Chapter 20: Sharpening the Knife and Heading Towards the Pack of Wolves

  The office door was lightly knocked on, and Wang Jiabin poked his head in, "County Magistrate, Xiao Qing and her dad are here. They said they came to thank you at my place."

  The director of the government office, like Lu Zhong's steward, naturally knew about Xiaqing's case. If he didn't see Xiaqing's family members show up in the next two days, Wang Jiabin was already prepared to go and take a look.

  Lu Zhong signed his name on a document and immediately looked up and said, "Didn't go to petition? See me? Alright, got it, bring them here."

  A few minutes later, Wang Jiabin led in Xiao Qing and a rustic-looking old man who seemed to be around sixty years old. Unlike Ya Su, although it was already spring, the old man was still wearing a tattered cotton-padded jacket with white frost on his beard. Lu Zhong couldn't help but stare - rural weddings took place early, and by age, Xiao Qing's father should have been only in his thirties; how could he look like an elderly man who had accepted his fate?

  Wang Jiabin introduced on the side: "Old Meng, this is Magistrate Lu." And to Lu Zhong, he said: "Little Qing's dad, his name is Meng Fanlin."

  Meng Fanlin looked very stiff, his hands and feet were awkwardly placed, he muttered something incoherently with a soft and unclear voice that couldn't be heard at all.

  "Xiao Qing, quickly kowtow to County Magistrate Lu a few times and thank him for his kindness!" The words he said to his daughter were actually loud enough for others to hear.

  Xiao Qing looked at Lu Zhen with a mixture of fear and uncertainty, unsure of what to do, after all, she had only bowed her head to elders during Chinese New Year.

  "Good grief!" Meng Fanlin was about to pull her over, but Lu Zhong waved his hand and said, "Alright, sit down and tell me what's going on?"

  Meng Fanlin rubbed his hands together: "I, I won't sit down, don't, don't dirty your sofa, Xiaoyan and I will leave, we came to see you just because we felt uneasy not seeing you."

  Wang Jiabin reminded him on the side: "County Magistrate Lu told you to sit, so sit down. If there's something to ask you, come and sit." He stretched out his hand to gesture, letting Meng Fanlin and Xiaoqing move to the sofa, and poured them two cups of hot water again. Lu Zhong sat opposite the tea table and asked Xiaoqing: "How is it? Is your mother better?" Meng Fanlin blurted out: "Much better, much better." But Xiaoqing's expression turned gloomy, and she lowered her head to say: "It's still the same, my grandparents are taking care of her." "You child, don't talk nonsense," Meng Fanlin glared at Xiaoqing. Lu Zhong looked at Meng Fanlin and said: "Old Meng, I still don't understand until now. You said you came to thank me, what do you want to thank me for?"

  Wang Jiabin whispered in Lu Zhong's ear: "I just asked him clearly, someone from Xiji Village went to give him 3,000 yuan and told him that he doesn't need to compensate Old Zhang's family financially anymore. He was just told not to make any more trouble about this matter in the future."

  Lu Zhong slightly frowned: "Whose money is this?"

  Wang Jiabin said: "I'll check it out later."

  Lu Zhong nodded and looked at Meng Fanlin, "The village gave you 3,000 yuan, do you think it's because of me?"

  Meng Fanlin muttered: "Of course, of course it's your IOU, the villagers gave money and took away your IOU."

  Lu Zhong picked up his teacup: "Old Meng, do you think this solves the problem? Is it fair?"

  Meng Fanlin rubbed his hands together again and said, "What else can we do? Anyway, the child's mother has already gone mad. I'm very grateful to the government, grateful to the village leaders, and grateful to you, County Magistrate."

  Three thousand yuan is a staggering amount of money in rural areas, especially in Qinglong.

  Lu Zhong gazed deeply at Meng Fanlin, sighed inwardly, and suddenly felt a bit suffocated. Pitiful people must have their own despicable aspects, but in this situation, it's hard to blame this honest and oppressed farmer. The social environment is such that sometimes there's no one to turn to; can you expect a farmer to fight for his rights?

  Silently picking up his teacup to take a sip of water, Lu Zhong's heart felt desolate and hopeless, as if the things he had been striving for all along seemed to have no value.

  "My mom didn't do anything wrong, uncle. Why haven't the bad people who hit my mom and put her in jail been caught?" Little Qing suddenly summoned up the courage to ask quietly.

  Lu Zhong was taken aback and looked at Xiao Qing: "Huh, you think it's unfair even if someone else gave the money?"

  Xiao Qing nodded slightly, nodding her small head.

  At this time, Meng Fanlin let out a long sigh, covering his head with both hands, his eyes dull and seemingly red-rimmed.

  Looking at Meng Fanlin, Lu Zhong's nose felt sour. This man who had always lived at the bottom of society would also cry out in pain for Xiao Qing's mother's sake when it was late and quiet at night. However, the heavy pressure of life made him have to endure many times, and this endurance turned into a thoughtless zombie in some people's eyes, rather than a living person with flesh and blood.

  "Xiao Qing, as long as they are bad people, they will be punished!" Lu Zhong slowly stretched out his hand and stroked her little head, the negative emotions from just now had already flown away.

  Yes, no matter what, as long as we grasp the present, we will own the future!

  Looking at Xiao Qing nodding vigorously with her small head, the trusting and innocent eyes, Lu Zhong smiled, feeling warm in his heart, thinking that he was also a bit different from before.

  Secretary's meeting is usually to set the tone for the upcoming Standing Committee meeting.

