Chapter 958: The Popularity Is Simply Too High!

Since Shi Yao proposed wanting to conduct research at the grassroots level, Tang Ye naturally had to satisfy her request...

At four in the afternoon, Tang Ye arrived at the Party Committee Office of the County Party Secretary.

"Secretary Shi, the car is ready. When shall we set off?"

Shi Yao nodded slightly and stood up: "Let's go now!"

After getting in the car, Tang Ye told Shi Yao about several alternative research routes.

Shi Yao chose the route along the Yuyan Expressway.

This highway was the most core work task since Shi Yao took office.

For the development of Dayu, it was both a good thing and a difficult one.

If she handled this matter well, she could quickly achieve political success and establish prestige.

They traveled light with a small entourage.

Aside from the driver Chen Zhi, there were only Tang Ye and Shi Yao; they did not even bring a Liaison Officer.

Tang Ye and Shi Yao sat in the back row of the sedan, and along the way, he kept introducing the cultural background of the townships they passed.

Tang Ye's level of familiarity with Dayu County made Shi Yao secretly surprised.

She realized that the reason Tang Ye could do his work so well was because he had put in enough effort to study Dayu County; on this point, she herself also had to work hard.

"How are you so knowledgeable about Dayu County?"

"I flipped through the local gazetteers of Dayu County a while ago. Dayu County actually has quite a deep cultural foundation."

"I heard that the copper mine of Haichen Mining was discovered because you read the local gazetteers?"

"That is a bit of an exaggeration. Haichen has a professional Exploration Team; I only played an auxiliary role!"

Learning some details from Tang Ye's mouth gave Shi Yao a new understanding of him.

Before coming, the evaluation of Tang Ye was that this person was a genius at political achievement.

Shi Yao graduated from a prestigious university; what kind of genius hadn't she seen?

But after interacting with him, Shi Yao found that Tang Ye's emotional intelligence and IQ were indeed very outstanding.

They parked at the entrance of Fenglin Village.

Tang Ye said to Shi Yao: "Secretary Shi, I have looked into it; today Fenglin Village is holding a Baba Meeting! I didn't notify them in advance; how about we go over and take a look?"

A Baba Meeting?

Shi Yao looked at Tang Ye in surprise.

Tang Ye nodded and explained: "It's where village cadres and villagers sit together to communicate face-to-face in the manner of chatting, publicizing policies, and listening to demands, making grassroots governance warmer and more grounded."

This was a grassroots governance model that Tang Ye had spearheaded and promoted after he took office as Deputy County Party Secretary last year.

The Party Branch Secretary of the village committee, Guo Dong, was sitting at the village entrance smoking.

He was a person who worked in a down-to-earth and responsible manner.

After learning the Baba Meeting model from the town, he would notify everyone to hold a meeting through the broadcast every few days.

Many people came today because it involved road construction and compensation interests, so every household had sent a representative to attend.

Guo Dong was just pondering what to talk about today when he saw three strangers walking over from not far away.

One of the faces looked familiar to him, and he waited for the other party to walk closer.

Only then did Guo Dong dare to confirm that the person who came was the County Leader, Tang Ye.

It was just that he muttered to himself: "The County Leader came to the village; why didn't the town notify us in advance or send cadres to accompany them?"

Tang Ye walked straight toward Guo Dong: "You are Comrade Guo Dong, the Party Branch Secretary of Fenglin Village, right? I am Tang Ye, and this is the new County Party Secretary, Comrade Shi Yao!"

"It really is Secretary Tang! I thought I had seen wrong!

Hello, Secretary Shi! Please sit down, please sit down!"

Guo Dong was enthusiastic yet somewhat nervous; he hurriedly moved a stool and subconsciously wiped the stool surface with his sleeve.

"The conditions in the countryside are simple; Secretary Shi, Secretary Tang, please bear with us!"

Shi Yao responded with a smile: "Hello everyone! I am Shi Yao. I heard you were holding a Baba Meeting today, so I came over to listen. You go ahead and chat; don't be nervous."

The villagers began to whisper to each other.

The City Television Station was rebroadcasting *Kangxi Incognito Travel*.

