Chapter 428: Chapter 407: Secretary Candidate_1
 

The seven-day announcement period for the candidacy went by quickly. Unless there’s public outrage against the candidate, such an announcement is largely a formality.

After seven days, the Party Organization Department head, Sun Minghao, personally oversaw Liu Weijun taking office, and Yi Jun smoothly took over Liu Weijun’s duties, becoming the Secretary-General of the Liangxi City Government Office.

“Mayor, here are the profiles of several suitable secretary candidates you requested. Additionally, this is the information for tomorrow morning’s groundbreaking ceremony for the old city reconstruction project at 8:00 at the Textile Group.” Yi Jun walked into the office, put the two sets of documents on the desk, and proficiently poured a cup of strong tea for Nie Zhenbang. Although Yi Jun was already the Secretary-General, he was still performing the secretary’s duties till Nie Zhenbang’s new secretary took office, without any hint of impatience.

Nie Zhenbang was very satisfied with this attitude, not arrogant or impatient, devoid of any youthful brashness, always maintaining a humble demeanor. It was for these reasons he favored Yi Jun and was willing to actively cultivate and support him.

“Hmm, just leave them on the desk. Yi Jun, you will have your hands full until the new secretary arrives. You’re not only managing lots of government issues, but also taking my responsibilities into account.” Nie Zhenbang spoke with a warm smile.

The change in status resulted in a change in Nie Zhenbang’s tone. His address shifted from ‘Xiaoyi’ to ‘Yi Jun’. Not to say that Nie Zhenbang was wielding power; with their relationship, even if Yi Jun was at the bureau level, Nie Zhenbang addressing him as Xiaoyi wouldn’t create any issue. In fact, this was from Yi Jun’s perspective. After all, he is a leader now. Calling him Xiaoyi is no longer fitting and maintaining the image of a leader is crucial.

Nie Zhenbang then turned his gaze to the three sets of documents on the desk, paying particular attention to the top one. The arrangement of documents was deliberate, with the most important one being in front.

At a glance, the name was familiar to Nie Zhenbang: Huang Xuyang. Looking at his age, 31 years old, over three years older than him. The resume photo showed a somewhat youthful face. Nie Zhenbang was taken aback. Isn’t this his former dorm mate in the Chinese department at Jingcheng University?

Although he only stayed in the dormitory twice in this life and studied in class for less than a month in his four years there, from his previous life, he remembered clearly that Huang Xuyang had indeed returned to his hometown Liangxi after graduation. However, there was no news after that. Now, it seems that seven years after graduation, Huang Xuyang is just a regular clerk in the city government office, without even the treatment of a director. There seems to be no future prospects in this life either.

He turned to the next page and found Huang Xuyang’s resume. As expected, the familiar phrase was there – graduated from the 1990 class of the Chinese Department at Jingcheng University. Nie Zhenbang and the others had enrolled in the autumn of 1986 and graduated in the summer of 1990, thus they were traditionally identified by their year of graduation. However, Jingcheng University typically used the term “class of 90”.

Having seen this, Nie Zhenbang didn’t need to look further. He was certain Huang Xuyang was his old classmate. Accompanying the resume was a copy of an article written by Huang Xuyang. Nie Zhenbang read it carefully.

The main point of the article was plain. It was a speech manuscript about a government work report. There were no surprises in terms of economic data and various digitized aspects in the article, which were available at the city government records office and could be found with a quick search. However, the choice of words in the article impressed Nie Zhenbang. Being classmates, he admired Huang Xuyang’s proficiency with text.

Just based on the article, Huang Xuyang was quite a qualified, if not impressive, secretary. However, after so many years since graduation, there could be changes in his mentality and attitude. His personality represented the most important aspect. Choosing a secretary was not simple. It was more serious and cautious than choosing a spouse.

If a bad spouse was chosen, one could still get a divorce if incompatible. If a bad secretary was chosen, at best it could affect one’s career, at worst it could end it.

After seeing Huang Xuyang’s files, Nie Zhenbang had lost interest in looking at the documents of the other two candidates. Although it might not be fair to them, there had never been true fairness within the system.

“It seems like I need to meet him in person.” Nie Zhenbang thought to himself, then raised his voice towards the office, “Secretary-General Yi, please come in.”

Even though Yi Jun was now Secretary-General, he promptly walked into the office. Looking at Nie Zhenbang, he nodded and said, “Mayor, you called for me.”

Nie Zhenbang nodded and handed him the set of documents on the desk, “Hmm, there’s no need to look at the other two. Huang Xuyang is a good candidate, his age – 31, is also appropriate. He’s spent about seven or eight years as a regular clerk, and has smoothed off his edges. He’d be able to take up this role without youthful impulse or arrogance. Please call Huang Xuyang over, and if he’s suitable, he can start working for me.”

