19: Chapter 19 Bribery

At seven in the evening, his college classmate Gao Qing arrived as promised.

Zhang Huaijing's current residence was temporarily arranged at the Haizhou Hotel, which served as the Municipal Party Committee's reception hotel. Located next to the Municipal Party Committee compound, its facilities were somewhat dated, but it was valued for its convenience and security.

Zhang Huaijing's room was 301, a two-bedroom suite of 78 square meters. In addition to the bedroom, there was an office-cum-study.

The two embraced warmly upon meeting. After letting go, Gao Qing gave him a playful punch and said, "Jingzi, how have you not changed at all? From university to your wedding, and then in '03 when you accompanied the leaders to Haizhou for research, you still look exactly the same. Tell me, do you have some secret for eternal youth?"

"What secret could there be? You just can't see how I've aged," Zhang Huaijing laughed heartily.

"In a flash, it's been four or five years since we last met. Time really flies," Gao Qing lamented. He clasped his hands behind his back and toured Zhang Huaijing's room, asking with a smile, "Living in such a large suite all by yourself, don't you feel a bit lonely? Where's my sister-in-law? When is she coming over?"

During their undergraduate years, Zhang Huaijing was the youngest in the class. Born in 1972, he was just 21 when he graduated in 1993. He then pursued a Master's degree and graduated at 24. Through his mentor's recommendation, he joined the General Office of the Yuezhou Municipal Party Committee in Haixi Province, starting directly as a Deputy Section Chief. At 25, he was selected and transferred to the General Office of the Provincial Party Committee. In March 1998, he began serving as Secretary Jian Weiguo's Secretary. In early 2006, he was promoted to the deputy bureau level and ceased serving as a leader's Secretary.

"Divorced. We split before I came to Haizhou," Zhang Huaijing said as he invited the other man to sit at the dining table.

On the table were four hot dishes, two cold plates, and an opened bottle of Moutai.

Gao Qing had wanted to take him out for a big meal, but Zhang Huaijing declined. He had the hotel manager prepare the food to eat in the room, which allowed for more freedom and the chance to drink until they were content.

Gao Qing was stunned for a moment and asked, "So you're a lone wolf now?"

"Yes."

Gao Qing nodded and sighed, "It's good to be divorced, good to be divorced. Marriage is a damn besieged city, and you've stepped out of it one step ahead of me again. Uh, in this life, no matter what it is, you always seem to be one step ahead of me."

"You call a failed marriage being 'ahead'? You're just making fun of me being a widower."

"What? Did Wang Shuting..."

Zhang Huaijing smiled and waved his hand, saying, "I used the wrong word. She's not dead; she's alive and well. It was an amicable divorce. Let's not mention her. Come, let's have a drink."

The person who had just crossed his mind was his first love, Lin Qianwei. Ever since Lin Qianwei passed away, he felt as though he had become a widower.

The two happily downed their first glass.

"Tell me about you. What's your situation now? Are you still in the Propaganda Department?"

Gao Qing waved his hand and laughed, "With my personality, do you think I'm suited to work in Party committee departments? Others call me the 'Anti-Aircraft Gun' because I fire off everywhere; everyone is afraid and avoids me. So, I couldn't cut it in the Propaganda Department either. About three months ago, I was demoted to the Federation of Literary and Art Circles, moving from a substantive position to a non-leadership Deputy Investigator role. It's just as well—'Looking back at the bleak place I came from, as I return, there is neither wind and rain nor sunshine.' I'll just focus on my calligraphy, health, and having a bit of wine. Hahaha."

Zhang Huaijing frowned and asked, "Everything was going fine, yet they turned a Deputy Director of the Propaganda Department into a Deputy Investigator? That's a bit much, isn't it?"

"Thinking back, it wasn't unfair to demote me," Gao Qing said. "That night during the municipal standing committee meeting, I got drunk. Just like Jiao Da, I ran outside the meeting room and started cursing. It was quite cathartic."

"What exactly did you say?"

"'Those who should be cleaning the ashes are doing it, those who should be keeping younger brothers-in-law are doing it'—corruption everywhere, vote buying everywhere. The good officials are all gone, and those who come up are all scoundrels and thieves... anyway, stuff like that. Hahaha. Come, drink."

The two clinked glasses and drained them in one go.

