16: Chapter 16 How to Repay a Life-Saving Grace

Vice Township Head Mu Xiuwen and his wife were eating breakfast. Since they lived in the town and their workplace was nearby, they usually didn't eat breakfast until after eight o'clock.

As for his son, Mu Zixuan, he had already finished breakfast and left for school.

"Wife, I'm always a bit worried about Mu Zixuan going to school by himself. I think you should go through the trouble of picking him up and dropping him off every day."

He treasured this son of his dearly.

His wife, however, didn't feel the same way. "He's already in the third grade; there's no need to pick him up or drop him off anymore. Boys need to be independent."

"But I'm still a little worried."

"What's there to worry about? It's so close, it only takes a few minutes to get to school."

Seeing this, Vice Township Head Mu Xiuwen didn't say anything more. He thought to himself, 'I hope so. I just hope nothing happens.'

His family had only had one son for generations, and he didn't have this son until he was in his thirties. As a government employee, he couldn't have a second child, so the extent to which he treasured this son was something others couldn't understand.

Now, back to Qin Chuan.

While eating breakfast, he kept an eye on the surroundings. Around 8:15 AM, he caught sight of Mu Zixuan.

The little boy was quite energetic, skipping and jumping along. He didn't use the crosswalk at all and dashed straight into the middle of the road, looking like he wanted to run across in one go.

The road was busy with traffic, especially those large trucks fully loaded with coal.

These large trucks were generally severely overloaded, with the coal piled up to a peak. Once an emergency occurred, it was impossible to brake in time.

The truck driver probably wasn't paying enough attention. By the time he saw the little boy rushing over, it was too late, and he could only instinctively slam on the brakes.

Fortunately, he was quite experienced and didn't jerk the steering wheel; otherwise, the consequences would have been unimaginable.

The tires screeched against the road, emitting a sharp, piercing sound.

The people around were stunned!

They all watched in shock as the large truck barreled toward the little boy ahead. Some people even recognized him.

"Good heavens, that's the son of Vice Township Head Mu!"

"It's over, it's over!"

Just as everyone was shocked and desperate, a figure suddenly dashed out. The speed was so fast that one could almost only see a blur.

It was Qin Chuan!

He had seen Mu Zixuan, but he hadn't expected the little boy to actually run into the middle of the road. This was something Qin Chuan hadn't anticipated.

The situation was too sudden. Even though Qin Chuan gave it his all, he only managed to grab the back of Mu Zixuan's clothes as the large truck was already upon them.

In the blink of an eye, Qin Chuan pulled hard, barely managing to yank Mu Zixuan back from in front of the truck's bumper.

But it was still just a bit too late.

His body was pulled back, but his right foot, which had stepped forward, was not. The truck's front wheel rolled over the tip of Mu Zixuan's foot.

A scream rang out. Although it was only the front wheel, because the truck was severely overloaded, it was enough to crush the toes of his right foot into a comminuted fracture.

Qin Chuan also lost his balance and fell to the ground. But seeing that he had pulled the boy back, he felt slightly relieved; he might be injured, but at least his life was saved.

The surroundings seemed to fall into a brief silence.

Everything had happened too quickly!

It was too unexpected!

It seemed that a full two or three seconds passed before someone shouted excitedly.

"It's Secretary Qin, it's Secretary Qin!"

"Secretary Qin is amazing!"

"If it weren't for Secretary Qin, Mu Zixuan would definitely have been crushed to death by the truck!"

"..."

Seeing that Mu Zixuan was basically unharmed, Qin Chuan felt slightly relieved; an injury was better than losing a life. Seeing that the toes of his right foot seemed to have been crushed, he quickly asked.

"How are you? Don't move around!"

After comforting Mu Zixuan, Qin Chuan immediately took out his phone and dialed 120, hurriedly calling for an ambulance.

...

Township Head Liu Qiang hadn't started work yet.

He hadn't even gotten out of bed. He had lost 100,000 last night and was in a foul mood, but a phone call woke him up.

He picked it up and saw it was a call from Director Li Youfu.

"Director Li Youfu, what is it? Spit it out!"

If it were usual times, he would certainly have called him "Comrade Youfu," but he was in such a bad mood that he didn't have a polite tone.

Director Li Youfu on the other end of the line was slightly stunned, thinking to himself, 'It's early in the morning; has Township Head Liu Qiang eaten gunpowder?'

"Township Head, I'm only calling to confirm that the Party Committee meeting you mentioned yesterday is still going ahead as scheduled today."

Qin Chuan had been in office for three days, and Township Head Liu Qiang felt it was about time to stir up trouble.

Relying on his control over the Party Committee, Township Head Liu Qiang prepared to discuss a few important matters, one of which was the recommendation of Director Li Youfu as a member of the Party Committee.

Generally speaking, the Director of the Party and Government Office is a member of the Party Committee, but the situation in Dahe Township was a bit special; Director Li Youfu had been the Director of the Party and Government Office for less than half a year and was not yet a member of the Party Committee.

It required a recommendation from Dahe Township and approval by the County Party Standing Committee.

For a small township Party and Government Office director, as long as Dahe Township recommended it, it would generally be approved.

As the person involved, Director Li Youfu was naturally very concerned about this matter. It was just past eight o'clock, and he couldn't help but call to "remind" him.

Township Head Liu Qiang was in a foul mood and was looking for someone to vent his frustration on. If he could humiliate Qin Chuan at the Party Committee meeting, that would be a satisfying thing.

On the day Qin Chuan first took office, he had had to put on an act because Organization Minister Sun Zhen was present, but now he didn't want to keep up the pretense anymore.

"Notify all Party Committee members; we will hold a Party Committee meeting at ten o'clock this morning. There are some matters that really need to be discussed."

Upon hearing this, Director Li Youfu was overjoyed.

Once this Party Committee meeting was convened, the matter of recommending him to become a member of the township Party Committee should be a certainty. What a great thing!

Immediately, his mood improved unprecedentedly, and his tone carried a hint of joy. "Alright, as soon as work starts, I will notify all Party Committee members."

Generally speaking, whether to convene a Party Committee meeting is decided by the township Party Committee Secretary, the top leader.

The way Township Head Liu Qiang and the others were acting was clearly a bit arrogant; they simply didn't take the newly appointed Qin Chuan seriously.

...

Seeing the ambulance arrive and take Mu Zixuan to the township health center, Qin Chuan felt temporarily relieved. He walked into the Township Government compound and went to change his clothes first.

He had fallen to the ground just now, and his clothes and pants were dirty. After changing, although it was still twenty or thirty minutes before work started, Qin Chuan walked into his office.

As the top leader, arriving at work twenty or thirty minutes early and leaving a little late was quite normal.

Not long after he sat down, Vice Township Head Mu Xiuwen came in.

He must have heard about what happened and knew that Qin Chuan had saved his son. He looked full of gratitude. "Secretary Qin, thank you. If it weren't for you, our Zixuan might be gone. I want to kneel and kowtow to you."

His son was his precious treasure.

Kneeling and kowtowing was completely understandable.

Qin Chuan quickly grabbed him. "Vice Township Head Mu Xiuwen, there's no need for this. I just happened to run into it and pulled your son out of the way."

"No, no, I must kowtow to thank you," Vice Township Head Mu Xiuwen insisted.

Just as the two were at a standoff—one wanting to kneel and kowtow, the other trying to hold him back—the phone in Vice Township Head Mu Xiuwen's pocket rang urgently.