Chapter 371: Personnel Bureau Chief discusses re-employment

After the New Year, it was March. March is a time when orioles fly and grass grows; in the March of the "Little Spring," the sun looks like a boiled egg yolk.

The County People's Congress Standing Committee held meetings for two consecutive days, one of the agendas being the organizational procedure I had to go through to become Deputy County Magistrate.

Everything was within expectations; the People's Congress Standing Committee passed it with almost unanimous votes. Moreover, my position as Executive Deputy County Magistrate was a high-ranking one, at the Division level. This was rare in the Hengyue region.

The County Committee held a meeting after the People's Congress, presided over by Liu Qimeng himself, to divide the responsibilities of the Deputy County Magistrates.

When I received the document, I read it carefully. The content regarding my division of labor was very rich. Besides: assisting the County Magistrate in being responsible for the daily work of the County Government, I was in charge of the County Government Office, the Collection Management Office, Finance, Taxation, Finance, Personnel, Establishment, Audit, Supervision, Letters and Visits, Land and Resources, Urban Construction, Municipal Gardening, Government Legal Affairs, People's Air Defense, Foreign Affairs Reception, Investment and Financing, and Government Procurement.

Reading through it, I felt more and more joyful. Especially when I saw that Land and Resources and Urban Construction were also within my scope of responsibility, a smile naturally spread across the corners of my mouth.

With the division of government responsibilities determined, the corresponding staffing followed. In addition to the Government Office being my responsibility, the number of secretaries increased from one—Zhu Hua Yu—to three.

With four secretaries, there had to be a head. This head was not the head of the Government Office, but the leader in a private sense. I pondered it in my heart and felt that it was truly a difficult task to choose a leader among the four.

I told Huang Qishan my thoughts, and this guy slapped his thigh and shouted, "Great County Magistrate Chen, isn't this simple? Whoever you trust is the leader."

I frowned and said, "If I knew who I trusted, would I be telling you?"

Huang Qishan grinned and asked me, "Do you trust me?"

I looked at him and said, "Of course."

"Since you trust me, you should trust my people; you should understand now, right?"

"You mean, let your Zhu Hua Yu be the head?"

"Is she not qualified?"

"No." I stopped, wanting to say more but holding back.

"Then what are you dragging on for? It's her."

I laughed, "Qishan, the ancients said, 'When recommending someone outside, don't avoid enemies; when recommending someone inside, don't avoid relatives.' You're really learning from the ancient style, I admire you."

Huang Qishan shouted with a face full of grievance, "Chen Feng, don't be someone who doesn't recognize a good person. Are you aggrieved by letting our Hua Yu be your personal head secretary? I'm not even at ease."

I laughed loudly, "What are you not at ease about? Small-minded person."

After joking for a while, I didn't express my stance in the end. As for who would lead the secretaries, I still had to observe for a while before deciding.

Just after entering the office in the afternoon, Personnel Bureau Chief Xie Tian followed, his face full of smiles, observing my office from all sides, and said with surprise, "County Magistrate Chen, your office should also be decorated."

I asked with interest, "How should it be decorated?"

Xie Tian was a bald old man in his fifties, still wearing a plaid shirt, which seemed out of place with the solemn and respectful County Government. I had heard some stories about him; although this old man Xie was old, he was a trendy person. It is said that at his age, he even chased after stars.

Old man Xie was superstitious about Feng Shui; back then, it was he who looked at the Feng Shui for Guan Peishan's office.

Thinking of this, I laughed and asked, "Bureau Chief Xie, how is the Feng Shui here?"

Old man Xie closed his eyes and concentrated, acting as if it were true, "If you hang a landscape painting on the wall behind you and place a large-leaf plant where you enter, it will be perfect."

"Really?"

"Can I, a person who has transcended the world, tell a lie?" Xie Tian laughed and handed me a document, "Never mind the Feng Shui, County Magistrate, please sign this for me first."

Xie Tian came to deliver the document himself; this was something that should have been done by secretaries. Since he took the field himself, it naturally wouldn't be a small matter.

I took it, glanced at it, and it was a plan for adjusting the wages and welfare work of the county's organs and public institutions.

Underneath was another one, regarding the management methods for contract-based cadre work.

On the first document, I saw my name, and on the second document, I saw Zhu Hua Yu's name.

