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

The auditorium of the Ningzhou Municipal Party Committee.

The enormous crystal chandelier cast a soft yet majestic light, illuminating the hundreds of young but somewhat somber faces below the stage.

This is the scene of the Ningzhou Municipal Congress of the Communist Youth League.

On the platform, red flags fluttered and flowers bloomed. Zhao Donglai, Deputy Secretary of the Municipal Party Committee, sat in the center; even without speaking, the oppressive aura of someone accustomed to high office was enough to freeze the surrounding air. On either side of him sat Chen Jianguo, Secretary of the Municipal Youth League Committee, and… Liu Ming, the newly appointed Deputy Secretary, who had only been in office for less than three days.

A drowsy smell filled the air.

The preceding procedures proceeded smoothly and uneventfully, just as everyone had predicted. Chen Jianguo recited the opening speech, which he had probably used for ten years, with dramatic intonation but utterly devoid of substance. The representatives below the stage—young elites from all walks of life—some were engrossed in their phones, some had blank stares, and some were mechanically clapping.

This is the norm for meetings within government agencies.

Form over substance, and formalities over effectiveness.

"Next, please welcome Comrade Liu Ming, Deputy Secretary of the Municipal Committee of the Communist Youth League, to give a keynote speech on 'Youth Entrepreneurship and Urban Development'."

As the host finished speaking, sparse applause rang out.

Liu Ming straightened his suit and slowly walked to the podium.

In front of him lay a printed speech draft. It was prepared for him overnight by Sister Wang, the office director, and it was said to have been polished by an outside "pen master".

Liu Ming looked down and glanced at the speech.

First paragraph: "On this beautiful spring day, we gather together in joy..."

The second paragraph states: "We must hold high the banner of... and thoroughly implement the spirit of......"

The third paragraph: "Youth is like the sun at eight or nine in the morning..."

It's all correct nonsense.

It's all beautiful trash.

Reading this aloud is pointless and only wastes everyone's time.

A faint, cold smile curled at the corner of Liu Ming's lips.

He recalled the scene in Qingyun County when the people bid him farewell with tears in their eyes; he remembered why he had come to Ningzhou, this melting pot; he remembered the economic models he had studied day and night at Imperial College London and Tsinghua University.

He's here to break the deadlock, not to be a parrot.

Under the indifferent gazes of hundreds of people in the audience, and with Chen Jianguo's encouraging eyes behind him.

Liu Ming reached out and picked up the thick manuscript.

then.

In front of Zhao Donglai, deputy secretary of the municipal party committee, and in front of hundreds of representatives.

He flipped his wrist.

"Smack."

He casually tossed the speech aside, and it slid to the corner of the podium.

This soft sound was amplified countless times through the microphone, instantly exploding in the silent auditorium!

The entire audience was stunned.

People who were looking down at their phones suddenly looked up, people who were dozing off instantly woke up, and even Zhao Donglai, who had been resting with his eyes closed, slowly opened his eyes and shot his gaze toward the podium like lightning.

What's going on?

Stage accident?

Or... has this new deputy secretary gone mad?

Chen Jianguo broke out in a cold sweat and nearly slipped off his chair. He frantically tried to signal to Liu Ming with his eyes, his eyes practically bulging out of their sockets: "Damn it! What are you doing? There are municipal leaders here!"

Liu Ming ignored Chen Jianguo, who was on the verge of a heart attack, behind her.

He placed his hands on the podium, leaned slightly forward, and his sharp eyes, like searchlights, scanned the young faces below the stage.

"The manuscript is beautifully written, but I don't plan to read it aloud."

Liu Ming spoke, his voice steady yet carrying a power that struck straight to the heart.

"Because you're tired of hearing those words, and I'm tired of saying them too. Today, since we're talking about 'youth and the city,' let's talk about something real, about... the bloody reality."

"I have three questions for everyone here."

He held up one finger.

"First, Ningzhou City boasts the most higher education resources in the province, with over 200,000 university graduates annually. However, according to last year's data, less than 30% of these 200,000 graduates remain in Ningzhou. Why is that?"

"Secondly, we've been advocating for 'encouraging youth entrepreneurship' for five years, but last year's statistics showed that less than 5% of newly added youth entrepreneurship projects in Ningzhou City survived for more than a year. Why is that?"

"third."

