Chapter 1923

Su Xinghui couldn't help but laugh. These few people had insisted on waiting at the county government office for several hours and hadn't eaten yet. However, he still shook his head and said, "I won't be joining you for dinner; I already ate on the way back. You all go ahead and eat."

Zhang Zhiming wanted to say something more, but as soon as he saw Su Xinghui's indifferent smile, his heart skipped a beat, and the words died in his throat. He could only stand up, nod, and smile, "Alright then, County Magistrate Su, we'll be going now. If there's an opportunity in the future, please do us the honor of joining us for a meal!"

Su Xinghui nodded noncommittally. He said to Zhang Zhiming again, "By the way, Comrade Zhang Zhiming, I plan to renovate all the embankments in the county. Your Jinxi Township also has quite a few lake embankments. You must take this matter to heart; these embankments are related to the safety of tens of thousands of people in your Jinxi Township."

Zhang Zhiming nodded repeatedly. Su Xinghui said, "You may go now."

The group left Su Xinghui's office together. After going downstairs, Mu Xingfa wiped the sweat from his forehead and said, "Secretary Zhang, you say County Magistrate Su is so young, so why is his gaze so sharp? He just swept his eyes over us so lightly, and my heart was pounding like a drum."

Zhang Zhiming also subconsciously wiped his sweat and said, "Alright, let's go. Less talk behind people's backs."

Zhang Zhiming thought to himself that with such a formidable county magistrate, Chongjin County was likely to be quite lively from now on.

Early the next morning, as soon as Su Xinghui arrived at his office, Nie Xin followed him in. He was holding an embankment renovation plan in his hand and said happily, "County Magistrate, I organized the people from the Water Conservancy Bureau, and after working for two days and two nights, we finally finished this plan."

Su Xinghui took the embankment renovation plan from his hand and nodded, "Thank you for your hard work."

Nie Xin shook his head, "It's no trouble, no trouble at all."

Su Xinghui began to look over the plan, and Nie Xin sat down on the sofa.

In fact, the people at the Water Conservancy Bureau knew the situation of the river and lake embankments in the county better than anyone; they knew exactly where and how much investment was needed. In previous years, they had submitted reports to the county every year requesting increased investment in embankments and for renovation work, but they had never received approval.

However, they already had the foundation for this renovation plan, so they only needed to make slight adjustments to produce it this year, which is why they were able to come up with it so quickly.

After reading for a while, Su Xinghui felt that the condition of the Chongjin embankments described in the plan was similar to what he had seen over the past two days, and the total estimated cost of the project in the plan was around 350 million.

Watching Su Xinghui's expression, Nie Xin asked somewhat nervously, "County Magistrate, is this project budget too high?"

Su Xinghui said, "It doesn't matter, it should be whatever it needs to be. I will find a way to secure the funds. These embankments must be repaired well; it concerns the lives and safety of over 400,000 people in our Chongjin County, and we must all take responsibility."

Nie Xin nodded, "That's good, that's good."

Su Xinghui said, "By the way, Comrade Nie Xin, you've been busy with this matter for the past two days, so you might not know, but yesterday I encountered something in Jinxi Township..."

Su Xinghui told Nie Xin about what he had encountered in Jinxi Township yesterday. Nie Xin was shocked upon hearing it. He sized up Su Xinghui and asked, "County Magistrate, you weren't injured, were you?"

Su Xinghui said, "I'm fine, but the matter of this protected area is also under your jurisdiction. You must manage it well in the future."

Nie Xin wiped away a cold sweat and nodded, "Understood, County Magistrate, I will definitely take this matter to heart."

However, Su Xinghui's next sentence made Nie Xin break out in another cold sweat: "Comrade Nie Xin, regarding this embankment project, I do not wish to see any problems with the project quality, nor do I wish to see any corruption occur. I hope you can manage this matter well too."

Nie Xin had originally thought that if this embankment project were handed to him, he could obtain some benefits from it. But after hearing Su Xinghui's words, he suddenly broke out in a heavy sweat. In front of this young county magistrate who was terrifyingly sharp, he felt as if his innermost thoughts had been laid bare.

Nie Xin nodded quickly, "Understood, County Magistrate, don't worry, I will definitely manage this matter well."

Su Xinghui said, "I have just arrived in Chongjin County, and I am very grateful that you are supporting my work. However, there must be many eyes watching us right now, waiting for us to make a mistake. But we cannot make mistakes, do you understand?"

