Chapter 918: Chapter 658: Director Yang, Can You Speak Human Language?_2
On this day, six armored cash transport vehicles entered the Lin’an Patrol Bureau. Yang Xiao personally handed out every portion of the money, and family members of those with serious injuries led the team members, who were smiling ear to ear while holding the cash-filled boxes, looking at Yang Xiao with eyes like they were gazing upon a deity.
The reported numbers of seriously and lightly injured were inflated to begin with. The extra money was divided among departments, with each member pocketing far more than 200,000.
It’s no secret that the Patrol Bureau’s funds were ample, but the ordinary member’s annual income was relatively limited, so this sum was a fortune for most. They all knew very well that it was Deputy Director Yang Xiao who had secured it for them.
After this event, Yang Xiao firmly established his footing in the Lin’an Patrol Bureau. Even the City Center Official Residence’s Qu Muzhi, and others from five other deputy-level official residences, including those where Wu Zhengwu and Wu Zhe worked, owed Yang Xiao a favor. After all, they too genuinely received benefits. That night, every Patrol Bureau member who had participated in the suppression of the rebellion received a compensation.
The various offices also unspokenly inflated their numbers, severely gouging Yiling Academy. After all, they assumed Yiling Academy wouldn’t dare to pursue the matter.
Indeed, as everyone had anticipated, Yiling Academy readily swallowed the loss, which was the price of wrongdoing.
After being promoted to Deputy Director, Yang Xiao further understood the perks of power. In the afternoon, Ms. Wen came to see him, informing him that as a deputy-level cadre he could enjoy housing and official vehicle benefits. She told him to report back after he had thought it over, and she would pass it on to Director Nalan to sign off on.
Just like that, without lifting a finger, Yang Xiao obtained the grand villa from Hengjiu Grand, and also bought an off-road vehicle worth over a million with public funds. When the car was delivered to the Patrol Bureau, Xi Menxiu immediately showed up with a thick face to borrow it, claiming that Yang Xiao wouldn’t be driving it for now. Since the new car needed breaking in, he offered to help with that for a month.
"Being an official is really great, no wonder so many people are desperate to climb the ranks..." Sitting in the co-driver’s seat with its thick leather upholstery, Yang Xiao experienced the various luxury features of the new car, and couldn’t help but sigh internally.
Gripping the steering wheel was naturally Xi Menxiu, now Yang Xiao’s driver and personal assistant, almost monopolizing the title of Yang Deputy Director’s number one lackey. Although not publicly acknowledged, when people needed to get things done through Yang Xiao, Xi Menxiu was the first they thought of.
"Director, you don’t know, now the brothers in the bureau all see you as an immortal. They’ve stopped worshipping the god of wealth, saying it’s too slow to bring in money. They worship you instead and have nicknamed you Yang Qingtian, saying one day you’ll ascend to the Provincial Office."
"You know me, I’m not interested in a career in government. I don’t care about officialdom. As long as I can serve the people, it’s all the same no matter where I am." Yang Xiao recited the standard answer with ease.
This directly stumped Xi Menxiu, who whispered a reminder, "Director, there’s no one else around, you can speak plainly."
Reaching for his thermos cup steeped with goji berries, he unscrewed the lid and took a sip, slowly exhaling, "Xi, I have to criticize you here. Your political awareness needs improvement, and first and foremost, your ideological and moral standing is lacking."
"As Director Nalan put it, ’Do not enter this door if you seek promotion and wealth; please go elsewhere if you fear death and are greedy for life.’ Our Patrol Bureau is the cornerstone of domestic stability. If everyone thought like you, what would become of our country, what about the people?" While speaking, Yang Xiao tapped on the dashboard in front of him with his fingers, trying to correct Xi Menxiu’s misguided thinking.
Xi Menxiu silently turned on the stereo, drowning out Yang Xiao’s lecture.
The Deputy Director’s work was indeed much more arduous than before; the greater the power, the greater the responsibility. As a new officer, Yang Xiao dared not slacken in the slightest. After approving a report in the afternoon, a phone call summoned him to Director Nalan’s office.
"Heard the news?" Nalan Shuo sat on the couch, lightly holding the lid of a teacup on the table, with steam rising immediately.
"What news?" Yang Xiao asked, puzzled.
"Next week, the Joint Action Bureau initiated by the three families will be established. The position of the Action Bureau’s commissioner is also to be decided by voting, with a total of 72 eligible voters, each representing a force," Nalan Shuo explained.
