Section 8 Examination

  The county party committee's organization department acted swiftly and decisively, sending two personnel from the cadre section to conduct an inspection the next day after receiving the recommendation list from the township party committee.

  In official circles, two types of things are always spreading quickly: one is promotion and the other is downfall.

  So, before the personnel department had even started looking for people to talk to, everyone in the township government already knew that Ye Zhenran was going to be promoted to deputy township head.

  Ye Ziran had tempered himself in the position of director of the party and government office for two years, and was no longer a novice who had just started working. He restrained his expression, looking calm and composed. After receiving the notification in the office, he came to the conference room.

  There were over a dozen people seated in the conference room, including three personnel from the county committee's organization department, deputy secretary of the township party committee Wang Jingyu, organizational committee member Pan Qiu Sheng, Yang Zheng and ten clerks from various departments such as the party and government office, family planning office, and township service center. Ye Zhenran smiled and greeted everyone.

  Vice Secretary Wang saw that everyone had arrived, nodded to the head of the Cadre Department, and then said to Pan Qiu Sheng: "Let's begin."

  Pan Qiusheng then introduced the names of the three personnel from the Organization Department, and said: "Next, please let Comrade Yu Kezhang, Director of the Personnel Division of the County Party Committee's Organization Department, give a speech and assign tasks."

  Ye Ziran has been working in Mashixiang, and is not very familiar with the county officials. Although he is under 40 years old, he appears stable and efficient, with piercing eyes, making one think: no wonder he's doing personnel work, his position may not be high but he has influence.

  Comrade Ke Zhang said briefly: "Comrades, the three of us today represent the county committee's organization department to assess Comrades Ye Zhenran and Yang Zheng. First, we will conduct a centralized review, followed by individual conversations. The centralized review will be conducted in the form of anonymous scoring, and I will now distribute the forms to everyone."

  Ye Zhenran took a look at the form and saw that the evaluation content included "ideological quality", "work ability", "work attitude", "mass satisfaction" and "integrity". The scoring standard had four options: "basically competent", "competent", "good" and "excellent". He scored himself and Yang Zheng on their respective forms.

  "Director Wang, thank you. You're busy, I'll take over from here. Next, Comrade Xiao Wang and I will form a group, and Commissioner Pan and Xiao Li will form another group to conduct individual interviews. The concentrated discussion will end here."

  As everyone left, Ye Zhenran stood up and Yu Kechang smiled and said: "Little Ye, slow down, let's chat."

  Ye Ziran sat back down, took out a cigarette and handed it to Yu Kechang and Xiao Wang, and lit one for himself. When the conference room was left with only three people, Yu Kechang smiled and said: "Xiao Ye, you are a reserve cadre openly recruited by the Municipal Party Committee Organization Department, I have long heard of your name, and today I finally get to see your true face."

  Ye Ziran hastily waved his hand and said, "I don't dare to say that the Organization Department is actually our officials' maternal home. I rarely return to my maternal home, so I have been neglecting the people from my maternal home. I must do some self-reflection."

  Yu Ke Chang burst out laughing and said: "Is Little Ye a local?"

  "I am from Jinshan County, Taipei City, not far from Changsha."

  "Oh, I see you're still single from your resume, where is your girlfriend from?" Yu Kezhang started talking about family matters again.

  Ye Ziran burst out laughing: "Want to make Yu Kezhang laugh? I haven't even had a boyfriend yet."

  "Oh? I have to criticize you for this. Work is important, but personal matters can't be delayed either. Otherwise, it will be hard on your parents." Yu Kechang said kindly.

  "Yes, it's been decreed that I must get married before I'm thirty." Ye Zhenran said, scratching his head unconsciously.

  After chatting for a while, Yu Kechang asked: "Xiaoye, how do you evaluate Comrade Yang Zheng?"

  Finally, it involves the core. Ye Zhenran pondered for a moment and said: "Comrade Yang Zheng's work in the family planning office has achieved remarkable results. He is young and strong, capable of working, and our town's family planning indicators have been completed well, which is inseparable from Comrade Yang Zheng's work."

  Yu Ke nodded encouragingly and asked, "What else?"

  "Comrade Yang Zheng is not only diligent in his work, but also has good interpersonal relationships and a good reputation in the township government." Ye Zhenran chose his words carefully, as this kind of evaluation would have the opposite effect if used to smear his competitors, so he showed great magnanimity.

  Director Yu nodded silently as he listened to the evaluation, thinking that Ye Zhenran was quite young but showed high political wisdom and was indeed a mature cadre. He continued: "It's not all advantages, let's talk about the disadvantages."

  "The downside is that Comrade Yang Zheng often neglects his family and forgets to eat due to work, which is not good for his physical health."

  This is not a shortcoming, but rather an advantage. Director Yu knew that there would be no special evaluation from Ye Zhenran anymore, so he looked at Ye Zhenran with great interest and said: "Little Ye, what are your plans for your future work?"

  Ye Ziran put away his smile and said: "I resolutely obey the organization's arrangement."

  Yu Kechang looked at Ye Ziran with a more serious and mature attitude, put away his pen, smiled and said: "Alright, thank you. We'll stop here for today, don't want to delay your work."

