In officialdom: After she left, I rose rapidly through the ranks!

Qingjiang Hotel, though called a hotel, is almost like a scenic area, with artificial mountains, flowing water, small bridges, streams, and lakes.

The flowers, plants, and trees along the way, even in winter, had a unique charm.

Security at Qingjiang Hotel is already very strict on weekdays, since it is not open to the public. Those who can stay at Qingjiang Hotel are either officials or business tycoons invited by the Party Committee and the government to invest and inspect, and they are all rich and powerful.

Today, the security level of Qingjiang Hotel has been raised by more than one level. In addition to the original security personnel, the public security system has also increased the number of command points and security forces, and even some armed police officers have been stationed there.

Chen Min'en and Li Zhixing walked along the path, and although it was night, they did not feel cold.

Staff and guards naturally followed, but walked a short distance behind, ensuring they could see Chen Min'en at any time while also protecting his privacy.

"Comrade Min'en, I've been doing quite well these past few years. Thank you for your concern. My old leader was just drunk and what he said shouldn't be taken seriously. Please don't take offense."

Upon hearing this, Chen Min'en did not stop walking and continued walking slowly.

"Zhixing, I can tell whether our old leader is speaking from the heart or not. After all, our old leader is a very straightforward person."

At this point, Chen Min'en sighed softly and said, "It's just that this straightforward old leader now needs to use the alcohol to pretend when he talks to me. He's still a bit distant with me."

Upon hearing this, Li Zhixing was stunned for a moment and quickly looked at Chen Min'en.

Chen Min'en smiled and said, "You think I can't tell?"

"Hehe, I'm not surprised that I can see it. It's just that the old leader's acting skills are a bit too clumsy. Although he was a little drunk, I don't think he was drunk to the point of being out of his mind."

"Let alone me, even someone in your position would find it difficult to hear others speak frankly and honestly to you."

"Forget it, let's not talk about this anymore."

"Zhixing, tell me about yourself. How did you get transferred from being a municipal party secretary to the deputy secretary-general of the CPPCC?"

"This is no ordinary lateral transfer."

At the dinner table tonight, Chen Min'en had already learned a little about Li Zhixing's current situation. Hearing that Li Zhixing had recently been transferred from the position of municipal party secretary to the position of deputy secretary-general of the CPPCC, he could roughly understand what was going on without needing to say anything else.

In this situation, either Li Zhixing is being watched by the organization and is about to be investigated, or someone above is dissatisfied with Li Zhixing and has therefore sidelined him.

Although Chen Min'en was unaware of Li Zhixing's situation over the years, the fact that his former leader called him a "good official" was enough to prove many things. After all, no matter how the former leader changed, his backbone remained the same, and he would not speak up for a corrupt official because of past relationships.

In particular, asking Chen Min'en to plead on his behalf is something that Deputy Director Gao would never do.

Li Zhixing took a deep breath, looked at Chen Min'en, and said softly, "Comrade Min'en, these matters involve some personal grudges, as well as political struggles. As you know, this is unavoidable."

"The Li family has lost this time. Although I am unwilling, I cannot say much, much less ask you to do anything for me. You are a person who does great things and do not work in Qingjiang. If you rashly help the Li family, I am afraid it will have a bad impact on you."

Chen Min'en understood what Li Zhixing said; politically, that was indeed the case.

The Li family has a deep-rooted influence in Qingjiang Province. The fact that the opponent was able to defeat the Li family shows that their strength is definitely not weak.

But you just don't want to cause yourself trouble? You don't want me to help you?

Chen Min'en laughed.

Li Zhiyuan went to such lengths to get in front of the main leaders of the two provinces, just to attract my attention and get Li Zhixing to meet me.

"Zhixing, your older brother would probably be angry if he heard you say that."

"We are indeed old friends, but you are right, it's not appropriate for me to interfere in Qingjiang Province. But don't worry, I will talk to your Secretary An."

