284: Chapter 284 The Reporter Comes to Interview

The twenty-second day of the twelfth lunar month.

Outside the main gate of the Heishi Town Government, a brand-new, large white board was erected.

Director Xu Jie directed several clerks to glue the lists of households in need, details of funding sources, and procurement project lists—all verified and copied overnight—onto the board, one by one.

At the very bottom, a prominent supervision hotline number was left.

As soon as the board was set up, the common folk shopping for New Year supplies on the street gathered around.

The crowd was filled with mixed discussions.

Some stretched their necks to find names, while others stared at the unit prices of the procurement items to calculate the details; questions and cheers were intertwined.

Zhu Wenhao stood in front of the window in his second-floor office, watching the crowd below.

"The ledgers are under the sun, clean and transparent; this is to set the rules for Heishi Town," he said.

Director Xu Jie pushed the door open and walked in.

"The lists are posted, but it's rowdy down there, and there are all sorts of voices," Director Xu Jie said, walking to the desk. "There are cheers, but some say this is just for show."

"Whether it's for show or not, they'll know once the money is in their hands," Zhu Wenhao said, leaving the window. "Has Town Mayor Luo gone down?"

"He has. Deputy Town Mayor Liu Wenxuan is also down there following him," Director Xu Jie replied.

Outside the main gate downstairs.

Town Mayor Luo Xingbang, wrapped in a military overcoat, stood beside the white board.

If he wanted to secure his position as Acting Secretary, he needed the support of the people.

Today's public ledger disclosure was a good opportunity to win over public opinion.

"Fellow villagers," Town Mayor Luo Xingbang said in a booming voice, "This year's Spring Festival relief in the town is different from previous years. How the money was allocated, what rice, flour, and oil were bought, and which funds were spent—it's all on this board. Everyone, keep a watch; if you find anyone who doesn't meet the criteria but is still occupying a quota, call the number below directly to report it!"

Someone in the crowd shouted, "Town Mayor Luo, those wealthy households from previous years were all able to get subsidies; why don't I see their names this year? Did the town withhold the money?"

Town Mayor Luo Xingbang was stumped by the question.

Cleaning up the subsistence allowance list and cutting off over thirty households was a thankless task that offended people.

He looked at Town Mayor Liu Wenxuan, who was standing not far away.

Town Mayor Liu Wenxuan, wearing a wool coat, stood at the edge of the steps; he wished he could stay as far away as possible from this messy, offensive task.

A voice came from the loudspeaker on the second floor.

"Town Mayor Liu," Zhu Wenhao said, holding the microphone. "You are in charge of finance; explain to everyone which funds for the town's New Year supplies can be distributed and which cannot. The rules of finance must be made clear to the common people."

Being called out in public, Town Mayor Liu Wenxuan had nowhere to retreat.

He pushed up his semi-rimless glasses and walked to the white board.

"The town's financial aid has rigid indicators," Town Mayor Liu Wenxuan said, taking the loudspeaker handed to him by a clerk. "For widowed elderly, disabled persons, and households with serious illnesses whose per capita annual income is below the standard, they meet the criteria, and the funds are specifically allocated for them. As for those who have labor capacity at home and are doing business outside but are still occupying quotas for households in need, this is called defrauding state aid."

He pointed to the list of excluded households on the board.

"This review has cleared out the non-compliant quotas. The freed-up money will all be added to the accounts of the truly needy households. Not a single cent will remain in the Town Government's accounts."

The crowd below quieted down.

The common folk hadn't been to college, but they understood the logic of giving money to those who were truly poor.

A farm woman wearing a tattered cotton-padded jacket said loudly, "Well said! Those people driving cars while collecting subsistence allowances should have been kicked out long ago!"

Town Mayor Liu Wenxuan stood there, looking at the dozens of trusting eyes below.

He had worked in the County Finance Bureau for most of his life, accustomed to calculating accounts for reports and leaders, and had never directly explained financial discipline to the common people.

This feeling of being recognized by the grassroots masses gave birth to a rare sense of stability in his heart.

It turned out that Zhu Wenhao had pushed him to the forefront specifically to let him personally experience the weight of public opinion.

The situation was visibly stabilizing.

A thin, wizened old man squeezed out from the back of the crowd.

The old man, wearing an old jacket and leaning on a cane, rushed directly to the bottom of the white board.

He used his cane to knock on the white board, making a loud thumping sound.

"The Town Government favors the rich and dislikes the poor! Bullying honest people!" the old man shouted in a raspy voice.

The crowd automatically cleared a circle around him.

This person was Zhang Dehai from a side branch of Eldest Branch in Heishui Village.

"My son works outside and can't come back twice a year; I'm an old man at home with no one to look after me! Why was I removed from the households in need list this year?"

Zhang Dehai sat on the ground, "Everyone, judge for yourselves! The Town Government is just picking on us because we've lost our influence, deliberately finding faults to mess with us!"

Incited by him, several people nearby who usually associated with Eldest Branch also joined in the commotion.

"Exactly, even an old man's New Year money is being withheld!"

"Disclosing the ledgers is just a front; in secret, they still give it to whoever they want!"

The situation became chaotic, with people in the front pushing forward, and it looked like they were about to knock over the white board.

Town Mayor Luo Xingbang panicked; as an Acting Secretary, he feared mass incidents the most.

He turned to look at Police Chief Zhao Gang on the steps.

"Director Zhao, clear them out. Don't let them disrupt office order here," Town Mayor Luo Xingbang ordered.

Police Chief Zhao Gang was just about to lead his men forward.

