Chapter 447: with translation of chapter title

Yin Linhu entered the room, showing great respect to Lu Fan, handed over a document, and then said respectfully: 'Director, this is the key work I have planned for this year; I will report it to you, please review it!'

Lu Fan took the document, smiling, and said: 'I'll look at the materials later; you don't need to repeat them. We don't do formalism. Linhu, I called you here to have you take charge of a task.'

Yin Linhu sat up straight, opened his notebook, and said: 'Director, please give your instructions!'

Lu Fan said solemnly: 'The student cafeteria directly faces students; it concerns the health of countless children and tugs at the hearts of thousands of parents. Letting children eat more safely and healthily is an inescapable duty of our Education Bureau!'

The five ministries and the provincial government have a 'two exemptions, one subsidy, one assumption' preferential policy; the Education Bureau provides price subsidies for student cafeterias and, according to relevant regulations, exempts them from business tax.

Although the preferential policies are substantial, current cafeteria management still has many prominent problems and hidden dangers: weak food hygiene safety awareness, relatively poor meal quality, weak facility foundations, management systems not fully established or implemented, loopholes in supervision of individual cafeterias, frequent food poisoning accidents and sudden incidents, and many parental complaints that are strongly voiced.

The public's voice is our direction of effort! To further strengthen and standardize student cafeteria management, the Education Bureau really needs to issue the new 'Regulations on Hygiene Management of Student Cafeterias and Collective Meals,' to perfect a safe and reliable guarantee system for student cafeterias, improve the system and mechanism, and ensure that the quality and price of student cafeteria meals meet standards.

After hearing the instructions, Yin Linhu straightforwardly said: 'Director, I will do my utmost to complete this task; do you have any specific instructions?'

After thinking and glancing at his notebook, Lu Fan said: 'Let me suggest a few directions. First, the principal is the primary person responsible for the student cafeteria; we need to establish and improve the internal management system covering financial management, material procurement, warehouse custody, surveillance management, meal sample retention, utensil cleaning and disinfection, kitchen waste disposal, food additives, etc.;'

Second, establish a responsibility accountability system for student cafeterias; for those who neglect their duties and lax management causing food poisoning or other foodborne illnesses, relevant leaders, managers, and the persons involved shall be held accountable according to relevant regulations, and legal liability shall be pursued according to law;'

Third, student cafeterias must adhere to the principles of public welfare and non‑profitability, perfecting an input guarantee mechanism that balances students' affordability, fiscal subsidy capacity, and school burden capacity, ensuring that cafeteria meal prices are noticeably lower than market prices for similar catering;'

Fourth, we must reasonably match the meal structure in student cafeterias, with the ratio of high‑, medium‑, and low‑grade dishes being 3:5:2; there should be low‑priced dishes under two yuan, and both lunch and dinner should provide students with free vegetable soup;'

Fifth, teachers and students shall eat together, and the principal shall eat together; pre‑made dishes must absolutely not appear! We must regularize and institutionalize the evaluation of student cafeterias, and incorporate the evaluation results into the schools' year‑end assessments.'

These are the five points I can think of for now; you need to formulate a scientific and operable 'Student Cafeteria Management Measures' based on thorough research.'

Yin Linhu expressed firm resolve, stating that this work carries great responsibility; he will raise his political stance and spare no effort to complete the task assigned by the Bureau Director.

On February 11, after more than 500 grassroots teachers, experts, and scholars fought day and night, Deputy Bureau Director Ma Yajun and Section Chief Huang Weihuan satisfactorily completed the 'textbook' task, revising a total of 38 places.

Lu Fan immediately convened an expanded meeting of the Bureau Party Group, discussing with comrades one by one the rationality and necessity of the revisions.

The meeting ran from 8 a. m. to noon; everyone spoke freely, the atmosphere was very heated, after all this concerns countless children.

In the afternoon, Lu Fan took the new textbook and revision contents to report to Deputy Provincial Governor Han Guishan.

After Governor Han scolded for half a day, he personally took Lu Fan to report to Governor Niu Qianhua and Municipal Party Secretary Xu Yongjiang.

The two main leaders verbally expressed support, letting the Education Bureau handle it on its own, and did not issue documents in the name of the Provincial Party Committee or Provincial Government; this also avoids taking responsibility, because some things are uncontrollable.

On matters concerning all students in the province, Lu Fan demonstrated responsibility. After reporting to the ministry, he immediately assigned Ma Yajun to be in charge of printing the textbooks, demanding that he finish the task within three days; if Chang'an's printing plants were insufficient, he would go to various cities and universities, and if still insufficient, contact out‑of‑province printers—all to ensure the new textbooks are ready for students by the start of school.

Ma Yajun and Huang Weihuan lived up to expectations, sparing no effort to complete the task assigned by the Bureau Director.

On February 16, leaders of the Provincial Education Bureau led teams to various cities to carry out the 2022 spring semester opening inspection work for middle and primary schools, kindergartens, universities, bureau‑affiliated vocational schools, and relevant directly affiliated units.

Provincial Education Bureau Director Lu Fan entered Chang'an Experimental School, Provincial Chang'an Primary School, and Provincial Science and Technology University to inspect the opening work and console teachers.

