Reasoning

Provincial Hospital, VIP Ward.

After being in a vegetative state for a period of time and then regaining his life, the godfather did not have a profound awakening; instead, he became even more afraid of death.

Even though all the tests came back normal, she refused to move out of the ward.

Since it's fully reimbursed, the hospital naturally has no objection.

The relevant departments will certainly not step forward to play the villain.

After all, they too will eventually retire, grow old, and get sick.

"Duanmu..." The godfather now treated his biological children like strangers, but he was exceptionally close to Duanmu Ren, asking with a smile, "How's work going lately? If you're busy, you don't need to travel back and forth; it's too much of a hassle."

Duanmu Ren naturally didn't take these words seriously, and instead inquired about his godfather's health.

For a time, the ward was filled with the warmth of fatherly love and filial piety, a scene of harmonious joy.

After this standard procedure was completed, Duanmu Ren began to talk about his recent work arrangements, focusing on Rejuvenation Valley Pharmaceutical and Isatis Root Lung-Clearing Oral Solution.

After listening, the godfather nodded slightly, then asked solemnly, "That oral liquid... can it really cure pneumoconiosis?!"

Duanmu Ren replied earnestly, "It can at least alleviate the symptoms, but I can't guarantee whether it can cure the condition."

He paused, then added, "I had someone try it; it definitely won't kill anyone."

"Playing it safe is the right thing to do." The godfather's face was full of praise, but his mind was filled with many thoughts.

It seems that Duanmu has an extraordinary relationship with overseas laboratories, as he was able to obtain experimental drugs in bulk.

The godfather immediately emphasized Duanmu Ren's importance, asking gently, "Do you know why I asked you to prioritize this matter?"

"Of course, it's an opportunity to test the waters, to get more life-saving elixirs..." Duanmu Ren naturally wouldn't voice his true thoughts, shaking his head respectfully and saying, "Please enlighten me, Godfather."

The godfather didn't keep him in suspense, speaking slowly, "Because if this matter isn't handled properly, it will become your fatal weakness in the future. If attacked by someone with ulterior motives, it will not only affect your career, but could also land you in jail."

Upon hearing this, Duanmu Ren's heart tightened, and his face became serious.

The godfather was very satisfied with Duanmu Ren's reaction, and then asked, "Do you know the difference between a flaw and a weakness?!"

Duanmu Ren defied fate by studying and doing exercises, naturally becoming well-read. He replied, "What can be overcome and corrected are shortcomings. What cannot be overcome are weaknesses."

"That's right." The godfather nodded slightly and continued, "At the grassroots level, like in counties and townships, greed, lust, and so on are all weaknesses that can be attacked."

You should understand this deeply.

Duanmu Ren readily nodded in acknowledgment.

In the past, Duanmu Ren often used these as weapons to deal with his competitors.

Of course, he also suffered a lot of retaliation from others.

"But at a higher level, what I just mentioned will become flaws that can be corrected, no longer weaknesses that can be used to attack. The logic of fighting each other in the quagmire that you're used to is no longer applicable." The godfather chuckled, revealing a clear understanding of the ups and downs of officialdom and a detached indifference towards the masses. "Because that's too undignified."

After hearing this, Duanmu Ren believed most of it instantly, and suddenly understood many things that he couldn't understand before.

No wonder my father-in-law always spoke with a sarcastic tone and gloating tone whenever he mocked my domineering style and ruthless methods.

It turns out they were hiding crucial information, waiting for me to suffer a severe setback.

No wonder, a few years ago, the head of a city in the south ordered all outdoor screens in the city to play a video of a beautiful woman celebrating her birthday for 24 hours straight, causing a huge uproar, yet nothing happened.

At the time, I couldn't figure it out at all. I just thought that the person was either incredibly stupid or had an incredibly powerful background.

The truth was that I was too low-level and had fallen into a mindset of seeking better things from a lower perspective.

Seeing Duanmu Ren's expression of sudden realization, the godfather sighed inwardly.

Duanmu Ren is indeed a genius.

It's just that his background was really too poor.

His father-in-law was a mean and ungrateful man, which meant that no one could teach him many secrets of officialdom, and Duanmu Ren had to personally suffer setbacks to learn them.

