Colorful years

Speaking of He Qi'an, the executive vice minister in charge of daily operations, he was the most adept at manipulating power among all the leading cadres Congcong had ever seen in his forty-year career.

He Qi'an is cunning and ruthless. To satisfy his personal desires and lust for power, he will stop at nothing, treating the officialdom as his own chessboard and arbitrarily manipulating the fates of others.

He manipulated the minister and his deputy ministers with his political skills, making them act according to his wishes like puppets.

In his eyes, those section-level cadres and staff members were as insignificant as ants.

Under his tyranny, everything in the department revolved around his command. He practiced the principle of "those who obey me prosper, those who oppose me perish," treating public power as his private property and acting recklessly.

He Qi'an assigned his trusted cadre, the section chief, to conduct a focused investigation into Section Chief Qin Ren'an's political conduct between 1966 and 1970. However, two years passed, and despite the investigation team's best efforts, they failed to obtain any clues or evidence sufficient to put Qin Ren'an to death.

With only one year left before his retirement, He Qi'an thought to himself that he would be unwilling to let Qin Ren'an go without teaching him a lesson and disciplining him.

After all, in his eyes, Qin Ren'an was a disobedient troublemaker, and he had to get rid of this thorn in his side before he could leave his post with peace of mind.

In 1968, Long Zhengtu, deputy director of the Propaganda Department of Longshan County, committed suicide by jumping off a building because he could not bear the criticism and torture of the Red Guards.

As the Party Branch Secretary of the county troupe at the time, Qin Ren'an neither organized nor participated in the criticism and struggle session against Long Zhengtu in this incident.

However, things took an unexpected turn. Two young rebels from the troupe came to the scene to participate in the criticism of Long Zhengtu, and He Qi'an saw this as a golden opportunity, a chance to bring down Qin Ren'an.

Therefore, he instructed others to frame Qin Ren'an, claiming that the two young men who participated in the criticism were instigated by Qin Ren'an. In this way, He Qi'an successfully initiated disciplinary proceedings against Qin Ren'an through conspiracy and trickery.

Qin Ren'an has always believed that he has done nothing wrong and is convinced of his innocence. He believes that no matter how the other party schemes, they cannot bring him down.

He even naively believed that since the Party Secretary of the prefecture was from Longshan, he would definitely speak up for him and uphold justice at crucial moments.

The reality is that his thinking was far too naive. In this complex political arena, the struggle for power and interests is often cruel and ruthless, and his naive ideas will only lead him into an even more difficult situation.

At a general meeting of the Party branch of the Publicity Department, the discussion on disciplinary action against Qin Ren'an officially began. At this meeting, most of the conscientious Party members and cadres saw the truth of the matter and felt angry and dissatisfied with He Qi'an's actions.

Therefore, during the vote, they either voted against it or abstained. The entire branch had twenty-five members; however, only nine voted in favor of disciplining Qin Ren'an, four voted against it, and twelve abstained. According to the rules, since the number of votes in favor did not exceed a majority, He Qi'an's motion should have been invalid. However, the matter did not end there.

Naturally, Zhang Cong, who was upright, righteous, and deeply abhorred evil deeds, cast his resolute dissenting vote without hesitation.

At that time, the purge and disposal of the "three types of people" had to be thoroughly discussed and approved by the Standing Committee of the State Party Committee before it could be implemented. However, at this Standing Committee meeting, He Qi'an fully demonstrated his eloquence, giving a highly distorted and exaggerated report on the ins and outs of the entire incident.

After everyone listened to He Qi'an's seemingly vivid but actually far-fetched report and related suggestions, Secretary Yang frowned and fell into deep thought.

Because he was very clear that during that particular historical period, the vast majority of Party members and cadres were indeed under immense pressure and severe challenges of all kinds. Many people, in the face of a complex and ever-changing situation, made some left-leaning mistakes to varying degrees.

Secretary Yang is also a master of political maneuvering; he will not give his political enemies any opportunity to criticize him.

After careful consideration, he decisively decided, "It is undeniable that under the difficult historical circumstances, our Party members and cadres would inevitably make some mistakes that leaned to the left. In that case, let's give Comrade Qin Ren'an a Party warning as punishment!"

And so, Qin Ren'an was inexplicably burdened with a disciplinary punishment.

Upon learning of the result, Qin Ren'an was extremely dissatisfied and angry. He felt he had been treated unfairly and that his efforts and innocence had been wantonly trampled on.

Driven by these emotions, he made a second mistake. He felt that the propaganda department had treated him unfairly, and that the place made him feel sad and hopeless. So, in a fit of pique, he applied for a transfer to the road and bridge company as manager.

He hopes to start his career afresh in a new environment, free from the unfair treatment and conspiracies.

However, he wasn't cut out for business. After working in a company for several years, he not only failed to make any money but also lost his job in the 1990s during the wave of state-owned enterprise reform and the retreat of private enterprises from state-owned ones. Ultimately, when he reached retirement age, Section Chief Qin could only receive a monthly pension of three thousand yuan.

However, Qin Ren'an's departure did not end the matter. He Qi'an's political maneuvering continued within the propaganda department; he continued to use any means necessary to suppress and ostracize those he deemed disobedient, all for his own power and interests. In this oppressive atmosphere, the cadres worked cautiously, fearing they might become the next Qin Ren'an.

In this story filled with power struggles and intrigues, we witness the ugliness of human nature and the darkness of officialdom.

He Qi'an's actions not only harmed innocent cadres like Qin Ren'an, but also damaged the atmosphere and image of the entire department.

Qin Ren'an's experience has made us realize that when faced with unfair treatment and conspiracies, we cannot rely solely on naive ideas and spiteful behavior to solve the problem. Instead, we need to be more rational and courageous in facing the situation and safeguard our rights and dignity through legal channels and means.

At the same time, this thought-provoking story serves as a mirror, clearly reflecting an important real-world issue: we must steadfastly strengthen the mechanisms for supervising and checking power to prevent its arbitrary and abusive use. Only in this way can we effectively safeguard the vital interests of the people and ensure that society maintains a fair and just order.

Just like Zhang Cong, who was at the center of this storm, despite his firm stance on the side of justice, he suffered from He Qi'an's ruthless exclusion and malicious suppression for a long time.

Because He Qi'an held a certain amount of power, and Zhang Cong refused to collude with him, he was never given the attention and appointment he deserved from the organization.

Fortunately, Zhang Cong has an impeccable past and outstanding professional skills. In addition, he is cautious and low-key in his daily life. All of this makes it difficult for the scheming He Qi'an to find an opportunity to attack him, no matter how hard he tries.

In July 1989, the summer sun was blazing.

With the changing seasons and global warming, Zhang Cong has encountered his third opportunity to change the course of his life.