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

Ma Guanghui quickly said, "Uncle, I was prepared. I have a very good relationship with Deputy County Head Gao Rong. Last time, he introduced me to Deputy Secretary Zhang Kaizhi, who is in charge of personnel and has a lot of influence in the Standing Committee. He revealed that as long as you recommend me for the position of Deputy Director in the Standing Committee meeting, he will support me."

Are you free tonight? I've invited Gao Rong and Zhang Kaizhi; let's have a couple of drinks together.

Ma Chunlan is well aware of the current political landscape in Chunyang County. Liu Youguang ousted Hu Hai and took over as the county party secretary. Most of the members of the Standing Committee are his people, making it a one-man show by Liu Youguang.

Zhang Kaizhi was transferred from the municipal party committee and was a subordinate of Zhu Ming, the deputy secretary of the municipal party committee. He was weak and alone, with only the propaganda minister as a close associate. His words had no effect whatsoever at the Standing Committee meetings.

Zhang Kaizhi recommended Ma Guanghui to succeed him as deputy director in an attempt to drag Liu Youguang into the mess, making Liu feel that he had sided with Zhang Kaizhi and been labeled as one of Zhang Kaizhi's gang, which would cause him trouble.

Zhang Kaizhi still wanted to form cliques, but Chunyang County couldn't withstand such turmoil. City leaders hated subordinates who formed cliques the most.

Ma Chunlan always kept to herself, refusing to side with anyone and remaining a centrist. Now in her fifties, before retiring, she focused on securing her position as a division-level official, avoiding involvement in their power struggles, and simply wanted a peaceful retirement. She would listen to whoever was in charge.

"Guanghui, this is very complicated. You'd better not get involved. Even if Zhang Kaizhi recommends you, it won't pass at the Standing Committee meeting."

"Uncle, aren't you still here? Secretary Zhang said he would find a few more Standing Committee members to support me in taking over as deputy director. Secretary Zhang is also trying to get Xu Sanduo, the secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Commission, to support me."

Ma Chunlan stared at Ma Guanghui for a long time without saying a word, as if she were looking at a fool.

Ma Guanghui grew anxious: "Uncle, why are you staring at me? Is there something dirty on my face?"

Ma Chunlan looked away: "What are you dreaming about in broad daylight? Xu Sanduo's nephew, Xu Ping'an, is so close to Chen Shi, how could he stand up and oppose the person Chen Shi recommended?"

Don't waste your time and make a fuss. Go back and do your job well. When the opportunity arises, I'll find a way to get you promoted to deputy section chief.

Ma Guanghui was very unhappy. "So many years have passed, and you still haven't helped me get promoted to deputy section chief. I finally have this opportunity, and you still won't help me."

He said in a low voice, "Uncle, you must attend the dinner tonight. I've already spoken to Secretary Zhang and Deputy County Head Gao Rong."

Ma Chunlan said in a deep voice, "I have something to do tonight. You said it yourself, so figure out how to explain it to them."

Ma Guanghui's face darkened. "You old bastard, how can you side with outsiders? You don't help your own people, but instead help Chen Shi. When you retire, let's see who will still pay attention to you."

He left the office dejectedly.

After Chen Shi got off work, he asked Yang Bin to drive to Hejia Courtyard. When they arrived at Hejia Courtyard, Yang Xiaobo and his cousin Feng Yuan were waiting at the gate. When they saw Chen Shi's car stop, they ran over, opened the door, and smiled broadly.

Chen Shi got out of the car, and Yang Xiaobo greeted him with a smile: "Director Chen, please come in."

Yang Xiaobo looked at Feng Yuan: "Spend quality time with Yang Bin."

Yang Bin was about to drive back when Feng Yuan smiled and said, "Old Yang, how can you go back without eating here? I own a restaurant."

Yang Bin said, "My wife has prepared dinner and is waiting for me to come home."

"Call your sister-in-law over too, the dishes are all served." Feng Yuan pulled Yang Bin and walked inside.

Yang Bin took out his phone: "I'll tell my wife and tell them to eat by themselves."