The County Party Committee leaders bypassed the township cadres and came directly to the village.

This situation was similar to Kangxi's incognito travels.

Shi Yao looked toward Tang Ye and saw him take a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket and start handing them out to the male villagers.

Everyone was happily smoking the cigarettes handed to them by Secretary Tang.

The atmosphere instantly became lively.

Tang Ye sat back down and asked: "The county plans to rebuild this road at the village entrance; does everyone have any thoughts you'd like to share?"

Guo Dong hurriedly replied: "Building the road is a great thing; we welcome it with both hands! The town mentioned this at a meeting, and everyone is quite supportive."

He paused, then changed the subject: "It's just that this time the road construction requires widening and changing the route, which will occupy a lot of our village's farmland. Our village has a tradition of growing vegetables, and selling vegetables is an important source of income. Once it is occupied by the highway, everyone's income will definitely be affected."

Several women nearby hurriedly echoed: "We support building the road, but you can't cut off our livelihood!"

This was an extremely realistic problem; the villagers naturally did not want to lose an important source of income because of the road construction.

Another woman in the crowd said loudly: "You must give us enough compensation, otherwise I am not willing to give up such good fields!"

Party Branch Secretary Guo frowned and scolded: "Speak properly! Why are you acting so unreasonable? Move aside!"

Shi Yao waved her hand: "It's fine. I came today to hear the truth and the facts. As long as it is what is in your hearts, I am happy to listen. I have noted down the opinions you raised, and I can also clearly tell everyone that these problems will be properly resolved."

Seeing that Shi Yao was so open-minded, others also opened up and talked about their respective difficulties.

Shi Yao took out her notebook and recorded them earnestly.

Before they knew it, the sun had set.

Guo Dong asked softly, "Secretary Shi, it is getting late; why not have dinner in the village before leaving?"

Shi Yao smiled and politely declined, "No, no! We are heading back, we won't disturb everyone any further."

Having said that, Shi Yao stood up.

Tang Ye stood behind Shi Yao and shook hands with Branch Secretary Guo, "If you encounter any difficulties, you can contact me directly."

Branch Secretary Guo noted down Tang Ye's mobile number and said excitedly, "Alright! You are welcome to visit often!"

The villagers accompanied Shi Yao and Tang Ye all the way to the village entrance, watching as the car drove away.

"Branch Secretary Guo, your influence isn't quite big enough; you didn't manage to keep the County Leader here for a meal!" someone teased.

"Hey, they were here for a random unannounced inspection! Our village is lucky; there is bound to be major development coming next!" Guo Dong said with a smile on his lips.

"How so?" the crowd asked curiously.

Guo Dong said proudly, "Wherever Secretary Tang goes, good things happen! Shanyang Village was so poor before, but he managed to turn it into an internet-famous village. Everyone just wait for the good news; with this road construction, our village will definitely see major development!"

Shi Yao felt that this research trip had gone quite smoothly.

However, being too smooth also made her feel a sense of regret.

From Shi Yao's tone and expression, Tang Ye naturally guessed what she was thinking.

She actually hoped to see some practical problems, preferably encountering some thorny issues so she could severely rectify those bad practices and behaviors.

But Tang Ye's current fame was simply too high!

As soon as they entered the village, they were recognized by Branch Secretary Guo.

There was simply no opportunity for the two of them to play the pig to eat the tiger!

A thought popped into Shi Yao's mind: next time she conducts research, she cannot let Tang Ye tag along.

She wanted to see the most authentic Dayu County for herself.

To truly go deep into the grassroots level and figure out exactly what problems existed in Dayu County.

On the return journey, Tang Ye and Shi Yao chatted a lot, and their relationship grew much closer.

In Tang Ye's view, Shi Yao was a female cadre with ideas and courage.

Shi Yao, on the other hand, felt that Tang Ye had extremely high emotional intelligence.

Her resolve grew stronger to win him over to her camp.

"I plan to go to the Provincial Capital in a few days; would you like to go with me then?" Shi Yao suddenly brought it up.

"Alright." Tang Ye readily agreed!

The trip to the Provincial Capital was likely to secure supporting funds for the Yuyan Expressway.