Chapter 22: The Bitter Forest Farm Workers

On December 2nd, Lu Fan officially took up his post.

Wang Le ran back and forth several times, dumping all kinds of miscellaneous documents on Lu Fan, which were as high as a person.

Farm Director Li Yongji personally deployed more than a dozen tasks, not summaries or reports, mainly to deal with the Forestry Bureau's year-end assessment, and even called it "after finishing these, Lu Fan will be completely familiar with the business."

Thus, the Farm Director and the accountant played chess and drank tea during the day, and went out for law enforcement to "make extra money" at night. Old Hou showed up every few days, and only Lu Fan changed materials and filled out reports day and night.

Fortunately, there were only a few workers in the forest farm, and they opened a kitchen, which was considered food and lodging worry-free. For Lu Fan, this was the most comfortable day in his life.

Days passed day by day, Lu Fan finished the work at hand and began to have nothing to do. He couldn't touch the core business of the unit at all. Most of the time, he guarded the huge unit alone, as if he were a lonely ghost.

Staying in the godforsaken Baishu Bay, Lu Fan seemed to be isolated from the outside world. Not to mention the wind and grass in the county, even the trends of the township government had to be passed on by the owner of the small shop.

Lu Fan was lost. Is this kind of life where you are bored to death called working? Where is the future? Where is the future? What should I do? Muddle along?

The biggest disadvantage of ordinary families is not the gap in the original accumulation of the older generation, but the lack of guidance on the road of growth. How to walk the road depends on one's own exploration, increasing experience in strange and complex social rules. Perhaps, one step wrong, every step wrong.

Every night, only Lu Fan's light in the forest farm was on. The way to relieve the depression was to drink, carve loneliness on the wine bottle, drink it into the bladder, and urinate it out, letting loneliness sprinkle all over the forest farm! He was looking forward to it all the time, County Chief Han, hurry up and transfer me back to Ningyang!

But County Chief Han, whom Lu Fan was thinking about, was also in big trouble at this time and couldn't take care of helping him transfer his job.

Deputy Mayor Le Xueren was promoted to Executive Deputy Mayor, a person who could be counted in Yingjiang City, which could be described as proud and calling for wind and rain.

As a younger brother, Le Xueyi naturally had higher political demands. Because he looked down on propaganda, politics and law, and the united front, and couldn't go to the Organization Department because he was a local, and crossing to Deputy Secretary was too big, so he set his sights on the position of Standing Committee Deputy County Chief. Blocking in front of him was Han Xuyang, whom he didn't like.

Since there was a stumbling block, he had to move it away. Le Xueyi came to his elder brother's office and wouldn't leave, wanting to be a standing committee member.

An elder brother is like a father. Le Xueren had taken care of his younger brother and sister since childhood. Under the soft and hard grinding of his second brother, he promised to find a way to adjust Han Xuyang's position.

It just so happened that the city was going to adjust a batch of municipal department leadership positions recently. As the leader in charge of the Municipal Grain Bureau, Le Xueren asked for talent from Municipal Party Secretary Lin Xiangyang and Mayor Xue Rongguo, specifically naming Han Xuyang, the Standing Committee Deputy County Chief of Ningyang County, to go to the Seismological Bureau to "preside over the overall situation."

As an Executive Deputy Mayor, whose power content could rank in the top five, and being a local with deep roots, even the two top leaders had to give face.

In early January 2008, the Yingjiang Municipal Party Committee Standing Committee was held. In the personnel adjustment plan, Han Xuyang, the Standing Committee Deputy County Chief of Ningyang County, was on the list, "promoted" to Director of the Municipal Seismological Bureau.

If you say it's not good, people solved your level, but Han Xuyang's political career was in the rising stage, and he was directly exiled to a cold unit. It would be difficult to come out again.

After receiving the news, Han Xuyang was extremely depressed and hurriedly went to the city to operate, and Secretary Guo Mingxiong also helped to move around.

But the news received was the nomination of the Executive Deputy Mayor, which was unanimously passed by the Secretary and Mayor, and it was nailed down, without any room for maneuver, unless the Provincial Party Committee exerted pressure.

But Han Xuyang didn't have such a relationship with heaven, so he could only give up and go to the Seismological Bureau to take office in low spirits.

Han Xuyang's transfer had no signs beforehand, catching him off guard, which led to many things in his hands not being finished, including Lu Fan's job transfer.

Things had come to this, plus his depressed mood, so he didn't say hello to Lu Fan.

And Lu Fan, who was far away in Baishu Bay, hiding in the "Peach Blossom Spring" forest farm, knew nothing about this and was still fantasizing about transferring back to the city.

Le Xueyi successfully took the position of Standing Committee Deputy County Chief and took over the work that Han Xuyang used to manage. He immediately began to collect black materials on Han Xuyang's illegal and disciplinary violations, because he knew a truth: if you don't kill the snake, you will have three sins, and letting the tiger return to the mountain will harm your own family.

There are no secrets in politics. Since they became political enemies, Le Xueyi's idea was to completely step on Han Xuyang, lest he turn over one day, which would be an endless trouble.

