From Evil Sect Leader to Doctor

Fan Lidada glanced at Xu Chunliang with the corner of his eye and said, "There’s nothing I can do; the incident happened suddenly, and they’re keeping an eye on me, so I can’t avoid making this call. Don’t blame me."

Xu Chunliang said, "I’m not blaming you. If it were me, I’d do the same."

Fan Lidada sighed deeply, "I wonder how Director Fu is doing?"

"Didn’t you call him?"

Fan Lidada shook his head. He wanted to call but didn’t dare. As the head of the Culture and Tourism Bureau, Fu Guomin’s situation surely wouldn’t be comfortable right now. Fan Lidada still couldn’t understand why the Procuratorate wanted to talk to them.

Dongzhou Culture and Tourism has encountered difficulties recently. Shouldn’t the city be supporting them through the tough times? Why bring the Procuratorate to investigate at this time? Does the city not trust them, or is there really a problem within their organization?

Xu Chunliang said, "We might be the ones getting pushed out."

Fan Lidada was momentarily stunned, "Pushed?" He couldn’t immediately grasp what Xu Chunliang meant.

Xu Chunliang said, "At first, public opinion was targeting us; now even the city is doing so."

Fan Lidada was still puzzled, "Why is the city targeting us? We’re promoting Dongzhou Barbecue for the sake of Dongzhou’s culture and tourism."

Xu Chunliang said, "Have you heard about the subway construction collapse?"

"Of course I’ve heard; such a big event..." Fan Lidada was halfway through his sentence when he suddenly realized something. He turned to Xu Chunliang, and at that moment, a flash of lightning tore through the sky, illuminating Fan Lidada’s anxious face in a pallor.

If it weren’t for Xu Chunliang’s reminder, he would never have connected the two incidents. But now he understood.

The rain intensified, and many raindrops splashed on Fan Lidada’s face and body, yet he had no intention of retreating from the rain. He raised his hand to take another puff of his cigarette, only to find that the half-smoked cigarette had gone out sometime ago.

Fan Lidada’s heart was filled with frustration and discontent; things shouldn’t be like this. Since Fu Guomin arrived in Dongzhou, he had been working sincerely. At its peak, Dongzhou Barbecue became a point of pride for the leaders, and everyone who had a chance wanted to get involved.

Of course, their Culture and Tourism Bureau also received a lot of praise, but suddenly, scandals began to emerge, and the leaders who used Dongzhou Barbecue to show their presence started to distance themselves, even pushing all blame onto Fu Guomin.

During this time, Xu Chunliang has been working hard to extinguish the fire; these negative news have been borne by the Culture and Tourism Bureau alone.

Just as the situation began to ease and seemed controllable, the emergence of a bigger problem was hard for Fan Lidada to accept; this time, it wasn’t outsiders pushing them into the spotlight, but their own people.

Though Fan Lidada found it difficult to accept, he understood that this is politics, this is reality. He hadn’t reached the level of upper leadership, so his perspective and vision couldn’t reach that level. Had he been in that position, he might have made the same choice.

Fan Lidada really wanted to drink, but he knew that now was not the time for that. He wanted to shoulder this impending storm, but he realized his shoulders weren’t broad enough, not even capable of sheltering Xu Chunliang. All he could offer were a few meaningless words.

"Chunliang, do you think Secretary Zhou knows about this?" Fan Lidada held onto a shred of hope in his heart, but as soon as he spoke, he felt immature and naive.

Xu Chunliang didn’t answer him; finding Secretary Zhou about this issue is not a good idea. Even if he did, it wouldn’t make a difference.

From Xu Chunliang’s reaction, Fan Lidada understood something, nodded, and softly said, "I understand. Chunliang, don’t worry; this won’t affect you much. I will explain to the organization that you are still on secondment."

Xu Chunliang said, "We’re all in the same boat; there’s no need to make such clear distinctions."

In this matter, Xu Chunliang saw more clearly than Fan Lidada; the situation was already set, and they couldn’t change it. It’s not just Fan Lidada who couldn’t bear it; even Fu Guomin couldn’t.

Geng Wenjun, Secretary of the High-Tech Zone Party Working Committee, originally thought he could emerge unscathed from the Dongzhou Barbecue turmoil, but reality played a cruel joke on him. The Dongzhou Barbecue storm rose again, and with Geng Wenjun’s political intuition, he immediately saw the fundamental reason for Dongzhou Barbecue being pushed to the forefront once more.

The heavens spare no one; when Dongzhou Barbecue exploded, he shifted all blame onto Fu Guomin. The upper leadership turned a blind eye to the issue, but thankfully the negative impact was promptly controlled.

But this time was different; Deputy Director Wang Heyi personally sought him for a deep conversation, directly pointing out that Dongzhou Barbecue City was his leadership failure, a manifestation of his vanity.

Geng Wenjun offered no explanation, no defense, because he knew defending at this point was futile. He calculated everything but never expected the subway construction to go wrong at this time, yet he had to bear this responsibility that was unrelated. All he could do was lament the unpredictable winds of the system, and despite meticulous planning, there’s always a gap somewhere.

