Late summer of 1997.

"Bang, bang, bang..."

The green train is like a long winding dragon, traveling on the railway track from Yanjing to Dujiang City, the provincial capital of Southwest China.

In the aisle of the hard-sleeper carriage, a tall young man wearing a white shirt and blue suit pants was standing in front of the window, looking at the scenery passing by with thick eyebrows furrowed.

His mood fluctuated like the collision of trains and rails. As the familiar scenery of Dujiang City appeared in his field of vision little by little, he became more and more uneasy.

…

The young man’s name is Meng Jinxing. He is 23 years old at the time. He graduated from the Department of Economics of Yenching University in 1997 and had just been admitted as a selected student in his hometown of Southwest Province.

Meng Jin, who lives in Dujiang City, the provincial capital, had a strict upbringing since he was a child. In their family, his father Meng Qingping is the representative of what is right and does not tolerate any disobedience.

Meng Qingping once served as deputy mayor of Dujiang City, but due to some unknown reasons, he gradually retired from officialdom in the early 1990s.

After thirty years of turmoil in the officialdom, Meng Qingping came to the conclusion that power can bring glory to people, but it can also make people fall.

He regarded this theory as a family lesson and taught it to his children, asking them to remember his teachings and stay away from officialdom.

However, Meng Jinxing has always felt that life lessons can be found everywhere, not just in the officialdom.

Precisely because every move of people in the officialdom is related to the country's image and the interests of the people, it is even more necessary for every member of this team to have a high degree of political wisdom. Anyone who can achieve results and be recognized by the people must be the best among the best, the elite.

The elite among.

If someone loses his faith and direction while holding power, he is not considered a qualified official figure.

Even though the Meng family has been neglected over the years, which reflects people's worship of power, Meng Jinxing still firmly believes that any cadre can become a qualified cadre as long as his beliefs and original intentions remain unchanged and he has a heart to benefit the people.

officials.

Therefore, when the family members of a deputy ministerial leader came to greet their son and replaced his place in school on the eve of the allocation, the school leaders tactfully expressed the difficulties of not allowing him to stay in school and promised to recommend him to a famous state-owned enterprise in Yanjing.

He simply asked the school to recommend him to apply for transfer in Southwest Province without hesitation. He decided to go back to Southwest to work. He wanted to use his actions to prove that power is not a tool for rent-seeking. Its real function is to benefit people.

common people.

This decision undoubtedly violated his father's family motto. Even though he was full of enthusiasm, he was still uneasy...

"Comrade passengers..."

The train finally stopped at the station. Meng Jinxing stepped out of the carriage at the gentle reminder of the train announcer, followed the flow of people out of the station, backed two buses and got off at Jiupo Road, heading towards the old city built in the mid-1980s.

Building 2 of the government dormitory.

Building No. 2 is a simple conjoined villa where two deputy mayors, Meng Qingping and Mu Xinhua, once lived.

Mu Xinhua, who worked alone in Dujiang in his early years, often came to Meng's house to have dinner, and Meng Qingping always regarded him as a good mentor and helpful friend.

However, following a sudden personnel transfer, Meng Qingping rose up and down overnight, Mu Xinhua rose through the ranks, and his former colleagues became strangers.

Now, things have changed in Building No. 2. Mu Xinhua, who has become the Secretary of the Dujiang Municipal Party Committee, has already moved out of Building No. 2. The neighbors of the Meng family have also changed one after another. Only Meng Qingping sticks to Building No. 2 and has an official career.

It gets narrower and narrower as you go.

Meng Jinxing looked at the lighted window of his home, took a deep breath, walked up the steps, raised his hand and pressed the doorbell.

Meng Jinyan opened the door and saw his younger brother. He didn't seem surprised and stepped aside to let him in.

57-year-old Meng Qingping was sitting at the dining table drinking alone. His square face was filled with gloom, and he turned a blind eye to his son who had come home all the way home.

"Dad, I'm back."

Meng Jinxing put his luggage by the door, sat down opposite his father, and asked in a low voice: "My mother works night shift?"

Meng Qingping let out a muffled groan from his chest, as if he was sure, but also as if he didn't say anything.

"There was an impromptu surgery in the hospital, and mom went there without eating dinner." Meng Jinyan answered his brother's question.

Meng Jinxing nodded and looked at his father, who was in his prime, drinking alone with his head lowered and his head hanging on his head. His heart dropped heavily, "Let me have a drink with you, Dad."

Meng Jinxing stood up to get the cup, but Meng Qingping suddenly raised his head and asked his son's back with a sullen face: "Are you sure you want to pursue an official career?"

Meng Jinxing stood frozen, not daring to look back at his father's face, "Do you understand?"

"You don't think your father is so useless that you don't even get news about this, do you?"

"No, Dad, I..." Meng Jinxing quickly turned around to explain.

"Don't explain, answer my question!" Meng Qingping interrupted his son, his eyes as sharp as razor sharp.

Meng Jinxing has not seen his father's eyes like this for many years. Since he left the front line, his eyes have always been reserved and reserved, even lacking in edge.

He kept his composure, put down his wine glass at the table, nodded solemnly to his father and said, "I've thought about it, I want to become an official!"

Meng Qingping's eyes quickly darkened, he sighed heavily, drank the wine in one gulp, stood up and entered the study.

