Er Shun created the title of "Executive Deputy Village Chief" at the democratically elected village meeting, and Zhang Pufei... arrived.
However, he just laughed it off. The so-called "Executive Deputy Village Chief" position doesn't actually exist. Everyone has heard of village chief and deputy village chief, but adding "Executive" before "Deputy Village Chief" makes it seem unusual, a bit like a joke.
But less than a day after the congress began, Cai, the village head, officially approved it: Passed.
The instruction was written by Fatty. Only after signing it did he call Zhang Guodong, who was drenched in sweat. He explained that being the executive deputy village head wasn't really about getting involved in the villagers' affairs. It was simply a position recognized by the village. He didn't need to worry about ordinary village matters, nor would he participate in future elections for village head or party secretary. It was essentially a sinecure.
This is somewhat like trying to tie Zhang Guodong to Jixing Village.
After much persuasion from the fat man and with the encouragement of several ladies from Taoyuan, Zhang Guodong reluctantly agreed.
He knew that the fat man's enthusiasm, and the villagers' enthusiasm, couldn't be for nothing more than that. Sure enough, the fat man proposed settling the accounts for the remaining medicinal herb seedlings on the land in Jixing Village first, and paying later that year.
That's a sum of 2.7 million. It accounts for three-quarters of the medicinal herb seedlings in Jixing Village.
To immediately clear all the books is something most businessmen wouldn't do. But what could Zhang Guodong say? He'd already accepted this insignificant position of executive deputy village head; he had no choice but to agree.
Once Zhang Guodong agreed, both parties signed a seedling supply contract under the auspices of the township government.
The large-scale cultivation of medicinal herbs in Jixing Village has begun in earnest.
In early October, most of the crops in the village were ready for harvest, and people were eager to plant medicinal herbs. Some even cut down a small portion of the crops, resulting in some financial losses.
But faced with this overwhelming trend, very few people wanted to fall behind. Even if there were lazybones, their land would be leased out to others.
There are always people who don't believe that this medicinal herb can make a lot of money.
Look at the fields, many people are bending over and laboriously digging holes, carefully placing the medicinal herbs in, and then carefully covering them with soil and watering them. These actions are not done by one person alone.
They were taking care of these seedlings as if they were precious treasures.
Along the edge of the field, Zhao Wu, the village's notorious lazybones who had been expelled from the police station, and several other good-for-nothings from other villages were chatting idly. The contrast between their leisurely stroll and the hard work of others was striking.
Zhao Wu had finally managed to get in touch with Zheng Chun. But after less than half a month, Zheng Chun arrived. The newly appointed director, Jin Xiangyang, immediately began purging Zheng Chun's loyal supporters; this purge didn't require prior approval from higher-ups.
Zhao Wu immediately accepted the job.
He harbored deep hatred for Zhao Sanshun, Lan Hua, and Zhang Guodong, believing that he wouldn't have been so unlucky if it weren't for the first two. He naturally wouldn't dare to fight against the newly appointed Secretary Wang and Township Head Wang.
But the others were the objects of his hatred.
If it weren't for Zhang Guodong, Lan Hua wouldn't have ignored him.
Now, Zhang Guodong has become a worthless executive deputy village chief, yet he has left the village with a debt of 2.7 million yuan. Zhao Wuchu was shocked upon hearing this and couldn't resist his greed.
"Damn it, why are all these rich people pale-faced!" Zhao Wu threw his cigarette butt on the ground, stomped on it a few times, and spat.
"Fifth Brother, is Zhang Guodong really a villager from your village? He's so rich, what's he doing in this dump?" A young man with dyed yellow hair asked, puzzled.
"It's just a rich person's trick. They're used to living in villas, so they want to go to the countryside. Pshaw!" another bald man cursed.
"Not only that, it's said there's only one male owner inside, and four very beautiful women, like fairies. Compared to them, even Sister Hong's leg hair doesn't count!" Zhao Wu said resentfully.
The three men came from three different villages, with Zhao Wu as their leader. However, after Zhao Wu was expelled from the joint defense, his position was greatly threatened. That's how it is among thugs; if you have no power and no money, nobody cares about you.
"Really? Shall we go touch it?" The blond-haired youth's eyes lit up.
"Do you know how Biaozi and Fei'e from the lower village got in?" Zhao Wu said with a sneer.
The arrest and sentencing of two hooligans from Xia Village has become well-known throughout the township. It's said that the township held a special meeting to crack down on crime and strengthen public security, aiming to create a favorable investment environment for the entire township. Quite a few people have already been arrested. The thugs are all living in fear.
