Chapter 391

At 6 p. m., Deputy Bureau Chief Yang Shilong brought the audit team to Xiuxian County, immediately taking over the County Finance Bureau. County Party Committee Secretary Yan Peijie, upon receiving the news, was very displeased. He never expected Lu Fan to make a mountain out of a molehill, stirring up such a fuss, completely giving him no face!

Little did he know, face is given mutually; you're impressive, but others are even more impressive!

Soon, Yan Peijie felt things were taking a turn for the worse; the audit team actually had 25 members, working overnight to audit the 12 units involved in projects in Xiuxian County, and demanded that each township provide project data and financial statements from the past five years by tomorrow morning.

Knowing the audit team was serious, Yan Peijie, whose rear was not clean, panicked completely and no longer cared about face, immediately heading to the city to have a chat with Lu Fan. But he couldn't find a trace of him; Lu Fan was already drinking with Luo Lin, chief of the City Audit Bureau, and Guo Tongyu, the County Chief of Xiuxian County.

Luo Lin laughed and asked, "Old Guo, do you still have leisure to drink here? Aren't you afraid of what the audit might uncover?"

Guo Tongyu burst out laughing and replied, "What does it matter to me if problems are found? I've only been here a few months! Old Luo, you need to take your work seriously and responsibly; don't let the audit bureau make a wasted trip. Yan Peijie has stretched his hand so far, I, as County Chief, am like a puppet—what's there to fear?"

Lu Fan asked, "Did Zhou Jian go to Xiuxian County and have no effect?"

"Ah, Deputy Secretary-General, Zhou Jian didn't even make it onto the Provincial Party Committee Standing Committee; he has no say at all—better than nothing, I guess!"

While they were chatting, the phone rang; Lu Fan saw the number was Yan Peijie calling, so he set his phone to silent and continued drinking.

Yang Shilong knew his mission, leading the audit team in an all-night struggle, and issued supervisory notices and notification letters to six uncooperative sections, throwing the project units of Xiuxian County into panic, as they frantically called County Party Committee Secretary Yan Peijie to report.

Yan Peijie now experienced what it means to lift a rock only to drop it on his own foot; he regretted not cooperating with Lu Fan's work, but at this point he couldn't even find a person, let alone have a chance to explain.

The next morning, Lu Fan had just arrived at the office when he saw Yan Peijie squatting outside the office door.

Lu Fan smiled and said, "Good morning, Secretary Yan. What brings you here so early?"

Yan Peijie gave an embarrassed grin and said sheepishly, "Deputy Secretary-General, we'll keep running into each other; doing this seems a bit out of place, doesn't it?"

Lu Fan asked doubtfully, "Secretary Yan, are you criticizing me? Please clarify—where have I fallen short in my duties, or is there any oversight or loophole in my work?"

Faced with Lu Fan's feigned ignorance, Yan Peijie spoke plainly: "Having the audit bureau investigate our Xiuxian County—isn't that going a bit too far?"

Lu Fan suddenly realized and replied, "You're really wronging me—I'm just a lowly Deputy Secretary-General; what authority do I have? The audit bureau's visit to Xiuxian County was specially approved by Secretary Li Ruifang and Mayor Zhao Tao; you only have yourself to blame! Governor Hong Tao issued a strict order to clear the arrears ledger, you reported only a little, the senior leaders had doubts, so sending the audit bureau to verify is perfectly reasonable. Don't overthink it—you've got someone helping you do the work for free; why not? Secretary Yan, why not come in and have a seat?"

Yan Peijie followed Lu Fan into the office with a grim face; he really wanted to blow up, but knowing that wouldn't solve anything, after thinking it over he still set aside his pride and said, "Deputy Secretary-General, I admit I concealed some things when reporting the arrears ledger, but you don't have to go to such lengths, do you?"

Lu Fan said helplessly, "Please understand, Secretary Yan—after all, Governor Hong Tao has issued a strict order for this work, and Secretary Li Ruifang demanded it be completed within three days; how could I dare ignore the leadership's instructions? I fully understand Xiuxian County's special circumstances, but superior orders must be carried out fully; why not go report to the secretary and the mayor? Lay out the difficulties clearly and see what the leadership says."

Yan Peijie urged, "Lu Fan, leave a line in your dealings so we can meet again in the future!"

"Ah, it's just my duty—I can't help it! Just because we're missing Xiuxian County, the secretary gave me a severe dressing-down yesterday afternoon; if I hadn't spoken up for you, the team sent down wouldn't have been the audit team but the Discipline Inspection Committee! No need for thanks; as for the audit team, you should still go talk to the top leaders."

Finding no common ground, Yan Peijie stalked off to Secretary Li Ruifang's office to play the senior card, but Secretary Li had gone to the province for a Standing Committee meeting, leaving him empty-handed.

After a night of struggle by the Municipal Party Committee Office, the Municipal Finance Bureau, the Municipal State-owned Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, and the Municipal Industry and Information Technology Bureau, Yingjiang City's arrears ledger was basically straightened out, with total outstanding debts of 723 billion yuan. Lu Fan thought missing Xiuxian County didn't matter, so he called Secretary Li Ruifang to report the details and then reported back to the mayor.

The only province-wide missing report was Yingjiang City's arrears ledger, and the Provincial Government General Office kept calling to urge.

