Chapter 4

Although Chen Hongfu called Lu Dawang a "damn" person, he was still very satisfied in his heart that this matter could be resolved this way.

Su Xinghui returned to his dormitory. His roommate, Wan Xing'an, had also returned. Wan Xing'an was one year older than Su Xinghui and was a staff member at the township agricultural economic station. His home was in Qishuping, more than ten kilometers away from the township government, so he had always lived in the single staff dormitory at the township government, sharing a room with Su Xinghui.

Wan Xing'an was a secondary vocational school graduate and had been working at the township government for three years. Since Su Xinghui arrived, he had taken quite good care of him. Last night, after drinking at Hu Chengli's house, he also stayed there to play mahjong. There was no other way; such a place was too idle, and there were too few entertainment programs, so almost everyone knew how to play mahjong. Moreover, playing mahjong was also an important means of social interaction here, so if you didn't know how to play mahjong, it was hard to get along in the countryside.

Wan Xing'an lay sprawled on his bed. Seeing Su Xinghui come in, he asked, "Xinghui, I heard that Lu Dawang drank poison at our door this morning and was saved by you?"

"Yes, he's still at the health center now." Su Xinghui sat at his desk.

Wan Xing'an put his hands behind his head and smiled, "A man drinking poison, funny."

It was indeed rare to see a man drink pesticide here; there were quite a few women who drank pesticide, and several died from it every year.

Su Xinghui shook his head and said, "Sigh, the farmers nowadays are also suffering."

Wan Xing'an was also from a farming background. Hearing Su Xinghui's words, he fell silent. Su Xinghui didn't talk to Wan Xing'an anymore. He rummaged through his drawers, wanting to see what he had brought with him at this time. However, there wasn't much in the drawers, just a few books, a few drawing pens, and some paper, as well as a diary. There were a few diary entries in it, writing about some of the things he had seen and his feelings after coming to Meng Hu Ling. Su Xinghui flipped through it and couldn't help but shake his head and laugh. He was indeed young when he wrote these things. The diary was full of grand words; just a small clerk, and he was thinking about changing the backward face of Meng Hu Ling.

At that time, he didn't know at all that he had offended someone and was set up, which was why he was exiled to Meng Hu Ling. He really believed that he was assigned to Meng Hu Ling because he was capable, and he believed the high-sounding statement that the poorer the area, the more it needed college graduates like him. It wasn't until he had been in Meng Hu Ling for a long time and hit several walls that he woke up. However, his aloof nature made him not know how to be flexible or scheme, so he wasted more than ten years in the countryside and achieved nothing.

Before his rebirth, he had already spent more than twenty years in the officialdom. Although it was far from successful, he hadn't wasted all those years. He was very clear about the ways of the officialdom, and his untimely aloofness had been worn away by the difficult life. Coupled with his vision that transcended the times, he really wanted to make good use of this rebirth opportunity to achieve a career. Of course, this time he didn't need to say any grand words.

He was thinking deeply when he heard a burst of snoring. He looked back and saw that it was Wan Xing'an who had fallen asleep, probably because he had drunk a lot of alcohol at noon.

Wan Xing'an's snoring when he was drunk was very loud, which made Su Xinghui unable to continue his thinking. He simply walked out of the dormitory and gently closed the door. Just after going out, he saw in the courtyard downstairs that Deputy Township Head Yang Xinrong was standing at the door of Township Head Dong Jianshu's office, looking like he had just come out. He waved to him and said, "Little Su, come to Township Head Dong's office for a moment."

Su Xinghui went downstairs and entered Dong Jianshu's office. Dong Jianshu was sitting behind his desk, and Yang Xinrong was already sitting on a chair in the office. He pointed to another chair and said, "Little Su, sit."

Yang Xinrong was the deputy township head in charge of family planning. Su Xinghui's current status was naturally far from his, but the office conditions of the township government in this era were limited. When the township head asked someone to talk about things, there were only chairs to sit on, and there was no difference between a deputy township head and a clerk.

Su Xinghui could only move the chair opposite Yang Xinrong to the lower position of Yang Xinrong and sit down. This could also be considered a distinction. If it were in his previous life, he would have sat down directly in a carefree manner, which would have been equivalent to being on equal footing with Yang Xinrong.

Sure enough, Su Xinghui's actions made the faces of Dong Jianshu and Yang Xinrong look a bit better. Originally, their faces were very heavy, and both of them were famous heavy smokers, so the room was filled with smoke, making their faces look even gloomier behind the smoke.

Dong Jianshu's cigarette was almost at the butt. He took a few hard puffs, took another cigarette from the cigarette case on the table, and without using a lighter, lit it with the cigarette butt. This was his habit. It was said that he could smoke more than ten cigarettes in a row without using a lighter like this.

Dong Jianshu took a puff of the cigarette, remembered something, threw a cigarette to Yang Xinrong, and made a gesture to throw one to Su Xinghui. Su Xinghui waved his hand and said, "Township Head Dong, I don't smoke."

Dong Jianshu then put down the cigarette case and asked, "Little Su, tell me and Township Head Yang about Lu Dawang's matter."

Su Xinghui told the whole story of what happened this morning from beginning to end, without adding any embellishments, and without trying to claim credit. After he finished speaking, Yang Xinrong cursed angrily, "Damn Lu Dawang, he's rebelling, I must have his wife sterilized in a few days. If we don't kill a chicken to scare the monkeys, our township's family planning work can't be done."

