Chapter 872

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Protagonist:

Li Xiulan

The doctor's expression was heavy; he did not answer directly, but said:

"Since it's been discovered, let's treat it actively. Mindset is very important. I'll write you an admission slip; get hospitalized first, then we'll evaluate. We'll combine your own condition to give you an optimal treatment plan. At that time we'll see whether it's surgery, or radiotherapy, or chemotherapy."

Zhang Zhongtian nodded:

"Good, good, Doctor, you must definitely help me. I know you're a top expert; you certainly have a way, right? As long as you can cure me, afterward I'll give you a big red envelope."

The doctor looked Zhang Zhongtian up and down:

"Don't say things like that. I'm just doing my duty. Also, don't give me a red envelope; I don't accept that. If you have the heart, send me a pennant banner later."

Zhang Zhongtian hurriedly nodded:

"Good, good."

So that very day Zhang Zhongtian was arranged to be hospitalized.

The next day various examinations were done again.

The doctor came over and asked whether he wanted a percutaneous biopsy.

"What's a percutaneous biopsy?"

Zhang Zhongtian didn't understand.

The doctor explained:

"It's taking a small piece of cancer cells from your lung for lab testing to further confirm what type of cancer it is."

"Wasn't it said to be small cell carcinoma?" Zhang Zhongtian questioned.

The doctor said: "That was only judged from appearance; it still can't be completely confirmed. To be one hundred percent certain of the cancer type, a percutaneous biopsy is needed."

Zhang Zhongtian then asked:

"Does this percutaneous biopsy have any risks?"

The doctor said:

"There are certainly risks. The biggest risk is it might cause cancer cells to metastasize, but technology is much better now; the probability of metastasis from biopsy is very small."

Zhang Zhongtian understood nothing about this matter.

On top of that, he was eager for treatment.

So in the end he agreed to the biopsy.

The biopsy results came out quickly.

The expert doctor truly lived up to being an expert doctor.

Just as he had judged, it was small cell lung cancer.

Immediately the expert doctor and his medical team swiftly formulated a treatment plan: surgery to remove first, then chemotherapy afterward, hoping to kill all the cancer cells.

The surgery went fairly smoothly; before long Zhang Zhongtian could be discharged.

As for chemotherapy, it would have to wait until his body recovered somewhat before proceeding.

Zhang Zhongtian returned to Shanggou Village, his body weak beyond measure.

The position of Village Committee Secretary was one he could no longer handle.

The Town decided to select a new Village Committee Secretary.

Coincidentally at this time a policy came down from above, pushing for younger village cadres.

"Right now Shanggou Village has only three relatively young men: Liang Xinghua, Wang Erhai, and your son Zhang Zhiqiang. Old Zhang, in your opinion, which of these three is more suitable to take over your position?"

A Town Leader came to visit Zhang Zhongtian and asked this question.

Zhang Zhongtian naturally hoped his son Zhang Zhiqiang would inherit his mantle.

Only if his son continued as Village Committee Secretary could his family's connections and wealth be preserved.

If his son couldn't sit in the Village Committee Secretary's seat, once he passed, the Town Leaders would no longer look after his family, and his family's business would definitely be impossible to run.

For example, that New Era Restaurant — without the Town Leaders' patronage, it absolutely couldn't stay in business.

However, Zhang Zhongtian knew he couldn't directly recommend his own son; otherwise his selfish motive would be too obvious.

So he said:

"Liang Xinghua and Wang Erhai are both fine; don't mention my son. Although he has some ability, if I bring him up, people will think I have selfish motives."

The Town Leader said:

"This depends on ability, not selfish motives. How about this: we'll organize a symposium, invite the three of them to attend, ask their views on rural development, then select a Temporary Village Cadre to replace you, Old Zhang, based on their performance. As for a formal Village Cadre, that still has to wait until next year, produced through a formal election."

Zhang Zhongtian expressed agreement.

The Town Leader telling him this already counted as giving him special treatment.

Him learning this information in advance also meant he could prep his son ahead of time, have his son prepare thoroughly, then go attend that symposium.

At that time his son just had to follow the routine, say all the lines prepared in advance, and replacing him as Temporary Village Party Secretary should have no problem.

