Volume 1: Gathering Storm Chapter 9: The Literary Assassin (Part 2)

  Tianran is a thoughtful person. After his deliberation and analysis, he found the rules for writing official documents, especially speeches for leaders. The first rule is to do well in three combinations: the spirit of superiors, the situation at the grassroots level, and the intentions of leaders. Writing in this way will not deviate from the topic and guarantee a high pass rate for the draft. Especially, the leader's intention must be thoroughly understood, because whether the material is written well or poorly, the main standard for evaluation is whether the leader is satisfied. The second rule is to achieve three looks: first, who is speaking; second, in what occasion; third, who is the object of the speech. Considering these factors can guarantee the relevance of the manuscript. For example, the characteristics of speeches by county party secretaries and county magistrates are different. The former mainly talks about situations, requirements, and methods, while the latter mainly arranges work, assigns tasks, and emphasizes implementation. Different occasions naturally have different speaking styles. For instance, the reports at the opening and closing ceremonies of a conference have vastly different requirements. It is also easy to understand when it comes to objects. For example, speeches for village branch secretaries and bureau directors are completely different in terms of style and tone, even if the content and leaders are the same. The third rule is to highlight dialectics, which can demonstrate the leader's ideological level. When talking about reality, don't forget about ideals; when discussing near-term goals, don't forget long-term ones; when summarizing achievements, don't forget to analyze problems. The fourth rule is that speeches should generally be condensed into three points of opinion, which can demonstrate the leader's logical thinking ability. These three points are universally applicable. They may include enhancing confidence, highlighting key points, and grasping implementation tightly; or reviewing and summarizing, situation and tasks, hopes and requirements; or achievements, methods, and inspirations, etc. Tianran studied these rules and felt that three points were just right, two were too few, and four were too many. With these four insights, he quickly became an expert in materials at the White River County Party Committee Office and was praised as a "text killer." He also became a trusted assistant to County Party Secretary Zhu Yongsheng.

  In the autumn of 1995, Tian was promoted to deputy section-level secretary and served as director of the Secretariat.

  At the county level in China, Tianran was promoted to deputy department head at the age of 24, which is still quite young. His friends all told him that in Baihe County, Tianran should be a rising star with unlimited prospects. However, Tianran always found it laughable - as someone who wanted to pursue literature, this was already considered entering officialdom and getting into politics. And at the county level, could their line of work even be called politics? The intricate web of relationships in the government also made Tianran feel disgusted. For example, when he directly served under Zhu Yongsheng, a leader from a certain bureau in the county would always give him a pack of cigarettes whenever he came to Tianran's office. Later, after Zhu Yongsheng became vice mayor and Tianran no longer directly served the new county party secretary but instead had Secretary Xiao Sun serve, that bureau head rarely visited Tianran's office and instead often contacted Xiao Sun. Occasionally when he did come, it was just to give him a box of cigarettes and say: "These cigarettes are not bad, they were given by friends from outside, try one." Later on, whenever they met, that bureau head would always politely offer Tianran a cigarette and pat his shoulder, saying: "Director Wu, let's keep in touch." Tianran felt that this officialdom was really meaningless - from one pack of cigarettes to one box, then to one cigarette. What's the point?

  This autumn, Wu Tianbiao, the pride of the Wu family, got into trouble and brought great shock to the whole family. The old mother fell ill and did not get up again, and the old father also became silent and rarely appeared in front of people.

  In early 1996, because of his natural writing talent, he was transferred to work in the Shanyang Municipal Party Committee office, and his parents felt slightly relieved.

  Chapter 4 Writing Team The Municipal Party Committee Office is located on the third floor of the Municipal Party Committee Building, with three rooms in total. Everyone works together in a collective office. There are many flowers and plants placed in the office, all rented from a flower company that periodically comes to exchange them for suitable varieties. Each person in the department is equipped with a 586 computer, and the department also has telephones, fax machines, and air conditioning. However, each person's desk is piled high with newspapers and materials, making it look a bit messy. Overall, though, the working conditions here are still quite good.