"dad……"

Meng Jinxing chased after him, but was grabbed by Meng Jinyan. She whispered: "Dad heard that you were on the list of students for transfer three days ago. When he came back, he locked himself in the study and sat there all night. Yesterday he was alone.

I went out to buy Zhonghua, and Maotai came back and said that in official circles, every wrong step leads to wrong steps, and I have to help you get off to a good start."

When Meng Jinxing heard this, his nose suddenly became sore and his eyes filled with tears.

At this moment, Meng Qingping walked out carrying two large paper bags, glanced at his son as he walked past him, said nothing, and went directly to the door to change his shoes.

"Dad, I'll go with you!"

Meng Jinxing quickly walked over and took the paper bag from his father's hand.

Meng Qingping's eyes flashed with a hint of relief that was imperceptible.

In his eyes, a person who doesn't even know how to fight for opportunities will not be able to last long even if he gets a good position because of his personality.

On the contrary, even an inconspicuous position, in the hands of those who know how to cherish opportunities, is a step-by-step ladder to the top.

The father and son took a taxi and went straight to the dormitory of the provincial party committee in Binjiang to visit Xia Minghan, director of the 1st Cadre Division of the Organization Department of the provincial party committee.

Xia Minghan was originally a reporter, and was later transferred to work in the Dujiang Municipal Party Committee Office. However, because of his youth and arrogance, he offended the Municipal Party Committee Secretary and was almost dismissed. Thanks to Meng Qingping, he escaped the disaster by sending him to the Municipal Party Committee Office. Soon afterwards, although

Through the help of an old classmate, I went to the Provincial Party Committee and had less contact with Meng Qingping, but there was still some connection between the two.

"Old leader, if you need anything, just call me. Why don't you come here in person on such a hot day?"

After Xia Minghan welcomed Meng Qingping and his son in, he spoke very politely, but he didn't even make a cup of tea.

Meng Qingping smiled and urged his son to put the gift on the table, and then handed a cigarette to Xia Minghan in a flattering manner, "Actually, it's not a big deal. The main thing is that Quanzi Xingxing took the selective student recruitment exam and passed it. In the past, he

This is your disciple, I will bring him to recognize him today, and I will ask Chu Xia to teach him more in the future!"

Meng Qingping spoke in an extremely humble and cautious manner, and Meng Jinxing even had the slightest illusion that his father was a department-level cadre at this moment, while Xia Minghan was a department-level cadre.

"Meng Jinxing?"

"What can I teach him? All I have is lessons from mistakes!" Meng Qingping sighed, "Minghan, I don't ask for anything else, I just ask you to take more care of him and let him go to a place that is conducive to training and growth.

become!"

Xia Minghan had read Meng Jinxing's file and knew that he was Meng Qingping's son. He had also thought in his mind, would this young man's behavior be as beautiful as his file? Would it be different from his father?

Meng Qingping personally brought his son to ask for help, which surprised Xia Minghan and secretly sighed in his heart.

Once upon a time, Meng Qingping was a symbol of power in Dujiang. Who would have thought that Meng Qingping would find someone to intercede for his son?

Xia Minghan picked up his thin porcelain cup and took a sip of tea. He collected his thoughts and then said slowly: "There is a place where I want to go, and there is someone who can take care of me, but..."

"Minghan, it's okay to say it." Meng Qingping knew clearly that what Xia Minghan hadn't said yet was the real topic.

Xia Minghan thought for a while and said, "In response to the central government's call, although our province's remuneration policy for selected students in the past two years has been generous, the specific work arrangements are only for remote or economically backward areas at the grassroots level. This has caused many highly educated talents to have serious problems after arriving at the grassroots level.

They have a psychological gap and cannot appreciate the deep significance of the party and government providing them with a broad training platform.”

He paused and then said: "So, even if there are people taking care of the place and there is not enough mental preparation and hard-working spirit, my suggestion is to give up. After all, these are poor places!"

Meng Qingping felt that the reason why Xia Minghan said this was to show off his dignity and let his father and son accept his favor.

He hesitated slightly and took out an envelope from his trouser pocket and pushed it in front of Xia Minghan, "Minghan, this should fully reflect Xiaoxing's determination to go to the grassroots level. I hope you can fulfill it."

Surprise flashed across Xia Minghan's eyes.

From the moment Meng Jinxing entered the house, he felt extremely unbearable when he saw his father, who had always been aloof and condescending to him, showing off his old face to accompany him. Then when he saw that his father even did things like giving money in order to take care of him, he felt even more sad in his heart.

There was a moment of sadness.

If this was the lesson my father had learned from his political life, he would never need it!

"Uncle Xia, I don't need any care, and I'm not afraid of hardship. I just beg you to give me a chance to really exercise!"

After hearing this, Xia Minghan examined Meng Jinxing for a long time before saying, "Old leader, please go back. I know what happened to Xiao Meng."

After leaving the Xia family, Meng Jinxing remained silent.

Meng Qingping didn't feel bad about the money and goods he gave away, but he couldn't help but worry about such a stubborn son. He couldn't help but teach his son with his own insights: "Xiao Xing, dad doesn't want to be humble, but this is officialdom. If you want to go well,
Chapter completed!