Chapter 2

"Director Chen, what are you talking about? This person is a newly assigned college graduate, and a top student from Haijiang University. Secretary Qin asked me to bring him here and arrange a room for him."

Su Jiazheng stole a glance at Ye Fan, and a small red cloud began to climb onto her face.

"Oh! A college graduate, and from Haijiang University. How could he end up in our remote place?"

Chen Zhenming, the fat man, found it hard to believe.

After all, it was difficult to find a few college graduates in the entire Linquan Town, except for a few at "Linquan No. 2 Middle School." Even the town government was a mixed bag, with most being junior college graduates and a few being associate degree holders, who were mostly from correspondence universities. Even Secretary Qin, the top figure in the town government, had only a bachelor's degree from the Party School. So it was no wonder he was surprised.

Thinking to himself, since this young man named Ye Fan was arranged by Secretary Qin, he might have some connection with Secretary Qin, so he treated Ye Fan quite warmly.

Even if there was no connection, a graduate from a prestigious university might one day rise to prominence, so it wouldn't hurt to build a good relationship now.

The guesthouse was quite nice, considered a high-end place in Linquan Town. However, in 1995, it only had a bed, a 17-inch color TV, and a bedside table.

Heard that this room was specifically for county leaders, as the other rooms all had black-and-white TVs. After Su Jiazheng's introduction, Ye Fan felt a slight sense of gratitude towards Director Chen.

In the evening, after washing up, Ye Fan felt a bit tired. He pondered for a while, not knowing what work Secretary Qin would assign him the next day, and then fell asleep.

Just as Ye Fan left, the county criminal police team arrived, and even the deputy captain of the Moxiang City criminal police, Zhang Hui, brought a few officers.

After all, the death of a serving town mayor was a big deal. After a few hours of investigation, the body was transported to Moxiang City for autopsy and testing. According to rumors, the possibility of murder had been ruled out, and it was purely a case of suicide... Of course, Ye Fan was indifferent to all this, as he had never met Mayor Wu, and it had nothing to do with him. So he just went to sleep.

In the evening.

In the meeting room of the Linquan Town government, cigarette smoke filled the air. Secretary Qin Zhiming, the party secretary, sat at the head of the oval table with a stern face. The seat next to him, which belonged to the former mayor Wu Xinming, was of course empty. The remaining six party committee members were all present.

Besides Qin Zhiming, there were the town people's congress chairman Xiao He, the town party committee deputy secretary Cai Dajiang, the town discipline inspection commission secretary Song Ningjiang, the town organization committee member, the industrial deputy mayor Tietuo, the town propaganda committee member, and the agricultural deputy mayor Zhang Xilin. In the corner sat Wang Yuancheng, the director of the party and government office, who was not a party committee member but was attending the meeting as an observer.

Qin Zhiming, with his full forehead and a military demeanor, took a sip of tea and coughed, signaling that he was about to speak.

This was Qin Zhiming's signature move; whenever there was a meeting, he would start with a 'cough.' In fact, there was no phlegm in his throat, but it was probably a way to remind everyone to pay attention to the leader's speech.

Therefore, everyone immediately sat up straight, pretending to listen attentively.

"Comrades, today is the darkest, saddest, and most painful day for our Linquan Town. Our good mayor Wu Xinming has left us. Sigh!"

Qin Zhiming used three 'most' words in a row, emphasizing his attitude and showing a pained expression, though it was unclear if it was genuine. This drew a few secret smiles from the party committee members.

After all, the hanged Wu Xinming was a close confidant of Yuyang County's county magistrate Zhang Caizhong, while Qin Zhiming was the left arm of County Party Secretary Li Hongyang.

Two years ago, when Qin Zhiming was just demobilized and assigned to a local position, the then county magistrate Zhang Caizhong directly placed him in the county religious affairs bureau as director, under the guise of taking care of military transfer cadres, giving him a full-time position, which was quite good.

In fact, the county religious affairs bureau had only three people, including the director, so Qin Zhiming's position as director only managed two subordinates.

