42: Chapter 42 Conspiracy

Cui Mingyuan hadn't said this to Sun Ning's face.

Rather, he had heard it while listening to two Personnel Bureau cadres chatting on some occasion.

The only time Sun Ning had ever met Cui Mingyuan was when Cui Hongyi brought him home to meet her parents after they both passed the civil service exam.

That day, Cui Mingyuan and his wife hadn't shown any excessive malice.

Of course, they hadn't expressed any intention of giving him a warm welcome either.

Therefore, he hadn't even bothered to mock Sun Ning to his face with that statement.

This was simply looking down on Sun Ning from the bottom of his heart, which hurt his self-esteem even more than direct mockery.

People often say that the self-esteem of the poor is actually extreme inferiority.

Sun Ning didn't disagree; to put it bluntly, in his past life, he had been insecure.

Facing Cui Mingyuan's obstruction, that sense of powerlessness made him feel even more inferior.

Hearing Cui Mingyuan's voice this time, it was as if he had developed post-traumatic stress disorder.

He felt immense disgust!

He remained silent for a long while; Cui Mingyuan called out "Hello" three times on the other end before he finally calmed down.

"Director Cui, what can I do for you today? Is there some issue with my personnel file? Or do you feel our township lacks staffing, so you're sending us some talent?"

He said this while suppressing his anger.

It was also a way to vent the grievances of his past life.

On the other end of the line, Cui Mingyuan laughed and said, "Easy, easy! I heard Mishui Township is going to rebuild some schools, and Young Master Pi has a construction company under his management."

"I don't know any Young Master Pi. What does him having a construction company have to do with me?"

"Township Head Sun, you're joking..."

Before Cui Mingyuan could finish his sentence, Sun Ning hung up the phone.

At that moment, he felt like his rebirth had brought him bad luck.

He hadn't even taken the initiative to settle scores with these people yet.

Now, one after another, they were appearing and jumping around in front of him.

Sun Ning looked at the phone with a wry smile and said, "The money just arrived in the township, and all those monsters and demons are already coming out of the woodwork."

Secretary Xue Hongtao asked, "Which Director Cui? Who is he calling on behalf of?"

"Who else could it be? It's Cui Mingyuan from the Personnel Bureau calling on behalf of the son of Vice-County Mayor Pi Yingshi!"

"I did hear that Cui Mingyuan's daughter and Vice-County Mayor Pi Yingshi's son got engaged a while ago."

This was the first time Sun Ning had heard news of Cui Hongyi in this life.

He had originally thought that hearing about her marriage in this life would break his heart.

But hearing it today, he felt no ripples in his heart.

This person who had caused his life to be wasted in his previous existence now only evoked hatred in his heart; there were no other emotions left.

Just then, Old Wang from the Finance Office finally came to report on his work.

Following behind him was Vice Township Head Wang Ling, who was in charge of science, education, culture, and health.

"How insolent! A mere Township Head, daring to put on airs in front of me? I think he doesn't want to keep his job anymore."

The office of the Director of the Gongfan County Personnel Bureau.

Young Master Pi was slamming the table and cursing loudly; he showed no sign of being a son-in-law in front of his future father-in-law.

"Xiangyang, the whole county is rumored that Sun Ning has a huge background and was able to secure funding from the ministries. Let's give it up."

"That's five or six million! You're just going to give it up just like that?"

Pi Xiangyang had indeed heard this rumor, and he admitted that, relying on his father's connections, he wouldn't be able to secure those 9.3 million.

However, for the sake of this project, he had already investigated Sun Ning in great detail.

He had come to the Personnel Bureau today because he was uneasy and wanted to personally check Sun Ning's file.

But the file showed that Sun Ning's family had been farmers for three generations.

After investigating, he found that the highest-ranking official among Sun Ning's relatives was a section chief at the Bianzhou County Land and Resources Bureau, a mere section-level cadre.

But he knew the 9.3 million that had appeared out of nowhere couldn't be fake.

