Chapter 1319

Su Xinghui said, "Since you are also from a farming background, you should stand on the side of your fellow worker brothers who are also from farming backgrounds and seek some rights for them! You should put more thought into safe production and occupational health. Don't just think about saving money for the boss. Look at how dangerous these hanging stones are above? Look at these workers—they aren't even wearing masks. Can they handle this for long?"

A flush of red appeared on Lu Sancheng's dark face, and he lowered his head.

Su Xinghui pointed to the hill piled with waste and said, "Look at this pond slag, how dangerous it is. If it piles up higher and there's a heavy rain one day, what will happen if this slag slides? The workers' dormitory is right at the foot of the mountain!"

Lu Sancheng dared not speak, his eyes filled with guilt.

Su Xinghui said with a stern face, "Your quarry is to stop production for me immediately. You must rectify everything I've mentioned. You can resume production the day you finish rectifying. If you resume production without authorization, I will have you shut down permanently. I mean what I say!"

Lu Sancheng said, "I can only tell the boss. If he refuses, there's nothing I can do."

Su Xinghui turned and walked away, saying, "We are going to Baiyun Village now. If your boss comes, tell him to find me in Baiyun Village. If he doesn't come today, tell him to find me at the township government next time."

Su Xinghui and Yin Hualong bypassed the hill piled with pond slag and walked toward the main gate. On the way, they encountered Manager Shen again. Manager Shen stared viciously at Su Xinghui, but he didn't dare to utter any more insults; he didn't want to lose two front teeth.

Su Xinghui acted as if he didn't see Manager Shen. He walked to the gate with complete composure, said "thank you" to Yin Hualong's Third Uncle, who had been guarding the bicycles, and then he and Yin Hualong rode their bicycles toward Baiyun Village.

Baiyun Village was only two or three hundred meters from the quarry. It took only a few minutes to arrive by bicycle. This village was also in a mountain valley and was quite large; from the road, it looked to have at least five or six hundred households.

Upon entering the village, Yin Hualong led Su Xinghui to the village committee office. There was only one person in the office, the village accountant. Yin Hualong shouted, "Uncle Hu, where are Secretary Lin and Director Fan? Secretary Su from the township is here."

Accountant Hu looked up. He saw Yin Hualong walking in with a young man. He hadn't attended Su Xinghui's welcome party that day and didn't recognize him, but upon hearing Yin Hualong's words, he hurriedly stood up and said, "It's Secretary Su! Please, have a seat. I'll go call the Secretary and the Director."

Accountant Hu poured a cup of tea for Su Xinghui and Yin Hualong each and then went out. Before long, he brought over Baiyun Village's Secretary, Lin Baoshan, and Director, Fan Xiaodong. Lin Baoshan was in his fifties, wearing a Zhongshan suit, while Fan Xiaodong was quite young, only in his thirties, wearing a washed-out military uniform.

As soon as they entered, they said happily, "Secretary Su is here! Why didn't you give us a call in advance?"

Su Xinghui said, "It's nothing. I was just casually visiting a few villages to see the situation."

Lin Baoshan said, "Secretary Su, you are a rare guest. Drink with us at my house this afternoon!"

Su Xinghui said, "I'm sorry, Secretary Lin. By rights, I shouldn't reject your hospitality, but I have already set a rule at the township government: no cadre visiting the villages is allowed to eat or drink in the village. You wouldn't want me to break my own rule on the very first day I set it, would you?"

Lin Baoshan was shocked: "What? You set this rule now? From now on, township cadres can't eat in the village when they visit?"

Yin Hualong said, "Secretary Lin, Secretary Su has indeed set this rule. Don't make things difficult for him."

Lin Baoshan said, "Since the rule is set, then no drinking. But we can still have a cup of tea, right?"

Su Xinghui smiled and picked up the cup of tea: "Tea is fine."

Fan Xiaodong said, "Secretary Su, you set this rule well, I support you! In the past, township cadres would come to the village and demand good food and drink. Where would the village get so much good food and drink to provide them? They would eat until their mouths were greasy and still come often."

