The Tempting Road to Becoming an Official

"Exactly, some people just cling to the bigwigs and forget their own weight, strutting around as if they wield supreme authority—it's all too clear."

Sun Shenru had just finished speaking.

When An Tai's voice, full of scorn and mockery, rang out.

"Comrade Duming, it seems your secretary has been getting more and more out of line. Last time, he was already given a chance to reflect, and now he's not acting like a secretary at all. If the top beam is not straight, the bottom ones will be crooked, too. Don't you think it's time to discipline him properly?"

Sun Shenru immediately shifted the firepower.

And aimed it at Li Duming.

Li Duming had been silent since the meeting began.

After all, the Standing Committee was under Sun Shenru's control.

Hearing what Sun Shenru said.

Li Duming smiled and replied, "I think it's alright; at least Comrade Chen Fang can still carry out his duties normally. Unlike the secretary of someone else, who I don't know what trouble they got into outside, and they got beaten up without even daring to call the police. I actually find that kind of secretary more worrying."

"You..."

Sun Shenru suddenly found himself at a loss for words.

He sighed deeply.

And sat down slowly.

He said, "Fine, very well, you don't discipline, right? Then I'll help you. Even if Old Ning himself came here today, I'd still have to have a serious talk with him."

Having said that.

He took out his phone.

And dialed a number.

Once the call connected.

Sun Shenru looked at Li Duming with a provocative gaze and said, "Security Department? Send some people over, to the Standing Committee conference room, and do it right away."

After finishing his words.

He tossed his phone onto the table.

With his arms folded, he declared, "Comrade Chen Fang has disturbed the order of the Standing Committee meeting. I now propose that he be expelled from the meeting room. Do you all agree?"

"I agree!"

An Tai was the first to take a stance and call out.

Following him, Political and Legal Committee Secretary Sun Qianguo also spoke indignantly, "This is just too disrespectful. Expulsion from the meeting room is too light; my suggestion is to record this incident and let the Disciplinary Committee discuss whether this constitutes a violation of rules and discipline!"

The situation was still one-sided.

Old Ning's earlier appearance had only temporarily saved Chen Fang's position.

And had brought about no change to the overall situation.

The saying 'a county official is not as good as the current one in charge' was something that some people did not understand, but most had a clear grasp of it.

Sun Shenru knew that he couldn't do anything to Chen Fang.

But within the scope of his authority, giving him a hard time was not a problem at all.

Moreover, this time, it was Chen Fang who had chosen to stand out.

At this moment.

The meeting room was silent.

Everyone was waiting for the arrival of the Security Department staff.

To witness the scene of the "arrogant" Chen Fang being dragged out.

Knock, knock, knock.

A series of knocking sounds came.

Everyone assumed it was the Security Department.

Sun Shenru called out, "Come in."

The door opened.

However, it was not the Security Department that entered, but the County Government Office Director Wang Zhiyu.

Under the watchful eyes of everyone, Wang Zhiyu, with a nervous expression, walked straight up to Sun Shenru and began whispering something in his ear.

Everyone could see that Sun Shenru's expression had changed, from calm to anxious.

The whole process lasted for about a minute.

Sun Shenru nodded his head.

And said, "Alright, I got it. I'll speak to you later."

Wang Zhiyu nodded and was about to leave when Security Chief Liang Qi, accompanied by several security officers, entered the meeting room.

Sun Shenru's face darkened.

He pointed at Chen Fang and commanded, "Comrade Chen Fang has disrupted the meeting order; take him to the Security Department to sober up."

"Yes!"

Liang Qi responded.

He walked up to Chen Fang, his face showing disdain as he said, "Secretary Chen, please come with us."

Chen Fang was not at all flustered.

He walked straight up to Sun Shenru's side.

Said, "County Chief Sun, I'll leave first, oh~ by the way, when you have time, let's have a good talk about that USB drive."

The usually composed Sun Shenru was suddenly electrified, jolting slightly.

