Chapter Thirty: Power Has Its Own Dignity

  The people around seemed to have felt the heavy atmosphere too, each of them closed their mouths and didn't even dare to breathe. Xǔ Yáo curiously looked over this way, but only saw a group of people's backs, and then boredly turned back.

  Wen Huai's heart was in his throat, afraid that Wen Ze would say something wrong. But unexpectedly, Wen Ze didn't even glance at his father, scratched his head awkwardly and said: "We were classmates at Number One Middle School, we rarely asked about each other's families, but she did mention that her father is a shoeshiner. I was afraid of hurting her self-esteem, so I didn't dare ask more. Now, taking advantage of the holiday, I brought her here to work and study hard, and also earn some pocket money."

  Is he polishing shoes? Yang Guangsheng, with his thirty years of experience in the officialdom, barely controlled his facial expression without any change. Meng Shanshui was clearly stunned for a moment, while Zhang Fang couldn't help it and opened his mouth slightly, and the female comrade behind him actually burst out laughing, only to be glared at by Meng Shanshui who had reacted quickly, and immediately covered her mouth.

  Wen Huai Ming almost rushed to hug Wen Qian and give him a kiss, good boy, I'll reward you with 10 bucks when we get home! This remark dispelled Xu Fu Yan's suspicion and explained the reason for bringing his daughter to work, perfectly reasonable and flawless. Xu Fu Yan gazed at Wen Qian for a moment, the young man's eyes were clear and bright, his expression was shy but calm, standing quietly without any signs of anxiety or panic, looking absolutely not like he was telling lies. Xu Fu Yan also didn't believe that a child with a guilty conscience could remain calm under his gaze, turned around and smiled at Wen Huai Ming: "Old Wen, your kid is great, really great."

  Wen Ze had just mentioned Xu Yao, intending to use this as a conversation starter with Xu Fuyan, but unexpectedly almost instantly got his father into a terrible situation. Fortunately, upon hearing Xu Fuyan's question, he immediately reacted and narrowly avoided disaster. Even though he was known for his quick thinking, he was still caught off guard by this unexpected turn of events and broke out in a cold sweat.

  He let out a sigh of relief, turned around and smiled at Wen Huaiming: "Dad, how did you get here? I brought friends to play, don't worry, I have a sense of propriety." This hidden signal could only be understood by Wen Huaiming, who had a certain understanding of his son. He smiled bitterly in his heart: A sense of propriety? You almost got your old man buried!

  Actually, as long as it's not intentional, considering that Wen Jian saved Xu Yao, Xu Fuyan also has a good impression of him. Moreover, Wen Huiming is quite esteemed by him. However, the atmosphere just now must have hurt the loyalty of his subordinates. Giving them a carrot after a stick is the best way to handle it. As for what this carrot is, Xu Fuyan seemed to have just thought of it and coldly said: "You're Wei Gang from the Agricultural Machinery Factory?"

  Wei Gang had already woken up from the initial fright, and his behavior was quite normal. He took a few steps forward, maintaining a distance of about four feet from Xu Fuyan. His upper body slightly bent, showing respect without losing his composure. "I am Wei Gang, Deputy Director of the Agricultural Machinery Factory," he said. "Director Zhang has been working too hard lately and is hospitalized for rest. I'm temporarily taking over his responsibilities in the factory."

  If he really humbled himself and flattered too much, Xu Fuyan might have withdrawn his position on the spot in a fit of anger, which would be even worse than being overly punished. Xu Fuyan snorted, "As a deputy department-level cadre, representing the image of Qingzhou as a whole, one's words and actions outside must be measured, paying attention to one's identity. You're actually arguing with a child, do you have any shame?" Xu Fuyan didn't mention Wen Huiming in his words, only focusing on the sentence "no upbringing" that he scolded Wen Zhan for, this kind of differential treatment made Yang Guangsheng's heart move.

  Just to comfort Wen Huiming, it seems that there is no need to be so ruthless. The cadres outside are flying and swaggering, with dirty words pouring out, which is not news at all. Even Bai Changqian, the vice mayor of the city, once pointed at a bureau chief in the county during a meeting of the municipal finance system and scolded him loudly, causing a stir for a while.