Lin Baoshan hurriedly said, "Xiaodong, don't talk nonsense."

Su Xinghui said, "Secretary Lin, don't be afraid. Director Fan is right. This phenomenon exists in rural areas now. The common people are so poor, where would they get the money to provide food and drink for township cadres? I set this rule to change this situation. Secretary Lin, Director Fan, you must strictly enforce this rule from now on. If anyone dares to violate it, tell me directly."

Fan Xiaodong nodded and said, "Okay, Secretary Su, I will strictly enforce it."

Lin Baoshan looked at Su Xinghui. He saw only sincerity on Su Xinghui's face. After a long while, he nodded and said, "Secretary Su, I support you!"

Su Xinghui walked to the door and looked at the houses outside. He asked, "So the dust from that quarry drifts all the way here?"

The roofs outside were covered in a layer of white dust, just like snow; it was shocking to look at.

Fan Xiaodong said indignantly, "Yes, as soon as they start production, the dust drifts this way. We don't even dare to hang clothes outside here. We keep the doors and windows tightly shut every day, but the dust still drills into the house. It rained this morning and washed the roof clean, but now it's another layer of gray. The noise is also especially loud, even in the middle of the night, making it impossible for people to sleep. We've tried reasoning with them, but it's no use."

Su Xinghui asked, "When you tried reasoning with them, what did they say?"

Fan Xiaodong said, "Their boss is never there; it's always the boss's nephew. He is arrogant and completely unreasonable. He says that their stone powder can be sold for money, and that it's a favor to us that it drifts here—that we should be grateful they aren't charging us for it."

Lin Baoshan said, "Once, Xiaodong and I went together, and we brought a few people. They brought a truckload of people, all holding iron bars, knives, water pipes, and so on, and they wanted to hit us. We called the police, but when the police station people came, they said they couldn't do anything about it. Xiaodong was impulsive; he wanted to pull people from the village to fight, but I held him back. That's not something that can be done."

Su Xinghui said, "Secretary Lin, you did the right thing. Fighting is definitely not the answer."

Fan Xiaodong said, "But if we don't fight, what can we do? If we report it to the township, the township doesn't care. If we call the police, the police don't care. If we report it to the county, no one pays any attention to you. Even the people in the village who work at the quarry think we shouldn't make a fuss. It's truly suffocating!"

Lin Baoshan glanced in the direction of the quarry and said with some surprise, "Why has the quarry stopped production at this time?"

Yin Hualong said, "Secretary Su just went to the quarry earlier and ordered them to stop production."

Fan Xiaodong said with pleasant surprise, "Secretary Su, did you really make the quarry stop production? Is it going to be closed forever?"

Su Xinghui shook his head and said, "It can't be permanently closed for now because the situation is unclear. If they can rectify it to meet my requirements, they can resume production. However, if they truly meet my requirements, I expect there won't be so much dust, and they won't be allowed to operate at night."

Fan Xiaodong said, "That's fine too. As long as there isn't so much dust and we can sleep at night, their operating here at least makes life a little better for the families in the village who go there to work."

Su Xinghui said, "Secretary Lin, Director Fan, do you know the background of this quarry?"

Lin Baoshan frowned and said, "This quarry used to be the county Highway Department's quarry. They mined crushed stone to build roads. Later, it was bought by a boss surnamed Shen from the county. I heard this boss surnamed Shen is the brother-in-law of Deputy Secretary Li of the county, and several county leaders have shares in this quarry. Secretary Su, you made them stop production, so you must be careful."

Su Xinghui nodded and said, "I understand, Secretary Lin."

Fan Xiaodong said, "I heard that such a large quarry can produce over a hundred thousand tons of stone a year. Including the office building, the production line, and all the procedures, it was sold for only 150,000. Isn't that just robbery?"

Su Xinghui's brows furrowed tightly. 150,000? Such a large quarry sold for only 150,000? The production line alone was worth more than 150,000, not to mention the office building, dormitory, weigh station, and the fact that it could produce over a hundred thousand tons of stone a year. Selling it so cheaply was a clear case of loss of state assets!

Su Xinghui said, "I understand."