Looking at the arrears ledger of over seven billion in his hand, Mayor Zhao Tao felt a myriad of emotions, not knowing whether to laugh or cry! As a mayor, his words actually carried less weight than those of a lowly Deputy Secretary-General—what a sorrow, what's the point of doing this work?

Regardless, since they were helping, Zhao Tao said, "Lu Fan, you've worked hard these past two days and achieved great results! The provincial government made three calls this morning urging the arrears ledger, but Xiuxian County is still missing."

Lu Fan replied, "With the mayor's capable leadership, we've made such progress. Personally, I think missing one county is no big deal—work is never perfect. Reporting the arrears ledger is urgent, and I believe the provincial government and Governor Hong Tao can understand the difficulties at the grassroots; we can delay reporting Xiuxian County's arrears for now. Besides, over seven billion is the highest arrears amount among all cities in the province; the province won't be so heartless."

Zhao Tao nodded and said, "That makes sense—I'll set out now. If Governor Hong Tao is still dissatisfied, let him take the blame, Yan Peijie!"

Thus, Zhao Tao took the missing arrears ledger to the provincial government to report back, while Lu Fan returned to the office.

At 2 p. m., unable to find any senior leader, Yan Peijie came to Lu Fan's office, slammed down the 1.4 billion yuan arrears ledger on his desk, and said irritably, "Deputy Secretary-General, this is the ledger you wanted—I've rushed the summary for you!"

Lu Fan gave a slight nod and said, "Secretary Yan, the provincial government will surely understand the difficulties at the grassroots; if there are any imperfections, you can reconsider them—no rush! Once you've confirmed everything is correct, have the mayor review it, then submit a supplementary report."

"What? The city's arrears ledger has already been submitted?"

"Yes, yesterday was the final deadline, and we've already submitted late—the only province-wide missing report is Yingjiang City. The provincial government leaders are personally monitoring it; the Provincial Government General Office made about ten calls this morning, and I expect the mayor will get a dressing-down from Governor Hong Tao when he arrives. Ah, work isn't easy!"

Yan Peijie exclaimed, "Lu Fan, that's a bit underhanded, isn't it? Going by what you're saying, the only province-wide missing report is my Xiuxian County's arrears ledger—you're basically putting me over a fire!"

Lu Fan said sternly, "Secretary Yan, I won't take the blame for this! When I called you, I made the urgency of this work and the final deadline for submitting the arrears ledger crystal clear—didn't I? If you've forgotten, the supervisory notice from the Municipal Party Committee's Inspection Office is also crystal clear! If you dare to delay, how could the Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government lack organization and discipline, openly defying superior orders?"

"You, you... you're still young—don't be so absolute in your actions!"

"Secretary Yan, work proceeds by procedure, affairs by principle—I strictly carry out superior orders and leadership directives, treating everyone equally; isn't that always correct?"

Hearing the argument in the secretary's office, Deputy Secretary-General Xia Li brought two staff members in to mediate, courteously escorting Yan Peijie to his own office, where he was served fine tea and cigarettes.

The provincial government—Mayor Zhao Tao placed Yingjiang City's arrears ledger before Governor Hong Tao and explained, "Governor, following your instructions, the Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government formed a working group, with Deputy Secretary-General Lu Fan of the Municipal Party Committee taking the lead in supervising the work; the re-examination and bottom‑check of Yingjiang City's arrears ledger were completed within two days, preliminarily totaling 723 billion yuan in outstanding debts. The only slight blemish is that Xiuxian County's arrears ledger hasn't yet been reported to the city; Lu Fan is intensifying supervision, and we will certainly expedite the completion of Yingjiang's ledger."

Governor Hong Tao nodded and said, "This figure is highly credible; I estimate Xiuxian County's arrears are no less than 1.5 billion yuan, so use 1.5 billion as the estimate, tally the numbers, and hand them to Si Daiqiang. This afternoon I need to present the arrears clearance work at the Provincial Party Committee Standing Committee meeting and get a rough figure. Zhao Tao, grassroots work is myriad and tangled; to do it well you can't rely solely on administrative orders—you must learn to 'thread the needle.' Only by employing people well, rightly, and skillfully can you have a mind full of landscapes and eyes full of ripples, calmly pushing every task to fruition. This is something you, as mayor, really ought to learn from Lu Fan—a leader who rose from the township level, capable of precise strikes, targeted efforts, finding direction and a way out in the mist."

"Thank you for your guidance, Governor—I will certainly learn more from my comrades, find the 'eye of the needle' for each task, handle things one by one, thread line after line, and ensure the implementation of all work."

At the afternoon Provincial Party Committee Standing Committee meeting, Governor Hong Tao presented a special report on arrears clearance and proposed that the provincial government initially allocate 500 billion yuan to leverage repayment efforts across cities and counties.

With the support of the Standing Committee members, the proposal was passed unanimously, and Secretary Lu Wenhua also did not intend to quarrel over these matters.

After the vote, Governor Hong Tao said to Secretary Li Ruifang, "Secretary Li, Yingjiang's arrears ledger has come in—solid numbers, strong effort—but what's up with Xiuxian County? Can the Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government not direct it? Everyone else can report, but this county can't? Is it a matter of work capability, or is there some 'unspeakable secret'? To do grassroots work well, we must clearly establish correct personnel selection and employment orientation, foster a proper performance appraisal view, and focus on resolving cadres' misconduct, inaction, reluctance to act, and ineffectiveness."

Li Ruifang hurriedly replied, "Understood, Governor—I'll go back, investigate and verify, and promptly produce a disposition opinion."