Chapter Sixty: Settling Village Affairs

  The village committee's door was opened, and the dust inside was very thick. It was unknown how long it had been since it was last swept. Zhao Deli arranged for several villagers to sweep, and immediately a large group of people began to actively sweep. Today's shock was too much, and the villagers already looked at Xu Shaojie with different eyes. With many hands, the village committee was quickly swept clean, and dust could be seen on the ground, but not a speck of dirt was visible on the office desk. It was estimated that the village committee had never been so clean before.

  "There are many things to do in Huaguan Village, we should take this opportunity to do a few things and stabilize the situation. The village branch committee has been completely paralyzed. I have an idea, Liu Mu, you will be fully responsible for the affairs of Huaguan Village. Secretary Zhao, Mayor Dong, what are your opinions?"

  "I agree..."

  "Now, the situation is unstable, I thought of something, that's the cigarette case. The cigarette case is in my hands, today the funds must be fully in place, Yu Fugui explained the origin of the tobacco leaves, I have a list here."

  Zhao Deli took a look at the cigarette butt and his face showed a surprised expression.

  "They are all Zhongyi and Zhonger, Yu Fugui is formidable. Peasants go to sell tobacco, where can they sell at this level? Now those peasant households have benefited from the disaster."

  "They should have gotten some benefits, having suffered losses for many years. The benefits they get this time are what they deserve. Liu Mu, tell me, what else can be done? I'll be here for at most two days, and after that, I'll have to rely on you."

  "I thought of something, Zhang Xiaoyu's responsibility field thing, Zhang Xiaoyu's father-in-law and Yu Fugui are relatives, in the village they have a big influence, it's considered a family that can't be disobeyed, there are four sons in the family, Zhang Xiaoyu's husband is the youngest, he has passed away, the other three sons are all at home, after Lao Yan had an accident, the old man wanted all his sons to come back, not allowed to go out to work, solved Zhang Xiaoyu's responsibility field problem, the rest of the things will be easy to handle."

  "Alright, I'll take care of it in a moment."

  Xu Shaojie took a look at Liu Mu, smiled and thought that these people all had their own private motives. Zhang Xiaoyu had been of great help to Yu Zhihong over the years, so the first thing Liu Mu thought of was Zhang Xiaoyu's matter.

  "Director Dong, you are a female comrade, responsible for arranging one thing, placing a bed in the village committee. Tonight I will rest at the village committee, and all of you will stay at Liu Mu's home. The quilt cover was provided by Liu Mu, and I will ask Yang Chen to buy the sheets later. Everything will be calculated according to the price, and the village will pay for it. What is public is public, what is private is private."

  "Secretary Xu, you go rest at Liu Mu's home, I'll sleep here."

  "Lao Zhao, don't argue with me anymore. With your snoring, I won't need to sleep at night. Last time when we were resting at the rural government office, I got up in the middle of the night and went for a run, you probably didn't know."

  Everyone burst out laughing, and Zhao Deli also followed suit. His snoring was quite famous in the district, and many people knew about it. Who knows how many people had suffered losses because of it?

  Dong Guihua immediately began to arrange and set up, the bed frame must be good, Secretary Xu is sleeping here, can't be humble, the quilt cover also needs to be good. Yu Zhihong knew about it and took out a new quilt from home without hesitation, which was purchased during their wedding and had never been used before.

  Song Tao and Yang Chen arrived soon. Seeing the two entering the house, Xu Shaojie spoke up.

  "Song Tao, go through the trouble of finding Director Huang, take this cigarette receipt and tell him what I said. The tobacco station is closed today for a holiday, so the district finance office will have to figure out a way to come up with the money. Hand over the receipt to the finance office, and on Monday, go to the tobacco station to exchange it for cash. If Director Huang has any difficulties, tell him to ask Secretary Liu for instructions. After you get the money, immediately come back here with Yang Chen. Also, there's one more thing - buy a set of bed sheets and bring them over."

  Song Tao took over the cigarette, was about to leave, suddenly thought of something.

  "Secretary Xu, is the sheet for a single person or two people?"

  "How would I know? Go ask Village Chief Dong."

