209: Chapter 209 Financial Refund Conference

Cold wind swept past the temporary venue outside the Heishi Town Government compound.

The wind whipped up a few withered leaves from the ground, scraping them against the giant banner and causing it to flap loudly.

The banner was printed with the words "Heishi Town Heishui Village Special Compensation Repayment Assembly" in square, bold characters.

The entire Heishi Town was at the highest level of alert.

The Town Police Station had deployed everyone, with Police Chief Zhao Gang personally overseeing the command. Deputy Chief Deputy Police Chief Li Sanqiang, with a white bandage wrapped around his head, led the station's formal police officers and a group of auxiliary police in setting up three police cordons around the venue.

Reinforcements dispatched by the Qingjiang County Bureau set up checkpoints at the outer intersections to ensure that non-essential vehicles were diverted.

Secretly, beyond these three cordons, inside an abandoned factory, three black anti-riot vehicles lay quietly in wait.

Inside the vehicles sat thirty fully armed SWAT officers.

This was an elite force that Zhu Wenhao had borrowed directly from Police Chief Li Jianguo last night, bypassing the Qingjiang County political and legal systems.

This surprise force had not been reported to either the Town Committee or the County Party Committee.

In governing a chaotic situation, one can never place hope in the mercy of the enemy.

These thirty SWAT officers were the trump card Zhu Wenhao held in his hand.

At nine o'clock in the morning, Secretary Lu Guoliang of the Qingjiang County Party Committee stepped steadily onto the rostrum and took his seat in the center amidst thunderous applause.

To his left was Director Lin Hao of the County Party Committee Office, who had accompanied him; to his right was Secretary Qiu Dehai of the Town Committee.

Further out were Deputy Secretary Zhu Wenhao of the Town Committee and Town Mayor Luo Xingbang.

Once everyone was seated, the venue gradually quieted down.

Director Xu Jie was guest-hosting the assembly today.

"The Heishi Town Heishui Village Special Compensation Repayment Assembly now begins. I invite Secretary Lu of the Qingjiang County Party Committee to deliver the opening address."

Applause rose again.

Secretary Lu Guoliang adjusted the angle of the microphone and swept his gaze over the sea of people below.

"Fellow villagers, comrades. Today, the County Party Committee and the Town Party Committee have gathered everyone here for one purpose: to give you justice."

Secretary Lu Guoliang's opening remarks immediately set the tone for the assembly.

"Some time ago, the legitimate interests of some of the masses in Heishui Village were seriously infringed upon. Upon learning of the situation, the County Party Committee attached extreme importance to it. Investigations revealed that the former Village Secretary Zhang Dahai had lost the bottom line of a Party member and cadre, embezzling and misappropriating the masses' compensation funds; the nature of this is extremely egregious! He has now been formally placed on file for investigation by the discipline inspection authorities. Zhang Xing and others who colluded with him have run rampant, bullying the neighborhood; this is typical of a village bully!"

Secretary Lu Guoliang's tone gradually sharpened.

"The Jiangnan Provincial Party Committee and the Linjiang Municipal Party Committee have recently issued special documents on combating organized crime and rooting out local gangs multiple times. Our Qingjiang County Party Committee must keep up the pace and maintain a resolute attitude. Fighting corruption and severely punishing black and evil forces to restore a clean and bright environment to the grassroots is an unshirkable responsibility of our county committee team!"

Thunderous applause broke out below, and the red lights of the county television station's cameras flashed repeatedly, capturing this righteous image of the County Party Secretary from all angles.

Secretary Lu Guoliang sat upright on the stage, feeling the focus of the flashbulbs, his chess game already underway in his mind.

He had been rooted in the land of Qingjiang County for eight years.

The old leader he previously relied on, a vice-governor in the province, had already stepped into the second line three or four years ago. With people gone, the tea goes cold; that remaining influence had been enough to help him reach the position of County Party Secretary, but it was at the end of its rope and powerless to lift him any further.

He had reached a bottleneck in his career and urgently needed a momentum that could break the deadlock.