“Alright,” Yi Jun typically kept his answers succinct, and Yi Jun also knew his boundaries. He was very pleased with Huang Xuyang, he was humble, had a steady style of work, and was a good writer.

As he had no personal relationship with him, his offer was purely from valuing talent without any ulterior motives. He wouldn’t say anything more at this point. Also, Mayor Nie’s character was firm. He was not someone easily influenced. If Yi Jun were to say more now, it might have the reverse effect and annoy Mayor Nie. Consequently, Yi Jun always kept his mouth shut and focused on doing his job well.

…

At the moment when Nie Zhenbang was firming up his selection, the secretarial section was also discussing this matter. In the large office, six junior clerks from the Secretarial Section shared a workspace.

Right now, by a desk beside the window in that office, a young man in his mid-twenties turned his head and smiled, saying, “Guys, who do you think will be the lucky one to take over the big boss’s secretarial spot since Secretary Yi finally got promoted into his desired position? This now vacant secretarial position at our city’s top level sure is an exciting prospect.”

“Brother Tan, I reckon there’s a good chance it will be you,” a young man next to him replied with more than a hint of flattery. “In our department, both you and Brother Huang have the best education, both of you have bachelor’s degrees. But, Brother Huang does not have your age advantage.”

At this moment, Huang Xuyang was out, and only then did this person dare to speak so bluntly.

Another young man chimed in, “Of course, Brother Tan’s dad is the head of our city’s Bureau of Industry and Commerce. With such connections, the big boss will definitely consider you.”

Puffed up by this flattery, the young man surnamed Tan tried to maintain a humble demeanor, saying, “Come on, that’s simply groundless. Don’t just say things like that.”

Young Tan’s father is Chief Tan Deli of the city’s Public Security Bureau, which is why everyone was praising him so much. The young man who started speaking captured the topic again, saying, “Brother Tan, why are you being so humble? If the big boss picks the other guy, people might mistake him for the mayor because he’s even younger-looking than the mayor. There’s no way the big boss would choose someone who might steal his limelight.”

Age is indeed a weakness for Huang Xuyang, but they all forgot that aside from age, there’s also the issue of magnanimity.

At this point, the two suck-ups were close to praising Young Tan to the heavens. Just then, Huang Xuyang pushed the door and walked in. Young Tan quickly coughed aloud, reminding the two not to speak of such things anymore.

Huang Xuyang stood about 1.73 meters tall, with a slender figure. His skin was slightly dark, making him look less like an office worker. After eight years of working, his prospects were unclear, and the exuberance from his college days had long since faded.

As he walked into the office and noticed the threesome’s conspiratorial behavior, Huang Xuyang knew they must’ve been talking behind his back.

Huang Xuyang had long grown used to this. In the past few years, he had been the first Liangxi City Government graduate from Jingcheng University. Everyone believed he would definitely be chosen as the secretary whenever there was a selection. But after numerous disappointments, Huang Xuyang had lost all his confidence.

He used to be full of youthful spirit and vitality, looking down on everything. Now, Huang Xuyang no longer had such an attitude. Shaking his head, he had no expectations this time around for being the mayor’s secretary. He picked up the material on the desk and prepared to work.

Suddenly, the office door was pushed open and the head of the Secretarial Section, Yang Jinke, walked in with a big smile on his face. He cast a glance around the room before finally setting his eyes on Huang Xuyang and said with a smile, “Xuyang, I always knew you were destined for great things.”

Upon hearing Yang Jinke’s words, Huang Xuyang stood up abruptly, displaying an expression of disbelief. At that moment, it was hard for Huang Xuyang to believe this was actually happening.

But Yang Jinke’s attitude confirmed this for him. When had the division chief Yang ever been this friendly?

“Chief… you mean?” Huang Xuyang was felt uncertain, but his attitude remained modest and low-key as always.

Yang Jinke was very pleased with this. This was a real talent, not arrogant or irritable. If it had been anyone else, they would probably have been as cocky as a peacock by now.

Immediately, Yang Jinke shifted his gaze to the others present, his voice stern, “Look at you all. Observe Xuyang’s composed demeanour. In the future, you should all learn from Secretary Huang.”

Seeing Yang Jinke chiding everyone, Huang Xuyang was sure Yang hadn’t suddenly become friendly. At that moment, all he heard Yang Jinke say was, “Xuyang, I’m here to formally notify you that Secretary Yi has just called and asked you to report to Mayor Nie straight away. Starting today, you’ll be working with Mayor Nie for a while.”

Hold on… Does this mean I am now the mayor’s secretary? Huang Xuyang was stunned. (To be continued… If you like this story, I welcome you to come to Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for it and support it with your monthly vote. Your support is my biggest motivation.)