Chapter 55: Harmony Between Motion and Stillness

Zhang Kaishan’s words won warm applause. The correspondent sitting in on the meeting was also writing furiously; he was very excited. Everything he saw in Menghuling today was enough for him to write a substantial news report.

Zhang Kaishan added, "If your township government has any practical difficulties, you can still bring them up. Although I praised you for not waiting or relying on others, it doesn't mean I won't care about you at all!"

Zhang Kaishan’s joke made everyone laugh.

Chen Hongfu said, "County Magistrate Zhang, we can try to overcome other difficulties, but the condition of this road is truly terrible. I assume County Magistrate Zhang saw it when you came. If this road could be repaired, we would have even more confidence in developing the economy!"

Zhang Kaishan fell into deep thought. He had certainly experienced the road from Menghuling to the county seat when he arrived; it was indeed in terrible condition. He had also anticipated that the Menghuling Township government would make this request. Sure enough, Chen Hongfu had seized this opportunity.

After pondering for a long time, Zhang Kaishan nodded and said, "This road is indeed too terrible. After I go back, I will bring it up to the county. I will definitely do my best to help you repair this road!"

The township cadres present were immediately excited. Chen Hongfu said happily, "County Magistrate Zhang, thank you! As long as the county decides to repair this road, I will definitely mobilize the common people in the township to contribute more voluntary labor to reduce the burden on the county."

Zhang Kaishan shook his head and said, "I don't suggest letting the common people contribute too much voluntary labor; their lives are already hard enough. How about this: their labor can be used to offset their mandatory levies and contributions."

Hearing Zhang Kaishan’s words, Chen Hongfu was even happier. The lives of the common people in Menghuling were quite difficult, yet the mandatory levies and contributions they had to pay were the same as in other plain areas, which made it difficult for Menghuling to complete its annual levy and contribution tasks.

Now, if a policy were introduced allowing labor to offset mandatory levies and contributions, presumably there would be many people willing to work, and their levy and contribution tasks would be much easier to complete.

With this, the inspection in Menghuling came to an end. Zhang Kaishan declined Chen Hongfu’s invitation to dinner and returned to the county seat.

Zhang Kaishan’s inspection trip to Menghuling was like throwing a large stone into the already not-so-calm waters of Menghuling, immediately causing ripples.

The one who stood out the most this time was, of course, Su Xinghui. Many people had previously known about the stir Su Xinghui had created in Yezhugou, but few were clear about what exactly had been accomplished—only a few people like Chen Hongfu, Dong Jianshu, and Li Maofa.

Today, everyone had gone to Yezhugou to take a look, and only then did they realize what kind of work Su Xinghui had done. Su Xinghui had both ideas and the ability to execute them. In such a short time, he had already created such a large enterprise. It was no wonder County Magistrate Zhang had praised him in public.

Su Xinghui’s prominence made many people admire him, but of course, there were also many who were jealous of him. Others had stayed in Menghuling for years without any achievements, so why was it that as soon as Su Xinghui arrived, he could produce such dazzling results?

If Su Xinghui were like others, mediocre and unremarkable, naturally no one would be jealous of him. But now he was like a white crane standing in a flock of chickens; those chickens, of course, couldn't stand the white crane.

However, Su Xinghui didn't care much. Yes, he wanted to change his aloofness from his previous life, but that didn't mean he wanted to drift through his official career in mediocrity. If he couldn't achieve something, no matter how well he did in the officialdom, he would be nothing more than a bureaucrat.

Anyway, Chen Hongfu and Dong Jianshu still supported him, and that was enough.

In the following days, Su Xinghui continued to accompany the professors to inspect each village every day. The professors’ gains grew larger and larger, and Su Xinghui’s gains were also quite substantial; he had a clearer understanding of the overall situation in Menghuling.

These days, Su Xinghui would paint every night. What he was painting, of course, was the painting he had promised to give to Lu Xiaoya—a portrait of her. He used the fine-brush technique, a common method for painting figures in Chinese painting. After outlining Lu Xiaoya’s silhouette, he used watercolors to fill in the colors.

Su Xinghui’s fine-brush technique was, of course, a traditional technique in Chinese painting, but he also incorporated some Western painting techniques into his work, such as sketching, which made the Lu Xiaoya he painted vivid and lifelike.

