Rebirth of the Rising Sun

Thinking of this, Zhou Xingxing became much calmer. He deliberately forgot about his encounter with Feng Sizhe and regarded it all as a beautiful dream.

More than half an hour later, the graduation meeting was over, and Zhou Xingxing went back to the dormitory to pack his things and prepare to take the bus to Yongyang. Just as he arrived at the gate of the Party School with his bag on his back, he was stopped by Li Shuang, Feng Sizhe's driver who had been waiting for him there.

"Comrade Zhou Xingxing, here, here." Li Shuang was waiting for him here specifically on Feng Sizhe's instructions.

When Zhou Xingxing saw Li Shuang, he was also extremely excited and ran over immediately, "Comrade Li Shuang, hello."

Thinking back, Li Shuang was not Feng Sizhe's first driver. The drivers at that time also looked down on the young Feng Sizhe. Later, Li Shuang had good vision and followed Feng Sizhe and never let go. He has been serving him for so many years. As for the previous driver Xiao Wang, no one knows where he has gone now. I'm afraid he has been expelled from the system a long time ago. Originally, there was no regular staff for drivers in the county at that time. With the country's strict management of the civil service in recent years, it is normal for people like him to be laid off.

Zhou Xingxing appeared next to Zhou Xingxing with a very envious expression, and Zhou Xingxing was a generous person. He opened the trunk casually, took Zhou Xingxing's luggage, and put the things into the trunk of the Audi.

"Comrade Li Shuang, what are you doing?" Zhou Xingxing looked at his luggage being detained and spoke nervously when he thought about his failure to get leave.

"What to do? Didn't the boss tell you? He wanted to treat you to lunch. Now the boss has gone to the Provincial Party Committee to take care of some things. He will come after he is done. He has already booked a private room in the Zhongyuan Hotel. I will take you there first." Li Shuang looked at Zhou Xingxing and said happily. No matter what, everyone is from Dahu County. It is normal for fellow villagers to get excited when they meet.

"Ah? But I..." Zhou Xingxing didn't expect Feng Sizhe still remembered this sentence. He couldn't help but feel ashamed of his own thoughts. He thought that others just said it casually, otherwise he would be more decisive when asking for leave, and maybe he would get the leave.

"What? You are not happy." Li Shuang continued to ask with a smile. In his opinion, this was the action that Zhou Xingxing would take when he was overwhelmed by happiness. After all, Secretary Feng wanted to invite him to dinner, which was not an honor that every cadre would have. What's more, Zhou Xingxing was only a section-level cadre now. Whether he could be promoted to deputy director depended on the arrangement of Yongyang City.

"It's not that I don't want to, it's just that I... didn't ask for leave." In front of Li Shuang, Zhou Xingxing spoke much more naturally, at least he didn't feel so much pressure and worries.

"Oh? What do you mean?" Li Shuang also heard that something was wrong, so he asked.

"This is the situation." Since he had already said it, he might as well explain everything. Zhou Xingxing then told him about the phone call he had just made to ask for leave, and also talked about some of the disagreements between his father-in-law and Wang Guxiang.

Li Shuang listened to all of this carefully and just nodded, "Okay, since the boss wants to treat you to a meal, you have to go no matter what. As for how things will develop in the future, I think you should ask the boss first." After following Feng Sizhe for so many years, Li Shuang has become accustomed to following Feng Sizhe's attitude in everything. He never makes comments before the boss gives instructions.

Zhou Xingxing thought about it and realized that it made sense. It was a rare opportunity to have dinner with the leader. Compared with being criticized by the leader, it was nothing. As the saying goes, there are gains and losses. If you think positively, you can let it go.

Following Li Shuang, they came to Zhongzhou Hotel and waited in a very luxurious box for about half an hour. Feng Sizhe walked in with Liu Fei. As soon as they entered the room, he said embarrassedly, "I'm late, I'm late. I'm sorry to have kept you waiting for so long."

"Secretary Feng, please don't say that. You are very busy and it is my duty to wait for you." Zhou Xingxing could not accept Feng Sizhe's apology and quickly said it was okay.

"Haha, I don't dare to be so busy. Today we are together just to talk about friendship. Don't flatter me. Come, Liu Fei, let me introduce you. This is Zhou Xingxing. He is my first secretary when I first entered the officialdom." Feng Sizhe was obviously in a good mood today. He just went to see Guan Changxiao with Comrade Lu Xianwen. Guan Changxiao's opinion was that since Zhuangcheng City was stable, Feng Sizhe should look more at the province. Thinking that his horizons should be broadened, Feng Sizhe's mood also became much brighter.

"Hello, my name is Liu Fei. Thank you for your guidance in the future." Liu Fei hurriedly stepped forward. Since the person in front of him was his senior, he should show you the respect he deserves.

