Chapter 39
Among the six neighborhood committees, the First Neighborhood Committee was the first to hold elections.
In order to ensure that the election process was foolproof, Zhang Qinjian assigned tasks to the three young secretaries in the group in advance.
During the most important voting session, Liu Jinbao was responsible for placing ballots and distributing beans.
Zhuang Ting was responsible for counting the votes, loudly calling out the name of the candidate corresponding to each vote.
Ye Manzhi was in charge of counting the votes, writing the word "positive" on the blackboard. Every time Zhuang Ting called out a vote, she would make a stroke behind the corresponding name.
This is a very common way of counting votes nowadays. It is also the way votes are counted when street organizations elect representatives to the People's Congress.
So, when Zhang Qinjian first heard the doubts from the audience, he subconsciously thought someone was causing trouble and frowned and asked, "Who shouted just now?"
Liu Jinbao whispered, "Hao Yunfang's spouse."
“…”
Aunt Hao and her husband are both retired. Her husband was the accountant of a restaurant before liberation. Although he is old, he should be able to do well in arithmetic.
Zhang Qinjian quickly asked several people to review it. After hearing that there were indeed 33 extra ballots, his old face turned black as if covered with more than a dozen layers of soda.
He had never expected that the method that worked even for the People's Congress would fail when it came to neighborhood committee elections!
The news of the major mistake at the election site quickly spread from the granary.
Director Mu, upon hearing the news, rushed to the election site to verify the situation.
Accompanying her was Chief Liu from the police station.
"Lao Zhang, what's going on? Haven't we rehearsed this many times? How could something go so wrong?"
Zhang Qinjian didn't say anything for a moment, his eyes swept across the faces of the three young people in the same group one by one.
The first person he excluded from the list of responsible persons was Zhuang Ting. Every time someone came, she would call out a vote, and this could not be faked.
The next one is Ye Manzhi. He writes the word "正" on the blackboard according to the name counted. This will not go wrong.
He announced the election results to the public only after he made sure that the number of ballots in the box was consistent with the number of "positive" characters.
Therefore, the problem should not be in the two links of counting votes and announcing the votes.
He turned his gaze to Liu Jinbao. At the moment, the only thing that could have gone wrong was the ticket distribution process.
Liu Jinbao was frightened by his stare and was speechless, "Director, I always follow the instructions and put beans in everyone's palms. I only give one bean to each person who comes. I absolutely cannot give more than that!"
He didn't give out extra beans.
When Zhuang Ting counted the votes, she counted the number of heads, not the number of beans.
But the final result was that the total number of beans in the ballot box was the same as the number of "positive" characters on the blackboard.
This eliminates the possibility of people bringing their own beans and taking the opportunity to invest more.
So, where did the extra 33 votes come from?
Everyone present was confused by the 33 extra votes that appeared out of nowhere.
Mulan made a decisive move, "Now is not the time to shirk responsibility! Since the mistake has been pointed out in public, this vote will definitely not pass. While everyone is here, let's organize a second vote as soon as possible to make up for the loss!"
Ye Manzhi looked in the direction of the five candidates.
The two people who lost the election looked more relaxed, especially Hao Yunfang. The problem was that her old man discovered it. Even if she didn't become the director of the neighborhood committee, she felt it was an honor.
The expressions of the other three were more complicated.
No matter who tampered with the election process, the public would instinctively believe that these three people were involved.
Who makes them the vested interests?
Since Ye Manzhi has always looked at her second sister's mother-in-law through tinted glasses, she subconsciously feels that this matter is related to her.
However, when I think about her stingy nature of not even willing to treat others to melon seeds, I feel that it is unlikely that she would spend money to bribe voters in order to become the director of the neighborhood committee.
Ye Manzhi followed Director Mu's instructions and reorganized the vote.
The division of labor among staff was adjusted this time.
The branches are full of leaves and beans are sprouting, Liu Jinbao calls out the votes and Zhuang Ting counts the votes.
To prevent anyone from taking advantage of the situation, Ye Manzhi went to the granary and borrowed a small bag of soybeans.
