Chapter 42: The Unexpected 'Acquaintance'

  The two groups were both five people, equivalent to dividing the crowd in the provincial office into two factions.

  Unconsciously, the people surrounding Zhou Dequan in the provincial office had quietly occupied half of the positions.

  This was a magnificent comeback for Zhou Dequan, who was still bald-headed just last week, and it made everyone in the provincial office look at Director Zhou, who seemed like a kind old man with a smile on his face, in a new light.

  After the meeting, Zhu Jiangxin left with a gloomy face and didn't say a word. Wang Qunsheng also quickly followed him out of the conference room with a disheveled appearance. The remaining He Dongshan, Zhang Wei, and Ren Huiling looked at Zhou Dequan, then glanced at each other, but ultimately chose not to stay behind and left the conference room following Wang Qunsheng.

  After everyone who came to see Zhu Jiangxin left, Zhou Dequan finally changed the dignified expression he had before and showed a kind smile on his face, indicating that Yang Jie and others should all sit down beside him.

  "I believe everyone knows that Secretary Lei and County Mayor Deng came to the provincial city to run for special funds from the Transportation Department. Now, the Provincial Office has divided the workload into groups, and as a team assisting Secretary Lei, we must work together to help Secretary Lei get the special funds." Zhou Dequan looked at the people below him, although those present were amateur project runners and fund runners, but having someone with experience was better than being an empty commander.

  Although Zhou Dequan didn't hold much hope for the crowd, he had high expectations for Yang Jie. "Little Yang, today we're accompanying Secretary Lei to the Transportation Department. You also met those leaders from the Transportation Department yesterday, and they all have a good impression of you. You're cultured, clever, and worldly, better than me in some ways. Secretary Lei doesn't have many reliable people around him right now, so you must be more careful."

  "Don't worry, Director. I'll definitely work hard to assist Secretary Lei in completing the task and strive to get the special funds as soon as possible!" Yang Jie nodded slightly, with a confident smile on his face.

  Zhou Dequan now regarded Yang Jie as his absolute confidant, and was very satisfied with the confidence he had in him. He turned to look at Zheng Xiaohang and Gao Zhiyun. "Old Zheng, you've been a restaurant manager for so many years, and you must have some connections. Take Little Gao around the province these two days, see if there's anywhere that can be of help."

  "Xiao Liu, you stay at the provincial office. You are in charge of answering phone calls, and if there is anything important, you will relay it to everyone." After Zhou Dequan arranged the work for each person, he prepared to leave the conference room to meet Lei Shuping at the main building of the hotel.

  Yang Jie hastily stepped forward and called out to Zhou Dequan, stepping forward in a low voice: "Director, I want to pursue further studies while working. I've already spoken with Professor Gong from the School of Mechanical Engineering at Jiangnan University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, and I'm supposed to go to school today. Can you help me get a certification from our unit?"

  "Xiao Yang! It's a good thing to pursue further studies while working, getting a master's degree will be of great help for your future advancement in the system. I'll definitely support you strongly, but now it's summer vacation, even if you go register today, you can't start classes immediately."

  You also know the current situation at the provincial office, Secretary Lei's mission this time in the provincial city is extremely arduous. In terms of business, we are not as good as Zhu Jiangxin and others, and there are even fewer people who can be used. Now I can only rely on you to help Secretary Lei with this matter. At this critical juncture, can you call Professor Gong and explain the situation?

  Zhou Dequan was somewhat surprised to hear that Yang Jie wanted to pursue a master's degree while working, but he fully supported Yang Jie's desire for self-improvement. After all, high-educated talents are increasingly valued within the system. However, considering the current reality of the Provincial Office, he had no choice but to advise Yang Jie to put aside personal matters for the time being and focus on helping Lei Shuping resolve the issue of special funds.

  "Alright! I'll go back to the office and call the teacher to explain!" Yang Jie is now a person within the system, can't just leave at will, everything still has to follow the leader's arrangement. After hearing Zhou Dequan say this, Yang Jie nodded in agreement.

  He needs a certification from his work unit to take the on-the-job graduate exam, if Zhou Dequan doesn't give it to him, he won't be able to complete the registration procedures even if he goes to school. It's better for him to focus on doing his job well in the county first and then look for Gong Lao when he has time later.

  "Go, you go make the call first, I'll go to the hotel to invite Secretary Lei. We'll meet at the parking lot later!" After Yang Jie agreed, Zhou Dequan patted him on the shoulder with a reassuring look and then quickly headed in the direction of the main building.

  Back in the office of the Foreign Affairs Group, Liu Fei was sitting in the office reading a newspaper. When she saw Yang Jie coming back, she curiously asked: "Aren't you supposed to go to the Transportation Department with Director and others? Why are you back?"

  "Come back and make a phone call, I'm about to leave!" Yang Jie said as he walked to his own office desk, picked up the phone on the table, and dialed the number that Old Gong had told him when they were at Factory 3113.

  The phone was answered quickly, and a young man's voice came from the other end of the line, "Hello! This is the Aviation University of Mechanical Engineering."

  "Hello! Is Professor Gong in?" Yang Jie asked after the other person finished speaking.

  "May I ask who you are?"

  "I am Yang Jie, I have an appointment with Professor Gong and will go to the college today."