This gave me the opportunity to demonstrate my value.

After all, both of them knew perfectly well how much of their fatherly love and filial piety was genuine and how much was fake.

Unfortunately, I am already quite old, and my influence and value will gradually diminish, even becoming negligible.

Only the experiences and lessons learned from his life of ups and downs in officialdom still held some value for Duanmu Ren.

Since the godfather had decided to demonstrate his value, he stopped hiding it and said bluntly, "Once you advance further to the provincial level, you'll understand that all shortcomings can be overcome, corrected, or hidden."

"There's only one weakness left that could truly jeopardize my career."

That's incompetence!

"This old bastard, did he have to die once before he was willing to hand over the Flame Instruction?" Duanmu Ren thought to himself, vaguely feeling that this system must have been designed by a master.

Since we're all colleagues, we can't just randomly attack each other's minor flaws. So we can only compete on who has the ability to see the situation clearly, follow the right people, and get things done.

Counties and townships are arenas, their role being to screen and filter.

The provincial and municipal governments serve as training grounds, with a focus on guidance and transformation.

"Not bad, you have a good understanding." The godfather was satisfied with Duanmu Ren's thinking, but then his voice became stern. "However, you were very careless regarding the matter of the 'miracle drug for pneumoconiosis'."

"Did you think the outcome was good and the impact was controllable, so you didn't take it to heart?!"

Duanmu Ren nodded in agreement.

"Foolish!" The godfather sighed and shook his head, lecturing, "You still have too narrow a vision and lack a sense of crisis. Why don't you think about what would happen if this matter were reported by hostile foreign media?!"

"They'll say that government officials in an inland city are conducting illegal drug experiments on poor elderly people in their own jurisdiction!"

"Your dealings with that supermarket owner, the medical examination information of those miners with pneumoconiosis, witness testimonies from their relatives, video evidence on short video platforms... even if you wanted to explain, no one would believe you."

"And don't forget, your drug came from an overseas laboratory!"

Duanmu Ren was stunned upon hearing this, and his face instantly turned pale.

Since entering politics, all of Duanmu Ren's experience in struggle has been limited to the county and township levels.

The term "foreign media" had never crossed Duanmu Ren's mind; he instinctively felt it was too far removed from his own experience.

However, the godfather's speculation was by no means unfounded or a mere threat.

Once those foreign media outlets notice this, they will definitely try their best to hype up this kind of news.

Even in the future, at a crucial moment for his promotion, his competitors might detonate this time bomb.

The greatest political incompetence is failing to share the organization's burdens and instead causing trouble.

Even though Duanmu Ren had no real feelings for his godfather and their relationship was purely based on mutual exploitation, he was now sincerely convinced. "Having an elder in the family is like having a treasure. If it weren't for my godfather's reminder, I would have made a grave mistake without even realizing it."

Seeing that Duanmu Ren was intimidated, the godfather simply smiled and explained his plan in detail, "I'm having you get the Isatis Root Oral Solution now to complete the paperwork."

"I've already had it all taken care of; all the testing documents and approval procedures have been completed. This Isatis Root Oral Solution is now considered Phase II, while the previous one given to the miners with pneumoconiosis is considered Phase I."

"No matter who investigates, it is completely compliant and legal."

"Even in the worst-case scenario, you still have the patriotic card of protecting traditional medicine to play."

Duanmu Ren was now completely impressed and speechless.

Is this what they call a ministerial-level revision?

That's truly terrifying.

"Since you're going to do it, do it well, and ideally achieve some results and a good reputation." The godfather continued to exert his influence, offering guidance. "You need to understand, the lower you go, the more power matters; the higher you go, the more reason prevails."

"This 'reason' isn't logic, it's just an excuse."

"When your promotion is discussed in the future, if your competitors are equally capable and experienced, someone might mention that Duanmu once supported the traditional medicine industry, treated miners with pneumoconiosis, and has ideological awareness, vision, courage, and a good reputation among the people... This extra reason could very well be what makes you the winner in the end."

"I understand." Duanmu Ren took a deep breath, preparing to go back and have a good talk with Li Jiabao.