Fang Zhicheng put his clothes in the closet and found that although the place was simpler than he had imagined, it was extremely clean. However, because Fang Zhicheng had a quirk, he still cleaned the dormitory carefully. A fat man in his thirties came in from next door and borrowed a lighter. After Fang Zhicheng finished cleaning, he returned the lighter.
Fang Zhicheng started chatting with the fat man. The fat man was from Yuzhou Province, named Qiao Jinpeng, 27 years old, the same age as himself, and now served as the county magistrate. Although Fatty Qiao spoke humorously, Fang Zhicheng could see that under his appearance, he was hiding a deep scheming mansion.
However, the two of them, one in the southeast and the other in the northeast, did not have many interests in each other, so they quickly became familiar with each other.
Fatty Qiao smoked leisurely and said with a smile: "Old Fang, you're late. I've met most of the classmates in our class, and we've been drinking together for several days. How about you join us tonight?"
Fang Zhicheng waved his hands quickly and refused with a smile: "Forget it, I can't drink much."
Fatty Qiao frowned, firmly disagreeing, and said with a smile: "That's not a reason, it's settled, I'll call you in the evening. This is the best way to bring classmates closer together, I'm helping you!"
Chapter 0447: There is no conspiracy in the official career
Fatty Qiao looks quite honest, but that is just a disguise. Fatty Qiao's initiative to show goodwill to Fang Zhicheng is not that simple, because he cannot understand Fang Zhicheng's resume.
There are many people who come to the Central Party School with the same purpose as Fatty Qiao. Improving their own cultivation is secondary. More importantly, they want to make friends with outstanding potential new officials from all over the country through this study. Therefore, Fatty Qiao got to know the students who participated in the training class in advance, so that he could have a clear idea of what was going on in the process of getting along with them.
Fang Zhicheng's resume looks very simple, but because of its simplicity, it seems unusual. Three years after graduation, he started as a secretary to the municipal party secretary and soon became the executive vice mayor of a county-level city. It is certainly impossible to say that he does not have any special resources.
His resume, apart from his outstanding political achievements, is completely blank.
Therefore, Fatty Qiao suspected that Fang Zhicheng was a potential stock hidden by a large family, and used some special means to completely erase Fang Zhicheng's true identity. A family with such means must be very powerful. Judging from some of Fang Zhicheng's political achievements, he should be related to the Ning family.
Fang Zhicheng was reluctant to attend the social event, but Fatty Qiao was always by his side, so he had no choice but to go.
Around 6:30 in the evening, the group came to an inconspicuous restaurant near the Party School. The decoration inside was ordinary, but the business was good. There were more than a dozen tables in the hall, and each table was filled with the old hot pot with Yanjing characteristics, emitting hot steam. Fatty Qiao walked in and came to the private room on the second floor. Everyone sat down one after another, and then Fatty Qiao began to order dishes.
Fang Zhicheng sat next to Fatty Qiao and didn't say anything. He carefully looked at the five people traveling with him. There were four men and one woman, all of whom were very young. There was also a notable feature: they all came from various places and there were no local students from Yanjing.
Fang Zhicheng had also learned about the information of the students participating in the county and department classes of the Central Party School. Although there were many students from all over the country, students from the Yanjing area accounted for 30%.
Fang Zhicheng also figured out from today's situation that the county and department classes were also divided into factions. The relationship between the local factions and the Beijing faction had always been bad, and now it had spread to the county and department level, which was not only surprising.
After Fatty Qiao ordered the dishes, he introduced them to the others with a smile, "The rest of us have eaten here several times. The only one who is relatively unfamiliar is Zhicheng. He is from Dongtai City, Huainan, and is now the executive vice mayor. He is young and promising, much better than me."
As soon as Fatty Qiao finished speaking, the only woman sitting opposite Fang Zhicheng, named Tu Mei, smiled faintly and said, "Dongtai is an amazing place. It has been booming in the past two years. Since 1997, no city has been able to change from a county to a city. Dongtai was able to make an exception and upgrade. It's so surprising that many cities are also preparing for the upgrade."
Sitting on Tu Mei's right was an old-looking man named Zhao Xiao. He snorted and said sarcastically, "The county-to-city transformation is a big deal. Mayor Fang also took this opportunity to move up a level. He's really lucky."
Judging from the words and the tone, Fang Zhicheng could tell that Zhao Xiao was hostile to him. He smiled and didn't take it to heart. Fatty Qiao poked Fang Zhicheng with his arm, leaned close to his ear and whispered, "Zhao Xiao has this personality. I don't like him, but he has the confidence to speak, and it makes sense. Have you heard of the Zhao family in Nanyue? They are the only local force that dares to challenge the provincial party secretary in Nanyue."
