40: Chapter 40 Serving as an official for a term, bringing benefits to the people.

When Sun Ning walked out of the government building, his steps were much lighter.

The beginning of everything is difficult!

He had already resolved the most difficult matters one by one.

His strategic layout in Mishui Township had, up to this point, firmly taken root.

When Sun Ning walked over to the Township Government's car, Secretary Xue Hongtao was already waiting there.

"Party Secretary, out so soon?"

"Haha, the Party Secretary is busy with official duties; I sat in the Party Secretary's office for ten minutes and was politely asked to leave."

Hearing this, Sun Ning knew that Secretary Xue Hongtao hadn't gained any advantages from Vice Mayor Wang Pingan.

He guessed that Vice Mayor Wang Pingan hadn't even looked at that report in detail.

It was really because Secretary Xue Hongtao had too prominent a reputation within the County Party Committee and the County Government.

Every time he appeared, it was to ask for money.

The only reason Vice Mayor Wang Pingan had granted him an audience was out of respect for his seniority.

Therefore, his first reaction upon hearing the content of Secretary Xue Hongtao's report was that he was there to ask for money.

However, neither Sun Ning nor Secretary Xue Hongtao cared about Vice Mayor Wang Pingan's reaction.

The township level is a grassroots state administrative organ with an independent legal personality.

Reporting upward is a matter of showing respect to the leadership at the higher level.

Currently, having the support of the County Government was enough.

"Party Secretary, we just need to do our own jobs well!"

"Haha, there will come a time when he regrets it. How was your harvest with the County Mayor?"

"The relevant departments are cooperating unconditionally, and they have allocated eight million to support the infrastructure construction of Mishui Township."

"Haha..."

Secretary Xue Hongtao's laughter was truly hearty and uninhibited; it took a long while for him to stop.

He looked at Sun Ning with bright, piercing eyes, his attitude very serious: "Sun Ning, go ahead and do it. As long as you don't engage in corruption or break the law, I will always support you."

Although this was the first time Secretary Xue Hongtao had spoken such heartfelt words.

But ever since he returned from the capital, Secretary Xue Hongtao's attitude had completely changed.

He himself lacked that ability, but he had gained a very capable assistant.

Therefore, he chose to trust Sun Ning.

Sun Ning looked at the very sincere Secretary Xue Hongtao and said seriously: "Thank you for your trust, Party Secretary. I will definitely lead the fifty thousand people of Mishui Township toward a moderately prosperous life."

This was Sun Ning's promise to the fifty thousand people of Mishui Township.

It was also his ideal, the goal for which he would strive his entire life.

To serve a term, to benefit the people.

This has been the mission of those with noble ideals since ancient times.

This straightforward conversation between the two was the starting point for Mishui Township's takeoff, and also the starting point for Sun Ning's career takeoff.

After the two finished speaking briefly, Secretary Xue Hongtao invited Sun Ning to ride back to Mishui Township together.

At this moment, Sun Ning realized that there were still two young ladies at home with no one to look after them.

He hurriedly asked Secretary Xue Hongtao for leave, using a ready-made excuse: he needed to accompany the investors.

Although Secretary Xue Hongtao was old-fashioned, he knew about the affairs of young people.

Since the next two days were the weekend, Secretary Xue Hongtao did not want to play the villain.

Over the next two and a half days, Sun Ning accompanied the two women directly to Luocheng.

It was a famous ancient capital and also the city with the best tourism resources in Heyang Province.

Nothing happened during these two days.

Sun Ning had figured it out: Shang Rou did not exclude him from hanging out with Zhao Xue.

Zhao Xue also looked at him in a new light.

But after all, with three people acting together, it was impossible for anything major to happen.

After these two or three days of getting along, Sun Ning and Zhao Xue's relationship had advanced by leaps and bounds.

This was the intuitive feeling of being together all day, body and soul.

It was not a relationship that could be cultivated merely during those few hours of eating and drinking in the evening.

