Chapter 613

At 9 a. m. on the morning of January 13, Lu Fan led the Provincial Party Committee's first assessment team to Yiyang City; the whole city was "as if facing a great enemy," and every county, district, and department was permeated with a tense atmosphere. Secretary Lu had already earned a fearsome reputation!

After exchanging views with Municipal Party Secretary Dong Fuyuan, the assessment team convened Yiyang City's annual "Five‑in‑One" assessment work mobilization meeting to deploy the comprehensive assessment.

Provincial Deputy Secretary Lu Fan attended the meeting and delivered a mobilization speech; Municipal Party Secretary Dong Fuyuan gave a summary report on behalf of the Municipal Party Committee leadership team. Deputy Secretary and Mayor Sun Zhengdong, representing the City Government leadership team, also gave a summary report.

Lu Fan demanded that Yiyang City fully recognize the important significance of the comprehensive assessment, genuinely strengthen its sense of responsibility for carrying out the assessment, actively support and cooperate with the assessment team, thoroughly understand policy regulations, strictly standardize operations, closely coordinate, and ensure high‑quality completion of this assessment task.

Lu Fan emphasized that the assessment team must act in accordance with regulations, procedures, and principles, strictly observe the disciplinary rules of the comprehensive assessment, treat participation in democratic evaluations, democratic reviews, and individual interviews as important manifestations of rigorous political life, and, with an attitude responsible to the organization, the cause, and the cadres, evaluate facts objectively and exercise their democratic rights correctly. Discipline must be stringent and rules strictly observed to keep the assessment work clean and upright.

The leadership teams of the Municipal People's Congress, the Municipal Political Consultative Conference, and the Discipline Inspection Committee submitted written summary reports at the meeting, while the provincially‑managed leaders submitted written reports on their duties, virtues, and integrity. The assessment team also conducted democratic evaluations and democratic reviews of the provincially‑managed leadership team and its cadres.

After the meeting, the tense yet orderly assessment work unfolded in full.

In the afternoon, Lu Fan was reviewing documents at a hotel when he suddenly received a call from Du Wenlong.

When the line connected, he laughed and said, "Why are you calling now? Your department still has free time?"

Du Wenlong replied with a laugh, "There's never any free time; we work overtime until eleven or twelve every day."

"I haven't congratulated you yet—quietly, you've been promoted to Director of the Inspection Office!"

"We have to thank Secretary Xiao Bin; he strongly recommended me. The opportunity is needed, since our former director was transferred to the Provincial Discipline Inspection Committee."

"What's the call about? Get to the point." Lu Fan knew that Chou Chou must have something.

"Brother Fan, I just arrived in Huayuan Province."

"Official business or personal?"

"Official business: we are dedicated to correcting formalism and bureaucratism and easing the burden on the grassroots. We have formed 13 covert inspection teams to conduct overt and covert investigations across provinces and cities, focusing on over‑frequent 'supervision‑inspection‑assessment', 'performance‑project', 'image‑project', and 'finger‑point formalism' issues. I am in charge of Huayuan Province."

Lu Fan asked, "Any leads on problems?"

Du Wenlong replied, "I was just about to vent to you. In Yiyang City, the rural residential environment renovation has been falsified: the requirement is that the height of wild trees and weeds on both sides of the main road be kept at about 10 cm, and the masses are organized into a 'people‑grass battle,' which has drawn public attention. I will conduct a covert inspection and supervise on site. This is a lead assigned by Secretary Xiao Bin, but I can control the pace and handle it flexibly. Brother Fan, you give the instruction—how should we proceed?"

Lu Fan thought for a moment and replied, "The province is also rectifying grassroots burden reduction and formalism, so you should investigate thoroughly and handle it strictly!"

"Got it, I understand!"

"It happens that I'm also in Yiyang City; when you arrive, give me a heads‑up and we'll meet."

"Alright, Brother Fan, we'll have a few drinks tonight."

Municipal Party Secretary Dong Fuyuan of Yiyang, who was promoted when Tang Bing served as secretary, is merely an acquaintance of Lu Fan and not on the same track, so there is no need to pay attention to him. A key post is like a radish in its own pit; if you remove him, a series of personnel will be reshuffled. Even if you don't get the meat, there will always be a spoonful of broth for Lu Fan. Viewed from another angle, that's a good thing.

Lu Fan opened his phone, searched on a short‑video platform, and indeed found videos about Yiyang City's 'people‑grass battle'; the likes and view counts were both high.

Lu Fan was puzzled: with such massive public opinion, how could Dong Fuyuan remain unmoved? Does he not know? Does he not take it seriously? Or did it all erupt today?

While he was pondering, Zhao Lingyun's call came in, directly asking, "Did Wenlong arrive in Huayuan?" He surely has his own information channels.

Lu Fan did not deny it and replied, "Hmm, he just called me; he's expected to reach Yiyang City tonight."

Zhao Lingyun, after finishing, said, "What does he plan to do? Will there be a big confrontation? At least give me a mental heads‑up."

"The Yiyang City matter isn't really your business, is it? With public opinion already out, the pressure can't be suppressed; it will likely be handled seriously."

"It has nothing to do with me; I'm just worried it'll blow up and bring too many negative effects to us. And after the matter is dealt with, won't there be a need for rectification? Isn't that my job? Just settle things with Wenlong; I'll coordinate with him."

"Alright, I'll call in a moment; you contact him directly."