  Xu Shaojie didn't think before speaking, and the words came out. Zhao Deli and Liu Mu couldn't help but burst into laughter beside him. Xu Shaojie immediately reacted and waved his hand to let Song Tao go and do it. Song Tao had no idea what was going on and really went with Yang Chen to ask Dong Guihua. Dong Guihua happened to be with Yu Zhihong and Zhang Xiaoyu together. After listening to the reason, the three women burst into laughter, laughing out tears. Song Tao and Yang Chen were even more puzzled. In the end, it was Zhang Xiaoyu who blushed and said to buy a double bed sheet, specially explaining that a double bed sheet is big and can be spread out.

  After the discussion, Xu Shaojie said to take a break and wait for Yang Chen and Song Tao to arrive before starting work. Xu Shaojie had an idea, Yang Chen was skilled with his hands, in case of unexpected situations, he could get Yang Chen to take action. At Zhang Xiaoyu's father-in-law's house, among the three sons, if they really fought, it was possible that they would end up losing, not afraid of ten thousand but afraid of one in ten thousand.

  Outside the village committee, a temporary table and several chairs were set up on the empty ground. Most of the villagers came, leaving only some elderly people who could not move easily at home. The outside of the village committee was surrounded by crowds of people, everyone discussing what would happen next.

  Zhang Xiaoyu's father-in-law arrived with his three sons, guessing that today was about Zhang Xiaoyu's responsibility field, so he made full preparations. There's nothing serious, Zhang Xiaoyu is a jinx, her own youngest son was killed by Zhang Xiaoyu, and now she still wants the youngest son's responsibility field, it's impossible. Zhang Xiaoyu's mother-in-law was somewhat worried and followed along.

  "Has Zhang Xiaoyu's father-in-law and mother-in-law arrived?"

  Xu Shaojie saw the two old men surrounded by three sturdy men and knew they were Zhang Xiaoyu's father-in-law and mother-in-law, but he still asked. Xu Shaojie's voice was not loud, but very serious, and the surroundings quickly fell silent.

  The old man held his head high, accustomed to it in the village, and couldn't change it at this time. Moreover, with so many people in the village watching, he certainly couldn't lose face.

  "What's going on here?"

  "Oh, what's going on, shouldn't you know, do I need to tell you?"

  "I know what's going on, it's just a matter of land, this is our family's business, you don't need to worry about it."

  The villagers around burst into laughter, Zhang Xiaoyu stood aside, lowering her head, and tears could be faintly seen in her eyes. Xu Shaojie didn't laugh, he slapped the table hard.

  "Alright, since you say it's a family matter, I'll ask you one question: does this land belong to your family or the country?"

  "This I know, land belongs to the nation."

  "I'm surprised then, I settled the land issue today, how come this land belongs to your family and the government can't control it?"

  "I don't know about all that, anyway I didn't do anything wrong. The land was allocated to me by the village when my child was young, now my child is gone and us old folks are farming it, there's nothing wrong with that."

  "Oh, it seems I still need to educate you on the law. Otherwise, your family will be in trouble. In the future, when the man dies, the woman won't have a good life. This legal education is a long-term thing, and you may not understand it for now. I won't bother explaining anymore. Today is about solving problems. Let me ask you one last time: are you willing to give up the land?"

  "Absolutely not, even if I die."

  The villagers fell silent, wanting to see how Xu Shaojie would handle this arrogant behavior. Many people knew that the old man had gone too far, but his fists were hard.

  "Shut your mother's fart, acting wildly in front of me, thinking I don't dare to move you. Disrespectful and unreasonable, I don't want your life, I want you to go to jail. Song Tao, bring the handcuffs, cuff this old guy."

  The old man's three sons stopped working and rolled up their sleeves, looking like they were about to take action.

  "Alright, confront the government, alright, alright. Yang Chen, you represent the government today, knock down those three foolish kids for me and let their wives take them back home to think things over. Be careful not to hit them too hard, don't kill them."

  Yang Chen immediately stood out, the surrounding sparrows were silent, Yang Chen held a wooden stick in his hand, and everyone thought Yang Chen was about to rush up. The old man's three sons also prepared to find something, but unexpectedly, Yang Chen grasped the stick with both hands, using all his strength, and let out a loud roar, the stick snapped in two.