Prepare to recount the votes using soybeans.
Liu and his men counted the number of people in the meeting place, and the number of 357 people became 385. Some residents who had abstained from voting heard the news and ran to watch the excitement.
"Director Mu, can newcomers participate in the voting?"
"Yes, voting is everyone's right, and we cannot obstruct it."
So, 385 residents voted again.
This time everyone was more serious and cautious than before.
Ye Manzhi was growing beans while counting in his mind.
When she had distributed 200, she glanced at the blackboard on the podium.
He Qiang, who previously received the most votes, is still far ahead in the second vote. As of now, he has the most correct numbers.
The votes received by the other four candidates have not yet created a particularly obvious gap.
"Ye Manzhi, we are going on a picnic this weekend, would you like to come with us?" Xu Xiaosheng chatted with her while queuing to get beans.
"No," Ye Manzhi put the beans in his hand, "Everyone is busy, stop getting in the way and go vote for Comrade Liu Chunhua."
Xu Xiaosheng is the youngest son of the Xu family.
Although she and candidate Liu Chunhua are mother and son, immediate family members also have the right to vote, and no one will complain as long as they are not in a position to monitor and count votes.
"It's right on the beach by the river. Let's get some food and bring it with us. We can even go boating together!"
Ye Manzhi thought to himself, I've even ridden on a ship before, so what's so special about rowing?
No!
She chased Xu Xiaosheng away and continued distributing beans to the residents behind.
However, as she was sending the message, she felt that something was wrong again!
She glanced at the young man who had just received the beans. Did he come here once before?
There were hundreds of people at the scene, and she couldn't really remember what everyone looked like.
But the man's cuffs were worn and fuzzy, and when he received the beans with his palms facing up, several thick threads hung down from his cuffs.
Ye Manzhi didn't remember the person's appearance, but he remembered the few thread ends.
She stopped distributing beans and reported her findings to Director Mu in a low voice.
Director Mu asked her to continue distributing beans, and then required everyone to gather at the designated location after the voting was over. They were not allowed to return to their original seats or run around to watch the fun.
However, after the second vote, Ye Manzhi knew that this vote would be invalidated again without counting the votes.
While distributing beans, she was also counting silently in her mind. According to the statistics of the police station, there were 385 residents who participated in the second vote, but she distributed 398 beans.
Zhuang Ting also quickly concluded that the number of valid votes was 398.
After the re-vote, there were 13 more votes.
No matter how many votes each person gets, this vote will definitely not take effect.
Zhang Qinjian was so angry that he bit his cheeks, and the anger in his body seemed to be bursting through the sky.
Seeing this, several young cadres hurriedly collected the beans, sorted the ballot boxes, and wiped the blackboard. They pretended to be very busy and no one dared to say a word.
Zhang Qinjian organized a third vote on the grounds that a review was needed to ensure the accuracy of the vote.
This time there were four people guarding the voting entrance and exit, and residents had to leave immediately after voting.
Therefore, the third vote count finally matched the number of people present.
After repeatedly confirming the number of votes, Zhang Qinjian walked up to the podium with the list.
"Please remain quiet, everyone present. I will now announce the results of the second election for the Guangming Street First Residents' Committee."
"A total of 385 residents attended the vote, with 385 valid votes cast."
"Among them, Comrade He Qiang received 108 votes, Comrade Zhang Huilan received 90 votes, Comrade Hao Yunfang received 69 votes, Comrade Liu Chunhua received 67 votes, and Comrade Guo Dahai received 51 votes."
"This election will elect three neighborhood committee members: Comrade He Qiang, Comrade Zhang Huilan, and Comrade Hao Yunfang. They were elected with high votes. I hope that these three comrades will uphold their original aspiration of serving the people and continue..."
Zhang Qinjian was still on the stage trying to appoint the newly elected director and deputy director of the neighborhood committee.
Almost everyone's attention in the audience was focused on Liu Chunhua.
Liu Chunhua received 99 votes in the first vote, ranking second.
After re-voting, he only received 67 votes, ranking fourth.
Overtaken by Hao Yunfang!
