Chapter 43

Chapter 35: The Financial Dilemma

After more than ten days of overcast and rainy weather, the sky over Hongshui County finally cleared up.

The warm winter sun shone brightly on the main street of Hongshui County, making it look dazzling and warm.

A black Santana slowly drove from the entrance of the Agricultural Bank into the main street. The small license plate number caught the attention of some passersby! Some enthusiasts of license plate studies and people familiar with the county party committee and government recognized that the Santana was using the second license plate of the county party committee. They all stopped to take a curious glance, speculating who might be inside.

During this period, Yang Zixuan had become quite famous in the small Hongshui County. The swift handling of the Tianma Township dispute, the suspension of the head tax, and the order to refund the already collected taxes, along with the imprisonment of the township party secretary Wu Xiong and the severe warning and reassignment of the township head Liu Jian to a county party committee office, had all made headlines. The large-scale corruption in Qianchi Town's family planning office and the investigation and dismissal of many corrupt officials had also been widely discussed.

These events were the talk of the town among the people of Hongshui County. For a time, the name of County Magistrate Yang Zixuan spread throughout the county.

Sitting in the Santana, Yang Zixuan pressed his temples, leaned his head back on the seat, and relaxed.

At the standing committee meeting, Yang Zixuan and Su Nan finally reached a tacit agreement!

Liu Jian was勉强saved by Su Nan and reassigned to a deputy position in a county party committee office, thus preserving Su Nan's dignity and authority as the county party secretary.

In exchange, this time only Liang Li and a few staff members of the Qianchi Town Family Planning Office were investigated, while the others were left untouched!

Today, Yang Zixuan was forced by the County Finance Bureau's Guo Long to come to the Hongshui County Agricultural Bank early to understand the situation.

The branch manager of the Hongshui County Agricultural Bank, a young man named Wang Nong, about thirty years old, kept his head high during the conversation, looking at Yang Zixuan with an arrogant attitude, seemingly not taking the young and terrifying county magistrate seriously at all.

In the hotel behind the Agricultural Bank's business hall, when Yang Zixuan mentioned the loan to the county finance to get through the year-end and cover the fiscal deficit, Wang Nong's demeanor changed from casual to serious. He sternly said that according to regulations, the Hongshui County government had already taken out loans for several years and had not repaid them, causing the debt to snowball. The provincial bank had stipulated that if Hongshui County did not repay the previous loans this year, it would not be able to obtain any loans from the Agricultural Bank.

At that moment, Yang Zixuan remained silent for a while, then turned and left!

In the Santana, Yang Zixuan lit a cigarette. The cigarettes were brought back from the provincial capital by Su Chen, and they were not cheap. However, the BP machine business in the provincial capital of Zijin had gradually expanded, and the business was booming, earning a lot of money...

Yang Zixuan watched the changing scenery outside the window, silently pondering everything that had happened with Wang Nong... The so-called regulations of the provincial bank mentioned by Wang Nong were clearly a pretext. Yang Zixuan did not understand why a newly appointed branch manager would dare to openly offend the local county government... He had never met Wang Nong before, who was said to have been transferred from the poorest county, Panjiang County, in Daming City, and there was no reason for him to deliberately make things difficult for himself or Guo Long!

As Yang Zixuan's prestige in the county party committee and government grew, Xiao Chen's status in the car team also rose. Not long ago, Yang Zixuan had also solved his career编制issue, and he had been driving with great enthusiasm recently!

"County Magistrate, there are many people gathered ahead on the road. Should we stop and take a look?" Xiao Chen, seeing that Yang Zixuan was deep in thought, reminded him.

Upon hearing Xiao Chen's words, Yang Zixuan also turned his gaze to the roadside. At the corner, a crowd of people, both adults and children, were gathered in a circle, and it was unclear what had happened.

Such incidents actually occurred in every place, and as the county magistrate, it was impossible to pay attention to all of them. However, since he had seen it, Yang Zixuan felt it was necessary to take a look. As the saying goes, "No matter how small, the people's livelihood is a big issue." He instructed Xiao Chen to park the car by the roadside and got out to walk over.

Xiao Chen, worried about any unexpected incidents, locked the car and ran after Yang Zixuan.

Before Yang Zixuan even got close, he heard a faint moan of pain, mixed with the noisy chatter of the crowd.

"Truly pitiful!"

"What happened inside?"

"I heard that this man hit a relative of a high-ranking official in the county. Later, the relative of the high-ranking official brought a few police officers, and without a word, they broke the man's legs!"

"Ah! So cruel? Which high-ranking official's relative? Why doesn't County Magistrate Yang do something about it?"

"County Magistrate Yang has too many things to deal with."

"Why don't they take the man to the health center?"

"Shh! Keep it down! This morning, the relative of the high-ranking official, along with a few people in police uniforms, threatened that no one could take the man to the health center. If they found out who did, they would break that person's legs too!"

"Too arrogant!" Xiao Chen, standing beside Yang Zixuan, couldn't help but exclaim. Realizing his words were inappropriate before the leader had spoken, he was relieved to see that Yang Zixuan's expression did not change.

"Everyone! Move aside! Move aside!" Without hesitation, Yang Zixuan pushed through the crowd and walked to the center, where the onlookers looked at him in surprise.

He saw a tall man lying on his side on the ground, his white checkered shirt and black sweater stained with blood. Blood was seeping from his arm and knee joints, clearly indicating that his hands and feet had been broken...

As Yang Zixuan approached, he recognized the man, who, despite being dirty, looked familiar...

In a moment, Yang Zixuan recalled the man's identity. Wasn't this the man who had recently gone to Shouan in Lu Province to buy garlic for him?

Yang Zixuan remembered that he was the husband of Su Chen's classmate, named Xu Ming. He had a good impression of him, a honest and practical person. How did he end up in such a state after just a few days?

"Xiao Chen, come over and help me lift him into our car and take him to the county hospital!" Yang Zixuan waved to Xiao Chen, and the two of them, under the surprised, sympathetic, and pitying gazes of the crowd, lifted Xu Ming into the Santana...

"Thank you, young brothers, for your kindness, but don't get involved in this mess. That person has a lot of power in Hongshui County. Saving me will get you into big trouble. Just leave me here. They said if I survive today, they will let me go tomorrow..." Xu Ming, not seeing Yang Zixuan's face, said weakly, still not wanting to cause trouble for Yang Zixuan and his group even at this moment.