Two years later, he returned to his position as Director of the Municipal Party Committee Inspection Office. After that, he successively served as Standing Committee Member and Organization Minister of the Yulong District Party Committee, Deputy District Chief, and Deputy Secretary of the District Party Committee. It was only this November that he was transferred to be the County Chief of Yongping County, and he has been in office for less than a month.

Every step of Henry Clark's rise has followed the Party's fastest procedures for promoting cadres. In just six or seven years, he went from an ordinary clerk to a department-level official, governing a region's people. Without a strong background, this would have been almost impossible.

William Bolton had a hunch that this Henry Clark would be a breakthrough point in his own life. Henry Clark's future was definitely not limited to just Yongping County; entering the municipal Party Committee compound was only a matter of time. Now, being sent down was clearly to gain more experience.

However, William Bolton knew that Yongping County was the largest county in Wude City and also the county with the most ethnic minorities. This place was poor, but it was easy to achieve political results, so the waters here ran deep. All kinds of forces converged here, and if Henry Clark wanted to make achievements in Yongping, he would have to focus on building his own team.

After mixing in the lower levels of Yongping's officialdom for two years, William Bolton was not very familiar with the county seat's situation, but he had heard some things. Most of the key county leaders had connections in the city. Originally, the position of county chief should have gone to Executive Deputy County Chief Brian Walker, but now Henry Clark had suddenly stepped in, so it was impossible for others not to have opinions.

It was said that Brian Walker was a protégé of Deputy Mayor Gao of the municipal Party Committee. Deputy Mayor Gao had previously served as Party Secretary of Yongping County, and at that time, Brian Walker was his capable subordinate. Brian Walker's position as Executive Deputy County Chief was also personally appointed by Deputy Mayor Gao.

Now that Henry Clark had arrived, how could Deputy Mayor Gao's faction possibly take this lying down?

Given such a complicated situation, if Henry Clark wanted to establish his own team, he would have to be cautious at every step. Meanwhile, William Bolton's current clean record also created opportunities for his own promotion.

However, what discouraged William Bolton was that his current position was too low—even township chiefs and township Party secretaries couldn't be bothered to look at him, so how could he possibly get close to Henry Clark? It seemed he could only take things one step at a time. What he needed to do now was to move forward steadily, accumulating bit by bit. Of course, the most important thing was to maintain a good relationship with his direct superiors.

Unknowingly, William Bolton had already been in the Youth Cadre Training Class for a month. The training lasted two months in total, but since he had missed some time earlier, his training would soon be over.

However, today, William Bolton did not attend the training. He had taken leave from the school and headed straight to the Xihu Hotel.

It was already the end of the year, and the county's economic work conference was about to be held. William Bolton called back to Liziping Township and learned that Township Chief Eric Brooks and Party Secretary Samuel Foster had already led their team to check in at the Xihu Hotel.

Chapter 0003 Visitors from the Township

Many people think that taking the initiative to talk to leaders is just currying favor and seeking credit. In fact, that's not the case. Getting close to leaders and aligning oneself with them is itself a sign of progress. People who don't know how to respect their leaders will never become leaders themselves. No leader will promote someone they can't protect—this is a very simple truth.

William Bolton clearly understood this principle. As soon as he learned that the secretary and township chief had arrived, he rushed to the Xihu Hotel at once. Liziping Township was very remote, and as a member of Liziping, of course he had to pay his respects to the leaders and help solve their problems.

At this time, the Xihu Hotel was already crowded. Leaders from all the townships and villages, as well as village Party branch secretaries, all had to attend this economic work conference, so the hotel was a bit noisy.

After a great deal of effort, William Bolton finally found where the Liziping Township officials were staying. It was clear that everyone had just arrived, and the doors were all open. In every room he entered, William Bolton would take the initiative to greet them. Most of these were village Party branch secretaries, and after working in Liziping for two years, William Bolton was very familiar with everyone. After making the rounds, a whole pack of Furongwang cigarettes was gone.

Eric Brooks and Samuel Foster's room was at the very end. When William Bolton arrived, the two of them were fiddling with the room's heater.

"Secretary Wan, Township Chief Hu, hello! I've been waiting for you to come. As soon as I heard from Secretary Liu in the office that you had arrived, I rushed over. Why didn't you give me a call?" William Bolton knocked on the door and said with a big smile. He knew the personalities of Eric Brooks and Samuel Foster—both were straightforward—so William Bolton didn't beat around the bush with them.

"Oh, Xiao Zhang, you're here? After a few days of study at the Party School, you've made great progress—your tongue is much sharper now!" Samuel Foster said with a laugh. He was already nearly 50 years old, with little room for further promotion, so he was always easygoing with his subordinates.

William Bolton chuckled and said, "Secretary Wan, what are you saying? The leaders have arrived, and if I don't come to the county seat to report on my work, that would be inexcusable. Liziping is remote, so I just wanted to see if there was any work you two needed to assign to me. I guarantee I'll get it done."