, and said.

"Everyone says a county magistrate ruins a family, and a prefect wipes out an entire clan!"

"Ha, I'm only now realizing that's not right—whether a county party secretary has prestige depends on whether the various powerful figures in the county support him."

"Those who stick together stick together, those who remain neutral remain neutral, and not a single issue can be agreed upon! But since you're here, at least I'll have an extra vote in the Standing Committee, haha!"

He let out two dry laughs, but there was no smile on his face.

When we sit at one end of a long table during the meeting, there are nine people with nine faces. You have to guess what's on each face.

Yang Fan lit a cigarette and took a puff. "Senior brother, could you introduce yourself to me?"

Liu Xiangdong leaned back in his chair.

"County Head Zhou Liangshan is from Lincheng. When the previous Party Secretary left, he was willing to take over, but he was too old. Ningfa's development in recent years has not been satisfactory. In addition, changing the Party Secretary again in a year or two would not be conducive to the work. He didn't get to take over at this critical juncture, which may affect whether he can enjoy the treatment of a deputy director-level official after retirement."

Yang Fan remained silent.

"The county magistrate didn't get promoted, and a whole string of others were pulled down." Liu Xiangdong flicked his cigarette ash.

"Deputy Secretary Zhao Guodong is a local. He was eyeing the position of county magistrate. Since the county magistrate hasn't moved, he can't move either."

"The executive deputy county head Sun Zhiguo, the organization minister Qian Wenqing, and the publicity minister He Xiaoyun have all been working in the local area for more than 20 years."

"What about the rest?" Yang Fan asked.

"Aside from Zheng Kai, the secretary of the Discipline Inspection Commission, who is relatively principled, Ma Bin of the Political and Legal Affairs Commission, Yang Zhen of the United Front Work Department, and Song Jianrui of the Armed Forces Department are wavering!"

Liu Xiangdong stubbed out his cigarette.

"I used to work in the Organization Department, and I thought that to reach the county-level Party committee, one should at least have a sense of the bigger picture, right? But one by one, they all... haha!"

He didn't go on.

Yang Fan flicked the cigarette ash into the ashtray. "Senior brother, the first thing I, as the director of the county party committee office, will do is help you find out about these people."

"Yes. In your current position, all the county's documents pass through your hands, and you are also in charge of meeting arrangements."

"Help me observe the situation—who is close to whom, what stance each person takes in their speeches at the meeting. Which things can be postponed, and which should be delayed."

Yang Fan nodded. Then he looked up.

"We must remove either Deputy Secretary Zhao Guodong or Organization Minister Qian Wenqing. These two positions control the appointment of all cadres in the county. Without removing them, our efforts to promote a service-oriented government are just empty talk. It's difficult to promote this without control over cadre appointments!"

Liu Xiangdong rubbed his temples. "I know that. I've already spoken with Qian Wenqing twice. This guy's got some connections."

"What about the Political and Legal Affairs Commission? If things aren't working out at the county level, could we find someone from the municipal Political and Legal Affairs Commission to cooperate with us?"

Liu Xiangdong gave a wry smile. "You think I didn't think about it? Last week I called Wu Kai, the deputy director of the Municipal Political and Legal Affairs Commission office—he's also from our Handong Political and Legal Affairs Department, so he's your senior."

"How so?"

"He was very blunt with me: in Ningzhou, apart from the locals, almost no graduates from Handong University come here. Those with some ability all go to Jingzhou, Lüzhou, the provincial capital, or even Beijing. Who would come to this poor mountain village?"

Yang Fan slapped his forehead.

Holy crap!

He had never really thought about this issue in detail before.

During those years in Qingping, he relied on the technical resources of Handong University, the support of professors, and the backing of alumni—but that was for economic development, not for personnel struggles.

When it comes to economics, if you have a solid plan and present the data, others will have to admit it, no matter how much they disagree.

But what about personnel struggles? Connections are very important, especially since their time is so tight. If it takes a year and a half just to sort out personnel matters, this year will be wasted. No wonder my senior brother, who is the county party secretary, is scratching his head.

Although he could directly apply to the city to replace a few standing committee members, what about the people below him? Moreover, such behavior of directly reporting to higher authorities is very damaging to one's career prospects!

He suddenly realized that he had a significant weakness.

He was a time traveler, and it's true that he had a forward-thinking perspective.

But personnel struggles are not something you can master just by reading dozens of novels about officialdom; the theories in books and reality are completely different things.

Liu Xiangdong looked at his expression and his lips twitched. "What's wrong? Even top students from Handong University are having trouble?"

"Senior brother, stop teasing me." Yang Fan stubbed out his cigarette. "I'll try to make contact first. I'll take it one step at a time and see if I can find a breakthrough."

"Take your time, some things can't be rushed. First, get the county party committee office running smoothly. There were quite a few embarrassing incidents recently. If things continue like this, then I've been the party secretary for nothing!"

Yang Fan smiled, then said seriously.

"Senior, based on the situation you described—County Magistrate Zhou Liangshan wants to retire, Deputy Secretary Zhao Guodong wants to be promoted but can't, and a whole bunch of others are blocking his way. They stick together because their interests align, but from another perspective, as soon as their interests diverge, this group will fall apart."

"you mean?"

"If we can find a breakthrough to take down Zhao Guodong and Qian Wenqing, wouldn't that directly unleash the power of personnel reshuffling throughout the county?"

Liu Xiangdong was silent for a few seconds, then slowly nodded. "Go on."

"Of course, it's too early to say these things now. But I always feel that the problems within the team are not monolithic. As long as we find the right thread, we can unravel the whole sealed bag."

"Okay, once you've thoroughly investigated all the information about these people, we'll discuss this in detail."

Liu Xiangdong stood up, walked to Yang Fan's side, and patted him on the shoulder.

"Alright, stop wasting time with me. Let's go to your office and then this afternoon I'll have my secretary, Xiao Zhao, take you to show your face in the various departments—it's your first day as the director of the county party committee office, so the people under you should get acquainted with the place."

Yang Fan stood up. "Senior brother, I'll head back now."

"Go."

Back in his office, Yang Fan sat down, opened the personnel roster of the county party committee and county government, and began to look through it from the beginning. His finger traced over each name, occasionally pausing to jot down a few notes in his notebook.

Time is tight, so we can only use a clever approach to break through the surface from a single point!