Chapter 22: Second Best
Xu Jianmin frowned, lit a cigarette, and looked away from his junior brother's face: "This is not easy to handle."
Zhou Yong sighed: "Brother, you are from Huaixi Village and you know the situation in the village. If it weren't for the villagers, would my father-in-law have applied for a grocery store..."
Xu Jianmin took a deep puff of his cigarette and glanced at Zhou Yong: "I understand what you said. The problem is that my senior brother has no say in this matter. Moreover, Secretary Zhang rejected Huaixi Village's application to open a grocery store. It is meaningless to submit another application..."
Zhou Yong's eyes dropped: "Brother, can you help me make some connections? I want to meet Secretary Zhang."
Xu Jianmin frowned again after hearing his words, and waved his hand without thinking: "It will be difficult to pass the rejected matter even if we meet with Secretary Zhang."
We have to give it a try whether it passes or not, after all, it concerns Li Baotian's political achievements during his tenure as village chief.
Zhou Yong said, "Brother, please help me."
Xu Jianmin put out his cigarette and asked with doubt in his heart: "Why are you so concerned about this matter all of a sudden?"
Zhou Yong was a man who clearly distinguished between gratitude and resentment. He had once caused great suffering to Li Baotian, which not only ruined his future but also eventually led to his death in depression. So in this life, he wanted to compensate his father-in-law as much as possible.
"Brother, my father-in-law is the village chief. Why do you think I'm so concerned about this? I ignored it before and thought it would pass the review. Who would have thought it would be rejected..."
His explanation made sense, and Xu Jianmin nodded repeatedly.
"Then wait a minute. I'll go see if Secretary Zhang is here."
Xu Jianmin left the office. Zhou Yong squinted his eyes and placed one hand on the desk, tapping rhythmically.
It is not an easy task to convince Secretary Zhang to agree to open a grocery store in Huaixi Village, but Zhou Yong will not give up without giving it a try.
As long as this matter can be accomplished, Zhou Yonggan said that Li Baotian can be the village chief for life.
While he was daydreaming, five or six minutes passed before Xu Jianmin came back.
"You are lucky, Secretary Zhang is here, I will take you there..."
Zhou Yong stood up: "Brother, thank you."
Xu Jianmin smiled and said, "Why are you saying thank you to me? Think about what you are going to say about Huaixi Village when you see Secretary Zhang later..."
Zhou Yong followed Xu Jianmin to Secretary Zhang's office and smiled.
Secretary Zhang is in his fifties and looks very easygoing: "Comrade, please take a seat."
Zhou Yong did not sit down, but took out the cigarette Xu Jianmin gave him from his pocket.
Secretary Zhang smiled very kindly and waved his hand: "If you have something to say, just say it."
Xu Jianmin gave Zhou Yong a look, and he put the cigarette back into his pocket.
"Hello, Secretary Zhang. I am Zhou Yong, a villager from Huaixi Village. I want to ask you about the rejection of the grocery store."
Secretary Zhang looked at Zhou Yong thoughtfully, picked up the large enamel teapot on the desk and was about to stand up to pour water, but Xu Jianmin was very tactful and took over the task.
"Comrade Zhou Yong, Huaixi Village is not far from the commune, so there is no need to open a grocery store..."
Not far?
Zhou Yong smiled and said, "Secretary Zhang, Huaixi Village is not far from the commune, and it only takes more than three hours to get there. But do you know? There is more than an hour of mountain road over there. Whenever it rains or snows, it is difficult for people in our village to make a trip..."
Secretary Zhang has only been in office for half a year and has no idea of the conditions in each village.
"I've heard about the geographical location of Huaixi Village. It doesn't matter if you encounter difficulties. Just find a way to solve it. But this is not the reason why your village wants to open a grocery store..."
There are certain requirements for setting up a grocery store in the village, and it can only be approved if it is more than ten miles away from the commune.
If every village opened a grocery store, there would be no point for the supply and marketing cooperatives to exist.
The most important thing is that every grocery store opened will create several new jobs. Now that the finances are tight, there is simply no extra money to pay salaries to public officials.
The leaders are in trouble and the people are suffering. What can we do in this situation?
After listening to Secretary Zhang's words, Zhou Yong pondered for a few seconds: "Secretary Zhang, I understand what you said, and I also understand your difficulties. The problem is that the mountain road in Huaixi Village is difficult to travel, and the villagers are suffering..."
Secretary Zhang took a sip of water and Xu Jianmin joined in.
"The difficulty of traveling on mountain roads is indeed a big problem. If this problem is solved, it will be more convenient for the villagers of Huaixi Village to travel."
After listening to Secretary Zhang's mumbling, Zhou Yong's eyes lit up, and he agreed, "Secretary Zhang, you are right. Can you help our village solve this problem?"
The door for grocery stores to pass approval is not wide enough. If the mountain can be leveled, the credit will be given to Li Baotian, which will be considered a political achievement for him.
Secretary Zhang frowned, looked at Zhou Yong, slowly put down the teacup in his hand, and said with a smile: "You are really giving me a difficult problem."
Moving mountains involves blasting, and requires a lot of manpower and material support.
Given the current financial resources of Hongqi Commune, it has no ability to remove the mountain.
After hearing Secretary Zhang's straightforward words, Zhou Yong couldn't help but frown.
This is not acceptable, and that is not acceptable. It is understandable that leaders have difficulties, but the difficulties of ordinary people also need to be understood by others.
Thinking about these things, Zhou Yong smiled bitterly and said, "Secretary Zhang, because of that mountain, many mountain products in Huaixi Village cannot be shipped out. If there were no mountain, every household would not be so poor..."
Life is difficult nowadays, especially in Huaixi Village, where arable land is limited. It is a large village with more than 500 households, and even if the mountains are full of treasures, no one is able to transport large quantities out of the mountain.
Secretary Zhang fell into deep thought after listening to Zhou Yong's statement. He also wanted to do practical things for the people, but the problem was that the tight financial situation did not allow him to do so.
Xu Jianmin looked at Secretary Zhang, then at Zhou Yong, and said, "Secretary Zhang, I know the situation in Huaixi Village best. I assure you that everything Comrade Zhou Yong said is true."
Secretary Zhang never doubted Zhou Yong's words, but he was in a dilemma.
There are good reasons why Huaixi Village is not allowed to open a grocery store. The idea of moving the mountain has been rejected again. When Zhou Yong goes back and tells the villagers about it, what will everyone think of him as the secretary?
Secretary Zhang frowned and spoke thoughtfully: "Moving mountains is not a trivial matter. We need to hold a meeting to discuss this matter. We also have to apply to the higher authorities. It's hard to say whether it will be approved..."
Secretary Zhang was afraid that the villagers of Huaixi Village would say that he was not doing his job, so he could only pass the buck.
When Zhou Yong heard this, he felt disappointed, because he knew that this was an excuse used by officials to get rid of people.
"Secretary Zhang, how about this? Our village will move the mountain ourselves. Can you please ask the relevant department to apply for a batch of explosive powder for us..."
Without gunpowder and relying solely on manual mining of rocks, it would probably take more than 10 to 20 years to complete the project.
When Secretary Zhang heard this, his face suddenly turned serious and he slammed the table and said, "Nonsense!!"
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