The Legendary Story of Qian Ren (5)

  I didn't say a word, I didn't want to interrupt him, he was in the midst of his enthusiasm: "Mayor Yu, you're on top, but you don't understand the people below as well as I do. We village officials and township officials have to be able to use both hard and soft tactics, we have to be able to be big and small. ***To get back to the point, when it's time to be soft, you have to be soft, if you don't soften up, things will go wrong, they'll blow up. When it's time to be hard, you have to be hard, this is even more important than being soft at the right time, it's a matter of life and death. If you're supposed to be hard but you're still soft, that's no good, that's bad, that's finished. What's that? That's making a fool of yourself in front of everyone, if everyone knows you're a ***, then even if you try to be hard later, they won't be afraid of you. In our place, if nobody is afraid of you, it's no good! Why is it no good? It's because you can't get anything done, you can't accomplish anything. Slowly but surely, you yourself will become unable to be hard again, you'll never be able to be hard again. Finished! In our place, having power isn't enough, you also have to have prestige, only then can you control the situation. To have prestige, you have to stand up straight and be tough. You have to make them see that you're a real man who stands tall. As for all those people below, don't look at how they gather together and shout loudly, it's just a show of empty strength, useless. Mayor Yu, you don't know, among so many people, there are very few real men with guts. As long as you can control the few with guts, that's enough, that's settled. Mayor Yu, do you believe me?" I still didn't answer. But towards Pan Ren's actual strength and his views, I had some faith, they were indeed very suitable for our province's environment. I didn't speak because I knew that revealing my attitude too early in front of a subordinate like Pan Ren would make him think I was shallow and easy to fool. My other goal was to let him spill out more of what he had in his belly.

  "I know, Mayor Yu, you still don't trust me." Yes, my eyes were telling him that I still had many concerns and doubts, despite his clear words. I didn't even express the little trust I had already begun to have in him, I wanted to keep him guessing about this mayor in front of me, only by keeping him guessing would he think you are profound and unfathomable, only then would he slowly submit to you from the bottom of his heart, rather than speaking lies and saying what you want to hear, while hiding the truth.

  "You're still worried about our acid rain, or are you afraid that it can't be controlled?" He judged correctly, I am indeed worried about these things, because he said so many nice words but didn't say anything about controlling the acid rain.

  "Mayor Yu, you don't know that although our s-acid has some pollution, it's not a heavily polluted chemical product. It's just lightly polluted and doesn't affect the normal life of humans and animals. There are technical reports, expert opinions, and conclusions from scientific research institutions that prove this is only light pollution. We're already working on treating it.

  Mayor Yu, ordinary people don't understand that pollution treatment needs a process. You can't just blow it away like sugar water. Ha ha, you know what I mean?

  I must correct the mistakes in your thinking and expose the false hints in your words so you won't dare to deceive me again.

  Comrade Qianren, you need to understand who you're talking to and who you're reporting to. You should know that one-on-one work reports require being realistic and truthful. If there's even a bit of falsehood, my decision-making will be based on false facts, and everything will go wrong.

  I'll ask you first, what's the basis for saying s-acid products are not heavily polluted? Second, does the scientific research institution that did the testing have national certification? And third, what about the experts you invited? I want to review these materials personally.

  Comrade Qianren, think about it. As a government official for many years, I've seen all sorts of people and things. Why do I need to go to your town and visit the s-acid factory and the Fu River bank? The saying 'seeing is believing' really applies here.

  Why are there more and more people telling lies these days? If leaders are a bit careless, they'll be deceived. Okay, if you make decisions based on false reports, that's just asking for trouble. I've paid the price for this before.

  I dare say that if I invite another authoritative scientific research institution to retest our s-acid (I've learned your way of speaking, Qianren), the results might not be the same as before. Even technical issues that should have only one result can have multiple outcomes.

  You tell me, Comrade Qianren, are you willing to let another institution handle this?"

  Qianren didn't say anything else. He looked like he'd been hit in a vital spot and was no longer as confident as before. He just sat quietly on the sofa, listening intently to my words.