More than half a month later—
Early in the morning, Dong Xuebing was sitting in his office, eating buns and soy milk that Secretary Su had bought for him, when two unexpected phone calls came in.
The first was from his wife, Xie Huilan.
“Hey, what are you doing?” came Huilan’s cheerful voice over the phone.
Dong Xuebing swallowed the food in his mouth. Having breakfast. Have you eaten yet?”
Xie Huilan chuckled. “Just finished. Let’s talk business—has the county-to-city status upgrade been finalized?”
Dong Xuebing laughed. “I’m not even anxious yet, why are you? I think it’s still early—probably another month or two at the earliest. It’s not a small matter; the higher-ups need to approve it, and a lot of coordination is required. Hmm? Why do you ask? Something up?”
Xie Huilan replied, “Yes, I heard you’ve already started transferring people over.”
Dong Xuebing said, “Mhm. Some of my old subordinates aren’t high enough in rank. Once the county becomes a city, they won’t be eligible to transfer in. So I’ve brought them over early. Once everything’s in place, we’ll promote them together. It’ll save them three to five years of experience-building.”
Then he suddenly realized, “Wait, what do you mean? You want to place people, too? However, let me say this first—the city is already making an exception by letting me transfer people early, and there aren’t many slots available. I’ve used them all up. If we start stuffing people in too aggressively, it’ll raise eyebrows.”
Xie Huilan said, “I know. I’m not asking you to transfer anyone at this time. Once the county becomes a city, there’ll be a lot of vacancies and new departments established. There’ll be a huge demand for staff. I don’t need much—reserve two division-level positions for me. I owe two favors, and I need to repay them. You decide the specific roles—they don’t need to be high, but they can’t be too low either. Just something reasonable, haha.”
“No problem once the upgrades go through,” Dong Xuebing readily agreed. “Alright, I got it. When the time comes, send me their info—I’ll arrange it on this end.”
Just as he hung up, another call came in.
This time it was Huilan’s second aunt, Ci Lifen.
“Hello, Auntie,” Dong Xuebing greeted warmly.
Ci Lifen chatted casually for a bit, even mentioning Fang Shuiling and Xie Ran’s engagement party in ten days. Then she shifted the topic: “Xiaobing, your county’s government restructuring is almost here, right? There should be quite a few positions opening up.”
Dong Xuebing blinked. “Yes. If you have instructions, say the word.”
Ci Lifen said, “I have an old classmate whose son has been stuck at the division chief level for years. He doesn’t have strong connections and can’t move up where he is. Can you save a deputy department-level spot for him? I’ll handle the transfer from this side—you need to receive him.”
Dong Xuebing didn’t hesitate. “No problem.”
“Great, then I won’t thank you too much, haha,” Ci Lifen said.
“Come on, it’s a small thing,” Dong Xuebing said.
In the past, it was always Dong Xuebing who asked the family for favors, such as pulling strings for a transfer or getting a message passed when something couldn’t be done. After all, anyone from the Xie family held considerable power. But now, Dong Xuebing was gradually becoming part of the upper echelons himself. He was soon to be appointed as the City Party Secretary. As his position and power grew, members of the Xie family also began to rely on him for work-related matters.
Someone knocked at the door.
“Come in,” said Dong Xuebing.
It was Su Yan, his secretary. “Secretary Dong, the two new deputy directors of the County Party Office are here to report in. I ran into them just now at the Organization Department.”
Dong Xuebing smiled. “Great, have them come straight here.”
Technically, at this level of appointment, Dong Xuebing didn’t need to handle it personally. They would usually report to the Organization Department and then check in with Meng Hanmei, the head of the Party Office. But Dong Xuebing purposely intercepted them, sending a clear message: these two are his people. It was also his way of paving the road a little for Guo Panwei and Chang Juan.
Before long, Han Wu, head of the County Organization Department, arrived with the two of them.
As soon as they walked in, Dong Xuebing looked up and smiled.
Guo Panwei was still as dark-skinned as ever, and even thinner than before. Chang Juan, meanwhile, was still full of charm, dressed in flashy clothes with heavy makeup.
Han Wu introduced them. “Secretary Dong, I’ve brought them. This is Comrade Guo Panwei, and this is Comrade Chang Juan.”
“Hello, Secretary Dong.” With others present, Guo Panwei and Chang Juan maintained a formal and respectful demeanor.
Dong Xuebing returned the greeting with a smile and then picked up the phone. “Hey, Old Meng? Please come to my office for a moment. Yes.”
A minute later, Meng Hanmei entered and glanced at the two unfamiliar faces.
Dong Xuebing said, “This is Director Meng Hanmei, your supervisor. Old Meng, I’m handing them over to you. Assign their duties as you see fit.”
Meng Hanmei nodded, “Yes, Secretary. I’ll take them to see the office.”
As soon as they stepped out, Guo Panwei quickly said, “Director Meng, hello.”
Chang Juan also greeted her. “We look forward to your guidance.”
Meng Hanmei responded kindly, “We’re all on the same team now—no need to be so formal. I’ll take you to your offices first, then introduce you to the rest of the staff. After that, we’ll talk about assigning roles. No rush though. Any assignments now will probably need to be adjusted in a month or two.”
Chang Juan was surprised. “Why?”
“One or two months from now?” Guo Panwei also looked confused.
Meng Hanmei paused. “Wait, you two don’t know? I thought Secretary Dong had told you. Guess not.”
Chang Juan asked, puzzled, “Director Meng, what’s going on?”
Meng Hanmei replied, “Jiaolin County is about to be upgraded to a county-level city. Once that happens, most leadership positions will be bumped up by one level.”
“County-to-city upgrade?”
Chang Juan and Guo Panwei were stunned.
They genuinely hadn’t heard a word about this before.
The two of them had known each other for a long time—they worked in the same department for years, and even knew each other before they met Dong Xuebing. They had chatted before the transfer and never imagined the situation would be . They had just been promoted to full division-level recently. And now, if what Meng Hanmei said was true, in just a month or two, they would both be deputy department-level cadres.
Guo Panwei was overjoyed. He knew Secretary Dong wouldn’t forget him.
Chang Juan nearly burst into laughter. This was like a pie falling from the sky—an unbelievable stroke of fortune.