Absolute power in officialdom

Chapter 360 The Book of Happiness

Jiang Xiaohua judged that this kind of man was completely different from Yuan Jin.

The more charming, seductive, and direct you are with Yuan Jin, the better.

But if the same approach is used here, it will backfire.

Maintaining a sense of distance, like slowly boiling a frog in water, is the best strategy.

Jiang Xiaohua is full of confidence in taking down Wu Zhiyuan.

Because she has experience.

About ten years ago, Jiang Xiaohua was a beautiful young woman in her thirties.

At that time, he was the manager of Qingyan Hotel.

At that time, a new leader came to Qingyan.

That man, in his forties, was from the Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection. He had handled many cases and arrested many corrupt officials. I heard he was upright, righteous, and intolerant of any wrongdoing.

At first, when Jiang Xiaohua approached him, just like when she met Wu Zhiyuan tonight, the other party maintained a distance.

But in the end, didn't she still succeed?

As the two had more and more in-depth conversations, Jiang Xiaohua discovered that his integrity and uprightness were all a facade; in reality, he was more greedy and lustful than anyone else.

He just did it more discreetly.

That leader later went in and started operating the sewing machine.

He shaved many people's heads, and finally, someone else shaved his head.

In her view, so-called integrity, incorruptibility, and uprightness are nothing more than a deeper disguise and a better concealment.

Therefore, Jiang Xiaohua was fully confident in facing Wu Zhiyuan.

He was young, single, and lived alone in Qingyan.

In the quiet of the night, doesn't he want someone to be with him? When he's tired from work, doesn't he want someone to comfort him with gentle words? He's a man in his prime; when he has physical needs, he can't just rely on his hand, can he?

Wu Zhiyuan is wary now because he is new to the area and hasn't yet tasted success.

Once he gets used to her presence, once she becomes an indispensable part of his life, then he won't be able to escape her even if he wants to.

She had seen too many men like that—initially, they all seemed unapproachable.

But what happened in the end? Didn't they all fall at her feet?

Are there any cats in this world that don't like fish? It seems not.

The only difference is that some people can't resist the temptation and fall for it in no time;

Some people need to take it slow, need patience, and need to be slowly cooked in warm water or simmered over low heat.

Wu Zhiyuan is clearly the latter.

But that's precisely what makes it interesting. It's the tough challenges that bring a sense of accomplishment.

Jiang Xiaohua glanced at his watch: "County Chief Wu, I won't disturb your rest any longer. Just let me know if you need anything in the house in the future."

"Okay, thank you, Director Jiang." Wu Zhiyuan politely saw her to the door.

……

The Standing Committee of the County People's Congress officially appointed Wu Zhiyuan as the Deputy County Head and Acting County Head of Qingshan County.

Previously, the municipal party committee decided that Wu Zhiyuan would serve as a member of the county party committee, a member of the standing committee, and deputy secretary of the county party committee, and was nominated as a candidate for county mayor.

During the recess of the county people's congress, the standing committee of the county people's congress may vote on the appointment of deputy county heads, and deputy county heads may act as county heads.

If the word "agent" is removed, the candidate must be formally elected by the county people's congress in an equal-number election, and must receive more than half of the votes to be elected.

In short, the municipal party committee standing committee cannot directly appoint the county head, nor can the county people's congress standing committee directly appoint the county head; this is a matter of law and procedure.

Economic development and villagers' prosperity depend on improved transportation.

After becoming acting county head, Wu Zhiyuan will go to the Provincial Department of Transportation to seek transportation projects and funding, which will be on the agenda.

Securing project funding cannot be achieved through conventional means.

With so many counties and districts across the province needing projects, if we followed the conventional methods of requesting instructions and reporting, the responses would be very official.

Then you need to make good use of all kinds of personal connections, find acquaintances, and find leaders.

This is a unique characteristic of Chinese culture.

For example, "running to the central government and going to Beijing" means running for projects and funding, with each province using its own unique methods.

Wu Zhiyuan learned that Hu Tianlong, the current director of the Provincial Department of Transportation, had served as the first secretary of the village party branch in a village in Wuhe Town, Qingyan County more than 20 years ago.