"Hello, hello, Director Liu, my name is Zhou Xingxing, and I should be asking you for advice." How could Zhou Xingxing dare to put on airs in front of Liu Fei? The other person's rank was already deputy director, and he believed that it wouldn't take long for his official position to continue to rise. In comparison, what was he?

"Support each other, help each other, please take a seat." Liu Fei was very humble. Although he didn't know why Zhou Xingxing became the boss's secretary and his current rank was not even that of deputy director, he knew that since Feng Sizhe would invite him to dinner, it proved that he still had some concern in his heart. Naturally, he had to be polite to such a person.

With Li Shuang and the other three, the dining atmosphere was very casual. There was no distinction between leaders and subordinates. They told a few jokes and talked about some interesting things they had heard and seen. Everyone was very happy. After the meal, Li Shuang watched Feng Sizhe start drinking tea, and then he told him about Zhou Xingxing's request for leave from his leader being rejected.

Zhou Xingxing was very grateful to Li Shuang. If he hadn't said it, he would have been too embarrassed to talk about it.

"Well, I have to say that Comrade Wang Guxiang did a good job. There is no order without rules, haha. But I was very happy to meet Xingxing today. It was me who insisted on keeping him. I should be responsible for all the mistakes. So, I will explain the situation to the leaders of Yongyang City." Feng Sizhe did not seem angry. Instead, he thought that Wang Guxiang was very disciplined and he was very happy.

When Feng Sizhe said this, Zhou Xingxing was even more moved. If the leader could speak for himself, then who would dare to say anything if he returned a week late? Secretary Liu Fei had already found the phone number of Sun Zhongping, secretary of the Yongyang Municipal Party Committee, dialed it, and handed it to Feng Sizhe.

The call was quickly connected. Sun Zhongping was also having dinner with Li Yige, the newly appointed deputy secretary of the Yongyang Municipal Party Committee. When he saw his phone ring, he was a little unhappy and couldn't even eat in peace. But when he saw that the caller ID was Director Liu Fei, he immediately put down his chopsticks and said to the phone in a very respectful tone, "Hello, Director Liu, this is Sun Zhongping."

"Comrade Zhongping, this is Feng Sizhe. I hope I didn't disturb you at work." Feng Sizhe's voice came from the other end of the phone.

When he heard that it was Feng Sizhe instead of Liu Fei, Sun Zhongping became even more respectful. "No, Secretary Feng, what are you talking about? I'm actually free."

"Oh, I'm glad you didn't bother me. Here's what happened. I met Zhou Xingxing, a cadre from your Yongyang City, in the provincial capital today. We had dinner together, but it seemed that a comrade named Wang Guxiang from your Municipal Party Committee Organization Department was very abiding by the rules. He didn't give Zhou Xingxing leave. So I thought of calling you to use a back door, haha." Feng Sizhe laughed. Although he said he would use a back door, in fact, he didn't know how many cadres below were thinking of giving Feng Sizhe this back door.

"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry. I will say hello to Comrade Wang Guxiang. Please rest assured, Secretary Feng." When Sun Zhongping heard that his subordinates were so mean and dared not give face to Feng Sizhe, he was shocked immediately. Did Wang Guxiang want to quit his job? He actually dared to treat Secretary Feng like this and even didn't report to him after the incident. If this left a bad impression on the leader, it would be terrible.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I broke the rules. OK, that's it. Just make a call and tell me the situation." After saying that, Feng Sizhe hung up the phone. There was really no need for him to be overly polite to Sun Zhongping. Some words only needed to be mentioned briefly. If he said too much, it would make the other party nervous, and the result would be counterproductive.

But Feng Sizhe didn't know that the result of this call had already backfired.

Sun Zhongping, who answered the phone, was having dinner with Li Yi'ge. Ever since he defeated Wang Wei and became the secretary of the Yongyang Municipal Party Committee, his political goals and demands have greatly increased, and his personal work enthusiasm has been fully mobilized. He is planning a major adjustment of the city's cadres, and the movement of cadres is naturally inseparable from Li Yi'ge, the deputy secretary in charge of personnel. The two of them took the opportunity of dinner today to discuss this matter together.

Feng Sizhe's call disrupted the rhythm of their conversation. Seeing Sun Zhongping hang up the phone, Li Yige asked carefully, "Secretary Sun, is it Secretary Feng who called?"

"Yes, it was Secretary Feng who called. He said he was having dinner with a comrade from our city named Zhou Xingxing, and he asked for leave from Comrade Wang Guxiang of the Municipal Party Committee, but was denied. He hoped that I could call and explain the matter to him, so as to use the back door, haha." Sun Zhongping was still a little confused about why Feng Sizhe made this call and what his main purpose was, so he told him the whole content of the call.