Chapter 1972: The New Situation in Chongjin County

November arrived, and various tasks in Chongjin County gradually got on track. The Chinese merchants brought by Mi Mingquan left some subordinates behind to discuss investment matters with Su Xinghui, and then they traveled together to Qinxi Province to invest as a group.

Several companies had already signed investment agreements with Chongjin County and were now in the substantive operational stage. Various construction machinery moved into the Economic Development Zone, and the once-quiet zone suddenly became bustling. This was the power of capital.

The bidding for the Chongjin County embankment renovation project also concluded. Unsurprisingly, Haimin Construction and the Mi Group joined forces to win all the sections. They had the strongest capabilities and the lowest bid prices. The total price for these sections ended up being just over 300 million, saving Chongjin County a significant sum—an amount nearly equal to the county's annual fiscal revenue.

These two companies had long prepared large amounts of construction machinery and materials in Chongjin County. As the saying goes, the power of capital is infinite; with their current capital, doing such things was easy, and the resources they had prepared immediately came into play.

They moved construction machinery into all dozen sections simultaneously, and work began. At this speed, excluding any unexpected circumstances, the embankment renovation project could be completed well before next April, with over two months to spare before the flood season arrived.

Su Xinghui didn't need to worry much about these matters. After several years of development and management, his friends had gathered various talents under their command, and they naturally sent their best people to handle these tasks, resulting in high efficiency.

The case of Fang Haotian smashing up the Haimin Construction and Mi Group offices had entered the judicial process. Just as November began, Deputy Magistrate Bi Xinguo was transferred to Chengshui City due to health reasons, taking up the post of deputy director of the Municipal United Front Work Department office.

Discerning people naturally knew the reason for Bi Xinguo's transfer. Getting such an outcome was already quite good for him, and Fang Haotian's Haotian Construction Company had effectively vanished into thin air.

Haotian Construction's assets were auctioned off to compensate for the losses incurred by Haimin Construction and the Mi Group.

From then on, Su Xinghui firmly established his position in Chongjin County, and his prestige was unchallenged. Wu Zhengjing's initial idea of giving Su Xinghui a "show of force" had gone bankrupt before it could even be implemented. Who would dare to challenge Su Xinghui now?

During this period, Su Xinghui's orders were strictly followed in Chongjin County. However, Su Xinghui knew this was just an illusion; it was because his recent series of actions had shocked the cadres of Chongjin County so much that they were fearful and thus obeyed everything he said.

But over time, they would eventually return to their old state. Therefore, this was only a temporary fix, not a permanent cure. To cure the root cause, he would have to wait until he had time to slowly rectify things.

After Bi Xinguo was transferred, Su Xinghui temporarily took over the work he had been in charge of. A few days later, the province sent down a new deputy magistrate named Du Changfeng, previously a deputy division chief in the provincial government office. This was a helper sent by Ke Zhifang, who had called Su Xinghui in advance.

After Du Changfeng took office, Su Xinghui handed over all the work Bi Xinguo had managed to him. These tasks hadn't been considered "hot" jobs in Chongjin County before, but now they were the most sought-after. The other deputy magistrates were envious that Du Changfeng had taken over such important work upon arrival, but there was nothing they could do.

Among them, Executive Deputy Magistrate Meng Linguo was the most dejected. Since Su Xinghui had effectively reclaimed his financial signing authority, his actual power was now less than that of Nie Xin and Du Changfeng, who each managed several popular portfolios.

Although he still managed the Finance Bureau, without signing authority, he had no spending power. The large sums of capital Su Xinghui had brought back were all kept in special accounts, earmarked for specific purposes, and couldn't be touched without Su Xinghui's signature.

Meng Linguo had also managed the county government office, but now that Duan Qi had defected to Su Xinghui, he couldn't command Duan Qi at all.

What bothered Meng Linguo even more was that his daughter, Meng Defang, had been working comfortably at the Economic Development Zone management committee, barely needing to show up to collect her salary and benefits. But as soon as Su Xinghui arrived at the zone, he kicked Meng Defang back to her original unit: the county library.

