Chapter 436

Su Yang gave the old man a cigarette and asked, "Grandpa, do you know who the Party Committee Secretary of the township is now?"

"I heard he has a very high prestige in the village, and when people in the village have conflicts, it's always him, the Township Party Committee Secretary, who comes to mediate. Is that true?"

After hearing this, the old man's originally sad expression revealed a touch of mockery, "You're talking about Lu Kai? When has this person ever been so enthusiastic?"

"Comrade, you might not know, but he has a nickname: the Belly Secretary. He thinks about climbing onto women's bellies whenever he has nothing to do."

"Most of the beautiful young wives in the ten miles and eight villages around here have been ruined by Cui Mingjiu. Only those two women whom Cui Mingjiu doesn't like and who don't keep their wifely duties are having affairs with him."

"And precisely because of this, these two families originally had labor, and their lives were okay, but they were actually poor households in the village."

"Otherwise, how do you think our village's poor households became poor? Some are related to the village head, or the village head's relatives are poor households, and the other is the relationship in the township."

Su Yang asked, "Grandpa, you can't just say that. Do you have evidence?"

The old man said, "Not to mention the distant ones, just take this morning. The lazy rascal Liang Shanshui of our village somehow got the news that this time, people from the Poverty Alleviation Office from above were coming to the township to do work."

"He told his wife Wang Yan to let Lu Kai give their family three bags of white flour and 200 yuan, otherwise, he would expose Lu Kai and Wang Yan's affair to the county."

"Liang Shanshui's wife went to find Lu Kai, but it turned out Lu Kai didn't dare to make the decision this time, saying that the leaders from the county would be responsible for this work, and he didn't have much say in the township anyway; Cui Mingjiu had the final say."

"He didn't dare to agree, so Liang Shanshui first beat his wife Wang Yan and then took a kitchen knife to find Lu Kai, saying, 'You slept with my wife, why won't you even give a few bags of white flour...'"

"Lu Kai was terrified when he heard this, knowing he couldn't run away, so he quickly ran to their house to handle this matter."

"In the end, I heard Lu Kai privately promised to give them 300 yuan and the poor household quota for next year."

"As for the white flour, I don't know how they talked about it, but anyway, Liang Shanshui didn't make a scene anymore."

After hearing this, Su Yang was simply dumbfounded, so he asked, "So your meaning is that Liang Shanshui knew about his wife and Lu Kai's affair long ago, and he just turned a blind eye for a few bags of white flour?"

The old man said, "Yes, everyone in the village knows, let alone Liang Shanshui. Their family has really lost all the face of their ancestors. We are too embarrassed to talk about such shameless things, but they act as if nothing happened."

Xie Siyang and Gao Peixia's faces turned red with shame when they heard this. This simply shattered their worldview!

After leaving the old man's place, Su Yang sighed. He knew that in some poor places, some cadres relied on their status to maintain improper relationships with some women. The relationships between men and women were relatively chaotic, but he didn't expect it to be chaotic to this extent...

He really couldn't imagine what kind of heart this Liang Shanshui had to be able to tolerate such a thing.

Normally, any man would be unable to tolerate such a thing, but he actually treated this as a way of survival. His worldview was truly shattered.

Xie Siyang and Gao Peixia were even more disdainful, "Pah, can such a person even be called a human? They are simply worse than dogs."

"This woman also really has no sense of propriety, justice, and shame. What can't she do? She has to rely on her body to exchange for benefits, and it's just for a few bags of white flour."

"If I were a woman, I would have bumped my head and died long ago."

Su Yang said, "You haven't lived in the countryside and don't know the life of a poor rural area. What you saw just now is only a small part."

"I can tell you responsibly that as of now, the steamed buns that most families in Xiushui Xiang eat are made of black flour. White flour is only available to families who are living well."

"In other words, our work is very arduous. It's about time today, so let's go back and tidy up. It's almost time for dinner."

"It is necessary to have a good talk with this Township Party Committee Secretary Lu Kai. His personal style problem is very serious."

"If this matter goes to the county, the county leaders will be embarrassed too."

After the three of them returned, sure enough, three offices had been tidied up. They each took their sheets and quilts inside to spread them out, and after tidying up, it was time for dinner.

Just as they were about to go to the restaurant outside to eat, Cui Mingjiu came, "Director Su, we have officially arranged a welcome banquet for you tonight. Knowing you went to the village today, we didn't notify you in time. Why don't we go now? The comrades in the township are all waiting."

Su Yang said, "I'll accept the comrades' kindness. I've been wandering around the village for most of the day, so I'm really a bit tired. How about this: I'll treat everyone to a meal in a few days."

"Otherwise, I'll be caught by people with ulterior motives, who will say that I, a poverty alleviation cadre, came down and didn't do any real work, only knowing how to eat the finances of a poor township every day."

"This really doesn't fit my status. We'll just have two portions of rice and dishes, and it's agreed in advance that we will pay for it ourselves."

"Oh, and also, I've touched upon the basic situation in the village today. Starting tomorrow, you arrange for someone to go down to the village with us."

"We need to go to all the villages to take a look. After all, poverty alleviation work cannot be done blindly; there must be a clear goal."

When Cui Mingjiu heard this, he was very unhappy. Inviting leaders from above to dinner was an unwritten rule.

He didn't expect Su Yang not to give him this face. Wasn't that slapping him in the face? Today, he had endured Su Yang for a whole day. Since Su Yang didn't give him face, he wouldn't be polite anymore, "Fine, since Director Su says so, I won't force it. I'll have them send a few lunch boxes over in a while."

"Are the two female comrades going to have a meal with us? Get familiar with the comrades in the township. After all, you aren't like Director Su, and you don't have to worry about others catching your handle or affecting things badly."

"Don't worry, in our Xiushui Xiang, as long as I don't nod, no one dares to say anything."

"Besides, the comrades in the township also want to get to know the two female comrades. After all, you will be stationed in Xiushui Xiang in the future. Getting familiar with everyone is good for future work, isn't it?"

Su Yang clearly said he wouldn't go to dinner with them, and now he was openly inviting Xie Siyang and Gao Peixia to dinner. To put it bluntly, he was provoking Su Yang.

Anyway, if he did this, could you really say there was any problem? No. After all, it was someone's enthusiasm, but the purpose of disgusting people was definitely achieved.

If Su Yang stood up to respond to this question.

But he never expected Xie Siyang to speak up, "Township Mayor Cui, the peasant families we visited today don't even have food to eat. Is it appropriate for you township government cadres to eat big fish and meat every day? Ask yourself, do you have a conscience?"

"Even if you asked me to eat this kind of meal, I couldn't eat it. I'd rather stay in the office and soak instant noodles."

"Also, we are working under Director Su, and all actions are decided by Director Su. Don't come here to offer us your favors..."