These two subordinates were a deputy director and an office director. They had no staff, and they had been in Yuyang County for quite some time, feeling frustrated and lamenting their bad luck. Even going out for a meal on the street required them to pay out of their own pockets.

The religious affairs bureau mostly visited temples and nunneries, where they were only provided with vegetarian dishes and soup, and no red envelopes. It was already good that they didn't ask for alms from the leaders.

Therefore, neither of the two subordinates was willing to listen to Qin Zhiming, the director. After all, the religious affairs bureau was already at the bottom of the county's dozens of departments. Could Qin Zhiming really send them to a temple to be abbots?

Fortunately, Qin Zhiming had a stroke of luck. In his boring and frustrating days, he went fishing by the river every day. One day, he accidentally saved a relative of County Party Secretary Li Hongyang, who had carelessly fallen into the river.

Thus, he met Li Hongyang and soon became the party secretary of Linquan Town, a famous town in Yuyang County, which was like stepping on dog shit.

From then on, Qin Zhiming naturally followed the lead of County Party Secretary Li Hongyang and stood against County Magistrate Zhang Caizhong. Therefore, during party committee meetings, the two leaders of Linquan Town often clashed, and it was said that they had almost come to blows once. Overall, Secretary Qin still had the upper hand over the hanged Mayor Wu. Some party committee members even speculated that Mayor Wu might have been driven to suicide by the long-term pressure from Secretary Qin.

"Cough, cough!"

Qin Zhiming coughed again and continued, turning his grief into strength: "Comrades, although Mayor Wu is gone, his spirit of hard work and dedication to his job must not be lost. The incident at Tianshui Dam happened just after Mayor Wu went there, indicating that Tianshui Dam is a tough nut to crack. Today, we are here to discuss how to proceed with the work at Tianshui Dam."

After Qin Zhiming finished speaking, he glanced around and closed his eyes, waiting for others to speak.

"I'll say a few words. Comrades, Mayor Wu's departure has left our work in a very passive situation. Tianshui Dam has a population of over ten thousand, with ten natural villages, each with over a thousand people. Everyone should be aware that these ten villages are divided into several factions. Last year, the election of the village chief almost led to a mass brawl. Our Linquan Town police station chief, Zhao Tieshai, is quite skilled. He is said to be a former special forces soldier. He led five police officers to mediate, but he ended up with a scar on his face that almost disfigured him. In the end, the county had to send in the armed police to quell the situation. The village chief was not elected, so our deputy mayor in charge of culture and health, Zhou Changdong, who is from Tianshui Dam, temporarily took over. However, everyone knows that Old Zhou's health has been poor recently, and his old ailment has flared up, so he had to go to the county hospital for treatment. Yesterday, Tianshui Dam started to become restless again, which is why Mayor Wu rushed there. Who knew that such an incident would occur? If the issue at Tianshui Dam is not resolved, I fear there will be even greater chaos."

The town discipline inspection commission secretary, Tietuo, looked worried.

"That's right, Deputy Secretary Tietuo's words are reasonable. The village chief of Tianshui Dam must be elected as soon as possible. It can't remain vacant indefinitely. County Party Secretary Li and County Magistrate Zhang have urged us several times, and they have publicly promised that whoever can solve the long-standing problem at Tianshui Dam will be promoted immediately. A clerk will be promoted to deputy section chief, a deputy section chief to section chief, and a section chief to deputy department chief. The leadership is very concerned, and Secretary Qin is also very anxious about this."

The town organization committee member and industrial deputy mayor, Song Ningjiang, chimed in.

"Right! Old Zhou will probably need to rest for a few months. However, the work at Tianshui Dam must be done. Comrades, we receive education from the party and are paid by the people, so we should serve the people. Who can take over Old Zhou's work?"

Qin Zhiming scanned the faces of the party committee members and found that they were all looking down at their chests, as if there were beautiful women hidden inside. He couldn't help but curse in his heart: "A den of thieves! When there are benefits, they all hold their heads high like fighting cocks, but now they are all deflated."

Dear readers, it's not easy for a new writer to write. Please add this to your bookshelf to encourage me. Thank you!

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