Chapter Nine

Although Wan Zongren's burned area is not large, due to improper self-treatment at the time, the degree of burns is quite severe. His genitals were completely burned and even if a transplant is performed, it would be non-functional. The treatment of burns requires around one million yuan in medical expenses. Although some expenses are reimbursed publicly, the personal burden is still a huge amount of money. Wan Zongren, who is already in dire financial straits, is simply unable to afford it. And once something like this happens, you will definitely become a "celebrity" in the organization, attracting attention wherever you go, becoming the subject of gossip for people during their leisure time, and being transferred out of the organization is also highly probable. Wan Zongren fell into a despairing abyss, feeling that redemption was impossible and it was better to end it all and be completely liberated, rather than lingering in the world in misery. In the hospital, despite the persuasion of doctors, unit leaders, and colleagues, Wan Zongren showed almost no hesitation and resolutely gave up treatment. Half a month later, Wan Zongren passed away in the burn ward of the People's Liberation Army 205 Hospital in Li Quan City.

The timely containment of this incident, coupled with the reduced opportunity for crowds to gather during the long Spring Festival holiday, prevented the jumping incident from escalating into a major public relations crisis. However, people still associate personal subjective imaginations from fragmented information, deducing various versions of stories, and all sorts of rumors quietly spread in the municipal government agencies. Many rumors have confirmed the saying of "Huang Lao Xie" without exception: the Feng Shui of the City Hall is bad, with too much Yin energy. The heating in the municipal building is clearly very hot, but the temperature in the offices on the ninth floor of the east wing near the corridor always fails to rise. The office workers there are all wearing down jackets, while those on other floors are working in shirts. This situation has persisted for almost two seasons, despite several attempts at maintenance. A security guard said that the bathroom where Xu Yunna jumped from, the window was clearly closed when he inspected it, but when he returned to check again from the west building, it was open, and this happened several times in a row. The person on duty spoke even more mysteriously, often hearing the faint sobbing of a woman in the building late at night... Zhang Zhengqi simply does not believe in superstitions such as feng shui and ghosts. That night, the on-duty Xiao Liu timidly said to him, "Secretary General, I dare not sleep alone in the duty room tonight." "

Is the young man still afraid of ghosts? With such a timid heart, there are no ghosts in the world. Even if there are ghosts in the building, they would be female ghosts who can help you pass the time. Zhang Zhiqi teased Xiao Liu for a while.

After finishing the matter, Zhang Zhengqi deliberately walked past the spot where Xu Yunna fell and stopped for half a minute on his way home, as if he wanted to listen to the ghost's story. Afterwards, Zhang Zhengqi also felt strange about his behavior.

During the Spring Festival, Zhang Zhengqi took a car to visit his former leader to pay New Year's greetings. When he saw the driver Chen Yibing, he suddenly remembered the incident of jumping off the municipal building. Chen Yibing is a remarried man. Despite being just a driver, he has very high emotional intelligence and handles relationships with leaders and colleagues very well. What surprises Zhang Zhengqi is that Chen Yibing's two ex-wives have a relationship like sisters. Last year, Chen Yibing's current wife opened a beauty salon, and his ex-wife also attended to congratulate. During the celebratory banquet at noon, the two ex-wives sat together, playing and joking with each other in a bold manner, without any awkwardness. The atmosphere was very harmonious, leaving the invited Zhang Zhengqi somewhat stunned. Thinking of this scene, Zhang Zhenqi couldn't help but joke, "Xiao Chen, when it comes to handling marriage and relationship issues, you are the professor and Wan Zongren is just a primary school student. If he had consulted you earlier, maybe this tragedy wouldn't have happened." "Of course, don't think that just because someone is a cadre, they are better than us workers in everything. Some cadres really don't know how to handle things when they encounter problems." "Little Chen answered confidently." In reality, when it comes to dealing with emotional and family issues, leading cadres are not necessarily wiser than ordinary workers.

Whether Zhang Zhengqi is willing to believe it or not, his more than thirty years of ups and downs in officialdom are remarkably consistent with the Feng Shui theory of the City Hall building as described by the so-called 'Yellow Elderly Evil'. Before the relocation of the municipal government agencies, Zhang Zhengqi seemed to have the protection of a deity. He was promoted from a general staff member to positions such as deputy section-level secretary, deputy section chief, section-level secretary, section chief, deputy director, and deputy secretary-general almost effortlessly. By the time the municipal government agencies moved to the City Hall, Zhang Zhengqi had become a member of the Municipal Party Committee, deputy secretary-general of the Municipal Party Committee, and director of the office. He had become one of the youngest official county-level cadres in the city, and the ambitious Zhang Zhengqi was preparing to "sail directly to the clouds and cross the East Sea," embarking on a new and promising journey. Little did Zhang Zhengqi expect that in the decades after relocating the municipal building, his career would be like a tractor with a broken track - stagnant, and his personal situation would be like Wang Xiaoer's New Year - getting worse year by year. Whether it is a coincidence or the will of fate, the political landscape of Li Quan, known as the "feng shui treasure land of the political arena," has changed dramatically. After the relocation, five or six party secretaries have been replaced successively. When they left their positions, except for Li Fengshu, the others either faced disciplinary actions and demotions, or directly fell from power, were imprisoned, or met unfortunate ends. This also affected two mayors, a chairman of the People's Congress, a chairman of the Political Consultative Conference, and several standing committee members. The political scene in Li Quan is constantly shaking, with the cadres of the municipal discipline inspection commission working overtime almost every day. Everyone is busy and overwhelmed. While expanding the team every year, they still need to draw and borrow personnel from counties, cities, and directly affiliated units to strengthen the investigative force. For a period of time, every cadre felt insecure, and there was a sense of panic and sorrow throughout. The rapid decline in economic development in Li Quan has not only caused it to lose its position as the second largest GDP contributor, but also its ranking has been falling continuously. As the western wing of Longyuan Province, which was once known for its economic takeoff, it has now failed to live up to its reputation. When Li Fengshu stepped down, he was first transferred to the provincial government as the Secretary-General, and it took five years before he was promoted to the Vice Chairman of the Provincial Political Consultative Conference. Li Fengshu's qualifications and abilities are not inferior to some of his predecessors, and his eloquence is also good. It was surprising to everyone that he did not get promoted directly. When Hua Jianli took over from Li Fengshu, the cadres in Li Quan seemed to see hope for continuing the glory of the officialdom in Li Quan. Hua Jianli has a clear vision, courage, and ability to get things done. The main leaders of the provincial party committee highly appreciate him. During his tenure in Li Quan, in order to implement the strategic decision of the provincial party committee and government to create a "land Three Gorges", Hua Jianli spared no effort to vigorously develop wind power and wind power equipment manufacturing, creating achievements praised by the provincial party secretary as the "speed of Li Quan" and the "miracle of Li Quan". When he left office, he was promoted to vice governor as he wished. Later, he was successively transferred to standing committee member and vice chairman of the provincial people's congress. The former glory of Li Quan's political arena reappeared. However, the good times did not last long. In a few years, his fortune reversed. Hua Jianli surrendered himself for suspected violations of discipline and regulations and was demoted to a deputy division-level cadre. Several secretaries and mayors have come and gone, some arriving in high spirits and leaving in disgrace. The common people say in private that the feng shui is not right. The leaders of Li Quan are changing from bad to worse, one generation after another. For more than a decade, Li Fengshu has instead become the last bright spot in the twilight of the officialdom in Li Quan. …