Chapter 81: Don

When Li Tian was leaving, he didn't forget to cast a glance at Su Yang; the mockery and disdain in his eyes were plain to see.

Qin Chuan, however, didn't show any extra expression or movement, first accompanying Li Qingsheng and Deputy Secretary Liu as they headed outside. At this moment, he was as smug as one could possibly be.

This was an absolute victory in his political career, one that not only solidified his status in Huatian Town, but also meant that Su Yang would likely have to keep his tail tucked between his legs from now on.

If this kind of thing were to spread, Su Yang would not only be disgraced, but would also become a laughingstock among all the town government heads.

To let a town mayor be reduced to this state—truly, the coffin lids of all other town mayors wouldn't be able to stay shut.

Zhou Tai was furious. He said, "The Town Mayor and the others didn't just frame you; they even pulled this stunt. It's simply disgusting!"

"No, this matter must be clarified with the County Committee leadership. I've seen people bully others, but I've never seen bullying like this."

Li Hu was also indignant. "Mayor Su, let's go to the county seat for a meal, my treat. It's just too infuriating. Those who work hard get no benefits, while those who fawn over power and pull strings are rewarded by the leaders. What kind of world is this? It's enough to make one's heart go cold."

"Don't take it to heart. This matter isn't unsolvable. So many villagers are watching; they are different from these blind leaders. They keep in their hearts who treats them well."

Dai Yaxuan approached Su Yang coquettishly and said, "Mayor, we have a clear conscience, so what is there to fear? We can just have the *Lancheng Daily* issue a correction later, can't we? Besides, hundreds of people from Huatian Village witnessed what happened at the time. It's impossible to fake something like that."

"I know an editor at the *Lancheng Daily*. How about I go talk to them about this? If you agree, I'll go to the *Lancheng Daily* right now."

These two weren't just paying lip service; it was clear they were genuinely furious about this matter.

Standing up for one's leader and offending another leader who had already gained the upper hand and appeared to have a stronger background—this carried significant political risk.

If they weren't careful, as long as Li Tian remained in Huatian Town, the two of them would be relegated to the sidelines.

Su Yang's face, however, remained very calm. He truly didn't take such tricks and disgusting tactics to heart. But the attitude of these two did warm his heart.

He smiled faintly and said, "It's alright. Let him be arrogant for a while. You must believe that justice may be late, but it will never be absent."

"Besides, for them to publish such an article in the *Lancheng Daily* without distinguishing right from wrong, they must have deep connections. Even if we found a random editor or editor-in-chief, it probably wouldn't have much effect, and we'd end up owing people favors."

"For this kind of thing, we'll likely have to go to their superiors. Once something is published, it's hard to change."

"Don't worry about this matter. I'll handle it. You two just return to your posts and do your jobs well."

"If he really wants to suspend me, it's not something he can decide just by saying it; it has to pass through the County Party Standing Committee."

"At this moment, I suspect Li Qingsheng hasn't realized how much his old face is worth in the Standing Committee. Oh, right, Mayor Li, just as we discussed before, you supervise every single expense here."

"Have them made public. I suspect the Discipline Inspection Commission will be down here soon. Once I'm suspended, you'll take over the work I'm responsible for."

After his words fell, he felt something was off. He suddenly remembered: didn't Deputy Secretary Liu from the Discipline Inspection Commission come down? And he came with two staff members—why didn't they say they were here to supervise the post-disaster reconstruction work?

Thinking of this, he returned to his office and dialed Fang Jingwen directly.

"Secretary Fang, sorry to bother you, but regarding the matter I mentioned yesterday, did you send anyone over to our side?"

"I just had a meeting, and Deputy Secretary Liu from the Discipline Inspection Commission came down, but he only announced the situation regarding Li Bo being placed under 'double regulation'. It looks like he's leaving soon."

Fang Jingwen paused for a moment on the other end before saying, "Oh, I arranged that yesterday afternoon. How come no one has arrived yet? Don't worry about it; I'll send two more people. They should arrive by this afternoon."

"Rest assured, this matter won't be delayed."

