Chapter 98: Yang Dong’s Clever Response

The two men arrived at the entrance of the City Committee's leadership conference room on the fifth floor, where they saw a man in his thirties seated outside. He was impeccably dressed, his hair meticulously combed, wearing a black round-neck suit.

“Secretary Wang, I am the head of the city discipline inspection investigation team, here to report our work to Secretary Wu and the other Committee members,” Su Tongzhou greeted the young man promptly upon seeing him.

Wang Shun, seeing Su Tongzhou accompanied by a younger man, did not smile; his expression was stern, even tinged with anger.

“Why are you only just arriving? The leaders have been waiting for you!”

“Wait here first, I’ll go report to the leaders,” Wang Shun said curtly, his attitude chilly, before turning to enter the conference room.

Yang Dong recognized Wang Shun; during his time in the city government office, he had met this chief secretary to the City Committee several times.

It’s often said that the chief secretary to the City Committee’s top official wields more power than a department head, and that is no exaggeration. He may not be able to help you, but he can easily hinder you.

But at this moment, Yang Dong was thinking about Uncle Yin’s arrangements for him. Uncle Yin had said that once his secondment to the disciplinary investigation team ended, he would arrange for Yang Dong to serve as the mayor's secretary.

That would make him the nominal second secretary in the city government, wouldn’t it? It seemed there would be no shortage of interactions with Wang Shun in the future.

How could he avoid embarrassing the leaders, and also satisfy the mayor? Yang Dong knew he had to devise a plan.

“What are you thinking about? Let’s go!” Suddenly, Su Tongzhou gave him a sharp slap, pulling Yang Dong back to reality.

Yang Dong immediately followed Su Tongzhou towards the conference room.

Wang Shun stood by the door; as Yang Dong passed him, he thought he heard Wang Shun snort, though perhaps it was just his imagination. When he looked, he saw that Wang Shun was focused on the Committee leaders, not on him at all.

Yang Dong withdrew his thoughts, blocking out all distractions, and focused entirely on preparing to report the case.

Wang Shun closed the conference room door softly, his figure disappearing outside.

Yang Dong followed Su Tongzhou into the City Committee leadership conference room, a place all cadres aspired to enter.

At the main seat of the antique, curved, elongated conference table sat an elderly man with graying temples, glasses, and a gray jacket—the most distinguished figure in Lingyun City, Secretary Wu Xinkai.

To Wu Xinkai’s immediate left was a man in his forties, the mayor, Hou Yong.

Seated next to Hou Yong was a dignified middle-aged woman, Qi Xiuping, the executive vice mayor of Lingyun City and the true number two figure in the city government.

Guan Jiujie’s father, Guan Mushan, the city discipline inspection secretary, sat opposite Qi Xiuping.

The other seats were occupied by several other Committee members.

Yang Dong kept his eyes straight ahead, yet he expertly observed each Committee member, a skill honed during his time in the city government office.

“Su Tongzhou, the director of the First Discipline Inspection and Supervision Office, also the executive deputy leader of the city discipline inspection investigation team,” Guan Mushan spoke at an apt moment, introducing Su Tongzhou and signaling him to report.

In truth, Guan Mushan was surprised to see Yang Dong present. He had not asked Yang Dong to report, clearly Su Tongzhou’s decision. But it was understandable—after all, the tenth task force was responsible for the Gu Santong case, and Yang Dong was the one most familiar with every detail.

“Thank you, Secretary Guan.”

Su Tongzhou nodded to Guan Mushan, then addressed the Committee leaders: “Secretary Wu, Mayor Hou, all leaders, the city discipline inspection investigation team is divided into ten groups, each responsible for cases involving law-breaking or disciplinary violations by cadres.”

“The tenth investigation group specifically handled the corruption case of Gu Santong, director of the city education bureau.”

“After thorough investigation, we found major corruption issues with Gu Santong, and located the villa where he received bribes.”

“The tenth group conducted a late-night raid on the villa. Inside the refrigerator, under the floorboards on the second floor, on the bed, and in the kitchen cabinets, we found large amounts of cash. After counting by the case review staff, the total came to 21.3 million yuan.”

“This does not include twenty fifty-gram gold bars hidden under the floorboards, more than a dozen white tiger skin rugs, and a villa worth at least three million yuan. The total amount of embezzlement exceeds twenty-five million.”

“According to Gu Santong’s confession, these serious sums were accumulated during his tenure as chief of the fiscal bureau's comprehensive section, deputy director of the fiscal bureau, executive deputy director of the education bureau, and director of the education bureau.”

“All relevant materials are here for your review, leaders.”

Su Tongzhou finished his report and glanced at Yang Dong.

Yang Dong immediately took out the eleven case files from his folder, acting as a secretary, personally distributing them to the Committee members.

But even the distribution of materials was fraught with subtlety.

Should he distribute according to rank, position, or proximity?

Guan Mushan watched Yang Dong, curious how he would handle it.

Even a small matter could cause dissatisfaction among the leaders.

Leaders are only human, not saints—a minor action could offend.

Wu Xinkai stared at Yang Dong impassively, having already recognized the young man. He had reviewed Yang Dong's file several times.

Committee Organization Minister Gu Tong smiled at Yang Dong, recognizing him as the young man who had once saved his elder back home. But this trivial matter required no intervention from him. That day’s meeting had only happened because the mayor and the discipline inspection secretary spoke up for Yang Dong, so he merely went with the flow. The favor was not for Yang Dong, but to signal his attitude to the mayor and secretary.

Unexpectedly, the first Committee member to receive the case materials from Yang Dong was not the Secretary or the Mayor, but the discipline inspection secretary, Guan Mushan.

As a group leader in the discipline inspection investigation team, handing the materials first to his direct superior was perfectly appropriate.

“All right, to save time, just give them all to me,” Guan Mushan said, taking the files from Yang Dong and waving him off. He passed them to Secretary Wu Xinkai and the deputy secretary Wei Liming, then to Mayor Hou Yong and Executive Vice Mayor Qi Xiuping, and finally slid a pile across the table for the other Committee members to take.

Minister Gu Tong, upon receiving the materials, did not immediately open them but glanced at Yang Dong and nodded. In his mind, Yang Dong’s resourcefulness scored ninety points—high marks for a young clerk.

Secretary Guan Mushan had also lent Yang Dong a hand by taking over the distribution. Yang Dong’s choice to hand the materials first to Guan Mushan was an implicit request for help. If Guan Mushan hadn’t noticed, Yang Dong was prepared to stand beside him and hand the materials in order: first to the Secretary and Deputy Secretary, then to the Mayor and Executive Vice Mayor, then according to rank.

Whatever happened, Yang Dong would have handled it without error.

“This young man, I have a question.”

Once all the Committee members had the case materials, one suddenly raised his hand and looked at Yang Dong.

Yang Dong turned to the member.

“Secretary Tan, please go ahead.”

Tan Long’s brows rose in surprise at Yang Dong’s words, and he smiled, “Oh? You know who I am?”