Chapter 606

Dong Jianshu said, "Then how much do you think we should give?"

Su Xinghui said, "How about this—I suggest giving each person a thousand yuan in benefits, plus three hundred yuan in goods."

Dong Jianshu looked at Li Maofa and Shao Xianzhu and said, "What do you two think?"

Li Maofa and Shao Xianzhu nodded together and said, "We have no objections."

Dong Jianshu said, "Alright, then we'll bring it up for discussion at the Dangwei Society."

There was of course no suspense about the result of the benefits discussion at the Dangwei Society—everyone unanimously passed the benefits plan and handed the matter over to the Party and Government Office.

Wei Bingyi, director of the Party and Government Office, then handed the matter over to Wan Xing'an. Wan Xing'an was already over fifty and had no interest in fighting for power and profit, so he figured he'd leave such things to the younger folks.

Wan Xing'an went together with Zeng Xianglin to make a trip to the Lvling Reservoir, ordered three thousand jin of fish, then went on to order several pigs and some other New Year goods, averaging three hundred yuan per person.

Before Wan Xing'an went to handle the benefits, Su Xinghui had a special chat with him, gently reminding him not to be greedy for small gains. Wan Xing'an thumped his chest and told Su Xinghui to rest easy.

Su Xinghui was fairly confident in Wan Xing'an's integrity. Based on his knowledge of Wan Xing'an from his previous life, Wan Xing'an was not the sort of person greedy for small gains. Of course, the reminder still had to be given—constant vigilance is the price of safety. After all, Wan Xing'an was someone Su Xinghui had recommended for the position of deputy director of the Party and Government Office, so he bore the responsibility of reminding him.

That day, Min Tong came to see Su Xinghui again. He arrived at Su Xinghui's office, and the moment Su Xinghui saw him, he laughed and said, "Oh ho, Min Tong, look at you, beaming all over—got some good news?"

Min Tong said, "Isn't the New Year almost here? Of course I'm happy."

Su Xinghui brewed him some tea as he spoke and said, "Then what brings you to see me today?"

Min Tong said, "Today I came specifically to flatter you, Mayor Su Da."

Su Xinghui laughed and said, "Don't try that on me—spit it out if you've got something."

Min Tong said, "Can't I even crack a joke with you? Here's the thing—our Yongfeng Factory has been operating in Meng Hu Ling Township for over half a year now, and the township government's leaders have given our factory tremendous support. We discussed it and thought we'd like to give the township government leaders some benefits."

Su Xinghui said, "When you say the township government's leaders, who exactly do you mean? And by what standard?"

Min Tong said, "Of course, everyone in the township government, including those in units directly under it. Let's set the standard at two hundred yuan per person."

Su Xinghui said seriously, "Min Tong, I really appreciate your factory's kind intentions, but I cannot accept them!"

Min Tong said in surprise, "Why? Is it too little? If you think it's too little, we can add a bit more—it won't cost that much, at most a few tens of thousands of yuan. We genuinely want to thank you. Besides, wouldn't doing this also boost your standing in the township government?"

Min Tong had a point. They wanted to sponsor the township government, and he had come specifically to find Su Xinghui so that Su Xinghui would be the one to announce it to the township government staff. That way, the staff would naturally owe the favor to Su Xinghui, and his standing would of course increase greatly.

It had to be said, Min Tong really did think a lot about Su Xinghui.

Su Xinghui said, "Of course your intentions are good, and I don't think it's too little either. But think about it—if your enterprise gives benefits to our government workers, what does that look like? Wouldn't that be a Luantan Sect?"

Min Tong said, "How could that be a Luantan Sect? This is entirely voluntary on our part."

Su Xinghui said, "Of course I know you're doing it voluntarily, but do others know that? In other people's eyes, isn't that exactly a Luantan Sect? Besides, if you do this, how will other enterprises feel? Won't they have to give us benefits too? If they don't want to but feel they have to, how will they look at us?"

Su Xinghui's reasoning was something Min Tong could understand. He asked, "Then what should we do? If we don't show any appreciation at all, we won't feel right about it! My dad and President Mai both said this matter absolutely has to be done."

Su Xinghui said, "In my view, there's no need for these benefits. A few days ago our township government discussed the benefits issue. This year our township government's finances are in good shape, the benefits standard is quite high, and the staff should be quite satisfied. How about this—if you really want to thank us, you could put the money into some public welfare projects."

"Public welfare projects?" Min Tong fell into thought.

Su Xinghui nodded and said, "Yes. An enterprise must value economic efficiency, but it must also value social benefits—it should be a socially responsible enterprise. I believe that doing more public welfare work would be far more meaningful than sponsoring benefits for us."