Chapter 35: Hit the Snake at Seven Inches

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  Lei Shuping and Yang Jie heard Zhou Dequan's words, their eyes flashing with anger at the same time.

  Lei Shuping felt an uncontrollable surge of anger in his heart. He never expected that as soon as Secretary Zhou left Huahe, the county magistrate's faction would already not take the secretary's leadership seriously.

  After Deng Zixiang arrived in Rong City, he actually deliberately provoked him, obviously with the consent of County Magistrate Zhang Dasheng. He was so unscrupulous that Lei Shuping, no matter how good his temper was, couldn't bear it, let alone Lei Shuping wasn't a person who would tolerate humiliation.

  Looking at the flustered Zhou Dequan, Lei Shuping's face turned red with anger, and he slapped the tea table with a loud noise, shouting: "What does Deng Zixiang want to do? Are you still the head of the Provincial Office or not? Do I need to come out for such things?"

  Zhou Dequan was startled by Lei Shuping's sudden shout, and he trembled all over. Earlier, in a fit of anger, he had directly gone upstairs without realizing that as the head of the provincial office, handling matters related to the office was his right and responsibility.

  As the head of the provincial office, not even a small clerk took him seriously, and he couldn't even get a private room. This made Zhou Dequan feel humiliated, and coming to Lei Shuping for help would naturally result in a scolding.

  Zhou Dequan, who was so angry that he wanted to slap himself twice, changed his expression after hearing Lei Shuping's words. A resolute glint flashed in his eyes. "Secretary Lei, I'll go and make arrangements right away. I don't believe it, this Provincial Office is still not my territory!"

  Looking at Zhou Dequan who was about to leave in a hurry, Lei Shuping let out a sigh of frustration and turned his head to look at Yang Jie who was standing beside him with an air of composure. He said: "Little Yang, follow Old Zhou to take a look. Your relationship with Secretary Zhou is clear to both Mayor Deng and Zhu Jiangxin. For the sake of special funds, it's inevitable that you'll have to confront them sooner or later. Don't worry about offending them, just do what needs to be done."

  Yang Jie nodded and followed Zhou Dequan out of the suite, looking at Zhou Dequan's worried brow and unsure expression, not knowing how to handle it. Yang Jie couldn't help but feel a little disdain for him in his heart. As the deputy director of the county party committee office, when something happened, he would only seek help from his superiors. No wonder he was still just a deputy position in the county party committee office at over 50 years old.

  The restaurant of the hotel is very large, and there are many private rooms. However, the largest one that can accommodate twenty people sitting at the same table for dinner is only available in Mei Ye Ge. The other private rooms are slightly smaller and do not have such a large table, so Lei Shu Ping specified this room when inviting his classmates to dinner.

  Following Zhou Dequan into the dining hall, Zheng Xiaohang was seen chatting and laughing with a female waitress.

  Zhou Dequan has arrived again, and a hint of disdain flashed in Zheng Xiaohang's eyes. However, since Zhou Dequan was the director of the provincial office, Zheng Xiaohang still put on a hypocritical smile to greet him.

  "Director, is it that Secretary Lei and County Mayor Deng have negotiated?" Zheng Xiaohang looked at Zhou Dequan's gloomy face and knew that Lei Shuping had not spoken to Deng Zichuan. He asked this question just to make things difficult for Zhou Dequan. "If I had known earlier that Secretary Lei was going to entertain his classmates, I would have told County Mayor Deng this afternoon, so that he could make other arrangements. Look at the trouble this has caused."

  "Lao Zheng, I don't care if that private room was booked by County Magistrate Deng or not. All I want is one word from you: did you give that private room to Secretary Lei or County Magistrate Deng?" Zhou Dequan's eyes flashed with a fierce glint, and although the old man usually didn't get angry, when he did, he had a bold and unyielding attitude.

  Zheng Xiaohang smiled wryly and shook his head, looking at Zhou Dequan with a helpless expression. "Director, aren't you making things difficult for me? When doing anything, we have to consider the order of arrival and reason. Mayor Deng booked a private room as soon as he arrived at the provincial office this afternoon. Although Secretary Lei arrived before Mayor Deng, he didn't say anything at that time."

  "Of course, you are the director of the provincial office. I will listen to what you have to say. If not, you can decide who to give it to. Just wait for County Mayor Deng to arrive and you can explain it to him." Zheng Xiaohang saw Zhou Dequan's face change and hastily changed his words, passing this hot potato into Zhou Dequan's hands.

  Zheng Xiaohang's move was a retreat in order to advance, forcing Zhou Dequan into a corner. He couldn't possibly rely on his position as the director of the provincial office to force Zheng Xiaohang to give up the private room that Deng County Magistrate had booked in advance for Lei Secretary.

  If such a thing were to spread back to Yonghe County, who knows what kind of trouble would arise again. Even if Zhou Dequan dared to do so, Yang Jie would stop him.

  "Director, didn't you say yesterday that the restaurant's operating costs are too high and want to contract out the hotel restaurant? Actually, I think contracting out the restaurant is also good, self-financing, market-oriented operation, and submitting a contracted fee to the provincial office every month will save a lot of trouble."

  The provincial office just needs to manage the hotel part well, and besides, the current reception service team is only Zhang Wei, who is indeed a bit tired. After the restaurant is contracted out, Old Zheng can also free up his hands to help Zhang Wei receive leaders." Yang Jie looked at Zheng Xiaohang with a sarcastic smile and said to Zhou Dequan.

