Chapter 259 Issue 1 (8)
The people stood up and took the microphone. "I'm not satisfied with the vote. I agree with Minister Li! First, we need to stop construction. We can discuss other things after that. To put it in the words of ordinary people, if you, as leaders, were to live in this kind of environment, would you be willing? Would you accept that 1,000 yuan settlement? Absolutely not. And neither can anyone here."
"The Civil Code stipulates five situations in which contracts are invalid: First, contracts entered into by persons without civil capacity are invalid. Adults who are unable to recognize their own actions and minors over the age of eight who are unable to recognize their own actions. Civil legal acts performed by these entities are all invalid. I believe that most villagers do not know the content of these agreements, so the contracts are invalid."
"Secondly, a contract that infringes upon the legitimate rights and interests of others is invalid. Civil acts in which the actor and the counterparty maliciously collude to infringe upon the legitimate rights and interests of others are invalid. I believe this agreement has damaged the collective interests of the villagers, so the contract is invalid."
"Third, a contract that violates mandatory provisions of laws and administrative regulations is invalid. Laws and regulations clearly stipulate that there cannot be a mine within 500 meters of a village, yet this mine is still operating and mining openly. Therefore, I believe this contract is invalid."
"Under such circumstances, the Nanhe County magistrate and government are actually using the agreement as a pretext, claiming the villagers are willing and agree to it. Can I assume there's collusion between officials and businesspeople, and profiteering? Your Nanhe County Government, whose full name is the Nanhe County People's Government, and whose leaders are elected by county people's congress representatives, should ask yourselves: are you truly serving the people? Do you still care about the people?"
“Pah pah pah pah…”
When the crowd finished speaking, there was thunderous applause, and even Minister Li couldn't help but smile and applaud.
The online comment section is as lively as if it were Chinese New Year.
【Good scolding! 】
These officials take taxpayers' money, but they bully the people.
[Indeed, if these officials truly considered the interests of ordinary people, this mine would never be allowed to exist.]
[After hearing these resounding words, don't these officials feel guilty?]
These people are so shameless.
[Red is hot, Mayor Xia is hot again. 】
Jiang Ningyue smiled and nodded. "This representative of the people said it very well. I hope the Baihe Municipal Party Committee and Municipal Government can truly listen to the people's voices. 'Serving the people' shouldn't just be a slogan; it should be an action that comes from the heart. Now, please watch another short video."
Everyone looked up at the big screen in confusion. Many people thought it was the next piece of news, but they didn't expect it to be the follow-up to this incident.
Voiceover: [To verify the authenticity of the agreement reported by the villagers, the reporter went to the Xiaohewan Village Committee.]
Reporter: "The mine is so close to our village. Hasn't our village committee contacted the relevant departments?"
"Of course I did! Of course I didn't," the village chief said with a smile. "But didn't the mine sign a contract with everyone later? So we're all settled. They've already paid, so why would we still be looking for them?"
[Reporter: "How much did you receive from the mine?"]
"I also have one thousand. Isn't everyone in the village one thousand?"
"Tell the truth," the reporter said. "There's no need to lie about such a small matter, right?"
The village chief smiled and lit a cigarette. "I was telling the truth. I did ask for one thousand. However, my son's house is close to the mine, so I asked for a little more, two million."
After hearing that the village chief had taken 2 million from the mine, there was an uproar at the scene.
Even Xia Baohua looked stunned, his expression frighteningly ugly.
Reporter: "So, you accepted bribes from the mine and helped suppress the villagers? Is that correct?"
Village Chief: "What do you mean by suppressing the villagers? Those unruly people only care about their own interests and have no sense of community. A mine opening next to the village—how good is that? How convenient would it be for the villagers to get to work? Besides, don't these villagers often go around stealing ore from the mine? We live off the land and the water, so isn't it a good thing for us to live off the mine? Pollution and noise—what's so great about that? Poverty is the real problem."
Online comment section:
[I see! Otherwise, why would the village committee write to the county and city governments? They're accepting bribes.]
Being a village chief is a good job. Our village chief has only been in office for two years, and his family has already bought a Land Rover.
【Must be severely punished! 】
If a village chief embezzled 2 million yuan, who knows how much more the county and city government leaders have embezzled.
【Pathetic, ridiculous, hateful, and sad.】
[If a person becomes a village chief from a villager, does that mean he can call his former neighbors "troublemakers"?]
Sun Wanghai's family was also shocked when they saw this. Sun Wanghai said angrily, "How could a village chief embezzle two million?! Is there any law in this?"
Father Sun said with a smile: "Huh, I don't know how much Xia Baohua can embezzle in this matter."
Sun's mother asked curiously, "After appearing on this show, will Xia Baohua be investigated?"
"It's hard to say."
Father Sun curled his lips and said, "Officials protect each other. Doesn't this Xia Baohua have any backers?"
"Alas..." Sun Wanghai sighed helplessly, but he soon cheered up, "I want to take the exam for the Discipline Inspection Commission, and I want to catch corrupt officials myself."
Father Sun opened his mouth, not wanting to dampen his son's enthusiasm, and encouraged him, "Good, very energetic."
On TV, Jiang Ningyue picked up the microphone and said, "Mayor Xia, what do you think about this situation?"
Xia Baohua's serious, angry expression didn't seem fake. He held the microphone in one hand, tapped the table with the other, and said, "It's precisely because of these rats and termites that the interests of our villagers have been so severely damaged. He's clearly just a village chief elected by the villagers, but after gaining power, he doesn't think about giving back to the villagers, but instead focuses on corruption. Our municipal government must deal with this seriously! After the live broadcast, I will immediately arrange for comrades from the Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection and Supervision to investigate this matter."
Jiang Ningyue nodded and looked at Xia Baohua calmly: "What about you?"
"What?" Xia Baohua didn't understand and asked subconsciously.
"Then how much are you greedy for?" Jiang Ningyue asked with a smile.
“You, you, you…”
Xia Baohua never expected Jiang Ningyue to say such a thing. In his twenty or thirty years as an official, no one had ever dared to ask him such a question.
Xia Baohua's heartbeat quickened, and he couldn't speak clearly. The hand holding the microphone began to tremble, and his other hand, pointing at Jiang Ningyue, also began to shake unnaturally. "How can you speak like that, young comrade? This is a live broadcast. You, you, you...you are slandering me! You will be held legally responsible!"
Everyone at the scene was shocked and didn't know why Jiang Ningyue asked this.
Jiang Ningyue ignored Xia Baohua and turned to look at Camera No. 1 in the middle of the venue. "Okay, everyone, this episode of 'Questioning Haizhou' ends here. See you next time."
Li Nan was also stunned for a second, and quickly said, "Goodbye."
On the right side of the big TV screen, the ending credits begin to scroll, which are the names of the producer, host, and reporter.
Jiang Ningyue, who was standing on the stage, waved her hand, and two men in suits immediately came out from outside the venue. They came to Xia Baohua and took out a work ID from their pockets.
Just this one action scared Xia Baohua so much that he collapsed in his seat, and was finally lifted up by two staff members.
The video ends here.
Sun Wanghai looked at his father and mother blankly, but found that they also had dazed expressions and didn't understand what was going on.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
