Chapter 4: Emergency Meeting

  The municipal party secretary personally ordered, and the working efficiency of the Wuzhou Municipal Party Committee's office was still unquestionable. Half an hour later, all 11 standing committee members of the Wuzhou Municipal Party Committee had gathered in a luxurious conference room at the People's Hospital. Sun Jianzhong, director of the Municipal People's Congress, and Tian Qingguang, chairman of the Municipal Political Consultative Conference, also attended the meeting.

  As for the agenda of this meeting, the big shots present also knew it in their hearts. The news that Lu Xiaodong had an accident had already been transmitted to these big shots through various channels. However, these people were all old oil slicks on the official scene, and although they clearly knew what was going on in their minds, no one explicitly mentioned it. In the conference room, everyone just chatted idly, waiting for Zhang Guojing's arrival.

  Zhang Guojing was sitting upright in the middle of the sofa in the director's office on the sixth floor, surrounded by a circle of hospital leaders and experts, but none of them dared to sit down. Director Qi Ronghui, an old expert with white hair, was standing and saying something to Zhang Guojing, with faintly visible beads of sweat on his forehead.

  The municipal party secretary personally came to the hospital, inquiring about the condition of a seriously injured incumbent member of the municipal party committee. This is the first time in the history of Wuzhou City's First People's Hospital that such a thing has happened. When Lu Xiaodong was sent to the hospital, several external experts were just getting off work and going home. Qi Ronghui made a phone call and gathered everyone together. Before they could even diagnose Lu Xiaodong, Zhang Guojing had already called them all here. Qi Ronghui didn't have any more authoritative diagnosis results in hand, so the report he gave to Zhang Guojing was just what Zhang Guojing already knew.

  After listening to Director Qi's report, Zhang Guojing did not immediately respond. He fell silent for a moment, looked at Director Qi and asked: "Comprehensively diagnosing the condition, how much confidence is there that Secretary Lu has escaped danger?"

  For this problem, Qi Ronghui was really unsure in his heart. In such a severe injury situation, there is always the possibility of death at any time, and it's really hard to quantify medically. But since the patient was a municipal committee member, he couldn't say that there was no hope for rescue treatment, so Qi Ronghui had to force himself to be optimistic:

  "The situation of Secretary-General Lu is very serious, we will definitely make our best efforts, I believe there is still a certain hope to escape danger."

  "Alright, everyone do their best." Zhang Guo Jing surprisingly remained calm and didn't say anything else to Principal Qi. He stood up and walked towards the door.

  Just as Zhang Guojing was about to leave, he suddenly stopped in his tracks and turned around to say to the room full of doctors: "I hope everyone will also speak the truth to Comrade Lu Xiaodong's family members, just like Director Qi did with me earlier." With that, he turned and walked out of the director's office, leaving behind a room full of bewildered doctors who were still trying to make sense of Zhang Guojing's parting words.

  "Creak——" With a creak of the door, Zhang Guojing walked in. The noisy standing committee members immediately shut their mouths and straightened up. Zhang Guojing paused for a moment, scanned the room with his eyes, and walked straight to the top seat, sitting down in the swivel chair.

  "Secretary Zhang, apart from Mayor Li and Secretary General, all 11 standing committee members at home have arrived. Director Sun and Chairman Tian are also here." Chen Weidong whispered to Zhang Guojing's ear.

  "Alright, everyone is here, let's start the meeting." This was Zhang Guojing's usual opening remark when presiding over a meeting.

  "Today's meeting will not be recorded, and no minutes will be issued. Please ask other staff members to step aside for a moment." Zhang Guojing continued. Chen Weidong and Huang Haiqiang quickly gathered their things and walked out, and Hu Dewen, the director of the Municipal Party Committee Office, and Yang Jun, the director of the Research Office, who were about to take notes, also left the meeting room.

  "Alright, now I'd like to make an announcement. Zhang Guojing picked up his teacup and took a sip before speaking slowly: "At 12:03 today, Comrade Lu Xiaodong, member of the Municipal Standing Committee and Secretary General of the Municipal Party Committee, was driving on the ring highway when he crashed into a guardrail and was seriously injured. He is currently being treated at this hospital. The cause of the accident is still unknown, and Director Guo of the Municipal Public Security Bureau is currently directing the investigation and evidence collection at the scene."

  Zhang Guojing paused, the conference room was so quiet that a pin dropping could be heard. He swept his gaze around the standing committee members present, some were bowing their heads in thought, others were scribbling on their notebooks, and others were rotating their tea cups. No one showed much surprise at the news he had just announced, it was clear that they all already knew about it. However, the formalities still needed to be followed.

  Zhang Guojing continued: "Comrade Lu Xiaodong is a provincial-level cadre, after receiving the report of the car accident, I have made a brief report to Secretary Zhao of the Provincial Party Committee at the first time. Next, we will also make a further report on the detailed situation to the Provincial Party Committee. This meeting is to determine the tone and how to report it to the Provincial Party Committee in detail. In addition, we need to study how to respond to the media interviews and reports that are about to overwhelm us."

  Zhang Guojing finished speaking, his eyes scanned the room and finally fell on Shi Xinguang, secretary of the Municipal Political and Legal Committee. He said calmly: "Secretary Shi, let's hear your opinion first."

  Shi Xinguang glanced at Zhang Guojing and didn't decline, opening his mouth to say: "The specific reason for Comrade Lu Xiaodong's car accident is currently under investigation, but the incident has already occurred. Covering it up will only make us more passive. I suggest that the municipal party committee immediately activate the emergency plan, hold a press conference and announce this news to society."