This made Meng Defang complain at home every day, calling Meng Linguo useless for not even being able to keep his own daughter's job, and demanding he find her another easy, high-paying position. But how could Meng Linguo have such ability?

Meng Defang was nearly thirty. When Meng Linguo was still a township head, she had just graduated from high school and hadn't gotten into college. Meng Linguo had struggled to find her a job at the county library, and it was only when he became executive deputy magistrate that he managed to have her seconded to the Economic Development Zone.

Now that she had been returned to her original unit, it wasn't easy for Meng Linguo to find her a good job in a short time. Meng Defang had developed a lazy character over the years and lacked ability. Most importantly, with Su Xinghui in Chongjin County, Meng Linguo felt as if a pair of eyes were watching him from behind, making him feel chilled and afraid to act rashly.

The other deputy magistrates were also very unhappy. Not only had their power not increased, but it was also very inconvenient—or rather, basically impossible—for them to get anything reimbursed, as Su Xinghui's sharp eyes were watching.

Of course, Su Xinghui didn't care about their thoughts. So what if they were unhappy with him? There were plenty of people unhappy with him; who did they think they were?

You Jiayu stayed in Chongjin County for a few days, but Yu Sister Sister Ruoqiu never paid him any attention, not even giving him a chance to be alone with her. You Jiayu had no choice but to leave in disgrace. This allowed Yu Sister Sister Ruoqiu's smile to return, though it was normal for Fan Xinyun to call a few times to nag her.

Yu Sister Sister Ruoqiu and Yu Ruizhi were busy in Chongjin County preparing flood relief supplies. Although they didn't know a major flood would occur next year, Su Xinghui had told them to prepare, so they had to do so with full effort.

They rented several factory buildings and warehouses from the former county cotton mill in Chongjin city to store these supplies. The mill had gone bankrupt two years prior due to poor management, and its machinery had been auctioned off to pay debts, leaving the buildings and warehouses empty and spacious—perfect for storing supplies.

These days, many mid-level cadres began to report their work to Su Xinghui proactively. Su Xinghui patiently talked to them one by one, hoping to find usable talent among them.

However, most of these mid-level cadres were opportunists who saw Su Xinghui's power and wanted to defect to secure a good future. They lacked talent and character, so Su Xinghui just gave them perfunctory responses, needing more time to observe whether to use them.

Still, a few people impressed Su Xinghui, such as Yu Xun, the deputy township head of Jinxi Township. He was in his early thirties with a junior college education. He had never been valued in Jinxi, often being assigned the thankless tasks, but one recent event caught Su Xinghui's attention.

This event was Su Xinghui's recent deployment of work to crack down on illegal hunting of wild animals. None of the township leaders in Jinxi wanted to do this, as most were locals, and the illegal hunters were also locals—the work was too offensive.

Thus, the task fell to Yu Xun. Unexpectedly, Yu Xun performed brilliantly. He publicized the illegality of hunting wild animals, organized patrols, and sometimes even went into the field himself, confiscating many bird nets and other hunting tools, and capturing many hunters.

He didn't just arrest people; he conducted extensive persuasion and education work at their homes, using the case of Lan Laosi and others as examples.

Furthermore, he told their families that the Economic Development Zone was investing in many enterprises and that embankments were being repaired in every township, so job opportunities were increasing. Why engage in illegal activities?

Yu Xun's various measures effectively curbed the trend of hunting protected wild animals in Jinxi Township, making it the best-performing township in the county for this work. His performance naturally didn't escape Su Xinghui's eyes.

Su Xinghui called Yu Xun to his office for a talk. He was very satisfied with Yu Xun, who was flexible and knew how to use the current situation in Chongjin County to help complete his work.

Yet Yu Xun also had principles and dared to face difficulties head-on; otherwise, he wouldn't have taken on such a tough task and completed it so well. Such a person should certainly be promoted.

In front of Su Xinghui, Yu Xun was a bit reserved, but that was normal. Who was Su Xinghui? How could a deputy township head not be nervous in front of him? ===== CHAPTER 1974 =====