Chapter 15: The Eruption of Fury

This Friday, Vice Minister Jiang Weimin of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Affairs was scheduled to inspect Donghua Prefecture.

The first stop was Donghua Prefecture, followed by Ninghai County.

On Friday morning, Jiang Weimin arrived at Donghua Prefecture by high-speed train, accompanied by Party Secretary Fang Youtai and Governor Zhao Youjun.

That afternoon, Ou Huasheng received confirmed news that Jiang Weimin would take the high-speed train from Donghua Prefecture to Ninghai County early the next morning.

After receiving Ou Huasheng’s call, He Shinian grabbed his notebook and prepared to head to Ou’s office to discuss the specific arrangements for picking up the guest at the train station.

Upon stepping outside, He Shinian thought, “The reception this time is of a very high standard; there’s no room for carelessness.” Then he turned back to retrieve a voice recorder from his drawer.

In truth, the so-called discussion was mostly to listen to Ou Huasheng’s plan.

Ou spoke quickly. Fortunately, He Shinian was adept at shorthand and had the recorder with him.

After taking notes, He Shinian repeated everything back one by one.

Seeing that Ou had nothing further to add, He returned to his own office to enter the itinerary into his computer and print it out.

That was when he noticed a problem.

The high-speed train ride from Donghua Prefecture to Ninghai County was only about thirty minutes.

Jiang Weimin’s arrival time was 9:50 a.m. on Saturday.

Ou Huasheng had arranged for Wu Yunqiu to leave for the train station at 8:20 a.m.

There was a discrepancy of over an hour.

Even accounting for slow driving from the county committee to the station, it would take at most twenty minutes.

In other words, if they departed at 8:20, they would arrive at the station by 8:40, but Jiang Weimin wouldn’t arrive until 9:50.

Was Wu Yunqiu expected to wait at the station for over an hour?

At this thought, He Shinian’s heart pounded wildly.

Could Ou Huasheng have made a mistake?

The possibility was slim. As director of the county committee office, Ou was meticulous about details and would not err on something as important as the pick-up time.

Or perhaps Wu Yunqiu himself requested to arrive an hour early?

That was not impossible.

With this in mind, He Shinian took out the recorder again, plugged in his earphones, and listened once more.

That was right.

Ou Huasheng had indeed said 8:20.

Since his own notes matched Ou’s words, the only conclusion was that Wu Yunqiu had requested that time.

Yet He Shinian couldn’t understand why Wu would want to arrive so early.

Considering this was an inspection by a central government minister, a matter of great importance that allowed no mistakes, He Shinian went to Wu Yunqiu’s office.

“Secretary Wu, do we need to leave for the train station early tomorrow morning?”

Wu looked puzzled, furrowing his brows. “When does Minister Jiang arrive?”

“9:50 a.m.,” He replied.

“In that case, leaving after nine is perfectly sufficient,” Wu said.

Hearing this, He Shinian was stunned, then a possibility dawned on him.

Perhaps Ou Huasheng had deliberately given the wrong time, and he had simply followed Ou’s instructions, recording the incorrect time.

Thankfully, he had discovered this in time. Otherwise, if they had gone to the station according to the 8:20 schedule, the county party secretary would have been kept waiting for over an hour.

That would have been a huge problem, and He Shinian’s career as a secretary would have been irreparably damaged.

Breaking out in a cold sweat, He replied, “Understood. I’ll go and confirm with Director Ou again.”

He Shinian took his notebook and went to Ou Huasheng’s office.

Upon seeing him, Ou’s gaze turned dark and cold. “Xiao He, what’s the matter?”

He Shinian said, “Director Ou, I want to confirm once more the time Secretary Wu is supposed to leave for the train station.”

Ou lit a cigarette and leaned back deliberately. “Didn’t I already make it clear to you?”

He Shinian responded, “You did, but since Secretary Wu’s timing is critical—and this time we are welcoming a national ministry leader—I’m worried about any mistakes, so I want to verify once more.”

Ou flicked the ash from his cigarette, his expression softening slightly. “Which time do you want to confirm?”

He Shinian opened his notebook. “Secretary Wu is scheduled to depart the county committee for the train station at 8:20, right?”

Hearing this, Ou jumped up from his chair and shouted, “How can it be 8:20? Did you write 8:20?”

He Shinian calmly nodded. “Yes, I have 8:20 noted.”

Ou’s anger flared even more. “How could it be 8:20? I clearly said nine-twenty this morning!”

He Shinian was speechless.

Ou’s fury showed no sign of abating; he began banging his knuckles hard on the desk.

“Comrade, this is the county committee office. Every matter here is important; there’s no room for carelessness.”

“How can you work like this? If you keep this up, you’ll make mistakes and cause serious problems.”

He Shinian observed quietly, having already understood the true cause of this: Ou was deliberately setting him up and putting on a show.

His aim was to cause He to make a mistake, to embarrass him.

Perhaps even to push him out of the county committee office altogether.

Ou Huasheng... He Shinian and you have no past grievances, no enmity. Why do you repeatedly make things difficult for me, even try to harm me?

Ou continued to berate him in harsh tones, uttering extremely unpleasant insults.

He Shinian could no longer bear it. They say a matter should not be allowed to happen three times.

Ou had made things difficult for him twice before, and this was the third.

If He Shinian did not fight back now, he would become, in Ou’s eyes, a pushover anyone could bully.

“Director Ou, I did not record the time incorrectly; you gave the wrong time, and... you did it on purpose.”

He enunciated the last few words with heavy emphasis.

“What?” Ou’s eyebrows twitched. “I gave the wrong time on purpose? He Shinian, do you know what you’re saying?”

He Shinian answered coldly, “Of course I do. You said 8:20 this morning.”

Enraged, Ou shouted, “That’s nonsense! Utter rubbish! He Shinian, when you make a mistake, you must bravely admit it and correct it. That’s what a good comrade does. Look at your attitude!”

He Shinian smiled coldly. “Director Ou, I think that’s a lesson you should apply to yourself, not to me.”

Overcome with rage, Ou, despite He Shinian’s imposing stature and military background, was unable to strike him, though he almost tried.

“He Shinian, please remember your place. You’re just a lowly secretary. You should know the proper tone when speaking to your superiors.”

“Director Ou, I don’t know what I’ve done to offend you, but you persistently make things difficult for me. Although I haven’t been a secretary long, I know how to behave and how to do my job.”

He Shinian continued, “Since you won’t admit your mistake, then I have no choice but to produce evidence.”