Chapter 201

The reporting meeting was held as scheduled. This meeting was the most satisfying one I had attended since coming to Chunshan County, out of the dozens of meetings large and small. We were like generals setting out on an expedition, filled with the heroic and tragic spirit of "the wind blows cold, the Yi River chills," entering the conference room with heads held high and chests puffed out.

The conference room was already arranged neatly, with officials of various ranks led by Secretary Guan lined up in a row. Huang Qishan humbly sat at the end, smiled at us, and then sat upright.

The meeting was presided over by County Magistrate Liu, who outlined the importance of this meeting in a concise and comprehensive manner, specifically mentioning that this meeting concerned the development strategy of Chunshan County and requesting that a plan be produced as soon as possible after the report concluded. The attending leaders nodded deeply, their faces revealing a rare solemnity.

I glanced at Guo Wei; he was clearly very nervous, his calves trembling slightly. His gaze happened to turn over and met mine. I nodded slightly, conveying confidence and courage to him.

Secretary Guan, sitting in the middle of the conference table, showed no expression on his face, but he had spread out a notebook in front of him. A beautiful Parker gold pen had its cap unscrewed and lay quietly on the notebook, looking at us with a mocking expression.

Those attending the meeting were the heads of all the important departments in the county, and the Standing Committee members were all present without exception. No one spoke; they all looked at us expectantly, waiting for Guo Wei to speak.

This was my first time attending such a high-level meeting, and I was as nervous as Guo Wei. One had to know that any leader present could decide our political future and fate. Suddenly, I remembered following Liu Quan to the county to attend the three-level cadre meeting; every time, we would sneak along the wall like thieves, find a seat, and bury our heads, letting the meeting hall be as tumultuous as a landslide or tsunami, never daring to raise our heads to get involved.

Suxi Township was a famously poor township in the county; not to mention the high mountains and distant roads, its economy was a complete mess. During Liu Quan's tenure, he valued integrity. In his first year in office, he refused to accept the poverty alleviation funds allocated by the state every year, leading the township cadres and masses to tighten their belts to get by. He always thought about using his own ability to lead Suxi Township to find a new path. After several years, he found there was no path to take. At this time, it was not easy to ask the county for poverty alleviation funds again, so he had to keep his tail between his legs.

Every time Suxi Township came to the county for a meeting, the one being praised was bound to be Chengguan Town, and the negative example was definitely Suxi Township. After attending many meetings, people's skin grew thick. Later, every time they came to a meeting, Liu Quan was always worried and miserable, while Township Head Hao was like a Bodhisattva, smiling and making people feel full of joy.

The county could do nothing about Suxi Township, and later they were too lazy to talk about it, just mentioning it by name at the meeting and letting it fend for itself.

A meeting of such high standards as this one, specifically to hear the work report of Suxi Township, was probably the first time since the founding of Chunshan County.

The conference room was so quiet it felt suffocating. I loosened my collar and quietly squeezed Guo Wei's hand. Guo Wei smiled at me gratefully and began his report.

"Respected Secretary Guan, County Magistrate Liu, and leaders, I am the Party Committee Secretary of Suxi Township, Guo Wei." He pulled me over and introduced, "This is our township head, Chen Feng."

Just as he was about to continue the introduction, Secretary Guan interrupted him: "No need to introduce, we all know each other. If the leaders of Chunshan County don't know their own township cadres, wouldn't that be a dereliction of duty?"

Secretary Guan's words made the air in the conference room a little more lively, and knowing smiles appeared on the faces of the other leaders.

Guo Wei smiled awkwardly, his face flushed, and he stammered: "Right, I will now begin to report specifically on the work ideas of Suxi Township."

Secretary Guan nodded and smiled, his eyes sweeping over both of us, and he picked up the pen on the notebook, ready to take notes.

"Our township Party committee has collectively studied that developing the economy of Suxi Township and improving the lives of the mountain masses is the top priority at present. Suxi Township is located in the Xiangnan Basin, with abundant rainfall, high mountains, and dense forests. The township currently has a population of over 4,800, including 800 Yao people and over 300 Miao people. The total land area of the township is 30 square kilometers, making it one of the townships with the largest area, the smallest population, and the least developed economy in the county."

Guo Wei paused. I had provided these data to him. In my five years in Suxi Township, I had walked almost all of these 30 square kilometers, and I couldn't say I knew everything about this place like the back of my hand, but I had a good idea.

"The development of Suxi Township is, first of all, the development of the economy. Economic development should have economic output. It is almost impossible to dig a golden doll out of 30 square kilometers of mountain forest. Suxi Township is rich in resources, mainly concentrated in oil-tea trees, fir trees, peanuts, and sweet potatoes."

"The oil-tea trees were planted in the 1950s. Forty years have passed, and the varieties need to be improved, which means there is no advantage in economic output in this area. Although the fir trees have formed a forest, the state has policies and laws that prohibit indiscriminate logging. Of course, even if we could log indiscriminately, it is not a path for economic development because there is no sustainability. Thus, it seems there is almost no possibility of economic output in Suxi Township."

Guo Wei spoke eloquently. He had a good gift of gab; as long as his thoughts were straightened out, his speech was like a surging river, continuous and endless.

"Our township Party committee pooled our wisdom and finally found a way out. This path can allow Suxi Township to shake off poverty and become prosperous, and it can also drive the economic development of Chunshan County, allowing Chunshan County to also put out a business card from now on."

Guo Wei's words were like throwing a stone into calm water; all the leaders opened their eyes wide, waiting for Guo Wei to reveal the answer.

