Chapter 517

Every ten minutes, one person; by the time it was Si Daiqiang's turn, it was almost twelve o'clock, and he was also the last one.

He briefly reported recent work; Hong Tao gave appropriate comments and pointers, then said: "Comrade Rui Fang will soon go to the provincial level; he is a structural cadre. Si Daiqiang, your work over these three years in Yingjiang has been diligent and conscientious, with a strong enterprising spirit and a high sense of responsibility, achieving certain results, but in pioneering innovation and bold advancement you still need to make further progress; this level of achievement is insufficient to support your entry into the Provincial Party Committee Standing Committee and as an alternate member, after all Yingjiang is different from other prefecture-level cities."

Si Daiqiang showed a hint of embarrassment, saying: "Secretary, I will certainly work on emancipating the mind, work on pioneering innovation, work on seeking practical results, focus on problems, advance despite difficulties, strive to solve the people's urgent, difficult, and worrying issues, and put the work that benefits people's livelihood, warms people's hearts, and follows people's will deep into the people's hearts, thereby enhancing the sense of gain, happiness, and security of the people of Yingjiang."

"I am not criticizing you; compared to others, you are better than the vast majority, but if you want to go further, you must produce solid achievements to be convincing; a weak foundation will shake the earth and move the mountains! In this regard, Lu Fan has done quite well, whether in performance or control, his performance is noteworthy."

Si Daiqiang no longer contends; he knows the secretary is good at measuring talent and employing people, knows people and assigns them well; this time coming to Nanyuan City, just showing his attitude is enough.

The next morning, the Southern Ridge inspection team visited six observation points—the Nanyuan City Market Supervision Bureau, the City Public Security Bureau, and Nanyuan Keqin Meat Products Co., Ltd. —and genuinely felt Nanyuan's strength, intensity, confidence, determination, and effectiveness in food safety governance.

At 2:00 p. m., both sides held a symposium to hear the report on Nanyuan City's work to build a national model city for food safety and peace of mind.

Lu Fan reported: "Respected Secretary Hong Tao, leaders of Southern Ridge, in the food safety security war, Nanyuan City has carried out the 'Hundred-Day Strike Special Action' and other ten major actions, from 'idle persons not allowed entry' to 'exposed online', comprehensively promoting the open kitchen and bright stove work in catering service units, kicking unqualified food out of campuses, saying 'no' to false and illegal advertisements for health products... Potent medicine to cure illness, heavy penalties to quell chaos! For all kinds of illegal and violations discovered, we must uphold 'Zero Tolerance', widely mobilize the masses, set up 10 million yuan in reporting reward funds... Always maintain a high-pressure stance against food safety illegal crimes, using the most rigorous standards, the strictest supervision, the harshest penalties, and the most serious accountability, placing people's life safety and bodily health first, ensuring the 'safety on the tip of the tongue' of Nanyuan's people!" Lu Fan spoke fluently and continuously for an hour, never looking at materials, having a clear grasp of the work.

Secretary Tang Bing added: "Nanyuan has done many effective works, achieved phased results, laying a solid foundation for creating a national model city for food safety; the Huayuan Provincial Party Committee and Provincial Government attach great importance to the people's 'safety on the tip of the tongue', will take Nanyuan as a pilot, summarize experience, and launch a province-wide food safety special rectification, seeking trouble and enduring hardship, dedicating convenience and safety to society and to the people, truly making food safety another shining emblem, golden signboard, people's livelihood project, and virtuous governance project for Huayuan."

Secretary Hong Tao said: "Food safety governance is a major campaign, a protracted war, and a tough battle; Nanyuan City scientifically plans, breakthroughs key points, focuses on grasping the critical, drives the supervisory focus downward and the checkpoint forward, strictly guards the source, persists in iron-fisted law enforcement, and has achieved remarkable results!"

Nanling Province should study the "Nanyuan model", draw on the "Nanyuan experience" in food safety supervision, and, with a highly responsible attitude toward the people's lives and health, strive to forge a new path with Nanling characteristics. We must strengthen food safety work throughout the whole chain from farm to table, focus on key areas, enhance law‑based, technological, and coordinated governance, achieve strict prevention at the source, strict control during the process, and strict risk management, raise Nanling Province's food safety guarantee level, and ensure that the broad masses of the people can eat with confidence and peace of mind.

Upon hearing the "Nanyuan model", the participants' hearts were stirred, and Lu Fan was equally excited; the impact depended on who was saying it.

After the meeting, Wang Hongtao had a private conversation with Tang Bing in the room.

"Lu Fan has been in Nanyuan for less than two years, yet he has carried out his work solidly, advanced steadily, and achieved remarkable results, bringing about substantive changes in every aspect of Nanyuan, which can be felt from the smiles on the people's faces."