"I don't know how much I can help you, but I will try my best to get them to give you a fair chance. You need to find a comrade who hasn't made any mistakes and is a good official. You can't let him lose his future because of some personal grudges. That would lose people's hearts."

Li Zhixing was very excited at this moment.

He hadn't expected Chen Min'en to immediately offer to speak to Secretary An on his behalf.

They said they wanted to give him a fair chance, but Chen Min'en's evaluation of him as a good official, coupled with the special treatment he received today, clearly means what they mean.

Originally, Li Zhixing and Li Zhiyuan thought that as long as they could get in touch with Chen Min'en, and as long as Chen Min'en still remembered them, that would be enough.

This can be considered a tacit way of using Chen Min'en's name, and Chen Min'en's attitude at today's banquet was enough to make the Sun family dare not make any further moves.

The Li family can't be worse off than they are now, and that already makes them very satisfied.

Unexpectedly, Chen Min'en actually had to tell Secretary An in person.

At this moment, they had arrived at the small building where Chen Min'en was staying.

Li Zhixing said excitedly, "Comrade Min'en, I... I don't know how to thank you enough. You saved my whole family."

Chen Min'en smiled and shook his head, patted Li Zhixing on the shoulder, and said with a smile, "Zhixing, don't be so polite. You are a good official. If you weren't, then even if you were my old friend, I wouldn't speak up for you."

"Alright, let's not talk about this anymore. I see the weather is getting colder and colder. I was going to ask you to stay for a cup of hot tea before you left, but now that we've finished talking, and your older brother probably hasn't left yet, go back and put his mind at ease. You should also go back and get a good night's sleep. Although I can't help you much, I won't let anyone bully you."

Chen Min'en issued an order to leave.

However, Li Zhixing could not leave at this time.

"Comrade Min'en, I... I have something I want to tell you."

"It's very important!"

Chen Min'en was also taken aback for a moment, and nodded slightly when he saw Li Zhixing's serious attitude.

"What is something so important that you consider it more important than the affairs of your Li family?"

Li Zhixing took a deep breath and lowered his voice considerably.

"Have you been searching for the child you went missing years ago?"

Upon hearing this, Chen Min'en's eyes instantly sharpened, and a powerful aura rose up, causing Li Zhixing to swallow hard. This was the imposing presence of someone in a high position, as well as the bloodline that Chen Min'en, as a member of the Chen family, possessed from the very beginning, and the experience he gained from interacting with powerful figures from all sides since childhood. This was far beyond what Li Zhixing could compare to, and certainly not something that ordinary people of Chen Min'en's level could possess.

"Li Zhixing, what are you saying?"

At this moment, Chen Min'en no longer called out the name "Zhi Xing," but rather his full name!

Li Zhixing immediately said softly, "Take a look at this photo first. Perhaps I've found the person you've been searching for all this time."

After saying that, Li Zhixing put his hand into the pocket inside his clothes.

At that very moment, Li Zhixing suddenly felt his hair stand on end, as if he were being watched by death.

Out of the corner of his eye, he immediately saw the person who had been following him quickly put their hand behind their back after seeing his movement—it was a gun!

Even though he couldn't see it, he could sense that someone was targeting him, and if he did anything slightly wrong, he would be in danger.

Is this the guard force of Chen Min'en, the second-in-command of Linjiang Province?

No, this is probably not just the security force of Linjiang Province II. Such security measures are probably only available to people of a higher rank.

However, Li Zhixing was in no mood to think about these things at this moment.

I was too scared to move.

It wasn't until Chen Min'en gently shook his head at the others that the feeling of being watched by death lessened considerably.

That's right, it's lessened, not eliminated.

Chen Min'en's security forces continued to keep a close watch on him, preventing him from making any outrageous moves.

Li Zhixing took a deep breath before slowly taking the photo out of his pocket, so that others would not misunderstand.

"Comrade Min'en, this is a photo. Take a look at the people in it."