The Official Ladder: I ascend to the pinnacle of power, wielding the power of life and death.

"You're not helping him, you're harming him!"

Jiang Yongchen said angrily, "If anyone takes advantage of this, it will have a very bad impact on Jiang Yiming's reputation!"

"Heh, what a pretentious act. Who isn't 'serving as an official for wealth'?"

Jiang Tao muttered something to himself.

"What did you say?"

Jiang Yongchen said coldly, "Jiang Tao, if you speak ill of Yiming again, don't blame me for disowning you as a brother!"

"Yongchen, don't be angry, I was wrong, okay?"

Jiang Tao said, "At worst, I'll just return the items."

"How are you going to return all this stuff? Do you even know who sent it?"

"I've kept a ledger; I'll just return the money according to the list in it later."

Jiang Tao took out another ledger that he had prepared in advance.

"Never mind, I'll return it."

Jiang Yongchen didn't believe Jiang Tao, so he took the notebook from him.

After the furniture was moved in and the house was cleaned spotless, Jiang Yongchen invited the workers over for a meal.

However, only a very small number of people went to the dinner. Most of them were there to show off in front of Jiang Yiming. Since Jiang Yiming was not attending the dinner, they naturally had no interest in joining either.

After dinner, Jiang Yongchen called Jiang Yiming and told him about Jiang Tao accepting the gifts on his behalf.

"What? Jiang Tao accepted gifts from others? Who gave him the right to accept gifts?!"

Jiang Yiming was furious.

"Yiming, this is my fault. I shouldn't have left him here to guard the place."

Jiang Yongchen said apologetically.

"This isn't your fault; you wouldn't have expected him to accept things on your behalf."

Jiang Yiming said, "Is there a lot of stuff? If not, have it handed over to the Discipline Inspection Commission."

"It's not much, and Jiang Tao remembers having an account book. I plan to return the items according to the account book."

"Okay, please do your job and find a few more people to return the items."

Jiang Yiming did not want to hand the items over to the Discipline Inspection Commission.

Although he was unwilling to accept the gifts, he also did not want to be an oddball. If he were to hand over the gifts to the Discipline Inspection Commission in a high-profile manner, other cadres would think that he was just putting on a show and would gradually distance themselves from him.

Those who give him gifts will resent him, feeling that he is difficult to deal with, and will keep their distance from him.

If this continues, he will become a monopolistic official.

No matter how high an official position one holds, one needs support, not only from within the system but also from people in all walks of life.

Once someone becomes a monopolistic official, they will not go far.

The following week, Jiang Yiming, along with the city's vice mayor in charge of agriculture and the director of the city's agricultural bureau, visited the provincial agricultural department to ask for preferential treatment for Xinping County in the allocation of project funds.

At first, the director and deputy director of the provincial agricultural department did not budge, so Jiang Yiming had to ask the secretary of Long Yumin, the minister of the provincial party committee's organization department, to come out.

With Minister Long's secretary present, several division chiefs from the Provincial Department of Agriculture finally relented and readily agreed to allocate more funds to Xinping County's projects.

Jiang Yiming gave Minister Long's secretary several cartons of good cigarettes before leaving Jiangcheng with the vice mayor of Yiyang City and the director of the Agriculture Bureau.

After returning to Xinping County, Jiang Yiming began to make arrangements, instructing the county's agricultural bureau to prepare accordingly.

At the same time, I spoke with the person in charge at Ainong Company to learn about the progress of the cooperation.

In the meantime, Zhang Yuntao sent him out to attend agricultural-related meetings.

Before we knew it, it was Friday.

Jiang Yiming was signing documents when his cell phone rang.

"Yiming is busy."

Jiang Yunzhou called.

"Yes, I'm processing documents."

Jiang Yiming asked, "I remember you're currently in Dongchuan County preparing for the opening ceremony of the seventh Yuegou Supermarket, right? What brings you here to call me?"

“Your uncle called me and said he’s going to repair your grandparents’ graves and erect a monument this weekend.”

"To build a grave and erect a monument for my grandparents?"

Jiang Yiming was stunned for a moment.

"Yes, I thought about it. Your grandparents suffered their whole lives, and we didn't even have a chance to take care of them before they passed away so early."

Jiang Yunzhou said, "So, after thinking about it, I've decided to work with your uncle to get this done."

“My grandparents loved me very much when I was a child. I agree with building a tomb and erecting a monument for them, but I personally suggest that we not make it too ostentatious.”

Jiang Yiming said, "We are building tombs and erecting monuments for our grandparents to show our filial piety, not to show off to others."

“I know. I’ve already told your uncle that we can split the cost 50/50, or even the majority of the cost. I only have one request: keep a low profile as much as possible.”

Jiang Yunzhou said, "Try to come back when you have time, so that the elders at home won't gossip."

"Dad, don't worry, I will definitely go back for this."

After hanging up the phone, Xia Shining called.

"Yiming, you said you were moving to a new place, is it all done yet?"

Xia Shining asked.

“I’ve already moved in. When are you coming back? I’ll show you our new home.”

Jiang Yiming laughed.

“Great! I’ve just finished being busy these past few days and was planning to go back today, so I wanted to call you to ask if you have time to keep me company. Otherwise, my trip back would have been pointless.”

Xia Shining smiled.

"You only get a few days off during summer vacation? I'm going to protest to Teacher Yang."

Jiang Yiming said.

"Fine, next time you come, you can protest in front of Teacher Yang."

"Uh, forget it, I wouldn't dare."

Jiang Yiming respected Yang Jing very much, so he naturally couldn't make any other requests.

"By the way, our family is going to repair and erect a tombstone for Grandpa and Grandma the day after tomorrow, so I'm afraid I won't have time to accompany you. Please come back in a couple of days."

"I should go back to help repair my grandparents' graves and erect a monument. Don't you want me to participate?"

"No, it's just that we're not married yet, and I'm afraid my parents will have objections."

Jiang Yiming said, "You don't need to participate this time. After I'm done with my work, I'll go to the capital and pick you up."

"Okay, then I'll wait for my loved one to come see me."

After hanging up the phone, Jiang Yiming continued to handle the matters at hand.

Time flies and it’s the weekend.

Jiang Yiming kept a very low profile; he didn't drive the company car or bring his secretary.

When I got home, my parents and sister were already there.

The Jiang family, consisting of dozens of households, gathered together.

Even those who worked in other cities rushed back after receiving the news.

A large group of dozens of people.

Upon seeing Jiang Yiming return, they all came forward to greet him.

Jiang Yiming responded warmly, taking the initiative to greet the elders and offer them cigarettes.

This scene made the Jiang family members present very happy.

"Who says that high-ranking officials lose their humanity? Yiming is not that kind of person."

“I watched Yiming grow up. Yiming is a sentimental person, unlike some people who, after becoming a minor deputy director, look down on everyone and don’t respect us at all.”

The Jiang family members whispered among themselves.

Just then, the feng shui master arrived.