  Xu Fuyan did this, no more than forcing Wei Gang to apologize to a kid in public, this punishment has far exceeded his mistakes. If Xu Fuyan really wants to resolve the matter smoothly, wouldn't it be better for him to apologize to Wen Huiming? Both of them are deputy directors, with the secretary mediating in between, and Wei Gang's apology would only make him feel like he kicked an iron plate, no big deal. By doing this, Xu Fuyan is simply slapping Wei Gang in the face in front of all Qingzhou cadres.

  Why is this?

  Yang Guangsheng quickly arranged the complex web of relationships stored in his mind, wanting to find Xu Fuyan's true intentions. As the steward of Qingzhou, many things were indeed stored in his mind. Suddenly, he remembered that not long ago, Xu Fuyan had made a second inspection visit to the Qinghua Factory, and as a result, a 15-minute speech was forcibly cut to five seconds under the instructions of Wei Chenfeng, the municipal party committee member and propaganda department head.

  Wei Chenfeng was actually Wei Gang's eldest paternal uncle.

  What's most astonishing is that Xu Fuyan has been pretending not to know Wei Gang from the very beginning, and no one would have thought he knew about the relationship between Wei Gang and Wei Chenfeng. This can be explained away, as Xu Fuyan had just arrived in Qingzhou and didn't know many deputy mayors, let alone someone like Wei Gang who wouldn't even catch the eye of a secretary. The subtlety here is that it's not just about being an old hand at officialdom, but also having a clear understanding of the situation in Qingzhou. If you don't have this level of awareness, you might even think Xu Fuyan was being sincere and speaking with leadership style, without realizing he was actually talking nonsense.

  What a wonderful calculation, not only did he report Wei Chenfeng's revenge for falling into the well and throwing stones, but also gave enough face to Wen Huaiming, and let other subordinates see the boss's powerful and decisive side. It can also tell some wavering people that the secretary is also human, and it is human nature to seek revenge. One stone, four birds, hitting without making a sound, extremely brilliant, Wen Huaiming will probably be even more devoted and loyal from now on, with no worries at all.

  Yang Guang's mind turned countless thoughts, but his face didn't show any change, and he could even cultivate freshwater pearls.

  Wei Gang's body suddenly stiffened, his hands clenched tightly on the seam of his pants, and his pale face was terrifying. Zhao Jianguo, the director of the third workshop, who had not dared to speak since Xu Fuyan came out, stood behind him, and was so scared that he almost lost his nerve, thinking to himself: You can refute me, but MBD's gift is going to be wasted!

  The farm machinery factory workers who had been looking at Wei Gang with disdain saw his pale face, although they didn't know why he was only scolded twice, the usually arrogant and domineering Wei Changlang became like this, but it didn't delay their enthusiasm for watching the excitement, one by one, as if they had enjoyed the most famous social flower in Qingzhou, Qi Shu, for free, and were thrilled to the bone.

  The middle-aged man who just helped Wei Gang was even more desperately hiding in the pile of colleagues, but he didn't dare to really abandon Wei Gang and leave. He had a pitiful expression on his face, frequently smiling and trying to curry favor with Li Shengli, it's truly pathetic and hateful!

  Wei Gang was furious at Xu Fuyan, but after scolding his dog leg for a sentence, he was so bitter and forced to argue. He mustered up the courage to refute a few words, but when he looked up, he saw Xu Fuyan's face with a smile that was not a smile. What made him feel cold was that in those majestic eyes, almost no warmth could be seen, and the chill was despairing.

  The world is originally hierarchical, and the hierarchy plays a more obvious role in official circles. This glance made Wei Gang's courage, which had just been mustered up with great difficulty, dissipate completely. Thinking of the recent wind direction in the city, his heart skipped a beat, and his waist involuntarily bent down a few inches. With a sincere and fearful tone, he said: "What I did earlier was indeed wrong. Secretary Xu criticized me, so I'll...I'll apologize to Wen Qian." As he spoke, his face was filled with smiles, and he patted Wen Qian's shoulder in a deliberately affectionate manner, saying: "Wen Qian, it was all Uncle's fault earlier. I shouldn't have spoken so rashly. Uncle offers you his sincerest apologies!"

