Old Wang squatted on the doorstep of his house and smoked a bag of dry tobacco. The sparks in the pipe flickered, just like his thoughts at the moment.
Fortunately, Brother Jiang Hai showed him a clear path. Otherwise, if he had to rely on himself, he would have done so much useless work!
As soon as it was dark, Wang Lei, the youngest son of Old Wang, who was in junior high school, arrived home. Old Wang immediately assigned him a task: "Leizi, copy down the demolition notice posted by the Urban Construction Bureau. Don't change a single word!"
He himself could hardly read, but he knew that empty words were definitely not as effective as what was written in black and white.
After three o'clock in the morning, the heads of several households were quietly called to the backyard by Old Wang.
Everyone looked at Old Wang with sleepy eyes!
Wang Cheng read the notice one by one to everyone, while Old Wang counted on his fingers beside him: "Listen, how much is the difference between the compensation standard written here and what Wang Papi said?"
"Good heavens! We're still a long way off!" Old Xie slapped his thigh, shivering.
Old Wang asked Wang Lei to write down everything Director Wang did to coerce and bribe them into signing in order to complete the task.
Wang Cheng lay under the kerosene lamp, wrote down what happened, and then read it aloud to everyone after he finished writing.
"Yes! That's it!"
Old Zhang's wife wiped away tears and said, "Director Wang even threatened to cut off our minimum living allowance!"
Everyone pressed their fingerprints one after another, and the bright red fingerprints on the paper were particularly eye-catching.
Old Wang carefully folded the joint letter and put it in his pocket. "Tomorrow morning, we'll go to the Urban Construction Bureau and make a scene. If we don't make a big fuss, no one will hear us!"
Under the moonlight, several old men squatted in the yard and chattered about the detailed plans for tomorrow!
When Old Wang went back to the house, Wang Lei came out rubbing his eyes and saw his father wrapping the joint letter of credit in oil paper again and again and carefully putting it into his coat.
"Dad, are you really going?"
"Go!" Old Wang banged his pipe against the sole of his shoe. "Wang Bapi is making a fool of us. This matter is not over yet!"
The next morning, a group of people gathered in front of the Urban Construction Bureau.
Old Wang stood at the front, holding high in his hand the joint letter covered with red handprints.
The old neighbors following behind him held up signs made of old newspapers with the words "Give me justice for my demolition" written crookedly on them.
"We support national development, but we will never be deceived into signing!"
"Severely punish the corrupt official Wang Ba Pi and return my hard-earned money!"
The slogans came one after another, startling the sparrows in the trees and making them fly away.
Passing cyclists stopped to watch the excitement, and soon the entrance of the Urban Construction Bureau was blocked by a crowd of people.
Xiao Zhang from the Petition Office had just made some tea, and before the tea leaves had even expanded, he was startled by the scene outside the window.
He rushed out in a panic, his glasses crooked: "Fellow villagers, if you have something to say, please talk it over and discuss it slowly..."
"Why didn't Wang Papi explain himself when he tricked us into signing?"
"Negotiate? If you continue to negotiate, the house will be demolished!" Old Wang took a step forward and put the joint letter in front of Xiao Zhang.
"The country wants to build, and we have no objections to demolition. But why are they using threats, inducements, and deception to get us to sign?"
At the entrance of the Urban Construction Bureau, Old Wang stood at the front of the crowd, his dark face full of wrinkles, and he held tightly in his hand the joint letter covered with red fingerprints.
He straightened his hunched back and said in a loud voice to the cadres who had come over:
"When your government said they wanted to expropriate our land, we agreed to have a good discussion and only arrange demolition once everyone was satisfied. But what's going on now?"
Old Wang waved his arms excitedly. "Without even explaining the situation clearly, they're forcing us to move to that godforsaken place in the northern suburbs!"
The old neighbors around echoed: "That's right!"
"That's too much of a bully!"
Old Wang pulled out a stack of crumpled notices from his pocket and unfolded them one by one: "Look, the compensation standards on these notices are different every time! Are you afraid that we ordinary people will understand?
In order to trick us into signing the agreement, they even said they would give us some extra area. Bah!
The tube-shaped buildings over there all look the same, how can we fix them?
Xiao Zhang was so frightened by the scene that he started sweating and his glasses were fogged up.
He was about to speak when he suddenly saw Li Mingyuan coming out of the office building. He immediately said as if he had seen a savior: "The leader is here!"
Li Mingyuan walked over quickly. Glancing at the crowd, he signaled the staff to maintain order, then walked up to Old Wang and said, "Fellow villager, calm down. We can discuss any questions you have."
Old Wang looked Li Mingyuan straight in the eye and said, "Director Li, are you worthy of the badge on your chest if you deceive the people just to complete your mission?
We, the old residents, have lived on this land for decades! As for you... "
Before I could finish my words, I burst into tears!
Li Mingyuan took the letter from Old Wang without knowing why. After reading it carefully, his expression gradually became solemn.
He was talking about the reconstruction of the southern part of the city, where the relocation had been going on for two years and still hadn't been completed.
Although this small area in the west of the city only involves 30 households, it will not be a problem. All of them will sign their names in just over a month.
Originally, he wanted to commend the street office staff who directly assisted in handling this matter!
Now I know how to get the job done so quickly, that's how it is done!
He turned to the staff and said, "Immediately establish a special investigation team to review the demolition compensation plan. Notify the comrades from the Discipline Inspection Commission immediately."
Then he said solemnly to Old Wang: "Comrade Wang, if this is true, we will definitely deal with it seriously."
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