Chapter 1916

Xiangjia County was east of Jiangcheng, only a few dozen kilometers away from Jiangcheng. Therefore, the dialect there was similar to the Jiangcheng dialect, and Su Xinghui could understand it.

He listened for a few sentences and asked in Jiangcheng dialect, "You are from Hudong, right?"

When the two young people heard this, they said in surprise, "You are from Jiangcheng? You are also here for bird watching, right?"

Su Xinghui smiled and said, "No, I am here to work in Chongjin County. Are you all here for bird watching?"

A slightly older young man said, "Yes, we are all here for bird watching. We are all bird watching enthusiasts. Every year at this time, there are quite a few birds coming from the north to Yanglan Lake to spend the winter, so we come here for bird watching every year. Anyway, our Xiangjia County is close to Chongjin County, so we just took a ferry over."

Su Xinghui asked, "Are there many people coming here for bird watching every year?"

The young man said, "Yes, there are at least dozens of people watching birds with us, and sometimes there are hundreds. Some are even from Jiangcheng, so I thought you were also here for bird watching. But you work here, so it's too simple if you want to watch birds. You can come whenever you want."

Another young man said, "By the way, we have been watching birds here for the past two years and found that some local people in your area are setting nets by the lake to catch birds. Many birds have been caught and killed by them, and some people use poisonous bait to catch birds. The number of birds caught and killed by them every day is quite large. I think your county should manage it."

Someone at the next table also said, "Yes, many birds have been caught and killed. Among them are national protected animals! Wild geese, swans—it's really a pity that they died."

Su Xinghui frowned and said, "Didn't you go up to stop them?"

The young man said, "We are outsiders, and there are many of them, so it's useless for us to go up. However, we reported it to your local management department, but I don't know if anyone is managing it."

Su Xinghui said, "Alright, thank you for reporting. I believe someone will manage it. In the future, when you come for bird watching, you will definitely be able to see more beautiful birds."

Hearing Su Xinghui's words, several people nodded happily and said, "It's good that someone manages it; otherwise, we are really afraid that we will never see these birds again when we come here in the future."

At this time, the old lady served two more snacks made on the spot, and Su Xinghui and Li Zhongwen ate them in big mouthfuls. After eating, Su Xinghui paid the bill, greeted the bird watching enthusiasts, and left.

The two returned to the County Party Committee compound. It was just the lunch break, so the two rested for a while and then asked Duan Qi to arrange a car. The two went to several townships along the river together to check the situation of the river embankment. The entire river embankment of Chongjin County was 30 or 40 kilometers long, and the overall situation of the river embankment was not optimistic.

Su Xinghui and Li Zhongwen didn't return to the county seat until 5 or 6 o'clock in the afternoon. Although they only took a rough look, Su Xinghui had a count in his heart about the situation of the river embankment.

After Su Xinghui returned to the county seat, he made an appointment with Li Zhongwen to go to several townships by the lake tomorrow to look at the situation of the lake embankment.

At night, Su Xinghui was still resting in a room at the County Party Committee Guest House. In the room, he called home. In the past few days, Lu Xiaoya had been living at home. She had to take care of the child, so she couldn't live in the new house alone. Living at home, the two old people could help.

Now Lu Xiaoya was living in the room where Su Xinghui originally lived, and there was an extension in the room. Lu Xiaoya answered the phone, and Su Xinghui asked, "Xiaoya, is the child asleep?"

Lu Xiaoya said, "The child just finished drinking milk and fell asleep."

Su Xinghui smiled and said, "Are you used to being at home alone?"

Lu Xiaoya said, "I'm used to it. Dad and Mom are quite good to me. However, when can you settle down over there? I still want to be with you."

Su Xinghui said, "The people in the office said that my house still needs to be painted, and it is estimated that it will take about a week. By then, you can come over."

Lu Xiaoya said, "Alright, then I will wait for your call at home. By the way, are you okay over there in the past two days?"

Su Xinghui said, "I'm okay, I just miss you two."

Lu Xiaoya said, "Mm, I miss you too."

The two said a few more words, and Lu Xiaoya wanted to rest, so she hung up the phone.

Su Xinghui called Lu Zhenghong again and told him about his affairs in Chongjin County in the past two days. Regarding his walking out on the banquet and implementing the new financial system, Lu Zhenghong naturally supported it very much. Regarding his wanting to build a large embankment with a standard of once every 100 years, Lu Zhenghong had some doubts. He felt that it shouldn't need such a high standard.

However, Su Xinghui said that he wanted to prevent trouble before it happened, and he could solve the funding problem, so Lu Zhenghong didn't say anything more. He told Su Xinghui to be careful here; after all, it was a completely strange place.

Next, Su Xinghui called Ke Zhifang and told Ke Zhifang about the banquet-walking incident yesterday, the plan to repair the embankment, and the county magistrate's office meeting today.

Upon hearing this, Ke Zhifang was stunned that Su Xinghui had only been in Chongjin County for two days—to be precise, one and a half days—and had already caused such a big stir. He couldn't help but click his tongue and said, "Xinghui, you are really a great general. How long have you been here, and you have almost turned Chongjin County upside down."

Su Xinghui said, "Uncle Ke, the accumulated ills in Chongjin County are too deep. It won't work without strong medicine."

Ke Zhifang said, "Alright, you go ahead and toss. No matter what happens, I will cover for you. If you need any help from me, just say it. Except for not having money for you, I can help you with everything else."

The fiscal situation of Jiangyou Province was also not optimistic. When Ke Zhifang heard that Su Xinghui wanted to repair the large embankment according to the standard of once every 100 years, he knew that this would cost a lot of money. If Su Xinghui asked him for money, he really couldn't take it out. Therefore, he blocked Su Xinghui's mouth in advance.

Of course, he also knew that with Su Xinghui's ability, he would definitely have a way to raise this money.