At the mention, it clicked for Yang Xiao. The Director had mentioned this to him before; it was a joint action initiated by the Patrol Defense Office, Apostles Union, and Chamber of Commerce.
In view of the increasingly complex domestic and international situation and the restless evil cultivator forces both within and beyond the borders, three longstanding powers decided to join forces to establish a united institution, chiefly composed of members from the three entities, to avoid numerous troubles.
The Director once openly expressed his hope to be the person in charge of this new institution in Rongcheng, that is, the Commissioner.
"Little Yang, your status is different now. You are the Deputy Director of the Lin’an Patrol Bureau, naturally ranking above Qu Muzhi. Moreover, I’ve already spoken with Huang Guozhao. Our Patrol Bureau’s core candidate for the election is you. Qu Muzhi will also enter the race, but just as a backup runner, to be prepared for any eventuality." Nalan Shuo looked at Yang Xiao, eyes full of expectation, "You should understand that our Patrol Bureau is determined to secure this position."
"I will do my utmost not to let you down!" Yang Xiao immediately stood up, making a serious commitment; he remembered all the good Nalan Shuo had done for him.
Waving his hand, signaling Yang Xiao to sit down, Nalan Shuo nodded, "Having ambition is good, but we need to plan this out thoroughly. Those who have voting rights are all no ordinary characters; they hold strong sway in Rongcheng, and the network behind them is very complex, with relations behind some of them even we can’t fully grasp."
"However, I have already notified Huang Guozhao and five other Patrol Bureau Directors. Everyone will mobilize all their connections to support you fully."
"How many votes are needed to win the election, and what are the rules?" Yang Xiao didn’t beat around the bush and went straight to the point.
"The rules are like this: the first round of voting requires more than two-thirds of the votes to win, but that’s difficult. Everyone is betting on the second round. If the first round isn’t successful, a second election will be held three days later. This time, if one can obtain more than half of the votes, it’s considered a success." Nalan Shuo spoke slowly, explaining the details.
After a moment of contemplation, Yang Xiao nodded and continued to inquire, "Have the candidates from the other two houses been announced? Any changes?"
"No big changes. Each house nominates two individuals, one main and one backup candidate. The main candidate for the United Federation is your old acquaintance, the Vice Director in charge of intelligence, Fu Qingzhu, and for the Chamber of Commerce, the main candidate is someone you’ve also met, the new Secretary-General Chi Dan."
"This election requires nominees to be of the younger generation. We old-timers are not eligible to compete. After all, we’ve been working within our respective powers for a lifetime. Once elected, there are inevitable biases in handling some matters. You, the younger ones, don’t have as many of these concerns."
After saying this, Nalan Shuo laughed. He understood that these were just for show, somewhat wishfully so.
However, compared to these old-timers, the younger generation indeed had much cleaner backgrounds, which was a sort of compromise.
"How many votes can we control at present?" Yang Xiao asked again.
"There are 17 people who have clearly stated their support, another 11 are likely inclined towards us but haven’t given a clear response, and there are 19 others who are still undecided," Nalan Shuo reported.
Yang Xiao silently calculated in his mind that there were a total of 72 voters, where two-thirds would be 48. Adding all these up was still not enough, making the first round of voting certain to fail.
What he aimed for was the second election, that is, 36 votes. Discounting the clear 17 votes he already had, he would need at least another 19 votes.
This meant that he needed to win over more than 20 people out of the remaining 30 unclear ones, leaving a margin of 2 or 3 votes to counter any risks.
This battle would not be easy to fight.
"Little Yang, extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures. We must play a dual strategy: on one hand, we’ll do whatever it takes to garner the support of these people, on the other hand..." Nalan Shuo pulled out a thick file bag from under the table, tossing it onto the surface; his tone turned much sterner, "We need to strike at our competitors, creating an unfavorable public opinion about them."
Upon hearing this, Yang Xiao’s eyebrows twitched. He had a good idea what was contained in the bag – it was bound to be dirt on Fu Qingzhu and Chi Dan.
He didn’t care about Chi Dan, but Fu Qingzhu was like a brother to him, someone he had been through life and death with; Fu Qingzhu had also not stopped helping him lately. Stabbing a brother in the back was not something Yang Xiao was capable of.
However, he intended to first look at the contents of the bag; if there was truly something lifethreatening, he would need to warn Fu Qingzhu to prepare in advance.