For a time, there were few idle people to be seen on the streets of the village.
"Fifth Brother, of course I've heard about it. Apparently, they offended some township leaders?" the bald man asked curiously. "They're really unlucky. They've really offended them badly this time, haven't they?"
"Bullshit!" Zhao Wu said fiercely.
"We've offended Zhang Guodong. See him? He's the owner of that villa over there!"
Zhao Wu pointed to the opposite bank, his eyes filled with a mixture of awe and hatred—a complex mix. As a local, he naturally knew a great deal about what was happening in the village.
I never expected that the other side would be raising two ferocious beasts, purebred Tibetan fowl, those blue-furred wolfhounds, they must be valuable.
"There's a Tibetan Mastiff there, supposedly a purebred, and much bigger than usual, you know, Zangzou? There's also a big wolfhound, very fierce and huge, nobody dares to go near it. Biaozi and Fatty Goose were caught by these two pets!"
"What? Tibetan Gong?" The bald man and the blond-haired young man's eyes widened in surprise.
Men generally like powerful pets, especially Tibetan Mastiffs. But they'd heard they were incredibly expensive, so much so that they couldn't afford them even if they sold themselves. The two of them immediately had an idea.
"Shall we go take a look?" the bald man suggested immediately.
"Yes, I've never seen a hidden prize before!"
Zhao Wu hesitated for a moment, then nodded and said, "Alright!"
He thought to himself, "These two scoundrels are definitely up to something, but it's fine this way. I'll pretend I don't know. It'll be better if the other side suffers a bit."
The three of them strolled slowly toward the stone bridge, chatting as they went, seemingly appraising the surroundings. But their eyes were restless.
"Damn it, why did you plant so many iron thorns?"
"I've never seen such a highly confidential document before."
"Roar!" Before the three even entered the only open path through the Iron Thorns, a huge blue wolfhound suddenly appeared before them, startling them so much that they cried out "Oh my god!" and quickly ran back.
The three of them regretted not having an extra leg.
Without seeing the big blue wolfhound in person, one cannot know its size; without seeing its beastly eyes, one cannot know its terrifying nature. The wolfhound's appearance was so cruel and bloodthirsty that the three of them didn't dare to confront it and ran away.
But Da Qing didn't leave the path through the iron thorns and didn't chase the three people at all.
Zhang Guodong wouldn't allow them to harm people without cause. Besides, Da Qing and the others are now evolving into demonic beasts, and their intelligence has increased significantly.
Inside, Zhang Guodong and Zhao Laosan were chatting, but their hands never stopped working. Zhang Guodong handed them bricks, while Zhao Laoliu mixed cement on a work block, becoming a bricklayer.
The foundation has now been laid. It is much more solid than the foundation of a typical pool, with nearly a meter of cement covering the bottom. It used nearly fifty bags of cement and dozens of cubic meters of sand. Not only is it solid and sturdy, but it is also estimated that it will not easily crack in the event of an earthquake.
The swimming pool walls have also been thickened considerably.
Zhang Guodong definitely couldn't handle the workload alone. But with the knowledgeable Zhao Laoliu around, everything became much simpler. After planting medicinal herb seedlings on his own land, Zhao Laoliu came to help.
Fan Dun was hired. Of course, he had come here after growing medicinal herb seedlings.
Zhang Guodong knew his medicinal herb seedlings very well, so he told them that if they just watered them a little every day for the first ten days, the seedlings wouldn't die. This convinced the two men.
With just three people, they managed to handle such a large project as the swimming pool.
“Brother Zhang, those three were all good-for-nothings, they don’t do anything worthwhile. You should be careful in the future,” Zhao Laoliu said hesitantly after glancing at Zhao Wu and the other two who had run away.
"One of them is Zhao Wu from our village, a bachelor. He used to work as a community security officer at the police station, but he was fired for some reason. The other two are Zhang Guodong from the neighboring village, who also saw what just happened."
Hearing this, he smiled slightly and said, "Sixth Brother, don't worry. Dahei and Daqing can handle about ten or eight people without any problem. No one can get in!"
Zhao Laoliu couldn't help but laugh awkwardly. His eyes widened as he watched Da Qing gracefully pass by, a strange look in them. This Zhang brother wasn't an ordinary person; he raised wolves! And even this one was much bigger than the average wolf.