Yang Xiaobo invited Chen Shi to a private room, ordered the waiter to serve the dishes, opened the wine bottle, and poured wine for Chen Shi.

The dishes were served quickly, and Yang Xiaobo raised his glass: "Director Chen, I'd like to toast you. Thank you for taking time out of your busy schedule to come here for dinner."

"Old Yang, drink your wine slowly, have something to eat first."

Yang Xiaobo put down his wine glass and repeatedly said "good".

As the two ate and chatted, Chen Shi asked, "The Central School of Laoyan Town is short of a principal. Lao Yang, do you have a suitable candidate?"

Old Salt Town was too remote, and no one wanted to go there, so Yang Xiaobo thought of Dong Xuexi.

"Director Chen, I think Dong Xuexi is suitable. He is currently the vice principal of Fushan Town Central School. We should transfer him to Laoyan Town to act as principal first, observe him for a period of time, and if he performs well, then he can officially take over the position."

Yang Xiaobo is deliberately trying to disgust Diao Kuan. Aren't you very arrogant? When you were the deputy director of the Party and Government Office, you didn't respect yourself and often suppressed Dong Xuexi. Now that Dong Xuexi is your direct superior, let's see if he will make things difficult for you.

He killed three birds with one stone. Dong Xuexi is now Chen Shi's man, which fits Chen Shi's personnel habits. He promotes his own people and transfers away those who disagree. Although Laoyan Town is remote, he will become the principal of the central school, which is also a section-level cadre, just one step away from the deputy section-level cadre.

For Dong Xuexi, this is also a good thing; he should remember this favor.

As for Diao Kuan, he'll use someone else to do his dirty work. Let's see how Dong Xuexi deals with you.

Chen Shi thought for a moment and concluded that Dong Xuexi was capable. He decided to give Dong Xuexi an important position so that others would see that only by following him could they reap the rewards.

"Dong Xuexi is a suitable candidate. How come someone with such ability has not been promoted after so many years in the Party and Government Office?"

Yang Xiaobo added: "When Li Changming was the director, Wang Zhikai had absolute power. He basically made the decisions on personnel matters. Anyone who didn't give him gifts could forget about being promoted."

Chen Shi looked at Yang Xiaobo and said, "You've given him quite a few gifts too."

Yang Xiaobo quickly explained, "I only give him small gifts during holidays. If I don't, I'm afraid he'll make things difficult for me."

Chen Shi didn't say anything. Giving gifts within the system is normal; not giving gifts would be considered unusual.

The two chatted for a while and drank a bottle of wine. Yang Xiaobo wanted to open another bottle, but Chen Shi said, "Old Yang, let's stop here for tonight. Don't open any more wine. Drink less."

Yang Xiaobo put down the wine bottle and repeatedly said yes.

Seeing that Chen Shi was about to leave, Yang Xiaobo opened the drawer and took out two bottles of fine wine, which were exquisitely packaged.

"Director Chen, please take these two bottles of wine home and enjoy them; they taste very good."

He placed the wine in front of Chen Shi, who looked at Yang Xiaobo and asked, "Is this really wine?"

Yang Xiaobo didn't understand what Chen Shi meant, so he quickly said, "Director Chen, it really is alcohol."

Chen Shi opened the package; inside were two bottles of wine and at least 200,000 yuan in cash.

He looked at Yang Xiaobo again: "You're saying this is wine?"

Yang Xiaobo said with a forced smile, "Director Chen, this is a small token of my appreciation for you."

Chen Shi's face turned cold: "This isn't an act of filial piety, it's an attempt to harm me. Wang Zhikai just went to jail; do you want me to follow in his footsteps?"

Yang Xiaobo looked terrified, realizing he had messed things up. He quickly explained, "Director Chen, I didn't mean that. This is a gift to you, purely out of respect."

Chen Shi had two principles: women and money were off-limits, as they could become addictive; and money was enough, but too much was just decoration, and sooner or later it would all come to light. He believed that if you walked by the river long enough, you were bound to get your shoes wet.

You shouldn't get involved with women who have financial ties to you, but it's okay to get involved with someone like Huang Xin who doesn't have any financial ties and is only based on love.