Chapter 39: The First Meeting of the New Year

  "Hey, isn't that Secretary Zhang? I went to your place this morning to say hello, but you weren't there. So you're here instead, making me search all around." Zhang Qingyun had just left the office and hadn't walked far when he heard Lei Ming's sharp voice.

  Next to Lei Meng was another person. Zhang Qingyun took a look and thought that enemies would always meet, and that guy was actually Wu Zhiqiang, the mayor of Wu Town.

  "Director Lei, Happy New Year! You're too polite. County Magistrate Li found me for something and I was delayed, I haven't had a chance to go to the county committee yet." Zhang Qingyun said with a smile.

  "It's not that I'm in a hurry, Director Liu just gathered everyone for a meeting, but you didn't come, so this meeting can't be considered thorough." Lei Ming said, Zhang Qingyun responded with a sound, but his eyes were fixed on Wu Zhiqiang, this little guy was staring at him like an owl, could it be that he wanted to eat him? He didn't even think about his own small body.

  "Ah, Secretary Zhang, I forgot to introduce you! This is Wu Zhenchang, the young and promising mayor of Qinghe Town. Under his leadership, Qinghe Town has been ranked first in economic growth for two consecutive years in the entire county." Lei Ming said hastily.

  Zhang Qingyun suppressed his smile, this thunderous voice was sharp and loud, with a "ai yo" in every sentence, making people's skin crawl. This is the county government, not the Red Mansion. Looking at Wu Zhiqiang again, it can be said that his father looks quite official, but how come he doesn't? He has a short and thin build, not having any air of an official at all.

  "Oh, so you're the son of County Magistrate Wu. No wonder, no wonder, a tiger father has no inferior sons! Hello, Mayor Wu." Zhang Qingyun said with a smile.

  Wu Zhiqiang's face turned even uglier, this Zhang Qingyun was getting more and more displeasing to the eye, obviously just a casual remark, but in his ears it sounded like Zhang Qingyun was mocking him, insinuating that his achievements were thanks to his old man.

  However, the county government is not a place for acting out of line, Wu Zhiqiang had to hold back and forced a smile:

  "So you're Director Zhang! I've long admired you! I'll have to ask for your guidance from time to time in the future."

  Zhang Qingyun burst out laughing and looked at Lei Ming beside her who was still in a daze, saying:

  "Alright, County Magistrate Li has arranged the work tasks, I'll take my leave first, you two can carry on as usual!"

  Looking at Zhang Qingyun's back, Wu Zhiqiang had a gloomy face. Lei Meng, who was beside him, didn't understand and asked with a flattering tone: "Director Wu, do you know this Zhang guy?"

  "Hmph," Wu Zhiqiang snorted in anger, casting a sidelong glance at Lei Meng before turning and walking away. Lei Meng had been idle in the county committee all these years, and even a newly arrived deputy director didn't take him seriously. His father's secretary should be replaced too.

  Lei Meng's face changed color, knowing that he might have kicked the horse's leg, and hurriedly followed behind Wu Zhiqiang.

  Zhang Qingyun came to the county committee office and turned around, Liu Qing was not there, so he took the opportunity to ask a few clerks in the office how they were doing. As for his own subordinates, Wang Hua and Zhang Qian, of course, could not avoid some encouragement.

  "Director Zhang, there are some materials here that were just sent over from the Letters and Visits Bureau. Do you want to take a look?" The one reporting to Zhang Qingyun was Wang HuaHua, a young man in his early twenties who had just taken the civil service exam this year and wasn't very talkative.

  Zhang Qing furrowed his brow, thinking to himself that he had indeed forgotten about this matter, as it was his responsibility. He casually tied up the materials and took a look, only to be shocked to discover that someone had reported that several privately-owned small coal mines in Qinghe Town had secretly resumed operations after being shut down.

  Zhang Qingyun's mouth curved into an arc, thinking that Director Tang of the Letters and Visits Bureau really dared to touch the tiger's butt. He submitted such materials, didn't he know that Qinghe is Wu Zhiqiang's territory?

