Chapter 7

"Um! That's more like it! Aunt Chunshui, you're a local, can you tell me about Tianshui Dam? Of course, the more detailed, the better."

Ye Fan stood there like a big bad wolf trying to lure Little Red Riding Hood, his eyes fixed on Li Chunshui. He subtly glanced at the moderate peaks on her chest, making her gradually lower her head.

Chunshui softly spilled out all the details about Tianshui Dam.

"Team Leader Ye, Tianshui Dam Village has a population of over ten thousand. It is divided into 0 natural villages, Upper Three Villages, Middle Three Villages, Lower Three Villages, and a General Village. The villagers belong to three surnames: Wu, Li, and Ye. Town Mayor Wu is from the Wu family. These three clans each have their own clan leaders and councils, and their clan histories can be traced back to the Tang Dynasty... I learned this from their genealogies. The main issue is that these three clans don't get along with each other. Whenever something affects the clan, the people of that clan will gather to fight and brawl. They fight over water, land, mountains, and forests... Even when two people from different clans get married, if they fight, the clan leaders have to step in to save face. Sigh! It's really difficult..."

She even speculated that the incident involving Mayor Wu yesterday might be related to Tianshui Dam.

"Um! It seems the situation in this village is indeed complex. Even with Mayor Wu, who is from the Wu family, unable to mediate, it looks like we'll have to take it one step at a time."

Ye Fan felt a chill in his heart and comforted himself. Looking at the time, it seemed to be lunchtime, so he smiled and said, "Chunshui, I'll treat you to lunch today. Let's go to a restaurant in town and have a casual meal. Oh! I'll call Liu Chi too, if he's free, he can join us."

"How can that be! You're the team leader, and I'm half a local, so I should be the one to treat you."

Li Chunshui smiled gently, almost stealing half of Ye Fan's soul. He thought to himself, "Having a pure and innocent sister to work with is quite nice."

"Let's do it this way. Since the town is so concerned about our team, they should allocate some activity funds for us. Go ask Director Wang to see if we can get some money."

Ye Fan smiled.

"It's already been allocated. This morning, Director Wang asked me to manage the team's finances. He said that any invoices should be approved by the team leader first, and then I can handle them and directly take them to Secretary Qin for approval."

Li Chunshui said.

"Oh! It's been allocated, how much?"

Ye Fan was a bit excited, as he now had the power to approve expenses, which is one of the perks of being an official. The state's money would be decided by his pen.

"1,000 yuan." Li Chunshui smiled.

"Only... only 1,000 yuan, what can we do with that?" Ye Fan almost shouted, his eyes wide as copper bells. He thought that this 1,000 yuan would be gone after a few meals at the restaurant. It seemed that his position as a team leader was only worth 1,000 yuan.

"It's not bad. You know, a few days ago, Director Tie Mingxia from the Comprehensive Governance Office went to ask Director Wang for activity funds, but he didn't get a single cent."

Li Chunshui explained, "Our Linquan Town is a large town with a population of about 10,000. The town government has about 150 staff members. There are over a dozen offices, such as the People's Congress Office, Family Planning Office, Civil Affairs Office, Comprehensive Governance Office, Agricultural Machinery Station, and Enterprise Station. The town is large, but the budget is very tight. The town relies on tea taxes, business taxes, and fundraising for poor counties and towns. Apart from a few dilapidated factories, there are basically no enterprises, and the town is short of money. Even the teachers' salaries are several months in arrears. Yesterday, Mayor Wu went, and all these worries fell on Secretary Qin."

Li Chunshui understood the town's situation very well and shook her head as she spoke.

"I never thought that the second largest town in Yuyang County, apart from the county seat, would be so poor." Ye Fan thought to himself and asked, "How do the other offices conduct their work without activity funds?"

"Each office has to use their own connections to beg for funds. The office directors who can get money are very prestigious, and their subordinates are also content. The directors who can't get money have to pay for their own meals and often have small conflicts with their subordinates. For example, the Family Planning Office relies on fines! Our team will have to rely on Team Leader Ye."

Li Chunshui finished and gave Ye Fan a meaningful look.

"Hehe! I'll do my best." Ye Fan smiled bitterly, thinking, "Begging for money, I don't know anyone in Yuyang County. If I go to the county, I probably can't even get into the county mayor's office, let alone beg for money. If I don't have money, I'm afraid that Miss Chunshui and Liu Chi will look down on me! This team leader position is really not for humans. But just now, Miss Chunshui mentioned that if we can solve the long-standing problems in Tianshui Dam, the county committee has promised to promote me to a deputy section chief, and even a deputy town mayor, a real deputy section chief."

Thinking of the real deputy section chief, Ye Fan's thoughts became more active. Not wanting to be an official is a lie.

The two arrived at a restaurant called Chunxiang. Liu Chi, who was supposed to discuss work, was nowhere to be seen. But as soon as he heard there was a meal, he arrived faster than anyone else. He was already at the entrance of Chunxiang, chewing on a fried fish strip.

"Chun girl, why are you coming to my little restaurant today!" A woman with a face like a lotus and a generous chest wiggled her big hips and greeted them warmly. Seeing Ye Fan, she paused for a moment and smiled strangely, "Chun girl, when did you bring a boyfriend without telling Auntie? Come, come, come inside..."

"Cousin Auntie, what are you saying? This is Team Leader Ye, my superior. He's a college graduate."

Li Chunshui, fearing that her cousin auntie would say something more revealing, quickly interrupted her.

"Hehe! A superior as a boyfriend is even closer, no need to let the benefits go to others!" The woman smiled, showing a row of white teeth.

"Cousin Auntie, if you say that again, I won't come here anymore." Li Chunshui blushed and twisted her face.

"Ha ha! I won't say it again. Team Leader Ye, please come upstairs."

The woman deliberately bowed, and her large breasts swayed and pressed together, instantly making Ye Fan's lower body naturally rise.

Ye Fan quickly turned around, pretending to look at the dishes on the wooden board.

"Almost lost control. It seems my master was right. I'm still too inexperienced and need to practice that 'health-preserving technique' more."

Ye Fan thought and adjusted his breathing for a while before his lower body lowered its noble head.

When Ye Fan was a child, he accidentally met an old Taoist named Fei at a dilapidated Taoist temple not far from his home. At that time, he saw the thin old Taoist sitting alone in front of an ancient grassy grave, playing chess by himself.