The game of power begins with the police officers at the local police station.

Yang Xiaobo left the meeting room only after the other leaders had left. The power structure of the Education Bureau was about to change, and Deputy Director Wang Zhikai had lost power.

Yang Xiaobo was secretly quite pleased; "You've finally met your match." It's a stark reminder that within the system, fortunes change drastically over time; no one is immune to change.

To remain in power, avoid offending others. When you lose power, at least others won't kick you when you're down.

The Party Committee of the Bureau held a meeting and formulated a document outlining the responsibilities of the three deputy directors, which was then distributed to the entire Bureau.

The members of the second-level leadership team were all taken aback. They hadn't expected the new director to make such a big move, so openly handing over an important department to his confidant.

After taking charge of the work, Huang Ming's status in the Education Bureau rose sharply, second only to Chen Shi.

Huang Ming acted swiftly, convening a work meeting for the departments under his supervision to arrange the work. Each department was assigned tasks, and if any department failed to complete its tasks on time and to the required standard, the department head would be replaced. This was to demonstrate his authority and also to make an example of someone.

Ma Guanghui, the head of the Basic Education Section, was assigned to compile statistics on the shortage of teachers in the county's nine-year compulsory education system. He was given the task on Monday, but he got drunk with friends that night and forgot about it the next day.

On Wednesday, Huang Ming asked him for the data to be compiled, and only then did he remember and arrange for his subordinates to do so.

The statistics weren't submitted until Friday. Huang Ming carefully checked them and found that half of the data was incorrect.

Huang Ming decided to make an example of him for his perfunctory work. If he was so careless with his first task, how could he possibly carry out his work in the future?

Huang Ming worked overtime and stayed up all night for a week to draft a plan to close three township high schools and rebuild three key high schools in the county seat, and then took it to Chen Shi's office.

Chen Shi glanced at the plan; it was very detailed, with no detail overlooked. The budget of 2.7 billion yuan for building three key high schools was all verifiable and not just a figment of imagination.

Constructive suggestions were put forward regarding the site selection. The three key high schools were to be located in Zhongshan Subdistrict, a suburb two kilometers away from the county seat. There was no demolition or land acquisition involved, which would save on the fiscal budget.

Chen Shi put down the plan and glanced at Huang Ming, whose dark circles looked like panda eyes.

"Director Huang, work can be done slowly, but don't work overtime too often and ruin your health."

"You've just gotten married, it's not good for you to work overtime so often. Don't let Secretary Zhao think I'm some kind of exploitative landlord, taking advantage of you like a poor laborer."

Huang Ming smiled and said, "Thank you for your concern, Director Chen. Time is of the essence, and we need to quickly come up with a reform plan and submit it to the county party committee and county government so that Secretary Liu can feel that we are doing our best."

Chen Shi nodded, and Huang Ming continued, "Director Chen, I'd like to replace Ma Guanghui, the head of the Basic Education Section. This man drinks frequently, which interferes with his work. The Basic Education Section's work is meticulous and cannot be taken lightly. This careless person in charge doesn't take his job seriously."

Chen Shi asked, "Who do you want to appoint as the head of the Basic Education Section?"

"I've been observing Li Jing, the deputy head of the Personnel and Teacher Training Section, for the past week. I think she's a meticulous woman and could be the head of the Basic Education Section."

"Okay, hold a Party Committee meeting this afternoon to remove Ma Guanghui. Hold a Director's Office meeting tomorrow morning to discuss the plan and submit it to the County Party Committee and County Government for review as soon as possible."

After Huang Ming left, Chen Shi called Yang Xiaobo to his office.

Yang Xiaobo smiled and said, "Director Chen, all the office equipment for you and Director Huang has been set up. When would you like to move in?"

"I don't have much stuff. I'll move into the new office tomorrow morning."

Yang Xiaobo took out his notebook, wrote it down, and looked up at Chen Shi: "Director Chen, haven't you had time to check on your residence yet?"

Chen Shi has been very busy with work lately and forgot about this.

"Take me there to have a look later."

Yang Xiaobo stood aside, waiting for Chen Shi's instructions.

"Issue a notice that a bureau chief's office meeting will be held at 10:00 AM tomorrow. Attendees will include the principals of No. 1 Middle School, No. 2 Middle School, No. 3 Middle School, and No. 4 Middle School, all heads of the secondary leadership teams, and the three deputy bureau chiefs."

Yang Xiaobo quickly wrote it down in his notebook.

