Chapter 11

"Villagers, please don't be anxious, listen to what I have to say."

Yang Weitian stood on the roof of the jeep, shouting at the top of his lungs to the crowd from Lijia Town and Dawang Village.

"What do you, the big official from the county, want to say?" An elderly man with white hair from Dawang Village shouted loudly at Yang Weitian. There was no trace of fear or apprehension in his words; the ten years of turmoil had made the common people less afraid of officials.

"I am Yang Weitian. If you have any concerns, you can tell me. Please remain calm." In such a critical time, Yang Weitian did not mind the man's disrespect and continued to speak loudly through the megaphone. He then shouted to the county committee staff who had just arrived, "Comrades of the county committee, form a human wall immediately!"

Before coming, someone had already informed Xu Junran and others that they should quickly join the police officers to form a human wall to separate the two groups of villagers. However, Xu Junran privately thought that this approach would not be very effective. The emotions of these people were already highly agitated, and a slight provocation could lead to an uncontrollable situation, which could not be stopped by a group of weak county committee staff and a few police officers.

Recalling how he handled such situations in his previous life, Xu Junran found that he had no solution and could only shake his head helplessly and follow the crowd into the midst of the people.

The members of the comprehensive group were assigned to the side of Lijia Town. Xu Junran looked at the young men in front of him, who were staring at him, but found them somewhat unfamiliar. They were only about sixteen or seventeen years old, apparently brought by their parents.

Memories of Lijia Town's past flashed through Xu Junran's mind, but he did not speak, only silently maintaining order.

On the other side, Yang Weitian finally managed to gather the elders from Lijia Town and Dawang Village, along with the party committee leaders of the two communes. The goal was simple: to try to persuade both sides not to let the situation escalate into a bloody conflict.

"Old Mr. Li, you are respected by all. Can you please calm the villagers in the town and not be anxious? We will resolve this issue step by step," Yang Weitian said sincerely to an elder from Lijia Town. The elder, Li Youde, was one of the most senior elders in Lijia Town.

Li Youde snorted, "County Chief Yang, as a senior official, you should not be criticized, but the people from Dawang Village are truly overbearing. They intercepted the water from the irrigation channel halfway, how can we transplant the rice seedlings? The time is almost here, and the fields lack water. This is cutting off the livelihood of Lijia Town!"

After he finished speaking, a man from Dawang Village, about the same age as Li Youde, said sternly, "County Chief Yang, don't listen to his nonsense. The paddy fields of Lijia Town are not even half as much as ours. Why do they need so much water?"

"You are the one talking nonsense," Li Youde retorted, starting to curse at the old man.

The two oldest elders began to curse each other, and the others joined in, pointing fingers and shouting. The two communes had a long-standing grudge, and they were now mutually intolerant. Even the commune secretaries were not polite to each other, engaging in sarcastic remarks.

Yang Weitian watched the two groups with a headache. He had been sent to Wude County from the position of deputy director of the municipal party committee office, originally thinking that this would be an opportunity to add a shining point to his career. However, the people of Wude County were fierce, and the work in the county was extremely difficult. Moreover, he had to face the stubborn county party secretary Yan Wangsong, making him feel utterly helpless and constrained.

"County Chief, why don't we have them all arrested?" Cheng Hongda came to Yang Weitian's side and whispered.

Yang Weitian glared at Cheng Hongda. This guy was a complete incompetent. If it weren't for his uncle, the deputy secretary of the municipal party committee, and the fact that Yang Weitian needed to use him to weaken Yan Wangsong and Li Dongyuan's influence on the political and legal system, he would have been removed long ago. He really didn't know what kind of luck Cheng Hongda had to solve a case that even Li Dongyuan couldn't figure out.

"Tell your people to be careful. Do not shout at the villagers. You must control the situation," Yang Weitian said with a dark expression.

Cheng Hongda showed a helpless expression, "County Chief, it's not that we are not trying, but the police force is insufficient. Even with the staff from the county committee office, we can't stop the villagers. They are too lawless!"

Yang Weitian shook his head and did not speak, but he had already rejected Cheng Hongda's suggestion. At this moment, he really missed Yan Wangsong. At least if the old secretary were here, he would be a deterrent to the villagers, and they would not be so brazen.

In the end, it was his lack of prestige!

The villagers from Lijia Town and Dawang Village saw the negotiations becoming more intense and were about to turn into a physical fight. Their emotions became even more agitated, and several young men began to tussle with the police and county committee staff, determined to start a fight.

Xu Junran, Yuan Xiaoyue, and Tu Wenyong were assigned to the same group. They faced several young men from Lijia Town. One of the young men, who looked like a troublemaker, saw Yuan Xiaoyue and his eyes lit up. He smiled and said to her, "Girl, where are you from? To enter the county committee at such a young age, you must be quite capable." As he spoke, he moved closer to Yuan Xiaoyue.

Yuan Xiaoyue blushed, and Xu Junran's expression changed. Tu Wenyong, who was standing nearby, was furious and shouted, "What are you saying? If you keep harassing her, I'll arrest you!"

As a flower in the county committee, Yuan Xiaoyue had many admirers. Although Tu Wenyong was married, he was one of her admirers. However, the social climate of the 1980s was not as open, and even if someone liked her, they would mostly just watch silently rather than boldly express their feelings.

Seeing someone harass Yuan Xiaoyue, Tu Wenyong felt a surge of anger and immediately started cursing the man.

The young man seemed to have many friends in Lijia Town, and someone immediately shouted, "The police are going to arrest people! The police are going to arrest people!"

They knew that if the situation escalated, they would be safe. Taking advantage of their numbers, they rushed toward Xu Junran and the others.

Yuan Xiaoyue screamed and hid behind Xu Junran, while Tu Wenyong was stunned by the crowd.

Unconsciously, the young man who had been harassing Yuan Xiaoyue, with a lecherous smile, reached out his hand toward Yuan Xiaoyue's body, aiming for her full chest!

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