He abruptly raised his head, subconsciously opening his mouth as if to say something, but the words stopped at the brink of utterance.

"Cough cough..."

He feigned a sore throat.

Masking the awkwardness of his expression.

He said to Liang Qi, "Alright, Section Chief Liang, you can go now. Comrade Chen Fang is out of line, just give him a lesson and that's enough."

"Then... should I take Secretary Chen with me?"

Liang Qi seemed to not quite understand Sun Shenru's intention.

He was full of rage with nowhere to vent.

Sun Shenru bellowed, "I told you to leave on your own, can't you understand what I'm saying? Get out!"

Liang Qi felt so aggrieved in his heart.

It was you who had called me over.

And now you're telling me to get lost, isn't this playing with me?

That's what he thought, but he didn't dare to say it out loud; he could only nod his head and then leave dejectedly with his people.

Once Liang Qi and his group left,

The other Standing Committee members were also baffled.

Why had Sun Shenru changed his face so quickly?

Just a moment ago he was quite resolute, and in the blink of an eye, it turned into just "teaching a lesson"?

"Mr. Li, after much consideration, I think what Comrade Chen Fang said makes sense. Your opinion should take precedence," Sun Shenru said as soon as he finished speaking.

The several Standing Committee members who had been echoing him were stunned.

What's going on?

This position was supposed to be a sure win, why the sudden change of heart?

What exactly had happened?

Li Duming gave a slight smile and said, "Alright, since County Chief Sun means that, I, Li, will not be courteous. My suggestion is for Xiao Que, the acting director of the County Committee Office, to become the official director. What do you think, County Chief Sun?"

"Comrade Xiao Que has been the acting director for several years now and has always done an outstanding job. Personally, I think Comrade Xiao Que is suitable for the director of the County Committee Office. What do you all think?" Sun Shenru glanced at the attendees and asked.

Everyone had a belly full of doubts.

But since Sun Shenru had spoken,

Naturally, they had no objections.

This was an odd meeting.

At first, they were crushing Chen Fang, but as the meeting went on, they ignored his disrespect and most importantly, took a 360-degree turn, directly adopting Chen Fang's suggestions.

The person who was supposed to be secured for the position didn't get it.

And they willingly watched such an important spot be taken by one of Li Duming's people.

Those unaware would think Sun Shenru had been drugged with a love potion.

As soon as the meeting ended,

Everyone started whispering as they left the meeting room.

Sun Shenru, however, didn't leave, waiting until everyone had gone before saying to Chen Fang, who was the last to organize the materials, "Comrade Chen Fang, please stay behind. I have something to discuss with you."

Chen Fang remained calm and composed.

He stood up, closing the door of the meeting room once again.

At that moment,

Only the two of them were left in the meeting room.

Sun Shenru smacked the table and pointed at Chen Fang, demanding angrily, "Chen Fang, where did you get the content in the USB drive?"

Right in the middle of the meeting,

Wang Zhiyu came in to tell him that a mysterious USB drive had suddenly appeared on his desk. When Wang Zhiyu plugged it into the computer, he was instantly horrified.

It was a video.

The video showed the entire process of Sun Xi taking bribes.

In this process, the videographer used various conversational tricks to induce Sun Xi to slap his chest and guarantee that the money-spending business could be done, and throughout it, Sun Xi even shamelessly gave the videographer a list of several official-selling cases he had managed.

While saying these things, Sun Xi naturally wasn't afraid.

After all, it was his turf, and the other party didn't bring any recording equipment, so he wasn't worried his words would get out.

But he could never have imagined that his words would be perfectly captured by a camera hidden between two enormous objects.

If this video were to be released to the city's Disciplinary Committee or the internet, it was clear to see that Sun Shenru's political career would basically be over.

Chen Fang remained unfazed,

Sitting down across from Sun Shenru.

After a pause, he said, "Before answering your question, answer me this, why were you the last person to see Tan Yandong before he died?"