Chapter 1915

Chapter 1915: Chapter 1915

In the afternoon, Xiang Yang knocked lightly on Secretary Gao’s office door.

"Secretary Gao, Secretary Zhou called at noon and told me some things, asking me to pass them on."

Xiang Yang recounted to Secretary Gao what Zhou Zheng had said over the phone.

Secretary Gao’s expression didn’t change, and he nodded, saying, "I understand."

After Xiang Yang left the office, Secretary Gao dialed Wu Qiangwei’s number.

"Secretary Gao." Wu Qiangwei guessed that Secretary Gao was contacting her probably about the museum artifact case.

Secretary Gao asked, "What’s going on with the Jiangzhou Museum case?"

As expected, Wu Qiangwei organized her thoughts and began to explain clearly.

After she finished speaking, Secretary Gao asked, "Why didn’t you communicate with Secretary Zhou during this period?"

She completely trusted Secretary Gao, and there was nothing she couldn’t say to him.

She frankly admitted that she was uncertain about who in the city might be involved at the time and was worried about alerting someone prematurely.

This concern was reasonable. After hearing this, Secretary Gao sighed softly and said, "You might not trust the people in the city, but surely you trust those at the provincial level? If something like this happens again, report it to the province."

Wu Qiangwei detected a hint of something unspoken and asked, "Is Secretary Zhou angry?"

Secretary Gao responded, "He complained to me, saying you don’t respect him."

Wu Qiangwei remained silent. She had not informed the City Committee purely because she wanted to resolve the case, not because she had issues with anyone.

However, saying that wouldn’t help and would only make Zhou Zheng angrier.

Seeing Wu Qiangwei’s silence, Secretary Gao said, "I’ll tell him that County Party Secretary Xu informed me about it and that I instructed you to investigate."

"Thank you, Secretary Gao."

"Mm." After discussing the main issue, Secretary Gao casually asked, "I heard you’re planning to restart the Wensong District Cultural Industrial Park. How’s that going?"

Wu Qiangwei’s heart skipped. She suddenly thought of the rumor that Secretary Gao might be leaving Nanjiang.

"This year’s main task is to work on the industrial park’s revival. We’ve reached a preliminary cooperation with a top Japanese company, and a Fortune 500 multinational corporation is also coming to Jiangzhou for inspection shortly."

"Oh? That’s quite good." Secretary Gao was surprised; he only knew that the hundreds of small and medium-sized enterprises Wu Qiangwei brought from Pinghai City were about to move into the industrial park.

He hadn’t heard about the other ventures.

"Secretary Zhou is also busy with business attraction. The atmosphere in Jiangzhou City is quite positive. You need to work hard not to fall too far behind Secretary Zhou."

At first glance, Secretary Gao’s words seemed ordinary, but combined with the rumors she’d heard, they carried deeper meaning.

"You go ahead and get busy. In the future, if you’re unsure about any decision, communicate more with the province."

"Okay."

After hanging up, Wu Qiangwei suddenly realized Secretary Gao hadn’t given any instructions about the museum artifact case.

Did he forget?

No way!

Even though Secretary Gao was older, his mind was still clear, and his energy was far greater than that of most younger people.

He couldn’t possibly forget something so important.

The fact that he didn’t remind her indicated he didn’t want to intervene.

How to handle it was entirely up to Wu Qiangwei.

Holding the situation in mind, Wu Qiangwei called Liang Jianfeng, "Mayor Liang, make the arrests."

...

Zhou Zheng received a call from Secretary Gao, and he was not surprised at all.

When a gap appears between the top two leaders in the city, Secretary Gao would definitely have to step in to mediate; otherwise, it could cause problems.

However, the content of Secretary Gao’s call was not what he imagined as comfort for himself and criticism for Wu Qiangwei.

Secretary Gao said that the County Party Secretary of Lishan County heard about the artifact switching case, realized the seriousness of the situation, and contacted him directly instead of the city.

