Chapter Ninety-Five First Time

  Last night I observed the celestial phenomena, and suddenly the Ren and Du meridians were all connected... I learned how to make a cover, tried making one, it's a bit ugly...

  Three days later, a plenary meeting of the new county committee was held in the small auditorium of the county government.

  In the town, all the county committee members arrived at the county committee's small auditorium in a large bus led by Liu Siyuan and Wu Weiqiang. At the entrance, they met several party secretaries and mayors of other towns, as well as some directors and deputy directors of county bureaus. Everyone actively greeted Liu Siyuan and Wu Weiqiang, who were smiling and chatting with them. It was clear that Wu Weiqiang was very familiar with these people, and they all showed great respect to Liu Siyuan, humbly lowering their posture and showing subordination. This made someone feel extremely comfortable.

  The only exception was Zhong Hanyun, the party secretary of Chengguan Town, who saw the representatives from Beixi Town from afar and walked away with a gloomy face.

  At the entrance of the small auditorium, Zhang Zhongyi, the director of the county committee office, was already waiting for them. He warmly shook hands with Liu Siyuan and said: "Secretary Liu, you must be tired from the trip, please come this way, I'll take you to the rest room." Then he turned to Wu Weiqiang and said: "Mayor Wu, the seat for Beixi Town is..." After finishing his instructions, he led Liu Siyuan, who was still in a daze, to a room at the back door of the small auditorium. Liu Siyuan found that it was a beautifully decorated rest room with several high-end sofas scattered around, and on the coffee table were all kinds of snacks and candies, as well as a water dispenser, and a side table with various teas, and there were dedicated waiters serving tea and pouring water.

  At this time, several people were already sitting inside drinking tea, smoking and chatting. Liu Siyuan took a closer look and they were all county committee standing members, including County Committee Propaganda Department Head Guo Limin, County Politics and Law Committee Secretary Zheng Gaofeng, County Committee Organization Department Head Liu Dayuan, County Discipline Inspection Commission Secretary Quan XieXing, and Military Affairs Department Head Leng Feng.

  When Liu Siyuan was brought in, several people stood up to greet him. Of course, there were some differences in their enthusiasm, with Zheng Gaofeng being the most enthusiastic. When he saw Liu Siyuan, Zheng Gaofeng smiled so hard that his eyes became slits. Apart from him, Leng Feng also patted Liu Siyuan's shoulder and said, "Comrade Siyuan is doing well." The others just gave a faint greeting, neither too close nor too distant.

  Soon, County Deputy Secretary Zhao Yingfeng and County Government Executive Vice Mayor Wang Tingxiang walked in shoulder to shoulder, chatting and laughing. The crowd stood up again to greet them.

  Vice County Magistrate Wang Tingxiang is the only native cadre in the county party committee, who started from a township staff member and climbed to his current position. He has high prestige in the county. With a loud laugh, he said: "Seeing Comrade Siyuan, I suddenly feel old."

  Zhao Yingfeng also echoed: "Old Wang, we can't admit defeat, after all, the Yangtze River's rear waves push forward the front waves."

  Liu Siyuan hastily said to the two of them, "I'm still young and need several leaders to support me in my work. The two of you are the pillars of our Cheng'en County." He increasingly discovered that having a thick skin and being ruthless was truly necessary in the officialdom. Anyway, no one would take these polite phrases seriously, just saying them for show.

  A few people chatted for a while, and Jian Zhiqiu also walked in with a leather bag. Seeing Liu Siyuan, he stretched out his hand and said, "Siyuan has arrived, our county committee can be considered to have some fresh blood."

  Liu Siyuan hastily shook hands with him, his mouth full of modest words.

  When Fan Yugun accompanied Xu Jingjie in, the time was just right. He didn't say anything to Liu Sanyuan, but only nodded at him reluctantly and led the way with Xu Jingjie, walking out of the rest room with his head held high and chest out.

  Liu Siyuan saw that he was a bit dizzy, he believed that he had beaten Fang Shao Huang, he must have known that his nephew was beaten like this, and didn't know how to mix in the Standing Committee in the future.

  Liu Siyuan walked to the end of the group and found that it was actually the main stage of the small auditorium. Xu Yujie sat in the middle position, while Fan Yugun and Jian Zhiqiu sat on either side. The others took their seats according to the county committee ranking, with Liu Siyuan sitting at the far end, but still on the main stage! For the first time in his life, he sat on the main stage, looking out at the sea of people below. The first position in each row was occupied by either a township party secretary or a county bureau chief. There was one detail that caught his attention: Zhong Hanyun from Chengguan Town sat in the middle row's first position, and to his left was Beixi Town's row, with the first position empty. Wu Weiqiang sat in the second row instead of taking the empty seat.

  Even many years later, Liu Siyuan, who had become accustomed to sitting on the rostrum, still remembered this day, the first time he sat up there with a heart full of excitement, just like how no matter how many times one falls in love, their first love is always etched in their memory. For example, someone who actually never forgot the girl who accompanied him through those lonely years in that small rented room by the Han River, deep down in his heart.

  Xu Jing simply announced the appointment of Comrade Liu Siyuan, and then stated that it is very necessary for the head of the township to enter the county party committee, so that the voices of comrades working in the township can be better heard in the county, strengthening communication between the county party committee and the grassroots.