Guo Wei, however, was not in a hurry. He reached out to me. I nimbly unscrewed a bottle of mineral water I had brought in and handed it to him. He smiled, took it, and drank a mouthful. He raised the bottle in his hand toward the leaders and said slowly: "This path is in this bottle."

The leaders looked at each other and whispered, not knowing what medicine Guo Wei was selling in his gourd.

Secretary Guan tapped the table lightly with his pen, signaling everyone to be quiet.

When the conference room returned to the solemnity it had when they first entered, Guo Wei said: "Suxi Township has a resource, a unique resource that few places in the country can find. This resource is—mineral water."

There was a gasp in the conference room. Secretary Guan and County Magistrate Liu remained unmoved; they had known about this matter for a long time. What they couldn't figure out was, was it necessary to bring this matter up at this meeting?

Guo Wei paused and licked his lips: "The Suxi Township government was built in the early 1950s and is located in a remote area, which is not conducive to the government's work. Now the highway passes through Laoyingzui Village in Suxi Township. Once this road is open, people from all over the country will pass through this road. What are they? They are living advertisements. If we don't show ourselves at this time, it is being irresponsible to ourselves, irresponsible to the Party, and irresponsible to the people. As the saying goes, even good wine is afraid of deep alleys. Therefore, after many investigations and studies, our township Party committee decided that to develop the Suxi Township economy, we must first build a 'face' project. This face is moving the township government."

Guo Wei's words finally caused an uproar among the attending leaders. The director of the County Finance Bureau first stated that the county finance had no money and could not do the big thing of moving. The Development and Reform Bureau then expressed that this was not an economic project and it was impossible to find the city or province to set up a project and ask for money. The Land Bureau finally spoke, saying that the land was all collective land, and land acquisition required a large amount of money, and the Land Bureau had no way to find a piece of land for Suxi Township to move.

Secretary Guan saw that everyone was very active in expressing their positions, and a trace of displeasure appeared on his face. When everyone saw this, they knew the Secretary had something to say, so they all stopped talking.

Who knew that Secretary Guan didn't speak, but waved his hand for Guo Wei to continue.

Guo Wei said word by word as if he had made up his mind: "Leaders, please rest assured, we don't need the county to pay a penny for our relocation."

Relocation without money? Has Suxi Township made a fortune! What a big tone, the leaders laughed, all exhaled, and relaxed their sitting postures.

"We are asking to report today, just to ask the leaders for a policy?"

"What policy?" The Finance Bureau director heard that he didn't need to pay, and felt much more relaxed, as if he had unloaded a burden.

"We want the county to solve 500 indicators for converting agricultural to non-agricultural status!" Guo Wei said this as if relieved of a heavy burden, lowered his head to drink a mouthful of water, and nervously waited for the leaders' response.

No one dared to speak. Suxi Township opened its mouth and asked for 500 agricultural-to-non-agricultural indicators, which was tantamount to dropping an atomic bomb in the meeting hall, blowing the leaders dizzy.

Agricultural-to-non-agricultural conversion was a new policy. The standards varied from place to place, and everyone was trying to operate it, and no one knew what the consequences would be. Chunshan County had held several meetings for this, and finally decided that the Public Security Bureau would execute it, charging a fee of 5,000 yuan per household. All the fees collected were turned over to the county finance, and the county finance would then feed back 15% to the county Public Security Bureau as a handling fee.

The county Public Security Bureau director spoke: "No wonder when I came, I saw that Suxi Township also brought a household registration policeman. I knew it wasn't a good thing. Secretary Guo, how much money are you going to pay for the 500 indicators you mentioned?"

"Since we came to ask for indicators, naturally we won't pay." Guo Wei stared at the county Public Security Bureau director and said: "Director Xia, I think you will waive your handling fee to help the masses of Suxi Township, right?"

Director Xia smiled awkwardly: "Secretary Guo, this is not something I can decide."

"Good, since Director Xia has said this, in the future, this work will still need the support of the leaders." He turned his head to Liu Hongyan and said: "Why don't you thank your director yet."

Liu Hongyan blushed, stood up, and bowed to Director Xia.

"You are a township, you don't even have a neighborhood committee, you want so many indicators, how will the household registration be registered? Are you going to set up a collective household registration for the township government?" The director of the County Institutional Reform Office asked puzzledly.

"This is the second question I want to talk about." Guo Wei said with full confidence: "We want to apply to establish Suxi Town."

Another bomb! A poor township of 4,800 people wanting to be upgraded to a town was truly a fantasy.

"Who are you planning to give these 500 indicators to?" Secretary Guan finally spoke.

"Secretary Guan, we have a group of landless farmers. Anyway, they have no land and can't be farmers, so we might as well convert them to urban household registration. This group of people is involved in the mineral water factory we are going to build. Therefore, give me 500 indicators, and I will return a new city to you." Guo Wei was full of promises, his expression impassioned.

I scanned the meeting hall and happened to see County Magistrate Liu looking over here, smiling at me knowingly. I thought, in this meeting hall, besides me and Guo Wei, the only ones who knew about these landless farmers were County Magistrate Liu and Secretary Guan.

"Is there anything else that needs to be added?" County Magistrate Liu asked us.

Guo Wei looked at me, and I shook my head to indicate there was nothing else. Guo Wei then replied: "Report finished."

County Magistrate Liu waved his hand and said: "You go outside and sit for a while, take a rest, we will discuss it and then talk."

The three of us filed out. I gave Guo Wei a thumbs up, then put my arm around his shoulder and said: "Secretary Guo, let's just wait for the final verdict!"

Guo Wei nodded firmly, but a trace of sadness was clearly revealed on his face.

We all knew that Guo Wei's report was like throwing a huge stone into a calm pool, and it would definitely set off a huge uproar next!