Chapter 111: The County Committee's Compound

  The breakfast at the hostel was indeed as Wang Hong said earlier, just fried dough sticks and tofu pudding. It looked simple, but the fried dough sticks tasted great, and Feng Sicheng liked them after taking a bite. After finishing his morning run, he needed to replenish some energy, so in no time, Feng Sicheng ate six fried dough sticks and two tofu puddings. Seeing how much Feng Sicheng could eat, Wang Hong was naturally delighted. The leader liking the breakfast you prepared is also an indirect affirmation of your work.

  Zheng Guang, who was standing beside him, also clicked his tongue in amazement. Being young is indeed good, eating one meal for breakfast can almost catch up with his own three meals' worth of food. Of course, Zheng Guang also saw a point from this, that is, Feng Si Zhe seems to be not difficult to get along with. The breakfast was prepared very ordinarily, even simply, but he could still eat so much, enough to prove that this person is not only a good leader to get along with, but also a young man who does not like to nitpick on small things, and will not be a spoiled rich kid from Kyoto as others said.

  Feng Siche never thought that eating a simple breakfast would lead to so many opinions from others. He was just a bit hungry, and since he hadn't eaten much the night before, only drinking, when he saw the fried dough sticks, he bought some, eating one or two more than usual. After finishing the fried dough sticks, Feng Siche used a nearby towel to wipe his hands, then turned to Zheng Guang and said: "Director Zheng, today is my first day of work. You're more familiar with the county government than I am, so can you take me around to meet everyone and get familiar with the environment?"

  Although this was a request for his opinion, Zheng Guang knew that it was just a show of respect for himself. After all, he was the director of the government office, and what Feng Sicheng had said earlier was within his scope of work. He would naturally take responsibility. Immediately, he stuffed the remaining half of the fried dough stick into his mouth and muttered, "Please don't worry, County Mayor Feng. Wherever you want to go, just say so, whatever you want to know, just ask, I'll make sure everything is arranged properly."

  "Oh, okay, okay, Director Zheng should eat first, eat first." Hehe. Feng Sicheng was still very satisfied with Zheng Guang's attitude, perhaps because his leadership identity had suppressed him, making him obedient to himself, but in any case, his attitude seemed very sincere. This made him unable to help feeling satisfied.

  Feng Sicheng said with a smile, but Zheng Guang knew that in the officialdom, it's not about who is older, but who has a higher rank. As the county party committee member and executive vice-county head, he was already full, despite still wanting to eat another fried dough stick. "I'm full." He quickly stuffed the remaining fried dough stick into his mouth, at a speed that could be recorded in the Guinness World Records.

  Looking at the small piece of fried dough that had not yet been swallowed, still stuck in Zheng Guang's mouth, Feng Si Zhe chuckled and didn't say anything. Perhaps it was a sign of respect for himself, or maybe it was just a habit he had developed over the years in official circles. In any case, he couldn't say anything. Saying too much would be self-deprecating, although Feng Si Zhe didn't want to interact with others in a superior attitude. However, as a leader, he should maintain some dignity, otherwise, he would really be looked down upon by others.

  "Alright, since Director Zheng has finished eating, you can take me to the county government now. I came to Dahu County for work and I need to get into a working state as soon as possible." Feng Sicheng's words were neither light nor heavy, but in this seemingly casual sentence, he actually conveyed a message: that he was here to work, not to slack off. Similarly, the kind of person he liked was someone who worked diligently and practically, rather than just flattering people and trying to curry favor.

  Regardless of whether Zheng Guang understood the sentence or not, he nodded solemnly and stood up to make a somewhat polite gesture towards Feng Si Zhe.

  Under Zheng Guang's leadership, Feng Sizhe formally entered the county government building. Dahulu was just an ordinary county town, as Feng Sizhe had thought, the county party committee and government were in the same building, with only one set of county government staff on the second floor and the county party committee members on the third floor.

