Chapter 33

Zhao Jiefang lied through his teeth, "No, absolutely not."

"Why are you lot still sitting there? Why haven't you greeted the Town Mayor yet?"

"Mayor Su, let me introduce them to you. They are the Village Director, the Deputy Village Director, the Village Committee Member, and the Women's Director, respectively."

"There wasn't much going on in the village today, so we were just having a little entertainment at home."

"Under normal circumstances, we are all working at the village committee office."

"Does the Town Mayor have any instructions for us?"

Although he said this, one could tell that Zhao Jiefang was already extremely dissatisfied.

You, the Town Mayor, are a leader, but you don't directly manage me, the local tyrant of this village.

What are you acting so high and mighty for?

"Recently is the peak period for flash floods. Has your village carried out the relevant flood prevention work?"

"Do you have a corresponding contingency plan?"

Su Yang asked directly.

"The town has never given us any money, so how are we supposed to do flood prevention work?"

"Mayor Su, I'm afraid you haven't understood the situation yet."

Zhao Jiefang's words were actually the truth; he really hadn't seen a single cent, so what was he supposed to use to carry out flood prevention work?

"So you just ignore the flash floods every year? Let them run rampant? What if someone loses their life?" Su Yang said coldly.

"Heh, so many years have passed, and nothing has happened."

"Otherwise, I'll take you to see the dam built in front." After Zhao Jiefang finished speaking, he walked straight outside.

Zhou Tai wanted to scold him for not giving the Town Mayor any face, but he was stopped by Su Yang, who happened to want to go and take a look.

They walked along the slow uphill slope for more than forty minutes before they reached the so-called dam.

But this dam was just a shallow beach; let alone a massive flash flood, even a flood after an ordinary rainstorm would wash directly into the village.

No wonder so many people died after the flash flood in his previous life.

"You call this a dam?"

"If a flash flood came down, wouldn't it just flow right over it?"

"What happens to the many households below if they get washed away? What if lives are lost?"

Su Yang questioned him.

Zhao Jiefang took a puff of his cigarette and said indifferently, "Mayor Su, you don't understand the situation."

"Look down; below is a flood drainage ditch over three meters wide. For so many years, no matter how much water there was, it all flowed away through the drainage ditch."

"How could any lives be lost? If they could have been, they would have been long ago."

"I've shown you the place; I still have things to go back and deal with in the village."

Zhao Jiefang turned to leave as soon as he finished speaking.

"Stop."

"There will be a rainstorm tonight; you must immediately gather the villagers to evacuate."

"Evacuate everyone to higher ground."

Su Yang roared.

Having lived two lives, he had seen many village party secretaries of this local-tyrant type in his previous life.

But they could usually at least keep up appearances; this Zhao Jiefang, however, was arrogant to the extreme.

"Heh, it's clear skies for miles; where would a rainstorm come from?"

"The weather is almost roasting people like cured meat, and you're talking about a rainstorm? I actually wish it would really rain."

"The Town Mayor wouldn't be looking at the weather forecast, would he?"

"These days, the weather forecast is the most prone to errors."

"Nine times out of ten, it's inaccurate."

Zhao Jiefang said this with great disdain and strode away with his people.

"Zhao Jiefang, you stop..." Zhou Tai was anxious and wanted to go up and block Zhao Jiefang.

"No need, just let him go."

"He won't be able to be arrogant for many more hours." Su Yang said coldly.

He knew clearly in his heart that this was highly likely Li Tian playing tricks behind the scenes again.

Even if he forcibly kept Zhao Jiefang, Zhao Jiefang wouldn't listen to him and evacuate the villagers.

Now he could only think of other ways.

"Zhou Tai, let's go find the villagers nearby and tell them directly to evacuate themselves," Su Yang said.

"This... the villagers here are all very stubborn; it's quite difficult to get them to evacuate."

"And there's absolutely no sign of rain; it's very hard to make them believe it... but I'll go try."

Zhou Tai also harbored some doubts in his heart, but since the Town Mayor was so certain, he, as the liaison officer, could only execute the order unconditionally.

"Secretary, do you think Su Yang is stupid?"

"I thought he was going to do some other work, but he came running over to talk about flood prevention. His brain must have been kicked by a donkey."

"Exactly, it's damn near roasting people to death; our village hasn't had a single drop of rain this year. I really hope a big rain comes."

The two village directors who had been playing cards with Zhao Jiefang said.

"Heh, a young man who hasn't even shed his baby hair knows nothing. He's just trying to show off his presence."

"He must not be getting any respect in the town, so he wants to come to the village to find a sense of importance."

"He picked the wrong target." Zhao Jiefang mocked.

He knew the situation in the town very well; Li Tian didn't become Town Mayor this time, so whoever else became it wouldn't be effective.

"Secretary, I always feel that this Mayor Su is not to be trifled with."

"He was sent here to be Town Mayor, so he must have someone above him."

"If he were just here to slack off and pad his resume, he could just stay in the office and enjoy the air conditioning; why come here?"

"And, Secretary, unlike a village director, he wasn't elected by the village; he was directly appointed by the town."

"The town can appoint him, and they can also remove him from office... I'm worried..."

Although the Women's Director was somewhat loose, a woman's sixth sense would never lie.

"Hmph, you say he'll remove me from office? Can he?"

"This has to go through the Party Committee meeting. Just him, a lone commander, wanting to remove me? What kind of international joke is that?"

"Let's go, go back and keep playing cards..."

Zhao Jiefang didn't care at all, or rather, he looked down on Su Yang entirely.

He had given Li Tian plenty of benefits; could Li Tian let someone remove him?

Su Yang and Zhou Tai wandered around the village for a long time without meeting anyone, and finally, in the courtyard of a relatively remote house, they saw an old man with a hunched back.

Su Yang stepped forward to greet him, "Old man..."

"Hmm, it's you?" The old man, who had been packing apples into bags in the courtyard, turned around to look, and both he and Su Yang were startled.

"Old Man Liu, is this your home?"

"Kind person, you really are the Town Mayor? Hurry and sit inside."

Su Yang and Zhou Tai were invited into the house. Su Yang looked around and saw that, apart from a few shabby wooden furniture pieces, there was nothing else in the room.

It was evident how poor they were.

"Old Man Liu, I've been walking around for a long time; why haven't I seen anyone in the other houses?" Su Yang asked.

"They all went to the town to hand in their apples and won't be back until tonight."

"Yes, they are handing them in to the group I mentioned before; they have to hand them in."

"We are just an example." Old Man Liu said helplessly.

"So that's how it is. Old Man Liu, I've come this time for an important matter."

"I received a notice that there will be a heavy rainstorm tonight, which will lead to flash floods and mudslides. Everyone in your village must evacuate."

"See if there's any way to notify the other villagers as quickly as possible."

"I'm afraid it will be too late if we wait..."