10: Chapter 10 Written Exam Results

The Municipal Party Committee Deputy Secretary's office.

Mayor Su Changming sat upright in his chair, his fingertips caressing a smooth, warm purple clay teacup.

The overall situation was settled.

With Secretary Yang, his old leader, personally stepping in, a bloody battle had been forcibly pushed back to the negotiation table, turning into a tacit exchange of interests.

The position of Mayor was set in stone.

Next week's Five-Person Group meeting would be nothing more than a formality.

This office would soon have a new master.

Knock, knock. Knock.

Three measured knocks on the door.

Secretary Li Changgeng pushed the door open and entered, holding several documents in his hands.

"Boss, regarding the documents that need to be reviewed today, Secretary-General Zhou has already signed the proposed approval for the ones at the bottom. The ones on top require your decision."

Mayor Su Changming picked up the thin roster on top.

It was the list of candidates shortlisted for the provincial exam interview, submitted by the Municipal Organization Department.

He frowned slightly.

"Does a trivial matter like this require you to deliver it personally?"

Secretary Li Changgeng leaned forward slightly and lowered his voice.

"Section Chief Qi from the Recruitment Division of the Organization Department called specifically to ask that you personally review the ranking on this list."

Mayor Su Changming opened to the first page.

A line of bold, black text caught his eye.

[Municipal Party Committee Office, Division Two, Recruitment Quota: 1 person]

First place: Zhu Wenhao.

Second place: Liu Xiaolei.

Below the list, a line of small print clearly noted the social background of the two individuals.

Mayor Su Changming was a bit stunned.

Secretary Zhu Tianhe's good-for-nothing son actually scored first in the written exam?

This was simply a huge joke!

But what made his scalp tingle even more was the identity of the person in second place.

Liu Xiaolei.

The granddaughter of the former number two leader of Jiangnan Province. Her father, Division Chief Liu Haiping, is the current head of the First Division of the Provincial Government Office and wields immense power.

That position had been in Liu Family's pocket six months ago!

"Slap."

He threw the list back onto the desk with a dull thud.

That old fox named Qi—with Secretary Zhu Tianhe on one side and Liu Family on the other—couldn't afford to offend either powerful figure, so she simply dumped this death warrant right onto his desk!

If the first-place candidate were a student from a humble background, there would be plenty of ways to make him "underperform" during the interview.

But it just happened to be Zhu Wenhao!

To rig the score of the standing vice mayor's son in front of everyone?

This wasn't a hidden rule; this was an open declaration of war!

Deputy Secretary Yang's recent directive for a "smooth transition" was still ringing in his ears. Anyone who dared to stir up trouble now would be openly slapping the Provincial Party Committee in the face!

"Nonsense!"

Mayor Su Changming picked up his teacup, but the scalding tea sliding down his throat couldn't suppress the irritation in his heart.

What kind of terrible move was that old mason, Secretary Zhu Tianhe, playing? Sending his own son into this den of tigers and dragons?

No!

In a flash, Mayor Su Changming grasped the essence of the situation.

Since this hot potato was too hot to handle, he would just throw it to someone else!

If Liu Family wanted this position, they should get down into the arena and fight for it themselves!

"Secretary Li Changgeng."

"Yes."

"Call Division Chief Liu Haiping at the Provincial Government Office."

"Relay the ranking and specific scores from this list to him, word for word."

"Remember, state only the objective facts. Do not add any subjective judgments."

Secretary Li Changgeng understood immediately.

"And if Division Chief Liu asks for your opinion?"

"Ask me?"

Mayor Su Changming lowered his head and signed his name with a flourish on an approval document for a water conservancy project.

"The city is about to hold a flood control and supply dispatch meeting. I've been in meetings all day."

"I haven't had a chance to look at this document yet."

...

Municipal Government compound, Standing Vice Mayor's office.

Secretary Zhu Tianhe gripped the telephone receiver, his palms sweating.

An old friend in the Organization Department had just tipped him off: his monstrous son hadn't just placed first; he had plunged headfirst into the most dangerous whirlpool.

He called Zhu Yuntong, and the call connected.

"Zhu Yuntong! For that position in Division Two, the person in second place is Division Chief Liu Haiping's daughter! The granddaughter of the former provincial number one!"

