Nominal: The Handong Game, the Energy System's Counterattack

"Comrade Zhao Dehan has arrived as well?"

Minister Zhang looked at Zhao Dehan, who was bending down and extending his hand, and didn't care that Zhao had greeted Zhou Chuyi first.

Anyone with even a little bit of connections knows what happened in Yanjing, and he, as the deputy minister of the Organization Department of the Central Committee, certainly knows.

He knew whether Zhao Dehan had any problems or not.

This Zhao Dehan, who followed Xia Handong, was a subordinate sent by the Energy Department to Zhou Chuyi.

"Minister Zhang, thank you for your hard work."

Zhao Dehan faced Minister Zhang with a respectful posture, bowing very low.

"Congratulations on your promotion, Vice Mayor Zhao." Zhou Chuyi patted him on the shoulder half-jokingly.

Zhao Dehan waved his hands repeatedly: "Director, please don't say that. I'm just grateful to have a place to work."

"I also want to thank the director. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't know where I would be now."

Zhao Dehan was a smart man; he knew exactly how he got his position as a department-level official.

Now, he's completely tied to Zhou Chuyi, doing whatever the other man tells him to do.

After completing the check-in procedures at the terminal, the group entered the first-class waiting area together.

The waiting room wasn't crowded. Several rows of sofas were neatly arranged, and outside the floor-to-ceiling windows was the tarmac, with a few planes quietly parked in the distance.

Zhou Chuyi chose a window seat for his wife to sit down.

He sat to one side with Zhao Dehan, while Deputy Director Zhang and several cadres from the Organization Department of the Central Committee sat diagonally opposite.

As they were talking, the door to the waiting room was pushed open, and a middle-aged man of medium build walked in.

Zhou Chuyi looked in the direction of the voice and felt that the person looked familiar, but he couldn't remember where he had seen him before.

The man was wearing a light gray woolen overcoat, had gray hair, strong facial features, and walked with a steady and composed gait.

Zhao Dehan paused for a moment, then lowered his voice: "Director, isn't that Mayor Wu of Jingzhou City?"

"Hmm? You know him?"

Mayor Wu – Wu Xiongfei.

Mayor of Jingzhou City, member of the Handong Provincial Committee, and member of the Standing Committee of Jingzhou City.

In the original TV series "In the Name of the People", this character hardly made any formal appearances, only being mentioned in a few lines of dialogue.

The storyline in the drama is that Mayor Wu Xiongfei went to study at the ZY Party School because he was being suppressed too much by Li Dakang, the Party Secretary of Jingzhou City.

He studied for more than half a year, which meant that he completely handed over the work of the Jingzhou Municipal Government to Li Dakang.

His relationship with Li Dakang was quite delicate—the two were in the same team, one was the top leader of the municipal party committee, and the other was the top leader of the municipal government.

According to the rules governing the exercise of power, Li Dakang, as a member of the Provincial Party Committee Standing Committee, naturally held a political advantage over Wu Xiongfei.

However, Wu Xiongfei was one of Governor Liu's men, and Governor Liu was the top official in the Handong Provincial Government.

He had powerful backers in the province, so even though he was suppressed by Li Dakang in Jingzhou City, he wasn't completely marginalized.

Li Dakang is a highly controversial character in the original series.

Some say he is honest and upright and speaks out for the people, while others say he is autocratic and stubborn.

However, from the perspective of the logic of power operation, Li Dakang's most prominent characteristic is his assertiveness.

He was the undisputed leader at the Standing Committee meetings, and his team had the final say.

Even though Wu Xiongfei was the mayor, Li Dakang still held him firmly in control of many important matters in Jingzhou City.

In the original drama, Wu Xiongfei was unable to fully utilize his abilities at work under Li Dakang's domineering influence.

I had no choice but to use "studying" as an excuse to go to the Party School for more than half a year at a time.

From a work perspective, this practice constitutes passive resistance to work.

But from a political perspective, it is also a strategy of retreating to advance – Li Dakang, don't you want power?

I'm giving you the power. You do it. If you do it well, I'll benefit. If you mess it up, it's all your responsibility.

I won't argue with you, but don't even think about ordering me around.

