Zhang Cai's face darkened.
I thought to myself that I really shouldn't have brought Xu Guozhong with me today.
The county head actually came to our Xiaoyangshu Village for research. On such an important day, this old man made such a fool of himself.
Moreover, the town mayor, deputy town mayor, township head, deputy township head, and village heads from various villages were all present.
Xu Guozhong, you've disgraced Xiaoyangshu Village and him, the village chief.
Xu Guozhong was also dumbfounded.
At this moment, the old man with the donkey cart snorted.
Then he turned to his own black donkey, which was lying paralyzed in the middle of the road, and said, "Your son has come to see you, get up!"
The black donkey actually brayed twice.
Everyone laughed even harder.
At this moment, Mayor Zhou squeezed through and gave Zhang Cai a sidelong glance.
"What happened? You've made a fool of yourself!"
Zhang Cai also hung his head.
But when Zhang Cai saw the old man and woman, he got angry.
He immediately went over and pointed at the old man: "You...you're that old turtle, right!"
"I...you are..." The old man was a bit hunchbacked and only about fifty years old, but he aged rather quickly.
"Oh, it's Village Chief Zhang Cai!"
"Hey old turtle, even though you don't live in Little Poplar Village anymore, you still seem to have land there, right? What's wrong? You don't want the land anymore this time, do you?"
"I...I...Why wouldn't I want to..."
At this moment, the old lady next to the turtle became anxious.
"Village chief, my family has moved away, but it's not far from our Xiaoyangshu Village. Our household registration is still in Xiaoyangshu Village!"
"That's right! I'm telling you, Village Chief Zhang, you can't refuse to give us our land. If you don't give us our land, we'll go to the township and town to sue you!"
Before Zhang Cai could say anything, Mayor Zhou had already walked over.
"Hey old turtle, weren't you going to tattle? I'm right here!"
The moment that old turtle saw Mayor Zhou, his legs went weak.
At this moment, Xu Guozhong perked up and ran over to Mayor Zhou, whispering, "Mayor, this guy is that old turtle from our village, and his wife, Zhao Guiying, is next to him. That old couple is incredibly unreasonable! Their nickname is 'Old Crook.' They have four daughters, and each one is more unreasonable than the last. Especially the second one, Xiaoqing, she once scratched my face..."
Zhang Cai pulled him away. He thought to himself, "Xu Guozhong, how dare you bring this up? If you hadn't been so slutty and flirtatious, touching that Xiao Qing's feet, would she have scratched you? You asked for it. You dared to touch a tigress's ass, being scratched is the least of your worries."
Zhang Cai glared at him.
Xu Guozhong shut up. Mayor Zhou looked at the old turtle, then at Zhang Cai, and said.
"It used to be from your village, right? You handle it. Anyway, the county magistrate is in the car, so you can decide what to do!"
Zhang Cai nodded, glanced at the old turtle, and thought to himself, "Like attracts like. Wang Xiaoyan is unreasonable, and this in-law, that old turtle, is no better. It would be interesting if these two families started fighting, neither of them willing to give in."
Zhang Cai pointed at him.
"Hey old turtle, let me tell you, you know Mayor Zhou, right? If you keep blocking the road and not letting us leave, you can forget about your land. And let me tell you again, you heard that just now, didn't you? County Chief Liu from Yangshu County is sitting in the car right there! If you don't leave, I'll call the police station and have you arrested!"
"I..." The old turtle was dumbfounded.
Rural people, or rather, Chinese people in general, share a common characteristic: they are afraid of officials. As the old saying goes, "The common people cannot fight against officials." The moment they see an official, their legs go weak.
The situation is the same in this country; if you don't back down, they'll really punish you!
The old turtle had lived a long life and seen many different situations. When he heard that the county magistrate was in the car, he knew that things were serious.
Zhang Cai glanced at him and said, "You're not leaving, huh? Fine, I'll call the police station right away! They'll take you away and detain you."
"No...other village chiefs, I'll leave, I'll leave, but what about my donkey..."
"Never mind, go and apologize! You old turtle, don't go looking for trouble. Let me tell you, I'm only doing this because we're from the same village. If it were anyone else, I would have called the police station to arrest them already..."
"ah..."
...
Before long, everyone worked together to push the donkey cart to the side of the road, and the donkey was moved to the dirt road below.
With someone clearing the way ahead, the county magistrate's motorcade slowly moved forward first.
