Chapter 2216: Encountering Resistance

The persuasion work for the migrants was indeed extremely difficult. Several township workers went to the reclaimed-lake farmland areas to persuade the migrants, but before they could get many words out, they were chased away.

"We won't move, we won't move, I'd rather die than move!"

"Our family has lived here for decades. Why should we move?"

"That's right, we've lived here for decades and nothing happened. We won't move."

The workers exhausted themselves talking, reasoning with the migrants and explaining the policies. In fact, the county's resettlement policy was extremely favorable to these migrants — they wouldn't have to spend much money themselves to live in a new house, a city apartment building no less, and jobs would be arranged. Where could you find conditions like these?

But many migrants simply refused to move, and no amount of talking made any difference.

Of course, those who refused to move were mainly some elderly people. These old folks had been stubborn their whole lives, and the notion of being unable to leave their homeland was mainly theirs; the younger people mostly did not have such thoughts.

As a result, several viewpoints took shape in these planned resettlement areas: the elderly opposed relocation, the young people were willing to relocate, and the middle-aged hovered between the two — but they had to consider the elderly's feelings. In the end, it was still the elderly who called the shots, and their opposition to relocation gained the upper hand.

For a time, the mobilization work for the migrants ground to a halt. Some families who had originally been willing to move, seeing other families unwilling to move, also began to hesitate. As a result, up to now, not a single relocating household had signed a relocation agreement.

The migrant relocation work was mainly Nie Xin's responsibility. Seeing several days pass with no progress whatsoever on this work, Nie Xin grew anxious and upset, and his teeth became inflamed — a big lump swelled up on his cheek.

That day, Su Xinghui saw Nie Xin hurrying upstairs clutching his cheek. He said to Nie Xin: "County Magistrate Nie, what's wrong with you?"

Nie Xin pointed at his own cheek, grimaced, and said in a muffled voice: "County Magistrate, my gums are inflamed."

Su Xinghui asked with concern: "What happened? Is it because the work has been too tiring? Why don't you go to the hospital and get admitted for a few days — don't ruin your health."

Nie Xin shook his head and said: "No need, County Magistrate, thank you. I just came back from the hospital after getting an IV drip. It's nothing serious — this problem has always been with me; it flares up whenever I get anxious and worked up."

Su Xinghui said: "Then has the migrant relocation work run into some kind of resistance? Come on, let's go to my office, sit down and talk."

When they arrived at Su Xinghui's office, Su Xinghui brewed a cup of wild chrysanthemum tea for Nie Xin. This tea contained wild chrysanthemum, houttuynia, and andrographis — it was the best for clearing internal heat. Su Xinghui said: "County Magistrate Nie, this tea was given to me by a friend. I have a whole big bag of it. Take two boxes home with you later and drink it every day — it's the best for clearing internal heat."

This tea had of course been given to Su Xinghui by Feng Yuandong. The tea wasn't worth much either — a whole big bag was only a few dozen yuan. Su Xinghui accepted gifts like these, and he drank it every day.

Nie Xin nodded and said: "Then thank you, County Magistrate."

Su Xinghui asked: "Then tell me in detail — what's actually going on?"

Nie Xin then told Su Xinghui about the resistance the migrant mobilization work had run into. Su Xinghui had known all along that this migrant mobilization work wouldn't be easy, but he hadn't expected the resistance to be this great — that up to now not a single relocation agreement had even been signed. This wouldn't do.

After the agreements for returning farmland to the lake were signed, the original embankments still needed to be rebuilt. Once all the embankments were repaired, the sluice gates could be opened to release water, returning the reclaimed-lake farmland areas back to Yanglan Lake.

If the agreements weren't signed, the rebuilding of the embankments couldn't begin, and that would waste time. If the returning-farmland-to-the-lake work couldn't be completed before next year's flood season, next year's water level would still be very high — wouldn't that hold things up?

Su Xinghui recalled that the rainfall in '99 had actually been considerable too, not much less than this year's. It was only because the progress of returning farmland to the lake had been good and the area for flood diversion and storage had increased that the water level was a few meters lower than this year, the pressure on the dikes wasn't as great as this year, and so it hadn't had as much impact as this year and hadn't caused as much disaster as this year.

After pondering for a long while, Su Xinghui said: "County Magistrate Nie, what do you think we should do about this?"

Nie Xin also knew this matter couldn't be delayed — a breakthrough had to be opened up quickly. He said fiercely: "County Magistrate, the key to this matter is to open up a breakthrough. Once one breakthrough is opened, things will be easy to handle. Here's what I'll do — today I'll go down to the village and do the mobilization myself. I refuse to believe that with such a good policy, they really won't be tempted?"

Su Xinghui laughed and said: "Alright, County Magistrate Nie, look at yourself — your cheek is swollen so high you can barely speak clearly. How are you going to do mobilization work? You should rest up properly for the next couple of days. Today I'll go down to the village and do the mobilization work in your place."

Nie Xin said in great alarm: "County Magistrate, that won't do. You've just had a serious illness and your body has only just recovered — how could you go down to the village? Once you get involved in something like this, you can't shake it off. You'll be going to Jingcheng in about ten days to attend the National Flood-Fighting Emergency Rescue Summary and Commendation Conference. You should prepare properly at home."

Su Xinghui had received notice a few days earlier that he had been selected as a National Flood-Fighting Emergency Rescue Heroic Model Representative and would attend the National Flood-Fighting Emergency Rescue Summary and Commendation Conference to be held in Jingcheng on September 28th. These past few days, he had indeed been preparing at home.