Chapter Thirty-Four: The Peach Presented with a Kiss

  Ge Yongqiu and Zhou Yu both left the city to take up new posts, although Shen Huai's organizational relationship had also been transferred to Xiapu County, no one in the city came over to retrieve Shen Huai's house.

  In the next few days, Shen Hua handed over the room key to Chen Tong and asked him to move all his belongings to Mei Xi Town with Zhao Dong and Yang Haipeng when they had time. He went to report to the Organization Department of Xiapu County Committee.

  Mei Creek Town is adjacent to Donghua City, and the people in the town are used to going to Donghua City for anything; however, Shen Huai read high school in Xiapu County for three years, and he is not unfamiliar with the county seat about 20-30 kilometers away from Mei Creek Town; of course, it's hard to say how familiar he is.

  To receive a pre-appointment talk from the county party committee organization department, Shen Hua stayed in the county seat for a few days, which was also a revisit to his old haunt.

  Whether familiar or unfamiliar, with grudges or grievances, the county leaders at home and the principals of the main county-level organs all went to recognize each other's faces led by the comrades from the Organization Department.

  The former county magistrate was transferred to Xinjin County as secretary, and Ge Yongqiu had just arrived in Xiapu County to take office as deputy secretary of the county party committee and acting county magistrate.

  On October 18th in the afternoon, Shen Huai was led by someone from the Organization Department to push open the door and come in. Ge Yongqiu was directing the county government's staff to re-arrange his office.

  "I want to put a row of bookshelves here, I like furniture with a deeper color..." Ge Yongqiu pointed to the wall by the side window, waving his hand as if trying to find the right words to describe to this balding middle-aged man what it would be like to have a full row of bookshelves here.

  He couldn't explicitly ask for a high-end bookshelf made of red wood, so he just hinted at it with the elegant phrase "a slightly darker color tone", leaving it to the newly acquainted county government office director to figure it out on his own.

  The staff of the county party committee organization department accompanied Shen Huai to come in, and respectfully reported to Ge Yongqiu: "County Magistrate Ge, this is Shen Huai, the newly arrived deputy secretary of Mei Creek Town Party Committee, coming to pay respects..."

  Ge Yongqiu's face turned cold as he watched Shen Huai push open the door and enter.

  If it weren't for Shen Hua, the county party secretary would be in his pocket.

  As Ge Yongqiu, who has been in the Donghua government for over 20 years, he naturally knows how deep the gap is between the county party secretary and the county magistrate, and naturally knows how many county magistrates are eyeing the position of county party secretary day and night. Although the position of county magistrate is not bad, power is still subject to great restrictions, only as the first-in-command county party secretary can be truly above the law and unchallengeable.

  Don't mention the steel plant's boxing incident, just because of Shen Hua, Ge Yongqiu couldn't become the county party secretary as he wished, and he would hate Shen Hua to the bone...

  Shen Huai seemed to be completely unaware, took over the words of the organization department comrade, and smiled: "I was a soldier under County Magistrate Ge in the city; now that I'm in Xiapu, I'm still a soldier under County Magistrate Ge; County Magistrate Ge often says I'm that Sun Wukong, but no matter how hard I jump, I can't jump over County Magistrate Ge's Five Fingers Mountain..." Turning around, he looked at Ge Yongqiu's new office and praised: "Secretary Ge was a rare scholar-type cadre in the city, and even after becoming county magistrate, he didn't forget to read books. Is Mayor Gao's office also laid out like this? Shouldn't there be a pot of fortune tree on the windowsill?"

  As Shen Hua spoke, the more he said, the more uncomfortable Ge Yongqiu felt. He hastily interrupted him: "Oh, you've finally arrived in Xiapu County to report for duty, we've been waiting for you for nearly half a month. Since we're old acquaintances, let's not bother with small talk, why don't you go pay your respects to Secretary Tao first..."

  "Secretary Tao went to Hetang Town for investigation and will be back in the afternoon," explained a staff member from the Organization Department.

  It's not that Ge Yongqiu doesn't hate Shen Huai, it's just that he and Gao Tianhe can't see through what relationship Shen Huai has with Tan Qiping, nor can they see what kind of deal exists between Shen Huai and Wu Haifeng, the secretary of the municipal party committee, which would lead Wu Haifeng to directly require the organization department of the municipal party committee to assign Shen Huai to Meixi Town as the deputy secretary in charge of economy.

  Before Wu Haifeng gives up the seat of municipal party secretary and the "acting" title is removed, he will not take any overt action against Shen Hua.

  In the afternoon, County Party Secretary Tao Jixing returned from Hetang Town and Shen Hua received a notice to rush to his office for a talk.

  Tao Jixing had heard something about what happened at the municipal steel factory.

  Tao Jixing almost lost the position of county party secretary to Ge Yongqiu, if not for Wu Haifeng's strong intervention, Tao Jixing's best outcome would be to move to a new location and serve as secretary in Xinjin or some other place.