  The fifth floor of the county committee office building, a small conference room, sat County Committee Secretary Ma Weiguo, County Mayor Lu Zhong, Deputy Secretary and CPPCC Chairman Xi Quanjue, Political and Legal Affairs Committee Secretary Qin Jiahao, Discipline Inspection Committee Secretary Wang Baogang, five full-time and part-time secretaries, and Organization Department Minister Hao Baishan.

  Secretary's meeting often involves personnel issues, and Hao Baishan is also a frequent visitor.

  The two main issues that need to be coordinated in this meeting are: First, nominate Gao Zhikai as a candidate for vice county magistrate; Second, start the land acquisition work for the golf course project.

  Ma Weiguo had just mentioned the situation of Gao Zhikai, and Deputy Secretary and Discipline Inspection Secretary Wang Baogang immediately spoke out in opposition. He rubbed his chubby face, furrowed his brow, and said: "Secretary Ma, Zhikai has only been a bureau chief for less than half a year, and you're promoting him so quickly? I'm afraid our comrades below will have some thoughts about this." Obviously, he was opposing just for the sake of opposition. If we talk about promotion speed, who can compare to County Magistrate Lu Zheng? In today's political environment, breaking the rules to promote someone is a very common practice. Ma Weiguo slightly furrowed his brow. Everyone knows that since Lu Zheng attended the first Standing Committee meeting, Wang Baogang had become "always supporting Lu and always opposing Ma". This former subordinate of Secretary Liu Pingnan seemed to have made up his mind to work with Lu Zheng, figuring that if he didn't do so, he would eventually be taken down.

  He took a clear stand on Lu Zhong's side. When he encountered problems, Lu Zhong would not ignore him, which was also one of his political strategies.

  Such a lack of organizational principles not only greatly undermines his prestige as deputy secretary, but also makes his speeches at the secretarial meeting and standing committee meeting less and less valued. However, the actual result is also weakening Ma Weiguo's absolute authority, which is also a headache for Ma Weiguo.

  Promoting Gao Zhi Kai, in Wang Bao Gang's view, it is clear that no matter what attitude Lu Zhong has, he opposes it, and there is no harm.

  Qu Yangyue seemed a bit absent-minded and only said: "I agree with Secretary Wei's opinion."

  Secretary of the Political and Legal Committee Qin Jiahao also expressed his agreement.

  Wang Baogang took a look at him, Wang Baogang knew that Qin Jiahao had originally placed great hopes on concurrently serving as the director of the Public Security Bureau, but in the end, Ma Weiguo brought over Gao Zhikai instead. Regarding this, Qin Jiahao was somewhat dissatisfied in his heart, but it seemed that it wouldn't truly affect anything.

  Ma Weiguo turned his gaze towards Hao Baishan.

  Hao Baishan flipped through the materials in his hand, cleared his throat and said: "Secretary Wei Guo, we should still be cautious about appointing Gao Zhikai. This is a fax that just came from the municipal party committee's organization department. Some businessmen from Guangning have been writing letters to reflect on Gao Zhikai's problems. Take a look." As he spoke, he pushed the stack of materials in front of Ma Weiguo.

  Ma Weiguo slightly furrowed his brow, picked it up, and flipped through page by page.

  Hao Baishan sighed and said, "So I think that discussing his appointment now is not quite appropriate. Secretary Wei Guo, let's be cautious, whether the city will investigate him in the end, it's hard to say."

  Ma Weiguo flipped through the materials in his hand, remaining silent for a long time.

  The atmosphere in the conference room was somewhat heavy, and no one could have imagined that it would end like this. From any angle, temporarily putting aside the appointment of Gao Zhikai seemed to be the best choice.

  Finally, Ma Weiguo looked up at Lu Zhong and said, "County Head, what's your take on this?"

  Lu Zhong took a puff of his cigarette, then handed out the stack of materials in front of him to the people present and said: "Zhike's appointment is a small problem. I think some cadres of our Qinglong have big problems!"

  Everyone came in and saw the materials he had brought, and they were all curious what it was. Of course, there were also people who had already sensed something and could guess eight or nine out of ten.

  "The doctors at the county hospital, judges in court, police officers at the police station, and finally, the township party committee using public funds to settle the matter, it's really a one-stop service!" Lu Zheng said with a cold smile.

  Lu Zheng distributed some materials related to the case of Xiao Qing's mother Wang Cuihua.

  He paused, then continued: "This doctor, whether or not he issued a fake certificate, the court shouldn't use this certificate as evidence for judgment, right? I also heard that Old Zhang from Xiji Village is related to President Zhang Minghua of our county court. And why did Xiji Township have to pay compensation to the Meng family? Isn't this unrelated? Is this telling the common people that our judgments are wrong? Even if they were wrong, what right and obligation does Xiji Township have to make this compensation?"

  "I also heard that the decision to spend money was made by Jia Peiming, the party secretary of Xiji Township. What's wrong with this official? Is there something wrong with his brain?! Or is it that our Qinglong township has a big problem with its team of officials?"

  Qin's family couldn't help but look at Qu Xueyue, the cadres named by Lu Zhong were almost all related to him. Zhang Minghua, the president of the county court, was Qu Xueyue's maternal uncle's son. Jia Peiming, the party secretary of Xi Ji Township, was a person cultivated by Qu Xueyue himself. Jia Peiming was originally an accountant in the commune and was given a quota to study at the Party School by Qu Xueyue. After returning, he became a deputy department-level reserve cadre and soon promoted to deputy township head.