  Ye Ziran quickly stood up and shook hands with them one by one, saying: "Thank you for the talk with the Organization Department leaders, I benefited a lot."

  Back in the party and government office, Ma Yanli playfully winked at him, her bright eyes flashing with a lingering aftertaste.

  Ye Ziran knew that his colleagues in the office had a good relationship with him and would not speak ill of him in front of the organization department at critical moments. Ma Yanli's hint was also expressing such information. He took a look at his colleagues in the office, He Guitian had already left the Party and Government Office, Zhong Ping and Chen Xiaoyu were as usual, burying their heads in their work. Only Wang Peipei was nowhere to be seen.

  Ye Ziran asked: "Ma Yanli, where is Wang Peipei?"

  "Wang Peipei has gone to deliver materials to Secretary Qin." Ma Yanli replied.

  Ye Ziran nodded, picked up the meeting schedule on the table and took a look. He remembered that Lin Chang's memorial service was scheduled for tomorrow and seemed to conflict with it, so he instructed Zhong Ping to re-notify everyone. Zhong Ping responded and notified each person by phone or left a message on their answering machine.

  After a while, Wang Peipei came back and told Ye Zhenran that Secretary Qin asked him to go on a trip.

  Secretary Qin's office is on the fourth floor, first room to the east. The general arrangement of the town government offices is that the secretary usually works on the top floor, the first room to the east is the secretary's office, the second room is the deputy secretary, and behind them are the offices of the party committee members, such as the organization committee member, propaganda committee member, etc. On the floor below are the offices of the township heads, with the first room to the east being the chief township head's office, followed by the offices of the deputy township heads.

  Ye Ziran walked up to Secretary Qin's door, knocked gently, and heard Secretary Qin's loud voice calling out "come in", so he slowly pushed the door open and went inside.

  Ye Ziran was very particular about these details, when going to the leader's office to knock on the door, it couldn't be too urgent or too heavy-handed, only after hearing the leader's response could he slowly push open the door and enter, the speed of pushing the door also couldn't be too fast, the leader would see if you were steady and serious, in these details, one must grasp them firmly. As the saying goes: The constitution is not as important as the leader's opinion.

  "Secretary Qin, you called me?" Ye Zhenran asked with a smile.

  "Xiao Ye, come, come, sit down." Secretary Qin unexpectedly stood up, with a very kind expression.

  Secretary Qin, as the first-in-command of Mashitown, usually has a stern face and is very majestic. He also has a naturally dark complexion with a square-shaped face, which gives him an air of authority.

  Ye Ziran walked up to Secretary Qin's desk and sat down.

  "Xiao Ye, you've been in Ma Shi Township for over two years now, right? Are you used to working here?"

  "Yes, it's been more than two years. Thanks to Secretary Qin's guidance, I haven't made any major mistakes in these two years." Ye Zhenran was very low-key and the expression that flashed across his face seemed to be one of gratitude towards Secretary Qin.

  Secretary Qin then solemnly pointed out some inadequacies in Ye Zhenran's work, leaving him bewildered for a moment. In fact, this is the general pattern when good things happen: if leaders find you and come up with praise, it's trouble, eight or nine times out of ten it's not a good thing, such as letting you take on a troublesome job or transferring you to a secondary position. If they come up with criticism, then generally after criticizing, there will be a turning point, and the great responsibility will be bestowed upon this person. Sure enough, Secretary Qin soon changed his tone of speech.

  "However, young people have some minor shortcomings that are unavoidable, and I was the same when I was young. Overall, Director Ye, I have high hopes for you. You were recruited by the organizational department of Jianan City as a reserve cadre, and being sent to Mashizhen is also the greatest trust in the Mashizhen Party Committee. Your work over the past two years has been relatively satisfactory, and the township party committee's recommendation that you take on the role of deputy township head is also a vote of confidence in you. You must overcome your shortcomings, maintain your strengths, and do an even better job."

  Ye Ziran immediately stood up, showing a grateful and slightly excited expression, and repeatedly said: "Thank you Secretary Qin. In the past two years, Secretary Qin has taught me many good methods for work. From now on, I will continue to work under your guidance."

  Secretary Qin listened to Ye Zhenran emphasizing the three words "under guidance" and understood that Ye was showing his attitude, so he nodded and praised: "Director Ye is young and promising, unlike us."

  Ye Ziran hastily added a sentence: "No way, Secretary Qin is in his prime, with great potential, and just needs to make another move up to become the county leader."

  Secretary Qin laughed and changed the subject, asking: "Director Ye, who in the Party and Government Office can take over He Guitian's position?"

  This is selling favor to him. This is also one of Secretary Qin's tactics, the main purpose is to continue to be consistent with him after being promoted to deputy township head. Ye Zhenran thought for a moment and said: "Party and government office Ma Yanli and Zhong Ping are not bad, both can play their talents as deputy director of party and government office."

  Secretary Qin hesitated for a moment and said, "It's still Zhong Ping. Ma Yanli is capable, but she looks too good, her marriage is not very reliable, and it's easy to cause trouble."

  Ye Ziran sighed inwardly for Ma Yanli, a beautiful woman who was invincible in many places, but became a disadvantage in the official circle. The reason is that the current official circle is dominated by men, and male leaders promoting young and beautiful female subordinates are prone to speculation.