The ability of a leader to express themselves is incredibly important. Someone like Yan Huaiyi lacks authority and impact, and without these, there's no persuasiveness or the presence a leader should have.

Of course, a few people believe and plan to wait a couple more days to see, but more people don't believe and suggest protesting at the town government, demanding that they step in to solve the problem.

Yan Huaiyi can't control the situation at all, let alone Jin Yonghao, the deputy hospital director who barely has a presence.

Xu Chunliang and Tang Mingmei are only quality control team members, and salary matters are not their business. They don't worry unnecessarily. Now they realize that this quality control work is not the main focus.

Deputy Director Yan Huaiyi wants to meet with the town's leaders and decides to personally make the trip, naming Jin Yonghao and Xu Chunliang to accompany him.

Xu Chunliang can't figure out why Yan Huaiyi specifically named him, not knowing whether it was because he valued him or wanted to share responsibility. Probably the latter is more likely.

The town government is only two hundred meters away from the hospital. Jin Yonghao suggests driving, not for the sake of appearance, but fearing an encounter with the angry employees along the way, seeking to protect the leader.

While Jin Yonghao went to arrange for a car, Yan Huaiyi went to the director's office to get a fax from the headquarters—documents signed between Changxing and the town government years ago. These documents prove that the time for the town government to fulfill its promise to change property rights has passed.

Only then did Xu Chunliang know about this matter. Yan Huaiyi handed the documents to him and kept hiccupping. Even after gulping down two cups of hot tea, he couldn't stop. Feeling that going in such a manner might be unseemly, he changed his mind about going personally and asked Xu Chunliang to go with Jin Yonghao to talk with the town leaders about changing the hospital's property rights. This kind of negotiation definitely wouldn't be resolved in one meeting; it would be good for the kid to first get a sense of the situation.

Seeing his last-minute change of plans, Xu Chunliang increasingly suspects Yan Huaiyi of being a coward, shirking responsibility.

As they passed by each other, no one greeted Jin Yonghao; many people rolled their eyes. Such is human nature; when they realize they cannot gain any benefit from you, they're unlikely to show any respect—only disdain, contempt, and indifference, regardless of whether you're a leader.

The town government's gate was well-built, but since Jin Yonghao rarely dealt with them, even the gatekeeper was unfamiliar with him. It took some persuasion before the staff helped make a call to the petition office, confirmed their business, and let them in.

Just after entering the office building, Jin Yonghao felt a stomach ache, handed the folder to Xu Chunliang, and rushed to the restroom.

Xu Chunliang could only sigh at how this guy's like a lazy donkey, all it does on the grinding wheel is poop.

After waiting a bit, Jin Yonghao called, saying he'd left in such a hurry he forgot to bring toilet paper, and asked Xu Chunliang to bring some over to him.

Xu Chunliang was frustrated; he didn't have any toilet paper on him, only documents, but they'd need them later.

Just then, a stylish woman in a gray suit passed by him.

Xu Chunliang was no stranger to beautiful women, but this woman's appearance still left him awestruck. Even though Tang Mingmei, a seasoned beauty accompanying him, was nearly forty, her urban elegance stood out even on Weishan Island, where such urban sophistication is rare. Beauty indeed requires context and comparison.

The woman in front of him was tall and had an outstanding presence. Her short hair was neatly styled, her skin had a fine, fair glow uncommon among small-town women. Her sharp eyebrows conveyed a sense of heroism. Behind her black-rimmed glasses, her beautiful eyes shone with clarity like autumn waters, her gaze calm and wise, her nose was high and robust, her lips were full and red.

Intuitively, Xu Chunliang felt she didn't belong here, so he greeted her: "Hello! Could you help me with something?"

The woman stopped, looked at him, and showed a friendly smile. Yet, her rational gaze didn't match her smile, exuding a coldness that felt like being refused from a thousand miles away: "You mean me?"

Xu Chunliang nodded; there was no one else around, so who else could he be asking? He smiled and said, "Excuse me, do you have any toilet paper?"

The woman thought he had something important to ask. Somewhat helplessly, she pursed her lips, opened her black shell handbag, which looked unbranded but was indeed a Bolide.

She took out a box of tissues and handed it to him.

"Thanks, I'll return it to you later."