  "Take this material over to Director Liu for now!"

  "Alright." Wang Hua Hua put away the documents and nodded.

  "Hold on!" Zhang Qingyun was about to leave, but stopped and took the materials from Wang Huahua's hand, pulled out a pen and scribbled a line: "The problem is worth attention! Forwarded to Director Liu Qing for review. - Zhang Qingyun."

  "Alright, I'll send it over in a bit!"

  Zhang Qingyun then strolled around for a while before walking onto the corridor, lit a cigarette and took a deep drag. He thought to himself that he should find an opportunity to meet with Tang Qian from the Letters and Visits Bureau. From the document just now, Tang Qian's work was still commendable. After all, he had truthfully reflected the situation to the county leaders. In Yongping, there were not many people who dared to oppose the Wu family.

  However, Zhang Qingyun believed that even if the material reached Huang Songshan's hands, it would be useless. Huang Songshan wouldn't find fault with Wu De for this matter, and basically, there was no evidence to investigate. Once the inspectors arrived, the mine owner would have already closed up shop. If they had the ability to settle things with Wu Zhiqiang, they also had the ability to make the inspectors unable to find him.

  In the afternoon, more and more people gathered in the county committee's courtyard. Today's meeting was held in the conference room of the county committee. The leaders of the county party committee and government were present, as well as the heads of various important departments and bureaus in the county. At the beginning of the new year, everyone got together to discuss the development plan for the new year, which is a usual practice.

  In the morning, Liu Qing arranged for the office staff to be in charge of reception. Zhang Qingyun was not present at the time and had not been assigned a task, so while others were busy, he was relatively free.

  As more and more people arrived, Zhang Qingyun also came forward to greet them one by one. Since he had inspected the place with Lei Gang last year, he knew most of the people who came, so they chatted easily without any obstacles.

  "Uncle Chen, Happy New Year! You look really spirited!" Zhang Qingyun said enthusiastically as he rushed forward after spotting Chen Yunshan in the crowd.

  "Oh, it's Qingyun! You too, Happy New Year." Chen Yunshan's expression was somewhat unnatural. At this time, the director of the Forestry Bureau, Lin, came over to chat and Chen Yunshan hastily exchanged a few words with Zhang Qingyun before using his conversation with Director Lin as cover to end their conversation.

  Zhang Qingyun sneered inwardly. Chen Yunshan's sudden indifference made him feel somewhat displeased. It seemed that Chen Yunshan had decided to stand on the opposing side after all.

  At two o'clock, the meeting officially began, and all the county committee members were present, taking their seats on the rostrum. Zhang Qingyun was only qualified to sit in the back rows, looking from afar at the leaders on the stage. Huang Songshan appeared particularly spirited today, as the secretary, he had to speak first.

  Wu De still looked the same, but his hair was combed to a shiny finish. He sat below Lijiang, not daring to glance sideways.

  After Wu De, Wang Ping's face was relatively casual in his attire. He would occasionally chat with Zhang Huajie, the secretary of the Political and Legal Committee next to him, and his enthusiasm seemed to be somewhat high.

  Zhang Qingyun shook his head, thinking that as the deputy secretary and deputy county magistrate, Wang Ping was also a member of the party committee's standing committee. He should be ranked third, but he sat behind Wu De, and Zhang didn't know what to think about it.

  The meeting was presided over by Liu Qing, and the main task of this meeting is to make a good plan for the new year. Of course, the focus of the plan is on the economic aspect, which can be summarized as maintaining growth and stability.

  Huang Songshan spoke first, giving a macroscopic guidance on the work of various fronts throughout the county in the new year. However, Zhang Qingyun found these words somewhat hollow and lacking in new ideas, so he only listened to the key points and spent most of his time counting the colored lights on the ceiling.

  Finally, he was pulled back to the scene by a thunderous applause, and Huang Songshan droned on for an hour before this speech finally came to an end.