In Meng Hu Ling Township, family planning work was an extremely difficult task. It was too poor and too backward here, and the idea of carrying on the family line was extremely stubborn. Therefore, the family planning work every year was basically at the bottom of the whole county. It was very normal for Yang Xinrong to have grievances when he went to the county for meetings and was criticized.

Dong Jianshu naturally knew this situation well. He comforted Yang Xinrong a few words and then said to Su Xinghui, "Little Su, you did a good job today..."

After praising Su Xinghui a few words, Dong Jianshu let Su Xinghui go. He still had things to discuss with Yang Xinrong.

Yang Xinrong was a local from Meng Hu Ling. Secretary Chen Hongfu and Township Head Dong Jianshu were not locals. Chen Hongfu was from Pengjiawan Town, east of the county seat, and Dong Jianshu was from the county seat. Chen Hongfu and Yang Xinrong only had junior high school education. Dong Jianshu had attended a junior college; he was a graduate of a regional normal school, had been a teacher, and later developed into administration until now, at forty, he became this township head.

The other leaders of the township government, except for Discipline Inspection Commission Secretary Yuan Lianshan, who was from out of town, were basically all locals.

The work style of townships was generally simpler and more direct than that of higher-level organs. Of course, there was infighting, but most of it was straightforward, and conflicts were mostly put on the table. Especially in this place, Meng Hu Ling, those who were cadres here were not very willing to stay. Those who were not locals naturally wanted to be transferred away, and even locals didn't have the intention of taking root in their hometown. It was really too poor, and the natural environment was too harsh.

It was precisely because of this that the secretaries and township heads of the township government held the mentality of muddling along, thinking of muddling through for a year or two here and then quickly transferring away. They didn't have much infighting among themselves. Speaking of which, there was nothing in Meng Hu Ling worth fighting for.

After seeing Dong Jianshu, Yang Xinrong, and the others, Su Xinghui once again flipped through the long-distant memories in his mind, which made his understanding of the current situation in Meng Hu Ling Township clearer and clearer.

In the following days, people in the township government were surprised to find that the newly assigned college student, Su Xinghui, seemed to have become a different person. When he first arrived, he always held an air and was out of tune with everyone. Although he was polite, that politeness was permeated with alienation, which made people feel uncomfortable. But in the past few days, he had become much more enthusiastic towards people and was willing to help others with things. Sometimes he would even help Huang Sao tidy up the vegetables planted behind the courtyard, and he was willing to do things like watering with manure. He also often joked with colleagues, which made many people feel much closer to Su Xinghui. Those colleagues who lived in the township government courtyard would call Su Xinghui if they had something delicious at home.

Of course, there was one thing about Su Xinghui that made everyone not very satisfied, and that was that they invited him to play cards, but he always smiled and said he didn't know how to play. However, they didn't think much about it. A college student, it was normal not to know how to play cards. They would slowly teach him later.

Early this morning, just after Su Xinghui finished breakfast, Chen Hongfu called him, "Little Su, let's go, come down to the village with me."

Su Xinghui had been in Meng Hu Ling for more than twenty days. He was a clerk in the Party and Government Office. Because he was a graduate of the Chinese Department, the director of the Party and Government Office, Wei Bingyi, usually arranged for him to write materials, and he had never been down to the village with the leaders. Today, Chen Hongfu took the initiative to call him to go down to the village together, which could be considered unprecedented.

Su Xinghui agreed and went to the Party and Government Office to tell Wei Bingyi. When Wei Bingyi heard him say that Secretary Chen wanted to take him down to the village, he naturally had nothing to say.

The township government originally had a jeep, but the car was too old, and the condition was quite poor. Breaking down halfway was a common occurrence. Therefore, unless it was too far, Chen Hongfu usually didn't use this car when going down to the village, but rode a bicycle. Today, he also rode a bicycle down to the village, so Su Xinghui also rode a bicycle and followed Chen Hongfu.

On the way, Chen Hongfu said to Su Xinghui, "Little Su, you've performed well these past few days, getting along with the comrades."

Su Xinghui said, "Since I've arrived in the countryside, of course, I must get along with the comrades here. I've learned a lot from everyone since I came to Meng Hu Ling these days."

Chen Hongfu laughed, "Hmm, it's best if you can think like this. In the future, no matter what position you are in, your work will need support."

The village Chen Hongfu was going to today was Yezhugou Village, southeast of the township government. This village was less than three kilometers away from the township government, but the whole village was in a mountain valley. The road from the township government to their village was full of potholes and was quite difficult to walk on, which was the main reason why Chen Hongfu didn't take the jeep.

Riding a bicycle, one could take a shortcut. Sometimes when encountering ditches and ridges, one had to get off the bike and carry it over. Chen Hongfu had worked in the township for many years and was used to walking on mountain roads, so he acted as if nothing had happened. Su Xinghui was young and had good physical fitness, and he had also stayed here for several years in his previous life, so he was no stranger to this kind of mountain road. Therefore, he was able to keep up with Chen Hongfu's pace, which made Chen Hongfu nod secretly.

Chen Hongfu smiled, "Little Su, this road is quite difficult to walk, right?"

Su Xinghui grew up in the county seat. Shangjun County was bounded by the county seat. Most of the west was mountainous, while the east was flat. The terrain of the county seat was also considered flat. Therefore, in Chen Hongfu's view, Su Xinghui should rarely walk on mountain roads. Now seeing him so adapted, he was a bit surprised.

Su Xinghui said, "Secretary Chen, I'm young and have a good body. My home is at the foot of Wenmiao Mountain, and I often climbed mountains when I was a child."

Chen Hongfu then nodded with relief.