Liu Ming's voice suddenly rose in pitch.

"Our city ranks second in the province in GDP, but our average youth salary ranks only fourth. Housing prices are five times wages, and the cost of living is rising year by year. Under these circumstances, how can we retain people? How can we talk about vitality? How can we talk about the future?"

The three questions, like three heavy hammer blows, struck hard on everyone's hearts!

The once noisy auditorium instantly became deathly silent.

You could hear a pin drop.

No one dared to speak; even breathing became a cautious affair.

This is too... too blatant!

This is tantamount to publicly exposing Ningzhou's shortcomings! It's a slap in the face to all the leaders present!

Chen Jianguo's face was as white as a sheet. He trembled as he tried to stand up and stop him, but found that Zhao Donglai next to him was listening intently, and even... his fingers were lightly tapping a rhythm on the table.

Liu Ming did not stop.

He doesn't need a manuscript.

All the data, all the logic, all the macro strategies—they were all in his mind. That was the foundation he possessed as a PhD in Economics and Management from Tsinghua University, and also the insight he gained as a special forces elite.

"Because our ecosystem has problems."

Liu Ming stepped off the podium, took the wireless microphone, and stood at the very front of the stage, like a commander about to charge into battle.

"Our so-called 'support' is like growing flowers in a greenhouse, not raising wolves in the jungle!"

"Giving some subsidies, waiving some rent, issuing a certificate—is that what you call support? Wrong! That's just fooling children!"

"True entrepreneurship is a matter of life and death! It's a cutthroat competition!"

"What Ningzhou needs isn't a bunch of milk tea shops and murder mystery game arcades barely surviving on subsidies! What we need is cutting-edge technology! An industrial chain! Unicorns that can carve out a path to success in this brutal market competition!"

His speech became faster and faster, his voice more and more impassioned, each word like a bullet, hitting the core of the problem precisely.

"So I suggest..."

"The work direction of the Municipal Youth League Committee must be completely transformed!"

"We're no longer 'nannies'; we want to build the most brutal, yet fairest, 'arena' in this city!"

"The United City Financial Bureau has established a 'Youth Angel Investment Fund,' which doesn't consider background, only projects! Whoever has the ability will get the money!"

"By joining forces with major universities and high-tech zones, we will establish a direct 'industry-academia-research' channel, allowing technologies from the laboratory to be directly transformed into products in the factory!"

"We want to make Ningzhou the most suitable jungle for unbridled growth in the entire Jiangnan Province, and even the whole country!"

"Only by raising wolves will this city possess true fighting spirit!"

……

ten minutes.

A full ten minutes of unscripted speech.

Not a single word wasted, not a single official jargon.

It's all dry goods!

These are all insightful and hard-hitting observations!

When Liu Ming finished speaking the last word and put down the microphone.

The entire auditorium remained deathly silent.

Everyone was stunned.

Looking at the young figure on the stage, they felt as if they were not attending a youth league congress, but listening to a speech at a world-class economic forum, or watching a passionate pre-battle mobilization.

That grand vision, that meticulous logic, that domineering aura...

Is this really something a 26-year-old deputy secretary of the Youth League Committee could say?

Is this really the legendary second-generation rich kid who came here to "gild his resume"?

The young delegates below the stage had gleaming eyes and were breathing rapidly. They felt as if the blood in their veins had been ignited by this man!

"good!"

Suddenly, someone shouted.

Followed by.

"Whoosh—!!!"

Thunderous applause, like a tsunami, instantly engulfed the entire auditorium!

This applause was no longer perfunctory, no longer just politeness.

It was a profound sense of awe and recognition!

Some people stood up in excitement, while others clapped until their hands were red.

Chen Jianguo slumped in his chair, let out a long sigh, wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, and looked at Liu Ming's back with an extremely complicated expression.

This kid...

He's a prodigy!

Zhao Donglai, the deputy secretary of the municipal party committee, who was sitting in the center, slowly put down his teacup.

He looked at the young man who remained calm and composed amidst the applause, only bowing slightly in response. In his eyes, which had seen countless people, a rare hint of appreciation and... deep thought flashed.

He turned his head and whispered something to his secretary, who was staring at him dumbfounded.

The sound was soft, yet carried immense weight.

"This child... is no ordinary person."

"It seems that the stagnant waters of Ningzhou are about to be stirred up."