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

"Okay, I will resolutely refuse to accept gifts from people I don't know in the future."

Jiang's parents nodded.

“Yiming, your uncle brought Xiaojun to our house a few days ago. Although he didn’t say anything, I know he wanted your help to find a job for Xiaojun.”

Jiang's mother said, "But there's no rush. If you have a suitable place, please help arrange it. If not, your uncle won't say anything."

“I’ve thought about Xiaojun’s situation. I was thinking of having him stay with Fifth Brother. Now that Dad needs help, you should take him with you.”

Jiang Yiming thought for a moment and then said.

He had a very good relationship with his maternal uncle's family and often went to their house to play when he was a child.

Sun Jun is his maternal uncle's youngest son. After graduating from junior high school, he served two years as a conscript in the army. After returning, he worked on construction sites. He was too honest and was often bullied by his coworkers.

He had originally planned to visit his uncle's house to talk to them about this, but he hadn't had the chance yet.

"I don't know when things will be settled on my end, so isn't it too early to ask him to come over now?"

Jiang Yunzhou said.

"It's not early. Xiaojun can drive, right? I plan to buy a used car in the city this time and give it to him. He can usually go with you."

Jiang Yiming laughed and said, "Don't refuse yet. If you want to open a supermarket, you have to put on a good show before others will cooperate with you. Believe it or not, if you go to talk to large-scale farmers about cooperation in your situation, they might not even pay attention to you. But if you have a car, their attitude will be completely different. Besides, I can't keep bothering Fifth Brother when I need to use a car, can I? If we buy our own car, it will be more convenient for me to use it whenever I want."

In fact, the second reason was something he made up. After all, at that time, the management of official vehicles was not standardized, and if he wanted to use a vehicle, it would be a simple matter of saying a word.

"The supermarket hasn't even opened yet, and you're already spending money on a car? Isn't that too much of an expense?"

Jiang's mother said with some concern.

"Yiming is right, this is the storefront, we have to buy it."

Jiang Yunzhou, however, was very supportive.

After a while, Jiang Yongchen came in with some things.

Jiang Yiming instructed him to first pick up Sun Jun from his maternal uncle's house the next day, and then go to the city.

The next morning, Jiang Yiming returned to the county government compound.

He only realized that Qiao Xiaomai was in the car when he got in.

"Director Qiao, are you also going to the city on business?"

"Secretary Ma called me and said he was going to the city to report on his work and asked me to come along. He also said he would give me a day off so I could go back and have a good time with my husband, Lao Xie."

Qiao Xiaomai smiled wryly and said, "I just came back from the city yesterday. I guess he wants to invite my husband, Lao Xie, to dinner and wants me to accompany him."

As they were talking, Ma Qiyun came downstairs.

"Everyone's here, let's go."

Ma Qiyun got into the car and said with a smile, "I heard from Yiming that you two are quite familiar with each other, so I won't introduce you."

"The main reason I invited Director Qiao this time was to invite your husband, Lao Xie, out for dinner. I was afraid he wouldn't give me the honor, so I asked you, a great figure, to accompany him. I heard you have a very high status in your family."

"Secretary, you're joking. Even if he has something extremely urgent to do, he'll put it aside and see you first when you call him to ask him to come out."

Qiao Xiaomai smiled and said, "I've already told my husband, Lao Xie, that we'll invite Secretary Xi and Director Jiang to our house for dinner tonight, so we can have a little get-together."

"Minister Xie and you are both quite busy, so you'll be busy for a while if you go. I'll have Yiming find a quiet place outside, and I'll invite a few friends to get together."

Ma Qiyun said, "I'll visit your home again next time I have the chance."

"Okay, I'll follow the secretary's arrangements."

Xinping County is an hour and a half away from the city center.

We arrived at the municipal government compound at 9:30.

"Director Qiao, you should go home and rest first. We'll pick you and Minister Xie up for dinner tonight."

Ma Qiyun said to the driver, "Xiao Wang, take Director Qiao back."

"Okay, Secretary."

Ma Qiyun and Jiang Yiming walked into the building.

This was Jiang Yiming's first time entering the municipal government compound. The atmosphere here was even more solemn, with everyone hurrying along. Very few people greeted each other.

Ma Qiyun was very familiar with the municipal government. He took Jiang Yiming directly to the sixth floor and then knocked on the door of the mayor's secretary.

"Secretary Gao, I have an appointment with Mayor Wei. Please inform the mayor."

Ma Qiyun took out a Zhonghua cigarette and handed it over.

"Thank you, Secretary Ma. Please wait a moment while I report to the mayor."

After pouring two cups of tea, Secretary Gao walked toward the mayor's office.

In stark contrast, the two who arrived earlier found themselves in an empty space.

A moment later, Secretary Gao returned and said with a smile, "Secretary Ma, the mayor wants you to go in."

"Thank you, Secretary Gao. Let's get together after get off work tonight."

Ma Qiyun extended an invitation.

"Thank you for your kind invitation, Secretary Ma. I will definitely attend if I have the time."

Secretary Gao led the way and said with a smile, "The mayor attaches great importance to you. The municipal government executive meeting, which was originally scheduled for 10 o'clock, has been postponed because of your arrival."

"Then we'll try to keep our report concise when we give it later."

Ma Qiyun laughed.

"Mayor, I've come to report to you."

Ma Qiyun knocked on the door and went inside.

"You haven't been to my place for a while, have you? If I hadn't seen what was going on in your Xinping County in the journal, were you planning to let me be the last to know?"

Wei Shanghua put down the documents and said, half-jokingly and half-seriously.

"Mayor, I want to apologize to you. I was too cautious in my work, thinking I would report to you after I had achieved results."

Ma Qiyun did not try to deny it, but directly admitted his mistake: "If the leader doesn't find me annoying, transfer me to the city and put me in the same office as Secretary Gao. I will report to you every day."

"Haha, if I were to transfer you here, wouldn't the hundreds of thousands of people in Xinping County come after me and fight me to the death?"

Wei Shanghua waved his hand and laughed, "It's not my fault that you didn't report beforehand. Enterprise reform is a tough nut to crack; many counties haven't been able to get it done. Your cautious approach and quiet reform are the right thing to do."

He glanced at his watch and said, "I originally planned to give you more time, but there's an executive meeting this morning. I'll give you five minutes to give me a brief report on your county's enterprise reform plan."

Ma Qiyun was momentarily flustered. He had prepared a lot of material, and if he were to elaborate, he could explain it thoroughly.

But the mayor only gave him five minutes, and he didn't know what to say for a moment.

After all, within five minutes, it is necessary not only to extract the core content, but also to explain it thoroughly so that Wei Shanghua can understand it; otherwise, it would be an ineffective report.

"Secretary, you assigned me to give this report, but you didn't say I was reporting to the mayor. If my report is not good, please don't punish me."

Jiang Yiming calmly took the initiative to assume responsibility.

“Our Mayor Wei is very approachable, so please feel free to report. I will supplement any shortcomings you may have.”

Ma Qiyun smiled and said, "Mayor, this is Jiang Yiming, whom you mentioned before. I brought him here today so that he could report to you in person."