Chapter 52: A Fierce Confrontation

Everyone working in the county government office is shrewd and astute; none of them are simple-minded. Now that Pang Zhifeng was holding a meeting and directly announcing the reassignment of Deputy Director Luo Yi's duties to Deputy Director Zhao, what did that imply? Everyone understood the subtext all too well.

Coupled with the recent personnel changes within the county government, it was obvious that Luo Yi was in trouble.

After the meeting adjourned, Li Xiuyuan was consumed by a whirlwind of thoughts. Although he had anticipated this outcome long ago, now that it had actually happened, it still left him no room for a buffer.

As soon as the general office meeting concluded and everyone returned to the General Affairs Section, Qu Hui called a small departmental meeting. The content of his speech was a repetitive echo of what Pang Zhifeng had said earlier, with virtually no original input of his own. However, right at the very end of the meeting, Qu Hui stated: "In our General Affairs Section, we do not feed idlers. I don't care whether you passed the civil service exam to get in or if you were transferred here; if you fail to meet the standards of our General Affairs Section, you had better submit your resignation letter and leave early.

"The same goes for the newcomers. We will give you time to adapt to the work, but you must integrate rapidly. Anyone who fails to adapt to the work or integrate into the environment of the General Affairs Section should leave the section as soon as possible, so as not to delay our work and make things difficult for yourself..."

As Qu Hui spoke, everyone turned to look at Li Xiuyuan, their gazes carrying a strange nuance. This was no longer just a veiled allusion to Li Xiuyuan; it was a direct finger-pointing, and they might as well have shouted out the three words "Li Xiuyuan" directly.

The general meeting had just announced the reassignment of Luo Yi's portfolio—implying Luo Yi was finished—and now, right on the heels of that, Qu Hui was targeting Li Xiuyuan so blatantly in this meeting.

Li Xiuyuan sighed inwardly. Qu Hui was being far too impatient; even if he wanted to settle scores, there was no need to rush like this.

Before Qu Hui could even finish his sentence, Li Xiuyuan stood up from his chair with a sharp snap.

"Section Chief Qu, you don't need to beat around the bush or use insinuations here. Newcomer this, newcomer that—why don't you just read out my ID number?"

Li Xiuyuan looked straight at Qu Hui, showing not the slightest intention of backing down.

In an instant, everyone in the General Affairs Section froze. Ever since Li Xiuyuan had started working here, the impression he always gave them was one of gentleness, modesty, courtesy, and restraint. He had a great personality, was resourceful, and wore a smiling face for everyone he met.

Never in their wildest dreams did they expect him to pull off a stunt like this—going head-to-head with his superior right to his face.

Such a thing had never happened, not just with Li Xiuyuan, but anywhere in the history of the General Affairs Section. To brazenly clash with a leader, confronting him directly in front of everyone.

The others stared at Li Xiuyuan with wide eyes, full of shock, and even Qu Hui, the person directly involved, was dumbfounded.

Li Xiuyuan, however, was far from dazed. Since he had already stood up, he was going to finish his piece: "I started working at the county government office on May 13th. Today is June 16th. In the entire month that I've been working here, you have assigned me twenty-three tasks. Ranging from repairing the printer to compiling the county's economic data, every single job you gave me was handled with a clear outcome, and every single request was answered.

"Now tell me, how on earth have I delayed the work or failed to adapt to the General Affairs Section..."

"Let me make it clear right here today, Section Chief Qu: aren't you just trying to edge me out? Fine! I'll wait for you to hand me my transfer notice, and right now I'm going to write a whistleblower letter... If the county authorities won't handle it, I'll go to the municipal authorities. If the municipal authorities won't handle it, I'll go straight to the provincial civil service recruitment bureau. I want to see if the civil service examinations organized by the Provincial Party Committee still count for anything! I applied for the county government office and passed fair and square through my own ability—how on earth did I become a thorn in your side, a thorn in Qu Hui's flesh..."