I raised my head and asked him, "Is Xiao Zhu still a contract-based cadre?"

Xie Tian beamed with joy, "County Magistrate, are you talking about Secretary Xiao Zhu?"

I said "Mm" and lowered my head to look at the document.

"This Xiao Zhu, the Establishment Committee didn't give me a quota, and she doesn't meet the conditions for cadre appointment. But since she is your secretary, she must have a status, so we thought, let's classify her as a contract-based cadre, so there's room for entry and exit, which I think is more appropriate." Xie Tian explained seriously, but I had no interest at all.

"You think it's appropriate for my secretary to be a contract-based cadre?"

"That's not entirely what I mean. But I think, Secretary Xiao Zhu has just taken office, and she isn't familiar with many things. If we let the Establishment Committee set an establishment now, I'm afraid it will be hard to explain to all sides. For example, this summer, there are over a hundred college graduates in the whole county, plus the students assigned with hats, no less than two hundred, and I'm worried." Xie Tian chattered on.

"College graduates are assigned work with policy guidance. There are over 140 administrative and public institutions in Chunshan County, are you afraid they can't be arranged?"

"It's difficult!" Xie Tian sighed, "The old ones don't retire, and the new ones want to come in. It's just one bowl of rice; if one person eats it, they're half full, but if one more person eats it, they'll go hungry. County Magistrate, you also know that the county's fiscal revenue is only that much; if we didn't rely on the money left from building highways these past few years, I'm afraid even wages would be hard to pay in full."

"Do they not retire when they reach the age?"

"They retire when they reach the age, but they go through re-employment procedures and come back."

"Nonsense!" I cursed, threw the document on the table, got up, walked to the sofa opposite, and sat down.

Once I sat down, I realized there was someone standing in front of me. Old man Xie had been standing since he entered my office.

My heart warmed, and I pointed to the sofa, "Bureau Chief Xie, sit down and talk." I turned back and shouted out the door, "Xiao Zhu."

Zhu Hua Yu came in like a gust of wind. Seeing a guest sitting on the sofa, she immediately understood what I meant by calling her. Her face flushed, and she busied herself getting a paper cup to pour water, apologizing repeatedly.

After she poured the water and left, I asked Xie Tian, "Bureau Chief Xie, how do you think this situation should be broken?"

Xie Tian hesitated and said, "In my opinion, re-employment isn't impossible, the problem is to see who is being re-employed. If they are experts with strong professional skills, re-employing them can help do some work. If they were originally occupying an administrative establishment and are cadres who can't do work, they should just retire; why re-employ them?"

After finishing, seeing that I didn't speak, he immediately expressed his stance, "When I reach retirement age, I will immediately go through retirement procedures and will never be re-employed."

I smiled without speaking.

Xie Tian felt uneasy, accompanied me with a smile, his face flushed, "I am determined not to be re-employed. Life is only a few decades; rather than retiring and being busy for a lifetime, it's better to walk around under the blue sky and white clouds."

I laughed, "Bureau Chief Xie is truly a person who has transcended the world."

Xie Tian heard my praise and laughed happily. He fumbled in his bag for a long time, took out a pack of cigarettes, and handed it to me, "I don't smoke, County Magistrate, you know that. This pack of cigarettes was issued by my child's unit. They said it's an internally tested product, you help me smoke it and give me some advice."

I still smiled and took the cigarette to look at it. This was a white-packaged cigarette; I couldn't tell what brand it was.

"It's Furongwang," he said, "My child works at the cigarette factory. They have such test cigarettes all year round internally. In the future, I think, County Magistrate, you are an expert, so this test-smoking work will have to trouble you to help me."

Old man Xie's words were airtight, as if my smoking his cigarettes wasn't me owing him a favor, but rather him owing me a favor.

"Regarding the situation of re-employment, Bureau Chief Xie, I still want to trouble you; can you get me a material on the situation of re-employment in the whole county?"

"Okay. I'll do it immediately." Bureau Chief Xie stood up excitedly, "Within three days, I will come to report."

After finishing, he wanted to say goodbye and leave. After going out the door, he remembered the document he sent, turned back and said, "County Magistrate, these two documents...?"

I tapped my thigh with my finger and said, "I'll look at them again." ===== CHAPTER 372 =====