Liu Chunhua herself was also confused by the result. She stood next to the podium, being judged by the eyes of the audience, and her old face was so red that blood seemed to be dripping out!
Although Liu Chunhua wanted to be an official, she did not bribe for election!
She is the leader of the paper box pasting team and is responsible for assigning tasks to everyone. In order to get everyone to vote for her, she recently invited people to her home to paste paper boxes together and promised them a lot of benefits.
Whoever votes for her and makes her the director will definitely give priority to such jobs as pasting paper boxes and making gloves in the future.
Everyone will vote for her for their own benefit.
She thought that those 99 votes were cast spontaneously by the people who supported her!
99 votes became 67 votes, a decrease of 32 votes.
In the first vote, there were 33 more votes.
What else is there to say? Doesn’t this prove that Liu Chunhua cheated?
She was old enough to be a grandmother, and she was dizzy and irritated by those suspicious looks.
She covered her forehead and looked down at the stage. When she saw her second son, she immediately felt better.
Liu Chunhua ran down the podium, grabbed Xu Xiaosheng by the collar and slapped him several times.
"Did you do this, you bastard?"
"What are you talking about? What did I do?"
In public, Xu Xiaosheng flatly denied it.
"Stop pretending to be stupid. As soon as you stick your butt out, I know what you are going to do!" Liu Chunhua was so angry that she punched him several times.
In the first vote, even without the extra 33 votes, she would still have ranked third with 66 votes.
At least she can be the director of a women's department.
However, because of this boy's unnecessary meddling, Hao Yunfang's husband discovered the problem and questioned the ballot in public.
This will definitely win the favor of some residents and win some votes for Hao Yunfang.
Thinking about all her efforts these days, the firewood and coal slag she used to boil water, and her worn-out lips, all of which were wasted by this bastard, Liu Chunhua didn't care about anything else and beat her son first.
Xu Xiaosheng was not even twenty years old, and he felt ashamed to be beaten by his mother in front of everyone.
He ran and shouted: "I am doing this for you! Who told you to keep talking about becoming an official?"
"Shut up!"
The farce between Xu's mother and son was very interesting to watch. Although the election process had some twists and turns, everyone loves to watch such dramas!
The residents didn't care about the process and enjoyed watching it.
However, there were major flaws in the election process, and even if it was just a neighborhood committee election, it cannot be taken lightly.
Xu Xiaosheng and his cronies were taken back to the police station by Chief Liu.
As the person in charge of the election, Zhang Qinjian conducted a self-criticism within the unit.
The three members of his group also submitted their letters of apology.
Ye Manzhi was responsible for counting the votes during the first voting and had her back to the crowd almost the entire time. This matter actually had nothing to do with her.
However, everyone is in the same group, and she doesn't want to be treated specially.
Therefore, she racked her brains to find some trivial faults in herself and wrote them down in her self-criticism.
*
With the experience of the first neighborhood committee, the sub-district office plugged all loopholes in the subsequent elections.
The elections for the other five neighborhood committees were successfully completed.
Director Mu organized a "basic cadre inauguration ceremony" at the street office and distributed "Election Announcement Books" to the new members of the neighborhood committee.
The full sense of ceremony made the six directors and more than 20 deputy directors very excited, and they expressed on the spot that they would do a good job in serving the residents.
Ye Manzhi couldn't help but sigh again that Director Mu was good at controlling people's hearts. This "Notice of Election" was like an appointment document from the superiors to the cadres, which was indeed very inspiring.
"Today is both the inauguration ceremony for key personnel and a joint meeting of all the neighborhood committee directors and deputy directors," Mulan said to everyone with a smile. "While everyone is here, I want to share two pieces of good news with you!"
"The first piece of news is that the Municipal Education Bureau has approved a quota for a primary school in Guangming Street. We will soon organize enrollment for school-age children. Comrades, when you return to the committee, please complete the registration of school-age children."
He Qiang, the new head of the First Residential Committee, asked, "When will the school open? Where is the specific address of the elementary school?"