He didn’t want to blow things up, so he instructed Wu Qiangwei to handle it and report back to Zhou Zheng once it was resolved.

He deliberately used the term "report" to try to alleviate Zhou Zheng’s displeasure.

With the conversation reaching this point, Zhou Zheng couldn’t argue further.

Even though he knew that Secretary Gao was protecting Wu Qiangwei by fabricating a story, it was pointless.

Was he supposed to directly question Secretary Gao?

"So that’s how it is." Zhou Zheng put on a smile, pretending to be unaware.

Then, Secretary Gao inquired about his business trip, offering some encouragement before ending the call.

"Damn!" Zhou Zheng rarely cursed, but he felt even more driven regarding this business trip.

He had to achieve something significant and couldn’t allow Wu Qiangwei to get ahead of him.

Even if not entering the Standing Committee, he wouldn’t easily hand over the position of City Secretary!

...

"Knock knock."

"Come in." Song Guanchao looked up, seeing Jiang Yiren walk in.

Song Guanchao felt a bit helpless and watched her sit down before asking, "What’s up?"

Jiang Yiren said, "I’m inviting you to dinner tonight."

"Why are you inviting me out of the blue... Did your dad want me?" He suspected if Yu Susu wanted to see him.

"No, I’m inviting you." Jiang Yiren said, "You just got back from a business trip. You’re not busy tonight, right?"

"...Not busy." Song Guanchao really couldn’t find a reason to refuse.

Besides, she’d been wanting to have dinner with him, asked many times, but they never managed to schedule it.

"But I’m a bit tired." Song Guanchao thought, I just returned from a business trip, being tired is reasonable, right?

He thought if he used this as an excuse, Jiang Yiren would be upset, but she showed concern on her face instead, saying, "Then never mind. I’ll invite you again once you’ve rested."

"Mm..."

Such understanding left Song Guanchao not knowing how to react.

He skeptically watched her, feeling that something was off about her today.

"Are you feeling unwell?"

Seeing his expression, Jiang Yiren thought he was unwell, asking out of concern.

"No, just a bit tired. I’ve been on a long business trip and haven’t been sleeping enough." Song Guanchao quickly rubbed his temples.

Jiang Yiren suddenly stood up, "Let me give you a massage."

She said, walking behind Song Guanchao and placing her delicate hands on his shoulders.

"No, no need." Song Guanchao stopped her, saying, "This is an office; it wouldn’t be good if someone saw."

Under normal circumstances, Jiang Yiren would have asked if he was disdaining her.

Today she was really acting unusual, as she immediately returned to her seat upon his words.

"Did you go to Beijing to meet the person in charge of Sam?" Jiang Yiren asked cautiously.

"Mm."

"Actually, you’re already amazing, even if you didn’t secure the investment, it’s okay. Besides, you’re just the office director, and business attraction shouldn’t have been your responsibility. Don’t pressure yourself too much."

Jiang Yiren suddenly began to comfort him, leaving Song Guanchao bewildered and confused.

Listening further, he slowly realized her concern.

She seemed worried he might be affected by the circulated news of his failure to attract investment and the external rumors impacting him.

So she specifically came to offer comfort?

Understanding her thoughts, Song Guanchao didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

He wanted to say that the investment had not failed; the company would soon visit for inspection.

But remembering Wu Qiangwei’s advice, he kept it to himself, just nodding along in agreement.

"If you want to drink tonight, I can keep you company."

Jiang Yiren’s big eyes looked at him, with a hint of shyness, "If you feel tired, you can come to my place, or we can drink at yours."

She almost explicitly said she was ready for anything to happen.

Song Guanchao avoided her affectionate gaze, feigning exhaustion as he shook his head, "Maybe next time, I really need a good rest these days."

Jiang Yiren quickly hid her disappointment, and with a sweet smile, nodded before spending a bit more time in the office and leaving.