Nie Xin was not a stupid man. After hearing Su Xinghui's words, he thought about it and realized Su Xinghui was right. He was now tied to the same boat as Su Xinghui, and since Su Xinghui had offended many county leaders upon his arrival, there were certainly many people waiting for them to slip up. He nodded, "County Magistrate, I understand."

Su Xinghui said gently, "Comrade Nie Xin, you are still young and have a bright future ahead of you. Do not ruin your prospects for a little immediate gain. As long as the economy of our Chongjin County develops well, everyone's life will get better and better."

Su Xinghui was a young man in his twenties, and saying that Nie Xin, who was nearly forty, was still young was a bit incongruous. However, Nie Xin himself felt nothing of the sort. He nodded earnestly, "I know, County Magistrate."

The embankment renovation plan that Nie Xin produced was, of course, passed smoothly at the county magistrate's office meeting. The embankments in Chongjin County were indeed in need of renovation, and since Su Xinghui had guaranteed that the county treasury would not have to pay a single cent for the repairs—that he would resolve the funding himself—who would oppose it?

However, after the meeting, many strange rumors began to circulate in Chongjin County. Everyone said that Su Xinghui was indulging in wishful thinking. This was 350 million, an astronomical figure equivalent to six or seven years of the county's fiscal revenue. Where would he find such a large sum of money?

Others said that Nie Xin was a fool for following Su Xinghui in his nonsense, and that he would definitely take a big fall this time, and by then, it would be too late for him to regret it.

Some even said that the two of them must be looking to line their own pockets, which was why they were launching such a massive project. Isn't that how leaders and cadres are these days? As long as they want to profit, they launch projects—roads are built, torn up, and built again.

However, such strange rumors naturally had no impact on Su Xinghui. He didn't know how many storms he had weathered; what were a few words compared to that?

That afternoon, as soon as work started, Wu Zhengjing slipped into Yuan Yifu's office. As soon as he entered, he said with a smile, "Secretary, it's hilarious. Su Xinghui and Nie Xin want to spend 350 million to repair all the river and lake embankments in the county, claiming they want to build them to a standard that can withstand a once-in-a-century flood. 350 million! Where are they going to find such a huge sum of money?"

Yuan Yifu said, "How do you know that Su Xinghui can't find such a sum? He still has a provincial governor behind him, after all."

Wu Zhengjing said, "Even our province couldn't come up with such a huge sum to repair embankments. If he gets the province to allocate funds to our Chongjin County for repairs, will they allocate funds to other counties? If you add up all the river and lake embankments in our province, it's at least several hundred kilometers. How much funding would that require? Probably several billion, right? Can the province come up with that?"

Yuan Yifu pondered, "What you say makes sense. Our province is a poor one; let alone several billion, I heard last time that the few hundred million spent on building a road was all borrowed money. However, that guy Su Xinghui couldn't possibly be willing to lose face, could he? He has to deliver on what he says."

Wu Zhengjing said, "Anyway, I can't imagine where he's going to find such a huge sum of money. This is equivalent to six or seven years of our county's fiscal revenue. If he can find it, then I'll be damned!"

Yuan Yifu said, "Let's just wait and see. If he really can find such a huge sum of money, that wouldn't be a bad thing. Being able to repair all the embankments would count as a political achievement for us, after all."

As he spoke, Yuan Yifu burst into laughter, but it was clear that he didn't really believe Su Xinghui could accomplish such a major task.

Wu Zhengjing said, "But, Secretary, what exactly is Su Xinghui trying to do since coming to our Chongjin County? He's acting erratically and has offended so many people. On the first day, he offended you; on the second day, he launched some new financial system and offended the whole county; on the third day, he ran to the lake area and beat up the local fishermen; and on the fourth day, he came up with this embankment renovation plan. He really knows how to stir up trouble."

How could Yuan Yifu figure out Su Xinghui's way of doing things? After pondering for a long time, he said, "This County Magistrate Su is probably too young and a bit too impatient in his actions. He's young and arrogant, and he's not afraid of offending people. Let's just wait and see. I don't think we need to take action; he'll end up with a bloody nose on his own."

Wu Zhengjing said, "Secretary, your vision is indeed far-reaching. Alright then, if he keeps stirring up trouble like this, I think he will indeed end up with a bloody nose. Let's just wait and see."

Yuan Yifu burst into laughter, and Wu Zhengjing joined him. Their laughter was filled with smugness.