Chapter 405

Lin Dongfan's big foolish move isn't complicated at all.

Simply put.

It's just two steps: open and covert.

On the surface, let the village head lead all the village fishermen to the Civil Affairs Bureau's canteen to sit and wait for a meal. The Ocean and Fishery Bureau seized the village's fishing boats, leaving them with nothing to eat. Livelihood issues fall under the Civil Affairs Bureau. The bigwigs of the Civil Affairs Bureau can't just cross their legs and pretend they see nothing; they must force them to confront the Fishery Bureau people.

In secret, Lin Dongfan plans to give a small report to Provincial Party Committee Secretary Wang Daochen, embellishing the story of how the village fishermen were forced into desperation.

Once Wang Daochen is shaken, the officials of Haishan will surely have someone get punished.

Of course, Lin Dongfan didn't tell the villagers about reporting to Wang Daochen. This cannot be spoken of, because revealing it might expose his badass identity.

Lin Dongfan asked the village head: "Do you dare to go to the Civil Affairs Bureau's canteen to mooch a meal? I'll reimburse your travel expenses to the city."

"Mooching a meal..."

The village head hesitated a bit, puffing on two cigarettes with a furrowed brow.

This state is just like when Cao Wei launched its campaign to destroy Shu at the end of the Eastern Han, and Cao's famed general Deng Ai hesitated whether to lead 30,000 troops on a sneak attack on Chengdu.

He looks both solemn and somewhat wary.

The complex expression was seen by Xiao Yu in her eyes, worry in her heart. As the saying goes, a man remains a boy till death. She guessed the village head also wanted to shake things up and do something grand.

But he lacks the gumption; he needs someone to give him a hard push.

So Xiao Yu mustered her courage and provoked the village head's authority: "Village chief, if you're scared, then give up your position to me—I'll lead people to mooch a meal at the Civil Affairs Bureau."

Upon hearing that, the village head gave a sideways glance, everything swallowed in gloom.

Seeing Lin Dongfan give him a look, Chen Dingchao immediately understood and added fuel to the fire: "Village chief, if you really intend to yield and give your position to Xiao Yu, I'm the first to object. Our village still has men alive; when would it be an eighteen‑year‑old girl's turn to step forward?"

"If you don't speak, no one will take you for a mute!"

The village head felt embarrassed to talk back to Lin Dongfan's big shot beside him—Xiao Yu—but he had no qualms talking back to Chen Dingchao, giving him a glare, old and gruff.

People need face, trees need bark.

He may have lived his life like a salted fish, but to admit he's inferior to an eighteen‑year‑old girl is something he could never accept, even in death.

"All who can still breathe in the village, grab your bedding and follow me!"

The village head, hunched back, stepped away from the dock with heavy steps.

The sturdy young men on the dock all followed.

If we let them go alone to occupy the Civil Affairs Bureau's canteen, they definitely wouldn't dare. But if a crowd goes together, their courage grows—flipping tables would be no problem.

Zhang Yinlan of the Haishan City Civil Affairs Bureau.

Female.

She has sat in the bureau chief's seat for seven years, having aged from a beautiful young wife into today's middle‑aged aunt.

Recently, Zhang Yinlan has had several worries.

First, her period hasn't come.

At first she thought she was pregnant, panicking wildly. A hospital check revealed the truth: it was even scarier than pregnancy—menopause.

She's only in her early forties; the doctor asked if her workload had been too heavy lately.

That's pure nonsense.

She couldn't be bothered to answer, choosing to accept her fate.

The second thing troubling her is that a rival seeking promotion spread a rumor that she kept a pretty boy, seriously damaging her political image.

Of course…

The third thing troubling her is already on its way, though she hasn't realized it yet—this matter is more terrifying than menopause and more stimulating than rumors.

She picked up the desk phone.

After dialing the target's number, she angrily demanded: "Surname Han, are you the one spreading rumors about me? You have the guts to gossip behind my back, but not to own up?"

On the other end of the line was Han Zhang of the Ocean and Fishery Bureau.

Han Zhang had gone on a three‑day, three‑night gambling binge in Macau, returning penniless—even his boat ticket was bought by a friend—and these past two days he's felt so depressed he wishes he were dead.

He exploded over the phone, shouting: "I fucked your mother! You handle civil affairs, I handle fisheries—there's no way our paths cross! And you won't let me sleep with you, so what good does spreading rumors about you do me?"

Still stubborn as a dead duck!

Zhang Yinlan angrily retorted: "Lately, just to get promoted to vice‑mayor, you've practically been licking Guo Someone's shoes! You have no shame! I'm your rival, not someone you can bad‑mouth—who else would bad‑mouth you?"

Upon hearing that, Han Zhang was so furious he nearly threw his phone to the ground.

He bellowed: "Zhang Yinlan, quit spitting blood here! I, Han Zhang, may not be a paragon of virtue, but I am a man over two hundred pounds! My weight is my character!"

"What character do you have? You're the most shameless person in the city!" Zhang Yinlan yelled, getting more worked up.

Han Zhang solemnly realized the social directive 'good men don't fight women'—not that he didn't want to fight, but mainly he couldn't win against Zhang Yinlan; his background wasn't as strong as hers.

Thus he suppressed his temper and explained:

"First, I never thought about moving up a step; I know what position I can climb to, and you've got it wrong—I'm not your rival. Second, think hard: have you recently offended someone? Don't just dump blame on me every time something goes wrong."

Zhang Yinlan was about to curse again when the office door was suddenly flung open with a bang.

Office Director Chen rushed in, flustered: "Director Zhang, big trouble! The fishermen from the old dock have stormed our canteen with their bedding rolls—over a hundred people. Their village chief is leading them, saying they have no food, no place to stay, they're refusing to leave the canteen, and claiming our Civil Affairs Bureau doesn't care about their life or death."

Upon hearing that, Zhang Yinlan's head buzzed; she couldn't fathom which deity she had offended, as each new problem seemed bigger than the last.

She didn't even bother to continue arguing with Han Zhang on the phone, hung up, and stormed out of the office fuming.

She walked into the canteen hall and took a look.

The scene was practically a refugee camp; the hall was packed tight with fishermen, every face showing resentment.

Although the village head stood at the front, hunched over, his eyes revealed a stubborn resolve.

Zhang Yinlan demanded of the village head: "What are you doing? This is the Civil Affairs Bureau, not a charity hall! Who let you come? As grassroots officials, you have no organizational discipline at all!"

"Director Zhang, we have no choice—please show some understanding."

Faced with Zhang Yinlan's overwhelming presence, the village head still lacked confidence; his reply came out in a tiny voice, a meek aura emanating from his bones that he could not conceal.

He steadied himself.

Then he continued to explain to Zhang Yinlan: "The Ocean and Fisheries Bureau detained our village's fishing boats, not allowing us to go out to fish. Now everyone can't even get a meal, some even have no place to live. Everyone can't survive, I can only bring everyone to find you. Hope you can help us, we don't want to cause trouble."

Zhang Yinlan was so angry she could neither laugh nor cry, wanted to scold but couldn't get the words out.

She angrily criticized the village elder: "The Fisheries Bureau detained your boats, you should go to the Fisheries Bureau, why come to our Civil Affairs Bureau? Nonsense."

The village elder was scolded into speechlessness, timidly lowering his head.

At this moment Chen Dingchao stood up righteously: "Now we have no food, no place to live, isn't this something your Civil Affairs Bureau should handle?"