The Tempting Road to Becoming an Official

Secretary?

Chen Fang remembered.

Li Duming's previous secretary, Han Qi, had been dismissed over a month ago.

It was somewhat laughable.

Li Duming had a well-known problem in Changming County, he was notorious for going through secretaries quickly.

In his four years as the County Party Secretary, he had changed secretaries at least a dozen times, with the longest-serving one not even lasting a year.

And not one of these secretaries ended up with a good outcome.

Some managed to return to their previous positions.

Some were simply demoted.

The most pitiable case was the last one.

The county's top secretary had only been in position for a month before being taken away by the Disciplinary Committee.

The charge was bribery.

Latter, he was even expelled from his positions.

Now Li Duming was proactively offering him to become his secretary, what was this all about?

After pausing for a moment, Chen Fang said, "Mr. Li, I am truly honored that you would consider me as your secretary, but there are still many things to take care of in Fuguang Town... I'm afraid I can't leave."

Li Duming paused for a moment.

He picked up a glass of wine and drank it down in one gulp.

He said, "That's alright, I can give you time to think it over. I'll hold the position for you for the time being. But before that, I must remind you, you've crossed Yuan Zhenting, and County Mayor Sun won't let you off easily. After Tan Yandong's departure, the only person Sun Shenru is wary of, is me."

These words.

Chilled Chen Fang to the core.

He turned his gaze sharply towards Xu Lianyun.

At that moment, Xu Lianyun was only lowering her head and picking food, seemingly uninterested in their conversation.

Chen Fang was no fool.

Even if Li Duming was offering help now.

It certainly wouldn't come without a price.

After thinking it over, he asked, "Mr. Li, I would like to know, is there anything I can do for you?"

As soon as he had said that,

Li Duming smiled.

He said, "What do you think you could do for me?"

Chen Fang thought for a moment and said, "When Tan Yandong was alive, the leaders of Changming County basically only listened to him. After his death, Sun Shenru has been consolidating his base. If nothing unexpected happens, it won't be long before he is able to compete with you, and Sun Shenru will overshadow you."

"Continue,"

Li Duming did not contradict him.

Chen Fang said, "Knowing full well that I've offended County Mayor Sun and that he will make things difficult for me next, you're offering me the position of your secretary as a signal to strike against County Mayor Sun, right?"

This time,

Li Duming nodded.

He said, "Comrade Lianyun said that you would see through my intentions at once, and indeed you have. Of course, besides that, I have another reason—"

At that point,

Li Duming's expression suddenly became very serious.

Then,

Xu Lianyun also put down her chopsticks.

She lifted her head to look directly at Chen Fang.

Chen Fang had a premonition that what Li Duming was about to say was the focal point of the dinner.

"The death of Tan Yandong has always seemed suspicious to me. The current investigation results from the city are ambiguous and clearly not convincing. You are his godson, and I imagine you've been looking into this matter privately as well."

If the previous conversation was a bolt from the blue,

Then this statement was a thunderclap.

Chen Fang was momentarily at a loss for what to say.

He was unsure of Li Duming's intentions.

Was it a probe? Or was he harboring some other purpose?

He smiled and said, "Mr. Li, we should trust the organization, and I believe that whatever the truth about this matter, the organization will certainly give us a satisfying response."

After finishing his high-sounding words,

Xu Lianyun smiled faintly,

She said, "Chen Fang, I brought you here today because of this matter. If you're willing to trust what I say, then let me tell you, since County Chief Tan's death, Mr. Li has been pursuing the truth behind this incident. Tan's phone, which was never found, has now been located by Mr. Li."

"What?"

Chen Fang blurted out in shock.

He stood up immediately.

He looked at Li Duming incredulously.

All he saw was Li Duming nodding.

His hand reached into his pocket.

And pulled out a transparent plastic bag.

Inside the plastic bag, there was a smashed mobile phone.

Chen Fang recognized the phone instantly because it was the birthday gift he had given to Tan Yandong a year ago.

After Tan Yandong committed suicide,

his mobile phone had been missing the whole time.

The investigation team had asked Chen Fang about the phone, but he genuinely didn't know.

"This phone... where did you find it?"

Chen Fang asked, taking the plastic bag.

"Yinma River,"

Li Duming said.

Chen Fang was jolted, asking, "Yinma River? How could his phone be in Yinma River?"

Tan Yandong had committed suicide by jumping off a building.

The place where he jumped was a failed construction project called "Dongxu Royal Mansion."

This residential complex was well-located in the center of the county town, and due to the developer absconding, it had been unfinished for many years. Tan Yandong had thrown himself from the seventh floor, dying on the spot.

And the Yinma River was Changming County's moat, about three to four kilometers from Dongxu Royal Mansion.

How could this be possible?

Something was still off.

Chen Fang put down the phone.

He asked, "Mr. Li, there's something I don't quite understand. Why do you insist there is something fishy about Tan Yandong's death when everyone else believes it was suicide?"

"Because on the night of his death, he had been drinking with me,"

Li Duming's words, when they penetrated Chen Fang's ears, left him utterly stunned.

They had been drinking together?

Who would believe such a thing if it were spoken aloud?

Seemingly sensing Chen Fang's skepticism,

Li Duming sighed and said, "You surely don't believe what I'm saying, right? But what if I told you that the four years I've spent in Changming County were the happiest years of my life, and that I was actually very good friends with Tan Yandong behind the scenes, would you believe that?"

Unbelievable!

Definitely unbelievable!

Chen Fang shook his head honestly.

Li Duming gave a faint smile and said, "It's normal for you not to believe, and probably no one in the world would believe me if I told them..."

After saying this somewhat ruefully, Li Duming continued, "Let me tell you a story. This story starts seven years ago..."

Seven years ago.

Wen'an City only had two districts back then.

One was Huadu District, where the current municipal party committee and city government were located, and it was the political center.

The other was Hudu District, which is now Wen'an City's business hub, with most shopping centers and malls concentrated in Hudu District.

To promote industrial development,

Wen'an City decided to establish a brand-new administrative district to serve as the industrial center.

Land was allocated from several surrounding counties, as well as from Huadu and Hudu Districts, leading to the establishment of Xindu District.

The first district party secretary was Lv Yifeng, who was then a member of the municipal party committee and deputy mayor.

Upon hearing the name Lv Yifeng,

Chen Fang asked, "The current Mayor Lv Yifeng?"

Li Duming nodded and replied, "That's him."

The first district party secretary was Lv Yifeng,

and the first district head was Li Duming.

After their team was formed, Lv Yifeng was mainly in charge of setting up the institutional framework, while Li Duming focused on attracting investment. Through their collaborative efforts, in less than a year, many infrastructures, factories, and residential areas started to spring up in Xindu District.

This land was thriving everywhere, and everyone knew that the establishment of Xindu District would inject new vitality into Wen'an City and elevate its GDP to much higher levels.

Back then, Li Duming had great enthusiasm.

He invested all his energy in this land.

In his own words, for an entire year, he never once properly accompanied his daughter.

But who could have predicted that a series of subsequent events would shatter his beautiful dream completely.