  Feng Siche's office was just next to the county magistrate's office on the second floor, not far from the stairs leading up. The office was about thirty or forty square meters, which was already considered not small for a deputy director-level cadre. There was also a small room outside, which seemed to be reserved for the secretary. Looking at the brand new desks and chairs in the house, there was a huge bookshelf embedded in the wall behind the large chair, which was filled with all kinds of books. Feng Siche nodded his head in satisfaction, it could be seen that before he arrived, the Dahu County Committee had renovated this office for him after getting wind of it, maybe because it was too hasty, the smell of new paint on the bookshelf had not completely dissipated yet.

  Looking at Feng Sicheng's expression, Zheng Guang hurriedly whispered: "Hehe, Director Feng, are you satisfied with this bookshelf? I heard that you studied abroad and we knew you must love reading very much. Before you came, the county committee and government unanimously decided to specially create a large bookcase in your office so that it would be more convenient for you to read whatever books you want."

  Originally, looking at the bookshelf was already satisfying. After Zheng Guang's explanation, Feng Si Zhe smiled even more satisfactorily, "Very good, county leaders are really considerate. Not bad, haha."

  "Hehe, as long as County Magistrate Feng is satisfied, that's all that matters." Zheng Guang couldn't help but smile when he saw Feng Si Zhe's genuine smile. Initially, before Feng Si Zhe arrived, he was worried that this high-achieving graduate from a prestigious international university would look down on him and the others who didn't have high cultural backgrounds. But after seeing Feng Si Zhe's behavior today, he put his mind at ease. This young man was still very humble, and more importantly, seemed to have a good temper, which made things easier for future collaboration, and wouldn't be so headache-inducing.

  While Zheng Guang was still analyzing Feng Sicheng, he spoke again. "Very good, I'm satisfied with the layout of this office. May I ask where County Committee Secretary Sun's office is? I want to go thank the leader for his kindness." Because earlier Zheng Guang had already introduced that Mayor Fang Xianzhi's office was next to his own room, so he didn't ask about anything related to Mayor Fang.

  "Oh, Secretary Sun is on the second floor of the stairs to the right, with a nameplate on the door." Zheng Guangyi explained enthusiastically. In itself, the director of the government office is the general manager of this government, as long as he serves the leaders of the county government well, that's it, and it can be considered that the work has been done satisfactorily.

  "Alright, I'll go see Secretary Sun now." Feng Sicheng was well aware that in the officialdom, there was a saying that "county officials are not as good as county managers". No matter how big your background is or how strong your ability is, if you can't get along with the top leader, it will be very difficult to do your job in the future. Maybe you can use your background to suppress him, but if he compromises, that's fine. But if he's pushed too hard, he won't care about your background, and that would be troublesome. After all, it's not easy to take down a county party secretary who doesn't have any major mistakes, even with Feng Sicheng's military background, which might still have some clout, but in local politics, it was indeed somewhat beyond his reach.

  Feng Siche himself has a personality that is swift and decisive. After viewing his office with Zheng Guang, he headed straight to the third floor. Although it was still early in the morning, despite the short distance, he saw seven or eight colleagues hurrying through the corridors and stairways, some in their thirties, others in their forties, and even over fifty years old. All of them were older than Feng Siche, but inevitably, everyone who saw him bowed slightly, showing great respect and letting their leader go first.

  It turns out that Feng Sizi is not a young man in his early twenties, his mental age has already exceeded 40 years old, and due to some experiences in his past life, it may be even older. With such a mental age, looking at today's scene, he would not have any tension, if there must be one, it would be a new understanding of the leadership level, after all, just being a deputy county head who has entered the Standing Committee can make so many people respect or fear him, what about the vice mayor, vice provincial governor, provincial governor, and even national leaders? How many people will be behind each of them to cheer for them, if this leader is wholeheartedly for the people, for the public, and for the country, then it's good, that would be a blessing for the country, but if he has personal motives, who knows how many people will be affected.