The woman calmly replied, "No need." She was used to such poor tricks, knowing that next, he'd probably ask for her number or WeChat, uninterested in the handsome tall man's flirtation attempts.

Watching her turn away, Xu Chunliang sensed the innate pride in her. He hadn't expected such an extraordinary beauty to be found on Weishan Island.

Recalling that Jin Yonghao was still waiting for the paper, Xu Chunliang hurried over with it.

When Jin Yonghao came out, he walked a bit awkwardly as his hemorrhoids were acting up again.

First, they went to the petition office. The attitude of the petition office director, Li Yuliang, was a bit unfriendly. The employees of Weishan Island Hospital had come to the town government for rights protection more than once. This time, though, was the most significant, with almost everyone from the hospital participating.

In today's society, harmony and stability are emphasized. Li Yuliang hoped their hospital wouldn't cause more trouble for the town government; no matter the reason, delaying wages is wrong.

Jin Yonghao hung his head, not daring to utter a single tough word. Xu Chunliang was just a reluctant accomplice today, and in this matter, Changxing was indeed at fault, so it wasn't his place to speak.

Li Yuliang then told them to go to the mayor's office. Town Mayor Mei was very upset about this matter and wanted to have a face-to-face discussion with them.

Li Yuliang led the two of them to the mayor's office, informing them and going in to report first.

Xu Chunliang hadn't expected there to be so many departments in the small town government. Jin Yonghao told him that Hu Shan Town was now formed by merging Shiliang Town and Huahu Town. It governed twenty-three natural villages and was one of the largest towns in the county, with the town mayor being a rank-equivalent leading cadre.

Xu Chunliang said, isn't that the same rank as you?

But Jin Yonghao didn't see it that way. Although he was also a leading cadre of the same rank, his actual power was not comparable. As the branch hospital's deputy director, he had empty authorization, and even within Changxing Headquarters, he had to comply with the director and deputy directors' wishes. It's said that this newly appointed Town Mayor Mei, he hasn't met yet either.

Hu Shan Town's mayor holds real power on Weishan Island, second only to the top leader, who is the secretary and equivalently ranked. This leading cadre oversees over thirty square kilometers of land, not even counting the surrounding water areas, with ninety thousand registered population and over forty thousand residents. Changxing, at full stretch, has just eighteen hundred people.

Not even Zhao Feiyang, the head of Changxing, could necessarily compare to the mayor in actual power.

Xu Chunliang mused that this exemplified preferring to be a big fish in a small pond than a small fish in a big one, waiting at the door for over ten minutes yet still not seeing Li Yuliang come out. With his stomach upset again, Jin Yonghao said he had to go to the restroom, leaving Xu Chunliang to wait alone.

Just as Jin Yonghao left, Li Yuliang came out. Seeing Jin Yonghao wasn't there, he frowned slightly and instructed Xu Chunliang to go in alone, reminding him that Town Mayor Mei was very busy and should not have her valuable time wasted excessively.

Xu Chunliang thought, this Town Mayor Mei sure puts on a big show, making it seem like they wanted to meet her, not the other way around, purposefully leaving them waiting at the door for more than ten minutes. Is this not impolite? Glancing back, Jin Yonghao still hadn't returned. He genuinely worried whether this guy might faint from blood loss and sacrifice himself in the town government's restroom.

Xu Chunliang knocked on the door and entered the mayor's office.

Seeing the person behind the office desk clearly, he couldn't help but be surprised. Town Mayor Mei was a woman, which wasn't so astonishing, but the key point was he'd just seen her and borrowed tissues from her. The world seemed to be growing ever smaller.

Town Mayor Mei paused her document review, looked up and recognized Xu Chunliang, revealing a faint smile.

Xu Chunliang walked over in bold strides, extending his hand: "I am Xu Chunliang, the head of Changxing Hospital's medical office." The title was self-proclaimed, not for face-saving boastfulness, but because in such situations, raising his identity is necessary to be able to stand on equal footing.

"Mei Ru Xue!" Town Mayor Mei stood gracefully and shook his hand. Her hand felt smooth and tender, and Xu Chunliang judged from her skin's texture that she couldn't be older than twenty-five.

Xu Chunliang smiled, "The petals fall in confusion like snow, still dancing all around when brushed aside, Town Mayor Mei's name is full of poetic imagery." He wasn't trying to flaunt his literary skills but wanted to close the gap between them with such approaches.

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