  Shi Xinguang and Lu Xiaodong are Zhang Guojing's two confidants in the Standing Committee. Now that Lu Xiaodong is in trouble, seeing Shi Xinguang say this, other members of the Standing Committee naturally think that this is Zhang Guojing's opinion. Anyway, the matter doesn't involve their own interests much, and they don't want to go against the secretary on this matter either. Immediately afterwards, Vice Mayor Hua Qing, Organization Department Head Li Senyao, Propaganda Department Head Peng Jinhai, and United Front Work Department Head Wu Pengzhen also expressed support for Shi Xinguang's opinion.

  Zhang Guojing spoke up at this time, "Ai Hua Secretary, talk about your views?"

  Zhang Guojing pointed out the name of Zhu Aihua, secretary of the Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection. He is a native-born cadre in Wucheng and has a deep understanding of the city's officialdom. In the circle of Wucheng officials, he has a group of trusted subordinates and is one of the main forces that often sing opposite tunes with Zhang Guojing.

  Zhu Aihua took a sip of tea and said, "A municipal committee member drove out by himself and got into such a serious car accident. This incident is a great loss to the image of our Wuzhou city. Before the cause of the accident is thoroughly investigated, I suggest that the municipal committee try to keep this matter under wraps as much as possible. The propaganda department should do some media work and try not to let it spread widely."

  As Zhu Aihua spoke, Zhang Guojing picked up his teacup and took a sip of water, slightly furrowing his brow. All this was seen by Pang Weilong, the deputy secretary of the municipal party committee, who sat to Zhang's left. He knew that Zhang's action meant he was not satisfied with the opinion expressed by the previous speaker. Pang felt a sense of tension in his heart: it seemed that Zhang Guojing really intended to not protect Lu Xiaodong and would take drastic measures on this matter.

  Pang Weilong was thinking this way in his heart, and Zhang Guojing happened to mention his name: "Secretary Pang, say something about your opinion."

  “Cough——” Pang Weilong cleared his throat, taking the opportunity to adjust his state, and continued: “I disagree with Ai Hua's opinion. The municipal party committee has an incident, which will definitely attract high attention from all parties. It is impossible to keep a secret hidden. Now we should make preparations in advance to respond to all aspects. I suggest that the municipal party committee immediately establish an emergency leadership group, report the investigation results to the provincial party committee at any time, and unify the response to inquiries from all parties. At the same time, seal up all items in Lu Xiaodong's office for investigation.” Pang Weilong was the former head of the Organization Department of Wugang Municipal Party Committee, and when Zhang Guojing was vice secretary, the two cooperated very well and were considered one of Zhang Guojing's iron-clad allies in the standing committee. When speaking, Pang Weilong did not forget to observe Zhang Guojing's expression, seeing that Zhang Guojing slightly nodded his head, he knew he had said the right thing.

  Pang Weilong had just finished speaking, when Zhang Guojing said: "Secretary Pang's opinion is very good. Just because Xiaodong comrade is a member of our team, we can't suppress this matter. Okay, everyone continue to speak and see if there are any other opinions."

  Mayor Li Ming is attending a meeting in Beijing, and both the municipal party secretary and deputy secretary have said so. Nobody else has any objections. Lu Xiaodong has always been a member of Zhang Guojing's faction, and he hasn't been on the Standing Committee for long, so he doesn't have much of a relationship with these other members. Today, naturally, not many people are going to put themselves in Lu Xiaodong's shoes and think things through from his perspective. These people are all thinking to themselves: "Lu Xiaodong is Zhang Guojing's man, you can go ahead and do whatever you want."

  The remaining time, the Standing Committee members were all practicing Tai Chi at a moderate pace. The tone of the meeting had been basically set, with Zhang Guojing reporting to the Provincial Party Committee and the Propaganda Department organizing a press conference to publicly announce the car accident involving Lu Xiaodong. The meeting had achieved the effect that Zhang Guojing had expected, just as he was about to declare the end of the meeting, there was a knock at the door, and Secretary Chen Weidong led Qi Ronghui into the meeting room.

  "Secretary Zhang, I'm sorry, I was wrong." Qi Ronghui was sweating profusely, muttering non-stop as soon as he entered the conference room.

  Zhang Guojing looked at Qi Ronghui with a slightly gloomy face, but didn't say anything.

  "We did our best, but the Secretary-General had a severe skull fracture and his injuries were too serious, we couldn't save him..." Qi Ronghui's voice was shaking as he spoke.

  Zi Ronghui's news was undoubtedly like a heavy bomb, and the dull conference room suddenly boiled over. The standing committee members present were very clear about what it meant for a city committee member to die in a car accident, and they couldn't help but whisper to each other.

  Zhang Guojing didn't say a word, his emotions were complex at this moment, and for a while, his brain seemed to be short-circuited. He stared fiercely at Qi Ronghui, as if he wanted to nail the old man to the wall with his eyes.

  Qī Róng Huī hung his head motionless, with beads of sweat dripping down his forehead one by one. At this moment, he was secretly cursing his bad luck. He was supposed to retire in just one more year, but who would have thought that such a thing would happen to him.

  The Standing Committee members who were whispering to each other seemed to have also sensed that something was amiss, and gradually stopped their murmurs, all looking up at Zhang Guojing with the conference room falling eerily silent.

  "You haven't gone out, have you?" Zhang Guojing finally broke the terrifying silence, thinking that Qi Ronghui and Chen Weidong shook their heads.

  "The meeting will continue next, discussing the funeral and aftermath of Secretary Lu's death." Zhang Guojing said in a slightly hoarse voice.