Chapter 7

Wan Xing'an's snoring when he was drunk was very loud, which made it impossible for Su Xinghui to continue thinking. He simply walked out of the dormitory and gently closed the door. Just as he stepped 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 at 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 discuss matters, 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 without a care, which would have been equivalent to being on equal footing with Yang Xinrong.

Sure enough, Su Xinghui's actions made the expressions of Dong Jianshu and Yang Xinrong look a bit better. Originally, their expressions were very solemn, and both of them were famous heavy smokers, so the room was filled with smoke, making their expressions 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 from 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 his cigarette, remembered something, threw a cigarette to Yang Xinrong, and gestured to throw one to Su Xinghui. Su Xinghui waved his hand and said, "Township Head Dong, I don't smoke."

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

Su Xinghui told the whole story of what happened this morning from beginning to end, without adding any embellishments, nor did he try to claim credit. After he finished speaking, Yang Xinrong cursed angrily, "That son-of-a-bitch Damn Lu Dawang, he's actually rebelling. I must get 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. Yang Xinrong had been reprimanded many times when he went to the county to attend meetings, so it was very normal for him to have grievances.

Dong Jianshu naturally knew this situation like the back of his hand. He comforted Yang Xinrong a few words and then said to Su Xinghui, "Little Su, you did a good job on today's matter..."

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 of Meng Hu Ling. Chen Shuji Hongfu and Township Head Dong Jianshu were not locals. Chen Hongfu was from Pengjiawan Town, east of the county seat, while Dong Jianshu was from the county seat. Chen Hongfu and Yang Xinrong only had junior high school education, while 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 years old, he had become 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 a place like Meng Hu Ling, cadres who worked 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 here, 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 spending a year or two here and then quickly transferring away. There was not much fighting among them. Come to think of it, there was nothing in Meng Hu Ling worth fighting for.

Having seen Dong Jianshu, Yang Xinrong, and the others, Su Xinghui once again flipped through the distant memories in his mind, which made the situation in Meng Hu Ling Township clearer and clearer to him.

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 airs and was out of place with everyone. Although he was polite, that politeness was full of alienation, which made people feel uncomfortable. But in the past few days, he had been 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 his 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 mahjong, and he always smiled and said he didn't know how to play. However, they didn't think too much about it. As a college student, it was normal not to know how to play mahjong. They would teach him slowly in the future.

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

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, Office Director Wei Bingyi usually arranged for him to write materials and had never taken him to the village with the leaders. Today, Chen Hongfu took the initiative to call him to go 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 Chen Shuji wanted to take him 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 to the village but rode a bicycle. Today, he was also riding a bicycle 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, mingling with the comrades."

Su Xinghui said, "Since I've come to the countryside, of course I have to mingle 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 this way. In the future, no matter what position you are in, your work will need support from others."

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 gully. The road from the township government to their village was full of potholes and was quite difficult to walk on. This was also 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. He acted as if nothing had happened. Su Xinghui was young and had good physical fitness. Moreover, he had stayed here for a few 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 took the county seat as the boundary. The west was mostly 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. Seeing him so adapted now, he felt a bit curious.

Su Xinghui said, "Chen Shuji, 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."

Only then did Chen Hongfu nod in relief.