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

On the way back, Jiang Yiming called Yang Jing.

"Teacher, although saying thank you is a bit formal, I still sincerely want to say thank you. You have gone to great lengths for me, not only introducing me to a teacher but also personally accompanying me. I really don't know how to thank you enough."

"Yiming, you don't need to be so polite with me. I've always treated you like my own child."

Yang Jing smiled and said, "Professor Ji is a very individualistic scholar, but he is also very capable. He has participated in many high-level meetings, and many of his suggestions have been adopted by the top leadership. His influence is not only in academia, but also at the government level. If you learn from him, visit him more often, and ask him questions when you don't understand something, it will be very helpful in improving your governance skills and will also broaden your social circle."

"Okay, teacher. I will study diligently under Teacher Ji's guidance."

Jiang Yiming said, "Teacher, you should get some rest."

After hanging up the phone, Jiang Yiming returned to his residence.

Xia Shining cooked millet porridge and waited for Jiang Yiming to return while reading a book.

Jiang Yiming opened the door and saw such a heartwarming scene, which warmed his heart.

"Yiming, you're back?"

Hearing footsteps, Xia Shining looked up and saw her husband returning. Her face was full of joy, and she quickly went to greet him.

"You haven't eaten yet, have you? I brought you some delicious food."

Jiang Yiming gently stroked his wife's hair, and the day's fatigue vanished instantly. Perhaps, this is the meaning of home.

"I ate some fruit and oatmeal. Oh, and I made you some millet porridge."

Xia Shining turned and went to the kitchen, ladled millet porridge from the rice cooker, and said, "You have so many social engagements every day, and you drink alcohol too. Drink more millet porridge to soothe your stomach."

Jiang Yiming took it and drank it all in one gulp: "My wife's porridge is still the best. Those chefs are nowhere near as good as my wife's cooking."

Xia Shining felt a surge of joy and said with a smile, "I didn't realize you were so good at sweet talk."

“I can not only talk about it, I can also cook. Have something to eat, and then we’ll go back to the room so you can feel your husband’s love.”

"I've already eaten, I'm not hungry."

Xia Shining's pretty face was flushed; she naturally knew what Jiang Yiming was about to do.

"You're not hungry, but I'm starving. I'm going to eat you, you little lamb."

Jiang Yiming picked Xia Shining up in his arms and kissed her as he walked.

Soon, the Simmons mattress began to make rhythmic sounds.

The two continued their in-depth study of "The Little Tadpoles Looking for Their Mother".

These few days are Xia Shining's ovulation period, and they need to try their best to help the tadpoles find their mother as soon as possible.

After studying the matter overnight, Jiang Yiming returned to Dongjiang Province. When he passed through Jiangcheng City, he visited Guo Shenglin, Deputy Secretary of the Provincial Party Committee, and Wei Shanghua, Vice Governor.

When Guo Shenglin's secretary saw Jiang Yiming arrive, he went to Guo Shenglin's office to report to him. Guo Shenglin then told Jiang Yiming to come in directly.

Jiang Yiming then cut in line, bypassing a group of department-level officials, and went directly to Guo Shenglin's office.

"Secretary Guo, congratulations on your promotion! I've come to offer my congratulations in person."

Jiang Yiming offered his congratulations with a smile.

"The higher the position, the greater the responsibility."

Guo Shenglin asked confidently, "What brings you to Jiangcheng?"

"I want to improve my academic qualifications while I'm still young so I won't have to worry about this in the future. So I asked Professor Yang to recommend a doctoral supervisor for me. I received a call from her a few days ago, asking me to go to the capital. Last night I had dinner with Professor Yang and the doctoral supervisor."

Jiang Yiming reported.

"Young people should be ambitious and learn more in order to make continuous progress."

Guo Shenglin smiled and asked, "Which doctoral supervisor are you following?"

"Professor Ji Huaixin from Tsinghua University's School of Economics and Management."

"Professor Ji? He is very capable and has a strong personality. He rarely accepts students who are currently employed. You should be proud to become his student."

Guo Shenglin smiled and said, "If you follow Professor Ji closely, you will make great progress in both academics and interpersonal relationships."

"Thank you for your guidance, Secretary Guo. I will definitely seize this opportunity and learn from Professor Ji."

After chatting for more than ten minutes, Jiang Yiming took his leave.

Guo Shenglin, as the deputy secretary of the provincial party committee, is extremely busy. There were more than a dozen people queuing up to see him.

It was already quite an achievement that the other party was able to make time to see him, so he naturally couldn't afford to waste too much time.

Jiang Yiming then visited Vice Governor Wei Shanghua.

After his secretary's report, he was able to meet Wei Shanghua.

"Congratulations, former leader. I've been wanting to visit you since your promotion, but I knew you've just arrived and there are many things to sort out, so I didn't dare to bother you too early."

“I don’t believe you think that way. I guess you’re waiting for the specific division of labor in the province to be finalized, to see which area I’ll be in charge of, and then planning how to get my help before you come to me.”

“Governor Wei, you’ve wronged me. Am I that calculating?”

Jiang Yiming cried out that he was wronged: "I came here specifically to congratulate you."

"Alright, since you came all this way to offer your congratulations, and I've received your well wishes, I still have a lot of things to take care of. You can go now."

"Old leader, I've finally made it to Jiangcheng. Even if you can't afford to treat me to a meal, at least let me give you a chance to report on my thoughts and work, right?"

Jiang Yiming shamelessly refused to leave.

"You want to talk to me about ideology? I'm not afraid to criticize you, you're not high enough rank. You should report to your Party Secretary or Mayor."

"..."

Jiang Yiming was speechless; what Wei Shanghua said was infuriating.

However, he also noticed that Wei Shanghua was more casual in his speech after he stopped being his direct superior.

They even started joking.

"Go ahead and tell me, is there anything I need to coordinate? I want to make it clear in advance that I'm new here and can't be too obvious. When I consider issues now, I have to take a province-wide perspective."

"Hehe, thank you for your concern, Governor Wei. Then I won't stand on ceremony with you."

Jiang Yiming said, "Our county is building itself into a strong agricultural county and a strong tourism county, so we must keep up with the development of water conservancy. This will not only benefit agricultural irrigation, but also the development of tourism."

"But as you know, our county's financial resources are limited. We hope that the Provincial Department of Water Resources will give Xichuan County preferential support in relevant projects."

Wei Shanghua was in charge of agriculture, forestry and water conservancy, and the Water Resources Department was the department under his jurisdiction. If he stepped in, getting the relevant projects would not be a problem at all.

"Okay, I'll make a note of this. I'll ask the Water Resources Department about it when the time is right."

Wei Shanghua said, "However, as I said before, if you want to develop, you still have to rely on yourself."