County Chief Liu, who was in the car, asked, "Who is this?"
The secretary next to him was a tall, thin man with a humble expression.
He chuckled and whispered, "County Chief, he was a troublemaker. Mayor Zhou just got rid of him!"
"Yes! It's a matter of manners, a problem of manners! The manners of Chinese people are still not high..."
The convoy moved forward slowly, and after a while, it began to gradually accelerate.
Because of the sudden arrival, Xiaoyangshu Village was unprepared. The original plan was for the villagers to line up to welcome the county magistrate.
The convoy went directly to the village committee.
Zhang Cai's car arrived first, and the people in the car got out and busied themselves making arrangements.
At this moment, County Chief Liu stepped down amidst a retinue of attendants and entered the village chief's office.
At this moment, Mayor Zhou came out and called for Zhang Cai.
"Zhang Cai, you, Deputy Village Chief Liu, and the Women's Director, hurry up! The county head is here for an inspection, why are you all hiding?"
Zhang Cai grinned.
"Mayor Zhou, it's not that we're hiding, it's that we couldn't squeeze in!"
"Alright! Stop talking! Hurry up and go inside! Then find two people who are good at talking!"
Zhang Cai agreed.
Xu Guozhong said from behind, "I...I, Village Chief, I'll go accompany you..."
"You? You'll pay my ass! You're just a nobody, trading birds for cotton, look at your accent! Don't scare the county magistrate!"
Zhang Cai then pointed and said, "That... Deputy Village Chief Liu, you, and Director Liu... never mind, Director Liu, call the others. Chen Chu, you come here! Kid, you know how to talk, right?"
Chen Chu nodded.
This was the highest-ranking official he had ever met, and he was quite excited.
After all, he was just a young boy from the countryside.
Zhang Cai led Liu Bingbing and Chen Chu into the village office.
The county magistrate was smoking when he raised his eyelids and saw Liu Bingbing; his eyes immediately opened wide.
He touched the few remaining strands of bald, smooth hair that were combed back.
"You, you are..."
Mayor Zhou, who was standing nearby, immediately bowed and leaned in with a fawning smile, saying, "She's a university intern, working as an intern village head in Xiaoyangshu Village... her name is Liu Bingbing..."
"Oh! I know, I know." The county magistrate stood up with a smile.
He wasn't very tall, only 1.6 meters, and when he stood next to Liu Bingbing, he reached her chest.
"Oh! I've heard of it, I've heard of it, Liu... Liu..."
Mayor Zhou hurriedly prompted from behind, "Deputy Village Chief Liu, Liu Bingbing..."
"Oh right! Xiao Liu, you're amazing! A college student, our country needs talents like you!"
As he spoke, County Chief Liu reached out and grasped Liu Bingbing's small hand, stroking the back of her hand twice with his thumb.
His face was also glowing.
"Xiao Liu! It's tough working at the grassroots level! It's truly invaluable for a capable college graduate like you to be training in a rural area! You're sure to have a bright future! Look, there are quite a few female county heads and mayors in our country now, and they're all very young! Young people have a lot to offer. I think our Deputy Village Chief Liu is capable enough to be a town mayor! Look how well Deputy Village Chief Liu has managed Xiaoyangshu Village..."
Anyone with eyes can see that it would be much better if Xiaoyangshu Village were the one to be corrected.
Instead, the county magistrate probably thinks that it would be great if he could get rid of Liu Bingbing.
Immediately, the town mayor and township head joined in the fawning.
The county head waved his hand: "You can all go back! I came to Xiaoyangshu Village for an inspection today. What's the point of you following me? The state has repeatedly emphasized that cadres are not allowed to be accompanied by too many people. Aren't you making me make a mistake? Don't you agree, Deputy Village Head Liu..."
Liu Bingbing's face was flushed. She felt uncomfortable as her hand was being held by a hand with some age spots.
She bit her lip and said, "The county magistrate is right."
"Look!" County Chief Liu moved closer to Liu Bingbing.
"Look, Comrade Xiao Liu hasn't been working long, but his awareness is already higher than yours! You should go back now!"
Everyone had no choice but to take this opportunity to curry favor with the county magistrate.
But without the paulownia tree, where will you attract magpies to their nests?
A village official walked past Zhang Cai and muttered under his breath, "Well done, Village Chief Zhang, you're really clever! You used a honey trap... I'm completely outmatched, completely outmatched..."
