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

"Yes, I find that strange too."

Jiang Xueyu nodded in deep agreement, then tossed away the cigarette butt in her hand, took out a cigarette pack from her pocket, took out two cigarettes, and lit them.

"I usually eat well and sleep soundly. After work, I go home, eat dinner, read a book, and fall asleep as soon as I lie down in bed. But this year, I've been busy and my sleep has become very light. I've only recently started to settle down, but today I suddenly can't sleep. It's so strange."

"call"

Xu Nuojun exhaled a puff of smoke and shook his head, saying, "Maybe it's just insomnia. I don't want to think about it too much. I'll take a walk, go for a stroll to relax. If I still can't sleep, I have to work tomorrow and have a meeting."

"Yes, that makes sense."

The two walked slowly along the inner road. The streetlights on both sides had not yet turned off, so the environment was not too dark.

After walking for a few minutes, Jiang Xueyu suddenly said, "Old Xu, you're going to a meeting tomorrow. I heard they notified all the top officials in the province. What's the matter?"

Xu Nuojun paused, shook her head, and said, "The notice from the office didn't say anything special, just a few work arrangements that need to be reviewed."

"Why think about that? I'll know the specifics of the work after the meeting tomorrow. Let's focus on the third-quarter report."

Speaking of this, Xu Nuojun's expression turned somewhat unpleasant, as did Jiang Xueyu's. Frustrated, they each lit another cigarette.

As everyone knows, they are now competing against Zhencheng.

Let's not even talk about the first and second quarters; Zhencheng is a bit worse than them.

In addition, Li Dakang is a newcomer, and the Zhencheng City leadership team has only been adjusted not long ago, so they attach great importance to the third quarter report.

But what happened? When the statistics bureau came out, Zhencheng's data actually caught up, only a few billion less.

This is a very dangerous line.

Their tourism industry saw significant growth in the third quarter, surpassing Zhencheng's but still catching up.

What about the fourth quarter? And the whole year?

The two men never underestimated Li Dakang, a renowned economic strategist. Previously, he needed to integrate the team and familiarize himself with the work situation in Zhencheng. Now that he was confident, he was fully committed to the task and was definitely a formidable opponent.

Not to mention that Zhencheng's economy was already quite good; the two factors combined mean it deserves our attention.

"I heard that Li Dakang was quite aggressive when he was in Handong. He led his subordinates to judge success solely by GDP. I thought that after he came here, he would suffer and run into some trouble. But I didn't expect that the group in Zhencheng would be so weak. They stuck their tails out and let others catch them."

Jiang Xueyu smiled dismissively; he was naturally referring to Zhu Yang and his group.

Moreover, he wasn't the only one who thought this way; many people in Baijiang shared this view.

Let's not even talk about Lao Chu; we're not on the same level.

You, Li Dakang, came running over here all the way from Handong. Everyone knows that Handong is a traitor who has always wanted to surpass Baijiang.

So when the people from Handong came to Zhencheng and sat down there, blocking the way for the locals, they naturally wanted to see what was going on and whether Li Dakang was truly worthy of his reputation.

As for the other party's father-in-law, it can only be said that he doesn't have much of an impact.

After all, they weren't planning on doing anything underhanded. If it's a fair competition, you can't blame anyone else if your son-in-law isn't good enough.

But who would have thought that Zhu Yang and his gang, who were so arrogant and boastful, would suddenly reveal their true colors and be wiped out in one fell swoop.

The remaining minor figures were insignificant and were easily manipulated by Li Dakang, who then united them into a cohesive force.

With this situation, they couldn't just watch the excitement anymore; they had to put in all their effort. They couldn't let Handong overtake them, that would be too embarrassing.

"If you ask me, if you ask me, we shouldn't underestimate them."

Reaching the end, the two turned back. Xu Nuojun, looking serious, analyzed, "What do you think Li Dakang did in Baijiang?"

Jiang Xueyu thought for a moment and said, "Besides integrating the team and arranging daily work, what attracts attention is that he's always running around."

"That's right, but the key is who he runs with."

Upon hearing this, Jiang Xueyu curled her lip and said sourly, "They were brought here by me, so of course they can follow along."

Not just him, who wouldn't envy Li Dakang? He's over fifty, and he's not only found a wife and a formidable father-in-law, but he's also had two kids. Even after changing jobs, he's still thriving, and Lao Chu takes him everywhere he goes.

"None of that matters. I went to conduct research too. This time I went to Handong, which was a project they had previously worked on," Xu Nuojun narrowed his eyes. "What I'm worried about is that our information channels are lagging behind."

"He's always around, and he's quick-witted. He might know more than we do. What if he already knows about good policies and projects before they're even on paper and starts preparing in advance? Wouldn't that put us at a disadvantage?"

"In many things, when everyone starts on the same footing, it's all about using the right methods. But if you fall behind even slightly, you'll fall behind at every step!"

"So, Chiang Kai-shek, we need to stand up for ourselves too."

Xu Nuojun said in a deep voice, "Putting everything else aside, in this fourth quarter, we must put 200% of our energy into our work. We will take the lead and work together with all the cadres in the city. We should work overtime when necessary. If we work one hour overtime normally, we should work two hours or two and a half hours overtime in the future. No matter how hard or tiring it is, we cannot slack off."

"Get the Development and Reform Commission, the Municipal State-owned Investment Corporation, and other departments moving, actively seeking opportunities, and striving for development. We absolutely cannot let Zhencheng overtake us."

"Hey, Lao Xu, we're easy to talk about. It's not a big deal to sit in the office until 11 o'clock. We're used to it. But the people below us, they're fine for a short time, but after a while, they're bound to get unhappy."

Jiang Xueyu smiled wryly.

"You're not willing?"

Xu Nuojun snorted coldly.

"We're all serving the people; if anyone's unhappy about it, they shouldn't be doing this job!"

"We've both set an example. If either of us falters, don't blame me for being ruthless in the year-end performance evaluation."

"That's settled then. I'll come back from the meeting tomorrow and see what the meeting's arrangements are. When the city holds its meeting, I'll specifically bring it up again and make my stance clear. Anyone who dawdles or only goes through the motions will not be allowed to advance."

……

The next day.

Provincial Party Committee, Meeting Room No. 1.

The main table, the second row, and the third row were all packed.

This meeting was an enlarged meeting of the Provincial Party Committee Standing Committee. In addition to all members of the Provincial Party Committee Standing Committee attending as observers, the secretaries of the municipal party committees of the other eighteen prefecture-level cities in the province were all present.

The Standing Committee members were relaxed and chatted amongst themselves, occasionally chuckling.

The others weren't so comfortable. Just like in class, they came in and obediently flipped through the documents, organizing their thoughts, thinking about what if they had to speak later? They couldn't afford to mess up.

Therefore, although there were many people in the conference room, it was very quiet overall.

Not long after.

Zhao Zhi and Hu Daoheng finished their pre-meeting three-person group meeting and came in to take their seats.

Zhao Dagong glanced at Zhao Zhi with a questioning look, but Zhao Zhi didn't speak, only making a slightly heavier movement as he put the documents down.

"As expected, there were other issues!"

Zhao Dagong understood, and lowered his head, seemingly lost in thought.