Su Yang finally felt relieved. At the same time, he realized something: it seemed the internal Discipline Inspection Commission wasn't entirely convinced by Fang Jingwen, who had been parachuted in. Otherwise, how could it be that after the top leader gave the order, no one went to execute it?

And this Secretary Liu was clearly the disobedient one.

Moreover, looking at the situation, Fang Jingwen hadn't seen the newspaper article at all. This meant Li Qingsheng had come directly with the paper, and the County Committee hadn't been notified. They were likely waiting for the matter to ferment before showing this newspaper to the County Committee leaders, so as to achieve a better effect.

Truly, his intentions were malicious.

"By the way, don't forget about this Sunday. Today is already Friday; remember to come to the city the day after tomorrow."

At the end, Fang Jingwen added another sentence. She had repeated this matter several times already.

Su Yang said, "Yes, yes, this is the top priority in my heart. Even if I forget my own surname, I won't forget this. Rest assured."

With Su Yang temporarily suspended, no one was happier than Pan Yu Hai, Wang Qiang, and Hu San Guo.

The three of them gathered together, smoking until they were in a haze.

"Su Yang, that piece of work who doesn't know his own weight—dismissing this person today, dismissing that person tomorrow—in the end, he almost got himself dismissed."

"The next step after suspension is actually dismissal. It should be soon. When that time comes, he'll have to crawl back to wherever he came from."

"He doesn't even look at what kind of person he is, daring to contradict Minister Li. You have to know that Minister Li used to be one of Secretary Zhao's people. He has considerable influence in the county."

"Whether it's the County Magistrate or the Party Secretary, they all give him some face. This piece of trash—I reckon he'll be completely dismissed within a week. Let's see if he can still be as arrogant as he is now."

"Exactly, exactly. As soon as he arrived, he wanted to dismiss us. Hmph, let him dream his spring and autumn dreams. In this little patch of Huatian Town, it's still Mayor Li who calls the shots. Who does he think he is?"

"The most ridiculous thing is that he had the audacity to ask the *Lancheng Daily* to apologize. How much did he drink to say something like that? That's a media outlet of what weight? Never mind him, even if the County Magistrate went, it wouldn't work."

If these three weren't leaders in the county at the moment, they would probably have run to a dance hall in the county to celebrate.

Su Yang left the office and went to Huatian Village. Seeing the villagers under the leadership of the old branch secretary Liu Ximing, setting up tents and distributing disaster relief supplies in an orderly manner, he felt a bit more approval for Liu Ximing's work attitude.

Strictly speaking, since he wasn't the village branch secretary, it would be normal for him not to care about these things.

"Oh, Mayor Su is here, Mayor Su is here, fellow villagers."

"Hello, Mayor Su!"

Seeing Su Yang, the crowd gathered around him one after another.

In their hearts, Su Yang was now the best official in the town. Never mind the town, even in the county or city, they only recognized Su Yang. Because only Su Yang had helped them solve practical problems.

The common people were just that pure.

"Hello everyone, the supplies should be enough for now, right?" Su Yang said with a smile.

"Enough, enough. With the supplies that were brought in, I think we'd be fine even for a year."

"In the past, they always said the Party's policies were good, the Party's policies were good, but in reality, we had never seen these so-called good policies. Now we are truly, genuinely seeing how good the Party's policies are, but the premise for this goodness is having a good official like Mayor Su working for us."

Su Yang laughed and said, "Old Secretary, you say that, but first and foremost, it must be that the Party's policies are good for us to enjoy such benefits. Otherwise, even if I wanted to do something for everyone, my heart would be willing but my strength would be lacking."

"Old Secretary, I might not be here for the next few days. All work will be coordinated by Deputy Mayor Li Hu. You all should first plan out the homesteads for every household; we will officially start rebuilding houses in a week. Why a week? Because it involves finding a qualified construction company to do the building."

"This might involve a series of things like bidding; a week is considered the fastest."

Liu Ximing said with a smile, "No rush, no rush. Now that we have food and drink, everything has settled down. Besides, now that the murderer and village tyrant Zhao Jiefang is gone, I can coordinate all the problems in the village."

Su Yang said, "That's good, that's good. I'll stay here and help you all out for the day."

Just as his voice fell, the phone in his pocket rang. ===== CHAPTER 82 =====