Du Yuesheng was truly in pain, feeling as if Liu Zhizhong had a tight grip on his balls, rendering him unable to move.

But he still put on a tough front, feigning composure, "Liu Zhizhong, you've got guts, but you should consider the severe consequences of your actions."

"I don't need to consider anything! It's you who should consider whether you want to keep acting all high and mighty as the Mayor or obediently listen to me like a good little dog and do as I say."

Du Yuesheng's face grew increasingly ugly. He clenched his teeth, clenched them again, then slammed a fist hard onto the coffee table, finally unable to hold it in anymore.

"You tell me, what exactly do you want? But you'd better not go too far!"

He knew he had no chance of turning the tables.

With gleeful satisfaction, Liu Zhizhong stowed away his phone, "Ah, that's more like it, Secretary Du, a wise man knows when to yield. Officialdom is all about transactions; as long as there's a deal to be made, we can all talk, can't we? I won't be excessive, right?"

Motherfucker, this feeling is so damn good!

To have the big shot of Yangzhou, the representative of the almighty Zhang Family, firmly in his grip, it was absolutely thrilling!

Du Yuesheng, grinding his teeth, grunted affirmatively, already feeling like a piece of meat on the chopping block with Liu Zhizhong ready to slice him as he pleased.

Liu Zhizhong offered him a cigarette, but Du Yuesheng declined. Still putting on airs, it signified his discontent.

Liu Zhizheng offered again, and this time Du Yuesheng reluctantly accepted and lit it up.

Liu Zhizhong lit one for himself too and slowly exhaled a few puffs of smoke, reveling in the feeling.

He said, "First, Luo Yanling is a good subordinate of mine, like a sister, and I won't allow you or Zhang Hongyang to bully her. Can you manage that?"

"I..." Du Yuesheng felt a pang of loss, the little lamb he almost had was slipping away? That temptress, he had been longing for her for years, ah...

With the feeling of painful sacrifice, he could only agree, "Alright, we can do that. But, haha, don't talk about brother-sister relationships. Are you two having an affair?"

"There's nothing like that," Liu Zhizhong replied seriously, telling the truth.

"Haha, who would believe that?"

"Whether you believe it or not, it doesn't matter," Liu Zhizhong remained seriously earnest and continued, "To dwell on this is pointless for you now. Second, Luo Yanling's job placement can no longer be to take my position, understand?"

Du Yuesheng internally agonized over the fact that Liu Zhizhong was meddling in personnel affairs.

He simply nodded, "Alright, how do you want to place her?"

"Send her down to the Archives Bureau of Jiangdong District as Director. There's a vacancy there."

Liu Zhizhong had his reasons for this arrangement.

The villa area where he and Luo Yanling lived, though separated into two parts, north and south, was only a five-minute walk for Luo Yanling to the Archives Bureau. How convenient, right? Taking care of a woman is all about these little details, hehe...

Du Yuesheng thought about it, "Alright, no problem. Is that all?"

Liu Zhizhong laughed, "Secretary Du, how could it be just that? We haven't even started talking about my demands!"

Du Yuesheng smirked bitterly and nodded, "Yeah, you scoundrel, you're really heartless. Tell me, what are your demands?"

"My wife shouldn't work in the county anymore; it's better to transfer back to the urban area. I think the second deputy district chief of Jiangdong District is suitable for her, what do you think?"

"Uh..." Mentioning this got Du Yuesheng's head spinning, he gritted his teeth and said, "That position is reserved for my daughter, Du Man. Does your wife intend to compete for it?"

"I don't care about your daughter. I only care about my wife. She might not compete, but I want to, for her. Is that a problem? Your daughter, Du Man, is currently the third deputy district chief of Jiangdong District and she's just 28, right? So, wait another two years, okay?"

Du Yuesheng was truly frustrated. If it wasn't for the dirt Liu had on him, he couldn't tolerate this.

However, Du Yuesheng couldn't help saying, "But how old is your wife Zhao Yan? 25? To be the second deputy district chief at that age, do you think that's appropriate? Won't people laugh if you spread the word?"

Liu Zhizhong laughed heartily, "Look at you, you just don't know how to handle things, do you? Change her age, make it bigger. Change it to 28 or 29, is that so difficult? My wife is a local Yangzhou girl, and doesn't the Zhang Family cover the sky with one hand in Yangzhou? Is it that hard?"

"You make it sound so easy. Once you change the archival age, you'll have to change all the educational qualifications too. Isn't that a hassle?"

"Not at all, I like it!"

"Fine, fine, I'll indulge you. Anything else?"

Du Yuesheng was completely out of patience, just wanting to wrap this up.

"Hehe, of course, this now involves me..." Liu Zhizhong drew a deep breath of smoke and stubbed out the cigarette butt in the ashtray, "Put me forward for the Provincial Party School's training for young cadres, the same period as Zhang Hongyang. That shouldn't be a problem, right?"

"What? You... you... have you gone mad?"

Du Yuesheng couldn't contain himself any longer, his voice raising several notches.

Liu Zhizhong frowned, "Secretary Du, look at you... you're getting impatient again, aren't you? What's there to be so surprised about? Really now!"

Du Yuesheng felt like crying, ah...

This goddamn guy, does he even understand politics, does he know any rules at all?