  It's a lie to say that Tao Ji Xing was not on guard against Ge Yong Xing.

  The enemy of an enemy is a friend. Tao Jixing had a natural affinity for Shen Huai, and thus overlooked his somewhat excessive youth.

  "When I went back to the city for a meeting, Secretary Wu specifically mentioned you, saying that you are an overseas talent introduced by the province, specializing in economics and having your own ideas. He asked me to boldly give young and capable cadres like you more responsibilities."

  Tao Jixing's hair was sparse and combed to a shiny finish, his large nose flared exaggeratedly as he spoke, sitting behind a polished desk, chatting casually with Shen Hua.

  "When it comes to the economy and industry of Meixi Town, Meixi Steel Plant accounts for a large proportion. How about it, will you be afraid that the burden is too heavy?"

  Tao Jixing's words made Shen Huai feel somewhat unexpected.

  He thought the best result he could get from this conversation was to go to Mei Xi Town as deputy secretary of the party committee, with clear responsibilities for industry and economy, but whether he could grasp the actual power of Mei Tie Steel Factory would have to wait until he arrived in Mei Xi Town.

  Shen Huai did not expect that Tao Jixing's words actually meant to directly give him the position of Meixi Steel Factory, which made him somewhat unexpected...

  If Tao Jixing's arrangement was made under Wu Haifeng's instruction, then compared to the initial promised deal, Wu Haifeng would have to do a lot more.

  Did Wu Haifeng already hear rumors about Tan Qiping coming to Donghua as the municipal party secretary?

  Is it still a chain reaction caused by City Iron Fist punching Zhou Dazui?

  The situation at Meixi Steel Plant is very complicated and the problems are very serious.

  To quote Yang Haipeng, Meixi Steel Plant is a toilet pit. Don't even mention saving it from its doomed fate; if you jump in, hardly anyone can come out clean.

  Shen Huai made up his mind that after arriving at Meixi Town, he would take action against the steel factory and open up the situation. This was because he had Tan Qiping's support from behind, so he was fearless.

  However, Tao Jixing handed over the peach at this time. Shen Huai would not be so simple as to think that he and Wu Haifeng hiding behind him were kind...

  "Secretary Tao attaches such importance to it, I am willing to take on more responsibilities first."

  Regardless of whether Tao Ji Xing was being kind or malicious, since the peach had been handed over, Shen Huai had no reason not to eat it first.

  Tao Jixing saw that Shen Huai didn't hesitate and agreed, his eyes slightly narrowed, he smiled and said:

  "Alright, young people should have such courage and responsibility. Unfortunately, you came to report at an inconvenient time, as Du Jian, the party secretary of Meixi Town, just arrived two days ago. Otherwise, I would have invited both of you over for a chat. As for the work assignments after you arrive in Meixi Town, I've already discussed them with Du Jian and He Qing. I'm calling you over to confirm..."

  Meixi Iron and Steel Plant is a collective enterprise under the jurisdiction of Meixi Town. Generally speaking, the appointment of steel plant management personnel should be recommended by the town's party-government joint meeting.

  However, as one of the few enterprises in Xiapu County with a total assets of nearly 100 million and collective ownership, it is obviously impossible for the county not to interfere with the appointment of factory management personnel.

  The result of multi-party balance is that the management personnel of Meixi Iron and Steel Plant are recommended by the town party-government joint meeting, but need to be assessed and approved by the county before being formally appointed. Under the traditional domestic political centralization, a considerable part of the personnel appointment power of Meixi Iron and Steel Plant is actually controlled by the county.

  After talking with Tao Jixing, the organizational procedure for the transfer is considered complete, and I just wait to go to Meixi Town to take up my official duties.

  Shen Huai did not stay in the county town and returned to the city that night. There were some problems he couldn't see through, so he needed Xiong Wenbin and Zhao Dong to help him figure them out.

  "What happened to you in mid-September at the municipal steel factory has almost spread throughout the city. Now many people are saying that if Vice Mayor Chen hadn't died suddenly, the municipal steel factory would have been the first place he'd crack down on; I believe Wu Haifeng, Gao Tianhe and other city leaders also think this way..."

  Xiong Wenbin and Zhao Dong directly pulled Shen Hua to a small grove behind the tube building to discuss matters.

  Here is the translation:

  On this side, Xiong Wenbin can also smoke a few cigarettes with his wife Bai Suimei to relieve his cravings. He doesn't think Wu Haifeng and Tao Jixing will unreasonably directly confront Shen Hua to control Meixi Steel Factory.

  He puffed out smoke rings, gazing at the small pond outside the forest with green duckweed floating on it. He had previously guessed that this might be an aftereffect of the "Fist Fight with Zhou Dazui" incident and said: "I directly hinted to Wu Haifeng that I wanted to go to Mei Creek Town. Whether it's for making money or achieving political performance, there is no better target in Mei Creek Town than Mei Creek Steel Factory. Wu Haifeng must have thought he saw through me, so he made such arrangements on his own initiative. He handed over this peach, not afraid that I wouldn't eat it."

