The meeting concluded.

Wu Qiangwei returned to the office with doubt, while Song Guanchao had already prepared the meal.

Seeing her expression, Song Guanchao asked, "Secretary, what's wrong?"

Wu Qiangwei picked up her chopsticks, her eyebrows still knitted together: "Gao Liangwei's appointment has been approved."

"Approved? That's a good thing."

Why still frowning?

Wu Qiangwei said, "It was unanimously approved."

"Unanimously?"

"Yes."

Wu Qiangwei said, "Secretary Chu recommended Gao Liangwei, and once Minister Su agreed, Mayor Zheng followed suit, then Secretary Lu."

This voting sequence seems off.

If the five votes from Wu Qiangwei's side had come first, with them following along, it wouldn't be a problem.

But with only two votes, Zheng Bihui and Secretary Lu immediately followed suit, which feels very peculiar.

"Are you worried, Secretary, that they've also contacted Director Gao?"

"Yes." Wu Qiangwei said, "I suspect that the person they're supporting has collided with the one I'm supporting."

The probability of this is very low.

But it's not impossible to say it doesn't exist.

"It should be unlikely."

Song Guanchao shook his head: "Governor Qu is very focused on this position, and even if appointments are made, they would consider transfer from elsewhere first."

"I haven't interacted much with Director Gao, but I gather that Director Gao doesn't seem like someone who would bet on both sides. If Mayor Zheng and his group had really contacted Director Gao, he would definitely refuse outright and inform me of the situation."

Wu Qiangwei said, "When you have time, contact Director Gao again, and ask indirectly."

"Okay."

This meal, Wu Qiangwei wasn't much in the mood for eating and stopped after a few bites.

"Secretary, have some more."

"Not hungry, you eat."

Seeing that he couldn't convince her, Song Guanchao stopped trying.

After finishing his meal, he looked at Wu Qiangwei's barely touched lunch box and asked, "Secretary, really not eating anymore?"

"Yes."

"Then I'll eat it."

He took it over and started eating heartily.

Wu Qiangwei's eyes showed anger, and she let out a faint, barely noticeable huff.

Song Guanchao pretended not to notice and continued eating.

After eating and drinking his fill, Song Guanchao wiped his mouth and cleaned up the leftovers.

"Secretary, I'm heading out."

Throwing away the lunch box, Song Guanchao stood in the corridor smoking, and called Gao Liangwei.

Zheng Bihui and Secretary Lu voting directly for Gao Liangwei was indeed unusual.

He couldn't shake the feeling that these two were secretly up to something big.

"Hello, Secretary Song."

"Director Gao, congratulations."

Gao Liangwei was a bit excited; he knew the standing committee meeting was happening today.

The meeting had ended, but no one had informed him until now.

This made him a bit uneasy, wondering if his appointment hadn't been approved.

Suddenly receiving congratulations from Song Guanchao, Gao Liangwei was so excited that he couldn't speak for a moment.

Song Guanchao said, "Your appointment will be announced soon."

"Thank you, thank you, Secretary Song."

"No need to thank me." Song Guanchao smiled and said, "By the way, Director Gao, there's something I'd like to ask you."

"Please go ahead, Secretary Song."

"Lately, besides me, has anyone else contacted you?"

"Someone else? No."

"Not a single one?"

"No."

"Have you received any phone calls?"

"None either."

Gao Liangwei was bewildered, not knowing what exactly he wanted to ask: "Secretary Song, what do you mean?"

Song Guanchao said, "Regarding today's vote for the Finance Bureau Director, it passed unanimously."

Unanimous?

Gao Liangwei was surprised and immediately understood why Song Guanchao had been questioning like that.

He suspected that Secretary Wu's opponents were also supporting him.

He immediately said, "After Director Bao retired, no one else contacted me apart from Secretary Song."

"Alright, I understand."

After hanging up, Song Guanchao was even more puzzled.

Qu Xiangru had clearly been eyeing this position for a while, yet didn't arrange anyone.

This is illogical.

If Qu Xiangru had placed someone, it's uncertain if Director Gao Liangwei would have gotten the position today.

Could Qu Xiangru have had a change of heart?

Or perhaps because she had been too active recently, attracting attention from the province who might have spoken to her?

So many questions, yet no one to provide answers.

...

In the Judicial Bureau, inside the Director's office.

Si Qingqing sat in her chair, looking in poor spirits.

She thought that after becoming Director, her future would be bright.

But unexpectedly, within just half a month, she was caught by Deputy Director Ding Lingyan.

However, Ding Lingyan didn't excessively threaten her over the incident, only took her to meet with Director Xu from the Finance Bureau to discuss transfer payments on the day of the incident.

Since then, Ding Lingyan hadn't broached the subject again.

But Si Qingqing knew that such a matter couldn't be dragged out indefinitely; within at most a month, she had to give a reply to Director Xu.

The matter of transfer payments wasn't a big deal for her.

The money was going to be used for transfer payments sooner or later, as long as the procedures were compliant.

Her real concern was Ding Lingyan using that video to continue forcing her to do other things.

This secret could give Ding Lingyan leverage over her for life.

But she didn't want to be manipulated and threatened by Ding Lingyan like this.

Yet she couldn't think of a good solution.

Initially, she thought of telling Chu Xiao'e, but they had had a falling out back then.

Her strong-willed nature kept her from reaching out.

But faced with this situation, she desperately needed someone to talk to.

So, she turned to a male college friend.

This male friend was a close confidant of hers; they were very close in college and continued their friendship post-graduation, sharing everything.

She confided in this male friend about the incident, seeking his comfort.

During this time, the male friend had been drinking with her to lift her spirits and offering her advice.

Just a few days ago, the male friend suddenly told her that through some technical means, he could trace back and find other videos from the USB drive's content.

If successful, he could delete all the videos.

So she gave the USB to her male friend.

However, instead of good news, bad news came knocking.

The day after her friend got the USB, when they met next, he shockingly used the content to threaten and blackmail her!

He demanded she pays two million, or he would spread the video.

She never thought that at her most vulnerable, the friend she thought she could trust would betray her!

Si Qingqing was furious but managed to contain herself.

She tried to stall for time, but her friend told her that if she didn't pay within a week, he would expose the video.

There were only three days left until the deadline.

And just now, she had received another text from him.

This time, he made an even more outrageous demand.

He wanted to sleep with her!

Si Qingqing pretended not to see the message.

Vrrr... Vrrr...

Her phone vibrated again.

It was another message from him.

She fought back disgust and opened it.

[Spend the night with me tonight, and I can give you a few more days.]

Si Qingqing still didn't reply.

She was shaking with rage.

She felt hopeless, like her life had plunged into darkness.

Staring blankly, she finally picked up her phone and found Chu Xiao'e's number.

After a long hesitation, she finally dialed it.

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