"At 3 p.m., a meeting of the Party Committee of the Bureau will be held to notify the three deputy directors."

Yang Xiaobo wrote down Chen Shi's work arrangements.

Remembering Huang Ming's earlier suggestion to replace Ma Guanghui, Chen Shi asked, "Are you familiar with the situation of Ma Guanghui, the head of the Basic Education Section?"

As the director of the Party and Government Office, Yang Xiaobo knew the members of the bureau's secondary leadership team and the heads of various schools like the back of his hand. When asked by the leaders, he could answer immediately without checking the files.

"Section Chief Ma is 34 years old this year. He likes to drink. He has worked in the Education Bureau for ten years. In 2009, he became the head of the Basic Education Section. Before the Lunar New Year, he heard that he was going to be promoted to deputy director. He got into a fight while drinking and ended up in the police station. That matter was left unresolved."

The secretary of the Discipline Inspection Commission, Ma Chunlan, is his cousin.

This is the key point, Chen Shi asked: "What is his relationship with Secretary Ma?"

"According to his department, Section Chief Ma often mentions Secretary Ma, and they have a pretty good relationship. I heard that he was promoted to section chief because Secretary Ma put in a good word for him with the former Director Li."

Chen Shi weighed the pros and cons and decided that this irresponsible person should be replaced. His cousin was not his biological uncle, so he had to properly settle Ma Guanghui and not offend Ma Chunlan because of this.

"Director Yang, Ma Guanghui has been drinking and making mistakes; he's not careful at work. Director Huang came to me earlier, wanting to replace Ma Guanghui as the head of the Basic Education Section. Where do you think would be a suitable place for him?"

Yang Xiaobo's mind raced as he tried to guess Chen Shi's true intentions. If Chen Shi asked the question, it was definitely because he wanted to replace Ma Guanghui. He couldn't plead for him; if he did, Chen Shi might replace him as well.

His relationship with Ma Guanghui was alright; they drank together quite often. But compared to their future prospects, their relationship was insignificant.

The most important thing for the director of the Party and government office is to keep their mouth shut and not to spread what the leaders say; this is a major taboo.

Yang Xiaobo thought about it carefully for a moment and said softly, "Director Chen, Shangying Town Central School is still short of a vice principal. We can arrange for Section Chief Ma to serve as the vice principal of Shangying Town Central School."

Chen Shi thought to himself that Shangying Town was only half an hour away from the county seat, which wasn't too far. Assigning him to be the vice principal in Shangying Town would be a way of giving Ma Chunlan face.

An irresponsible person like Ma Guanghui should not be promoted to the top position; he is likely to cause problems.

Chen Shi did not immediately respond: "I'll think about it some more. Take me to see a house."

Yang Xiaobo led Chen Shi to the family building. This small building has six floors in total. They arrived at a room on the fifth floor. It was well-lit, with good ventilation from north to south, and had three bedrooms, one living room, one kitchen, and two bathrooms.

Chen Shi examined it carefully and was very satisfied.

"Director Yang, this is the place. Please arrange the furniture, and I'll move in in a couple of days."

Yang Xiaobo quickly wrote it down in his notebook, returned to his office, and delivered the furniture list to Chen Shi's office.

"Director Chen, this is the furniture list. Please take a look and see if there's anything else you'd like to add."

Chen Shi looked at the furniture; it was quite comprehensive. He placed the list on the table and said, "Just buy according to the list."

Yang Xiaobo left the office and instructed his subordinates to carry it out.

He paced back and forth in his office, wanting to tell Ma Guanghui that Chen Shi was going to take action against him, but after thinking it over, he decided not to call and inform him.

Chen Shi's temperament is still unknown. Ma Guanghui has his uncle Ma Chunlan protecting him. Ma Chunlan is a member of the county party committee. He was transferred to Shangying Town Central School as vice principal. He proposed it himself, in order to curry favor with Chen Shi.

If blame is placed on me, I will bear an inescapable responsibility.

With connections in higher positions, Ma Guanghui could find an opportunity to be transferred back to the county seat.

He had no one protecting him. Once Chen Shi found out, he would remove him from his position as director of the Party and Government Office and send him to a township. Then he would have no chance to be transferred to the county seat.

My family has a lot of relatives who are counting on me.

He's the head of the family, so nothing can go wrong.

Having figured all this out, he decided not to tell Ma Guanghui, but to cling to Chen Shi and follow his lead without question.