"Village chief, if you really don't want to, just wait for us outside. We'll come in and won't make things difficult for you."
Zhou Hongxia was already somewhat dissatisfied. What kind of village chief was this, not caring about the villagers at all?
Li Lide noticed her sarcastic tone but didn't know how to respond.
A short while later, the gatekeeper came out, followed by the factory manager.
The factory manager initially frowned, but when he saw Li Lide in the crowd, his frown deepened.
The first thing the factory manager said to Li Lide as he walked to the door was, "Didn't I already promise you I wouldn't reveal the real reason? What do you mean by coming here again now?"
The gatekeeper came to his office and said that all the village officials from Shili Village had arrived. The factory director ignored Bai Jiaojiao and went straight to Li Lide's flushed face.
"What do you mean by that? What did you promise the village chief?"
Zheng Xu didn't realize at first how Li Lide could be involved with people from the rope factory.
Bai Jiaojiao tugged at Zheng Xu's sleeve: "This is the factory manager of the rope factory."
"Li Lide, do you know the factory manager of the rope factory?"
Zheng Xu had already vaguely sensed something was wrong. He turned to look at Li Lide, his face darkening.
"What exactly do you mean?"
Seeing that the factory manager was not there to interrogate him, he became curious.
Bai Jiaojiao said, "Factory Director, there's an information asymmetry among our village cadres. Why don't we come to your office and talk it over? Our village really wants to continue cooperating with your factory. That's why our brigade leader and women's director are here. They just want to know what went wrong and offended your factory."
After hearing Bai Jiaojiao's words, the factory director looked at Li Lide with a meaningful gaze.
It seems there are serious problems within the village leadership of Shili Village.
"There's no need to go into details. I've seen the fishing nets in your village, and they're all in good condition. I was originally very willing to cooperate with you. But it was your village chief who came to me and said that this matter hadn't actually been approved by him, and asked me to stop cooperating. That's how it is."
Zhou Hongxia glared at Li Lide. This time she knew what had been strange about Li Lide along the way.
But now was not the time to settle scores with Li Lide. She stepped forward and said, "Impossible. Everyone in our brigade is very supportive, and our village cadres are also very grateful for this opportunity..."
"Yes, Factory Director, did Bai Jiaojiao not tell you that I instructed her to come? I am Zheng Xu, the brigade leader of Shili Village. I came here in person today to talk to you about this matter, hoping that you can give Shili Village another chance."
Behind Zheng Xu's sincere expression lay suppressed anger.
If it weren't for important business, he would have liked to kick Li Lide right now.
Looking at the various expressions on everyone's faces, the factory manager understood the situation perfectly well.
"Captain Zheng, please come in and sit down. I'll have someone count the net ropes for your village."
It's that simple.
The fact that the factory manager agreed immediately further proves that there were no problems with the entire production process in Shili Village. In comparison, Li Lide's behavior is even more hateful.
"It's good that you've agreed. We won't bother you any further. If we do anything wrong in the future, please tell us in person, and we will definitely correct it."
Zheng Xu has always acted this way; he is not afraid to lower his stance and is humble when necessary.
Li Shuxian also stated his position: "Factory Director, I will definitely convey this message properly!"
Zhou Hongxia's voice was exceptionally loud: "Good morning, Factory Director! I am the Women's Director of Shili Village. I guarantee that I will lead the women in the village to complete this job well, with guaranteed quality and quantity!"
Shili Village had already set a good example, and the factory director politely said, "It was just a misunderstanding."
He stood there with everyone, waiting for the net rope to be delivered. For a moment, no one spoke, and the environment was unusually quiet.
Li Lide felt as if thorns had grown on the soles of his feet, his legs were numb, his shirt was soaked with cold sweat, and his whole body felt sticky.
Bai Jiaojiao stood against the wall, watching everyone's gazes directed at Li Lide. She knew that today might be Li Lide's last day as village chief.
Soon the net rope was delivered, and the factory workers helped Li Shuxian and Zheng Xu load it onto the oxcart.
The once spacious oxcart became crowded, and everyone boarded one by one, leaving Li Lide at the very back.
Zheng Xu glanced at him: "Do you even have the nerve to come up here?"
Li Lide knew his cause was lost, and he moved his lips slightly.
No one spoke up for him, and Li Shuxian didn't wait for him; he drove the cattle off immediately.
Once a little distance from Li Lide, Zhou Hongxia couldn't help but curse, "I've really learned something new! There's a village chief who's dragging the village down. What's he up to with this wicked scheme? What good could it do him? Is he a spy?"
Aside from Bai Jiaojiao, no one could understand it.
Zheng Xu said coldly, "Shili Village cannot have a village chief like this. Sister Xia, we need to go back and explain this to all the villagers and remove Li Lide from his post."
Zhou Hongxia strongly agreed: "Yes, I would have done it even if you hadn't said so! Let alone the village chief, even an ordinary member of the commune shouldn't do such a heartless thing, ruining someone's life."
Li Shuxian interjected, "I've long been fed up with the village chief's constant attempts to smooth things over in the village. In his eyes, nothing is important except for getting advanced awards. He always tries to minimize problems and make them disappear. But does that really prevent those problems from happening?"
If Li Lide had directly sent Yu Wenli to the police station as a hooligan, at the very least, his own big black dog would never have died.
Bai Jiaojiao remained silent, having defeated Li Lide, and she breathed a sigh of relief.
Shen Heng isn't home right now, and she was afraid that Li Lide would use his position as village chief to suppress her. Now look what's happened, Li Lide has brought this upon himself. Not only will he lose his position as village chief, but his reputation in Shili Village will also be ruined.
As soon as Zheng Xu returned, he convened a meeting of the village cadres. Everyone else was attracted by the net rope that Li Shuxian had brought back to the brigade. They were all excited and notified the women in their families to come and collect the net rope.
The women's director had the biggest smile; if she could play a small role in this matter, she would have lived up to her position.
When Bai Jiaojiao was having dinner that evening, she told her family about what had happened at the rope factory that day.
Bai Zhiman cursed, "This man really can't tell right from wrong. Even an animal has a conscience. Last night, Liu Ying should have killed Li Lide, not Hei Zi. Shili Village has been doomed these past few years because of him."
Bai Zhiman and Li Lide were of the same generation, but Bai was a young soldier and was not familiar with Li Lide.
Bai Shihai asked, "Li Lide will probably be removed from his post this time, right? Then who will be the village chief in our village?"
Bai Shibao scoffed: "Hmph, it's definitely still those people with the surname Li. They have more people, and we can't possibly beat them in the election."
Bai Shibao was absolutely right. People with the surname Li made up more than half of the village. It was already a miracle that those of different surnames could even go and watch the excitement.
"There are good people among those surnamed Li. Don't we have someone surnamed Li in our family too?"
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