  "If Tao Jixing's arrangement was made under Wu Haifeng's instruction, it wouldn't be hard to understand," Xiong Wenbin continued, "The steel industry in Donghua is still controlled by Gao Tianhe's people. It's not just the municipal steel factory, but also many of the steel sales channels outside of the factory are directly controlled by Gao Tianhe's son, Gao Xiaohu..."

  "Mei Xi Steel Factory, almost 60-70% of its output is directly taken by the trading company controlled by Gao Xiaohu,"

  Zhao Dong sat on a fallen tree root, he had formally submitted his resignation letter to the municipal steel factory, and in recent days, he mainly did a few things, which was to thoroughly investigate the situation of Meixi Steel Factory's raw material procurement, technical production, and product sales.

  "The workers at Meixi Steel Factory were very resistant to this, but they couldn't overpower their superiors. From Du Jian down, the management of the steel factory only cared about their own interests and didn't mind colluding with Gao Xiaohu and Zhou Zhibai. I guess that Wu Haifeng used Tao Jixing to plant you directly in Meixi Steel Factory for three reasons: first, he suspected that you had designs on taking over the steel factory; second, he wanted to let you stir up trouble with Gao Xiaohu and his gang; third, it would be convenient for them to make a clean getaway..."

  For nearly a month, Shen Hua has spent most of his time with Xiong Wenbin and Zhao Dong. Apart from his own family background, Chen Mingde's unexpected illness and death, as well as the various things that happened before and after, were all told to the two of them, so that they could help analyze the situation more accurately.

  Shen Huai nodded in agreement with Xiong Wenbin and Zhao Dong's judgment, saying: "Thinking of the worst-case scenario, Mei Xi Steel Factory has been struggling to stay afloat for two years. When it finally closes down, they'll need to find one or two scapegoats to take the fall, otherwise, they won't be able to give an account to all parties involved. At that time, putting me in the frame would allow their people to retreat safely, which might indeed be one of Wu Haifeng and Tao Jixing's goals."

  The director of Mei Xi Steel Plant is none other than Du Jian, who concurrently serves as the Party Secretary of the town.

  In the economically underdeveloped Donghua City, township and county officials have limited means of making money. Controlling a township enterprise with assets worth nearly 100 million yuan, even if it is struggling financially, can bring in more lucrative benefits than being an ordinary county leader.

  Without Tao Guoxing's strong intervention, how could Du Jian easily give up his position as the head of Meixi Steel Factory?

  During this period, Shen Huai, Xiong Wenbin and Zhao Dong had almost thoroughly studied the situation of Meixi Steel Plant.

  The embezzlement and corruption within the Meixi Steel Plant itself is not particularly severe, but the most serious problem lies in the numerous vampires surrounding the plant.

  Mei Xi Steel Plant's steel sales were controlled at low prices by several steel trading companies including Gao Xiaohu, the son of Mayor Gao Tianhe.

  The materials company that specifically supplies furnace materials to Mei Xi Steel Factory is not someone else, but a trading company controlled by the Zhou family. Of course, behind it are also the relatives of many Donghua City and Xiapu County officials who have invested in the company, including the nephew of Tao Jixing.

  Mei Creek Steel Plant adopts a short process, that is, scrap iron and steel are put into the refining furnace to melt into molten iron and then smelted into steel ingots, and finally produced into shaped steel products. No matter how high the production management level is, the price of furnace materials has been artificially raised, while the product price has been intentionally lowered, leaving the factory with little profit margin?

  Mei Creek Steel Plant has been operating at a loss since 1987 and 1988.

  Thanks to the support of powerful officials such as Wu Haifeng and Tao Jixing behind the scenes, coupled with the national context of vigorously developing township enterprises, Meixi Steel Plant could still obtain loans from banks to maintain its operation even if it was losing money.

  Shen Hua had not previously understood the relationship between the Zhou family and Municipal Party Secretary Wu Haifeng, but now he could understand why Wu Haifeng would have supported Meixi Steel Factory in 1989, even when it was losing money, to expand its production capacity to 100,000 tons through bank loans.

  In fact, it is to allow peripheral associated blood-sucking enterprises to suck more blood-colored profits from Meixi Steel Plant.

  Last year, the central government and the State Council tightened up the banks' lending policies, vigorously rectifying the banking system. Meanwhile, Huaihai Province took the lead in piloting a tax distribution reform nationwide. As a result, Mei Xi Steel Factory found itself unable to maintain its operations through bank loans and was suddenly plunged into difficulties where it couldn't even pay wages.

  Mei Creek Steel Plant is now out of blood to suck, and it's about to be forced to shut down. Wu Haifeng wants to see the loss of power, and Tao Jixing almost got transferred out of Xiapu County this time. For them, safe withdrawal has become the top priority.

  Otherwise, by the time Meixi Steel Plant is shut down, if someone prompts the relevant departments to intervene and investigate, they will not have enough power to cover up their crimes.