A day passed...
Two days passed...
Three days passed...
Wednesday at noon. It was a bright, sunny day, with puffs of white cloud drifting through the sky.
Walking out of the County Government Office Building, Dong Xuebin stretched lazily beneath the warm sunlight streaming toward him. The past two days had brought strong winds and a drop in temperature, but it had finally warmed up today. Dong Xuebin lit a cigarette, took a few puffs, and thought things over as he headed out of the compound.
The day after tomorrow was the county Standing Committee meeting.
Would the position of Director of the Investment Bureau... really be his?
Dong Xuebin had no real confidence. Over the past three days, he had done little else besides ingratiating himself with the leaders. He had visited Duan Zheng'an and Cao Xupeng one by one, clearly conveying his desire for promotion. Yet he had no idea what they were actually thinking, because neither Secretary Duan nor Secretary Cao had given him a definite answer. Take Cao Xupeng, for example—after their meal, he had merely said, "I know." Dong Xuebin had no idea whether that meant he agreed or simply needed to consider it. Even with personal connections involved, they were members of the Xiang Faction. Whether they would help Dong Xuebin was hard to say.
Things were naturally much smoother with Sister Xie's faction. Dong Xuebin had just gone to the County Government to visit Deputy County Chief Geng Yu. He had also treated Secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Committee Huang Li to dinner yesterday. With Xie Huilan backing him, County Chief Geng and Secretary Huang would naturally spare no effort. In fact, even if he had not gone to visit them, Sister Xie had probably already made arrangements. His visit had