  There was not a sound around, the carrying pole could hold about 200 kilograms of things, Yang Chen broke it like this, if he made a move, wouldn't the old man's son be beaten to disability? The three strong men saw this scene and didn't dare to move.

  "Old fellow, I'll ask you again, will you let go of the land?"

  Song Tao walked in with handcuffs, the shiny handcuffs were dazzling, no one spoke, no one thought Xu Shaojie was joking, everyone thought this was for real.

  "You're an old stubborn thing, you want money but don't care about your life, opposing the government, are you tired of living?..."

  The cries came, and the old woman pointed at the old man to scold him. At this moment, no one laughed, and the old man had lost his arrogance.

  "Government, we're letting him go, letting him go. My old man is muddle-headed and foolish, he doesn't know anything. Please don't arrest him, I beg of you."

  Watching his wife about to kneel down, Xu Shaojie hastily spoke up.

  "Alright, as long as you give up the land, there's no problem. Old man, old woman, come over and sign this mediation agreement. If you violate it, I'll arrest you directly, and next time we won't mediate."

  The woman pulled the man over to sign, the man picked up the pen and hesitated.

  "What's wrong, having second thoughts? Don't want to sign?"

  "No, I won't write."

  Xu Shaojie thought a thousand times, ten thousand times, but never expected this layer. For a moment, he was stunned, and laughter came from around him.

  "Song Tao, write down their names and let them copy."

  The old man's name was quite complicated and had many strokes. Watching the old man struggle to write it, taking a long time to get it right, Xu Shaojie felt somewhat annoyed.

  "If you can't even write, why give yourself such a complicated name, asking for trouble."

  The old man was still quite honest and immediately retorted when he heard Xu Shaojie's words.

  "It's not me who gave myself this name, it was given by my parents."

  The people around burst into laughter, Zhao Deli, Liu Mu and Dong Guihua etc. started to hold back desperately at first, but later couldn't help it, haha laughed loudly, Xu Shaojie had nothing to say, this sentence was indeed said wrong, he could only smile awkwardly and not speak.

  When Zhang Xiaoyu received the agreement, there was an unusual color in her eyes. Xu Shaojie didn't notice it, he still had things to do. Xu Shaojie publicly announced that Yu Fugui's 12 households of tobacco leaves have been sold, all of which were purchased at the level of Zhongyi and Zhong'er. Originally, they were not up to this level, but after the government's research, it was decided to still cash out funds according to the purchase level. Everyone had suffered a lot in the past, and getting this money now is what they deserve.

  Xu Shaojie had just finished speaking, and the atmosphere was lively. The 12 households that were originally at a disadvantage unexpectedly benefited from the misfortune.

  Xu Shaojie finally managed to quiet everyone down.

  "What happened in the village, everyone knows now. Yu Fugui committed a crime and was taken away by the Public Security Bureau. However, Yu Fugui cannot represent the Communist Party or the government. He committed a crime, accepted punishment, did bad things, and must take responsibility. Today, all brothers and sisters of the village are here. I declare two things, which can also be considered as requests: Firstly, all matters in Huaguan Village will be temporarily handled by Comrade Liu Mu. For any big or small issues, please find Liu Mu to resolve them. Secondly, Yu Fugui committed a crime, but his family members did not commit crimes. It is not allowed to harass his family members. The people in his household are still the peasants of Huaguan Village."

  After the meeting, Xu Shaojie hid in Liu Mu's home and threw all things to Liu Mu and others, including cashing out funds, related explanations, etc. Yang Chen accompanied Xu Shaojie.

  "Secretary Xu, I really admire you. When in Rome, do as the Romans do. I thought you were going to lecture me, and earlier asked me to prepare, but it seems it wasn't necessary. The old man and his three sons just saw me and apologized profusely, saying they wouldn't dare cause trouble again. Many of the farmers said that your words and actions are straightforward and to their liking."

  "Yang Chen, you think I want to do this? If we reason with them and they ignore us, what can we do? With so many people watching, if the first shot doesn't work, it'll be troublesome later. This is unavoidable."

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