And Han Xuyang was not idle, starting to collect black materials on Le Xueyi. If you don't steam the steamed bun, you fight for breath. If you are bullied, you can't just not let out a fart. In fact, in the past few years in Ningyang, the two of them had fought openly and secretly for engineering projects, and both regarded each other as eyesores and thorns in their sides. Now it was even more endless.

On January 3rd, the Baishu Bay Forest Farm ushered in the annual year-end assessment. Lu Fan finally saw the three colleagues who had never shown up, and the forest farm was unprecedentedly lively.

Deputy Director of the Forestry Bureau Chen Shuai led the team. After arriving at the forest farm, Director Chen went directly to the Farm Director's office, leaving several cadres in Lu Fan's office to look at the materials.

But what Lu Fan didn't expect was that the materials he had spent his heart and soul preparing for a month were thrown aside by several people, and then they all went to the Farm Director's office to blow cowhide and drink tea.

At noon, Director Chen actually took people into the mountains to hunt pheasants, which surprised Lu Fan very much. Isn't this knowing the law and breaking the law?

In the afternoon, the Farm Director grandly entertained the assessment team in the unit's kitchen, and all the workers in the unit participated. Lu Fan was fortunate enough to toast Director Chen and the leaders, barely mixing a familiar face.

In the evening, the Farm Director and the accountant accompanied Director Chen to play mahjong, and Lu Fan was ordered to accompany the staff to "play percentage," and the Farm Director gave 1,000 yuan in capital.

Drinking and gambling are the easiest ways to get closer. By the second half of the night, Lu Fan was already familiar with them, and everyone chatted while playing.

Li Yifeng brought up a topic: "Le County Chief manages transportation and urban construction. I don't know which deputy county chief is adjusted to be our competent leader? Or transfer one from outside?"

Wang Bingquan smiled: "Why? Have ideas? Want to make progress? I heard that a deputy county chief will be promoted from within our Ningyang, but I don't know how the division of labor will be."

Hearing this, Lu Fan was shocked. Didn't County Chief Han manage transportation? Adjusted positions?

So he asked calmly: "Several brothers, Baishu Bay news is blocked, County Chief Han doesn't manage transportation?"

Wang Yulong smiled: "Xiaofan, your news is too blocked. Old Han transferred long ago, to the Municipal Seismological Bureau, and was 'darkly pole-ed'!"

Wang Bingquan reminded: "Yulong, don't speak without thinking, trouble comes from the mouth!"

"Ah?" Lu Fan was shocked, feeling like the sky had fallen. Now the only hope was gone.

He really wanted to ask who "darkly pole-ed" County Chief Han, but he was meeting them for the first time, and it was deep to talk about it, so he couldn't open his mouth.

In a trance, Lu Fan quickly lost the 1,000 yuan, completely lost the interest in playing cards, and it was two o'clock in the morning, so the card game broke up.

After settling the few people, Lu Fan lay on the bed and was speechless for a long time. His mood was extremely depressed, feeling that the future was dark, very lost, and didn't know what to do. Did he really have to muddle along in this godforsaken place?

And County Chief Han, who was the bastard who "darkly pole-ed" him?

He really wanted to call County Chief Han to greet him, but he was low-ranking and couldn't help at all, so it was better not to add chaos.

Since the foreign aid was lost, he couldn't muddle along in the unit. After a month of observation, Lu Fan found that the Farm Director and the accountant completely monopolized the core business of the unit, and no one could touch the law enforcement and seedling cultivation, and he was a complete miscellaneous worker.

Reality is like this. How can he make a name for himself in this unit? Lu Fan thought hard, tossed and turned, and until dawn, he still had no clue, lamenting that the future was bleak!

After breakfast, the assessment team returned to the county town.

When they left, the trunk was full, 5 sheep were taken, and other local specialties, and the Farm Director gave everyone a red envelope.

The assessment team left, and the three cadres who never worked in the forest farm left one after another. I heard from Old Hou that two were doing business outside and had settled the Farm Director. The other was the wife of the director in the county, cooking for the children in the provincial capital Chang'an, and the Farm Director didn't dare to let out a fart.

The things seen and heard in these two days made Lu Fan see the world, and felt that these grassroots units were really bullshit, including the township government. There were countless cadres who received wages but didn't work. There was not a single enterprise in the whole township, and it was dead everywhere. After work, the cadres either played mahjong or drank shochu, or hung out in the barbershop, because the landlady was divorced and very coquettish, and the two young apprentices were also good-looking, which made all the cadres in the township rush to it, including the teachers in the school.

Staying in such a place for a long time, the only result is that people's will and passion are gradually worn away, not seeking progress, and often at a loss when encountering difficulties and setbacks, losing the courage to change.

Lu Fan has ambitions and dreams, hoping to show his skills one day, absolutely unwilling to do nothing, but at this time he is helpless about the future and doesn't know where the change is.

Doing nothing all day, Lu Fan downloaded a game "Legend" on the unit's computer, and slowly began to indulge in the game to drive away the suffocating emptiness and loneliness. ===== CHAPTER 23 =====