Governor Hou smiled and then sighed, "Without deciding on the next candidate for governor, I wouldn't dare retire for a moment."

Secretary Gao said, "The candidate can be selected slowly, but as for Lu Zhizhong, let's forget it; his foundation is too thin."

Governor Hou shook his head, "A thin foundation isn't a big issue, he has capability and ambition. Moreover, he possesses a rare sense of loyalty in the officialdom."

He took out a cigarette and tossed one to Secretary Gao, lit one for himself, and said, "The others aren't very capable."

"Qu Xiangru is too young, although he has some skills, compared to those who have been immersed in officialdom for decades, he is still lacking in experience."

"Besides, the Jiang Family behind him doesn't seem to support him much. Promoting him would bring a lot of trouble."

"The Provincial City isn't suitable either, Jiangzhou Municipal Government and Provincial Government are too close, which is not a good thing."

"Secretary Tian… he should continue serving as Deputy Secretary."

"Director Zhang from the National Development and Reform Commission isn't someone easy to deal with. If you truly promote her, you might not be able to control her."

"Lu Zhizhong appeared at just the right time."

Secretary Gao frowned and said, "Are you serious?"

Governor Hou collected his smile, "Do I look like I'm joking?"

"Oh, by the way."

Governor Hou said, "I quite favor Song Guanchao from Lingjiang, if there's an opportunity, it'd be best to bring him to the Provincial City."

Secretary Gao laughed, "You say bring him, and it's done?"

"He's been a secretary for less than a year and jumped two levels; no matter how capable he is, he can't be promoted like this."

Governor Hou said, "Being highly capable should warrant extraordinary promotion, there's no can or can't about it. If you find it inappropriate, then I'll do it."

Secretary Gao shook his head, "Don't think about it, Wu Qiangwei won't let him go."

Governor Hou said, "Then let's transfer Xiao Wu to the Provincial City as well."

"Hmm~"

Secretary Gao didn't directly oppose this time, he made a soft sound, thinking seriously for a few seconds.

This actually seemed like a good idea.

"Let's wait for now, Xiao Wu has been in Lingjiang for less than a year, it's too fast."

...

January 21, Friday.

The Provincial Disciplinary Inspection Committee issued a notice, former Deputy Governor of Nanjiang Provincial Government, Lin Daoquan, has fallen, and has been handed over to judicial authorities, facing criminal prosecution.

The reasons for the dual investigation remain the usual rhetoric, but the specific reasons are only known to a few high-ranking officials within the province.

As for his attempt to assault Qu Xiangru in Lingjiang, it's not mentioned in the notice.

Even this matter has been suppressed.

But from the current notice, it appears this Deputy Governor will spend the rest of his life in prison.

...

Qu Xiangru has been discharged from the hospital and has officially started working in the City Committee Office.

At noon, Jiang Yiren rushed to the City Committee.

"Secretary Qu, did you call for me?"

"How is the work on cultural promotion lately?"

"It's going quite smoothly."

With Song Guanchao's help, cultural promotion has hardly faced any trouble.

Qu Xiangru said, "I'm missing a secretary here now, arrange the cultural promotion work, come back to the City Committee office."

"Oh, alright."

Jiang Yiren is quite curious why her cousin is concurrently serving as City Secretary.

But this cousin has always been somewhat distant from family members.

Even her relationship with Qu Xiangru isn't particularly close.

And every time they meet, she actually feels quite fearful of Qu Xiangru, feeling significant pressure.

...

Song Guanchao went to the cafeteria and got four meals.

Returning to the City Committee, he first delivered one to Chu Xiao'e and then to Wu Qiangwei.

Wu Qiangwei glanced at the lunch box in his hand, asking, "Who is this meal for?"

"Secretary Qu." Song Guanchao said, "I'm going to probe a bit."

"You send it to her; she might not eat it."

"She'll definitely eat it!"

Song Guanchao said, "If not for me, Lin Daoquan would have succeeded by now, so speaking of, she owes me quite a bit."

"Even though this District Secretary can be excessive, she clearly distinguishes personal favors."

