Chapter 50: Unexpected Harvest

After chatting with Jie Lianbing for a while, Wang Jian left, leaving behind a restless young heart. Lao Lü didn't know what Wang Jian and Jie Lianbing had talked about, though he had some suspicions, he didn't believe Wang Jian would fall in love with Jie Lianbing. After all, Wang Jian was now the township chief, and if he were to find a partner, it would definitely be the child of some leader. How could he possibly be interested in a female teacher working in a rural elementary school?

After the technician completed the training in Xinhé Village, Wang Jian had him guide the other villages as well. Three days later, the technician returned. Although it was unclear what effect this would have, it would at least show the villagers that the township was serious about developing vegetable greenhouses.

After the technician's visit, the enthusiasm of the villagers in Xinhé Village was ignited, and they came to the village office one after another to request loans for building vegetable greenhouses. Lü Fang first registered the names and reported them to Zhu Zhaoming, who then reported to Wang Jian. Wang Jian instructed that the villagers' requests must be met, but they should also be reviewed to prevent misuse of the loans.

Zhu Zhaoming strictly followed Wang Jian's instructions, selecting thirty households as the recipients of the loans for developing vegetable greenhouses. After negotiating with the credit union, the loans were distributed, and the scale of vegetable greenhouse cultivation in Xinhé Village gradually increased.

Upon learning that Ma Zenggong had neither allocated the funds to the Xinhé Village primary school for office expenses nor used them for the renovation of dilapidated houses, Wang Jian, Han Yuting, and Li Xiangshan discussed and decided to bring Ma Zenggong's actions to the table, forcing Zheng Shiguang to abandon his support for Ma Zenggong through a meeting decision.

After easily dealing with Guo Qiang, Han Yuting gained more confidence in working with Wang Jian to decide matters in the township. Although Zheng Shiguang was the township party secretary, his decision-making power on certain issues might not be as strong as hers and Wang Jian's. After being disciplined by Han Yuting, Guo Qiang's enthusiasm for work significantly decreased, and most of the affairs in the party and government office were handled by Wu Lei. Han Yuting, following Wang Jian's advice, assigned some tasks to Du Xiaobei, intending to groom her to take over as the head of the party and government office.

After returning from the county, Du Xiaobei noticed that Wang Jian was avoiding her, realizing that he still couldn't accept her. She sighed, deciding that rather than suffer, she would focus on her work. As a result, she completed the tasks assigned by Han Yuting well, gradually marginalizing Guo Qiang's role as the head of the party and government office.

After Wang Jian asked Huang Guoqing to assist the county audit bureau in investigating Ma Zenggong, Huang Guoqing began preparing for the investigation. However, despite waiting, there was no progress. When he asked Wang Jian, he learned that things were not going smoothly. He had hoped to make a show of his authority, but it turned out to be a disappointment.

After discussing with Han Yuting and Li Xiangshan, Wang Jian decided to bring up Ma Zenggong's issues at the two-committee meeting. Coincidentally, a female teacher from a school came to the township to report on the issue of title evaluation, stating that the township education committee had delayed her application to the county education bureau for over a year. Ma Zenggong had repeatedly hinted that she needed to give him a benefit, which she refused to do, leading to the delay. She demanded that the township resolve the issue.

Wu Lei somehow got this information, and Wang Jian immediately called the head of the petition office, Chen Ming, to report on the female teacher's petition. Chen Ming confirmed that the issue was real and was currently coordinating with Ma Zenggong to resolve it.

With so much evidence against Ma Zenggong, if Wang Jian couldn't bring him down, it would only show his incompetence. After careful consideration, Wang Jian decided to use the bribery incident with the female teacher as the main charge against Ma Zenggong.

The two-committee meetings were usually held in the evening, as there were many tasks during the day, and it was difficult for the committee members to gather. This time was no exception.

At around eight o'clock in the evening, the meeting room was filled with smoke. Han Yuting and Liu Fang, the two female colleagues, couldn't tolerate the smoke and said to Tang Linzheng, who was smoking heavily, "Minister Tang, can you put out your cigarette?"

Tang Linzheng smiled, flicked the ash, and said nothing, not putting out his cigarette. Seeing this, Han Yuting stepped forward, took the cigarette from Tang Linzheng's hand, and threw it out the window. Tang Linzheng's face turned, but he didn't get angry, just smiled and let it go.

The other committee members who didn't smoke heavily quickly threw away their cigarettes, as it was indeed inappropriate to smoke with female colleagues present.

Then Zheng Shiguang and Wang Jian entered, wrinkling their noses at the smoke. After sitting down, Zheng Shiguang announced the start of the meeting.

The main topic was still family planning, which was discussed every year, every month, and every day, and could not be taken lightly. After discussing family planning, Li Xiangshan said, "Secretary Zheng, Township Chief Wang, I have something to say. Ma Zenggong has been acting increasingly improperly. A female teacher came to report that when she applied for a title evaluation at the township education committee, Ma Zenggong demanded a bribe. He refused to process her application without a benefit, delaying it for over a year. She came to petition a few days ago. I asked Ma Zenggong to resolve it, but nothing has happened. It seems my words have no effect. I request that Secretary Zheng and Township Chief Wang take action to resolve this issue!"