During his secondment, he also had a relationship with a widow, who became pregnant.

Fortunately, Hu Tianlong was still single at that time.

The romantic affairs between single men and widows should not be taken too seriously.

However, there were some negative consequences, which led to Hu Tianlong's early termination of his temporary post. For several years afterward, he was not promoted or given important responsibilities.

Until the last ten years or so, Hu Tianlong's career progressed rapidly, rising from deputy director to director-general.

But in the past twenty years, Hu Tianlong has never been to Qingyan County.

This shows that Hu Tianlong didn't have much affection for Qingyan County.

After making inquiries from various sources, Wu Zhiyuan learned a deeper truth.

Hu Tianlong had an affair with a widow years ago, which was discovered by her parents-in-law.

Although the father-in-law and mother-in-law's son had died, they wanted their daughter-in-law to marry their youngest son.

When they discovered that their daughter-in-law and the village cadre were having an affair at night, they locked the door and called the entire village.

They not only beat Hu Tianlong, but also humiliated him.

If Hu Tianlong had been married at the time, he would have been completely finished.

Afterwards, Hu Tianlong insisted that he and the widow were in a romantic relationship, and that the widow had indeed developed feelings for Hu Tianlong.

Of course, whether Hu Tianlong truly developed feelings for the widow or whether it was merely a physical need stemming from loneliness remains unknown.

But without a doubt, they are both single.

There is no basis whatsoever for the punishment of Hu Tianlong.

Wu Zhiyuan also learned that Hu Tianlong enjoys writing poetry and published several poetry collections when he was mayor a few years ago.

Of course, those poems were, at best, just rhymes.

For example, there is a "Happiness Sutra" that goes like this:

Happiness at work, happiness after get off work.

Happiness is in the daytime, happiness is in the night.

Happiness in youth, happiness in middle age.

Happiness in old age is happiness for everyone.

Eating brings happiness, sleeping brings happiness.

May you be healthy and happy, and may you be safe and happy.

Urban happiness, rural happiness

May the world be happy, and may happiness last forever.

There is a poem called "Song of Being an Official" which goes like this:

When an official does not make the decision for the people, it is better to go home and sell sweet potatoes.

People chat about everyday life on their heated brick beds and stroll through the fields.

They take everything seriously, big or small, and don't mince words.

I only ask for a word of praise from my fellow villagers, even if it makes me work myself to the bone.

There is also a song called "Road Repair Ballad":

If you want to get rich, build roads first; make roads reach every household.

Trucks and cars of all sizes are running around happily, and mountain products are being sold, making wallets bulge.

Bridges are the beams, roads are the bones; smooth transportation brings prosperity to all industries.

Every road leads to a smooth path, and every family prospers with a thriving life.

The woman who had sex in the car at Qinglongshan Forest Farm last time was Liu Qingqing's sister, Liu Yiyi. At that time, she was the deputy director of the Transportation Department, and now she is the director.

Before going to the Department of Transportation, Wu Zhiyuan contacted Liu Yiyi and directly expressed his desire to secure funding and projects, as well as his hope to meet Hu Tianlong.

Liu Yiyi was very enthusiastic and said she would report to Hu Tianlong.

Wu Zhiyuan knew that Hu Tianlong was a full-fledged department-level official, while he was at most a division-level official. Under normal circumstances, when a county magistrate went to the department to ask for instructions and report, it was considered a sign of high regard if a deputy director came out.

Liu Yiyi soon replied to Wu Zhiyuan that Hu Tianlong had agreed to meet him, but the meeting would last no more than ten minutes.

It's already a blessing that Director Hu Tianlong agreed to meet; Wu Zhiyuan certainly wouldn't complain about the short meeting time.

He knew very well that Liu Yiyi was able to get Hu Tianlong to spare ten minutes for a meeting not only because Liu Yiyi was Hu Tianlong's subordinate, but also because Liu Yiyi was the older sister of Liu Qingqing, the wife of Xu Youwei, the vice governor and director of the provincial public security department.

With this relationship, Hu Tianlong will undoubtedly think more highly of Liu Yiyi.

