212: Chapter 212 The Matter of Flattery

The meeting started promptly at three o'clock, with Executive Vice Mayor Zhou Guoliang seated at the head of the table, a thick stack of materials spread out before him, the microphone adjusted, and the lighting set to the brightness most suitable for photography.

The Municipal Government office had notified various media outlets, and long lenses and short cameras were set up in the back of the conference room, their red recording lights glowing like eyes lying in ambush in the shadows.

Executive Vice Mayor Zhou Guoliang cleared his throat, swept his gaze over the familiar faces below, and began his speech.

The theme of the speech was, naturally, production safety, ranging from the spirit of the central government to provincial deployments, from provincial deployments to municipal requirements, and from municipal requirements to the current situation.

His voice was not loud, but every word carried the steady, dignified tone peculiar to an Executive Vice Mayor, with clear emphasis and cadence.

He emphasized key points and paused to allow time for photos; he was clearly an old hand at this, leaving no room for criticism.

"Comrades, production safety concerns the safety of the people's lives and property, concerns the overall situation of economic and social development and stability, and is an extremely important task."

"Currently, the production safety situation in our city is generally stable, but there are risks and concerns within that stability."

"Especially in some high-risk industries, such as fireworks and firecrackers, mines, and hazardous chemicals, safety hazards remain prominent. A moment of carelessness could lead to disaster, causing irreparable losses to the safety of the people's lives and property and bringing immeasurable negative impact to the image of the Party Committee and the government."

"All counties, districts, and departments must attach great importance to this, prioritize production safety, and with an attitude of high responsibility toward the Party and the people, grasp every task firmly, meticulously, and thoroughly to ensure that no major or catastrophic safety accidents occur."

The people below listened attentively; some lowered their heads to take notes, some nodded frequently, and others remained expressionless.

Those taking notes were not necessarily recording anything, those nodding frequently did not necessarily agree, and those who were expressionless were not necessarily indifferent.

In this conference room, everyone was playing their own role; expressions and inner thoughts were often two different things.

Executive Vice Mayor Zhou Guoliang spoke for nearly twenty minutes, repeatedly elaborating on the importance of production safety from every angle, every level, and every height.

Just when everyone thought he was about to finish, he changed the subject, lifted his gaze from his speech notes, let it land on a certain spot below, and his tone took on a hint of appreciation and admiration.

"Here, I want to specifically commend Changyuan County."

"Changyuan County has grasped production safety tightly, effectively, and with tangible results."

"Especially regarding some enterprises with long-standing, major safety hazards, Changyuan County has dared to take real action and draw its sword. This attitude of high responsibility toward the safety of the people's lives and property is worthy of serious study and emulation by all counties, districts, and departments."

"Next, I invite Xu Weidong, the Executive Deputy County Magistrate of Changyuan County, to come up to the stage and speak, introducing their experience and methods."

Applause broke out below, led by the staff of the Municipal Government office, followed by the attendees from various districts and counties.

The applause was not enthusiastic, but in the enclosed space of the conference room, it still sounded quite loud.

Xu Weidong stood up, straightened his collar, walked to the podium, sat down in front of the microphone, and swept his gaze over the faces with their varied expressions below.

Dozens of people were sitting below, including Executive Deputy County/District Magistrates, Deputy County/District Magistrates in charge of production safety, heads of over a dozen municipal departments, as well as staff from the Municipal Government office and the Municipal Party Committee Publicity Department.

Among these people, some were familiar with Xu Weidong, some were only nodding acquaintances, and some were meeting him for the first time.

But regardless of whether they were familiar or not, they were no strangers to the name Xu Weidong.

The youngest Executive Deputy County Magistrate of Changyuan County, with an unfathomable background and a swift, decisive style of working—with these labels attached to one person, it was hard not to attract attention.

The applause gradually died down. Xu Weidong did not take out a manuscript; he nudged the microphone toward himself and began his speech in a voice that was neither too high nor too low, neither fast nor slow.

He spoke from the general approach of Changyuan County's production safety work to specific practices, from organizational leadership to institutional construction, from hazard investigation to problem rectification, and from the implementation of responsibilities to accountability.

It was clear, logical, and full of detailed data, possessing both a macroscopic perspective and microscopic operations; it truly sounded like he was introducing experience.

He did not mention Cuican Fireworks, nor did he mention the sealing-off operation from this morning.

Now was not the time to talk about those matters at such a large meeting, and besides, Executive Vice Mayor Zhou Guoliang calling him up to the stage was not really about having him introduce experience, but rather using his voice to send a signal.

The Municipal Party Committee and the Municipal Government supported the actions taken by Changyuan County.

Xu Weidong finished speaking, and there was another round of applause below.

This round of applause was more uniform than the last, but the feeling in their hearts was much more complicated.

Having been in officialdom for so many years, they were all too familiar with this routine.

The so-called "introducing experience" was nothing more than providing an opportunity for a specific person or a specific county to make an appearance; it was about gilding that person's face and adding points for that person.

The other deputy county magistrates also curled their lips; it turned out they had been specifically called together to sit below as an audience just to flatter Xu Weidong.

A deputy county magistrate sitting in the third row twitched the corner of his mouth, lowered his head, and pretended to take notes in his notebook, drawing several circles in the margins.

An Executive Deputy County Magistrate sitting in the fifth row wore an imperceptible smile at the corner of his mouth; that smile contained mockery, even disdain, but more than anything, it was a kind of numbness from having seen through everything long ago.

Regardless, on such an occasion, smart people would choose to applaud. No one would stand out at this moment, no one would say "This is unfair," and no one would question why it had to be Changyuan County… why it had to be Xu Weidong.

Because they knew that questioning was useless; applauding was the correct choice.

Executive Vice Mayor Zhou Guoliang waited for the applause to die down and then delivered his concluding remarks.

He summarized and refined the points of experience just mentioned by Xu Weidong, elevated them to a theoretical level, and required all counties, districts, and departments to study them earnestly, comprehend them deeply, and combine them with reality to ensure implementation.

He also emphasized the importance of production safety work, requiring everyone to take immediate action upon returning, carry out sweeping investigations, establish ledgers for identified problems and hazards, rectify them within a time limit, and cross them off one by one, ensuring no blind spots were left and that it was not just a mere formality.

When the words "Meeting adjourned" came out of Executive Vice Mayor Zhou Guoliang's mouth, the people below seemed to have been pressed with a start button; the sound of chairs being pulled out rose and fell, and the sound of documents being organized rustled.

The meeting was over, and the strings that had been taut all afternoon could finally be loosened; the air outside was much freer than in the conference room.

Some gathered in twos and threes to whisper; what they were discussing was, of course, not production safety, but where to eat tonight.

Some took out their phones to check messages, the light from the screens shining on their faces, reflecting a sense of relief.

Xu Weidong walked down from the podium, and Bureau Chief Yang Desheng had already packed up the documents and was waiting for him.

They were not in a hurry to leave; they sat in their seats for a while longer, waiting until most of the people in front had left before standing up.

When they walked out of the conference room, there was almost no one left in the hallway.

Bureau Chief Yang Desheng followed behind him and whispered: "County Magistrate Xu, today's meeting seems to have been held specifically for you."

Xu Weidong did not turn back and said in a flat tone: "It was held for Changyuan County, not for me."

Bureau Chief Yang Desheng opened his mouth as if to say something, but swallowed the words back.

He was a descendant of a great family, after all; his mindset was just different from theirs—the mud-legged folks.