Chapter 55 Entering the Party School

  In Hankou, the night markets usually start setting up stalls at sunset and operate until after midnight. They are mostly mobile stalls and can be found all over the city. There are dozens of small dishes on the tables, and a large wok is used for stir-frying and selling on the spot. Wuning Road is a gathering place for these mobile vendors, with both sides of the narrow road lined with various stalls, each with several tables in front.

  "Mr. Hu, how's the taste?" Liu Siyuan asked while drinking beer and looking at the handsome guy opposite him.

  "Not bad, no wonder business is good. It's not easy for us to grab this spot either." Hu Tian looked around and saw many people standing in line waiting for a seat.

  Liu Siyuan thought for a moment and said, "Indeed, we citizens of Hanjiang City all like it, it's cheap and good value, but this kind of street vendor is not quite legitimate..."

  Hutian smiled and said, "Siyuan, take a closer look at this small street. There are over 20 vendors here, but everything is in order. Look at how the tables and chairs are arranged - they're all neat and tidy... Do you know why?"

  Liu Siyuan was taken aback and looked around, indeed it was so. At this time, Hu Tianfang continued: "That's because someone is in charge."

  "Management?"

  "Of course, without rules, there's no harmony. Don't look at just a few big brands, if they weren't strictly managed, they'd be fighting and grabbing territory every day." Hu Tianfang took a big swig of wine and said: "But since we have to manage, it's inevitable that we'll collect some management fees. This is also human nature, huh? But there are people who are afraid the world won't be chaotic, and they call management fees protection fees. They must have watched too many Hong Kong movies."

  Liu Siyuan suddenly understood a bit, he pondered for a moment, especially Zhang Zhenggang's sentence "it is better to be loose than to be blocked" gave him some inspiration, and said: "General Hu, I have a suggestion."

  Hu Tianfang raised his head and looked at him, saying: "Speak."

  Liu Siyuan thought for a moment before speaking: "Firstly, these vendors operating without licenses are definitely not right. And look at this street now, it's so dirty and there's no proper waste management, which will disturb the residents. However, on the other hand, I think since citizens like them, they have a reason to exist and we shouldn't force them out. So I suggest we just regularize these vendors."

  "Hu Tian's eyes lit up and he asked: 'Regularization? What do you mean?'"

  Liu Siyuan said: "It's simple, just invest a little money, set up several regular stalls, consider the sewage and other issues, and then let these vendors move in. The business license and health permit can be handled by the relevant departments. It won't be difficult for you. This way, this street will become a authentic snack street. If it's done well, maybe it'll even become one of the scenic spots of Hanjiang in the future. If the residents around Weining Road feel disturbed, we can also consider other locations. Then, collecting management fees and stall fees would be more reasonable, and no one would say it's protection money."

  Hu Tianfang nodded repeatedly after thinking for a moment and said: "This can be considered, but I don't know how much money to invest. I have to go back and calculate it. Come on, let's drink first."

  The two of them ate until very late before returning home. The next afternoon, Hu Tianpeng called over and only said one sentence: "I'll do it according to your method."

  After Liu Sih-yuan handed over the proposal to Zhang Zhenggang, the latter repeatedly praised him, saying that he understood the way and method of handling the work, taking into account both the actual needs of the people and the management needs of the government. Later, he also handed over the report to Mayor Chen Guo, who quickly ordered the Land Bureau, Urban Construction Bureau, City Management Bureau, and Health Bureau to form a joint group to plan for the snack street. Before that, all temporary vendors were banned in accordance with the law.

  After Mayor Chen's order came down, the Urban Management Bureau and Health Bureau law enforcement teams dispatched a large number of personnel to Weining Road. However, when they arrived, they saw that the mobile vendors had already withdrawn voluntarily. Later, the joint group issued an announcement, officially publicly bidding for the establishment of Hanjiang City Snack Street.

