Song Guanchao leaned against the headboard, looked at Qu Xiangru's number on his phone, and gently pressed the dial button.

After a few beeps, the call connected, and the familiar voice he hadn't heard in a long time sounded from the other side.

"What's up?"

"If Governor Hou steps down, who has the best chance to take the position."

Song Guanchao asked directly, without any preamble, leaving Qu Xiangru silent.

"Why are you asking this?"

"Jiang Yuan came to see me today."

He shared the information about Jiang Yuan and Secretary Tian visiting him.

"Are you worried that Secretary Tian might become Governor? Thinking about whether to do him this favor?"

"No."

"No?"

"Even if he becomes Governor, what's the point of doing him this favor?"

"I've already offended, might as well offend a bit more."

When doing things, the most taboo is changing your mind halfway, being indecisive makes things worse.

Besides, even if he becomes Governor, he needs a legitimate reason to meddle in Lingjiang's affairs.

Being a Governor doesn't mean he can casually decide the rise and fall of a Prefecture-level City's leadership.

Power is a check and balance, no one can have unchecked authority.

The reason for this call was, first, to give Qu Xiangru a heads-up about this matter.

Secondly, it was pure curiosity about whether Secretary Tian really wanted to be Governor.

"The choice for Governor has been made," Qu Xiangru said.

"Made? Who is it?"

"Not sure."

"You don't know?"

She is the Executive Deputy Governor, if the choice has been made, how could she not know?

Qu Xiangru said, "Secretary Gao and Governor Hou took the appointment authority from the Central Organization Department, they decided the candidate but haven't announced it."

This was the first time Song Guanchao heard this.

But in just a few words, the information contained was quite substantial.

Normally, the appointment of provincial-level leaders is decided by the Central Organization Department.

Yet Secretary Gao and Governor Hou took the appointment authority, indicating that the provincial situation isn't good.

Governor Hou wants to choose someone who can assist Secretary Gao before retiring.

Song Guanchao asked, "What's the relationship between Secretary Tian and Secretary Gao?"

"No conflicts on the surface, but their political ideologies differ."

"The probability of Secretary Tian becoming Governor isn't high, right?"

"Shouldn't be Secretary Tian."

If they were recommending Secretary Tian, Secretary Gao and Governor Hou wouldn't have gone through the trouble of taking the appointment authority.

They did it to choose someone else.

"Can you guess who it might be?"

"I can't guess."

Qu Xiangru pondered for a moment, then said, "It might be an appointment from another region."

Ever since Wu Qiangwei moved to the Provincial City as Mayor, she has studied all the leaders in both the province and the Provincial City.

Ultimately, she found no suitable candidate.

Moreover, to continue stabilizing the provincial situation while cooperating with Secretary Gao's work, an appointment from another region would be most suitable.

"Does Secretary Tian know about this?"

"Probably not."

Qu Xiangru has been secretly paying attention to Secretary Tian and discovered he hasn't taken any action.

Apparently, he seems confident about becoming the next Governor.

If he knew Secretary Gao and Governor Hou had taken the Governor appointment authority, there's no way he'd be so calm.

"Got it." Song Guanchao was about to hang up the phone.

Qu Xiangru suddenly asked, "How's your health?"

"Hmm?" Song Guanchao was momentarily stunned, then realized she was referring to last week's fire.

Since being hospitalized, everyone called, except for her.

Song Guanchao thought she didn't know.

"Doing well."

"Then rest early."

...

The next day, after finishing training, Song Guanchao went to the restaurant and sent the address to Tong Wen.

At eleven, Secretary Tian walked into the private room.

"Hello, Secretary Tian, hello."

Song Guanchao hurriedly went forward, grabbed his hand, and shook it vigorously.

If one didn't know better, they'd really think he was overly excited and nervous at the moment.

Secretary Tian had met all sorts of people, but someone like Song Guanchao he truly had not.

Clearly, he was just a small District Chief with an average family background, his greatest support in the political arena being Wu Qiangwei.

Yet, such a person showed no respect whatsoever to a Provincial Ministerial Level official.

Even when given the chance to curry favor, he didn't take it.

Frankly speaking, Secretary Tian sometimes found it quite frustrating.

After all, what he could bring to the table was his Provincial Ministerial Level official status.

Yet this person was fearless of his status, neither humble nor overbearing.

As if in his eyes, being Provincial Ministerial Level was no different from being an ordinary person.

Such people did exist in political circles, but most were only pretending to be lofty.

But Song Guanchao was different. He could feel that this guy genuinely looked down on him.

After the dishes were served, Secretary Tian went straight to the point: "Jiang Yuan spoke to me, can District Chief Song do me this favor?"

Song Guanchao didn't play dumb and shook his head: "Sorry, Secretary Tian, as a District Chief, I can't make decisions for Mayor Liang. Maybe you can talk to Mayor Liang; I'm sure Mayor Liang will give you this favor."

"District Chief Song, do you really not intend to do me this favor?"

"It's not that I don't want to, but I don't have the capacity for this favor."

Secretary Tian wiped his mouth, took a sip of tea to moisten his throat: "If you do me this favor, you'll be my man. Money and power will come your way."

"Secretary Tian..."

"Governor Hou is about to retire, and I am about to succeed him."

Secretary Tian stopped him: "I don't need you to provide aid in times of trouble, but surely you can enhance my success? District Chief Song is a smart person, and I've spoken clearly enough. Is there anything you don't understand?"

"No, no, being able to follow Secretary Tian would be an honor for my ancestors. But Secretary Tian, you're putting me in a difficult position. I'm just a small District Chief; I really can't do this."

Song Guanchao looked troubled and spoke with bitterness.

Secretary Tian's expression turned cold. He hadn't expected that, after saying so much, Song Guanchao remained unmoved.

His Deputy Secretary status bore no influence on him at all.

"District Chief Song, I'll ask you one last time, are you going to do me this favor or not?"

Song Guanchao still smiled bitterly: "It's not that I won't; it's that you're putting me in a difficult position, Secretary Tian."

Secretary Tian cursed: "Ungrateful wretch!"

"Saying that, Secretary Tian, I'm not pleased."

Song Guanchao squinted his eyes, smiling as he cursed: "Old fart, you're really damn lucky I gave you face."

Secretary Tian glared in anger: "What did you say?"

"I said you're a moron."

"You..."

"What, you? A mere Secretary, and a deputy at that, acting all high and mighty in front of me. Do you deserve it?"

"Giving you face, I'll treat you to a meal. Not giving you face, you won't even get a taste of hot shit."

"You, you..."

"Enough with the 'you, you, you,' you're getting on in years, don't get excited so easily or you'll fall ill."

Song Guanchao wiped his mouth, tossed the napkin aside, stood up, and said: "I initially thought that even if there's no deal, there'd still be camaraderie, but what you said was rather unpleasant, so let me be blunt."

"Lingjiang doesn't belong to Tian, it belongs to Song!"

"Jiang Yuan will hold the Deputy Mayor position until retirement."

"If you have a problem with me, feel free to challenge me anytime, but you'll have to wait until you become Governor first."

"Oh, and remember to settle the bill."

As Song Guanchao pushed the door and left, he then heard the sound of plates being smashed behind him.

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