On Monday, Sun Ning walked into the Township Government compound on time.

The Township Government staff greeted him enthusiastically, but there was a look of sympathy in everyone's eyes.

There was gossip going around that Shenlan Company seemed to have been moved by the county's terms.

It was said that Deep Blue had confirmed they would invest within the scope of Gongfan County, and they would sign the investment agreement after returning to make preparations.

The investment that had been within reach had flown away; the first of Sun Ning's "three fires" upon taking office had thus been extinguished.

This was a major blow to Sun Ning's prestige.

Although everyone sympathized with him, only the weak are pitied.

Once the buzz about this matter passed, no one would sympathize with him; they would only ignore him.

Sun Ning maintained his usual confident and composed appearance.

He did not show any expression of frustration or unwillingness at all.

The morning meeting was held as scheduled, still covering the same old clichés.

After the meeting, Sun Ning had Liaison Xiao Yuan notify the comrades from the Finance Office to come over.

The eight million that Secretary Wang Shengli had promised had not yet arrived, so starting from today, he would send someone specifically to keep an eye on the Finance Bureau.

This point was somewhat similar to Secretary Xue Hongtao's approach.

This was also the working method of the township comrades.

The truth is, if you don't keep an eye on those funds, you wouldn't even know when the money would be allocated.

Before long, the director of the Finance Office came to Sun Ning's office.

During this time, the two had met a few times.

Sun Ning had an average impression of this person; the truth was that everyone in Mishui Township was like this.

Listless, rigid, lazy in work, and so on.

This working style was the same in every township; wanting to change it could not be accomplished overnight.

Sun Ning did not communicate much with the director of the Finance Office, only telling him to keep an eye on this sum of money.

Then he let him go back to work.

Then he asked Liaison Xiao Yuan to bring Vice Township Head Wang Penghui, Deputy Township Head Dong Zhensheng, and the director of the Land Resources Office.

He was preparing to hold a short meeting with these people.

Before long, the two Vice Township Heads filed in, followed by the director of the Land Resources Office.

Sun Ning passed around cigarettes and said to Vice Township Head Wang Penghui, who was in charge of agriculture: "Comrade Penghui, you will be responsible for the work of the breeding farm from now on."

"You must do a good job with the logistics of the breeding farm and the communication work with the several main administrative villages."

"If the common people have misunderstandings, you must explain patiently; do not engage in heavy apportioning or administrative orders."

"Carry out the work effectively and deliver tangible benefits to every common person."

"The site for the breeding farm has generally been selected; most of it is barren mountain, so it shouldn't involve land requisition work. Have Comrade Jianqiang coordinate this with the County Land Resources Bureau."

As soon as Sun Ning's voice fell, the three looked at each other in dismay.

What is all this?

Wasn't it said that the investor had been intercepted?

How did it look like Sun Ning didn't know about it?

As the named Vice Township Head in charge, Wang Penghui stammered: "Township Head, isn't it said that the investor wants to invest in a breeding farm in Huikuo Town?"

They say there are no secrets in officialdom.

Even the details of how Vice-County Mayor Pi Yingshi wanted to curry favor with Vice Mayor Wang Pingan and place the breeding farm in Huikuo Town had spread to Mishui Township.

He smiled faintly and said: "Do not believe rumors, do not spread rumors; you must put your own work first."

As the Township Head, Sun Ning really had no need to go through the trouble of explaining everything.

Nor would he force an explanation of the specific process involved to them.

Should he tell them about how he and Secretary Wang Shengli wanted to trick Vice-County Mayor Pi Yingshi?

Upon hearing the phrase "do not believe rumors, do not spread rumors," the three were all puzzled.

They were in positions too low; there were some things they could only see on the surface.

And they only knew the principle that a higher-ranking official can crush those below them.

Therefore, the entire Mishui Township knew one truth: this investor had run away.

Now, seeing Sun Ning like this, they all felt their deep-rooted values waver.