  As things progressed, Yao Yuan repeatedly praised Liu Siyuan in internal meetings of the Supervision Room, while Liu Jianguo's face became increasingly difficult to look at. He ran out and bumped into walls everywhere, only to have Liu Siyuan solve the problem with ease as soon as he took action. This contrast was too obvious. What made him even more embarrassed was that Wei Daxiao, the director of the Health Bureau, specially came to the Supervision Room to apologize to Liu Siyuan and Ouyang Qian in a subtle manner, saying that he didn't know that Director Liu was in charge of supervising this matter, and if he had known earlier, the Health Bureau would have fully cooperated. From start to finish, Wei Daxiao didn't even glance at Liu Jianguo, completely ignoring him.

  Liu Siyuan thought he might be squeezed out by Liu Jianguo, but unexpectedly, a few days later, Zhang Zhenggang suddenly arranged for him to leave his post and study at the municipal party school for three months.

  The day the party school opened was coincidentally the date of Fang Xinyu's civil service exam, and at the same time, Ding Hui finally accepted a job offer from a foreign company and gave up on this exam.

  Liu Siyuan couldn't help but feel that fortune was not on their side. First, they had to review and prepare for the exam, and after finally finishing it, he himself was locked up in a party school and could no longer meet frequently because the training class implemented militarized management, and taking leave was almost impossible, with only one day off every Sunday.

  At the opening ceremony of the training class, Hu Yinghua, a member of the Standing Committee of Qianhu Province and Secretary of Hanjiang Municipal Party Committee, attended in person and delivered a passionate speech. Liu Siyuan looked at this number one person in Hanjiang from afar, and found that he resembled Hu Tianfang somewhat, probably a charming figure when young. Although he has already grown old with grey hair, he still exudes some charm after years of sedimentation.

  This session of the party school was originally a training class for deputy-level cadres, and it's unknown what kind of backdoor Zhang Zhengdong opened to get himself squeezed in. With less than thirty people in the entire class, he stood out particularly prominently in the crowd. Just as he was thinking this, he suddenly discovered that Hu Yinghua seemed to have glanced at him with a gaze full of profound meaning.

  Back to the party school dormitory, the dormitory is two people per room, each person has a bed and a desk. Liu Siyuan lay on the bed in a daze, he always felt that something was not real, having been working for nearly two years, especially in the past year, it seemed like everything had gone too smoothly. There was a faint feeling of unease.

  "Hey kid, daydreaming?" said Yan Sen Nan, who walked over and patted him on the back.

  "Haha, Captain Yan is indeed an old hand at this, I was just thinking about which girl to marry." Liu Siyuan joked, Yan Sannan's age was exactly twice his, 44 years old, and he was the captain of the municipal public security bureau's criminal investigation team, a deputy director level official. In fact, their class was originally a training class for deputy director level officials, which resulted in only four people under the age of 30, including Liu Siyuan.

  In the conversation, Liu Siyuan knew that he was an old detective, purely relying on his own skills to climb from an ordinary police officer to his current position. However, as he grew older, it was no longer possible for him to take another step forward. This time, coming to the party school to study, actually meant giving up his position to others. It's likely that after returning, he will soon retire and take a secondary role, such as being a guide or a political commissar.

  Although somewhat disappointed, considering his age, it's indeed not suitable for him to be struggling in the front line with family burdens. Yan Sannian's emotions are relatively stable, unlike some other old comrades who were also given a lateral move, but have an unbalanced mentality, holding back their breath, and being disgruntled all day, finding fault in everything they see.

  Liu Siyuan later discovered that the people in this party school class were divided into two types. One type was like Commander Yan, who belonged to the abandoned type, came to the party school for transition, and after the successor took over smoothly, they could retire to the second line. The other type had a good development momentum, came here to get ahead, mostly young cadres, such as those several deputy department-level cadres in their thirties, of course, among them, the most dazzling one was Liu Siyuan, who was only 22 years old and entered through the back door as a deputy section-level cadre.