Regarding the negative news of Dongzhou Barbecue, it spread across the media like bamboo shoots after a rainstorm. Geng Wenjun issued a public apology. The city immediately decided to remove him from his position as Secretary of the High-Tech Zone Party Working Committee and also shelved his promotion to Deputy Mayor. Geng Wenjun didn’t expect such severe consequences for himself; his recently initiated upward momentum came to an abrupt halt.

What Geng Wenjun finds even more unacceptable is that he has managed to squeeze into the core leadership, but before he even has a chance to warm the seat, he’s being kicked out.

If Geng Wenjun feels this way, then there’s no need to mention the cadres at the Dongzhou Culture and Tourism Bureau. Due to ineffective leadership and lack of oversight, Director Fu Guomin has been removed from his position, and to make matters worse, he has not received any new appointment.

According to national regulations, public officials who are removed from their positions due to mistakes are not allowed to be appointed to leadership roles within a year, instead engaging in general civil servant work; other public officials removed from their positions are not allowed to assume leadership roles higher than their original position level within two years; if they are subject to disciplinary actions within the party or government, they cannot be promoted or appointed during the penalty period.

Fan Lidada, remarkably unscathed in this situation concerning Dongzhou Barbecue, remains as the Deputy Director of the Dongzhou City Culture and Tourism Bureau, whether due to leadership oversight or Fan Lidada’s lack of presence.

Even Xu Chunliang, during his loaned service period in Hu Shan Town, was brought into the Culture and Tourism Bureau by Fu Guomin, during which he rose from a regular staff to a deputy division level, a mistake attributed to Fu Guomin, characterized as nepotism.

After organizational discussions, it was decided that Xu Chunliang’s transfer was in violation of regulations and should be reverted to his original unit.

Before Xu Chunliang went to the Dongzhou Culture and Tourism Bureau, he was continuously loaned at Hu Shan Town, serving as Deputy Mayor, but his personnel relationship is with Changxing Hospital. According to the handling decision, he should be returned to Changxing Hospital.

The newly established Dongzhou Culture and Tourism Bureau has undergone drastic changes, Li Yushan was promoted from deputy position to Director, Xiao Dong becomes the first Deputy Director, and Fan Lidada remains in place. After taking power, Li Yushan didn’t push Fan Lidada out entirely; after all, he still relies on the elder in the tourism sector.

Although Fan Lidada wanted to keep Xu Chunliang, after a lengthy talk with Li Yushan, he found it in vain. Li Yushan personally has no issue with Xu Chunliang; on the contrary, he thinks Xu Chunliang is a capable, courageous, and responsible young man. However, the investigation by the procuratorial agency shows Xu Chunliang’s transfer to the Culture and Tourism Bureau involved backroom dealing, one of the reasons for Fu Guomin’s removal.

Even if Li Yushan secretly admires Xu Chunliang, he can’t challenge the superior leadership at this critical moment.

Xu Chunliang hasn’t handled much work at the Culture and Tourism Bureau, but the bureau provided him with a private office. Now all of this has become evidence of Fu Guomin’s nepotism.

As Xu Chunliang was packing his personal belongings, Deputy Director Xiao Dong came in, and there was actually no conflict between them.

Xu Chunliang smiled at Xiao Dong: "Director Xiao, you came just in time, so I don’t have to specially go over to say goodbye."

Xiao Dong replied: "I won’t say anything insincere; actually, Director Li and I both don’t want you to leave, but we can’t bear the decision from above either."

Xu Chunliang said: "Alright, I appreciate the good intentions from all of you leaders."

Xiao Dong asked: "Are you really planning to go back to Changxing?"

A good horse doesn’t turn back to graze on old grass; almost everyone avoids this. Xiao Dong also heard that Xu Chunliang left Changxing on bad terms, and returning in this situation would only invite trouble.

Xu Chunliang laughed and said: "To be honest, I haven’t really decided yet; even if I want to go back, they might not necessarily be willing to take me."

Zhao Feiyang sent him off like a plague, surely if he went back, Zhao Feiyang’s head might explode.

Xiao Dong said: "Xiaoxu, everyone can see your ability, it’s just your strong personality, you need to learn from this experience."

Experience comes from learning from mistakes; Xiao Dong believes young people must go through such processes to grow.

Xu Chunliang didn’t have much to pack; he handed two boxes of tea to Xiao Dong as a farewell token. Xiao Dong politely accepted after a bit of reservation.

Xu Chunliang left the office holding a box, and when he passed by Fan Lidada’s office, he saw the door was closed and didn’t knock to say goodbye.

When Xu Chunliang arrived downstairs, he saw Fu Guomin also carrying a box, the two exchanged glances, Xu Chunliang still wore a cheeky smile, while Fu Guomin was obviously forcing a smile.

Fu Guomin said: "Let me give you a ride."

Xu Chunliang accepted without hesitation, throwing his box into the trunk and noticed a large suitcase inside.

Once inside the car, Xu Chunliang asked: "Brother Fu, are you heading out?"

Fu Guomin nodded: "I’ve been asked to reflect deeply by the higher-ups, taking a public break, heading back to Capital City for a while."

Stopped updates for a week, September 1st will outline, starting with three updates, continuing writing when dawn breaks, rest assured there will be no discontinuation.

On the first day of September, however, still requesting a few guaranteed monthly tickets, at least one more update during the day.