Li Xiuyuan's words were resolute and decisive, without a trace of hesitation. He was making it crystal clear that he intended to blow the matter wide open, completely tearing off any pretense of politeness and fighting tooth and nail for a life-or-death showdown.

Qu Hui was stunned, pointing a trembling finger at Li Xiuyuan.

"You... you, you..." Qu Hui couldn't squeeze out a single word for the longest time. He had never expected Li Xiuyuan to be this aggressive, directly ripping off the diplomatic facade and escalating the matter to such an extreme degree.

Generally speaking, once people entered the official system and secured their iron rice bowl, they tended to follow the rules relatively well. Those with nothing to lose feared nothing, but once people had something to wear on their feet, they naturally watched their step.

Most people would just swallow their grievances and endure. He genuinely had not anticipated that Li Xiuyuan would mount such a fierce counterattack.

He had zero experience in handling a situation like this.

"What 'you, you, you'? Section Chief Qu, ever since the first day I arrived, you've had it in for me, and I've put up with it. But you are going way too far now! Let me tell you straight: I'm not going to take your crap any longer. Isn't it just a job? If you can fire me, then fire me. If you can banish me down to some remote township, then do it. Otherwise, I'll haul a banner out and protest at the gates of the county government every single day.

"Let's see if you can be as utterly reckless as I am..."

Li Xiuyuan vented to his heart's content, and finally felt a surge of release deep down. Ever since his first day at the county government office, he had exercised patience in every possible way, only to be met with escalating, targeted harassment from Qu Hui.

He could understand Qu Hui's mindset to an extent—you could target him, and with Luo Yi in trouble, you could certainly kick a man while he was down.

However, you shouldn't be this impatient. In his past life, he had spent over a decade navigating the bureaucratic system, and he understood its operational ethos very well: everyone valued harmony and a facade of peace above all else.

You had to preserve a shred of decency. But now that Qu Hui hadn't left him an ounce of face, if he didn't rise up in fierce rebellion, he would be looked down upon for the rest of his life, even if he ever became a leader. People wouldn't respect him and would always assume he was a pushover.

"Lawless! Just you wait for this! Meeting adjourned."

With that, Qu Hui slammed the door behind him and stormed out. Li Xiuyuan knew he had gone to report to Pang Zhifeng, but he didn't care in the least; he was just waiting right here.

As soon as Qu Hui left, the others scattered back to their desks, keeping a wide berth and terrified that speaking another word to Li Xiuyuan might implicate them—especially Sister Zhang and the young married woman.

Notice how Huang Wei was watching the scene with a cold sneer on his face, practically itching to pull out a notebook to record who dared to interact with Li Xiuyuan from now on.

Though Li Xiuyuan felt thoroughly vindicated after venting his spleen, the consequences were bound to be severe.

If Qu Hui failed to purge Li Xiuyuan, his authority within the General Affairs Section would be completely shattered. His words would carry no more weight than hot air, and his prestige would be gone.

Old Zhu sighed inwardly. A couple of days ago, he had thought Li Xiuyuan was quite a promising young man, but looking at it now, someone had taken a winning hand and completely ruined it, destroying his own future in the process.

Li Boyang looked at Li Xiuyuan with a troubled expression, sighed, and said, "Xiuyuan, you were much too impulsive."

He wasn't afraid of associating with Li Xiuyuan, and his inner feelings at that moment were deeply conflicted. He and Qu Hui had always been at odds, but he had never possessed the courage to stand up to Qu Hui head-on.

Now that Li Xiuyuan had stepped up, regardless of the outcome—even if Li Xiuyuan ended up being driven out—Qu Hui would still have to exercise caution in how he handled things in the General Affairs Section from then on. After all, if a leader had subordinates openly confronting and cursing him to his face day after day, it proved that he was a failure as a leader.

Li Xiuyuan had essentially sacrificed his own career prospects to secure a certain level of standing for the rest of the staff in the General Affairs Section, particularly for him and Wang Zhitao. Normally, this was something to celebrate, but seeing Li Xiuyuan sacrifice his future so readily made Li Boyang feel a profound sense of injustice for him.