Chapter 16

It's not just a matter of thinking about it all night. If it weren't for this slight spiritual power, and if it weren't for the desire to make the Guomugou Old Zhao family stand out and feel proud, Zhao Zhiqiang wouldn't have even considered taking on this job.

Of course, making a name for oneself and bringing glory to one's parents doesn't necessarily require being the village chief. But thinking of Zhao Tiejun's smug look, Zhao Zhiqiang felt a surge of anger. If it weren't for his foolish actions back then...

In his eyes, that guy was just a piece of trash.

"Great! Great! I'll take care of our group's affairs. I'm the villager representative of our group. I'll talk to them, and I guarantee I can get you to represent our group in the village chief election!"

Ergazi, whose real name is Wu Bing.

He was overjoyed!

Although Zhao Zhiqiang was a few years younger than him, the momentum he displayed yesterday, when he beat Zhao Tiejun to the point where he only dared to whimper and fled like a dog with its tail between its legs, was something no one in the entire Chang'an Village, or even the Tieshan Street, dared to do!

No one in the mountain's Guomugou, Sijia, and Fuchawopu groups failed to criticize Zhao Tiejun behind his back, but back then, Zhao Zhiqiang was the only one who had beaten him.

Wu Bing's decision to push Zhao Zhiqiang forward was not without reason.

The development of the new district in Chengnan was about to begin, and Chang'an Village had been included in the development area. With six villager groups, five hundred households, and over four thousand people, the nearly ten square kilometers of flat and mountainous land, orchards, and farmland, the value of the industry along the provincial road would be enormous. The outcome would be vastly different if Zhao Tiejun or Zhao Zhiqiang were to take office.

Blood is thicker than water, and good neighbors are even closer.

For thirty years since the merger of villages and cooperatives, the sixty households in Guomugou on the mountain had never produced even a village accountant. In the eyes of the forward-thinking Ergazi, although Zhao Zhiqiang used to be a troublemaker before joining the army, he had always been a man of integrity and honor. After serving in the military, he had become much more stable. The incident yesterday had a significant impact on him. From a young age, Zhao Zhiqiang was not a weakling but a promising individual.

Compared to him, Wu Bing knew what he lacked.

After a night of deliberation and the sudden news of the village's transformation, he felt that he had to convince Zhao Zhiqiang to run for village chief... and to his surprise, he succeeded. Whether he would win or not was another matter.

For Zhao Zhiqiang, discovering the most important secret of the half-built leisure resort, a secret that perhaps only he knew, the idea of taking control of it immediately took hold of his mind.

And he was determined to succeed.

However, he suddenly remembered something.

Because his mother was hospitalized after he returned, and after he developed this strange "illness," his plans were disrupted.

There was a favor he owed to an old man named Huo, whom he met during the accident in Aguo. He had yet to fulfill this promise.

Ergazi, however, was unaware that Zhao Zhiqiang had a job opportunity a hundred times better than being the village chief, a job that many front-line retired special forces soldiers would eagerly seek, but Zhao Zhiqiang instinctively wanted to avoid anything related to the special forces.

Of course, Wu Bing had no idea that Zhao Zhiqiang had even more lucrative ways to make money...

"Come on, let's go have some mutton soup!"

Ergazi, delighted, drove the Santana, and they sped out of the depths of Guomugou with Zhao Zhiqiang.

Two minutes later, Zhao Zhiqiang saw the small village where he had lived for over a decade, nestled between the mountains and the water. On the other side of the mountain, just a dozen miles away, was the Bohai Bay. On this side, the green mountains, fruit trees, and pine and poplar trees dotted the hills, creating a picturesque landscape. Despite the bleakness of a winter morning, it highlighted the vibrant vitality of the land.

Chang'an Village was a large administrative village, including the two streets at the foot of Longbeishan, the former collective enterprises, and the now-defunct small steel and textile factories, which were the "industrial zones" of Chang'an Village. The industries had disappeared twenty years ago, and now the area was a shantytown in the old district of Chengnan, a key area for the new district's redevelopment.

Besides the two streets, there were four natural villages: Guomugou, Zhangjiazhai, Sijia, and Fuchawopu.

With a permanent population of over four thousand and more than five hundred registered households, it was the largest village in the Tieshan Street of the Chengnan District, formerly the Tieshan Town.

The main reason for the formation of such a large village was the mass migration during the Great Steel Campaign. Originally, there were no two streets at the foot of the mountain. Later, the township government forcibly relocated people to form two small factories, which gradually became a street. With the development of Linzhou, especially the opening of the national highway, the area became more prosperous. Most of the people there were from the four villages on the mountain.

While eating shaomai and drinking mutton soup, Ergazi recounted all this to Zhao Zhiqiang, who had been away for three years and was not very familiar with the current situation. Zhao Zhiqiang didn't even drink a sip of water, as he had an important check-up today.

"Turns out, Zhao Guangming was reported for his shady dealings with the demolition office..."

Zhao Zhiqiang thought of Su Fengrong, who had deliberately tried to please her brother for her daughter's sake. She had been riding in a luxury car just the other day, but now she was probably in jail.

Life is unpredictable, and there's no place to hide from it.

After breakfast, Zhao Zhiqiang took a taxi to the hospital. Today, his mother would finish her dialysis, and he and his brother would undergo the compatibility test. Ergazi returned to Guomugou to confirm the nomination of the candidate.

...

When Zhao Zhiqiang entered the high-end Ward 01, he felt a sudden brightness.

Why?

She was here!

The other day, Zhao Zhiqiang had just mentioned it casually, but he didn't expect her to take it seriously, which warmed his heart unexpectedly!

Zhao Zhigang immediately jumped over when he saw his brother enter.

"Bro! Sister Xiaorou is here to see Mom!" He was so excited, giving Zhao Zhiqiang continuous winks and pointing to Lin Xuerou behind him.

"Oh." Zhao Zhiqiang hadn't expected it, so greeting her became a challenge. After all, they had just met, and they weren't even friends yet. "Lin Xuerou, thank you for coming to see my mother. Thank you!"

Lin Xuerou was talking to Hua Xuemei when she heard someone enter. Zhao Zhiqiang spoke, but his words sounded a bit cold, especially the use of "you" which seemed to create a distance.

This guy, ever since they met on the road, he hadn't given her a proper look and spoke indifferently! After her night shift, she had eaten breakfast, bought some fruit, and came to visit. Apart from the good herbs her grandfather had received, she was curious about this unnamed benefactor who had become a legend among the patients at the city hospital. She wanted to—slightly—understand him?

She gave herself this excuse, and came to the ward with some nervousness. Fortunately, Zhao Zhigang was very friendly, and Zhao's mother was a warm and talkative person, but he—hmm...

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