  Zhou Dequan was able to become the deputy director of the county party committee office, and he is not a foolish person. He has plenty of experience in struggle, but as a newcomer, he didn't know where to start. Now that Yang Jie has shown him the way, he naturally knows where Zheng Xiaohang's weakness lies.

  His originally somewhat gloomy expression turned calm and composed, Zhou Dequan was suddenly enlightened by Yang Jie's words, his entire demeanor changed, and he said with a smile: "I also feel the same way, the expenses in the back kitchen of the restaurant are getting higher and higher, but on the other hand, the operating income has not increased. To say that it should be profitable, the restaurant is now not making money, I don't know if it's an operational problem or some other issue."

  The hotel and restaurant in the Yuhe Hotel, only the restaurant has a profit, Zheng Xiaohang's monthly salary bonus is limited, as the saying goes, relying on the mountain to eat the mountain, relying on the water to eat the water, wanting to make a good profit, naturally start from this piece of land he manages.

  The back kitchen of the restaurant is the place where the most oil and water are mixed, because the loss is not transparent, it's easy to take advantage of, Zheng Xiaohang has been in charge of the restaurant, and the benefits he gets are naturally not small.

  Sure, here is the translation:

  As expected, when Yang Jie and Zhou Dequan brought up the restaurant's management problems, he suddenly became flustered and sweaty on his forehead. "Director, this year's price increase is severe, and our restaurant hasn't raised prices externally, so the cost of the back kitchen has relatively increased."

  "Old Zheng! You're also getting old, right? Logically speaking, you've been in the liaison office for many years and have managed this hotel for several years. These most basic management issues shouldn't require our attention, but now the biggest problem is that there aren't enough personnel at the provincial office!"

  You see, just like today, Secretary Lei and County Mayor Deng both came to the provincial office, but the staff who received them could only serve one leader well, which means that the reception service team is understaffed.

  Outsource the restaurant, even the hotel can be outsourced, save manpower and energy, not only save relevant expenses for the county, but also work together to do a good job in the provincial office, what do you think?" After understanding Lao Zheng's intention, Zhou Dequan effortlessly grasped Zheng Xiaohang.

  Zhou Dequan is the director of the provincial office and has the final say. He can completely take charge of contracting out the restaurant.

  After all, the hotel restaurant is a sideline for the provincial office. The reason why it was not contracted out was that the leader had no idea. Once Zhou Dequan made a decision, even Zhu Jiangxin couldn't oppose it.

  As long as the restaurant is contracted out, Zheng Xiaohang's considerable rebate every month will be gone. Moreover, the work of the reception service group is monotonous, basically just sitting idly in the office, which can't compare to the prestige and freedom of running a hotel and managing so many people.

  "Director, I've managed this hotel for so many years, and under my management, it has developed with great success. Even if there's no merit, at least there's hard work! You're going to contract out the hotel, doesn't that mean all my efforts over the years have been in vain?" Zheng Xiaohang looked at Zhou Dequan's stern face, knowing he was being forced to take a stand, and felt bitter, still wanting to struggle.

  "Old Zheng, what you said just now shows that you don't have the awareness of being an old party member. We are not a private enterprise, but a government agency. Your responsibility is to manage and operate the hotel well. The contributions you make to the hotel are known by the organization. Moreover, including me and Yang Jie, no one can stay in the provincial office forever, I believe you are the same."

  "This hotel's management will eventually have to be handed over, when that time comes, are you still going to cling to the manager's position and refuse to let go?" Zhou Dequan saw Zheng Xiaohang wanting to make a last-ditch effort, his face suddenly turned cold, and he criticized him very rudely.

  "Old Zheng, actually the director contracted out the hotel for your own good. Just like today, Secretary Lei and County Mayor Deng both came to the hotel wanting to entertain guests at Mei Ye Lou, but there's only one Mei Ye Lou, it wouldn't be fair to either of them. If the restaurant is contracted out, then we won't have to worry about it anymore, right?" Yang Jie saw that Zheng Xiaohang's attitude had already softened and didn't want to push him too far, after all, keeping Old Zheng was easier to control than replacing him with someone new.

  Zheng Xiaohang smiled bitterly upon hearing this, it seemed that the matter was still being stirred up by the private room. Looking at Zhou Defu's eyes flashing with a sharp light, his expressionless face, he knew that if he didn't give Zhou Defu an explanation, then tomorrow's weekly meeting would propose the decision to outsource the restaurant's contract, and even Zhu Jiangxin's opposition would be useless.

  "Director, Yang, today's matter really isn't that I, Old Zheng, disobeyed orders. It's just that County Magistrate Deng had booked the private room first, and I had no choice but to offend Director Zhou's dignity. If I had known earlier that Secretary Lei was going to entertain friends at Mei Ye Ge, I wouldn't have dared to give the private room to County Magistrate Deng even if you killed me!" Zheng Xiaohang looked at Zhou Dequan and Yang Jie with a mixture of helplessness and anxiety, his originally disdainful eyes now filled with urgency and confusion.

  "Old Zheng, does it still make sense for you to say these things now? Wasn't it you who told County Mayor Deng about the Blue Dream KTV incident? And can you casually tell outsiders about Secretary Lei's travel arrangements? What if someone has ulterior motives and wants to harm Secretary Lei, can you take responsibility for that? Just be honest, what's going on with the private room?" Zhou Dequan ignored Zheng Xiaohang's bitter complaints, thinking of Zheng Xiaohang's disdainful expression filled him with anger.

  Now that I've finally caught Zheng Xiaohang's weakness, how can I not take advantage of it and give him a lesson he'll never forget, so that he won't dare to neglect his director again.