133: Chapter 133 The Wind Rises

Zhang Pengfei, standing to the side, felt like swearing after hearing these words.

He had been tortured to death by Sun Ning today; his heart could barely take it anymore.

He reckoned that he had never dipped his hands into the subsistence allowance funds.

But if a real problem arose, he would have to bear the leadership responsibility.

With someone like Sun Ning, who cared so deeply for the common people, one could easily imagine the consequences if trouble broke out.

To put it nicely, he was the Director of the Civil Affairs Office, a section-level cadre.

To put it bluntly, he was still just a clerk.

The state didn't actually have a section-level cadre designation; any clerk could reach that level.

In fact, Zhang Pengfei had known since Sun Ning called himself a bad guest that today was truly an opportunity.

If he could pass this test, his future in Mishui Township would be smooth sailing.

If he couldn't pass, he would really be sidelined.

Sun Ning didn't care about Zhang Pengfei's internal monologue.

He didn't hide anything and went straight to the point: "Hmm, why are the common people in their village angry but afraid to speak out?"

"Sigh, their Party Branch Secretary colluded with a few hooligans in the village to bully the market; the common people have to buy their pesticides, seeds, and such from them."

Organized crime with mafia-like characteristics.

Crime of forced trading.

One sentence contained two criminal charges.

"What's even more detestable is that the subsistence allowance recipients in their village have to turn over half of their allowance to the Village Committee. If you don't pay, they'll find ways to mess with you."

"Everyone knows that while it's nominally turned over to the Village Committee, in reality, it all ends up in his own pocket."

"And you can't resist; if you resist, he'll beat you, beat your children, and even knock down your courtyard wall."

"It's said that he and the Deputy Station Chief of the Police Station are in cahoots, so gradually, everyone just has to endure it."

Corruption and perversion of the law; heinous crimes.

Only these eight words remained in Sun Ning's mind.

A surge of anger rose within his chest.

When he first took office, he had focused too much on economic matters and neglected people's livelihoods.

In an instant, Sun Ning decided that he would spend more time touring each village.

This time, it wouldn't just be a superficial glance.

He decided to go deep among the masses, to come from the people and go back to the people.

He couldn't let Mishui Township develop while some common people still couldn't enjoy the benefits brought by the policies.

After the old man finished speaking, Sun Ning looked at Zhang Pengfei and warned: "No one is to spread what the old man said. If I find out that the old man has been harmed, you will be treated as accomplices."

"Township Head Sun, I'm fine. Those hooligans in the neighboring village don't dare to bare their fangs in our village. How many households do they even have?"

The old man was right; neighboring Du Village had a total population of only six hundred, far less than the nearly two thousand in Liu Yuan Gou.

They wouldn't dare come to Liu Yuan Gou to cause trouble even if you killed them.

But Sun Ning didn't dare take that risk.

Rural hooligans were generally people who looked tough but were cowardly inside.

But if they had a little too much to drink, they could be vicious.

Zhang Pengfei repeatedly guaranteed that he only had work-related contact with Du Laosan from Du Village.

In fact, Sun Ning also knew Du Laosan of Du Village.

In front of him, he was always an easygoing person with no ulterior motives.

Every time he saw Sun Ning, he would always ask Sun Ning for ideas to get rich, appearing to be entirely devoted to the public good.

Constrained by the fact that this area was full of small hills and the vegetation wasn't dense.

So the cave dwelling project wouldn't work here, and there weren't any other good projects for the time being.

However, these few villages were relatively close to the township, and quite a few people went to the township to work.

Therefore, Sun Ning had truly thought that Du Laosan was wholeheartedly for the villagers.

It turned out he was using the development of Du Village as a pretext to find a way to get rich himself.

Sun Ning felt quite frustrated for a moment; he had actually been played for a fool by a village Party Branch Secretary.

He didn't think he was being arbitrary in considering Du Laosan a criminal just because of a villager's words.

Sometimes the words of the villagers were the answer.

Sun Ning gave the prepared red envelope to the old man; after some polite refusal, the old man gladly accepted.

"Grandpa, my trip today is private, so you don't need to go around telling everyone."

Sun Ning specifically instructed the old man again.

Six hundred yuan wasn't much, but it wasn't a small amount either.

If the old man talked too much, what would the many impoverished households in Liu Yuan Gou think if they found out?

But still, since he was already here, he couldn't feel right without giving some money.

After leaving Liu Deli's house, Sun Ning took the car to the east end of the village.

In the old man's words, whoever had the most dilapidated house at the east end of the village was Liu Laosan's home.

Emerging from Liu Laosan's home, Sun Ning had a grave expression on his face.

Du Laosan was quite famous in the surrounding villages.

Liu Laosan's simple-minded son had even been teased by those people when he went to play in Du Village.

Therefore, Liu Laosan's wife told the story in even more detail than Liu Deli.

After getting in the car, Sun Ning, who had originally wanted to visit another village, suddenly lost interest.

Since he had decided to re-inspect the entire township, there was no longer any need for these random checks.

He also didn't go to Du Village to understand the situation on the ground.

It wasn't an excuse like a gentleman does not stand under a dangerous wall.

With his current physical fitness, he could easily handle ten well-trained people.

Those dozen or so hooligans in Du Village weren't enough for him to beat up.

There was really no need to investigate Du Village.

Furthermore, before they were convicted and sentenced, they were common people.

If he were surrounded by them, that would be a huge mess.

Would he fight back?

Either way, it wouldn't work.

Besides, what were law enforcement agencies for? Weren't they there to protect the lives and property of the people?

After getting in the car, Sun Ning didn't avoid Zhang Pengfei and Xiao Zhou and dialed a number directly.

"County Head Ning, are you busy?"

"Haha, why would a busy person like you think of your big brother!"

"I'm here to ask you for help."

"Assistant Sun, please spare me. Those few kids are just making a fuss; both the palm and the back of the hand are flesh—I'd feel bad for whichever one I handle!"

"I'm not trying to cause you trouble; whoever makes the most trouble is their own business. I really have a favor to ask. Does our County Bureau hold regular training classes? Give our township a spot! Our township's Deputy Station Chief really needs to strengthen his studies!"

Director Ning Jie of the County Bureau had initially thought Sun Ning was calling to pressure him about Zhu Zihao's matter.

Originally, the Director of the Political Department and the Captain of the County Bureau's Criminal Police Team were his direct subordinates.

No matter how arrogant Sun Ning was, as the Deputy County Head and Director, he couldn't just back down, right?

Furthermore, Sun Ning could make trouble and had strong backing, so he would concede three points to him; the Mishui Township Police Station was his to command.

But you can't just interfere whenever you want, right?

The County Bureau Director's surname is Ning, not Sun; if you want to throw your weight around, do it in your Mishui Township.

Do your superiors know you're so disrespectful of the rules?

Consequently, he politely declined Sun Ning.

But when he heard Sun Ning asking for a training spot, he realized something was wrong.

It was just a spot for a regular training session held by the County Bureau, not a Municipal Public Security Bureau training.

It shouldn't be worth Sun Ning making such a big fuss.

Station Chief Ding Jun could handle it.

When he heard Sun Ning say that the Deputy Station Chief of the Mishui Township Police Station really needed to strengthen his studies.

Really need and strengthen studies might sound like he valued this Deputy Station Chief at first.

But Sun Ning's tone was very heavy.

In that case, had this Deputy Station Chief committed an offense?