"We'll first find an unused courtyard for the students to attend, and we can open in as little as two weeks. Our elementary school adopts a 'public-private partnership' model. We'll apply for the land from the district, but we still need to actively find ways to raise funds for the school. We'll have a special meeting to discuss this later, so I won't go into details today."
"The second piece of news is that the country has issued a batch of 'National Economic Construction Bonds' to accelerate economic development. Guangming Street has been assigned a bond assignment of 25,000 yuan. From today on, everyone must actively mobilize residents in your area to purchase bonds and complete our street's bond assignment!"
A deputy director asked, "Why are you selling government bonds again? Didn't you buy them last year?"
"Government bonds are issued every year. They were issued the year before last and the year before last, and this time it's this year," Director Mu said in an unquestionable tone. "There's no room for negotiation on this matter. Supporting the national economic development is the responsibility and obligation of every one of us. Now I'll assign tasks to each neighborhood committee..."
Ye Manzhi sat in the back and attended the meeting with everyone. When she heard the amount of work to be done by the fifth and sixth neighborhood committees, her ears started buzzing.
The two neighborhood committees together totaled ten thousand yuan!
She couldn't help but shout "Mom" in her heart.
This is too much!
All street cadres must work together with the masses to complete the task of selling government bonds.
She is the liaison between the two neighborhood committees, and the neighborhood committee's tasks are her tasks.
The residents of the military industrial compound are all workers with relatively good economic conditions, so the tasks assigned to them are naturally much higher than those of other neighborhood committees.
Zhao Erhe came over and asked, "Xiao Ye, how are we going to finish this ten thousand yuan?"
He now replaces Chen Caixia and works with Ye Manzhi to contact the fifth and sixth neighborhood committees.
Ye Manzhi's mission is also his mission, and the two are like grasshoppers on the same rope.
"What else can we do? We have to go door to door to mobilize people!" Ye Manzhi said righteously, "This is a contribution to the country's economic development. We must not only complete it on time, but also exceed the target!"
Zhao Erhe: “…”
Just blow it.
"Apart from anything else, I must take the lead!" Ye Manzhi took out her salary, which was still warm, and said, "I will use this month's salary to buy government bonds directly."
She is now a formal cadre and can receive her full salary.
27 yuan per month.
Because the street office does not have dormitories and cannot solve the housing problem of the cadres, it will issue a housing subsidy of 3 yuan.
Ye Manzhi's monthly salary plus subsidies is exactly 30 yuan.
She eats at home every day, and all the food and drink expenses are paid by Lao Ye. Even if she gives Chang Yue'e five yuan pocket money every month, she still can't spend all her salary.
She would just keep the 30 yuan when she took it home, so it would be better for her to buy national economic construction bonds and earn some interest.
Whenever encountering such assignments, street cadres must set an example.
It is always more respectable to actively support the work than to passively accept the task, so Ye Manzhi bought a 30-yuan bond from Director Mu on the spot.
Director Mu praised her for her initiative and included the 30 yuan in the task quota of the Fifth Neighborhood Committee.
Because of the sales task, almost all the street cadres and neighborhood committee members went out to promote the country's newly issued bonds.
Ye Manzhi had never sold government bonds before, so he planned to practice within his own company first.
"Third brother, fourth brother, how much did you two buy it for?"
Fourth Brother glared at her sideways: "Is this how you do your job? You just come in and make people spend money."
"We're all family, so just consider it as supporting your sister's work!"
"Why don't you just quit being a neighborhood cadre? Ever since you became one, your whole family has been severely harmed by you. Every time the neighborhood has a task, you start with your own family first."
Being a teacher in a literacy class is already uncomfortable enough for Fourth Brother, and this time they actually want to take money out of his pocket!
No way!
"Buying government bonds isn't a donation. It earns 4% interest annually, and when it matures, the principal and interest will be returned to you."
"Come on, the government bonds we bought two years ago haven't been redeemed yet with interest."
Ye Manzhi was stunned for a moment and asked, "Hasn't the interest on the government bond from two years ago been paid yet?"
"Forget about paying interest, I haven't even got my principal back."
