"It's installed, I'll head back now."
Qin Mu felt a strange tension between them as Xu Lu wiped his sweat. Since there was no one else in the room, it felt inappropriate for a lone man and woman to be alone, so Qin Mu quickly said goodbye.
"Okay, I'll see you out!"
Xu Lu sensed this too. She had originally wanted to chat with County Chief Qin some more, but swallowed her words.
"Hey... whose flowers are these? They're just thrown in the trash can."
Qin Mu walked outside and immediately noticed a fresh bouquet of flowers in the nearby trash can, commenting casually.
"Maybe someone in this building threw them away!"
Xu Lu didn't pay much attention, nor did she suspect her husband. After all, with her husband's dull-witted nature, would he ever think of sending flowers?
"Never mind that. Get some rest early tonight, don't stay up late. Work officially starts tomorrow."
Qin Mu gave her this advice before turning and heading back to his dormitory.
Xu Lu watched County Chief Qin leave, then turned and closed the door. She lay down on the made-up bed and rested briefly. She was quite satisfied with her first day in office.
Suddenly, she thought of her husband and felt a pang of guilt. She had insisted on coming to Huaining, leaving him alone in Jiangzhou. Thinking about it, she felt cruel. She immediately took out her phone, intending to apologize to Chen Shuo and admit her mistake.
However, just as she sent a message, a prominent exclamation mark lit up, leaving Xu Lu stunned.
What did this mean?
He deleted me?
Xu Lu stared at the notification, utterly dumbfounded!
Her husband had actually deleted her! Wasn't this man incredibly petty?
He was angry just because she insisted on coming to Huaining?
After so many years of marriage, she had never complained about him, and now look what happened…
"Fine, Chen Shuo, you've got guts!"
"I'll see if you still try to contact me!"
Xu Lu was also furious. She threw her phone aside and ignored her husband. She didn't believe Chen Shuo would actually delete her and ignore her.
…
With the arrival of Liang Guan, Xu Lu, and others, various tasks in Huaining County gradually returned to normal. A large number of leading cadres, including Yu Xuewen and Wang Guohao, were investigated, expelled from the Party, and transferred to judicial organs for prosecution. The dark cloud that had hung over the people of Huaining County for more than three years was finally lifted.
However, Qin Mu's burden remained heavy!
Economic work was like a mountain weighing on him, constantly reminding him to seize the time. But before focusing on investment promotion, Qin Mu first called Pan Wen, the director of the Transportation Bureau, and Chen Xin, the deputy county head in charge, into his office.
"County Head Qin!"
The two greeted Qin Mu immediately as soon as they entered. "Sit down!"
Qin Mu gestured to the sofa beside him and said, "I'll get straight to the point. Take a look at the main roads in the county, especially those connecting to Jiangzhou and the provincial capital. Any ideas?"
He then placed some photos in front of the two men.
Chen Xin and Pan Wen quickly glanced at them. From the photos, it was clear that the roads were in terrible condition, riddled with potholes…
"County Chief, these roads… haven't they always been like this?"
Pan Wen scratched his head and said, "The situation in our county is… quite normal, isn't it?"
He didn't see anything wrong with it. Given Huaining County's economic situation, as long as the roads were passable, wasn't that enough?
He could just make do with what he had!
Would he really actually go and repair them?
"These two roads are indeed quite dilapidated."
Chen Xin pondered for a moment, considering why County Chief Qin had asked this, and said, "The main problem is that the county doesn't have the money. Repairing these two roads would cost at least one or two hundred million yuan, which the county's finances can't handle."
Hearing this, Qin Mu became even angrier.
"Comrade Chen Xin, Comrade Pan Wen, from what you're saying, you both know these roads are unsuitable, but because you don't have the money, you can choose to ignore them?"
Qin Mu said seriously, "We are state cadres. It's understandable that we have difficulties, but have you truly fulfilled your due responsibilities?"
This…
What does this mean?
Chen Xin and Pan Wen exchanged a glance, both thinking: How are we supposed to fulfill our responsibilities?
What can we do if the county doesn't have the money?
"County Chief Qin, I don't quite understand what you're saying."
Pan Wen was just a bureau chief and naturally didn't dare to say anything, but Chen Xin was the deputy county chief and a member of the county government's party committee, so he naturally had more confidence and asked the question in public.
"What, is what I said so hard to understand?"
Qin Mu said coldly, "The county doesn't have money to repair the roads, but can't they at least fix them? With all these potholes, how can a car even drive on them?"
"There's so much dust, can't they think of a way to get rid of it?"
"The county government exists to serve the people in every possible way, not to sit in the office all day drinking tea, reading newspapers, and leaving on time!"
This…
Chen Xin and Pan Wen were speechless.
After all, what County Chief Qin said was indeed correct.
They didn't have money to repair the roads, but they could have improved other services, such as repairing the roads or watering to reduce dust, at least preventing the current situation of widespread complaints and curses.
"County Chief, I... I'll contact the sanitation department right away and have the water trucks spray more water to reduce dust. We'll also try to fill in some potholes to improve road conditions."
Chen Xin didn't speak, but Pan Wen, the bureau chief, naturally spoke up. The lower one's status, the more humble one should appear at times like this.
"That's not the point today."
Qin Mu waved his hand slightly and said, "I called you here to discuss the reconstruction plan for these two roads!"
What?
Reconstruction?
Hearing these two words, Chen Xin and Pan Wen's eyes were filled with confusion and doubt.
Where will the money come from?
"County Chief Qin, you should be aware of the county government's financial situation, right? Where will the money come from to repair these two roads?"
Chen Xin couldn't help but ask.
He just felt that this county chief was being a bit unrealistic. Where would hundreds of millions of yuan come from?
"The ten million yuan lying in the county government's accounts? That's for paying salaries. If County Chief Qin dares to touch it, Huaining County will probably be in chaos tomorrow."
"Comrade Chen Xin, it's a consensus that the treasury is short of money. What we need to do is try our best to find more. Money doesn't fall from the sky. We keep saying we have no money, but we don't try to find ways to get it. Do you think that's right?"
Qin Mu's voice grew increasingly agitated. "As the deputy county chief, haven't you ever thought about where the treasury's money will come from?"
"If we don't improve infrastructure, how will we attract investors?"
"If the treasury doesn't have money, then we'll borrow to build it. If we can't borrow, we'll try to reach out to higher-level departments. If we don't try, we'll always be stuck in the same place. We'll build these two paths, even if we have to sell everything we own!"