At the Pinnacle of Power: The Female Leader and Her Chief Advisor

Even knowing this, Yu Wei, as the one who hosted the dinner, didn't have any good options.

She came with the intention of making friends with the other party, so she couldn't just get up and leave because the other party was late.

That would make one seem extremely intolerant.

Lu Ming cursed inwardly, calling him a cunning old fox who treats people differently based on their status.

When Song Chuhe was still in office, he had invited Hao Qinglin to dinner several times, and Hao Qinglin was never late.

They must have known that Song Chuhe had a strong personality, and that if he were really late, Song Chuhe would dare to flip the table, so they didn't do that.

Lu Ming immediately told Yu Wei the details of Song Chuhe's meal with Hao Qinglin. Yu Wei listened but didn't say anything more.

The details about the two of them can only be used as a reference at most. After all, everyone has a different personality and way of handling problems. What suits Song Chuhe may not suit her.

Besides, she didn't really care whether Hao Qinglin was testing her by being late.

After all, this was their first meal together, so some testing was inevitable.

At 7:30, Hao Qinglin arrived with Secretary Sun.

As soon as he entered the house, Hao Qinglin quickly apologized: "Mayor Yu, I'm sorry to have kept you waiting. There was a sudden traffic jam on the road. I'm really sorry."

The excuse was rather clumsy, so Yu Wei ignored it and said to Lu Ming, "Secretary Lu, please arrange for the dishes to be served."

After everyone was seated, Yu Wei asked, "Minister Hao, would you like some alcohol or soft drinks?"

"We've all been busy all day, let's have a drink to relieve some stress."

Yu Wei was quite surprised that Hao Qinglin offered to drink alcohol; she had assumed he would choose a soft drink.

The waiter brought over drinks, and Lu Ming got up to pour them.

"Minister Hao, let me toast you!"

Yu Wei raised her wine glass, and Hao Qinglin smiled and clinked glasses with her.

At the dinner table, Yu Wei first talked about work and then started chatting.

"At the municipal government, I just arrived and a vice mayor and an office director have already been dismissed. This shows that there are still some problems in our municipal government."

"These problems did not suddenly emerge, but rather accumulated over the years, which also shows that Mayor Jiang needs to further strengthen his management."

"Minister Hao, you are in charge of personnel, so we hope you can offer more suggestions on personnel promotions."

Although Yu Wei didn't say it explicitly, it was pretty much what she meant.

Her implication was that the municipal government had problems, and Mayor Jiang had problems as well.

She said this to see if Hao Qinglin was willing to stand on her side.

Hao Qinglin humbly replied, "I'm just a housekeeper. My leadership and management skills are inferior to Mayor Jiang's. If she can't solve this chronic problem, I'm afraid I can't help her either."

"Fortunately, Mayor Yu, you have come to Songxi. I believe that under your leadership, there will definitely be fewer and fewer bad apples like Zhu Chaoyang and Wang Qiang in the municipal government."

Hao Qinglin's statement can be considered a declaration that he is neither siding with Jiang Ling nor with Yu Wei.

This wasn't the answer Yu Wei wanted, but it wasn't the worst outcome either.

After the group sat down, they hadn't even taken a few bites of the food when Secretary Sun's phone suddenly rang.

He took out his phone, got up and walked to the window to answer it. A little while later, he walked over to Minister Hao's side, bent down and whispered a few words.

Hao Qinglin nodded, looked at Yu Wei, and said, "Mayor Yu, I'm really sorry, I have something I need to take care of."

Yu Wei asked in surprise, "Is Minister Hao still working so late?"

"Hehe, who says otherwise!" Hao Qinglin gave a wry smile: "The Organization Department is supposed to be in charge of personnel, which seems like a lot of work, but actually there are a lot of things, big and small, waiting for me to handle."

"For people like us who have no connections and have climbed our way up from the bottom, we can't afford to be careless at work. Otherwise, we might make a mistake one day and regret it forever!"

"That's why I drink a little alcohol every day to help me sleep, because I'm under a lot of pressure. Otherwise, I really can't sleep."

Hao Qinglin picked up his wine glass, downed the wine in one gulp, and said, "Mayor Yu, please enjoy your meal."

After Hao Qinglin left, Yu Wei frowned and pondered as she looked at the gate.

Lu Ming's expression also showed a thoughtful look.

Hao Qinglin's last few words sounded reasonable, but why did they have a hint of ambiguity about them?

He said he climbed up from the bottom, as if he were implying that Yu Wei became mayor at such a young age because of connections.

And that phrase, "stumbled and made a mistake," seemed more like a warning to Yu Wei not to try and win him over again.

Lu Ming glanced at Yu Wei, knowing that she must be pondering the meaning behind Hao Qinglin's last words.

……

In the car.

Secretary Sun asked cautiously, "Minister, didn't what you just said offend Mayor Yao Yu?"

Hao Qinglin said calmly, "What difference does it make if I offend a pretty face who climbed up the ladder through nepotism?"

Secretary Sun had something else to say, but in the end, she opened her mouth and then closed it again.

At the same time, he was secretly complaining to himself, saying that others become mayors through nepotism, but didn't he himself become a minister through his father-in-law?

Of course, he would never dare to say that.

When Hao Qinglin was young, he was indeed an ordinary person. He was once full of vigor and fearless of power, believing that as long as he had the ability, he would definitely be able to shine in the system.

But later, he realized he was wrong, terribly wrong.

Having ability but no connections will only result in the mediocre people around you being promoted one after another.

As for him, not only was he not promoted, but he also had to stay up all night writing articles.

The completed manuscript was submitted, and the leader took it to sign his name, and it was praised by the leader above him.

Even so, he still harbored illusions, thinking that if the leader got promoted, he would think of him and help him out.

But in the end, it was still a joke.

Later, the mayor's only daughter fell for him and relentlessly pursued him, becoming hopelessly in love.

However, he did not rush to establish a relationship based on the other party's identity.

At the time, he had a girlfriend, and they were about to get married.

But the mayor's daughter pointed her finger at him and threatened him, demanding that he break up with his girlfriend and be with her, or she would transfer him to a remote mountain village for the rest of his life.

Hao Qinglin was naive and didn't believe it at the time, but less than a week later, he received a transfer order.

Later, he compromised and got together with the mayor's daughter.

From then on, his career took off, rising from a section-level clerk to the director of the organization department.

Furthermore, after his father-in-law retired, he relied on his own abilities and his father-in-law's connections to become a deputy minister and then a minister.

And they bought this location and stayed there for more than ten years.

However, even though he himself climbed to the top through connections, he still looked down on others who got there through connections.

Because he felt that he had been forced into it!

The reason for this attitude towards Yu Wei was mainly to tell her: you and Jiang Ling can fight however you want, but don't drag me into it.

Right now, all he wants is to live peacefully in his own little corner of the world. As for other things, he doesn't want to care, and he can't care anyway!