After Li Xiangshan finished speaking, Wang Jian remained calm, while Zheng Shiguang looked closely at him, suspecting that he had deliberately brought up the issue in the meeting rather than discussing it privately.

Han Yuting looked at Zheng Shiguang and Wang Jian and said, "Since I came to Xianhe Township, I have noticed that some officials are dragging their feet and engaging in bribery. What Li Township Chief mentioned is a clear example. Secretary Zheng and Township Chief Wang must address this issue and strictly rectify the work style, or Xianhe Township will lag behind forever!"

Huang Guoqing, hearing Ma Zenggong's name, felt some dissatisfaction. Although he was disappointed that he couldn't investigate Ma Zenggong, he had indirectly warned him. Ma Zenggong, however, ignored him and didn't even treat him to a meal, treating him as if he didn't exist. At this moment, if he didn't take the opportunity to add fuel to the fire, his years in Xianhe Township would be in vain.

"I heard that Ma Zenggong is also involved in the misappropriation of funds for the renovation of dilapidated houses. He is responsible for the teacher's petition. After the meeting, please, Li Township Chief, transfer the线索 to me, and I will investigate it!" Huang Guoqing said without looking at Zheng Shiguang, afraid that he wouldn't be able to speak if he did.

Huang Guoqing's sudden intervention made Wang Jian secretly pleased, as he hadn't expected Huang Guoqing to join the effort to bring down Ma Zenggong. Originally, he planned to speak up after Han Yuting, but now someone else was doing it for him, which was an unexpected gain.

Zheng Shiguang was very angry that Huang Guoqing had jumped in to attack Ma Zenggong. Although he remained calm on the surface, he had already cursed Huang Guoqing several times in his heart. The cooperation between Han Yuting and Li Xiangshan clearly indicated that Li Xiangshan's sudden mention of Ma Zenggong in the meeting was not accidental but premeditated. It seemed that his persistent protection of Ma Zenggong had caused some backlash, which was now erupting in the meeting.

Just as he was about to speak to suppress the attack on Ma Zenggong, Han Yuting continued, "Secretary Huang is right. We must let the disciplinary committee investigate him. Keeping such officials is a disgrace to the party and government. Anyone who protects him is a fellow conspirator."

This was a harsh statement, and Zheng Shiguang, who was about to speak, swallowed his words. He glanced at Fang Zhiming, who immediately understood and said, "The issue with Ma Zenggong is not on today's agenda. We can discuss it after the meeting."

"Township Chief Fang wants to discuss this issue after the meeting. What is Township Chief Fang's opinion on this matter?" Han Yuting immediately seized on Fang Zhiming.

"Well, well, I have no opinion. I don't comment on issues not on the agenda," Fang Zhiming stammered, looking at Han Yuting's charming face.

"Regarding the misappropriation of funds for the renovation of dilapidated houses, Township Chief Fang was in charge of education and health at the time. Didn't Township Chief Fang know about it? If you have no opinion, does that mean you want to avoid the issue? I think Township Chief Fang should recuse himself!" Han Yuting easily hit Fang Zhiming's weak point.

After Han Yuting's words, Fang Zhiming's face turned purple, and he was silenced, as his attempt to defuse the situation only made it worse.

Zheng Shiguang and others were momentarily at a loss. At this point, anyone who spoke up for Ma Zenggong would be labeled as covering for him. Therefore, everyone looked to Zheng Shiguang and Wang Jian to see what they would do.

Seeing that Zheng Shiguang hadn't spoken, Wang Jian said, "The issue with Ma Zenggong has been ongoing for some time, mainly regarding the misappropriation of funds for the renovation of dilapidated houses. This is a very serious matter. I went to the Xinhé Village primary school and saw that the buildings were in very poor condition, urgently needing funds for repairs. The school principal, Lao Lü, said he hasn't received a single cent. I previously asked Township Chief Fang, who might have been deceived by Ma Zenggong, claiming that the funds had been given to Lao Lü, which is a complete lie. I propose that we firmly deal with officials who deceive their superiors. I fully support Secretary Huang's suggestion to investigate him. If we can't decide, we can vote."

Wang Jian's words implicated Fang Zhiming, suggesting that he had deceived his superiors. This made Fang Zhiming so angry that he couldn't speak. Zheng Shiguang, hearing Wang Jian's words, felt that he was being cornered and that Wang Jian was pushing for a collective decision, bypassing him as the top leader.

He coughed and said in a low voice, "It seems that Ma Zenggong has angered everyone. I have criticized him several times, but he doesn't listen. A person who doesn't listen can't be saved even by a god. Since Township Chief Wang and everyone else demand that he be investigated, I won't unprincipledly protect him. After the meeting, Secretary Huang will lead the investigation into Ma Zenggong's actions."

Zheng Shiguang had to temporarily retreat. If he opposed the investigation of Ma Zenggong, Wang Jian could force a vote, which would be detrimental to him. Instead of passively resisting, he chose to actively surrender to avoid a clear division of the committee, which would undermine his authority and give Wang Jian the upper hand.

Although Zheng Shiguang retreated, Wang Jian was not satisfied with just having the township disciplinary committee investigate Ma Zenggong. He wanted to capitalize on this victory and use his own people to gain a foothold in Xianhe Township, firmly establishing his influence in the township.