In this portrait, Lu Xiaoya was standing in a lush bamboo forest, reaching out to catch a butterfly resting on a bamboo leaf. Her figure was outlined gracefully, her face was peerlessly beautiful, and her expression was charming and lively—it was hard to say how moving it was.

Looking at the Lu Xiaoya he had painted, Su Xinghui couldn't help but be mesmerized; this should be the perfect image of Lu Xiaoya in his mind.

On the evening of September 2nd, after finalizing the draft, Su Xinghui wrote a few lines in the blank space in the upper right corner: "In the bamboo forest, jade hands catch a butterfly; charming and lively, harmony between motion and stillness. For Little Sister Xiaoya to cherish. Painted by elder brother Su Xinghui at Menghuling on the day of Xin-Si in the month of Wu-Shen in the year of Ren-Shen."

After finishing, Su Xinghui solemnly stamped his newly carved name seal after the signature, looked at it for a while, and then nodded with satisfaction.

Early the next morning, Su Xinghui went to the Party and Government Office, intending to call Lu Xiaoya, but before he could open the door, he heard the phone ringing. He quickly opened the door and picked up the receiver.

The voice on the phone was Lu Xiaoya’s: "Su Xinghui!"

"It's me! What a coincidence; I was just about to call you."

"Then I called at just the right time. You won't be able to find me if you call the old phone number now."

"Why?"

"Tell me first, what do you want with me?"

"The painting you asked me to do is finished. I wanted to ask if I should mail it to you or what?"

"Can't you bring it to me?"

"The work in the township has been very busy lately. If I weren't busy, I would have brought it to you. How about waiting for your mother to come and collect the bamboo weaving next time, and let her bring it back?"

"My mother probably won't go to your place next time. Didn't she bring a deputy manager last time? In the future, she might just let that deputy manager go to collect the bamboo weaving."

"Then can I let that deputy manager bring it?"

"What did you paint?"

"I painted a portrait for you."

Upon hearing that he had painted a portrait of her, Lu Xiaoya suddenly felt a sense of inexplicable shyness. What would she look like under his brush?

Lu Xiaoya suddenly shook her head, not caring whether Su Xinghui on the other end of the phone could see: "No, you can't give it to someone else to bring. How about you just mail it to me?"

Lu Xiaoya had originally meant to wait until Su Xinghui wasn't so busy to bring it to Jiangcheng herself, but she wanted to see the painting as soon as possible, so she had to ask Su Xinghui to mail it to her.

Su Xinghui, of course, couldn't have imagined the countless thoughts that had passed through Lu Xiaoya’s mind in such a short time. He said to Lu Xiaoya, "Alright, I'll mail it to you by registered mail today."

Lu Xiaoya said, "By the way, my family has moved. I'll give you the new address."

Lu Xiaoya’s family moved? This sudden news stunned Su Xinghui. Moving at this time—could it be that Lu Zhenghong’s job had been transferred?

In his previous life, Su Xinghui had already forgotten the specific time Lu Zhenghong became the Secretary-General of the Provincial Party Committee. He only remembered it was roughly in the second half of this year, less than a year after the new Provincial Party Secretary Gu Shanmin took office. Calculating the time, it should be about now.

Lu Xiaoya’s voice came over the phone: "Su Xinghui, I'm going to give you the address. Are you listening?"

"I'm listening," Su Xinghui replied quickly, and he grabbed a pen and paper to write down the address.

Sure enough, the address Lu Xiaoya gave him this time was inside the Provincial Party Committee compound. Su Xinghui carefully wrote down the address, and Lu Xiaoya repeated it to confirm it was correct.

Lu Xiaoya also gave him a phone number, telling Su Xinghui to call this number if he wanted to find her in the future. She also invited Su Xinghui to come to her house to play next time he went to Jiangcheng.

After Su Xinghui agreed, Lu Xiaoya was silent for a moment, then asked, "Su Xinghui, what are you busy with every day now? Are you still running to Yezhugou every day?"

"Not really. I'm following several professors from the Agricultural University to various villages every day, inspecting what kind of economy these villages are suitable for developing. The gains are huge."

Once he started talking about this work, Su Xinghui was beaming. He talked for a long time on the phone, and Lu Xiaoya was infected by his emotions, her mood inexplicably improving.

After talking for a long time, Su Xinghui finally remembered to ask Lu Xiaoya, "Lu Xiaoya, have you started school now?"

Lu Xiaoya said, "I've already registered, but classes won't officially start for another two days."