Chapter 18: Nomination of Candidates

According to the rules that have been in place for decades in Chang'an Village, today is the day for each group to nominate candidates for the position of village chief.

To ensure fairness, transparency, and impartiality, the town has sent a supervisory team to oversee the temporary transformation of the village chief by the two committees of Chang'an Village.

The supervisory team, led by Xu Shulin, the deputy director of the town and concurrently the secretary of the Political and Legal Affairs Committee, includes several comrades, including Jiang Han, a college graduate village official on internship in the town, who will supervise the entire election process for the village chief of Chang'an Village.

The supervisory team sat to one side, the election committee members in the middle, and a blackboard was set up to register names. The six group representatives, each with their own seat, had their group names clearly marked on the tables.

For the First Street, it was none other than Zhao Tiejun, who was clearly determined.

Wu Bing sat opposite him, greeted him, and the meeting began immediately.

"Cough, cough!"

Old Secretary Zhang Weifa cleared his throat, "Today, following the guidance of the higher authorities and the work team, the village election committee has scheduled the day for each group to nominate candidates for the position of village chief..." After a brief introduction, he said, "First Street, please go ahead."

"First Street nominates Zhao Tiejun as the candidate."

Although everyone present knew that Zhao Tiejun was determined to become the village chief, hearing him nominate himself felt somewhat strange to everyone.

"This is a bit like self-recommendation," Jiang Han, with her short, neat hair and youthful beauty, muttered to herself as she wrote down Zhao Tiejun's name.

It's about to begin... My world, Zhao Tiejun's world, is here.

He had planned to have someone deal with Zhao Zhiqiang the night before last, but when he heard about this matter, he immediately sprang into action like a fox that had been eyeing an egg for a long time!

The position of village chief is a well-known lucrative position in the countryside.

Not an official of the organization, but the leader of thousands of people, various subsidies from higher authorities, land requisition, pig farming, chicken raising, and vegetable planting—all these involve money, and all are related to the village chief...

For him, becoming the village chief of Chang'an Village is more prestigious than being the county chief...

On this piece of land, he would be the boss, able to do as he pleased!

"Second Street."

"Our nominated candidate is Zhang Jike."

Second Street is mainly composed of people who used to work in a small steel mill, mostly surnamed Zhang. They quickly chose their own college graduate village official, Zhang Jike, who had just graduated from university and returned to work in the village. In the past half year, the young man has done a lot of work and has a good reputation.

Zhao Tiejun knew he had an opponent, but he didn't care. It was like a dumpling in a teapot; he knew the opponent was on the table.

"Zhang Family Village supports Zhang Jike's candidacy."

"Damn, I knew it would be like this..."

Zhao Tiejun and Ergazi were somewhat annoyed. Zhang Family Village and Second Street were closely related, often working together. The current secretary is from Zhang Family Village.

Old Secretary Zhang Weifa, Uncle Fa, just glanced up and said nothing.

"Fourth Group abstains."

It was normal for the Fourth Group to abstain. There are only a dozen households left there, and they have this opportunity thanks to the decades-old rules.

"Guomu Gou, nominates Zhao Zhiqiang." Ergazi thought, "Finally, it's my turn!" He was very happy, and he looked at Zhao Tiejun intentionally or unintentionally.

Zhao Tiejun, sitting in the seat of his late uncle, was drinking tea. When he heard Ergazi nominate Zhao Zhiqiang, he was taken aback!

Pfft!

A mouthful of tea splashed all over Uncle Fa's face!

"What are you doing!" Zhang Weifa was furious, "Zhao Laosi, do you want to spray me to death?"

Zhao Tiejun chuckled, not getting angry even when Uncle Fa was furious, "Sorry, sorry, Uncle Fa. After the Spring Festival, I'll be working with you. Don't be angry, calm down. Let me wipe your face. I just heard that Guomu Gou nominated Zhao Zhiqiang, and I didn't expect it to be him, so I accidentally sprayed you."

"No need!" Zhang Weifa wiped his face with his sleeve, "Who Guomu Gou nominates has nothing to do with you. Everyone should compete fairly. What's there to be surprised about?"

Zhang Weifa had never had a good impression of the Zhao family from First Street, who had risen in recent years. Zhao Guangming's autocratic rule had already made him feel stifled for five years. He didn't want the Zhao family to take over the position of village chief again. Originally, he had thought of Wu Bing.

"Wu Bing, who is your group nominating? Why aren't you participating?" Zhang Weifa, who was nearly sixty, had a poor memory.

"Me? I admit that I am not as capable as Zhao Zhiqiang, and my awareness is not as high as Zhao Zhiqiang's, who has served in the military. After a group vote, Comrade Zhao Zhiqiang has been unanimously nominated by the people of Guomu Gou as the candidate for village chief, and he meets the standards set by the higher authorities and the village election committee," Wu Bing said with a smile.

Zhao Tiejun looked at Wu Bing for a moment without saying anything, thinking, "I know what you're thinking... Little guy!"

"Hmm... Zhao Zhiqiang? Have you thoroughly investigated why he returned from the military and why he didn't even become a party member? Is his political quality up to standard?" Zhao Tiejun immediately countered. He had seen that the guy was a first-class non-commissioned officer, but a first-class non-commissioned officer requires at least a three-year contract, and this guy clearly didn't serve long enough. He must have returned early for a reason...

He then glared at Wu Bing. In the past, Wu Bing always called him "Fourth Brother," but now, since entering the village committee, Wu Bing hadn't even looked at him properly. Damn it, he must have thought that he couldn't deal with Zhao Zhiqiang after that incident and believed that he would never be able to handle him again.

Just wait and see!

Wu Bing's words surprised Zhang Weifa and the town's supervisory team, including Jiang Han, who were registering and supervising the nominations. Wu Bing had always been considered a strong candidate for the next village chief in Chang'an Village, but he was now strongly recommending someone else.

Zhao Tiejun's sharp rebuttal also caught everyone's attention.

But Secretary Zhang snorted.

"Zhao Zhiqiang?" Zhang Weifa thought for a long time and finally remembered, "Isn't he the one who got into a fight with Zhao Tiejun three years ago and was expelled from the Third Middle School?"

Zhao Tiejun's face darkened!

Damn, he couldn't get any good light...

He turned his head, "Uncle Fa, I have something to do. I just came to register today, so I'll leave first." He had intended to undermine Wu Bing and Zhao Zhiqiang, but he ended up implicating himself. This old man always brings up the worst things!

Trying to get me? Just wait!

He immediately regretted not having someone break that guy's legs the day before yesterday!

Compete with me? No way!

He wanted to say goodbye to Jiang Han, but she didn't even look up, so he left quietly.

"Remember to come tomorrow! The supervisory team will announce the election conditions..." Zhang Weifa said without looking up.

Everyone else knew about this, but Jiang Han didn't. She looked up at the retreating Zhao Tiejun, her beautiful face slightly smiling.

Jiang Han wrote down Zhao Zhiqiang's name in her notebook and added a note: "Veteran."

She then wrote a big question mark next to it.

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End of Chapter 18

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