Encountering such a large wolf, there's really no way to defend oneself. Just looking at it would terrify an ordinary person, let alone someone engaged in dogfighting. However, this wolf doesn't easily harm people.
These past few days, Zhao Laoliu had been worried that Ya Ya would be hurt by the two wild beasts, but to his surprise, they got along very well. Ya Ya was very close to them.
"That's true, Daqing and Dahei aren't exactly easy to deal with either!" Zhao Laoliu said with a simple smile.
"My god, we almost couldn't get out!" Zhao Wu and his two companions ran over a thousand meters before finally stopping, panting heavily, on the edge of the field. Seeing that no wolfhounds were chasing them, they breathed a sigh of relief, but their faces were grim.
The three of them looked back with lingering fear, then looked at each other, and dared not go to the stone bridge again.
They had never seen such a big wolfhound before; they thought it was a wolfhound and didn't even recognize the blue wolf.
This made the three of them more wary of Peach Blossom Abode, and they dared not approach it easily.
This was just a side story.
Jixing Village is currently enveloped in a flurry of activity. It's a peculiar scene; October is usually the time for harvesting crops, but Jixing Village is unusually busy.
It's as if this is the season for spring planting.
"Jing has arrived!" someone shouted from the field.
Then they saw Zhao Sanshun, the village party secretary and head, leading several reporters with long lenses and cameras. Also present were Wang Kang, the young township party secretary and head of township, and other township leaders.
In this way, the news about Jixing Village will quickly spread. This is probably one of Fatty's strategies: to give Zhangba Township exposure and draw more attention to the area.
"Secretary Wang, leaders, reporters, should we call the village representatives together?" Zhao Sanshun was a little nervous. He'd never been on television before, despite his age.
When these long guns and short cannons were handed to him, even the elderly Zhao Sanshun became extremely nervous.
"Village Chief Zhao, no need. The reporter wants to see the real labor scenes in Jixing Village and the real economic development of Zhangba Township!" the fat man reassured Zhao Sanshun.
"Secretary Wang, let's go over there. Let's see what seedlings the villagers are planting!" The female reporter greeted the fat man and led the way into the field. At this time, the reporter was the most important person.
"Alright, you don't need to follow anymore. Go see what problems the villagers have, and we'll solve them together later." The fat man waved to the township leaders beside him, knocking them all away.
I've come to see Jixing Village!
The news spread very quickly; people in the fields rarely see reporters or appear on television.
Upon seeing that even the township secretary was with them, everyone's spirits immediately lifted.
They all had smiles on their faces.
During the field interviews, villagers answered questions, and Zhao Sanshun also participated. The chubby man, as the head of the township, introduced the economic plan and development of Zhangba Township in a bold and simple manner. The economic reform pilot project in Jixing Village is indeed very innovative.
The idea of green industries replacing other economic sectors as the pillar economy of Zhangba Township is bold and its positioning within the province is eye-catching.
It's easy to imagine that for a period of time, there will be a lot of attention on Zhangba Township from society and higher levels of government. The pressure will also be immense. However, pressure can also be a driving force.
After capturing many scenes in the fields and conducting some interviews, the reporter's attention was drawn to the Peach Blossom Spring on the opposite bank.
"Secretary Wang, is this also Jixing Village on the other side?" the beautiful reporter asked with a smile, her eyes full of curiosity. "Many wealthy people like to build their own villas in the countryside. I never thought I would run into one myself."
When they arrived, they saw the stone gate and the stone bridge, which turned out to be private property!
The two small villas visible on the highway across the river piqued the reporters' curiosity.
The fat man smiled helplessly and said, "It's Jixing Village, but it's private property now. With the improvement of the environment in Zhangba Township, more and more people like to settle here and contribute to the local development!"
"Oh? Can you tell me about it?" the beautiful reporter asked in surprise.
"Of course, but this kind of content won't be in the news. Our Zhangba Township doesn't manage just one area; we consider the overall situation. Please understand, reporter!" the fat man said earnestly.
The beautiful reporter smiled slightly and said, "No problem. After the interview, the press release will still need Secretary Wang's review!"
"Just call me Wang Kang!" the fat man said with an awkward smile.
No one knew about their conversation. Actually, this beautiful reporter, Xu Hui, was his wife's colleague and also a good friend.
Xu Hui attended the wedding banquet when the fat man got married.
"The owner on the other side is my college classmate, Zhang Guodong. I don't know if you remember him, but he was the best man at my wedding with Yujiao!" the fat man reminded him.
