Official Career Storm-Chapter 1378

Shi Qin was considerably annoyed, but there was nothing she could do.

Just like Song Guanchao said, she was now like a clay bodhisattva crossing the river, barely able to protect herself.

Song Guanchao letting her off was already benevolent enough.

If she took Song Guanchao’s kindness for granted, she would be ungrateful.

Shi Qin took a deep breath and said calmly, "I understand."

As soon as she walked out of the office, Director Ke and Director Yuan, who had been waiting outside, immediately approached her.

They waited until they had walked some distance away to ask, "Director Shi, how did it go?"

For a moment, Shi Qin didn’t know how to start talking.

She leveraged the relationship as Zhou Zheng’s mistress to, as the director of the Secretariat Section, unite the other section directors together.

Others, considering Zhou Zheng’s influence, were willing to make her the core and form a small interest group.

Now, with Song Guanchao having publicly targeted them, Shi Qin stepped in but it was ineffective.

This made her feel aggrieved, while also realizing that the City Government had undergone a complete transformation.

Wu Qiangwei, having arrived only two months ago, had already completely taken over the City Government, where her word was law.

Their past glory would no longer exist.

The only thing they could do was keep their heads down and cooperate.

Anyone who dared to resist, like Yao Guangsong who had already been dismissed, was an example.

Shi Qin informed them about the current situation.

The two fell silent after listening.

They obviously hadn’t expected the situation to reach such an extent.

Their fluctuating nerves left them uneasy.

Director Yuan said something foolish: "Let’s inform Secretary Zhou."

Shi Qin replied, "Secretary Zhou is the City Secretary, and this is the City Government. He can’t manage this, nor should he."

"Then what should we do?" Director Yuan anxiously asked, "He’s planning to sideline old Ke and me!" 𝗳𝐫𝚎𝗲𝚠𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝘃𝚎𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝗺

Shi Qin said, "Go and admit your mistakes to him, be sincere, and it might help a bit."

Her tone wasn’t very confident.

Judging from Song Guanchao’s performance, even if they did admit their mistakes, it might not be very effective.

Song Guanchao had already made it clear that he felt uneasy using people who weren’t his own.

The best outcome would be being sidelined.

With a change of leadership comes a change of personnel; Wu Qiangwei’s rise to power meant Zhang Yan and Zhou Zheng’s people couldn’t be trusted.

Shi Qin stopped talking, left them behind, and returned to the office.

The two looked at each other, and Director Yuan asked, "What now?"

Director Ke sighed, "Let’s go admit our mistakes."

Director Yuan gritted his teeth and said, "Admitting mistakes might not work. He’s determined to marginalize us."

"Whether there were mistakes or not, we at least need to make a gesture."

Director Ke was now more concerned about whether they would be marginalized, fearing that Song Guanchao might go further and eliminate them altogether.

Knock knock.

They went to the office and gently knocked on the door.

Song Guanchao’s voice sounded from inside, and Director Ke pushed the door open.

Song Guanchao wasn’t surprised by their initiative to seek him out.

"Director Song, I did have some matters yesterday."

As soon as they sat down, the two began to explain.

Song Guanchao did not interrupt and waited until they finished before smiling and saying, "It’s okay, just give me a heads-up if there’s something in the future."

As for the previous decision, he would not change it.

However, since they took the initiative to seek reconciliation, Song Guanchao did not plan to follow through to the end for the time being.

But their days of wielding power by relying on their head-of-department statuses were over.

The two noticed his attitude, and though they had mentally prepared, they still found it hard to accept.

Being sidelined meant they would no longer be able to use their positions for personal gain.

The loss was significant.

But they dared not confront Song Guanchao head-on.

As for reasoning... that was even harder to justify.

A higher rank crushes all opposition.

Song Guanchao was only marginalizing them for now, but if they dared to resist, perhaps the Disciplinary Committee would be involved next.

In the past, they relied on Zhou Zheng to wantonly amass wealth without restraint, and it couldn’t withstand scrutiny.

Ultimately, they left discouraged.

In the following days, the City Government fell into a rather eerie atmosphere.

The directors of other sections began to observe silently.

They noticed that all matters, big and small, in the Information Section and the Political and Legal Section were being handled by two deputy directors, while Director Yuan and Director Ke couldn’t intervene at all.

Seeing these obvious changes, they realized that in this confrontation, Song Guanchao had come out on top.

And it was an absolute advantage.

This change filled the other section directors with awe and spurred them to find Song Guanchao to show their stance and loyalty.

After finding Song Guanchao, they went to see Han Lan.

Their change in attitude was so apparent that Han Lan felt it most clearly.

In her free time, she also pondered that, perhaps, when dealing with this group, who only responded to hard tactics, she should occasionally be a bit more assertive.

While observing the series of changes in the City Government these days, Zhang Yan didn’t express any opinions, as if she hadn’t seen it or implicitly consented to it.

Time quickly moved to Wednesday.

On this day, news came in.

The former Governor Hou of Nanjiang Province officially retired, and Lu Zhizhong, the City Secretary of Tongzhou City, was appointed as the Governor of Nanjiang Province.

Lu Zhizhong formally took office!

The news spread like a hurricane across all cities and counties under Nanjiang Province’s jurisdiction.

By noon that day, the comprehensive section of Jiangzhou Municipal Government’s office received the news from the Provincial Government office.

Comprehensive Section Director Wang Yu knocked on Song Guanchao’s office.

"Director Song, the document from the Provincial Government office."

Wang Yu placed the document down.

Song Guanchao picked it up and read through it.

Immediately after taking office, Lu Zhizhong routinely contacted Wu Qiangwei, the Mayor of the provincial capital, Jiangzhou City, to invite her for a meeting at the Provincial Government.

After reading, he stood up and said, "I’ll go deliver it to the Mayor."

"Alright."

Due to recent events, Wang Yu was wary and cautious of him.

Worried that his next target might be her.

She kept thinking about finding an opportunity to have a good talk with Song Guanchao or perhaps invite him for a meal.

But she also felt that doing so would be overly ingratiating.

She did not belong to Zhou Zheng’s faction and had little to do with Zhang Yan, but instead had a good relationship with Han Lan.

Unlike Han Lan, however, she was very assertive in her work.

Because of her overly assertive personality, some colleagues in the Comprehensive Section often quarreled with her.

Such situations were rather rare.

And this highlighted a bigger issue with her, that she couldn’t manage her subordinates effectively, indicating a lack of capability.

Seeing her hesitating, Song Guanchao asked, "Director Wang, is there anything else?"

Wang Yu’s smile was a bit forced, and she hesitated, saying, "Director Song, will you have time tonight? I’d like to invite you to dinner."

Song Guanchao, good at capturing emotional cues from expressions, saw that she was somewhat unfamiliar with this act of inviting a superior to dinner.

She seemed like a new employee trying to show her face and build rapport with the leader while feeling it undermined her dignity.

Very conflicted.

But this, instead, proved that she wasn’t like Shi Qin or Director Yuan.

"Let’s tentatively plan it, if I’m free tonight, I’ll call you."

Song Guanchao said casually.

Wang Yu internally felt a slight relief: "Okay."

As she left the office, heading back to the Comprehensive Section, Song Guanchao made his way to Wu Qiangwei’s office.

He placed the document down and said, "Governor Lu has invited you over."