"You go try then." Wu Qiangwei thought he was overly confident.

Song Guanchao was not just confident, but he had to show this confidence in front of her.

He absolutely couldn't let Wu Qiangwei find out about his relationship with Qu Xiangru.

Upon reaching the office, he knocked and then entered the room.

"District Secretary, I've brought you lunch."

He walked over, put down the food.

Qu Xiangru lightly furrowed her eyebrows, "Thank you, no need to get it next time."

Song Guanchao smoothly sat down, opened both meals, and pushed hers towards her.

Then, he picked up chopsticks and started eating.

Qu Xiangru coldly looked at him, "Leave."

"Qu…"

"Leave!"

"Bang!"

Song Guanchao put down his chopsticks and turned to leave.

However, when he reached the door, he didn't open it but locked it from the inside.

Seeing his action, Qu Xiangru furrowed her brow even tighter.

Song Guanchao returned, sat down, and picked his chopsticks up again, "Secretary Qu, eat while it's hot; it won't taste good cold."

Qu Xiangru felt somewhat annoyed internally.

She understood locking the door was a warning from Song Guanchao; he could indeed do even worse things.

She didn't want further entanglements with Song Guanchao, but he seemed indifferent, completely unaffected by her willingness.

"Song Guanchao, is this interesting to you?"

Qu Xiangru calmly said, "Do you want to ruin me?"

"Ruin you? From what source?"

"You're Secretary Wu's assistant and are getting close to me; what do you intend to do?"

"I aim to approach you, you see."

Song Guanchao said, "I told Secretary Wu, I plan to infiltrate the enemy's ranks."

"Regarding Jin Rong, you owe me a favor."

"At the welcoming banquet, you owe me another favor."

"Oh, right, when Lu Zhizhong was sabotaging, that was yet another favor."

"You owe me so many favors, and you're someone who clearly distinguishes public from private matters, it's only reasonable to approach you using these favors, isn't it?"

Qu Xiangru was left speechless.

"Unlock the door."

"Okay."

Song Guanchao walked over and unlocked the door.

When he returned, she had already picked up her chopsticks to eat.

Song Guanchao kept adding dishes to her meal, "Have some ribs, the braised pork is nice; you should eat more, felt a bit flat when I measured it the night before, I'll get you some papaya milk to remedy it later."

Qu Xiangru's years of Qi Cultivation Technique seemed to be faltering in front of Song Guanchao.

She breathed deeply a few times, suppressing her emotions.

Just then, there was a knock on the door, and Jiang Yiren suddenly pushed the door open.

"Qu…"

Seeing Song Guanchao, Jiang Yiren swallowed her words, surprised.

How could he be here?

And they were eating together with her cousin.

Song Guanchao turned to glance at her; she had two meals in hand.

"Director Jiang, delivering food to District Secretary?"

He walked over, took one dish, and said, "No need to deliver from now on; I'll deliver meals to Secretary Qu."

"Thank you for making the trip; please wait outside, I'll tidy up after the meal."

He said politely, leading Jiang Yiren out, then closing the door.

Looking at the closed door, Jiang Yiren just now slowly reacted.

What on earth is this?

Was he discussing matters with her cousin?

In the office, Song Guanchao, with the intent of preventing wastage, also ate the meal.

Once he finished and burped contentedly, another knock on the door sounded.

Jiang Yiren entered, trying to ignore Song Guanchao, handed her phone over, "Secretary Qu, there's a call for you."

Song Guanchao felt somewhat surprised; it was Jiang Yiren's phone.

Moreover, Jiang Yiren knew he was here, yet still came in to let her take the call.

Almost instantly, Song Guanchao guessed this call was probably from Qu Xiangru's elders.

Qu Xiangru glanced at the note on the phone, didn't answer, and directly hung up.

Then she asked, "What does she want from me?"

Jiang Yiren glanced at Song Guanchao, seeing Qu Xiangru didn't ask him to leave, said, "Grandmother wants you home for New Year's, and said…"

"What else did she say?"

"Also said, she introduced a partner for you..."

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.