  "Hello, Yang Jie! I'm Su Ming, Professor Gong's teaching secretary. The professor is in his office right now. Where are you? Do you need me to come pick you up?" As soon as Su Ming heard that the person on the other end of the phone was Yang Jie, he suddenly became enthusiastic.

  "Secretary Su, I'm really sorry, but there's an emergency situation at our unit, so I won't be able to go to the college to see the teacher today. Can you help me transfer the call to the teacher?" Yang Jie had barely finished speaking when Su Ming readily agreed without any problem.

  Part-time postgraduate students are not like full-time students, due to work reasons, they cannot be free at any time. Su Ming understood this very well, after dialing the internal line to inform Professor Gong, he transferred Yang Jie's call to Professor Gong's office.

  Yang Jie heard the familiar voice of Gong Lao and then brought the leaders from the provincial office, explaining that he couldn't make it to the college to see Gong Lao as agreed upon two days ago. After Yang Jie explained the situation clearly, Gong Lao was very magnanimous and didn't mind Yang Jie's cancellation, and readily said that Yang Jie could go to the Mechanical Engineering College anytime during this period.

  After finishing the phone call and walking downstairs, Yang Jie saw that Secretary Lei and Director Zhou were already sitting in the car waiting for him. He hastily opened the front passenger door and got in. Only then did Little Zhang quickly drive out of the provincial government office compound.

  "Xiao Yang, I heard you want to pursue a master's degree while working?" Lei Shuping asked, sitting in the back row on the left side, looking at Yang Jie in front.

  "Yes, Professor Gong of the School of Mechanical Engineering at Haida has agreed to take me as his master's student." Yang Jie said, turning around and looking at Lei Shuping.

  "School of Mechanical Engineering? Didn't you major in Economics and Management in college? Why are you going to study mechanical engineering for your master's degree?" Lei Shuping was taken aback by the words, thinking that Yang Jie would be studying Economics and Management, but he didn't expect Yang Jie's graduate major to be completely different from his undergraduate major.

  "In college, I self-studied mechanical engineering and computer-related courses. Among the universities in Chengdu, the mechanical engineering of Aviation University and the computer science of Military Academy are among the top ten majors in the country, while the economics and finance departments of universities in Chengdu can't even make it into the top twenty nationwide, so I chose to major in mechanical engineering." Yang Jie's explanation was somewhat convincing.

  Lei Shuping did not comment on Yang Jie's approach of choosing the best to read. In his view, since Yang Jie majored in economic management as an undergraduate, it would be better for him to pursue a related major in graduate school. However, Yang Jie had his own ideas and Lei couldn't say anything about it.

  The Transportation Department of Nanjiang Province is located on Bayi Road. Although Little Zhang was not familiar with the roads in the provincial capital, with Zhou Dequan guiding him, they arrived at Bayi Road very smoothly. The car was a vehicle from the Provincial Office, and its license plate was a Chengdu plate, so it passed through without any obstruction. The armed police officer at the entrance did not block them.

  "Xiao Yang, go to the Comprehensive Planning Department to understand the application situation of special funds for rural transportation construction. I and Director Zhou will visit Director Fang at the Construction Management Department." After the three people walked into the Transportation Hall building, Lei Shuping began to assign tasks to each of them.

  The Comprehensive Planning Department in the Transportation Department is a relatively powerful department, responsible for reviewing planning and construction projects; proposing national and provincial special fund investment policies and funding arrangements and supervising their implementation; undertaking or participating in the review of highway and waterway engineering designs throughout the province.

  Yuehe County wants to get the special funds from the Transportation Department, it must go through the approval of the Comprehensive Planning Division. Lei Shuping first went to find Fang Jianan of the Construction Management Division because the Construction Management Division is responsible for guiding rural highway construction and maintenance work. Therefore, he thought of visiting Fang Jianan first, and then see if he can meet with the leaders of the Comprehensive Planning Division through Fang Jianan.

  Yang Jie had no opinion on this and found the floor distribution map of the Ministry of Transportation's office building in the hall, seeing that the Comprehensive Planning Division was on the third floor, so he walked up the stairs to the third floor.

  The Comprehensive Planning Department is a key department of the Transportation Bureau, with six divisions spread across the entire floor. There are many people coming and going to handle affairs, and from time to time, you can see some leaders and project managers in charge of engineering projects, accompanied by smiling faces, catering to some division staff members.

  There are still some people standing in the corridor, unable to get in, it seems that there are quite a few people who come here to handle affairs, approve and run project funds.

  Looking at the comprehensive planning department's office function introduction on the third floor hall, the department and each office leader introduction, as well as the location distribution map of each office, relevant business process chart, it is found that the second office is responsible for special fund application approval. After seeing the photo of the head of the second office in the leadership introduction column, Yang Jie couldn't help but feel a sense of joy in his heart.

  Deputy Director Qin Le, it was him who greeted Pang Zheng proactively at the Wangfu Hotel two days ago. He was also one of the guests invited by Zhu Jiangxin and others to dinner that night, a leader from the Transportation Department.

  No wonder Zhu Jiangxin and his family would invite Qin Le's family to dinner, they had already started preparing for the special fund-raising run. Fortunately, that day Qin Le took the initiative to ask about Pang Zheng, so Yang Jie only had a brief encounter with him. It seems that luck really came, and even the city wall couldn't stop it!