Chapter 850

Zhao Nanxing's face was as black as could be; he wished he could use seven-degree space to shut Jiao Qiang up, inwardly shouting: "Who the hell let you decide on your own? When did I ever say I wanted to talk to these people? When did I ever give such instructions?"

But before he could lose his temper, Jiao Qiang turned and said: "County Magistrate Zhao, I'm the chief steward of our County Government; I have the responsibility and duty to first quell their anger. But the specific issues still need you to resolve. Don't think our Common People are just farmers day in and day out—they're actually quite sharp."

"Every time they come, they insist on seeing the highest-ranking official; nobody else's word counts. Otherwise I wouldn't dare to tell them to their face that you'll give them an answer."

Chen Bo nearly burst out laughing on the side, thinking: "County Magistrate Jiao is something else—if someone like him were overlooked, it would be a real waste of talent."

A few people trickled out of the crowd, their faces still flushed with anger; one of them asked: "Who is County Magistrate Zhao?"

Having come to this point, Zhao Nanxing had no way out; he could only grit his teeth and say: "Hello, folks—I'm Zhao Nanxing, the County Magistrate of our County Government."

As his words fell, a younger man with a dark complexion shouted: "You're County Magistrate Zhao? Why did you halt the people-benefit projects that County Magistrate Su had launched?"

"Do you have any idea how hard it is to travel on those potholed rural roads? You lot sit in offices all day, slap your butt and come up with an idea, slap your butt and make a policy—never caring about our livelihoods."

"Yeah, after finally getting a County Magistrate Su who was willing to build roads for you, you come along and just stop the roadwork!"

That tirade made Zhao Nanxing's face flush red; he had thought these people would only mutter such things from within the crowd, but he hadn't expected them to say it to his face. As a newly appointed County Magistrate still establishing his authority, he was being publicly berated—something likely unprecedented even Within the System.

But he couldn't offer an explanation, so he swallowed his anger and said: "Folks, hear me out. As the parent-official of Lieshan Xian, I certainly want our county to thrive, and every measure I take is meant for your benefit."

"To be honest, I want to finish hardening and widening the roads, completing municipal facilities even more than you do—but all of that needs money. You know the situation in our county: because of social cancers like Geng Miao draining resources, even the county's finances have been squandered, so the little money left isn't even enough to pay cadres' salaries, let alone talk about road repairs."

"According to County Magistrate Su's earlier plan, we were to upgrade all the main roads in every town and village across the county, widen and pave the major roads and install streetlights—but where would the money come from? We have none, so we'd have to grit our teeth and launch this project only by taking out a loan."

"And after taking out a loan? You think the government will repay it? In the end, the burden falls on you Common People! That outcome would still be the better case; if the bank were to call in the loan midway, or some other uncontrollable factor arose, and the road was only half done, leaving a dug-up stretch that hardly resembles a road, that would be a huge loss for you all."

"Finally, I want to say: roads aren't off the table—I'll stand here and pat my chest, guaranteeing I'll get them built. But we must wait until we have the funds; we can't drag the entire county's Common People into ruin just for a vanity project."

"We're currently working on attracting investment; some companies have already agreed to set up shop. Once they're established and growing, our county's tax revenue will rise, the County Finance Bureau will have funds, and only then can we solidly proceed with construction."

"So you should understand my painstaking efforts; in short, everything I do is to clear my conscience and fulfill the duty of a parent-official."

"You're the County Magistrate, right? We don't care whether you're doing this for political gain, we don't care about your county government's specific situation, and we have no say in attracting investment."

"All we know is that some of our main roads are about to give out; whenever we go out to fix them, it's just the village chief's son borrowing a bulldozer and giving it a casual push. Over the years, the potholes have grown larger—some spots aren't even passable for people, let alone livestock."

"We don't care about all that—we just want the roads fixed. Tell us today: can you do it or not? Give us a definite answer; don't speak to us in that high-and-mighty official tone!"

"You're still calling yourself a County Magistrate? You're nothing but a worthless County Magistrate."

This rapid-fire barrage of criticism left Zhao Nanxing lost for words again. Having always worked in provincial-level agencies, he never grassroots-trained, never interacted with the lowest tiers of Common People, and had no idea how to handle it.

Seeing himself backed into a corner, he could only look to the Lieshan Xian leadership team nearby, hoping someone would step in to defuse the situation; otherwise, he'd either have to say outright that work could continue today, or risk being further pressed by these citizen representatives.

If he said to keep the work going, wouldn't he be shooting himself in the foot and then swallowing the mess? Aside from the disgust of such self-sabotage—never mind hitting his own face—his authority as County Magistrate would be utterly trampled into the ground. Yet he also fears that, should the Common People's anger erupt, he might ignore it altogether, and what if they laid hands on him?

Beside him, Qi Guohui suddenly stood up: "What do you want? What's this attitude? Speak to our County Magistrate Zhao! If the problem can be solved, we'll settle it today; if it truly can't be solved, we'll discuss it after a meeting and then get back to you."

"How can you behave like that? Pointing at leaders and speaking this way—you're disrupting public duties, you're provoking trouble, you're besieging the County Party Committee and County Government! I order you: let everyone else disperse, then you few citizen representatives come with us to the meeting room to talk."

The already fuming crowd exploded: "What the hell? Are you trying to scare us? Want to arrest us? We just came to ask a question—is there a problem? Do we common folk not even have the right to speak?"

Someone shouted that, and the crowd behind surged forward like a wave; eager for a smooth road, and with so many of them, they truly weren't afraid of this so-called County Magistrate.

As everyone seemed about to rush forward, Qi Guohui flared up in anger. He had wanted to show off a trick in front of County Magistrate Zhao, but he never imagined these rustics would refuse to listen.

In shame and rage, he whipped out his phone and called Lie Shan Public Security Bureau Director Mo Tai: "Mo Tai, immediately have all the criminal police and special police teams come fully armed to the County Party Committee and County Government; make sure you disperse everyone in a short time and arrest the ringleaders."