Henry Scott was silent for a long time before she slowly said, “If your analysis is all accurate, then the U.S. market and the international market will both undergo earth-shaking changes, and the prices of crude oil and gold will be severely impacted. But son, you... sigh...” She finally let out a sigh, clearly feeling that Ethan Taylor’s analysis was too far-fetched, and deep down, she vaguely felt that her son really wasn’t cut out for politics.

Ethan Taylor also felt a bit regretful after speaking, and quickly tried to smooth things over with a laugh: “Of course, all of this is just my wild speculation, don’t take it seriously, and definitely don’t tell anyone else!”

Henry Scott laughed: “What’s wrong? Afraid people will laugh at you if it gets out? Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone! But son, you need to have confidence. No matter whether others believe you or not, Mom believes you!”

A warmth filled Ethan Taylor’s heart. He nodded gently, chatted with her a bit more, and then finally put down the phone.

……

In the spacious county government conference room, two or three dozen people sat densely around a round table. The expanded meeting of the Yanxian County Party Committee was underway, with county party committee members, party secretaries of each town, and town mayors in attendance.

Ethan Taylor sat in a corner by the window, next to the perpetually gloomy-faced David Harris. Ethan Taylor looked at the central government’s official document in his hand, “Outline of the Eighth Five-Year Plan for Economic System Reform and the Ten-Year Plan,” listening to the heated debates around him, his heart weighed down.

Before the meeting, County Mayor James Carter had sought out Ethan Taylor for a private talk. At the time, he was beaming as he held this official document issued by the central government, instructing Ethan Taylor to carefully grasp the spirit of the document. Ethan Taylor immediately understood that James Carter intended to use this expanded meeting to study the central spirit as an opportunity to challenge Ryan Scott and weaken the influence of conservative thinking.

Sure enough, not long after the meeting began, the atmosphere was already tense. The propaganda minister was the first to strike, arguing that Yanxian County’s reforms had stalled and were clearly out of step with the central government’s spirit, which was inseparable from the failures of the party committee’s work. As for who should be responsible for the party committee’s shortcomings, that was self-evident.

Currently, it was James Carter speaking. He passionately enumerated the achievements Yanxian County had made since the start of reform and opening up, the improvement in people’s living standards, and finally moved on to the obstacles now facing reform in Yanxian County. The more he spoke, the more agitated he became, waving his arms and saying, “Comrades! When the General Secretary recently inspected Shanghai’s Pudong, he made an important speech: the people of Shanghai should further emancipate their minds, be bolder, and move faster! But looking at our Yanxian, not only have we failed to deepen reform, but there’s even a trend of gradually regressing. Comrades, I am deeply pained! As county mayor, I admit my work has had shortcomings, and I offer my self-criticism here!”

The conference room was dead silent, the atmosphere extremely heavy. At this moment, the expressionless Ryan Scott slowly moved the microphone to his mouth, coughed lightly, and suddenly laughed: “What’s this? You little rascal want to rebel against me? Let me tell you, kid! There’s nothing I fear, except being overthrown!”

“Pfft!” The tea in Ethan Taylor’s mouth sprayed all over the table. He never dreamed that Ryan Scott would blurt out something like that. After all, he was the county party secretary—such blunt words might be fine in private, but to say them at an expanded party committee meeting... that was truly shocking.

“James comrade, what you said makes sense, but I’d like to ask you: how do you plan to deepen reform, how do you ensure the fundamental interests of the majority of the people won’t be harmed? How do you determine that the path you’re taking is correct? How do you make sure our Yanxian County won’t be peacefully subverted? Were the comrades in Eastern Europe not as smart as you, James Carter, when they carried out reforms?” Ryan Scott’s booming voice was exceptionally loud. As soon as he spoke, the county committee members who had been whispering all fell silent and sat up straight. It was clear he commanded great authority—many leaders could even be described as fearful of him.

James Carter was left speechless by Ryan Scott’s questions, looking around in confusion. Those “comrades-in-arms” who had been so confident before the meeting now all sat upright, and not a single one stood up to support him.

“Comrades, I am also deeply pained!” Ryan Scott waved his large hand. “What pains me is that some people, when they have opinions, don’t go through proper channels, disregard organizational principles, form cliques, stir up trouble in meetings, and seem to wish for chaos!” The more Ryan Scott spoke, the angrier he became. Suddenly, he slammed the table hard: “Damn it! If it were my soldiers back in the day, I’d have shot him already!” The teacups on the table clattered, and everyone in the room was silent as a grave.

“Mr. Scott, I’d like to say a few words.” Just as Ryan Scott was fuming, Ethan Taylor raised his hand. But Ryan Scott ignored him and continued speaking: “I very much agree with the spirit of the Party’s documents, but as for how to carry out this reform, we must be cautious! Eastern Europe is a lesson for us!”

Ethan Taylor frowned, picked up the microphone near him, and accidentally pointed the mic at the speaker, causing a sharp, prolonged screech. Everyone in the room was startled and looked at him, and even Ryan Scott was a bit taken aback.