"Ah. It's him?" Xu Hui suddenly realized, clearly remembering Zhang Guodong. He had an ordinary appearance, but an extraordinary air about him.
"Yes. This medicinal herb cultivation in Jixing Village is largely due to him. He provided all the herbs and sold them to the villagers at extremely favorable prices, helping to transform the economic development model and increase everyone's income! He's practically a businessman, isn't he?"
Half a businessman? What does "half" mean?
"Could we go take a look? I've never seen a country villa before!" Xu Hui said with interest.
The fat man was in a dilemma. But he couldn't refuse. He knew Zhang Guodong didn't want to be disturbed, and even less did he want anyone to disturb the tranquility of Peach Blossom Abode. But Xu Hui was helping him this time, and she was Lin Yujiao's good friend, so he couldn't refuse her no matter what.
"I'll call and see if he's there," Fatty nodded and agreed.
Zhang Guodong was puzzled when he received the call from the fat man. This fat man had been coming to Jixing Village far too often lately, and now he was getting involved in a reporter interview.
“From now on, don’t mess with these Johor Bahru people. Also, no filming inside! They can come in if they agree, but don’t come in if they don’t agree!” Zhang Guodong also made these demands.
The fat man readily agreed.
“Guodong is home, but he doesn’t like being filmed, so if you want to go in for tea, the cameras can’t be turned on!” the fat man said.
Although it was regrettable, Xu Hui could understand some people's rules and nodded in agreement.
After the fat man returned from confronting the township leaders, he took Xu Hui and two male colleagues with him, making a total of four people, and entered Taoyuanzhu.
The first to greet them were Big Black and Big Green, who were eyeing the four of them menacingly.
The fat man looked on as if facing a formidable enemy, and the other three were also quite frightened. They dared not make any rash moves.
Zhang Guodong, Zhao Laoliu, and Fandun were by the swimming pool. He gave them some instructions, came out, smiled, and beat up Dahei and Daqing.
"It seems that Yamato and Daisei still don't like you very much!" Zhang Guodong joked.
The fat guy was so depressed.
"Enough with the nonsense, are these really Dahei and Daqing? How did they grow so big?"
"It's been almost a year since I last saw you, so of course you've grown up quickly!" Zhang Guodong said with a hearty laugh. "Three reporters, please come in. This is the first time I've had guests here!"
As soon as Xu Hui and her two colleagues entered, they were immediately captivated by the scenery before them. The fruit trees and flowers in that area left them speechless, as some of them were southern fruit trees.
But here I saw it. And there seemed to be many kinds of fruit trees. The fragrance was wonderful. The flowers were in full bloom. It was truly as beautiful as a paradise.
Then they saw a vegetable garden with many kinds of vegetables growing there, and most of them were ripe! Red, yellow, green and white, they were growing very vigorously.
The vegetables here are much healthier than those outside; they're completely organic.
"What's that huge pit for? Is it going to be used as a swimming pool?" The fat man wasn't interested in fruit trees or anything like that; he was fine with eating them, he'd gotten used to them after seeing them a few times. But the newly discovered giant pit was what attracted him.
"What do you think?" Zhang Guodong said with amusement. He could tell what the fat man was thinking just by looking at his eyes.
"Damn, this is so relaxing! The swimming pool is great, it's all natural and outdoors, I'll have to come here often!" the fat man said shamelessly.
"I doubt you'll get a share. You'd better go talk to those ladies; this is their business."
Zhang Guodong never held back when it came to dealing with the fat man. The fat man was also a lecher, but there were several ladies present, especially Qingzhu and Xuan Qingxuan. Letting outsiders in would probably make them furious.
Zhang Guodong suspected that if the swimming pool were built and Qingzhu or Xuanqinghui went into the water, he would probably be assigned to the frontier.
"Isn't this unacceptable?"
Zhang Guodong shrugged.
"What a beautiful place!" Xu Hui exclaimed.
The two male colleagues nodded vigorously, clearly envious. It's good to be rich. This is private space; you definitely couldn't get things done without money.
When the group arrived at the courtyard, Li Yun and Qingzhu were not there. A minivan was missing, so they must have driven it away. This saved them the trouble of meeting everyone.
"Everyone, please have a seat!" Zhang Guodong gestured for everyone to sit down and brought out drinks and tea. The fat man unceremoniously ordered tea. The half-pound of tea that Zhang Guodong had offered was snatched away by his father.
So every time he comes here, Fatty doesn't choose beverages; he prefers tea. The tea that Zhang Guodong has here is a real treat.
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