Before going to the Provincial Department of Transportation, Wu Zhiyuan went to Wuhe Town for research.

Wuhe Town is the closest county in Qingyan County, and even Longcheng City, to the provincial capital Jiangzhou, with the closest distance being only forty or fifty kilometers.

The primary development strategy of Wuhe Town is to leverage its location advantage of being close to the provincial capital.

Wu Zhiyuan believes that Wuhe Town is a bridgehead for Qingyan County to undertake the transfer of industries from the provincial capital and develop a suburban economy.

First, we need to develop urban agriculture and create a "vegetable basket" base.

Leveraging its geographical advantages, Wuhe Town will develop large-scale and standardized vegetable planting and poultry and livestock breeding, and build supporting facilities for agricultural product processing and cold chain logistics to directly supply the provincial capital market, thus building Wuhe Town into a stable and high-quality agricultural product supply base for the provincial capital.

Secondly, we should actively develop the "weekend economy," relying on natural resources to develop leisure farms, ecotourism, agricultural experiences, and boutique homestays to attract short-distance tourism consumption from citizens of the provincial capital and city.

Third, we must optimize the business environment, take advantage of lower land and labor costs, proactively connect with the provincial capital's development zone, and undertake the spillover of supporting processing and light manufacturing industries to form a receiving area for the gradient transfer of industries.

But the foundation and premise of all these ideas is transportation.

Currently, the low grade and poor condition of the road connecting Wuhe Town to the provincial capital have become the biggest bottleneck restricting development.

Transportation infrastructure development must be prioritized. We must go all out to secure projects and funding, upgrade roads, and open up this "lifeline."

Without solving the transportation problem, all previous plans will be castles in the air.

The delegation was accompanied by Liu Feng, the deputy county head, Shi Xianqiang, the director of the government office, and Wang Can, the secretary.

The car drove into Wuhe Town.

The town is small, with a main street running north to south.

At the entrance of the town government, Niu Jie, the town's Party Secretary, and He Yeshan, the town's mayor, were among those welcoming them.

Niu Jie, a name that sounds like that of a beautiful town party secretary, is actually quite a surprise to many.

Short and stout, with rough, dark skin and plain features, he wore a dark red woolen coat and stood in the middle of the crowd, exuding the air of a local tyrant.

He Yeshan was tall and thin, wore glasses, and looked very refined. He stood behind Niu Jie like a follower.

After shaking hands and exchanging pleasantries, Wu Zhiyuan smiled and said, "I came here today to see the real situation in Wuhe Town and hear everyone's thoughts."

Niu Jie quickly said, "County Chief Wu, you must be tired from your journey. Please go to the conference room first to hear the work report..."

Wu Zhiyuan didn't particularly enjoy listening to reports because they contained too much empty rhetoric, exaggerating achievements while only superficially addressing problems.

He waved his hand and said, "Let me just wander around and take a look at the scene."

Niu Jie said, "What does County Chief Wu want to see? We'll lead the way. Wuhe Town has changed a lot in recent years. The town has a completely new look, a new cultural square has been built, and several projects have been introduced..."

The group walked out of the town.

I passed by a construction site with a sign on the gate that read "Wuhe Town Cultural Square Project".

Wu Zhiyuan stopped in his tracks: "When did this project start?"

Niu Jie replied, "It was a key project of the county at the beginning of this year, with a total investment of 23 million yuan. Once completed, it will be the largest cultural activity center for the masses in the town."

Wu Zhiyuan asked, "Is there a shortage of cultural activity venues for the public in the town?"

Niu Jie paused for a moment, then said, "In the past, there were no decent places available, and the public had a lot of complaints."

This project is a public welfare project that responds to public opinion.

Liu Feng suddenly said, "County Chief Wu, I've been to the activity center that was converted from the old cinema in Wuhe Town. It's a bit old, but it's still usable, and it's only a few hundred meters from here."

Niu Jie's expression changed slightly, and she immediately explained, "County Chief Liu was referring to the old movie theater. That place is too small and the facilities are outdated, so it cannot meet the growing cultural needs of the people."

Our cultural square is designed to high standards, with a lighted sports field, a public stage, a fitness area, and more…