For Richard, this was also an unexpected pleasant surprise. Being able to plant a “nail” in the Party and Government Office was a good thing for him. Richard was also satisfied with William Harris’s response; he knew this young man was taking a gamble. Everyone could see his situation, and at such a time, for William Harris to openly side with him was truly rare. Richard also knew that after three years in the Party and Government Office, William Harris couldn’t possibly be unaware of the township’s situation. He thought to himself, this is really rare!

Looking at William Harris, Richard nodded. Of course, as for William Harris himself, Richard hadn’t truly accepted him as one of his own yet; whether he could integrate into his circle still needed to be observed.

William Harris also knew that he could only lean towards Richard for now, and whether he could gain his trust would depend on doing a few things to satisfy him. He already had a plan: the matter he discussed with Little James last night could serve as a gift for siding with Richard. If he really got something on Zheng Qian Dafu, he believed Richard wouldn’t let it go easily.

In the time that followed, the two didn’t talk about work anymore, but instead chatted about writing.

Richard was quite strong in writing, and since both of them came from a writing background, they quickly found a lot of common ground.

To win over William Harris, Richard didn’t put on any airs as a leader, which made William Harris feel even more favorable towards him. Although both had their own motives for using each other, Richard’s methods were indeed impressive. Seeing this attitude, William Harris felt that siding with Richard wasn’t a bad choice.

William Harris was also acting out of expediency. His current thinking was to grab hold of any opportunity first; after all, he had no roots, and being able to latch onto this obviously promising deputy township head was pretty good. Life is all about taking a gamble—maybe he’d actually win.

Looking again at Richard’s official aura, even though it was in the mirror, it was still very clear. His official aura was now basically a kind of pink, of course, just a faint color that had just shifted from white to red.

Thinking of what he’d read in books about being shrouded in purple aura, he figured that was something only extraordinary people could have. He’d have to see in the future if such a thing ever appeared.

Today’s events came as a bit of a surprise to William Harris. He had never thought he’d end up siding with Richard, and he believed there were many in the township who thought the same. After all, there was no way Richard could become Party Secretary—there was still a Deputy Secretary ahead of him, and he’d always kept a low profile, appearing rather weak. Siding with someone like that seemed to have no future, unless the situation in the township changed dramatically.

Usually, when people gossiped in private, they all thought Richard didn’t have as much real power as David Carter. Even if David Carter got promoted, it wouldn’t be Richard’s turn.

Calling it a work inspection was really more like going around for fun. There were quite a few enterprises in Huan Cheng Township, and most were doing pretty well. Although Richard was only a deputy township head, these enterprises still received him with good wine and cigarettes. After Richard and William Harris held discussions at several companies, they received a lot of company materials—and, of course, a few packs of cigarettes.

With so much material in hand, William Harris knew all of it was his responsibility.

In the past, William Harris might have just written something perfunctory to get by, but now things were different. Since he had chosen to side with Richard, he had to put together a serious, substantial article.

“Township head, don’t worry. After I take these materials back, I’ll write a good article,” William Harris assured Richard after getting out of the car.

Nodding, Richard said to William Harris, “I trust you with this. It’s fine, take your time writing it.”

Seeing Richard head to Ryan Reed’s office to report on work, William Harris sighed to himself. Don’t be fooled by Richard’s consistently low profile—if he really got something on his opponent, he probably wouldn’t be slow to strike.

Looking again at the three packs of good cigarettes in his hand, William Harris thought, looks like I can save on cigarette money this month!

Main Text Chapter 8: Something Big Is About to Happen

After returning to the office, William Harris gave David Carter a detailed report on the situation with Richard at each company. There was no need to hide any of this, and William Harris was always careful to report both big and small matters. Since the leader had assigned the task, not reporting back would be his own fault.

“Xiao Wang, the research report with the deputy township head is up to you. Secretary Reed has given instructions—this time the county wants a comprehensive survey of all the county’s enterprises, mainly focusing on the progress of reemployment work. You should write with this direction in mind,” David Carter said, glancing at William Harris’s materials.

So it turned out Richard’s task was also assigned by Secretary Reed. No wonder he came to the Party and Government Office to ask for someone! William Harris replied earnestly, “Don’t worry, Director. After I finish writing, I’ll give it to you for review first. Once it passes, I’ll send it to the deputy township head.”