Actually, Zhang Cai was also uncomfortable. Seeing County Chief Liu holding Liu Bingbing's hand and not letting go, he didn't want to either.
He'd been eyeing Liu Bingbing for a long time, and even though they hadn't slept together yet, he was really afraid that one day someone else would notice and issue a transfer order to get rid of Liu Bingbing.
He couldn't help but mutter under his breath, "Damn it, corrupt officials..."
Chen Chu was also angry, but upon hearing Zhang Cai's words, he sneered inwardly.
This is a real case of a crow landing on a pig; you only see the black in others and not your own. You call the county magistrate a corrupt official, but you're no better than him!
County Chief Liu was short and wore a suit with a white shirt underneath, revealing his equally dark neck.
Liu Bingbing gestured for her to withdraw her small hand.
County Chief Liu chuckled.
Then, he glanced to the side.
The tall, thin male secretary walked over.
At this moment, all the township and town leaders had left, leaving only Zhang Cai and Chen Chu inside the house.
The male secretary came over to the two of them and said, "You two should go out first. Mayor Liu wants to hear Deputy Village Chief Liu's work report!"
Zhang Cai's eyes darted around.
He forced a smile and said, "I...I also want to report back to County Chief Liu."
"You…" The male secretary's eyes widened.
Zhang Cai was startled.
At this moment, County Chief Liu chuckled: "Village Chief Zhang, right? Oh, well... I heard your school building is short of funds, right? I know the situation in your village; it's not well-off. Although our county isn't wealthy either, if Xiaoyangshu Village is really having trouble making ends meet, the county will consider this issue and help solve your village's economic problems..."
Zhang Cai swallowed hard.
"Well... thank you very much, County Magistrate..."
"Oh! You're being too polite. We're all serving the people! Why are you thanking me? By the way, why don't you and Secretary Yang go out and get some food? I'll have lunch in our village today..."
"County Chief Liu..." Zhang Cai said, bowing and scraping, "Our village doesn't have any restaurants or anything. How about this, I'll get a large private room at the Big Poplar Tree Restaurant in the township, and we..."
"Bang!" County Chief Liu slammed his hand on the table.
"What are you saying! Huh? I'm the county magistrate, I know our village's situation perfectly well! How can we eat and drink like this! That won't do! The country has repeatedly emphasized the need to reduce the burden on ordinary people. If we're going to reduce the burden on ordinary people, all those meetings will have been for nothing! We'll cook right here in our village! Whatever the villagers eat today, that's what I, as the county magistrate, will eat! Officials must be of one mind with the people and eat from the same pot!"
As he spoke, County Chief Liu approached Liu Bingbing with a smile, placing his plump hand, marked with age spots, on her shoulder.
"Aren't you right, Deputy Village Chief Liu...? As officials, we should serve the people..."
Zhang Cai thought to himself, "I'll provide you with a numbing service..."
The secretary winked at Zhang Cai, then pulled Chen Chu along, and the three of them went outside.
The male secretary then slammed the door shut.
"Village Chief Zhang, what about lunch..."
"What is your surname?" Zhang Cai asked, offering the secretary a cigarette.
The secretary waved her hand, refusing to take it.
"My surname is Yang, and I'm Village Chief Zhang. I was just talking to you about lunch. Does your village have any specialties?"
"No, nothing," Zhang Cai grinned.
"So...which restaurant did you mention earlier? How's the food?" Secretary Zhang asked, looking out the window with a helpless expression.
"It's…it's alright…" Zhang Cai didn't understand what he meant for a moment.
"I see..." Secretary Yang patted Zhang Cai on the shoulder and said in a low voice, "What about you? Don't stand here. Go to Dayangshu Restaurant, order some of their signature dishes and get some good wine. Our county magistrate can just have a bite here."
"Oh, I understand, I get it."
Zhang Cai cursed inwardly: Damn it! They really know how to cause trouble, but there's nothing he can do about it.
He glanced at Chen Chu.
Chen Chu followed him out.
As the two walked through the courtyard, they happened to turn around and saw County Magistrate Liu blocking the window curtains.
Thinking that it was broad daylight and he was blocking the curtain, Zhang Cai understood.
Looking up at the sky, he regretted not having slept with Liu Bingbing first.
Now that they've dismissed everyone, it's clear they want to make things easier for Liu Bingbing.
Damn it, what a waste of a flower.
Zhang Cai felt frustrated, so he took out a cigarette, lit it, and took a puff.
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