Urban Super Medical Saint

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"Zhao Jie, you're getting more and more absurd in what you say. As a clerical secretary for the county government, you must be careful in your speech and behavior!" Seeing Zhao Jie address him as the county governor, Lu Ming's face finally turned serious, and he spoke with heavy emphasis.

"Director, what I'm saying isn't absurd at all. Several leaders were having a meeting in the conference room just now. Do you know what they were discussing?" Zhao Jie said, laughing as if he hadn't taken Lu Ming's words to heart at all.

"Discussing what? Could it possibly be concerning the Archives Bureau? Alright, you little rascal, giving me a call first thing in the morning, you're not just doing this to test me, are you?" Lu Ming replied, his eyes revealing a trace of disappointment.

He used to be the director of the county government office, always either attending leaders' meetings, listening at the side, or staying busy nearby; he was privy to everything that happened in the county, right away. But now, as the director of the Archives Bureau, he had long become a marginal figure.

"It's not about the Archives Bureau; it's about the director of the Archives Bureau." Zhao Jie said.

"You little rascal, are you looking for a spanking? Enough, I'm going to hang up. You're thirty years old and still can't speak or act with any sense of measure," Lu Ming said as he prepared to hang up the phone.

"Director, I'm being serious. Just now, when I went in to pour tea for the leaders, I heard them discussing you. They are planning to recommend you as deputy governor," Zhao Jie said hastily, seeing that Lu Ming was about to hang up.

"That's impossible! Don't joke about such things," Lu Ming said, even though he thought Zhao Jie was definitely spouting nonsense, his heart couldn't help but skip a beat.

He was a man of ambition, how could he be content with fading away in a 'retirement department' in his early forties.

"Director, I, Zhao Jie, may not know my place sometimes, but I wouldn't dare joke about this, especially not with you!" Zhao Jie said.

"But it doesn't make any sense!" Lu Ming said, completely perplexed.

Of course, he wanted to be deputy governor, but he was very aware that it was nothing but a daydream. The position of deputy governor couldn't possibly go to him, Lu Ming.

But the problem was the tone of Zhao Jie's voice; he was being serious, and Zhao Jie really wouldn't dare make a joke about such a matter.

"Director, you still don't believe me! At first, I thought I had heard wrong too, but they were indeed discussing you. It's too bad, I left afterwards and didn't hear anything more specific. However, no matter what, the leaders have included you on the list," Zhao Jie said.

"Regardless of what exactly is going on, Zhao Jie, I still want to thank you for calling me. If there's nothing else, I'll hang up now," Lu Ming said, taking a deep breath.

After hanging up Zhao Jie's call, Lu Ming sat in his office, his mood fluctuating wildly, unable to settle down no matter what.

Concerning the deputy governor position, Lu Ming still didn't dare to hope for it. There were simply too many people ahead of him in the county. However, since the leaders had begun discussing him, it indicated that he, who had been marginalized, was now re-entering the leaders' field of vision, and this information alone was great news for Lu Ming who had been quiet for too long.

Time passed, second by second.

About half an hour later, Lu Ming's office phone suddenly began to get busy.

Many bureau directors, township heads, and town mayors from various units under Golden Mountain County's government, who hadn't been in touch for a long time, started calling. They inquired about his wellbeing with evident concern, as if they had always maintained a close and friendly relationship.

One or two calls were fine, but as they kept coming one after the other, Lu Ming quickly realized something was amiss, and his heart started to beat faster unconsciously.

He knew that the county leadership must have discussed him at this morning's meeting.

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Lu Ming didn't dare to hope for the position of deputy head of Golden Mountain County; without desires, one is invincible. Now, however, he started to feel anxious about gain and loss, especially after the secretary of Golden Mountain's top leader called him to visit the office of the County Party Secretary. Lu Ming's heart was pounding nonstop.

Finally, he began to look forward to the position of deputy head of the county.

Walking through the hallway of the county government building, Lu Ming encountered Li Zhengbei.

When Li Zhengbei saw Lu Ming coming towards him, his expression changed several times. However, recalling what Sun Yuncheng had confided to him the day before—that Lu Ming might be connected to Governor Sang's secretary—and considering the candidate decision passed by the standing committee that morning, he ultimately forced out an uglier smile than crying and took the initiative to greet him, "Good morning, Director Lu."

Under normal circumstances, Lu Ming would feel warmth and cordiality from Li Zhengbei's initiative to greet him, but today, seeing Li Zhengbei's smile that was uglier than crying, and remembering everything that happened the previous night, Lu Ming felt deeply ironic and, giving Li Zhengbei a cold glance, he walked past him without a word.

This scene in the corridor was witnessed by many, Li Zhengbei's hand left hanging in mid-air as his face turned from red to green. Eager to erupt but conscious of the shifting times, he could only grimly lower his hand.

Knocking on Secretary Li Haibin's office door and seeing the Secretary sitting behind his big desk, Lu Ming suddenly felt nervous.

He knew that today's conversation would influence the rest of his career.

"Comrade Lu Ming has arrived, sit down, please!" Secretary Li seemed to have just noticed Lu Ming upon his secretary's reminder, suddenly looking up then revealing a kind and friendly smile on his face.

The smile on Secretary Li's face felt unfamiliar to Lu Ming because, in his memory, the Secretary had always been very serious.

"Director Lu, please have some tea." The secretary went out of his way to pour a cup of tea for Lu Ming, speaking softly and with great respect.

The secretary's attitude made Lu Ming's heart skip a beat.

Could it be that I am really the one chosen for deputy head?

"Comrade Lu Ming, you need to be prepared to take on a heavy responsibility..." While Lu Ming was still harboring mixed feelings of worry and disbelief, the following words from Secretary Li completely stunned him.

Because Secretary Li explicitly told him that the County Standing Committee had decided to recommend him as the deputy head to the Municipal Party Committee.

And generally, for a position like deputy head, the city leaders would tend to respect the opinions of the Golden Mountain County leadership.

That is to say, once Golden Mountain County had made the decision, Lu Ming's appointment was almost certain.

After encouraging Lu Ming for a while, the morning conversation essentially concluded.

Lu Ming appropriately rose to take his leave.

"Work hard, Comrade Lu Ming, and when you have time, try to contact Director Fang more. He's a leader who has come out from our Golden Mountain County and is also the secretary of Governor Sang. When we go to the Provincial Government to push for projects and seek provincial aid, running our legs off is not as effective as a few words from Director Fang," Li Haibin stood and shook hands with Lu Ming, saying with deep meaning.

"Director Fang Ting?" Lu Ming felt his entire head spinning in confusion.

Naturally, he knew who Fang Ting was—the secretary to the Governor and the deputy director of the Provincial Government Office, a major figure and high-ranking leader for someone at the departmental level like Lu Ming. But why would someone like Fang Ting, such a high-ranking figure, remember who he was or even speak on his behalf? Yet, according to what Secretary Li Haibin said, it seemed clear that Director Fang Ting had indeed spoken for him.