Tang Bing said approvingly: "A good teacher produces outstanding students; with the secretary setting an example, he naturally must be diligent and pragmatic, working day and night for the public! Judging from the current situation, Nanyuan City's GDP growth rate, increment, urban and rural residents' two income items, fixed‑asset investment, investment promotion, and other key economic indicators steadily rank first in the province, and the gap with second place is cliff‑like. Moreover, Lu Fan has implemented many people‑benefiting, people‑warming, and people‑following measures that have reached the hearts of the masses, such as student canteens, free distribution of school uniforms, free breakfasts for sanitation workers, etc. You can probably also see that Nanyuan's appearance rate on short‑video platforms this year is very high, making it a 'net‑red city'."

Secretary Wang laughed and said: "What you said is correct. As soon as I opened my Douyin, I saw Nanyuan right away; Lu Fan attaches great importance to publicity, which is indeed true. Good wine also fears a deep alley; running a city needs a gimmick—for example, tonight's 'Three Visits to Nanyuan' Mid‑Autumn music festival, which is a great boost to Nanyuan's National Day tourism. Tang Bing, Lu Fan, and Dai Qiang, who do you think is more outstanding?"

Hearing this, Tang Bing's heart jolted; he quickly organized his words and replied: "Each has his own merits. Lu Fan is pioneering and innovative, bold and decisive, wielding a broad axe—he belongs to the 'pioneering general' and 'fierce general' type of cadres. Dai Qiang seeks progress while maintaining stability, uses advancement to ensure stability, first establishes then breaks through, possessing the spirit of driving a nail; he is a solid‑working 'capable general' who hammers away steadily."

……

At five o'clock, after the leaders of the provincial Party committee and provincial government had finished their talks, Secretary‑General Luo Liang brought Lu Fan into the room.

After taking their seats, Secretary Wang laughed and said: "This visit to Nanyuan has been very rewarding; you have indeed blazed a new trail in food‑safety governance!"

Lu Fan replied: "Secretary, when I first started working on food safety, I wanted to make sure children ate healthily, and step by step I expanded the effort to create a national food‑safety demonstration city. Since launching the 'Hundred‑Day Action', my biggest feeling is that food safety is a systemic project requiring joint efforts from government, enterprises, and consumers to foster a social atmosphere where everyone pays attention and participates, so that each person can eat with confidence and peace of mind."

Wang Hongtao said: "Food safety concerns thousands of households; we must place it at the forefront and treat it as a top priority in order to build a solid food‑safety defense line. Current legislation is seriously lagging; the cost of committing and punishment for counterfeiting are too low, leading counterfeiters to 'rush forward one after another'. I will suggest amending the law from three angles—threshold for criminal liability, burden of proof, and sentencing standards—to improve legislation, apply severe punishments to curb chaos, impose heavier penalties on counterfeiters, crack down hard on food‑safety crimes, and systematically solve the counterfeit problem."

Lu Fan said with admiration: "Secretary, this is treating the root cause. Some people joke that now law‑breakers laugh themselves to death, those who hate counterfeits are anxious to death, law‑enforcement officers are worked to death, and consumers cry themselves to death. The extremely low cost of committing counterfeiting, the extremely high cost of enforcement, and a criminal‑punishment ratio of less than 1% are the key reasons why counterfeiting is hard to eradicate at its root."

Strict law enforcement and heavier penalties, so that every offender in the vast counterfeiting chain cannot escape and receives due criminal punishment, with the public denouncing them, leaving counterfeiters no room for luck, is the necessary path to safeguard consumer rights.

Wang Hongtao's tone shifted, and he asked: "Lu Fan, what are your expectations for Nanyuan's development?"

Lu Fan said with a firm gaze: "Secretary, I want to do my utmost to push Nanyuan's GDP into the trillion‑yuan 'club', so that the people of Nanyuan enjoy support for the elderly, care for the young, medical treatment for the sick, safety in food, happiness in housing, assistance for the weak, relief for the distressed, work for laborers, and handling of affairs. I will strive to create a clean and upright political ecosystem and a favorable environment for entrepreneurship and innovation. My ideas may be overly idealistic, even naïve, but I am willing to devote everything to this cause; no matter how much effort I expend or how great the setbacks, I will never retreat."

Wang Hongtao said: "Each generation has its mission and its responsibility. The standard for a good cadre is the clear orientation of 'judging heroes by actual performance, ranking seats by contribution, assessing quality from work style, matching cadres to development, and nurturing growth with saplings'—possessing both virtue and talent, being loyal, clean, and responsible. I will focus on Nanyuan's achievements and hope you do not disgrace your mission, betray your trust, or waste your youth."