Colorful years

From Dayong to Jishou, the prefectural capital, it's only about 200 kilometers by road and less than 200 kilometers by train.

Back then, passenger trains were only slow trains, running at around 50 kilometers per hour, stopping at seven or eight small stations along the way, and taking more than five hours to reach their destination. However, it was still two hours faster than road passenger transport.

At nine o'clock in the morning, the sunlight shone brightly on the square in front of Dayong Railway Station, illuminating every hurried pedestrian. With a long whistle, the train slowly pulled out of the platform and headed towards its destination.

The train wheels rolled on, and as the clock was about to strike three in the afternoon, the train finally arrived at the main train station.

Those already waiting there were Section Chief Qin from the Publicity Department of the State Party Committee and Lao Luo, the office driver. As soon as they saw Zhang Cong walk out of the station exit, they warmly went to greet him.

In fact, Zhang Cong was no stranger to these two people who came to pick him up. He had dealt with them as early as last year when he submitted typical materials on ideological and political work.

In particular, Section Chief Qin left a very deep impression on Zhang Cong.

Section Chief Qin was of medium height and wore thick glasses. It was said that those glasses had a prescription of over 600 degrees, and he wore them on his nose all day long, only taking them off when washing up and sleeping.

Without these glasses, everything around him would appear blurry. For this reason, these glasses have almost become part of his image.

Speaking of this Section Chief Qin, he's a well-known and formidable figure in the prefectural party committee. He has exceptional writing skills and is considered one of the most outstanding writers.

Whenever the prefectural party committee held a large-scale meeting, he would always serve as the head of the materials group, responsible for strictly reviewing and approving all meeting materials. His high level of professionalism and strict requirements were renowned throughout the prefectural party committee.

Zhang Cong still feels lingering fear when he recalls submitting the exemplary material entitled "Zhuang Erhe's Experience in Ideological and Political Work on the Day of Kindness".

Perhaps it was because he had heard countless praises of this student from Teacher Man. Teacher Man always lauded the student to the skies, saying that he was extremely talented and gifted in writing, and that his future was bright and limitless.

Therefore, he couldn't help but feel a strong interest and curiosity in this student who was so highly praised, and wanted to personally verify whether these praises were truly well-deserved.

Therefore, he decided to give this student a good test to see if he was as outstanding as the legends said.

If he is truly as outstanding as the rumors suggest, then he is willing to lend a helping hand to Zhang Cong on his journey of pursuing his dreams and forging ahead, so that he can fly higher and farther.

Therefore, after receiving the materials, Section Chief Qin was extremely picky and demanded repeated revisions and polishing, which caused Zhang Cong a lot of trouble, but at the same time, it also benefited him greatly.

It was through this kind of training that Zhang Cong's writing ability improved significantly.

While adhering to the core principles without wavering, he acted like a strict mentor, posing eight challenging questions to Zhang Cong one after another.

Each time a question was set, Zhang Cong was explicitly required not only to replace the viewpoints implied in the subheadings, but also to completely innovate his writing style.

This meant that Zhang Cong had to start over time, undergoing up to eight complete rewrites, much like a ship constantly adjusting its course in turbulent waves.

Even more demanding was that every time such a dramatic change occurred, Zhang Cong was required to submit a completely new manuscript within a single day.

However, what is astonishing is that Zhang Cong demonstrated extraordinary adaptability and profound writing potential in the face of such difficult and frequent challenges.

He seemed to possess a pair of magical wings, enabling him to soar lightly under immense pressure and complete tasks on time and to a high standard every time.

When Zhang Cong, with a heart full of trepidation, carefully handed the manuscript, which had been meticulously revised eight times, into Section Chief Qin's broad and strong hand, time seemed to stand still.

After receiving the weighty manuscript, Section Chief Qin did not delay at all and immediately began to read it word by word. He first browsed through the preface of the material with great concentration, sometimes nodding slightly to show his approval, and sometimes frowning as he fell into deep thought.

Next, he focused his attention on the carefully designed subheadings, carefully studying the profound meaning and logical relationships behind each one.

Subsequently, Section Chief Qin scrutinized every detail, delving into the typical examples and meticulous descriptions listed in the article.

As he read, he would occasionally pick up a pen to make some annotations or write a few short comments. The only sounds in the office were the rustling of papers turning and the occasional soft sighs or exclamations of admiration from Section Chief Qin.

After a long and tense wait, Zhang Cong finally saw Section Chief Qin's tense face gradually relax and finally break into a satisfied smile:

"Excellent! Excellent! This is the best material I've ever seen, and the one that I'm most satisfied with." After saying this, Section Chief Qin gently patted Zhang Cong on the shoulder to encourage him.

However, at that moment, no one noticed that Section Chief Qin was quietly brewing a plan for Zhang Cong's future development.

Only he himself knew the full story of this plan, but it was easy to see from the expectant and admiring look in his eyes as he looked at Zhang Cong that a life-changing opportunity was about to befall this young man.

As fate would have it, just as Section Chief Qin was secretly making plans, two valuable openings came up in the News Department due to personnel transfers! This was a godsend for Section Chief Qin, who had always wanted to promote Zhang Cong.

Therefore, Section Chief Qin seized this rare opportunity without hesitation. He fully utilized his eloquence and persuasive skills, doing everything in his power to strongly recommend Zhang Cong to the unit's leaders.

Faced with Section Chief Qin's enthusiastic and well-reasoned recommendation, and given that the department leaders were also familiar with Zhang Cong's situation, they finally agreed to formally transfer Zhang Cong to the News Section.

Zhuang Erhe, the protagonist in the material, was promoted to deputy mayor of Xinqiao Township two months after Zhang Cong was transferred to the Propaganda Department of the State Party Committee. He was promoted to a larger position due to his outstanding work performance.