Chapter 33: The Township Mayor's Dinner Party

The disciplinary committee’s thorough investigation failed to uncover any evidence of Yang Delin’s embezzlement, which was enough to prove that Yang was not as unscrupulous as he appeared on the surface.

Yang Delin had worked in the civil affairs office for over a decade, consistently managing its daily operations. His experience was unmatched, and it was precisely this expertise that Qin Feng lacked the most at present.

If Qin Feng wanted to restore the nearly rebuilt team’s combat effectiveness swiftly, leveraging Yang Delin was both his greatest asset and remedy.

From the moment he took over as director of the civil affairs office, Qin Feng had been pondering this issue, which explained his patience with Yang Delin yesterday.

Yet, his forbearance did not win Yang’s favor. Instead, Yang’s retaliatory act last night, born of unbearable frustration, unexpectedly made him more “docile”—something Qin Feng had never anticipated.

Qin Feng reorganized the work assignments. While the specific tasks remained largely the same as yesterday, he roughly divided the civil affairs office’s business into two parts.

Yang Delin took charge of operations, while Lin Xiaoyan oversaw the financial affairs.

Though Yang Delin showed no outward gratitude or change in expression toward Qin Feng’s magnanimous “rehiring,” deep inside, he was genuinely moved.

A slap followed by a sweet reward—Qin Feng’s approach combined firmness with kindness, a tactic he had learned, no doubt, from the Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

For the next half month, Qin Feng and a few members of the civil affairs office practically lived in the office, eating and sleeping there as they meticulously reviewed and corrected all documents.

Qin Feng personally led visits to every village and household, gaining detailed understanding of their hardships and ensuring every penny allocated by the government was handed directly to the people.

He sincerely hoped that every citizen’s life would gradually improve—not just because it was his job, but because his heart truly yearned to help them. The people here had suffered far too much.

After nearly half a month of reform under Qin Feng’s guidance, the civil affairs office underwent a profound transformation. Every task returned to normal, functioning smoothly.

Two weeks later, the county civil affairs bureau director personally led a team to conduct a thorough inspection of the Bìshān civil affairs office’s work.

The results left the bureau leaders highly satisfied. Qin Feng received repeated praise in front of Wang Yunfei and Xu Guoli. Xu Guoli merely chuckled, but Wang Yunfei’s expression was notably grim.

That day, Qin Feng was sitting in his office when he unexpectedly received a call from Wang Yunfei.

“Hello, Director Wang,” Qin Feng greeted politely, fully aware of Wang’s previous actions against him, yet maintaining a respectful tone.

“Are you free tonight? Let’s have dinner together,” Wang Yunfei said bluntly, skipping any small talk and getting straight to the point.

Wang Yunfei inviting him to dinner? Qin Feng’s mind momentarily froze at the unexpected offer. After a few seconds, he quickly replied, “Sure, I’ll be there on time.”

“Bìshān Restaurant. Come right after work,” Wang Yunfei said before hanging up.

After putting down the phone, Qin Feng pondered for a long time, reviewing recent events in the township government and the civil affairs office’s work. He finally understood the reason behind Wang Yunfei’s initiative.

Although Wang Yunfei had placed obstacles in his path on several occasions, aside from issues related to Li Ji, there was no deep-seated personal animosity between Qin Feng and Wang Yunfei.

If this was an opportunity to slightly improve their relationship, Qin Feng was certainly willing to seize it.

Just as Qin Feng stepped out of the office into the courtyard, he saw Wang Yunfei’s car parked nearby. Wang’s driver respectfully approached Qin Feng and said, “Director Qin, please get in. Director Wang is already waiting for you at the restaurant.”

Qin Feng had not expected such a high level of courtesy from Wang Yunfei today. The driver was even waiting just to escort him over a few steps.

“All right, thank you,” Qin Feng replied, unwilling to embarrass Wang Yunfei. He got into the car and drove out of the courtyard in Wang’s official vehicle.

Unbeknownst to him, Hong Haifeng, descending from the building, happened to witness Qin Feng getting into Wang Yunfei’s car.