He needed dazzling political achievements, and even more, he needed to open a channel to the new core of the Municipal Party Committee.

This was the fundamental logic behind his decisive abandonment of the Zhang Clan while desperately protecting Secretary Qiu Dehai.

The Zhang Clan was merely a fattened dog in the locality; if it needed to be slaughtered, so be it—it was just right to use them as a "meeting gift" to show his response to the provincial and municipal spirit of fighting organized crime.

But the pawn that was Secretary Qiu Dehai could absolutely not be moved.

He was the head of Heishi Town. If a nest of cases broke out in the Town Committee, the mark of "negligence in personnel use and inability to manage subordinates" would be branded on Secretary Lu Guoliang's career record.

During the critical promotion assessment period, the charge of negligence would be enough to become a sharp blade in the hands of political enemies.

Protecting Secretary Qiu Dehai and keeping the lid on corruption tightly sealed at the village level was to maintain his own personal innocence.

As for Zhu Wenhao, he went with the flow, approving this fund repayment and letting this young man take the knife to Village Secretary Zhang Dahai in Heishi Town. This was not only a warning to the local faction but also an olive branch he was extending to Deputy Secretary Zhu Tianhe of the Municipal Party Committee.

One good turn deserves another.

I will build the stage for your son and let him burn these three fires; you, Secretary Zhu, must show some inclination in personnel recommendations at the Municipal Party Committee.

Furthermore, Secretary Lu Guoliang had set his sights even further.

He had already privately opened a path with Deputy Minister Jin Xuemin of the Municipal Party Committee's Propaganda Department. The recording of today's assembly, with a little editing, would be sent to the Municipal TV Station for broadcast as a typical case of Qingjiang County's strong crackdown on corruption and its love for the people.

He had also thoroughly understood the preferences of Secretary Lin Weimin of the Municipal Party Committee through an old classmate in the Provincial Party Committee Office; Secretary Lin valued the swift and decisive actions and the thorough eradication of evil by grassroots cadres most.

Once the municipal station's program aired, he would have a logical excuse to go to the Municipal Party Committee to report on Qingjiang County's anti-gang work to Secretary Lin in person, thereby entering Secretary Lin Weimin's field of vision.

"Next, we will proceed to the second agenda item of the assembly: the repayment of compensation funds." Director Xu Jie's voice cut in at the right time, pulling Secretary Lu Guoliang's thoughts back to reality.

Following the established, strict procedures, villagers held various documents and lined up in the verification area. After the "four-in-one" verification by staff from the Party and Government Office and the Finance Office, they were led in batches to the front of the rostrum after confirmation.

The first batch to take the stage were mostly elderly people from the village.

An old farmer with gray hair and a worn-out black cotton jacket received the thick stack of cash sealed in an envelope from Secretary Lu Guoliang with trembling hands.

Clutching the solid cash, the old farmer's legs went weak, and he was about to kneel in public, but was caught by Secretary Lu Guoliang with quick eyes and hands.

"Secretary Lu, you are a righteous official! For this money, we ran to the town so many times, our legs even got thinner, and we finally saw the money come back!"

Tears streamed down the old farmer's face, his aged face full of humility and gratitude.

This scene with high visual impact was perfectly captured by the camera. Secretary Lu Guoliang comforted the old farmer with a few gentle words, fully displaying the benevolence of a fatherly official.

On the other side of the long line was the payment station where Zhu Wenhao was located.

Villager Li Er, who had once participated in blocking the gate of the Town Government and led the form-filling, walked forward with his verification slip.

Zhu Wenhao handed the envelope containing the balance to Li Er.

Li Er rubbed his hands hard on his trouser legs before daring to take the envelope. He looked at the Deputy Secretary in front of him, so excited he was incoherent.

"Secretary Zhu, I am a crude person and don't know how to speak. A while ago in the conference room, you told us it would be solved in half a month. I was still muttering to myself, thinking it was another delaying tactic."

