After Qi Tong Wei left, Gao Yu Liang pondered for a long time before picking up his phone and dialing Li Da Kang's number.
Upon receiving the call from Gao Yu Liang, Li Da Kang casually asked: "Secretary Gao, any instructions?"
Gao Yu Liang chuckled and said: "Instructions, I wouldn't dare. I just wanted to chat with you about something personal. Are you free?"
Li Da Kang was surprised: "Personal matters? Secretary Gao, I'm not sure what personal matters we could possibly discuss."
He could guess that Gao Yu Liang was calling to discuss personal matters likely due to the Standing Committee meeting earlier that morning.
As for the specific nature of the personal matters, Li Da Kang was genuinely unsure and didn't bother to guess. He simply asked directly.
Gao Yu Liang said: "Secretary Li, forgive my boldness, but I heard you divorced Ou Yang Jing a few days ago."
Li Da Kang replied calmly: "Secretary Gao seems to be well-informed. Are you planning to introduce me to someone?"
He wasn't surprised that Gao Yu Liang knew about his divorce. He had to report his divorce to the organization.
Changes in marital status were considered one of the major reporting matters. Any changes in marriage must be reported to the organization within one month.
Li Da Kang had reported to the organization on the day of his divorce. There was no need to hide such matters, just follow the regulations.
Moreover, he had hastily divorced specifically to sever ties with Ou Yang Jing and to report the change promptly.
Gao Yu Liang chuckled and said: "Secretary Li is truly a master strategist. You guessed right."
Li Da Kang was surprised: "That's news. Since when did Secretary Gao become a matchmaker?"
Gao Yu Liang said: "I dislike matchmaking, but this is an exception for you."
Li Da Kang smiled: "Secretary Gao, I appreciate your kind intention, but I haven't considered remarrying yet."
Gao Yu Liang didn't press further: "Alright, I'll speak about matchmaking again when you decide to get married someday."
With a few simple words, Gao Yu Liang had already gauged Li Da Kang's attitude by using matchmaking as a pretext.
Gao Yu Liang wasn't truly intending to play matchmaker for Li Da Kang, he was merely using it as an excuse to probe.
Li Da Kang knew that Gao Yu Liang was testing him, and his attitude was clear: he had no interest.
Intelligent individuals don't need to be explicit in their conversations, a subtle hint is sufficient.
...
When he returned home for lunch, Gao Yu Liang told his ex-wife, Wu Hui Fen, about his phone call with Li Da Kang.
He also recounted the key events that transpired at the Provincial Party Committee Standing Committee meeting that morning to Wu Hui Fen.
Though Gao Yu Liang and Wu Hui Fen had divorced long ago, they remained living together, pretending to be a loving couple in public.
Six years ago, Gao Yu Liang had registered his marriage with Gao Xiao Feng in Hong Kong, and Gao Xiao Feng also resided in Hong Kong.
Although divorced from Wu Hui Fen, Gao Yu Liang still confided in her about everything and trusted her deeply.
Trust between people has nothing to do with whether or not they are married. It is more about their subjective feelings for each other.
The reason Gao Yu Liang trusted Wu Hui Fen was partly because she had been a professor of history at Han Dong University and a Ming Dynasty expert before retirement. It so happened that Gao Yu Liang was fond of Ming Dynasty history and shared many common interests with her.
Wu Hui Fen said: "Li Da Kang helped you extricate yourself from the situation with Qi Tong Wei. Could he be deliberately creating a smokescreen, trying to make Sha Rui Jin mistakenly believe that the Han Da faction and the Secretary faction are collaborating?"
Gao Yu Liang shook his head: "What benefit would it bring him? If he genuinely wanted to join forces with me, that would be one thing. But creating a smokescreen would only attract pressure from Sha Rui Jin."
Wu Hui Fen thought for a moment and said: "Then could it be that he's trying to win over Qi Tong Wei?"
Gao Yu Liang shook his head again: "I chatted with Qi Tong Wei. It's evident that their relationship hasn't reached that point yet. If he were to defy Sha Rui Jin purely to win Qi Tong Wei over, it would be a losing proposition."
Wu Hui Fen said: "Didn't you say that Li Da Kang launched a verbal attack when Sha Rui Jin brought up the matter of the Jingzhou Municipal Party Committee organization minister? It seemed like Li Da Kang wasn't very afraid of Sha Rui Jin?"
Gao Yu Liang pondered and said: "That's what I can't understand. What does Li Da Kang rely on to dare to openly defy Sha Rui Jin at the Provincial Party Committee Standing Committee meeting?"
Wu Hui Fen couldn't figure it out either. So she changed the subject: "If Li Da Kang is willing to let you play matchmaker, you could introduce Yi Ke to him."
Gao Yu Liang rubbed his forehead: "Yi Ke is only 38 years old, and Li Da Kang is over fifty. Their age gap is too big. Would your sister and brother-in-law agree?"
