Deputy Director of the Provincial Planning Commission (Geng)

  It was already 8 o'clock in the evening when Ye Zhenran left Zhu Zhaoxi's home, and he wanted to send Huang Yuwen back. Huang Yuwen smiled and politely declined. The two said goodbye at the entrance of Zhu Zhaoxi's community. Ye Zhenran took a taxi back to his dormitory at the Economic Zone Management Office because it was inconvenient for him to take public transportation with the two paintings given by Zhu Zhaoxi.

  Just back to the dormitory, Shen Rong from the office came over to report: "Ye Chang, the work for these two days has been going pretty smoothly. According to your work plan, J University's publicity work is the focus of the first week. Today, we set up a booth in front of the school cafeteria to give a lecture and distribute a lot of materials. Many teachers showed great interest, and two of them expressed their intention to start a business on the spot. We will arrange for someone to contact the industrial and commercial bureau tomorrow to inquire about enterprise registration.

  After Shen Rong caught Ye Zhenran's attention, he felt a bit proud and motivated, doing his work with great enthusiasm. With his ability not being bad, he quickly got promoted to the deputy director of the economic district. This made him feel that following Ye Chang was the right decision. Recently, after a series of events in Ma Shi Township, he saw Ye Zhenran's unstoppable momentum and his heart became even more enthusiastic. Whether it was preparing for the office or operating afterwards, he would report to Ye Zhenran whenever he had the chance. As for Ye Zhenran, seeing such a loyal subordinate working diligently, he had already accepted him in his heart. Now, Ma Shi Township's Ma Yanli, Shen Rong, and Zhong Ping have become his first batch of trusted subordinates.

  Ye Ziran praised: "Shen Rong has done a good job, as long as he works hard, with such a large policy support from the economic zone, it is expected to achieve extraordinary development."

  Shen Rong immediately clapped lightly: "It's all thanks to Ye Changying's wise formulation of the economic development strategy for the small district, and having a leader like you with vision and ability is a blessing for the people of Ma Shi Township!"

  This Shen Rong, young and vigorous, his horse-riding skills are by no means weak.

  "Get out of here, do your own job well and use your brain more. The work in the office is handed over to you, don't cause me trouble. I measure a person's work by actual results."

  Shen Rong nodded repeatedly and said: "Please rest assured, Ye Chang. I will definitely work hard to do a good job in the economic district provincial capital office and be your vanguard at work."

  Ye Ziran thought to himself, "This Shen Rong is diligent and capable, but a bit shameless when it comes to flattering people. However, nobody's perfect, as long as we utilize his strengths, that's all that matters." He reminded Shen Rong, "I met with Zhu the artist today and he said he would introduce some people to move into the neighborhood and start their own businesses, you must do a good job serving them."

  Shen Rong's face was stern and serious as he said, "Alright, I will resolutely carry out Ye Chang's instructions."

  Yezhenran smiled slightly and kicked her foot lightly, scolding: "Get out of here, I want to sleep."

  Shen Rong immediately stood up and said with a nod: "Alright, Ye Chang, get some rest early."

  As the postgraduate entrance examination results were about to be released in a few days, and the work at the office was going on smoothly, Ye Zhenran returned to Mashixiang with peace of mind the next day.

  After returning to the county government by car in the afternoon, Ye Zhenran first went to Qin Daming's office to report on the work situation after the establishment of the Economic District Provincial Affairs Office. Qin Daming was very satisfied with what he heard. In recent days, his attitude towards Ye Zhenran had changed from the original superior's concern for his subordinate to mutual respect, and at the same time, he also looked up to Ye Zhenran's ability to handle affairs. The two chatted in the office for nearly an hour, discussing the key work of the county party committee and government in the next stage. Finally, Qin Daming said a sentence that made Ye Zhenran slightly surprised: "Ye Chang, I vaguely heard that County Magistrate Yin has a relative working in the provincial government who was recently promoted to Deputy Director of the Provincial Planning Commission."

  "Is that true?" Ye Zhenran asked. The Provincial Planning Commission is a powerful organ, holding the economic power of the entire province. After the term of the director of the Planning Commission is over, most will be promoted to the position of vice governor. If Yin County's relative was really promoted to deputy director of the Economic Commission, that would also be a leader with considerable status. If he came to Jianan for research work, the municipal party secretary would also warmly receive him.

  "There's no wave without wind." Qin Daming said.

  Ye Ziran thought that if Yin Xianchang really had such a strong backer, he would not be willing to let power slip away, and Changjia County would again witness another round of open and secret struggles, which would also have some impact on Tang Secretary's work.

  "Secretary Qin, I believe that Chang Jia won't make any drastic changes. After all, developing the economy and improving people's livelihoods are goals that everyone agrees on, and Secretary Tang is just such a dedicated secretary who puts development at heart. I reckon that most of the county committee and government leaders will continue to support him as usual." Ye Zhenran spoke with concern, but his words didn't reveal his true thoughts. He understood that Qin Daming was part of Secretary Tang's inner circle, and if he showed any wavering, it would affect some leaders who already had reservations about Secretary Tang's county-wide plans.

  Qin Daming, who had been in officialdom for many years, surprisingly said with ease: "What Ye Zhenran said is not wrong, I also think so."

  Ye Ziran returned to his office and first called Zhong Ping to ask if there was anything going on. Zhong Ping briefly described the situation, everything was normal. He then dialed another call to Tang Secretary's office, asking Hu Secretary about Tang Secretary's schedule for the evening, and learned that Tang Secretary had no arrangements tonight, so he told Hu Secretary: "That's good, I'll go visit Tang Secretary at home tonight."

