Chapter 39: Taking Office on Horseback

  That evening at dinner time, Director Xia Bizheng indeed arrived.

  Xia Bicheng was a middle-aged man in his late 40s, well-maintained and dignified-looking with a square-shaped face, somewhat resembling the famous actor Tang Guoqiang. He showed great respect to Li Runke, calling him "Old Chief" as soon as he entered the room, with a humble smile on his face from start to finish.

  When he saw Xu Fei was also here, a look of surprise clearly appeared on his face. It wasn't until Li Jingya laughed and told him that Xu Fei was Xiao Ye's best friend that a look of realization dawned on his face.

  As for Ye Ming, he had known the name for a long time, but only met him in person today. After carefully examining Ye Ming, he sincerely praised: "Young man, not bad! Not only is your appearance sunny and handsome, but you also have a strong sense of justice and courage! I've already learned about your deeds in detail. You are a model of righteousness and bravery emerging from our land tax system, which will greatly promote the social image of our land tax system, enhance the sense of justice and social responsibility of all cadres and staff, and play a significant role in promoting and driving this forward. We are now following Vice Secretary Li's instructions to work hard to win you the title of Provincial Advanced Individual for Righteousness and Bravery. I hope you cherish this hard-won honor, continue to carry forward your excellent virtues, and strive to become a model for all cadres and staff in our system, especially young cadres."

  Li Runji smiled and said, "Bicheng, you've been the director for a long time, how come your reports are even being made in my home? Don't bother explaining these big principles to me, Xiaoye understands them very well. Let me tell you: today I called you here to eat rabbit meat, not to do image promotion for your tax system."

  "What? There's venison to eat? Is it wild or farmed?"

  Xia Bicheng's eyes widened and he turned his head around, looking left and right, wanting to see if it was true.

  Xu Fei said with a smile: "Director Xia, this raccoon dog is something I brought from my hometown. In our place, the old hunters would occasionally secretly catch some wild animals like raccoon dogs, rabbits, and badgers using traps. They've even caught wild boars before. These are all authentic mountain goods. If you'd like to try some fresh ones, I can call my younger brother to have them delivered over."

  Director Xia smiled and waved his hand, saying: "Don't bother! Don't bring me some national protected animals, when the time comes, I'll eat them unknowingly, and then can't spit them out. If I get caught by the Forestry Public Security Bureau, it won't be worth it. Haha!"

  Xu Fei looked at his expression, although he said so in his mouth, but actually had a little moved, so secretly calculated in his heart: Tonight to call his brother, let him hurry to the village nearby to collect wild animals, as many as possible, tomorrow will be sent to Director Xia...

  This dinner was very harmonious and enjoyable. Director Xia was very interested in the pine mushroom and muntjac meat, and Secretary Li's cooking skills were indeed good. The muntjac meat was stewed with five-spice cinnamon, which was fragrant, fresh, and sweet. Director Xia ate with relish, constantly humming in praise...

  At the dinner table, everyone tacitly avoided talking about work. It wasn't until after dinner that Secretary Li pulled Xia Bicheng into the study, where they had a private conversation for half an hour.

  And this half hour, decided Xu Fei's fate: three days later, the provincial party group study decided: Xu Fei was appointed K City Local Taxation Bureau Party Secretary and Director; K City Local Taxation Bureau original deputy director Lin Nan was transferred back to the provincial bureau, as the head of the salary unified distribution center; K City Local Taxation Bureau original deputy director Wang Qi, was transferred to the provincial bureau logistics center as deputy director; Provincial bureau original personnel education department deputy director Shi Hao, was transferred to K City Local Taxation Bureau as party group member and deputy director, replacing Lin Nan; Provincial bureau original tax policy third department deputy director Bai Shengming, was transferred to K City Local Taxation Bureau as party group member and deputy director, replacing Wang Qi...

  This appointment was completely unexpected by everyone. Especially the head of each county, city and district bureau under K City, no one had expected that Xu Fei would suddenly parachute into K City as the head. After the surprise, everyone began to inquire about Xu Fei's background and connections. Some county, city and district bureau leaders who wanted to establish a good relationship with Xu Fei from the beginning tried every means to understand his habits, hobbies, who he was closest to, and who could connect him...

  However, the result of their investigation was very disappointing: Xu Fei had been keeping a low profile in the provincial bureau's logistics center for several years and rarely interacted with people from lower-level municipal and prefectural bureaus. It seemed that no one knew if he had any particularly close friends.

  It's just that people say: the reason he was suddenly promoted by Xia Bizheng, who had always looked down on him, is that a mysterious figure with great power helped him. And that mysterious figure, no one can figure out his identity and background...

  The most anxious person in this matter is Zhang Dongfang, the acting director of Xinleng County Bureau: He has been the second-in-command of Xinleng County Bureau for many years and has been waiting for Li Li to be dismissed. This is a great opportunity for him to turn from deputy to chief. Moreover, he is currently acting as the bureau chief, and as long as he can establish a good relationship with the new city bureau chief, he can achieve his long-cherished wish...

  What annoyed him was that he had searched all the connections in the provincial and municipal bureaus, but no one had a particularly good relationship with Xu Fei, nor could anyone help him establish a connection with Xu Fei. As Xu Fei had been in office for several days, he had not had any opportunity to talk to Xu Fei except at the press conference announcing the new bureau chief's appointment...

  That afternoon, Zhang Dongfang was sitting in his office, thinking hard about how to get in touch with Director Xu Fei, when the phone on his desk suddenly rang.

  "Director Zhang? I'm Nie Mai. Here's the situation: Director Xu has just come down from the provincial bureau and isn't very familiar with the situation in each county, city, and district bureau, so he wants to use a few days to conduct some research on the ground. The focus is on researching the current state of the cadre team, leadership team building, tax source conditions, and completion of tax revenue tasks. This time, Director Xu has chosen your Xinleng County Bureau as his first stop for research. So, please make the necessary preparations and do a good job with the reporting work based on the several research focuses I mentioned above."

  Zhang Dongfang was so excited that he almost jumped up: this is absolutely a good omen! You know, between Xinleng County Bureau and K City Bureau, there are still Nanjiang County Bureau and K City District Bureau in between. In the past, if the municipal bureau leaders wanted to conduct a comprehensive system research, they would generally start from K City District Bureau, then go to Nanjiang County Bureau, and finally come to Xinleng County Bureau along the way. But now, the new leader has reversed the usual practice, and is willing to take a detour to start with Xinleng County Bureau first. What does this mean? Does it mean that he really is coming into his own?

  Then he hastily replied: "Director Nie, please rest assured. Director Xu's first research and inspection after taking office in K City was placed in Xinleng County Bureau, which is the greatest honor for our county bureau's 135 cadres and staff. We will definitely do our best to prepare and welcome Director Xu with full enthusiasm and high spirits."