Nominal: Who isn't a son-in-law?

"What about the other comrades? Speak freely!"

After the applause ended, Li Zhiguo spoke.

"Let me say a few words."

The speaker was a woman around fifty years old, with short hair, a very capable appearance, and wearing glasses. She was Zou Yufang, the propaganda minister of the Standing Committee of the Handong Provincial Party Committee.

"Secretary Li, Governor Tian, ​​comrades, I am the Minister of Propaganda. I bear some responsibility for the issue that Comrade Lichun just raised regarding some cadres' inability to change their mindset. As for the Writers' Association, there are many problems right now, and I will deal with them strictly after the meeting. Fortunately, Comrade Shijun took over this responsibility and solved the problem for me..."

"Now, regarding the publication of this report, I would like to share some personal opinions. First, we must clarify the positioning of our publicity efforts and highlight the core strengths. This report is a concentrated reflection of the work done by the entire Handong Province over the past ten years, and it also reflects our earnest expectations for future development. When publishing this report in Party newspapers and daily newspapers, we must emphasize the key points and clarify the central ideas, so that our comrades are well-informed, and more importantly, so that the people can understand and accept it, and know what we have accomplished in the past ten years and what positive changes we have brought to everyone..."

"Secondly, we need to coordinate and integrate publicity channels, promoting them through newspapers, books, television, and other channels, with each level of publicity department preparing contingency plans..."

"The third is..."

"In addition, I would like to ask the comrades of Daxia Daily to publicize this more at the national level... That concludes my views."

After the applause, Li Zhiguo nodded and said, "I think Comrade Yufang's points are very good and can be implemented as a practical plan. Do any other comrades have any other opinions?"

Discipline Inspection Commission Secretary: "I'd like to talk about some of the cadres mentioned in the report..."

Secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Commission: "Let me talk about the political and legal aspects of the report..."

Standing Committee Member of the Military Region: "I am a military officer."

……

After everyone had expressed their opinions, Li Zhiguo nodded in satisfaction. They were very united, speaking freely and having their own opinions. It wasn't a one-man show where whatever he said was the only truth. He had done a good job as class monitor.

Li Zhiguo tapped the table with his finger and said with a smile, "Thanks to Comrade Shijun's report, our Standing Committee meeting today has become somewhat like a democratic life meeting. Very good. Some comrades have recognized their shortcomings and are willing to actively improve, which is good. We are not afraid of making mistakes, but we are afraid of being stubborn and unrepentant. I hope that comrades can learn from this in their future work."

"Now, let's invite the author of the report, our great writer, Comrade Shijun, to speak." Li Zhiguo picked up his thermos and documents and sat down in the empty seat next to Tian Yushen.

This is the usual practice for expanded meetings; it just depends on whether any of the expanded participants want to speak.

Often, those who are amplified are the ones who come in to listen; they just need to nod and answer yes or no.

But some people wanted to say a few words, and at that time the empty seat next to the governor was given to the secretary.

After all, you can't expect the speaker to stand still while the other standing committee members crane their necks to see.

As for standing across from the secretary's desk, what kind of talk is that?

Upon hearing his name called, Chu Shijun took a deep breath and walked towards the main table of the conference.

Jiang Tiankuo, Han Yongming, and others watched this scene with envy on their faces; they were destined to only be able to clap and applaud today.

Meanwhile, the secretaries and recorders behind him, while envious, twitched at the corners of their mouths. They figured that if this great writer went up there, they would have to write a lot more.

Arriving at Li Zhiguo's previous seat, Chu Shijun did not sit down but stood upright. Seeing both rows of eyes fixed on him, his heart tightened, and he spoke:

"Secretary Li, Governor Tian, ​​distinguished members of the Standing Committee, comrades, as a student of Hanzhong University of Science and Technology, I am honored to stand here and speak, and I am also honored to undertake the glorious task of writing the report on the reform and opening up and development of Handong. To be honest, when I first received this task..." (I'll stop here, everyone should have had their moments of frustration.)

"..."

"Finally, I personally express my sincere wishes and earnest expectations for the vision of Handong Province for the next ten years outlined in the report. I believe that under the leadership of the Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial Government, comrades in all cities, districts, counties, and enterprises will surely be able to hold high the great banner, firmly guided by ideology and theory, implement the development expectations put forward by the comrades in the report, and lay a more solid foundation for future development." (The leaders expanded on this themselves.)

After speaking, Chu Shijun bowed deeply and returned to his seat amidst applause led by Li Zhiguo.

"Comrades have all heard what Comrade Shijun, the one who wrote the report, said. I won't say anything else here, but I'll just say one thing: the publication of the report should be implemented as soon as possible. Comrade Yufang, go down and get the regulations as soon as possible. At the same time, after the report is published, all comrades should pay attention to doing their work well. This is a very important matter."

Meeting adjourned.

……

After the meeting, Chu Shijun and Jiang Tiankuo came to the curb outside the provincial party committee building again, smoking to ease their tension.

Han Yongming was originally supposed to come, but he was called away by Zou Yufang halfway through. The president of the Handong Daily also went with him.

"Shijun, I reckon you'll be coming here quite a few times these next few days. Just find Xiao Liu and have him drive you around."

Xiao Liu was the driver, named Liu Yu, and Chu Shijun had gotten to know him on these two occasions.

"No need, it's not far, why bother Brother Liu? Besides, you need the car too." Chu Shijun waved his hand and refused.

"I'll usually stay at school when I'm not busy. We'll decide how much I need. If you need anything, just contact him. But I reckon if anything happens, the call will come to me. I'll have Xiao Liu contact you directly. In short, just stay at school during this time and don't wander off," Jiang Tiankuo instructed.

"Well, okay then, thank you, Principal."

Chu Shijun nodded in agreement. He was just being polite. As the principal, if Jiang Tiankuo wanted to go out, he would be prepared to get in the car even if there was no car. Why not take a ride? It would save him the trouble of running around. He was running around for the whole of Handong. What was wrong with him enjoying himself?

"That's more like it. If you were just going out for fun, then it wouldn't matter. But you're doing it for work, so having a car will make things more convenient. But I reckon that after a few years of selling your books, you'll be able to buy your own car, haha."

Jiang Tiankuo said with a smile.

"There's no need to go to Comrade Lichun's place. He pointed out the problem at the meeting. He's a smart man and knows how to make things work in his own best interest. What you wrote this time might actually have helped him."

At the meeting, Zhao Lichun pointed out nothing more than that he had gone to a guesthouse to work in the summer while enjoying the air conditioning. Chen Yanshi had held a grudge about this and made a self-criticism at the Jingzhou Municipal Standing Committee meeting.

Does Zhao Lichun have any other problems? Perhaps he does, perhaps he doesn't; it depends on the perspective.

At this juncture, he took advantage of the report to point out the issue and then made a self-criticism at the provincial standing committee meeting, which can be said to have magnified this small matter but also completely smoothed it over. Therefore, Jiang Tiankuo said that he was a smart person, and Chu Shijun could also see this.

In the drama, if Zhao Lichun didn't have that troublesome son Zhao Ruilong, and if he himself didn't value power so much, he might have been able to retire peacefully.

Of course, in that case, he wouldn't be Zhao Lichun.