"Wait."

Zhu Wenhao walked out of the office building and down the steps.

He didn't look at Zhang Dehai on the ground but walked straight to Town Mayor Luo Xingbang.

"Town Mayor Luo, if the masses have questions, just answer them. If we use police force to clear the scene, we will be the ones in the wrong."

Zhu Wenhao turned around and faced the crowd.

"Zhang Dehai," Zhu Wenhao called out the old man's name. "You say the Town Government is bullying you and withholding your New Year money."

He raised his hand and waved to the back.

Li Maisui, holding a thick, blue, hard-cover ledger, walked out from behind the clerks.

This nineteen-year-old newly appointed accountant of Heishui Village, wearing a ponytail, looked calm.

"Accountant Li," Zhu Wenhao said, pointing at Zhang Dehai. "Read his background to everyone. Let everyone hear how we favor the rich and dislike the poor."

Li Maisui opened the ledger.

"Zhang Dehai. He indeed only has two mu of poor farmland under his name," Li Maisui said in a clear voice. "However, his son, Political Commissar Zhang Qiang, bought a ninety-square-meter apartment in the county seat with full payment three years ago. The year before last, Political Commissar Zhang Qiang registered two heavy-duty dump trucks under his name, affiliated with Heishi Mining for transport work."

Li Maisui held the ledger high, facing the crowd.

"According to the criteria for subsistence allowances and households in need, those with direct family members who own commercial housing or operating vehicles are disqualified from aid. This is written in black and white on the Civil Affairs Bureau's documents."

Zhang Dehai sat on the ground, mouth agape, unable to say a word.

The tone of the discussion in the crowd shifted completely.

"Good heavens, his son drives two large dump trucks and bought a house in the county seat, and he calls this poor?"

"This should be canceled! He takes the subsistence allowance, while we who actually farm can't get it; how does that make sense!"

The crowd's vitriol was all directed at Zhang Dehai.

Seeing that the situation was not in his favor, Zhang Dehai scrambled up with his cane and slunk out of the crowd.

A storm was averted without a trace.

The hearts of the common people leaned toward this system of public review.

Zhu Wenhao stood in the wind, watching the masses gathered in front of the white board, earnestly checking their own situations.

"Worldly affairs are ruined by dark boxes and succeed through transparency," Zhu Wenhao said to Town Mayor Liu Wenxuan beside him.

"If you explain the reasoning clearly, the common people are reasonable."

Town Mayor Liu Wenxuan pushed up his glasses and nodded.

At noon, the crowd dispersed, and the Town Government returned to calm.

Deputy Secretary's office.

Director Xu Jie walked in quickly, holding a fax.

"Zhu Wenhao, there's a problem," Director Xu Jie said, placing the fax on the desk.

Zhu Wenhao picked it up and read it; it was a routine public opinion report from the Propaganda Department of the Linjiang Municipal Party Committee.

"An interview vehicle from the County TV Station set off half an hour ago, heading straight for Heishi Town," Director Xu Jie said, standing at the desk. "The team is led by a reporter named Wang Meng. I asked an acquaintance at the County Party Committee's Propaganda Department, and the theme of this vehicle's rural interview was reported to the station in advance."

"What is it called?" Zhu Wenhao asked.

"Investigation into the Chaos of Spring Festival Relief in Heishi Town," Director Xu Jie replied.

Zhu Wenhao pressed the fax under a paperweight.

"Relief chaos."

"This is aimed at us," Director Xu Jie analyzed. "We just cut over thirty non-compliant quotas, and many of those people went to the county to make trouble. These TV station people smelled the scent and came; it must be Deputy Secretary Qin Yuanshan behind the scenes, intending to make an issue of this."

Deputy Secretary Qin Yuanshan was now a trapped beast.

He wanted to use the media's pen to characterize the Heishi Town Spring Festival relief matter as a conflict between officials and the masses.

As long as this report was broadcast in the county, or even transferred to the municipal station, Town Mayor Luo Xingbang's position as Acting Secretary would suffer, and Zhu Wenhao's rules would become a target for violating discipline.

"They haven't arrived yet; should I have someone intercept them halfway?" Police Chief Zhao Gang pushed the door open and walked in, having clearly heard the news.

"Intercept?" Zhu Wenhao picked up his teacup. "The media is coming for a grassroots interview, and you want to use the police to stop them. This is what they call 'preventing the people from speaking is more dangerous than blocking a river.' The next day, our charge would be covering up the truth and violently obstructing an interview."

Police Chief Zhao Gang sat down in a chair.

"Then what do we do? Just let them run around with cameras, find a few people like Zhang Dehai to interview, edit it back at the station, and dump all the blame on us?"

"A straight body is not afraid of a crooked shadow," Zhu Wenhao said, taking a sip of warm water. "Since we dared to disclose the ledgers, we are not afraid of the media coming to investigate."

He put down the teacup.

"Director Xu Jie."

"Yes."

"Go and prepare. Notify the Civil Affairs Office and the Finance Office to put all the original materials for today's public notice in the small conference room," Zhu Wenhao decided on a strategy.

"Since the TV station is coming for an interview, we will open our doors to welcome them and provide them with the most comprehensive materials."

Director Xu Jie hesitated, "If they are coming with a mission, no matter how complete the materials are, they will take things out of context."

Zhu Wenhao stood up and walked to the floor-to-ceiling window.

He looked at the white board outside the gate; if Deputy Secretary Qin Yuanshan wanted to use public opinion to pressure him, he would let him see what it meant to spin a cocoon around oneself.