At 4 p. m., Du Wenlong arrived in Xixian with his covert inspection team to investigate the issues shown in the video. He found that the wild trees and weeds along the main national, provincial, and county roads were indeed kept at a cut‑back height of about 10 cm, and some people were even trimming saplings.

Du Wenlong conducted covert interviews with nearby residents about these conditions and discovered that along the highway, 15 households had undergone 'white‑wall painting' and 'adding blue tiles' beautification, while other houses received no renovation, creating a stark contrast.

Du Wenlong went to a household and, smiling, asked, "Sir, why is your house painted so white? You're really diligent!"

The elder laughed, "I'm not idle, why bother painting? The town did it for free to cope with the higher‑up's inspection."

"Sir, are inspections frequent?"

"If they weren't many, could they make our row look like this? They come to inspect every few days; a few days ago a senior official came, saying he was the Municipal Party Secretary. Ah, all this superficial nonsense—hiring people to cut grass and saplings—what's the use? Money is wasted, it hurts to see. Never mind, it's none of our ordinary folks' business!"

……

The matter was simple; in less than an hour, Du Wenlong clarified the situation and preserved a large amount of evidence.

At 7 p. m. that night, with darkness settled, a knock sounded at Lu Fan's room.

When he opened the door, Du Wenlong, looking a bit excited, stood outside with a beaming smile and said, "Brother Fan, long time no see!"

"We've both been busy; it's been months since we last met. Come in, the tea is already brewed!"

After entering, the two sat on the sofa, chatting warmly; their friendship since childhood made them as close as brothers.

After some small talk, Lu Fan asked, "Chou Chou, how's the investigation going? Are the problems serious?"

Du Wenlong replied, "It can be big or small; the weeds and saplings must stay at 10 cm, which is absurd. The requirement applies only to the visible sections on both sides of the main road and the routes frequently inspected by leaders; the purpose is obvious—to show leaders the effect of residential environment renovation. Also, along the highway, 15 houses received 'white‑wall painting' and 'adding blue tiles' beautification, naturally also to pass inspection."

Lu Fan sighed, "At present, many officials in Huayuan have a distorted view of achievements; driven by the impulse for performance and personal gain, they use any means to meet goals, completely ignoring objective reality and the people's livelihood needs. Bad motives and improper purposes inevitably lead to misconduct."

"Behind formalism lie image projects and face‑saving projects; in substance, a twisted performance view is at work, caring only about visible achievements for leaders and indifferent to what leaders don't see. Their work's starting point isn't the people's livelihood but a glossy façade, which ends up exhausting the populace and squandering resources, becoming a laughingstock."

"Do whatever you think is right; only when the problem is exposed can it draw everyone's attention."

"Alright, Brother Fan, I know what to do now!"

In a short while, Zhou Xiang brought four appetizers and two bottles of baijiu; the two brothers raised glasses, exchanged drinks, their cups clinking, the wine half‑poured, and tears streamed down as they recalled the old days!

After breakfast the next day, Du Wenlong went to the Provincial Party Committee and exchanged views with Secretary Wang Jingchen, while Lu Fan continued the assessment work in Yiyang City.

The Director of the Inspection Office's arrival at the province was a major event; after receiving the report, Secretary Wang Jingchen set aside his work and met Du Wenlong immediately to discuss Yiyang City's 'formalism' issue.

On January 16, Lu Fan returned to the Provincial Party Committee; Deputy Secretary‑General Qi Chengyin promptly came to report, bringing the Discipline Inspection Committee member's "Report on the Work Situation of Rectifying Improper Conduct and Corruption Around the Masses."

The report noted that formalism and bureaucratism were extremely resented by the masses, and cadres suffered greatly. The Supervisory Committee insisted on improving the disciplinary mechanism, strengthening supervision and rectification, and jointly publicizing typical cases; it dispatched teams to 13 provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities for overt and covert inspections, strictly investigating over‑frequent 'supervision‑inspection‑assessment', 'performance‑project', 'image‑project', and 'finger‑point formalism' issues, publicly reporting 32 cases, and ordering the halt and rectification of more than 700 blind 'landscape‑creation' projects.

The report mentioned that in Xixian, Yiyang City, Huayuan Province, the rural residential environment renovation was repeatedly over‑scaled, organizing the masses into a 'people‑grass battle', with excessive inspections and evaluations and 'face‑project' issues; they cared only about 'face' and ignored the 'substance', increasing the burden on grassroots cadres and the people, and the language was especially sharp.

At 4 p. m., Lu Fan received a notice that Secretary Wang Jingchen had urgently convened a five‑person group meeting, likely to study the Discipline Inspection Committee's 'notification' concerning issues related to Yiyang City.

At 3:50 p. m., Zhao Lingyun arrived at Lu Fan's office to give an early heads‑up.

After a few words, Governor Liu Linghao pushed the door open and said, "Perfect, you're both here; what's your take on the Yiyang matter?"

Lu Fan replied, "It depends on Secretary Jingchen's opinion, but I suspect a batch of people will need to be dealt with; otherwise we can't report back to the higher‑ups."

Liu Linghao said, "If Dong Fuyuan is to be dealt with, what's your stance?"

Hearing this, Zhao Lingyun remained silent and looked toward Lu Fan.

Lu Fan said slowly, "He is a cadre promoted by Secretary Tang Bang; let's watch and see."