This passive attitude of "non-cooperation" is more troublesome for Li Dakang than direct confrontation.

Until the Dafeng Factory incident broke out, Jingzhou City faced enormous governance pressure and political risks.

Wu Xiongfei briefly returned to Jingzhou to re-engage with the city's work.

Zhou Chuyi had never met Wu Xiongfei. In his memory, Wu Xiongfei had always been studying at the Party School during the entire "In the Name of the People" series.

From beginning to end, the mayor of Handong, the capital of a sub-provincial city, only existed in other people's words.

Wu Xiongfei was always suppressed by Li Dakang in Jingzhou City. Although he held the position of mayor, he could never gain much influence.

The reason is simple—Li Dakang is a member of the Provincial Party Committee Standing Committee, and his ranking in the Jingzhou Municipal Party Committee Standing Committee is consistently higher than his.

Li Dakang is a member of the Provincial Party Committee, and so is he, but a Standing Committee member and a member are two different concepts.

Standing Committee members can participate in the core decision-making of the leadership team, while committee members only have the right to vote.

Li Dakang wields absolute authority in Jingzhou City. If someone wants to push things through within the government system, they can't bypass Li Dakang.

After much deliberation, Wu Xiongfei concluded that within the leadership of Jingzhou City, he had no power to rival Li Dakang.

But it's different now.

As far as Zhou Chuyi knew, this Wu Xiongfei was one of Governor Liu Wenzhong's men.

He returned to Handong at this time, probably knowing that Governor Liu would serve another term.

So, is Wu Xiongfei about to start causing trouble after finishing his studies at the Party School?

Several old men said that Governor Liu was backing them up, meaning he was on their side.

As for why he returned to Jingzhou after finishing his studies at the Party School, it must have been because Governor Liu relayed the message.

The answer is self-evident—his backer had stood up, and he no longer needed to avoid Li Dakang as much.

Also, because a new provincial party committee member and vice governor, Zhou Chuyi, is coming to Handong.

Now that Governor Liu won't retire immediately, Zhou Chuyi has arrived, and his opportunity has come.

Having entered the waiting room, Wu Xiongfei went directly to Minister Zhang.

"Minister Zhang, I am Wu Xiongfei, the mayor of Jingzhou City. It is kind of you, Minister Zhang, to personally come to our Handong Province to send such an outstanding cadre as Governor Zhou."

"Mayor Wu, what's going on?" Minister Zhang asked, somewhat surprised, as he released Wu Xiongfei's hand.

"I just finished my studies at the ZY Party School, and I happen to be on the same flight back to Jingzhou as you."

After exchanging a few pleasantries, Wu Xiongfei left Minister Zhang's side.

His target was clearly Zhou Chuyi.

He strode over, his smile seemingly etched on his face, revealing eight teeth perfectly, and reached out his hand from afar.

This smile was very warm, as if he had seen his old boss.

"Director Zhou—no, you should call me Governor Zhou now."

Wu Xiongfei's hand and Zhou Chuyi's hand were clasped tightly together, with a firm but not too light grip.

"Welcome to Handong!"

"Mayor Wu, you're too kind," Zhou Chuyi replied with a smile, his mind racing as he searched for all the information he had about Wu Xiongfei.

"I've long heard that Mayor Wu is a capable leader in Handong Province, and that Jingzhou City's work is far ahead of the rest of the province. You must have put in a lot of effort."

"I don't deserve it, I don't deserve it." Wu Xiongfei waved his hands repeatedly and pulled Zhou Chuyi to sit down on the sofa.

That enthusiasm was like that of an old friend whom I hadn't seen for many years. "The achievements in Jingzhou are due to the strong leadership of the Provincial Party Committee and the Provincial Government."

"It was thanks to the joint efforts of all the people in the city; I personally only played a role in connecting the dots."

"To be honest, although Jingzhou's economic and social development has made progress in recent years..."

"But compared with the organization's expectations, there is still some gap, especially in terms of industrial development, there are still many shortcomings that need to be addressed."

This passage is perfectly worded—it affirms Jingzhou's achievements.

They acknowledged the existing problems and shortcomings, and also shifted the blame to the team as a whole rather than to any individual.