Wu Hui Fen said with exasperation: "You and Gao Xiao Feng have a 27-year age gap. Why don't you think that's too big? Besides, there's the rumor of Sha Li pairing. Li Da Kang has more prospects than you."
Gao Yu Liang was instantly rendered speechless. Wu Hui Fen, however, was excited. The more she thought about it, the more she felt that Li Da Kang and her niece, Lu Yi Ke, would make a good match. She decided to talk to her sister, Wu Xin Yi, about it.
...
Li Da Kang was extremely busy. His daily schedule was packed. Besides the routine work at the Jingzhou Municipal Government, he also had to devote a lot of energy to the Guangming Peak project.
Although he had promoted Sun Lian Cheng to the position of commander-in-chief, the District Chief with his grand ambitions had been doing a pretty good job. However, it was a crucial time for the Guangming Peak project to yield results.
Therefore, Li Da Kang tried to set aside more time to visit the Guangming Peak project. His authority and decisiveness far surpassed Sun Lian Cheng, enabling him to resolve problems more effectively.
The only thing that made Li Da Kang feel a headache was the Shan Shui Group. According to the original plot, the Shan Shui Group would be investigated and shut down in a few months. Who would he find to take over then?
Li Da Kang didn't want the Guangming Peak project to become a fiasco due to the Shan Shui Group being investigated. The Dafeng Factory project was located in the heart of the Guangming Peak scenic area, highly visible.
If the Dafeng Factory project were to fail, it would become a glaring scar on the entire Guangming Peak project, with significant negative repercussions. That was not the outcome Li Da Kang wanted to see.
But finding someone to take over wasn't easy. First, they needed to be interested, second, they needed to have enough capabilities, and most importantly, Li Da Kang couldn't reveal the impending investigation of the Shan Shui Group at this point.
He decided to call Wang Da Lu. Li Da Kang took out his phone. He had been contemplating this matter for days, and now he finally made up his mind.
Wang Da Lu was the original owner's old colleague. Twenty-one years ago, the original owner was the county head of Jin Shan County, Wang Da Lu was the deputy county head, and the county Party secretary at the time was Yi Xue Xi.
To achieve poverty alleviation through road construction, the original owner's methods of raising funds were too forceful, resulting in a death. Yi Xue Xi and Wang Da Lu shielded the original owner by taking the blame.
As a result, Yi Xue Xi was transferred to the position of county head in Dao Kou County, and Wang Da Lu resigned from his position and went into business, establishing Da Lu Group. Unexpectedly, Wang Da Lu's business thrived, making him a wealthy man.
Of course, the original owner was also quite decent. He and Yi Xue Xi each pooled together 50,000 yuan as startup capital for Wang Da Lu. In those days, 50,000 yuan would have required them to spend all their savings.
Wang Da Lu was also a decent person. After his business took off, he offered Li Da Kang and Yi Xue Xi 25% shares each, but they both declined.
Li Da Kang dialed Wang Da Lu's number, but he didn't pick up. This was expected, as the original owner had hurt Wang Da Lu's feelings over the Guangming Peak project.
At the time, Wang Da Lu also wanted to participate in the development of the Guangming Peak project and called the original owner. However, the original owner thought Wang Da Lu was trying to use backdoor methods and directly refused, telling Wang Da Lu not to think about taking shortcuts.
So Li Da Kang dialed again. This time Wang Da Lu picked up the phone, but his tone was distant. Although he knew it was Li Da Kang calling, he only responded with a simple "喂" (Hello).
Li Da Kang knew that Wang Da Lu was harboring resentment, but he pretended not to know: "Da Lu, why wouldn't you even pick up my call?"
Wang Da Lu said sarcastically: "Secretary Li, didn't you tell me not to take shortcuts? I've cut off all the shortcuts."
Li Da Kang said: "Da Lu, maybe there are some misunderstandings between us. I might have hurt you unintentionally. Looking back at our time as colleagues in the same team, I hope you can understand me as much as possible. I just calculated that it's been 21 years since you resigned from Jin Shan. You haven't asked me for anything once, only with the Guangming Peak project..."
Wang Da Lu interrupted Li Da Kang, growing more agitated: "Secretary Li, the development of Guangming Peak was so unfair. I contacted you back then because I wanted a fair treatment, I wanted Ding Yi Zhen not to go overboard! Secretary Li, do you know what Ding Yi Zhen did behind your back? It turns out you hired the wrong person! The Guangming Peak project you oversaw wasn't bright at all! There was too much shady dealing, and we weren't given a fair market competition environment!"
Li Da Kang couldn't help but rub his forehead. People who are too strong are prone to arrogance and self-righteousness. The original owner had that flaw, and now that he had crossed over, Li Da Kang had to take the blame for it!
The issue wasn't too big. Wang Da Lu's emotional outburst meant that there was still hope for their friendship. All that was needed was to let him vent his emotions.
Wang Da Lu was the best person to take over the Dafeng Factory project under the Shan Shui Group, bar none.
...