Chapter 544: Meals for entertaining the Vice Governor

As far as the two leaders from the Transportation Department and the Tourism Department were concerned, they were proper, bona fide department-level cadres.

It was only natural for them to speak from a position of superiority; even if they were offering guidance on work or sharing personal opinions during the meal, Zhou Hongtao and the other two had to listen attentively. But now, they had swallowed back everything they wanted to say; they certainly didn't want to return home in disgrace like Gao Daliang.

In their minds, it wasn't that there were no influential division-level cadres, but such people were usually in Jingcheng, or they had come down to economically developed provinces to hold temporary posts and gild their resumes. How could they possibly come to such a godforsaken place?

Could it be that one of these few people possessed immense power? Otherwise, such an act of insubordination in the strictly hierarchical system would absolutely not happen.

In the following segment where they were supposed to say a few words, they acted very kindly and democratically, basically giving Zhou Hongtao and the other two opportunities to seek policy and support from them. For a moment, things actually became very harmonious.

Inside the township government canteen, on a table with peeling paint and a crippled leg, were served shredded potatoes, spicy stir-fried Chinese cabbage, and a plate of black flour steamed buns.

Seeing this scene, Mayor Gao couldn't help but knit his brows tightly. He really wanted to give Su Yang a good dressing down; this kid was going too far. Even if you knew the leaders well and had a good private relationship, that wasn't how you did things.

When a leader says they want to eat in the canteen, it's basically a standard move—on one hand, to project a positive image, and on the other, to advocate for frugality. But in reality, the so-called canteen food isn't necessarily worse than outside restaurants, and local cadres rack their brains to make fancy dishes. Even if the leader insists on "four dishes and one soup," they can still serve you over a dozen dishes, cleverly packed into four basins.

Besides, didn't Xiushui Township have game? They had spent so much time coming over from the township government at the foot of Xiushui Mountain; if they had just made a phone call to prepare, he didn't believe they couldn't produce a decent and presentable meal.

Even if they didn't prepare deliberately, he didn't believe the township government ate potatoes and cabbage every day; anyone would find that unacceptable. Others do their best to make things as good as possible, changing up the variety, but you are changing up the variety to make things worse. He could accept it, but what about Vice Governor Huang? Private is private, but appearances are appearances.

Feeling the angry gaze cast by Mayor Gao, Su Yang simply lowered his head to look at his toes, acting as if he hadn't seen it at all. He was doing this entirely on purpose, wanting the leaders to know just how difficult the conditions in the township were—it wasn't that they couldn't afford four dishes, but that they couldn't afford to eat.

Standing outside the canteen, the members of the Xiushui Township leadership team were all trembling; they really didn't understand why Su Yang had to do this. If one thing went wrong, not only would Su Yang suffer, but they would all be dragged down with him.

Huang Dacheng, however, looked at Su Yang with great interest and said, "Is this kid doing this on purpose? Or are you trying to embarrass me? What kind of scenes haven't I seen? You want to use this to test me? Keep dreaming. I really haven't eaten these potatoes, cabbage, and black flour buns in years; I just happen to want to reminisce."

That was what he said, but in reality, he might have eaten potatoes and cabbage, but he had only heard of the so-called black flour buns. Coming from a family like theirs, how could they possibly eat such food?

As he spoke, he sat down and grabbed a black flour bun to take a bite without any ceremony: "Not bad, the taste is quite good. When I leave later, I'll take a few back for the cadres in the office to taste, to let them experience the canteen of grassroots cadres. You all don't just stand there; I feel embarrassed eating alone, and with these two big basins, I can't finish them."

Only then did Mayor Gao heave a sigh of relief. If Vice Governor Huang were to get angry over this matter, he might not necessarily scold Su Yang to his face, but he would definitely scold him.

He hurriedly echoed: "Vice Governor Huang is right. We people are often in the offices and don't understand the hardships of grassroots cadres. Every day we only know how to push tasks down to them, but rarely pay attention to their living conditions. On this point, I must reflect to Vice Governor Huang; in the future, when grasping work, I must also improve their food."

Su Yang lowered his head and gnawed on his bun without speaking; there was no room for him to speak at all. He had already gone too far by pulling this stunt, so how could he dare to open his mouth? And according to the rules, if the leader didn't ask, he couldn't talk too much.

Vice Governor Huang ate a few bites, then suddenly seemed to remember something and asked, "Su Yang, you should say a few words. What is your intention in feeding me this? If you have any purpose or request, let's hear it."

Su Yang said, "Leader, I actually have no requests, and I dare not have any purpose; I am just reflecting the most real side of our Xiushui Township. Usually, what we eat is about the same as this—clear soup and little water, without a drop of oil. The comrades complain every day, but sometimes the township's finances can't even come up with two or three hundred yuan for gas money. As the team leader, I feel ashamed in my heart."

Vice Governor Huang laughed directly: "You kid, you're glib at such a young age. You're just crying poor and want some money, aren't you? Fine, I'll allocate another 1 million to you for logistics support. I can't do the kind of thing where I want the horse to run but don't want it to eat grass."

Only then did Su Yang laugh and say, "Thank you, leader." Anyway, in his heart, if he could get some money, he would get some. Don't look at the tens of millions lying in the account; that was earmarked money. There wasn't a single cent that could truly be used to improve the township government's own conditions.

"Whether it's building roads or developing the Xiushui Mountain Scenic Area, the fundamental purpose is to let the common people get the greatest return. But at the same time, as the facade, the township government should still be tidied up. Don't wait for people to come here by reputation, only to see the township government looking so shabby and decide to turn back."

Vice Governor Huang was in the middle of speaking when his phone suddenly rang. After connecting, he only listened for two sentences before his expression became serious, and then he asked, "Is the situation serious? Can the local area solve it?"

Not knowing what the person on the other end said, Vice Governor Huang said again, "If it can be maintained, try to maintain it for the time being; a situation like this cannot be solved overnight. A tail that is too big to wag is a very troublesome problem, and if this is the case, the local leaders are likely responsible as well."

After finishing, he hung up the phone and didn't speak for several minutes. Su Yang was shocked—what on earth had happened to make Vice Governor Huang take it so seriously? ===== CHAPTER 545 =====