Special forces soldier demobilization: Starting from the county government compound, a meteoric rise

Party School, Auditorium.

This place is the "melting pot" of thought for all the senior officials of the Dragon Kingdom, and also the school for their career advancement.

Today, the place is packed.

Seated below the stage were all the trainees of the new training program for young and middle-aged cadres. They were elites from all over the country, with an average age of only thirty-five, and the lowest rank being a department-level cadre with real power. Each of them was a future successor to their respective provinces and ministries.

They were young and energetic, their eyes filled with a thirst for power and ambition for the future.

Just like Liu Ming thirty years ago.

On the podium, the old man, dressed in a faded old Zhongshan suit, with gray hair and needing reading glasses to see his manuscript, was the living legend in their hearts.

Liu Ming.

Although he has been retired for many years and no longer cares about politics, the almost mythical legends he left behind in officialdom are still the "dragon-slaying techniques" that these young people study repeatedly late at night.

"Mr. Liu, it's the greatest honor for our class to have you give us a lecture!"

The host, who is also the executive vice president of the Party School, trembled with excitement.

Liu Ming slowly stood up.

He did not walk to the impressive podium, nor did he open the prepared PowerPoint presentation on "national macro strategy".

He simply took a thermos and walked to the very front of the stage, to the spot closest to the young faces in the audience.

"Children."

Liu Ming spoke up.

His voice wasn't loud, and it was even a little hoarse. But it was like a warm breeze, instantly soothing the slightly tense official atmosphere in the auditorium.

The young cadres in the audience were all stunned for a moment.

They had expected to hear a profound lecture on "the art of rulership," about power struggles, strategic maneuvering, and how to choose sides.

But they never expected that this legendary figure's opening remarks would be so... ordinary.

"I'm here today not to talk about theories or policies."

Liu Ming took off her reading glasses, and those eyes that had once struck fear into the hearts of countless corrupt officials were now filled with the love and expectations of an elder for a younger generation.

Let me tell you a story.

"A story about...two hot eggs."

……

"That was many, many years ago. Back then, I was just as young as you, even more naive than you. I had just been discharged from the army and assigned to a poor place called Qingyun County."

Liu Ming spoke slowly, as if recalling an extremely distant past.

"How poor was that place? So poor that the county government building leaked when it rained, and so poor that the people couldn't even afford a full meal during the Spring Festival."

"Back then, I was young and impetuous, and I didn't know the rules. As soon as I arrived, I offended the local top official. What happened? I was given the cold shoulder, ostracized, and almost framed and sent to prison."

The young cadres in the audience all instinctively sat up straight.

They knew the real show was about to begin.

"Later, I sent all those bad people, one by one, to where they belonged."

Liu Ming spoke calmly, as if that thrilling past event was as simple as drinking a sip of water.

"On the morning I left Qingyun County."

"It was still dark when I got into the car, intending to leave quietly. But I never expected that the short ten-mile-long street from the county government to the highway exit would be packed with people."

"There are miners I've helped, farmers I've supported, and ordinary people whose names I don't even know."

"They didn't put up banners or shout slogans. They just stood quietly by the roadside, carrying vegetables they had grown themselves and eggs they had laid, silently watching my car."

"That day, an elderly woman with a face full of wrinkles, leaning on a cane, squeezed her way to my car window. She didn't say a word, but just took out two steaming hot boiled eggs from her bosom and shoved them into my hand."

Liu Ming stopped there.

A layer of glistening tears welled up in his cloudy old eyes.

"Those two eggs are very hot."

"It was so hot I almost lost my grip."

"It burned me too, and in that instant, I suddenly understood a truth that I had never understood before."

Liu Ming surveyed the entire room, her gaze slowly sweeping over every young, energetic face.

His voice became more solemn than ever before.

"Children, remember this."

"The reason you are sitting here today is not because you are particularly smart, nor because you have particularly powerful connections."

"It's because behind you stand millions of ordinary people, like that old lady, willing to get up before dawn to cook you two hot eggs!"

"They entrusted this country, and their own lives, to your hands!"

"They don't ask you to do anything earth-shattering."

"They only ask that you live up to their most basic trust!"

"I only ask that you ensure they are cared for in their old age, educated in their youth, and have access to medical care when they are sick!"

"I only ask that you exercise the power in your hands that is enough to change the fate of countless people."

"Be able to put your hand on your conscience and ask yourself."

"—How could I possibly do those two hot eggs justice?"

……

Dead silence.

The entire auditorium was deathly silent.

Those "chosen ones" who were usually arrogant and haughty in their respective provinces all lowered their heads at this moment.

Their faces were filled with shame and...contemplation.

Liu Ming didn't say anything more about grand principles.

He simply walked slowly down from the podium.

As he passed the first row, he stopped and patted the shoulder of a young man whose eyes were the clearest yet most confused.

"Young man."

"This road is difficult to travel."

"There will be many temptations, many traps, and many situations where you have no control over your own destiny."

"But as long as you still hold the warmth of those two eggs in your heart."

"You'll never go astray."

After he finished speaking, he didn't turn back.

He walked with his hands behind his back, his steps slightly unsteady, yet still incredibly firm.

Step by step, they slowly walked out of that grand hall, which was filled with hope and the future.

All that remained behind him was a thunderous, unending applause.

And that parting message that has been etched into the hearts of all young cadres for a lifetime.

"If an official doesn't serve the people, he might as well go home and sell sweet potatoes."

"Children, remember your original aspirations."