Fang Zhicheng had heard about this. At the end of last year, a case of corruption occurred in Nanyue Province, which was suppressed for a time. It was said that the provincial party secretary originally requested a detailed investigation, but eventually found that the commotion was too big and would lead to social instability, so it was finally reduced to a small matter without exacerbating the conflict. However, this incident also boosted the Zhao family's confidence in Nanyue. Now the central government has leaders paying attention to the problems in Nanyue, but the strong dragon cannot suppress the local snake. Touching the Zhao family is equivalent to touching the foundation of Nanyue, so they have not made up their minds to deal with it. They can only try to change the dilemma of Nanyue's current local forces being too strong and somewhat out of the control of the central government by adjusting the provincial party secretary.
In addition to Zhao Xiao, there was another tall and strong man named Liu Bo from northern Hubei Province. He was rather dull and didn't like to talk much.
After the hot pot was served, everyone, including Tu Mei, drank white wine. Fang Zhicheng couldn't refuse, so he persuaded them to order a bottle of 250g Erguotou. The Erguotou tasted very strong, but it was refreshing and spicy after entering the throat, which neutralized the freshness of the hot pot and gave it a unique taste.
Tu Mei is 29 years old and already married. After drinking a few glasses of wine, her every move and gesture becomes somewhat charming.
Fatty Qiao saw Zhao Xiao toasting Tu Mei non-stop and laughed softly, "I'm afraid Zhao Xiao has a crush on Tu Mei. He's been pestering her like this these past few days. Do you know why he spoke to you like that just now?"
Fang Zhicheng suddenly realized that the reason why Zhao Xiao expressed hostility towards him was not directed at him, but because Tu Mei praised Dongtai's potential, which aroused Zhao Xiao's jealousy.
Fang Zhicheng shook his head helplessly and said with emotion: "Women are really a disaster."
Fatty Qiao smiled and said, "Even though they know it's a disaster, there are always people willing to throw themselves into the fire."
Fang Zhicheng pondered over Fatty Qiao's hidden meaning and soon understood what he meant. Zhao Xiao showed great interest in Tu Mei. Tu Mei was not stupid and knew everything. However, she still threw bait to Zhao Xiao from time to time. It was obvious that Tu Mei wanted to capture Zhao Xiao's heart. As for Tu Mei's ultimate goal, I'm afraid only outsiders could guess it. She must be using Zhao Xiao to plot something.
This couple has an ambiguous relationship, so it's best to avoid them.
The meal lasted nearly two hours. Liu Bo was a slow-moving person, and gradually he started talking more with Fang Zhicheng and Fatty Qiao. As for Zhao Xiao and Tu Mei, they seemed to be in a world of their own. Fatty Qiao deliberately made fun of them, and Zhao Xiao enjoyed this feeling. He lost his arrogance and laughed from time to time.
Fatty Qiao said, "My biggest gain from this training in Yanjing is that I believe in the saying that people who are destined to meet will meet even if they are thousands of miles apart. Zhao Xiao, you must seize this rare opportunity with Tu Mei."
Tu Mei glared at Fatty Qiao and said unhappily, "Fatty Qiao, what nonsense are you talking about?"
Zhao Xiao smiled and said, "Tu Mei, he is right. Isn't it fate that we met? Life only happens once, and since we have met in such a huge crowd, we must cherish our friendship."
Fatty Qiao laughed and said, "Tu Mei, Zhao Xiao has already said so. It would be impolite if you keep him at a distance."
Tu Mei pouted her beautiful red lips and muttered, "You two have teamed up to bully me. I'm not going to pay any attention to you."
It was a very rare sight to see a female cadre at the division level acting like a spoiled child, and it made Zhao Xiao smile even more.
Liu Bo leaned close to Fang Zhicheng's ear and sneered, "This adulterous couple is completely hooked up."
Fang Zhicheng smiled faintly and said, "Brother Liu, you are really a genuine person." Then the two of them clinked their glasses and drank the wine in the glasses.
After this meal, Fang Zhicheng finally made friends at the Central Party School. Tu Mei and Zhao Xiao had an affair and usually disappeared after class. Fatty Qiao was very good at getting along with people and soon made many friends. He would occasionally take Fang Zhicheng to some gatherings.
However, Fang Zhicheng still focused his energy on theoretical study and rarely participated in activities. He was very close to the old-fashioned Liu Bo. The two often read books and ate together, and discussed their respective views and opinions on certain current domestic phenomena.
The county training class was generally very strict. The classes were packed every day, and the teachers were all experts and scholars, and even some provincial governors were invited to teach them. Therefore, Fang Zhicheng had a very fulfilling three months.
At the end of the training course, Fang Zhicheng passed the exam with the fifth highest score in the class, which surprised many people because Fang Zhicheng had always kept a low profile and did not attract other people's attention. Fatty Qiao put most of his energy into building relationships with others, so the test results were naturally a bit shabby, ranking third from the bottom in the class.
Fatty Qiao smiled bitterly, looking at his report card, and said, "I've lost face this time. The ranking of my grades will be sent to the Organization Departments of all provinces across the country. I'm afraid people will laugh at my poor grades."