Climbing the Career Ladder

Chapter 43

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After entering the private room, Fang Zhicheng found that there were already other people inside, probably guests invited by Wang Ke. Wang Ke took the initiative to introduce the other people, "This is Fang Zhicheng, my colleague."

Wang Ke was afraid that Fang Zhicheng would be disgusted, so he deliberately did not introduce his position. If he told others that Fang Zhicheng was his colleague, on the one hand, Fang Zhicheng would think that he was too utilitarian, and on the other hand, others would think that he was deliberately showing off and using Fang Zhicheng's position as the municipal party secretary to flatter himself.

Afterwards, he briefly introduced the rest of the people to Fang Zhicheng. They were all Wang Ke's classmates. One was Guo Changkai, deputy director of the office of the Municipal Taxation Bureau, and another was Yang Jilong, an associate professor at Yinzhou University. There were three or four others whose jobs were even more ordinary, working in factories or government agencies. Although they were all called section chiefs or directors, Fang Zhicheng could see that they were all people who just got by in the system and survived.

Fang Zhicheng greeted each of them with a smile. Wang Ke's social circle was very ordinary, with the weak associating with the weak. Several of them were over 40 years old, but had no access to core power. They could be considered frustrated people.

There must be something hateful about pitiful people. Although Fang Zhicheng took the initiative to greet them, others seemed to think that Fang Zhicheng was too young and looked only a few years older than their children. Why should he sit down and drink with them? Most of them just smiled at Fang Zhicheng perfunctorily.

"Old Wang, Xiao Fang is so young, he must have a good alcohol tolerance, otherwise you wouldn't have brought him here. He must drink more today." Guo Changkai held the glass and came to Fang Zhicheng, clinking glasses with him gently.

Guo Changkai obviously considered himself as half a host, because this restaurant was close to the Water Authority and he was the one who recommended it to Wang Ke.

Wang Ke quickly blocked the wine for Fang Zhicheng and said, "Xiao Fang's alcohol tolerance is average, Lao Guo, you can't bully him."

Guo Changkai raised his eyebrows and said, "Drinking capacity is something that can be acquired through practice. Xiao Fang is still young. If he can't drink well, he needs to practice even more. The Municipal Party Committee Office is such a special department. If no one can drink well, how can he get by in the future?"

Fang Zhicheng was afraid that Wang Ke would be embarrassed, so he drank the wine in one gulp and said with a smile, "Thank you, Director Guo."

Guo Changkai patted Fang Zhicheng on the shoulder and whispered, "It's no use thanking me. Director Wang is your leader. You have to toast him."

Fang Zhicheng realized that Guo Changkai thought he was Wang Ke's subordinate, so he didn't expose it. He secretly thought to give Wang Ke some face. After all, he was his former subordinate. He smiled and said, "Director Wang, Director Guo has said so. I'll toast you a glass too. Thank you for all your help before."

"Okay, okay..." Wang Ke quickly stood up and drank the wine in the glass.

Wang Ke's alcohol tolerance was average, and as the protagonist of the dinner, the others naturally attacked him in groups. Not long after, he began to speak slurred and staggered out of the box to the bathroom.

At this time, Yang Jilong, who had been silent all the time, came to Fang Zhicheng and said lightly: "You are a good young man. Although you are young, you know how to flatter your leader. You have a bright future. Come on, let's have a drink."

Flattering the leader? Everyone present probably thought that Fang Zhicheng was flattering Wang Ke. Although others thought so in their hearts, at least they did not say it out loud. But Yang Jilong said it out loud, which was obviously a bit too much.

Fang Zhicheng frowned subconsciously, and did not answer Yang Jilong. He said lightly: "I'm sorry, Professor Yang, I suddenly feel a little uncomfortable in my stomach. I need to go to the bathroom first." After that, he left Yang Jilong aside.

Yang Jilong was aloof and arrogant, and it was very awkward for him to stand there. Guo Chang added fuel to the fire and said proudly, "Old Yang, don't stand there. Xiao Fang is deliberately not giving you face. You should just get back here."

"You look down on people." Yang Jilong cursed loudly. Fang Zhicheng heard it outside the corridor and couldn't help but sneer.

Fang Zhicheng wiped his face with cold water in the bathroom, and when he passed by a private room, he happened to meet Wang Ke coming out of there. Wang Ke quickly held Fang Zhicheng and said with a smile: "What a coincidence, I was just about to call you over for a toast."

"Oh? Did you meet a leader?" Fang Zhicheng asked curiously.

Wang Ke smiled and said, "You'll know when you get in."

When he entered the box, he saw Qiu Hengde sitting in the middle, with other people sitting beside him, but Fang Zhicheng didn't recognize them. Qiu Hengde's eyes lit up and he smiled, "What a coincidence, I can see Xiao Fang here."

Fang Zhicheng smiled modestly and said, "If I had known Minister Qiu was here, I would have come over to toast him."

