Chapter 2351 - 2351: Political Turbulence

Liu Zhizhong's political mind was now really powerful enough.

The upcoming personnel reshuffles in the Southeast had suddenly taken a turn, which made him realize something.

Pretty much everyone who ought to be moved was being moved: the young were being promoted upward, the older ones were shifted to higher posts and bigger stages, that was the norm. As long as your seniority was there and your record was there, it was as it should be.

But what about Xiong Wenwu's situation? What was going on?

He wasn't moving? At least, there was no news about him getting out.

By rights, his seniority and performance both qualified. Why wasn't he moving?

Huh???

There's a problem?

If you don't move, either you're being put on ice, or you're going down…

It was just that, at this small dinner table, Liu Zhizhong still kept these thoughts to himself.

Whether he could verify it, he'd have to go back and do his homework!

So, after leaving Zhang Qidong's home and getting back home, it was already ten at night.

Liu Zhizhong didn't bother worrying about having to report in at the Provincial City tomorrow; anyway, the whole day tomorrow was for registration.

He immediately sat down in front of the computer and started doing his homework.

Of course, he was going to search online for information about Xiong Wenwu, especially about Lu Liang's house's businesses in the Provincial City and the Southeast. He had to go through both positive and negative news, sift out the useful bits, so he could make a judgment.

After this round of searching and sorting, Liu Zhizhong discovered a huge problem.

On the spot, he further firmed up his political intuition: Xiong Wenwu might be finished!

Xiong Wenwu himself didn't really have any problems.

The problem was Lu Liang's house! Their group company in the Provincial City, there'd been talk lately that it might be about to blow up!

Putting together the information from all the platforms, it turned out Xiong Wenwu had given Lu Liang's house their first and second bucket of gold, back when he was a County Mayor elsewhere.

And that county had just recently seen a former secretary get unlucky, dragged out in a retrospective investigation campaign. Liu Zhizhong remembered Xiong Wenwu mentioning this secretary's name; back then he'd treated Xiong quite well.

After thinking deeply for a moment, Liu Zhizhong called Wang Chenglong in the middle of the night, talked a bit about the current political landscape in the Southeast, and then indirectly asked about Xiong Wenwu—why there was still no wind of any change in his post.

Wang Chenglong was quite a character too; he genuinely thought highly of Liu Zhizhong.

So he said straight over the phone: "Brother Zhizhong, don't worry about other people, just take care of yourself. As for Xiong, I'm afraid the rest of his life is set—he'll be spending it inside. That's all I can say, sigh… bit of a pity, he was actually a decent guy."

Hearing that, Liu Zhizhong understood everything. "Got it, Brother Wang, I understand. Then let's meet tomorrow night?"

Indeed, Wang Chenglong knew Liu Zhizhong was going to the Provincial City for training, so he'd already invited him in advance to have dinner together after he reported in.

Of course, what he had in mind now was to introduce his younger sister to Liu Zhizhong, heh…

Through his talk with Wang Chenglong, Liu Zhizhong solidified his judgment and was secretly a bit shocked.

On a personal level, he still wanted to save Xiong Wenwu.

But judging from Wang Chenglong's tone and reaction, this was beyond saving.

Xiong Wenwu was definitely about to crash and fall; this meant spending the rest of his life in prison!

After thinking it over, Liu Zhizhong immediately went back again to Zhang Qidong's home. At a time like this, phone calls weren't convenient, and emails would leave traces, so he had to go in person and explain the situation face-to-face to his teacher.

Zhang Qidong was also taken aback, never imagining that his student's sensitive nose was actually right.

Over these recent days, working as a team with Xiong Wenwu, he had indeed found a tacit understanding and was very reluctant to lose such talent.

But politics sometimes doesn't bend to personal feelings!

Zhang Qidong asked what could be done, if there was any way to help him.

Liu Zhizhong said, "Teacher, I know what you're thinking—you want to help Bear Market—but that's too hard, you know that, right?"

Zhang Qidong's mood was a bit low. "I didn't expect him to end up like this. It really is too hard to help him. But when you think about a man like him, who's been relatively clean, having to go in, it really is a bit of a waste. Once a person loses his freedom, what's the difference from a walking corpse?"

After thinking for a moment, Liu Zhizhong produced his trump card, whispered for a while, and then left.

The rest, he left to Zhang Qidong.

When it came to his student, Zhang Qidong was truly full of admiration. God knows how much of a genius this student was.

So, that very night, Zhang Qidong drove out again—strictly speaking it counted as driving after drinking, but it wasn't a big issue. He could really hold his liquor, and it had been three or four hours since dinner; the alcohol had long worn off.

Zhang Qidong stepped into Xiong Wenwu's home, and the two of them talked for over an hour before the matter was settled.

That night, there was no way Xiong Wenwu could sleep. He knew the time had come for the final decision. That kid Liu Zhizhong was really remarkable; his alertness and sensitivity were both very strong. If not for him, the Xiong Family really would have been finished, and so…

At eight o'clock the next morning, in accordance with the City Organization Department's instructions, Liu Zhizhong waited at the highway entrance to meet up with Zhang Xiaoyang and the other two, then set off together for the Provincial City for training.

For this trip to the Provincial City, of course they could each drive their own car. After all, this was a full-time training stint, close to half a year in total, quite a long period. Everyone needed some private life; having your own car was more convenient.

Originally, Dongnan City was supposed to send six people this time, but in the end there were only four slots: Liu Zhizhong and Zhang Xiaoyang, Zhang Xiaoyang's cousin Lu Jie, and another one was the Mayor's little confidante Du Shali—those all counted as connections.

When Liu Zhizhong arrived, the other three hadn't shown up yet. He waited in his car, which was parked on the roadside by the highway entrance, near the park.

Not long after, Zhang Xiaoyang drove up in a domestic SUV that looked quite ordinary and parked behind Liu Zhizhong's car.

Liu Zhizhong hadn't noticed Zhang Xiaoyang, but Zhang Xiaoyang had recognized Liu Zhizhong's car, so he pulled in right behind him.

Zhang Xiaoyang got out, his belly sticking out, and walked over to greet Liu Zhizhong on his own initiative.

"Yo, Director Liu, here so early? Looks like you can't wait, huh?"

Liu Zhizhong smiled calmly. "County Mayor Zhang, saying that about me isn't very meaningful. We're all the same—keen to move up, better early than late."

Zhang Xiaoyang nodded. "Move up, sure, who doesn't want to move up, right? I hear your teacher's on the rise too, going to train at the top-notch school in Tiandu, that's something. When he comes back, he'll probably be promoted. Think you'll get to bask in his reflected glory?"

Liu Zhizhong was quite composed. "The teacher has his career path, the student has his own struggle. County Mayor Zhang, isn't it a bit too early to be saying these things now?"