:03 sparks great debate

  December 30th, Monday, the cold winter weather shrouded the land of China.

  Fuyi County also ushered in its first snowfall since winter, with rooftops, roads and trees all covered in a blanket of white.

  Han Dong walked slowly along the desolate street, occasionally rubbing his hands together. The situation in Fuyi County was now as cold and bleak as the weather.

  The day before yesterday, after talking with Han Dong, Huang Wenyun convened a county party committee meeting, where a fierce discussion was held on the issue of Han Dong. Due to pressure from provincial and municipal leaders, despite Huang Wenyun's strong defense of Han Dong, the meeting still passed a decision to discipline Han Dong.

  In view of Han Dong's extreme remarks, the county party committee decided to remove Han Dong as the party secretary and director of the statistics bureau, and gave him a major administrative demerit.

  Now, Han Dong still has to write self-criticisms at the county government office every day until he passes the examination before he can return to work at the statistics bureau. Moreover, his current status is just that of an ordinary staff member of the statistics bureau.

  Yesterday was Sunday and a day of rest. This morning, Han Dong prepared to hand over his work at the Statistics Bureau as required. After Han Dong was removed from office, Huang Song still did not take over officially, but only temporarily took charge of the work.

  As he went upstairs, two staff members happened to be chatting and coming down from above. When they saw Han Dong, the two of them changed their expressions, casting their eyes over his head as if they hadn't seen him at all.

  Han Dong smiled faintly, and the world was cold and warm, it's a very normal thing, and there's no need to care about these small roles.

  Open the office, inside swept clean, on the desk was his thermos cup, picked it up in hand, could feel a hint of warmth.

  Zou Gang knocked on the door and came in, his face somewhat gloomy, saying softly: "Director Han, this is the tea Liu Cuifen brewed."

  A faint warmth rose in his heart, and Han Dong nodded slightly, smiling as he said: "From now on, I'm no longer the director. You can just call me by my name from now on."

  Zou Gang had learned about this from Huang Song's mouth earlier and let out a soft sigh, "Everything will be alright."

  Han Dong patted him on the shoulder a few times and said, "Not bad, you're doing well, the sky won't fall."

  "I know." Zou Gang's mood was somewhat down, and the hope in his heart was gradually shattering. He didn't even know when he would be beaten into an ordinary employee.

  At ten o'clock, all the middle-level cadres of the Statistics Bureau sat in the conference room, looking at Huang Song smiling on the stage, and many people were thinking about how to get along with him.

  Ge Wengu still looked very honest and sat on the stage, holding a pen to write and draw in his notebook.

  "Comrades, today I have been entrusted by the county committee to announce the decision regarding Comrade Han Dong..."

  Today, the one who came to the Statistics Bureau to announce the county committee's decision was Sun Yifang, a member of the Standing Committee of the County Committee and the Minister of Organization. He has a square-shaped face, thick eyebrows and big eyes, with an air of righteousness all over his face. On behalf of the county committee, he severely criticized Han Dong and demanded that the Statistics Bureau thoroughly reflect on its mistakes, take warning from this incident, and establish a good atmosphere.

  Han Dong sat silently at the bottom, ignoring Huang Song's occasional triumphant glances. He was no longer the director, and naturally didn't have the qualifications to sit on stage. In fact, if today's meeting wasn't held for him, with his identity as an ordinary employee who had been disciplined, he wouldn't even have the qualifications to attend this meeting.

  After the meeting, Huang Song accompanied Sun Yifang downstairs with a smile, while Ge Wenguog followed silently behind. The other middle-level cadres had different expressions and returned to their respective departments one after another.

  Han Dong found Zou Gang, took out a key and handed it to him, saying: "This is the office key, you pass it on to Huang Song, I'll go to the government first."

  Zou Gang silently took the key, opened his mouth to say something, but had nothing to say. He began to worry about his own fate, perhaps he was about to become the deputy director of the office for a long time.

  When going downstairs, he met Huang Song, who laughed and said with a smirk: "Hey, where are you going?"

  Han Dong said lightly: "The office key has been handed over to Zou Gang, everything is inside, you can go and check it yourself, Deputy Director Huang, oh no, should be Master Huang, Master Huang, hehe..."

  "You..." Huang Song's neck suddenly thickened with anger, "During work hours, where are you going?"

  Han Dong sneered, "I'm going to the government office to write a self-criticism, what's it to you, are you going too?"

  Huang Song waved his hand and walked upstairs with a huff.

  Han Dong smiled, this kid thinks he's won? Even if he's no longer the director, it's only temporary, and besides, this isn't even his doing.

  It's just about to be '92, in the memory of the late January, that wise old man will make a series of speeches, with great wisdom and determination, to adjust this huge ship of China to the correct course.

  So Han Dong wasn't worried at all, now it's just a matter of losing the director position and getting disciplined, after enduring for more than half a month, everything will be fine. Of course, he also knew that the reason why he was not dismissed from public office must have something to do with Secretary Huang Wenyun, and he secretly felt grateful in his heart.

  January 1st, 1992, Wednesday.

  This is New Year's Day, the first day of a new year.

  The Huaxia Daily, known as the number one newspaper in China, published three articles by the same person on its front page at the same time, which is a unprecedented move.

  These three articles are "Reform and Development Are the Foundation of Social Stability and Long-term Peace", "Reform and Opening-up Is the Strongest Driving Force for Development" and "On the Relationship Between Reform, Development and Stability". The first two were reprinted from articles published in Xikang Daily some time ago.

  The author of these three articles is naturally Han Dong. He originally wanted to submit the third article to Xikang Daily, but he was afraid that it might not be published, so he simply sent it to Huaxia Daily instead.

  However, Han Dong never expected that the Huaxia Daily not only published a third article but also dug up and reprinted the first two articles, placing them in the most prominent position on the front page.

  Looking at the newspaper in his hand, Han Dong felt a bit dizzy, things had gotten big, he was going to be famous.

  The articles published on Huaxia Daily sparked a fierce debate around Han Dong's three manuscripts, with supporters and opponents engaging in heated arguments, mutual attacks, and a chaotic battle of words.

  After watching for a while, Han Dong thought to himself: "This is what a real debate should be like."

  The phone rang abruptly, and the woman with an air of authority picked up the receiver, lazily said a "hello", and immediately put on a smile, saying several "goods" in a row. After hanging up the phone, she glared at Han Dong and said irritably: "Secretary Huang wants you to go over there for a while."

  Han Dong ignored her, put down the newspaper and walked out. He had already taken note of this powerful woman named Hu Mei, and he would definitely give her a lesson when he had the chance. Although it's not worth remembering the villain, if she provokes him three or four times, he will have to teach her a lesson to let her know who's boss.

  "Brothers, don't forget to collect and vote, thank you Xiaojiao."