Qiu Hengde waved his hand, stood up, pulled Fang Zhicheng to his side, and introduced him with a smile: "Let me introduce you to everyone. This is the secretary of the municipal party committee, Fang Zhicheng. He is also my lifesaver."

Fang Zhicheng didn't expect Qiu Hengde to give him such a face, and he immediately felt a lot of pressure. Then Qiu Hengde introduced the other leaders present to Fang Zhicheng one by one, mainly the leaders of the Water Affairs Bureau. It turned out that Qiu Hengde came to the Water Affairs Bureau for research today, and after the end, the Water Affairs Bureau invited Qiu Hengde to stay for dinner.

Fang Zhicheng thought to himself that this was really a coincidence, and hurriedly toasted everyone else. Wang Ke was jealous. Although his rank was higher than Fang Zhicheng, it was obvious that the titles of secretary to the municipal party committee secretary and lifesaver of the municipal party committee organization department director made other leaders jealous.

Fang Zhicheng is a favorite of the municipal party secretary. If he can get him to say a good word or two in front of Song Wendi in the future, the effect will be immeasurable.

After this round of toasts, Fang Zhicheng felt a little dizzy, so he found an excuse and hurriedly followed Wang Ke back to the original private room. As soon as he entered the private room, Guo Changkai said to Wang Ke with an unhappy look, "Old Wang, your young colleague is too proud. Just now, Jilong went to toast, but he refused. You should let him finish this glass of wine, otherwise Jilong will have to leave."

Yang Jilong snorted and stared at Fang Zhicheng provocatively, thinking that he should teach this arrogant and ungrateful boy a lesson.

Chapter 0032 Secretary Liu's Ambition

The strong befriend the strong, and the weak associate with the weak. This is the fundamental reason why the strong become stronger and the weak become weaker.

It is human nature that people prefer to associate with people who are at the same level as themselves. It has not been long since Wang Ke was promoted from deputy director to director, so his friends are still those who are not doing well.

Wang Ke was in high spirits, and Yang Jilong's application for professorship was rejected again. He was jealous that Wang Ke had made further progress than himself, so he made things difficult for Fang Zhicheng, on the one hand because he wanted to divert his jealousy, and on the other hand because he looked down on Fang Zhicheng. This guy was too slippery and must have wanted to rely on Wang Ke, but did not take them seriously. The resentment in his bones could not help but vent.

The attitudes of Yang Jilong and Guo Changkai were very clear. They wanted Wang Ke to ask Fang Zhicheng to apologize.

Wang Ke was a little depressed, because although Fang Zhicheng was his subordinate before, he was now the secretary of the municipal party committee. Even if he could be promoted, it was because Fang Zhicheng helped him secretly. Wang Ke felt that whether he could continue to move up in the future, he still needed Fang Zhicheng's care. How could he be willing to offend a key person who could affect his future for a few classmates and old friends

"This..." Wang Ke hesitated, beads of sweat appearing on his slightly protruding forehead, "Forget it, Xiao Fang is not very good at drinking, so I'll drink it for him."

"How can this be? That's too boring." Guo Changkai pulled his face down, thinking that Wang Ke had no self-esteem. It was always subordinates who drank for their leaders, but how could a leader block the drinking for his subordinates? He said unhappily, "Old Wang, what you did was not authentic and boring. It made it seem like we were deliberately bullying young people. In fact, we just wanted to add some atmosphere to the table. If Xiao Fang didn't want to drink, we wouldn't force him. At most, we just thought he was too naive and didn't know how to deal with people."

Wang Ke frowned, thinking that Guo Changkai's words were too radical. He quickly glanced at Fang Zhicheng, but saw that Fang Zhicheng looked calm and didn't seem to take it to heart. Comparing the two, Wang Ke immediately felt that Guo Changkai and Yang Jilong were too much, while Fang Zhicheng had a better character and was patient, which was enough to save face for him.

Someone else came out to mediate, saying, "Lao Guo, Lao Yang, Lao Wang is treating us today, you've had too much to drink, so please tone it down a bit. Don't make the atmosphere so bad, Xiao Fang hasn't done anything out of line."

Yang Jilong suddenly slammed the table and said angrily, "Deng Baiming, do you mean that I deliberately made trouble? I went over to toast him with good intentions, but he stood me up, or am I in the wrong? I know that you saw that Lao Wang got promoted, so you wanted to flatter him and lick his asshole, right?"

"Yang Jilong, please be more polite. You are a university professor after all!" Deng Baiming did want to cater to Wang Ke's idea, but when Yang Jilong pointed it out, he couldn't help but get angry and embarrassed.

Guo Changkai lit a cigarette, crossed his legs, and smoked proudly. The scene was so chaotic, but it was actually his own doing, he was the one who instigated the discord. He hated Wang Ke even more than Yang Jilong. Wang Ke was old-fashioned and inflexible. He gave gifts and flattered others. He spent so much effort and money, but he only became a deputy director of the office. What virtue and ability did Wang Ke have to be better than himself

"Knock, knock, knock..." A series of knocks on the door disrupted the chaos in the box.

I saw a few people slowly walking in from outside the door.