Pi Xiangyang pondered for a moment, then said with some suspicion, "Do you think it's possible that Sun Ning's classmate or senior fellow apprentice works in a ministry and was able to get these few million?"

This line of thinking made Cui Mingyuan's eyes light up.

That's right; it's 9.3 million, not 93 million, nor 930 million.

For the national level, isn't this small amount of money just pocket change?

In Cui Mingyuan's understanding, it was just a few million in funds; a section chief in some department of a ministry could get it approved just by begging their leader.

After all, our country is a society based on personal connections; alumni just need to lift a finger to help each other out.

It was just that their educational background was too low to reach connections in the ministries; otherwise, they would also believe they could secure a few million.

In fact, Cui Mingyuan's thinking was the consensus among the leadership of Gongfan County.

At first, they might have been shocked that money could be allocated directly from a ministry, but after thinking about it seriously, they could see the logic.

Therefore, Cui Mingyuan highly agreed with Pi Xiangyang's analysis.

He said excitedly, "Xiangyang, you're absolutely right. If we were graduates of Peking University, we could also get that much money."

After saying this, he calmed down and said, "This Sun Ning doesn't seem easy to deal with; he's practically a hot-headed rookie."

"The Township Head is a hot-headed rookie, and the Party Secretary is a stubborn mule; this project won't be easy to get!"

Sitting in the chair, Pi Xiangyang listened carefully to Cui Mingyuan's analysis and couldn't help but light another cigarette.

Whether one calls Pi Xiangyang arrogant and domineering, or lawless, it doesn't matter.

These traits were well-documented in Gongfan County.

But saying he had absolutely no brains would be wrong; having been influenced by Vice-County Mayor Pi Yingshi for so many years.

He was quite adept at some underhanded schemes.

He took a deep drag of his cigarette and said indifferently, "Can those two really manage everything? Isn't Li Jincai from Mishui Township always begging you to transfer him to the county seat? Let him handle it!"

"If that doesn't work, we'll just talk to those bidding companies. I'd like to see who else in Gongfan County dares to compete with me."

Actually, what Pi Xiangyang said wasn't precise at all.

He should have said that no one dared to compete with him for such a small project.

If he wanted to get involved in the major projects in the county, it would take some effort.

That was why he was so focused on this small 5-million project in Mishui Township.

The future father-in-law and son-in-law chatted for a few more minutes in the office before Pi Xiangyang took his leave.

"Good son-in-law, Hongyi will be off work soon. You could pick her up for dinner and a movie; relationships are built over time!"

At Cui Mingyuan's words, Pi Xiangyang paused for a moment but didn't look back; a mocking smile appeared on his face as he walked straight out!

Actually, Cui Mingyuan didn't rely entirely on Vice-County Mayor Pi Yingshi.

His biggest backer should be the County Party Committee Secretary Vice Mayor Wang Pingan.

Otherwise, Cui Mingyuan wouldn't be able to hold onto the position of Director of the Personnel Bureau firmly.

The Personnel Bureau is not like the environmental protection, forestry, or water conservancy departments, which are often considered "clean" offices.

This bureau is in charge of staffing quotas!

Personnel issues are the most important department directly managed by the Party Secretary.

So, in a sense, Cui Mingyuan's status wasn't much lower than Vice-County Mayor Pi Yingshi's.

And Cui Mingyuan's desire to form an alliance with Vice-County Mayor Pi Yingshi was also a sign of a strong alliance.

It's just that Cui Mingyuan was on the lower end of the power dynamic.

This situation is commonly known as the "county-level Brahmin."

As for Young Master Pi, he didn't really like this marriage partner either.

Gongfan County is so close to Zhongzhou that he often went there to spend money and find young ladies.

The young ladies there were beautiful, seductive, and knew how to do many things.

No matter how you compare them, the young ladies there were a cut above the "decent" girls.

A marriage partner, to put it bluntly, is just a tool for continuing the family line!