  In the evening, after dinner at Ye Lao's house, I chatted with Ye Lao and Cai Shu about family matters for a while. Ye Zhiran told Ye Lao that he wanted to go to Tang Secretary's house once, and Ye Lao didn't ask much, nodded and started playing chess with Cai Shu in a leisurely manner.

  Arriving at Secretary Tang's home, Tang Hong caught sight of Ye Zhenran entering and immediately began to pout: "Brother Ye, what's going on? You haven't come to see me in a long time."

  Ye Ziran explained: "I went to the provincial city, our county's economic development zone has an office there, and I happened to be taking a postgraduate entrance exam, so I stayed in the provincial city for two days. I just returned to Changsha this afternoon."

  Tang Hong said discontentedly: "Then aren't you very pleased? Together with Zhang sister again."

  Ye Ziran said: "Zhang Nianyue has returned to Jiannan, she still has a week before school starts and didn't go with me."

  Tang Hong said, "Oh! In that case, I can forgive you this once." As she spoke, she warmly came over and grasped Ye Zhenran's arm, saying: "Come into the study and help me take a look at my homework."

  When Ye Ziran felt her tightly holding onto his arm, she leaned in close, and he could distinctly feel a soft lump on her chest where his hand was, scaring him into quickly pulling his hand back. He looked up to see that Tang Guoqiang hadn't noticed anything, let out a sigh of relief, and said: "You go first."

  Tang Hong wrinkled her nose and walked silently in front.

  Ye Ziran greeted Tang Guoqiang and Yu Jia: "Secretary Tang, Aunt Yu, I'll go take a look at Tang Hong's homework first."

  The two of them smiled and shook their heads, seemingly somewhat disapproving of the children.

  Yè zhī rán jìn le shū fáng, Táng Hóng jiù bābā de shuō dào: "Yè gēgē, nǐ zài zhè yàng bù lǐ wǒ, wǒ huì hěn shēngqì de."

  Translation:

  As soon as Ye entered the study room, Tang Hong said with a pout: "Brother Ye, if you continue to ignore me like this, I'll get very angry."

  Ye Ziran wouldn't bother with the little girl, coaxing her by saying: "No way, I've been pretty busy lately. By the way, I haven't thanked you and Tang Kang for visiting me in the hospital yet."

  Tang Hong rolled her eyes and said: "You're speaking from your mouth but not from your heart. In your eyes, there's only Zhang sister."

  Ye Ziran naturally wouldn't think that this little girl had developed feelings for him, it was purely the mind of a young girl competing to win, hoping that everyone around her would center on her. He just smiled and said: "What's going on? Let's take a look at your homework, where are we up to now? Tang Hong is so clever, I'm sure you'll all get it?"

  Tang Hong said with some pride, "Need you ask? Don't you know who I am?" She paused for a moment, then seemed to remember something and said, "My birthday is on September 14th, you must come and bring me a gift."

  Ye Zhenran responded with an "oh" and said: "Then I'll definitely come, how can I miss Tang Xiaojie's birthday? Don't I want to get along with Chang Jia?"

  Tang Hong smiled slyly and said in a low voice, "I've got my eyes on something good. You can give me a pair of jeans as a gift, I'll write down the size for you. Remember, don't let Mom know about it first, or she'll stop us."

  Ye Ziran nodded in agreement, and only then did Tang Hong's scowl turn into a smile as she happily started chatting about school gossip. After she had talked for a while, Ye Ziran said, "I still have something to discuss with Secretary Tang."

  Tang Hong let him go.

  Back in the living room, Yu Jia handed him a cup of tea and asked: "Xiao Ye, are you feeling better now?"

  Yeziran hastily said: "Thank you for your concern, Aunt Yu, I'm fine, nothing's wrong."

  "Was the graduate exam going smoothly?"

  Yezhen Ran said: "I feel okay, I guess, the results won't be out for a few more days."

  Yu Jia said: "Mm, I have confidence in you. You chat with Guo Qiang, I won't disturb you guys."

  "Alright then, Aunt Yu," Ye Ziran said.

  As soon as he entered the room, Ye Zhenran asked straightforwardly: "Secretary Tang, I heard that a relative of County Magistrate Yin was recently promoted to Deputy Director of the Provincial Planning Commission?"

  Tang Guoqiang glanced at him and didn't ask where he got the news from, saying lightly: "Not an ordinary relative, it's his uncle."

  Ye Ziran heard that he was the uncle of the county magistrate, and instead became less worried, saying: "Secretary Tang, since it's his uncle, although the relationship is close, but shouldn't he be quite old?"

  The underlying message is that although he is currently in a high-ranking position, his upward momentum has already ended and he will retire soon, so it won't affect Comrade Tang's future promotion.

  Tang Guoqiang understood Ye Zhenran's meaning, shook his head and said: "Can't look at the problem this way, his uncle in the provincial government still has a certain degree of activity. And age is a double-edged sword, from the good side, there is no potential, from the bad side, since there is no hope of promotion, doing things without looking back, and when making tough decisions, there are no worries."

  Ye Ziran thought for a moment and then asked: "Are you saying that he might come to Changsha in person to supervise Mayor Yin's work and give instructions on how to do things?"

  Tang Guoqiang said: "It's not impossible, I heard that his uncle is very powerful and protective of him."

  Ye Zhen couldn't help but worry about Tang Guo's strength, saying: "That would require a countermeasure to avoid affecting people's hearts and ultimately affecting the good development momentum of Chang Jia."

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