Official Career Storm

Chapter 1530 1430

Both face and inner subtleties were given by Xu Guofeng.

His approach was almost perfect, leaving no room for criticism from anyone.

The most important thing is that his attitude was excellent, which is crucial.

Song Guanchao nodded and raised his tea cup, drinking it all in one go.

"Next time Mayor Xu comes to Jiangzhou, let me know. I will make sure to give you a proper reception."

"Certainly."

Both smiled, and the atmosphere was amicable.

Song Guanchao no longer lingered and stood up to bid farewell.

Jiang Wangshan and Lin Wanqiu also followed suit and left.

After they left, Xu Guofeng called to notify the ambulance.

During the wait, Xu Guofeng glanced subtly at Xu Chengcheng.

He held his legs, keeping his head down.

Although his face couldn't be seen, Xu Guofeng knew him well enough to understand how angry he was now, surely thinking about how to retaliate against Song Guanchao.

"You don't understand why Lu Zhizhong would risk using his connections to protect Song Guanchao, do you?"

Xu Chengcheng didn't respond, as if pretending not to hear.

Xu Guofeng said, "It's simple, because the person stepping in this time has no direct relation to Lu Zhizhong."

Xu Chengcheng raised his head, eyes full of puzzlement: "Who is it then?"

Xu Guofeng said, "It's Song Guanchao."

Xu Chengcheng understood even less.

Xu Guofeng: "Yesterday, Minister Tang of the Ministry of Public Security, two retired committee members, and several current members called my grandfather."

Xu Chengcheng's pupils contracted. He only knew that Xu Guofeng was under pressure to let Song Guanchao go.

He hadn't imagined that the pressure was so immense!

The people mentioned, any one of them stepping in, the Xu family would have to concede.

Let alone so many...

Never mind that Xu family now can't compare to these bigwigs, even when grandfather was still in position, he wouldn't stand against so many bigwigs at once.

"You just mentioned Song Guanchao? What do you mean?"

"Literally," Xu Guofeng said. "Think with your brain. If you were Lu Zhizhong, would you use your connections for a minor deputy-director level cadre?"

Xu Chengcheng stood frozen.

Indeed, even if it were him, no matter how good his relationship with Song Guanchao was, he wouldn't exhaust so many connections for a subordinate.

Accumulating connections is difficult, and asking someone to intervene is a personal favor each time.

No matter if Song Guanchao were his illegitimate child, he wouldn't do it.

Unless these people aren't Lu Zhizhong's connections at all but Song Guanchao's backing.

They are coming forward for Song Guanchao!

Only this way does it make sense.

"How... how is this possible?" He was unwilling to believe, incapable of accepting.

This shattered his understanding.

"Nothing is impossible."

"Then, what is his true identity?"

Xu Guofeng shook his head: "I'm not clear; grandfather didn't say."

"But with so many bigwigs standing up for him, his specific identity is already insignificant. What's important is, if there's a next time, no one will shield you."

Leaving these words, Xu Guofeng stood up and left the room.

Xu Chengcheng sat on the ground, eyes hollow.

This information was even more shocking, harder to accept than having his legs broken.

...

Evening.

In a private room of the restaurant, Song Guanchao specially hosted a banquet for Li He and others.

At this moment, everyone gathered around a table, and Song Guanchao raised a small two-ounce cup of wine, offering a toast to everyone: "I appreciate everyone's intentions, and I drink this cup in your honor."

No one dared to act pretentious; everyone stood up with their glasses.

After a few drinks, they gradually relaxed.

Li He said, "That Xu Chengcheng, turned out to be Mayor Xu's brother."

Chen Haoran seemed puzzled: "How come I haven't heard of this?"

His father is also a deputy mayor in Beijing, and he's quite familiar with the other deputy mayors.

Yet, he really hadn't heard that Xu Guofeng had a brother.

Just then, Tang Xiaomi suddenly chuckled softly: "Of course, you've never heard of it."

They looked at her: "Why? Isn't he just a second generation official? His identity surely can't be confidential?"

Jiang Wangshan suddenly said: "His household registration isn't in Beijing."

"Ah?" Everyone was surprised and then thought of something: "Did he emigrate?"

Having just said it, they immediately denied themselves: "That wouldn't make sense; he's usually in the country."

Jiang Wangshan shook his head, looking at Tang Xiaomi, whose earlier words clearly showed she knew something.

Tang Xiaomi originally wanted to keep them in suspense, but seeing Song Guanchao seemed uninterested, she feigned mystery to pique his interest: "I just heard from my grandfather that this matter is a little secret. I'll tell you, but you absolutely cannot reveal it to others."

Sure enough, her words instantly raised everyone's curiosity.

Song Guanchao also looked over.

"We promise we won't tell!"

"Just tell us, what's the secret?"

They urged.

Tang Xiaomi lowered her voice intentionally, creating a mysterious vibe: "Xu Chengcheng isn't Xu Guofeng's biological brother."

"Ah?" Everyone looked puzzled.

In a short time, they couldn't grasp the exact meaning of her words.

After a few seconds, Li He asked, "Cousin?"

Tang Xiaomi shook her head: "Not that either."

"Second cousin?"

"You fool, how could a second cousin be surnamed Xu."

"Then what is it?"

"Xiaomi, stop keeping us in suspense, just say it."

Tang Xiaomi smugly kept them dangling for a while before saying: "He's an illegitimate child of the Xu family."

The dining table instantly fell silent.

This piece of news was indeed more explosive!

However, they're all from influential families, so they've seen this kind of thing often.

After a brief surprise, they quickly started discussing it.

"An illegitimate child so arrogant?"

"Is he Xu Guofeng's father's illegitimate child?"

"So, it's half-brother then."

"Wow, an illegitimate child not staying abroad, but at least he should keep a low profile, right? Being this high-profile, isn't he afraid the Xu family won't care for him?"

Song Guanchao was also puzzled when illegitimate children could be so overtly arrogant?

Tang Xiaomi said, "Although he is an illegitimate child, he was raised by Mr. Xu since childhood, so they have quite a deep bond. Thus, even though he's an illegitimate child, he's not much different from the legitimate ones. But he's strictly forbidden from going into politics."

Song Guanchao asked: "What's Mr. Xu's personality like?"

Tang Xiaomi said: "Reportedly he's a man of his word; if he says Xu Chengcheng can't enter politics, he absolutely won't permit it. If Xu Chengcheng's bribing officials and colluding to embezzle state assets reaches Mr. Xu's ears, he basically has no choice but to settle abroad forever, no second option."

Song Guanchao nodded; he had not interacted with Mr. Xu.

However, if this is the way they handle it, that's fine.

At least, it won't cause any major rifts with the Xu family over one illegitimate child.

It's better to resolve enmity than deepen it, and he focuses on issues, not people.

He wants to deal with Xu Chengcheng but still maintains a good impression of Xu Guofeng.

...

Meanwhile, in another restaurant, Xu Guofeng was privately hosting Governor Li.

Both drank with restraint, and when slightly tipsy, Governor Li asked the question that had puzzled him all day: "Mayor Xu, who's really backing Governor Lu?"