This morning, the Town Leader personally came to the Wang Family's new house.

This building had already been renovated more or less completely; only some finishing work remained.

Wang Erhai and Liang Xinghua were both working here. Wang Erhai had already mastered some basic renovation skills; he worked with great vigor, always full of vitality.

Most importantly, he felt that doing masonry now, without having to play human relations games, had much less pressure than when he was a real estate intermediary boss before.

"Are Wang Erhai and Liang Xinghua here?"

A middle-aged man came inside the new building and called out.

"I'm Wang Erhai. What is it?"

Wang Erhai set down the grey bucket in his hand and asked.

"I'm the Deputy Town Mayor from the Town. My name is Zhong Hongtao. I want to find you and Liang Xinghua to go attend an important meeting."

Wang Erhai was stunned, puzzled:

"What meeting? We haven't done anything wrong."

Zhong Hongtao smiled:

"Don't worry, we won't make things difficult for you. There's a benefit in it for you!"

Wang Erhai was even more puzzled:

"What benefit?"

Zhong Hongtao, however, kept them in suspense:

"You'll know when you get there!"

Wang Erhai then said:

"Alright then, I'll call Xiong Hua Shu."

He then went up to the second floor and called Liang Xinghua.

The two followed Zhong Hongtao and together came to the Town Government.

They entered an office.

They discovered Zhang Zhiqiang was also here.

And he was holding a sheet of A4 paper in his hand, with some things written on it, and he was silently reciting the content on the paper.

Zhong Hongtao was responsible for presiding over this meeting. Besides him, several other Town Government leaders had also come, all of whom Wang Erhai and Liang Xinghua did not know.

Zhong Hongtao said with a smile:

"The reason I asked the three of you to come this time is mainly to ask you young people what your views are on rural development. You also know that the countryside has already declined now, there are hardly any young people left, so rural revitalization has become an extremely important issue. I want to hear your real thoughts. All of you speak up. Don't be nervous, don't be afraid of saying the wrong thing, just speak freely."

Liang Xinghua grinned honestly:

"Leader, you've got the wrong person asking me about this. I only know how to do labor, what would I know about rural revitalization? You should ask Erhai. He should understand. He runs a company in the County Town, he's a Big Boss!"

Zhong Hongtao looked at Wang Erhai:

"Wang Erhai, you've run a company too? Can't tell."

Wang Erhai smiled humbly:

"It's nothing, a small company, just managing a dozen or twenty people."

Then he said:

"As for rural revitalization and such, I don't understand it either. But I know that building a cultural room, getting those elderly fitness equipment, definitely won't revitalize the countryside. Do whatever the ordinary people need, that's what can revitalize the countryside. For example, right now Xiong Hua Shu's child is about to start school, but Shanggou Village Primary School has been closed for many years. We have to solve his child's schooling problem. Otherwise he'll definitely have to leave Shanggou Village. Even if he doesn't want to go, he'll have no choice."

Liang Xinghua immediately chimed in:

"Right, right, right. If the kid can't go to school, I'll definitely have to go to the City to work, and then take the kid there to go to school."

Zhong Hongtao nodded:

"This is indeed a problem. Now there are fewer young people in the countryside, and fewer children too. Most rural primary schools have been closed. With no schools, children can't study, and young people are even less willing to return to develop. It's a vicious cycle. But to reopen the rural primary school is obviously unrealistic."

Speaking here, Zhong Hongtao looked at Zhang Zhiqiang:

"Zhang Zhiqiang, your child is also about to start school. What suggestions do you have on this?"

Zhong Hongtao was deliberately giving Zhang Zhiqiang a chance to perform.

As long as his following answer was passable, selecting him as the Shanggou Village Temporary Cadre should have no accidents.

However, Zhang Zhiqiang's reaction was beyond the expectations of all the Town Government cadres present.

"Ah?" Zhang Zhiqiang was stunned. "Suggestions, ah, let me think."

He was a bit bewildered.

Because what was written on that paper he held were all empty, grandiose clichés.

For example, "strengthen rural cultural landscape construction, implement rural revitalization planning, achieve sustainable development" and so on.

Asking him to analyze problems with concrete examples and solve specific problems, he hadn't prepared answers in advance.

This left him unable to answer for a moment.