However, he didn’t resent Ryan Carter’s actions. Although he didn’t understand why his childhood friend had become somewhat utilitarian, Michael Thompson understood that if Ryan Carter hadn’t reminded him and instead used this opportunity to befriend that township chief Robert Howard, the benefits he could have gained would have been even greater. The reason Ryan Carter told him was probably because he didn’t want to see him get into trouble.

After a moment of silence, Michael Thompson calmly said, “Tonight, let’s go visit my uncle together.”

Ryan Carter shook his head and said to Michael Thompson, “No, you should go by yourself. I still have to go to Matthew Wright’s house tonight.”

Now it was Michael Thompson’s turn to be stunned. He looked at Ryan Carter in confusion, the puzzlement on his face obvious. Clearly, he was surprised that Ryan Carter would voluntarily give up such a good opportunity to get close to the township party secretary.

Ryan Carter chuckled and said calmly, “If I want to stand out, I don’t need to use you as a stepping stone.”

Feeling a lump in his throat, Michael Thompson didn’t say anything. He lowered his head and took a drink, then looked up at Ryan Carter and nodded heavily. “Don’t worry, I definitely won’t let you down.”

He understood that the reason Ryan Carter wasn’t stepping forward was to let him take all the credit. Being able to find out that Henry Owen had connections in Beijing was of great significance to Ethan Green’s plans. If this helped Ethan Green get re-elected, then his own status in his uncle Ethan Green’s eyes would go without saying. Ryan Carter giving him this credit was clearly paving the way for him.

Seeing his expression, Ryan Carter laughed, reached out and punched him on the shoulder, saying, “You brat, don’t think I’m just letting you have it. It’s only my first day at work, my foundation isn’t stable, so there’s no point in fighting for these things. Once you’re established, I can bask in your glory, can’t I?”

With that, he raised his glass and said, “Cheers!”

The two of them drained their glasses in one go...

Actually, there was one more thing Ryan Carter hadn’t said. If he didn’t try to curry favor with the future municipal party secretary in Beijing, was he supposed to curry favor with Ethan Green? Even if Ethan Green was the party secretary now, as long as he held on to the connection with William Owen, he could get in touch with Charles Grant. You had to know, Charles Grant was about to become the First Secretary of the Communist Youth League Central Committee, a real number one leader in the future. Although it was 2001 now, he had the knowledge of 2016. That alone was enough to put him ahead of everyone else.

In the afternoon, when he returned to the office, that Adam Reed really didn’t dare to order Ryan Carter around anymore. Instead, he tried to cozy up to Ryan Carter with a fawning attitude, clearly afraid that Ryan Carter would badmouth him in front of Michael Thompson. But Ryan Carter wasn’t in the mood to bother with him at all. Holding Charles Grant’s business card, Ryan Carter was thinking about what he should do next.

For Ryan Carter, being reborn only gave him a bit of foresight about major trends; it didn’t really give him any other advantages. As a homebody, aside from recognizing a few people who often appeared on TV and in the news, Ryan Carter didn’t know much about politics. In fact, if it weren’t for his parents’ constant nagging, he probably wouldn’t know anything about the affairs of his hometown either. As for things like financial trends, those were even further removed from his life.

Other than knowing that the houses near his home would start skyrocketing in price in 2007, Ryan Carter really knew nothing about other matters in his hometown. There was nothing he could do about it—after graduating from college in his previous life, he went to Beijing, and later moved around cities like Jiangkou in the south, so he had no understanding of what was happening at home.

Therefore, Ryan Carter’s primary goal at the moment was to establish himself in the township government office of Yanjiang Township.

Looking at the newspaper on his desk, Ryan Carter was a bit distracted. Although Michael Thompson would go see Ethan Green that evening and proactively bring up the relationship between Henry Owen and Charles Grant, Ryan Carter still felt uneasy. In fact, he didn’t know what exactly Robert Howard had relied on to bring down his rival Ethan Green and take the position of township party secretary. For Ryan Carter, he simply didn’t have enough information to analyze anything useful.

Unconsciously, Ryan Carter recalled the information Michael Thompson had given him about everyone in the general office.

Michael Thompson was Ethan Green’s nephew, so naturally he was on the same side as Ethan Green’s secretary David Thompson. Emily Allen, as the supervisor, was very close to the township chief Robert Howard, so she got along well with Robert Howard’s secretary Jason Wright. Anna Young was said to be connected to Deputy Township Chief Ma, and Old Brooks supposedly had connections in the district. These people were not ordinary. The remaining one, Old King, was said to be the brother-in-law of another deputy township chief, and then there was Adam Reed, who was also rumored to have connections.

Counting it up, he was the only one, a fresh graduate, without any backing. Although he was introduced by Matthew Wright, that guy was about to retire after the leadership reshuffle, so he couldn’t really count on him. As for Ethan Green, Ryan Carter hadn’t thought about relying on him yet. After all, he’d heard that Secretary Tian’s reputation during his tenure wasn’t exactly stellar.

The most important issue now was how to connect with Henry Owen as quickly as possible.