  The Secretariat of the Municipal Party Committee had 4.5 people in addition to Wu Tianran, and each had their own characteristics.

  Director Zhao Huai Zhong, in his early 30s, has a child already in junior high school. His hair is noticeably thinning, and he has a slight hunchback. His face is etched with wrinkles, making him look like he's over 40, with a deeply troubled expression. He has been writing materials at the municipal party committee office for over a decade and has grown to despise this thankless job. In his own words, he is a veteran of four dynasties, having outlasted four municipal party secretaries. He will no longer go to great lengths to curry favor with leaders, and in the next personnel adjustment, he will certainly be promoted to deputy director level. As soon as he becomes deputy director, he will leave immediately, not wanting to stay another day. He often tells Tian Ran: "Young man, work hard. The world belongs to us, but ultimately it's yours. You are the morning sun at 8 or 9 am, while I, Old Zhao, am already a setting sun." Director Zhao's materials are flawless in form, but in Tian Ran's opinion, they lack passion and fresh content. On his desk, there are stacks of articles he has clipped from newspapers and magazines over the years, as well as speeches by various leaders. When a task comes up, he doesn't need to think much; instead, he flips through similar articles, takes a few glances, lights a cigarette, and pretends to be deep in thought. Suddenly, he slaps his desk and says loudly: "Everyone come over, I'll give you a brief overview of the materials." The several people in the office gather around him with their notebooks, and he begins to outline the materials, section by section, explaining what each part should cover and who will write it. Finally, he opens his eyes wide, looks around at everyone, and asks: "What do you think? This is just a rough idea; I haven't thought it through thoroughly or systematically. You all open up your minds and write freely; be bold – when writing materials for the municipal party secretary, you are the secretary yourself, so stand at that height." The colleagues in the office will say: "Director Zhao's outline is clear and concise, with strong pertinence and feasibility. We'll follow your instructions to write it, and once we're done, you can review and guide us again." Director Zhao then stands up and says: "Everyone has worked hard; when the task is complete, I'll treat you all to a drink."

  Deputy Director Bai Mingyuan was three years younger than Wu Tianran and had not yet started a family. He did not smoke or drink, and his hair was always oily, while his leather shoes were always polished to the point where you could see your reflection in them. He looked very neat and tidy, with a strong sense of style. However, he also had some unspoken difficulties, particularly when it came to dealing with Director Zhao. Although Bai's writing skills were not inferior to those of Director Zhao, whenever Director Zhao mentioned something, no matter how small, if you forgot to include it in the draft, Director Zhao would definitely add it during the review process. And if Bai had written something innovative, Director Zhao would ruthlessly delete it without hesitation. Even if it was a piece that Bai had poured his heart and soul into, Director Zhao would still reject it outright. Sometimes, Bai wanted to discuss his ideas directly with Deputy Secretary Li Huazhang, who was in charge of materials, but Director Zhao had repeatedly emphasized to the colleagues in the department: "The office is a place where discipline is paramount, and everything must be done according to procedure. All materials from our department must be submitted to the leadership for review by me, otherwise whoever makes a mistake will be held responsible." This made Bai feel very frustrated. Director Zhao would also say: "As long as you all do your jobs well, I won't suppress your talents. Whoever wrote the material and how it was written, I will truthfully report to the leadership." This again left Bai speechless. However, in Wu Tianran's opinion, Deputy Director Bai's writing was not exactly top-notch either. Although his thinking was very active, his writing always gave people a feeling of being light and superficial. He also didn't have a good grasp on the rhythm of the article, and the content often deviated from the theme, with a heavy beginning and a light ending, flashy but lacking substance. Tianran thought that Bai Mingyuan should have some talent, so it was probably just that he hadn't put his heart into it.