  She finished speaking, and Fan Yugun also said a few words, but overall the passion was insufficient. After finishing, he asked Jian Zhiqiu if she had anything to say, and she shook her head to indicate that there was nothing to add, and the general assembly came to an end.

  In the evening, the county party committee hosted a banquet and invited Xu Yingjie. During the dinner, Liu Siyuan reluctantly had a drink with each of the county party committee members. Fortunately, those from the towns and county bureaus did not attend, otherwise these people would have really gotten drunk. There was a small detail during this time: Fan Yugun only touched his glass and took a sip, while Jian Zhiqiu gave more face and drank about half a cup.

  Other standing members, including Deputy Secretary Zhao Yingfeng and Executive Vice County Magistrate Wang Tingxiang, all drank up, giving him enough face.

  After the banquet was over, Zheng Gaofeng, who was drunk, pulled him away and said to find a place to continue playing, also saying something like "brothers unite and their benefits are as strong as cutting through metal". Unfortunately, Liu Sihuan himself had also drunk too much, so he could only repeatedly say that they would meet again another day.

  Even after getting drunk and dizzy, when he returned to the county committee's guest house, he still insisted on making a routine phone call to San Nu, unexpectedly, just these few calls really got him quite a bit of information.

  Fang Xinyu first solved a mystery for him over the phone, telling him the real reason why Zhao Chugang, the commander of the military district, and Cai Zhiwei, the director of the propaganda department, had cast their two votes for him: The eldest daughter of the Xiao family had made her move. Then she said that she also understood the other few votes, County Secretary Peng Nanxia of Beishan County had given Minister Ouyang face, you and his daughter had both gone to visit him, it wouldn't be right not to give him face. Deputy Mayor Wei Dachao was giving my dad face, he knew we two were in a romantic relationship. As for Mayor Yan and Secretary Li, there's no need to mention them.

  Liu Siyuan thought for half a day and always felt that she had left out someone, suddenly reflecting on it and asking about the decisive vote of Secretary Zhang Mingduan.

  Fang Xinyu said with a smile, "Forget it, maybe Secretary Zhang just likes young people."

  Liu Siyuan smiled and said, "You really think I'm a big fool, don't you? There must be a reason for this. I've been guessing that maybe it's because Minister Ouyang is going to work in the province later. Although the Deputy Director of the Provincial Party Committee Organization Department is also a full-time hall like Secretary Zhang, after all, he is a real power holder in the provincial organization department. Secretary Zhang needs Minister Ouyang's cooperation for some adjustments to the deputy halls in Ziwai City."

  Fang Xinyu hastily followed the trend and said that Siyuan's analysis was not bad, and she herself sighed that it was indeed very possible. Someone chuckled and said that Fang Xinyu shouldn't think of her boyfriend as Wu Xiaoming either.

  After listening to his boasting, Fang Xinyu expressed some worry and concern about him becoming a county committee standing member at such a young age. On the phone, she repeatedly emphasized the importance of being low-key, and in meetings, she would either abstain from voting or go with the majority on topics unrelated to her. Liu Siyuan kept saying "yes" before Fang Xinyu felt slightly reassured.

  It's most relaxing to talk on the phone with Ouyang Qian, who was overjoyed and mentioned that his father, Ouyang Xinghua, has officially started working at the Provincial Party Committee Organization Department as a full-time deputy minister. Liu Siyuan emphasized again that this is good news, guessing that the next step would be to become the Minister of the Provincial Party Committee Organization Department, which is a member of the Provincial Party Committee and is in charge of personnel affairs, with extremely great power.

  Then Ouyang Qian let him not worry about Fan Yugun, his old man personally called Zhang Mingduan Secretary and Xu Jingjie Minister today, taking the initiative to express strong dissatisfaction with his daughter's experience in Cheng'en County. In addition, she also went to Yan Chuting to report a case, and the latter also stated that he would definitely warn Fan Yugun and educate the next generation well.

  However, in Ouyang Qian's words, there was always a strong dissatisfaction with her father. It seemed that the resentment had been deep for a long time. As she spoke, she suddenly changed the subject and said that her mother, Zhang Qi, had always wanted to find a man outside to take revenge on her father. However, she was too embarrassed to ask an acquaintance, afraid of trouble if she asked a stranger, and afraid of getting sick if she asked a gigolo. So, Ouyang Qian suddenly had the idea that Liu Siyuan should recommend someone for Zhang Qi, of course, keeping her identity confidential.

  Liu Siyuan was shocked and lost his composure. If this were true, wouldn't he have already offended Minister Ouyang Xinghua to death? He refused the "unreasonable request" without hesitation. As soon as he rejected Ouyang Qian's proposal, she became displeased and coldly snorted that if he dared not comply, she would tell Minister Ouyang that he had taken advantage of his daughter and then abandoned her, and see how he would deal with it later. In the end, Liu Siyuan could only yield and agree to keep an eye out for her, first using a delaying tactic.

  The only consolation is that Ouyang Qian is the easiest to deceive among his three women, if it were Fang Xinyue, it would not be so easy to pass.

  ;