  As soon as this sentence came out, the expressions of the people around were very complicated, and it was unknown whether they were more sympathetic or more gloating, or both.

  Yang Guangsheng nodded with a smile, as if to say that the matter was settled properly, but his true thoughts were unknown to anyone. Meng Shanshui had been observing him for half a day, but couldn't get any information from Yang's face. He sighed in his heart: "Old ginger is still spicy!" However, Wei Gang was young and arrogant, and his elder brother Wei Chenfeng was also a powerful figure in Qingzhou. Today, he was forced to apologize publicly to a young man from the Wen family, and by tomorrow, it would become the biggest joke in the Qingzhou official circle.

  He was originally still afraid that Wei Gang would not swallow this tone, and when he confronted Xu Fuyan, even if you had your uncle protecting you, it wouldn't take a minute for others to want to get rid of a small factory director like you? Unexpectedly, this kid could yield and persist, gritting his teeth and enduring, having great prospects, having great prospects!

  However, Wen Huiming really held his breath and didn't say a word. If he had said a few words of apology before blocking Wei Gang's way earlier, wouldn't this matter have been settled? Now it has turned out like this, is he going to make a mortal enemy out of Wei Gang?!

  Meng Shanshui looked at Wen Huaiming with a very complicated mood, the small deputy director of the political research office who used to be helpless and was often bullied by others had grown to the point where he dared to call out Wei Gang, who was in his prime, without hesitation.

  The world is full of strange things, it's really sigh-worthy!

  Wen Huiming seemed to be asleep, his eyes closed, his soul wandering outside, standing behind Xu Fuyan, not uttering a single word. On the other hand, Wen Ze let everyone have a big shock, he was so young, yet dared to interrupt when everyone else was silent, taking two steps forward, closing in on Xu Fuyan's distance, smiling: "Secretary Xu, Director Wei is also an unintentional mistake, apologizing is not necessary. Especially my mom works at the agricultural machinery factory, under Director Wei, and my dad is with Director Wei in the municipal committee, everyone sees each other often, apologizing is not necessary, right?" Seeing Xu Fuyan's puzzled expression, he added a sentence in a low voice, yet just loud enough for the people around to hear, "Director Wei Chenfeng is Director Wei's elder uncle!"

  This remark was incomprehensible to others, but Yang Guangsheng almost applauded in admiration. What a young man, what a young master of the Wen family! Xu Fuyan had been performing a one-man show for half a day, and in the end, it was a teenager who rounded out the scene perfectly. Xu Fuyan's next move was to pretend to be enlightened and benevolent, comforting Wei Gang with a few words and saying some polite phrases, and the matter was thus settled. Even if others knew about the incident with Wei Chenfeng, they would think that it was just an unlucky coincidence that Wei Gang had stumbled upon him, but they wouldn't suspect that Xu Fuyan had intentionally sought revenge. In this way, he not only humiliated his opponent but also controlled the potential backlash within a minimal range. What could Wei Chenfeng do except swallow his anger and curse Wei Gang for being useless?

  A hero emerges in his youth, and from this perfectly timed, not too light or too heavy sentence, Wen Cang immediately sparked Yang Guangsheng's great interest. And the one who started it all, Xu Fuyan, felt even more deeply than him, and didn't even think of using such a way to conclude, Wen Cang's move was like adding the final touches to a dragon painting, too wonderful for words, too wonderful for words!

  Xu Fuyan's eyes gathered slightly, and he quietly made a turn on Wen Qing's body without making a sound. As expected, he said some clichés according to Yang Guangsheng's thoughts, and then pulled Wen Qing's hand and walked into the store with a smile. Li Shengli quickly led the way in front, and Wei Gang received Meng Shanshui's hint, of course, did not dare to leave at this time. Anyway, his face had already been lost today, so he might as well stay and see if there was any chance to turn things around. He instructed Zhao Jianguo and others to wait outside and quickly followed up.

  For a time, the Qinghe Doujiang 81 store was bustling with activity, and after more than ten minutes of quietness, it finally welcomed its first peak!