"Don't listen to your fourth brother, he doesn't understand this!" Chang Yue'e explained to her daughter, "Government bonds will be repaid with interest every year, but not all bonds can be repaid. The country will draw lots. Every year, five numbers are drawn. If the last two digits of the government bond match those numbers, you can go to the bank to collect the principal and interest."
"What if they don't match?" Ye Manyi asked.
"If it doesn't match, we can just wait another year," Chang Yue'e sighed. "Of the government bonds we bought, we only exchanged one for 50,000 yuan (old currency, equivalent to 5 yuan in new currency). The others are all on hand. Anyway, there's interest, so if we don't need the money urgently, it doesn't matter."
Ye Manzhi tried his best to sell 25 yuan worth of bonds at home.
This amount of money is simply a drop in the bucket compared to a 10,000 yuan task.
She went to the workplace the next day to inquire and found out that everyone's situation was similar, as they all started by attacking their own family members.
This year marks the third year that Guangming Street has been promoting national economic construction bonds, and the work is not as easy as in the previous two years.
Some residents have bought government bonds but have never drawn a redemption number, which makes them unwilling to continue investing.
Ye Manzhi understood this very well. She couldn't even convince her own Chang Yue'e, so of course she had no confidence to force others.
The sales progress in the military industrial compound was slow, which made Ye Manzhi and Zhao Erhe very anxious.
After four consecutive days of door-to-door sales, Ye Manzhi decided to change his approach.
She set up a table in the yard and organized a mobilization meeting.
However, she held this meeting purely to serve the people.
"We are meeting today to remind all residents that some of you may have forgotten when to redeem your government bonds after purchasing them two years ago! Starting September 30th of this year, some residents can already receive the principal and interest on their 1954 and 1955 bonds."
"Now let me read out the winning numbers from 1954. The ten numbers are 14, 06, 39..."
"There were five winning numbers for the 1955 government bond issue: 55, 21, 79, 43, and 90."
"I've written these numbers on the bulletin board in our compound. Comrades who bought government bonds before, remember to go home and compare them. As long as the last two digits of the number match your winning number, you can go to the bank to collect the principal and interest."
Ye Manzhi let everyone buzz for a while, then clapped his hands and said, "Most of the residents in our compound are workers, and even their families may not have time to go to the bank to cash in their bonds. So, in line with the principle of serving the people, our street office will contact bank employees to come to the compound to handle the cashing process for everyone. The time is within the next two days. After you go back, please confirm as soon as possible whether your family's bonds have been selected, and then register with the resident group leader. We will have the bank redeem the bonds!"
"Hey, the street office did a great job. I saw the winning number in the newspaper a long time ago. Unfortunately, my bond is a large-denomination bond, so I have to go to the city to redeem it." Grandma Chen downstairs asked, "Xiao Ye, can the bank salesperson handle large-denomination bonds?"
"I'm not sure about this yet, let me ask for you!"
The event organized by Ye Manzhi was widely praised, and everyone felt that the street had done something practical for the people.
However, Zhao Erhe was following Ye Manzhi with fear in his heart.
"Xiao Ye, can the bank send someone to the compound to redeem the money on the spot?"
This matter hasn't even started yet, why did Xiao Ye announce it to everyone?
"I went to the branch the day before yesterday to ask, and they said it depends on the business volume." Ye Manzhi waved and said, "Come on, let's go to the branch!"
The person who came out to receive them from the branch was still the same junior salesperson as before.
The other party's attitude was very friendly, but he was tight-lipped.
"Officer Xiaoye, we've never provided door-to-door service for redeeming government bonds. The amount to be redeemed is so huge, how could we dare to take that much money out? If something goes wrong, who will be held responsible?"
Ye Manzhi chuckled softly and said, "Comrade Xiao He, don't worry about this. Salesmen don't need to bring too much cash to the scene. Just enough to pay the interest will be enough. Our subdistrict office plans to mobilize those residents who have received the principal and interest to purchase this year's new government bonds. By then, the principal will be taken back before it is redeemed, and it will still have to be deposited in your bank..."
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