Me! A high-ranking official!

After a full three minutes, Guo Nanguo suddenly stopped, as if a bolt of lightning had cleaved through the thick fog. He clapped his hands and nodded in sudden realization.

"I understand... I think I know what Director Baocheng is thinking!" Guo Nanguo turned around and looked at him, his eyes revealing a keen insight into human nature.

"Director Guo, what exactly is he after?" He frowned deeply.

"They're after his status as the top leader and his authority!"

Guo Nanguo sat back in his chair, looked at him intently, and said with a hint of helplessness and advice in his voice, "Jianguo, you are still too young. There are some aspects of human nature in officialdom that you haven't seen through."

Guo Nanguo dipped his finger in tea and drew a circle on the mahogany table: "If everyone in our Culture and Tourism Bureau were just a bunch of mediocre people who were muddling through, then everyone would live in peace, no one would look down on anyone else, and everyone would think they were doing a pretty good job."

Then, he pointed to a dot in the circle.

"However, if a brilliant person suddenly emerges from this group of mediocre people, someone with exceptional abilities who can frequently break through difficult situations, then this group of mediocre people will instinctively unite to isolate and ostracize this brilliant person! Why? Because the existence of this brilliant person is like a mirror, reflecting their incompetence and making them feel immense pressure to survive!"

He was shocked to hear this; wasn't this a true reflection of his own situation in the Bureau of Culture and Tourism?

"This is just peer-to-peer competition." Guo Nanguo stared intently at him, his voice lowering even further. "When it comes to leaders, it's far more fatal! For an incompetent leader like Zhang Baocheng, whether a project succeeds or not, or how well it's done, is important, but those are secondary! The absolute and inviolable bottom line is that subordinates must never be allowed to outshine him, the top leader, in front of their superiors!"

Guo Nanguo sighed and analyzed earnestly, "Think back to the scene in the county committee meeting room this afternoon. You did step forward and help him out of that predicament, saving his life, but what did Secretary Zhou and County Head Han see?"

"What I saw was that Zhang Baocheng, as a bureau chief, knew nothing when asked, and was stammering like a useless piece of trash! Meanwhile, you, a mere deputy section chief, were able to grasp the overall situation, answer fluently, and turn the tide!"

Guo Nanguo bluntly exposed the truth: "Your performance this afternoon was too dazzling. The more outstanding you are, the more Zhang Baocheng appears incompetent! You not only stole his thunder, but also made him lose face in front of the county's core leaders! So what if the project can't do without you? More than the project failing, he's afraid you'll climb to the top by stepping on him, completely making him look like a complete incompetent fool! That's why he feels like you're a thorn in his side now and can't tolerate you!"

Upon hearing this, he felt a chill run from the soles of his feet to the back of his head. He nodded thoughtfully, finally understanding.

This is the most treacherous survival rule within the system! This is what they mean by "the tallest tree in the forest is the first to be felled by the wind"!

If you do a bad job, your boss will scold you; if you do too well, to the point of threatening your boss's intelligence and authority, your boss will try every means to destroy you! In Zhang Baocheng's eyes, he had gone from being a useful chamber pot to a time bomb that could replace him at any moment.

Seeing his silence, Guo Nanguo picked up his teacup, took a sip, pondered for a moment, and then slowly said, "Jianguo, since we've come this far, I'll give you some advice based on my opinion."

"Please speak," he said respectfully.

"It might not be a bad thing for you to be stationed in the village."

Guo Nanguo looked at him intently: "You've just been transferred to our Culture and Tourism Bureau. It's almost impossible for you to be transferred again in the short term. If you insist on staying here, Zhang Baocheng, as the top leader, doesn't like you. He will definitely make things difficult for you and create obstacles for you in the future. With discord between superiors and subordinates, you won't be able to accomplish anything in this bureau. You'll only waste your energy and spirit."

Guo Nanguo patted him on the shoulder and comforted him, "Why not go with the flow and leave this murky, backstabbing place for now? Going to the grassroots level is tough, but the sky's the limit, and you'll be freer. Besides, Lao Zhang isn't young anymore. By the time you come back after two years in the village, he'll be nearing retirement. When you return with your grassroots experience, no one will be holding you back, and that's when you can truly spread your wings and soar."

He understood that Guo Nanguo's words were genuine, albeit unpleasant, advice, and that he was putting himself in Guo Nanguo's shoes to make long-term plans for him.

Staying here, constantly on guard against Zhang Baocheng and Li Dafang's underhanded tactics, is not as good as going to a secluded village where no one is in charge, avoiding the political storm, and having more time to reflect.

"Director Guo, I understand." He pondered for a moment, the gloom on his face vanishing, and slowly nodded. "A tree dies when transplanted, but a person thrives. Since Director Zhang is so concerned about my future, then I'll do as he wishes and go down there to reflect for two years!"

"Okay." Guo Nanguo nodded with satisfaction upon hearing Zhao Jianguo's statement, and the wrinkles on his face smoothed out considerably.

He stood up, walked over to Zhao Jianguo, and patted Zhao Jianguo's shoulder heavily with his slightly rough, calloused hands. His tone revealed the protective instincts of an old company commander: "Jianguo, now that you've decided to go down there, go for it! The grassroots level is a great melting pot that can forge pig iron into steel. Remember, although you've left the Cultural and Tourism Bureau compound, I, Guo Nanguo, am still here! The conditions down there are tough, and there are many monsters and demons. If you encounter any insurmountable resistance while you're stationed in the village, or if someone deliberately tries to hold you back, call me anytime. As long as it doesn't violate principles, I, the deputy director, will risk my old face to coordinate for you!"

"Director Guo, thank you!" Zhao Jianguo felt a surge of warmth in his heart as he met Guo Nanguo's sincere gaze. In the cold, indifferent environment of the system, where people are easily forgotten and abandoned when they are down, it is extremely rare to find a leader willing to make a promise when you are in trouble.

As Zhao Jianguo left the deputy director's office and walked down the dimly lit corridor, the emotion on his face gradually faded, replaced by a cold and ruthless expression.

Zhang Baocheng, having crossed the river and then discarded the bridge, could not tolerate him and wanted to use a village-based transfer order to kick him out of the center of power like a football.

Fine! I can leave, but before I go, I have to leave you, Director, with a grand gift that you'll never forget. Otherwise, how can I repay your painstaking arrangements?

Back in his quiet office, Wang Pingping was watching a show with her headphones on. She didn't even notice him coming in. He didn't make a sound either, walked straight to his workstation, pulled out a chair, sat down, turned on his computer, and created a new Word document.

The document's title is "Supplementary Suggestions on Deepening the Xiaozhai Village Borderless Ancient Style Life Experience Area and its Subsequent Operation System."

Before this, the proposals that Zhao Jianguo wrote for Zhang Baocheng, although amazing, were actually just a framework, telling the county leaders "how to play it". However, when doing projects within the system, the part that is most likely to go wrong and explode is never the creativity, but the division of power and responsibility and the distribution of benefits in the later stage!

In the past few days, he has been observing the commotion within the bureau from the sidelines, and has been repeatedly reviewing and analyzing the situation in his office. He has already thought through all the potential dead ends that might be encountered when the project is implemented. However, he has been wary of Zhang Baocheng and Li Dafang using him and then discarding him, so he has not revealed a single word of these core details.

Now, it's time to play this trump card.