He practically roared.

On the other end of the line, Zhu Wenhao's voice came through, calm as water.

"I know."

"You know? Then what do we do now?!" Secretary Zhu Tianhe felt his blood pressure soaring. "Liu Family has connections reaching the heavens in the province; there must be their people among the interviewers! If Mayor Su Changming hides in the background and fans the flames, you won't even know how you died!"

"Father."

"Secretary Yang wants stability. Do you really think that blind concession can buy peace?"

"Excessive desire scatters the mind; a scattered mind weakens the will."

"Mayor Su Changming wants the mayoral throne, but he also wants the Municipal Party Committee Office to be impenetrable. Where in this world is there such a perfect deal?"

"When he gets the list, his first reaction will never be to take action himself."

"He doesn't dare to offend both you and Liu Family at the same time."

"Therefore, he will only play dumb and leak the news to Liu Family, using Liu Family as a blade to kill me."

Secretary Zhu Tianhe understood completely.

"Then what will you use to block them?!"

"Those who are skilled in war first make themselves invincible, then wait for the enemy to become vulnerable."

"Father, rules are shackles used by the strong to bind the weak."

"But when two strong parties fight within the rules, the rules become a mirror that reveals all demons."

"My essay has already been circulated by the Provincial Party Committee grading group as a model. If they want to eliminate me in the interview, they must leave a trail."

"What I am waiting for is for them to make a move."

The call ended.

Secretary Zhu Tianhe stared blankly at the busy signal in the receiver, his whole body turning cold.

He had spent his life dancing on the edge of a blade, but to use his own son's future as bait to pry open the provincial political game...

...

Donghuwan Apartment.

Zhu Yuntong hung up the phone. In front of him, on a small red clay stove, a purple clay teapot was emitting wisps of white steam.

The room was filled with the fragrance of tea.

Su Qinghan walked over quickly, slapped a stack of documents onto the coffee table, her pretty face tense.

"I used my connections to check. You beat Liu Xiaolei by a full ten points in the written exam!"

"According to the maximum margin for an interview turnaround, unless the examiners give you an unprecedentedly low score, there is absolutely no possibility for her to overtake you!"

Zhu Yuntong picked up the teapot and poured boiling water into the cup; the tea leaves rose and fell, much like life itself.

"She can turn it around."

Su Qinghan's breathing quickened. "Within the rules, they can't do it!"

"When the interests are so great that one can ignore face, the rules are just a piece of waste paper."

Zhu Yuntong pushed a cup of tea in front of her, picked up a wolf-hair brush he had prepared, and wrote eight characters on the rice paper.

"For the affairs of the world, planning requires thoroughness, and execution requires strength."

Immediately, he turned the brush tip and drew a simple diagram of a tripod, labeling them: Su, Liu, Zhu.

Su Qinghan's gaze was nailed to the paper.

Zhu Yuntong's brush tip pointed at the character "Su".

"Mayor Su Changming will borrow a knife to kill, sitting on the sidelines to watch Liu Family and me fight until we are both severely wounded."

The brush tip slid to the character "Liu".

"Division Chief Liu Haiping will spare no cost, forcibly tearing a crack in the rules to crush me in the interview room."

Finally, the brush tip landed heavily back on the character "Zhu", the ink spot like blood, spreading out.

"And I..."

"...am the one who wants this crack."

Su Qinghan felt her heart being squeezed by an invisible hand, and she could barely breathe.

He had actually treated his enemies' conspiracies as firewood for his own breakthrough!

"You want to seize their leverage and overturn this chessboard?" Her voice was dry.

"No."

Zhu Yuntong's answer was beyond her expectations.

"Overturning the chessboard is what a brute would do."

"What I want is to hold the knife they handed me and walk into the Municipal Party Committee Office fair and square."

"What should I do?" she asked.

Zhu Yuntong's gaze fell back onto her.

"Once Mayor Su Changming becomes mayor, he will certainly seize financial power."

"You will go to the Finance Bureau and be the nail driven into his money bag."

"I will settle the fate of the nation in the court."

"You will hold the lifeline for me from the rear, guarding the money and supplies!"