Gao Qing was thirty-eight years old, a bookish man who was blunt and couldn't stand even a grain of sand in his eyes. With a fierce personality that feared nothing, he dared to speak and act without bowing or scraping, making him quite ill-suited for the world of officialdom.

Back then, thinking that 'while parents are alive, one should not travel far,' and being swayed by the recruitment team from the Haizhou Municipal Organization Department, he returned to his hometown immediately after graduating with a full-time bachelor's degree from Jin Province University.

As a result, over the past decade or so, moving from the General Office of the Municipal Party Committee to the Municipal Propaganda Department and then to the Federation of Literary and Art Circles, his career path had grown narrower and narrower.

He had long since become disheartened. Being aloof and valuing his pride, he had never asked Zhang Huaijing for help.

If you don't take the initiative to speak up, others will think you don't need it, disdain it, or have other ideas. Naturally, Zhang Huaijing would not take the initiative to pull strings for him.

He asked, "Didn't you say before that Former Mayor He Fengyuan appreciated you quite a bit? He didn't promote you?"

He Fengyuan was the previous Mayor of Haizhou. In the transition election last December, he was voted out. Originally, the organization had decided on him to serve another term; he wasn't that old, only fifty-four.

After the incident, the Provincial Party Committee, after careful consideration and consulting with the Haizhou Municipal Party Committee and the Municipal People's Congress, transferred He Fengyuan to the Provincial CPPCC to serve as the Director of the Culture and History Committee.

Gao Qing said, "He did. My appointment as Deputy Director of the Propaganda Department was his doing. He likes Chinese calligraphy, and so do I. I'm also the Vice Chairman of the Haizhou Calligraphers Association, so I have a bit of a reputation. He always called me over to practice and exchange ideas. I'm an honest person who never tells lies, which he appreciated. It was under his recommendation that I was promoted from the Municipal Policy Research Office to the Propaganda Department."

Gao Qing's career started in the General Office of the Municipal Party Committee, but after only two years, he was transferred to the Policy Research Office due to personality issues.

"A 'Thousand-Mile Horse' is common, but a 'Bole' who recognizes one is not."

"I'm no Thousand-Mile Horse, but when the person leaves, the tea cools. Since He Fengyuan wasn't elected mayor, I became a target for removal. Fortunately, I never took bribes, and I didn't violate any codes of conduct, so they had no grounds to fire me. Come, don't stop, drink!" Gao Qing mocked himself as he raised his glass.

After finishing the wine and taking a few bites of food, Zhang Huaijing asked, "What was that you said earlier about cursing them for vote buying?"

Gao Qing gave a cold laugh and said indignantly, "Niu Panlong's 'ticket-jumping' was one hundred percent vote buying! Someone tampered with things, causing Mayor He to fail to get more than half the votes, while Niu Panlong did. Mayor He is a very good leader—pragmatic, capable, a hardworking 'old ox' with strong principles who wouldn't join the dregs. He just has a bit of a temper, is demanding in his work, doesn't really empathize with subordinates, and likes to scold people, so he was pushed out. However, he has a very good reputation among the common people, and we cadres who aren't good at social climbing respect him immensely."

Zhang Huaijing ate slowly, a sense of grief and indignation welling up in his heart. This emotion came more from the late Cui Liming, who loathed evil. He asked, "Do you have evidence for this vote buying you mentioned?"

"If there were evidence, wouldn't Niu Panlong have been arrested? People in the streets are saying it, and I'm very suspicious too."

"There must be some basis for it; otherwise, it's just slander and rumor-mongering against leading cadres. You're lucky they haven't held you legally responsible."

Gao Qing poured two more glasses and drank them together.

Gao Qing set down his glass and suddenly said with a serious expression, "Jingzi... sorry, maybe I shouldn't call you that anymore? You're the Deputy Secretary of the Municipal Party Committee now."

"Old Gao, why are you being so formal with me? Come, drink!"

The two downed another glass.

After more than a dozen glasses, Gao Qing's face was flushed, and he was a bit tipsy. He was that kind of person—low tolerance but loved to drink. He overdid it every time, and when he was drunk, he loved to talk big and spout flowery words.

"Do you still remember those nicknames of yours from university? Jingzi, Demon-Revealing Mirror, Precious Mirror of Love... and 'The Bright Mirror Hanging High.' If you hadn't come here, it would be fine, but since you are here, brother, I can't help but make a demand of you—no, it's a plea."

"Old Gao, speak your mind."