Chapter 146: Chapter 117 Wind Rises in Xing City
October 17, morning.
The Inspection Bureau of Xing City officially passed an appointnt:
Appointing Inspector Li Lei of the Inspection Bureau as Deputy Supervisory Director, concurrently serving as the Captain of the First Squad!
Gu Zhenhui wasn’t boasting; he truly made it happen.
At the end of September, taking advantage of the Tiger Saber Gang’s preoccupation with their own troubles, he nominated Li Lei for the position of Deputy Supervisory Director and forcefully pushed through the approval.
Afterward, he sent the approval results to Datong Prefecture, waiting for the higher-level approval.
...
Then on October 9, Datong Prefecture responded—the approval was not passed.
This was an expected outco.
Therefore, Gu Zhenhui began his second maneuver, allowing Li Lei to be promoted without an increase in rank.
Under normal circumstances, such a decision by him would never be passed by the Governance Hall’s approval, even though he was the Chief; he couldn’t make unilateral decisions on many issues.
But now, those aligned with the Chief overwhelmingly held sway, and the majority of officials did not want to oppose Gu Zhenhui at this juncture, so the decision was ultimately passed.
On October 17, Li Lei was officially promoted to Deputy Supervisory Director of the Inspection Bureau while also serving as the Captain of the First Squad, a promotion without an increase in rank.
“Congratulations!”
“Congratulations to Captain Li, no, now we should call him Deputy Supervisory Director.”
“Old Li, making it big ans you can’t forget us old brothers.”
“Old Li, from now on, your brothers are counting on you.”
“…”
Inside the Inspection Bureau, after the official appointnt, a crowd ca to congratulate Li Lei.
Li Lei greeted these people with a smile, frenetically busy.
When he was initially promoted to Captain of the First Squad, very few ca to congratulate him, because everyone knew that Wu Yihua was about to beco the Inspector General, so not many people were optimistic that Li Lei could rival Wu Yihua, and many thought that Li Lei wouldn’t be able to hold the position of Captain of the First Squad for long before being ousted by Wu Yihua.
In fact, subsequent events unfolded just as most people had anticipated; Li Lei, with his shallow roots as the Captain of the First Squad, found it too easy for Wu Yihua to sideline him. Within a short month, Li Lei had struggled to make any moves within the Inspection Bureau.
However, Li Lei never ntioned any of this to his family.
The turning point ca in last month’s operation, where Li Lei led the First Squad in a tough confrontation against the City Guard Army and the Tiger Saber Gang, winning the hearts of the people!
With this incident, he truly solidified his footing within the First Squad and had the capital to contend with Wu Yihua.
Now that he had been promoted to Deputy Supervisory Director, even if it was just a promotion without a rank increase, it was enough for him to establish a banner within the Inspection Bureau—his own banner, Li Lei’s banner!
Now, within the Inspection Bureau, it was no longer just Wu Yihua ruling the roost; many who disapproved of the Tiger Saber Gang and Wu Yihua chose to side with Li Lei.
So those who ca to congratulate Li Lei at this mont were essentially paying their respects to the new power.
In another office on the sa floor, Wu Yihua sat on the couch with a gloomy expression.
The busier Li Lei’s side was, the more ridiculous it made him, the Inspector General, look.
“Sir, are we just going to watch Li Lei be so arrogant? Aren’t we going to do sothing?”
A close aide said to Wu Yihua.
Wu Yihua shook his head, recalling the phone call he received last night, a grim smile appeared on his face:
“Not in a hurry, let him enjoy a brief mont of pride. It could be his last pride in this lifeti!”
…
Busy until the afternoon, Li Lei finally managed to respond to everyone who ca to congratulate him.
He sat in his newly moved-into office, resting for a while before picking up the phone on the desk and dialing a number.
A few minutes later, soone knocked on the door of his office.
“Co in,”
said Li Lei.
A man walked in through the door; it was none other than Lu Sheng, the forr Captain of the First Squad of the Inspection Bureau.
This once spirited Captain now had slightly grizzled temples and looked at least ten years older than before!
During the campaign to encircle and suppress the Calming Sect in the mountains, a significant error occurred. Although in the end, they recovered the lost firearms and captured over a hundred believers of the Calming Sect,
soone had to be blad for the mishap.
The outco was that Inspector General Huang Weiguang took early retirent, and Lu Sheng, the bright and promising Captain of the First Squad, was demoted to an ordinary official, completely removed from the frontline, destined to hold a clerical role from then on.
With his only son dead and himself demoted to an official without any future prospects, the blow was simply too much for Lu Sheng!
That was why in just a few months, he aged almost a decade, no longer exhibiting any signs of his past vigor.
“Deputy Supervisory Director, you wanted to see ?”
After entering the office, Lu Sheng stood with a slight bow, looking sowhat restrained as he addressed Li Lei.
“Here, have a seat and let’s talk,”
Li Lei sighed inwardly and motioned for Lu Sheng to sit on the office’s couch.
Then Li Lei stood up and walked over, sitting next to Lu Sheng, offering him a cigarette:
“Want one?”
Lu Sheng was taken aback and hurriedly waved his hand:
“Thank you, Deputy Supervisory Director, but I’ve quit smoking, I’m afraid.”
He bowed his head and bent over again.
“Old Lu, don’t be like that!”
Li Lei grabbed Lu Sheng’s shoulder, “I, Li Lei, am not one to forget my roots. I rember the favor you did for in the past.”
Upon hearing this, Lu Sheng paused, looked up at Li Lei, and after a mont of eye contact, he gave a bitter smile:
“What’s the use of saying these things now?”
“Are you content to let it end like this? To waste your life away?”
Li Lei looked directly at Lu Sheng, his voice firm.
Lu Sheng’s eyes dimd: “If not like this, then what? I’ve lost my son; no matter how high I climb, or how much money I make in this life, what’s the point?”
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