At Chang'an Experimental School and Provincial Chang'an Primary School, Lu Fan conducted on‑site research into the 'double reduction' work, balanced development of compulsory education, etc., entered classrooms to attend political and ideological classes together with students, and learned about after‑school services, campus construction, etc. He emphasized that basic education is the foundation of an education‑strong nation; we must accelerate building a system for cultivating virtue and nurturing talent, foster students' patriotism, and truly implement the fundamental task of cultivating virtue and nurturing talent. We must continue to deepen the 'double reduction' work, enrich the forms of after‑school extended services, and fully strengthen science education.

At Qinchuan University of Science and Technology, Lu Fan inquired in detail about the school's various opening‑work situations, went to the research institute, light industry museum, etc., for on‑site inspection to understand the usage of the school's laboratory large instruments and equipment, as well as its educational history and characteristics. He stressed that we must accurately grasp the connotation of first‑rate discipline construction, align with the national 'Double First‑Class' construction goals, base ourselves on the school's development advantages, strengthen top‑level design, promote discipline construction in a layered and classified manner, and concentrate efforts to achieve breakthroughs.

Starting from February 17, the top party and government officials of each city, the vice mayors in charge of education, the directors of municipal education bureaus, and the leaders of various universities began to visit the Provincial Education Bureau Director Lu Fan intensively.

Lu Fan warmly received everyone, and it took a whole week to settle the routine 'etiquette' for a new official taking office; the cabinets were filled with countless tea leaves and local specialty cards. This left Lu Fan feeling helpless—he felt it was wrong to accept them, yet he could not be too aloof; besides, they were not valuable items, and since the municipal party secretary and mayor had come, it would be awkward to refuse outright; this is the most basic officialdom etiquette, nobody can escape it, and Lu Fan also has to go to the ministry to pay visits—just the same!

Discipline Inspection Group Leader Huang Yan is open‑minded and full of justice; she deeply detests some people and phenomena in the Education Bureau, but because of the 'suppression' by the former bureau director, she could do nothing about these corrupt phenomena.

Now, the new bureau director has the determination to govern corruption, giving Huang Yan hope; after all, the advancement of discipline inspection cadres needs many 'hats' to support them, and Huang Yan also has an enterprising heart.

After examining a large number of accusation letters, an anonymous accusation letter caught Huang Yan's attention. The accuser claimed that an engineering company, while undertaking the project for Chang'an No. 3 Primary School, was suspected of bribery; the content was very detailed, including the amount and manner of the bribery, showing that the accuser had put in effort, and was likely a competitor.

Huang Yan immediately launched an investigation into Chang'an No. 3 Primary School, focusing on the earthwork of the basic construction.

During the investigation, the Discipline Inspection Group found that in the basic construction project of Chang'an No. 3 Primary School there were problems such as duplicate settlement of project funds, under‑reporting and over‑calculation, etc. Based on her years of case‑handling experience, Huang Yan knew that something was wrong with this basic construction work; it definitely could not be the fault of just one or two people.

This principal has a special hobby: he likes to 'collect' houses in Chang'an; to satisfy this 'hobby,' he reached his hands into the school's basic construction funds and into the engineering company. The principal loves playing mahjong, and the contractors, catering to his preference, sent him money for playing cards, engaging in a frenzy of power‑money transactions……

A school with the sound of reading aloud should be a pristine, uncontested holy land; yet, faced with the school's basic construction project, this 'oil field,' the principal, who should be a model teacher, treated the project as his own 'money‑making tree,' letting the campus's pure soil be sullied by vulgar wealth.

After a period of investigation and evidence collection, on March 1, upon approval by the Bureau Party Group, the Discipline Inspection Group of the Provincial Discipline Inspection Commission stationed in the Qinchuan Provincial Education Bureau decided to file a case for investigation against the principal of Chang'an No. 3 Primary School.

Originally, investigating such a petty principal would be a trivial matter, but some people in the Education Bureau could not sit still, because the tiny Chang'an No. 3 Primary School had received over 30 million yuan in financial support from the provincial bureau in the past three years!

Soon, Huang Yan broke through the principal's psychological defenses and, following the clues, uncovered that the heads of the Bureau's Development Section and Finance Section—two section chiefs and their deputy section chiefs—were involved.

On March 5, Lu Fan and Huang Yan brought the relevant materials and reported to Provincial Discipline Inspection Commission Secretary Huang Xiaowu the corrupt situation of the two section chiefs.

After hearing the report, Huang Xiaowu sent Huang Yan away and had a private conversation with Lu Fan.

Huang Xiaowu asked: 'Investigating these two section chiefs isn't really your intention, is it?'

Lu Fan replied truthfully: 'Deputy Bureau Director Wu Daobo has serious corruption problems, especially in power‑money and power‑sex transactions, and the public's reaction is especially strong.'

Huang Xiaowu said meaningfully: 'Investigating a deputy bureau director is no big deal; to be frank, the Provincial Discipline Inspection Commission also has some accusation letters against Wu Daobo. But have you considered that investigating Wu Daobo might drag in the former bureau director? He has already taken a post in the city and will soon become the municipal party secretary, a key protégé of Secretary Yongjiang—pull one thread and the whole body moves!'

When I came to serve in Qinchuan Province, I reported my work to Secretary Hong Tao, who specifically mentioned you. Lu Fan, the purpose of anti‑corruption is to promote work; we must adapt to circumstances, differentiate by person, tailor to matters, and go with the flow. You are now in an upward phase of your career; you must consider problems carefully, and it's best not to bring unnecessary trouble upon yourself.