Li Er clutched the envelope tightly. "It's only been over half a month, and this real money is already in my hands. You are truly a person who gets things done! With this money, my family can finally have a peaceful New Year and wrap dumplings."

Zhu Wenhao did not try to steal the spotlight for show, but simply looked directly at the simple farmer.

"This is money you deserve. With national law in place, whoever swallowed it, the government will make them spit it out with interest. Take it, and count it clearly."

Following Li Er were an elderly couple supporting each other.

Li Maisui's grandparents.

The two old people walked with difficulty. That day they had blocked the car on the provincial road to complain, just to get back the wasteland that had been forcibly occupied by Zhang Xing. Now, the village bully was caught, the land was not only returned to their name, but this long-overdue land acquisition compensation was also returned.

Old Man Li received the money with both hands, his eyes red.

"Secretary Zhu, that day on the provincial road, I was blind and didn't recognize you, this true deity." The old man's voice choked. "You made the decision for us old couple, got the land back, and even caught those beasts."

The old man turned to look at Deputy Police Chief Li Sanqiang who was maintaining order off the stage.

"Thanks to that Police Officer Li, who donated money to support our Maisui. The girl has already decided to go back and repeat her studies after the New Year to fight the college entrance exam again."

The old man bowed repeatedly. "You and Police Officer Li are our family's great benefactors. With the girl having hope, we two old people have the energy to live on."

Zhu Wenhao reached out to support the old man's arm.

"Let the child study with peace of mind. Get into a good university and go see how the laws of the outside world are established."

On the rostrum, the villagers of the second and third branches who received the money, and even those outsiders who had been ostracized, were all beaming with joy. Spontaneous cheers erupted from the crowd from time to time.

The dark clouds that had hung over Heishui Village for many years seemed to be dispersed by the rustling sound of the banknotes.

However, the most difficult thing to calm in this world is the resentment of those whose interests have been stripped away.

In the corner on the outermost edge of the venue stood a group of men with gloomy faces.

People from the Zhang Clan's main branch.

They tucked their hands into their sleeves, staring fixedly at the young Deputy Secretary on the rostrum.

"Brother Yue, are we just going to watch him, this Zhu, play the good guy?" a young man from the main branch cursed in a low voice.

Zhang Yue tilted his head slightly, sizing up the police deployment around the venue, his hand tucked in his coat pocket, tightly clutching an old mobile phone.

"Let him show off his power first." Zhang Yue squeezed a few words through his teeth. "Clan Elder Zhang Laoqi has already arranged everything on his side. When the money distribution reaches a climax and the reporters are busy filming, we will give him a big gift."

These remnants of the main branch had already made contact with the mine bully Ma Yunlong in the past few days and had gathered a group of desperate thugs who were not afraid of death, mixing into the crowd.

They were waiting, waiting for that text message from Clan Elder Zhang Laoqi.

As soon as the signal came, they would burst out from the crowd. They wouldn't fight or smash anything; they would only unfurl banners and kneel to cry out for injustice, splashing the dirty water of Zhu Wenhao "embezzling the allocated special funds and lining his own pockets" right in front of the County Party Secretary and all the media.

Once the scene spun out of control and turned into mass resistance against the law, the County Party Secretary would absolutely not vouch for Zhu Wenhao.

The conspiracy fermented silently under the cover of deafening applause and laughter.

Zhu Wenhao handed out the last envelope and retreated to his side seat.

He did not look at those grateful faces; his gaze crossed the bustling crowd and landed precisely on those men from the main branch who were huddled in the corner, their eyes darting around.

He turned his head and exchanged a glance with Police Chief Zhao Gang, who was a few meters away off the stage.

Police Chief Zhao Gang nodded imperceptibly, his hand already resting on the communication walkie-talkie at his waist.

And in the abandoned factory south of the town, the engines of those thirty SWAT officers were already in an ignition state, ready to accelerate to full speed at any moment.

The wind suddenly turned fierce. The banner flapped wildly in the air.

The true highlight of this repayment assembly had only just begun.