I'm in the county town, and you say I'm a big shot?

Chapter 387 Liu Dong's Work is Not Going Well
“Yes, he happens to be on duty today. He just called to hear me say that I was fishing with you and wanted to report to you about my work later, but he couldn’t leave because he was on duty,” Fang Qingye said.

"It's best to stay on duty and not wander around. If you have anything to report, there will be time later."

Miao Hongbin didn't say anything more, and Fang Qingye didn't bring up the topic again either; they just fished quietly.

Around 5 p.m., the two packed up their fishing rods and drove to Wang Lei's house with the fish they had caught. Wang Lei's parents had already prepared a meal.

The dishes were all very ordinary farm-style dishes, such as crab roe fish balls and dried tofu with white tea. Miao Hongbin and Fang Qingye enjoyed the meal and left all the fish they had caught as a thank you before leaving.

Wang Lei didn't have a car, so he and Yang Yue were going back to the county town that night and took Fang Qingye's car.

While driving, Fang Qingye chatted with Wang Lei, who was sitting in the back seat.

"Wang Lei, I overheard Liu Dong on the phone saying he wanted to report something to County Chief Miao. It seems he encountered some trouble at work. Do you know what it is?"

"It seems that he was in charge of some specific matters after he came to the town to help Baipu Town apply for provincial-level historical and cultural town status," Wang Lei said.

Fang Qingye had also heard about this matter. It was listed as one of the county's important tasks this year. The county set up a special team, with Miao Hongbin as the leader of the leading group. The county's Culture and Tourism Bureau took the lead in organizing and implementing the work, while the Baipu Town Government was responsible for the environmental improvement work around the historical sites.

Wang Lei continued, “One weekend when I went home, I went to town and ran into Liu Dong. I sat in his office for a while and we talked about this. He said that he was currently in charge of the renovation of Guagong Lane and had encountered some trouble, mainly because there was an illegal building that needed to be demolished.”

Guagong Lane is located behind the Baiyi Temple in the northeast corner of Baipu Town. There is a small lane shaped like a bow, called Guagong Lane. It is said that this lane commemorates the Taiping Heavenly Kingdom uprising army and has certain historical significance. It is also one of the famous historical sites in Baipu Town.

"Is Murakami not cooperating?" Fang Qingye asked.

“Yes, that household head has influence in the village and town. The Party Secretary seems to be a relative of this family. I heard from Liu Dong that he went to the village to ask for help in his work, but the Party Secretary was veiled in opposition and ignored him,” Wang Lei said.

Fang Qingye wasn't surprised to hear this. These days, the village party secretaries are all very powerful. Apart from the town party secretary and mayor, many deputy leaders can't be commanded when they go down to the village, especially young cadres like Liu Dong who have just taken on leadership roles.

"Then why didn't he report it to the Party Secretary and the Mayor?" Fang Qingye asked again.

"I'm sure he reported it, but I heard things are rather complicated in their town, with internal conflicts within the leadership. Of course, Liu Dong didn't elaborate on the specifics, and I didn't press him for details."

oh.
Hearing Wang Lei say this, Fang Qingye understood why Liu Dong had to report to Miao Hongbin. Logically, as a deputy town mayor, he should report to the county leaders through the town mayor and party secretary. At most, because of the Baipu Town project, he could report to the director of the working group office, who is also the director of the Culture and Tourism Bureau. Liu Dong was clearly overstepping his authority.

Reporting to a higher level without authorization is a major taboo in officialdom; he was probably forced into a corner.

Fang Qingye didn't bring up the matter again.

When they arrived in the county town, Fang Qingye drove Wang Lei to the staff dormitory building of the management committee. Yang Yue said she wanted to get off there as well, so Fang Qingye drove back to the nursery alone.

The next day, Bai Ou returned from the city, so Fang Qingye naturally couldn't go fishing and had to accompany the girl.

However, Bai Ou also likes to come to the nursery to plant and clean up flowers and plants. She is always busy when she arrives, and she especially likes to stay in the orchid greenhouse.

This summer, the nursery invested more than 200,000 yuan to improve the facilities of the orchid cultivation greenhouse. In order to solve the problem of keeping warm in winter, Fang Qingye asked Yuxiang Gas Company to specially install a pipeline to the nursery, install heating equipment, and install a misting device to control the humidity of the greenhouse.

Actually, the greenhouse is humid and hot right now, and Fang Qingye doesn't like going in at all. He would rather wear a straw hat outside and loosen the soil and water other seedlings than suffer like this—it reminds him of the plum rain season.

Bai Ou likes the weather during the plum rain season. Today, she changed into her work clothes and joined the workers in the greenhouse to loosen the soil around the orchids. Fang Qingye and Wangcai stood outside the greenhouse watching the girl work.

This is free labor.
Just then, he saw Liu Dong and Bi Huanhuan walk in through the nursery gate, and greeted them with a smile.

"What brings you two here today?"

Liu Dong and Bi Huanhuan got married in May of this year, making them the first among Fang Qingye's close classmates to get married.

"The weather's cool today, so I came out for a stroll with Huanhuan, and we ended up here," Liu Dong said.

Fang Qingye glanced at Bi Huanhuan, who was wearing a loose dress and had a slightly protruding belly, indicating that she was pregnant.

"Are you tired? Go sit in the pavilion. Bai Ou, Liu Dong and the others are here!" Fang Qingye called out to the girl working in the orchid shed.

Upon hearing this, Bai Ou looked outside, then walked out of the greenhouse to greet the two people. She then went to Fang Qingye's bedroom to change into her original T-shirt and jeans. After going downstairs, she chatted intimately with Bi Huanhuan in the pavilion.

At this moment, Liu Dong said, "Ye Zi, Bai Ou and Huan Huan are talking about their girl stuff. Let's go take a walk."

"Row."

The two strolled along the path in the nursery, with Wangcai following behind, chatting as they walked.

"Ye Zi, how about you and County Chief Miao go to Wang Lei's for dinner?" Liu Dong asked.

"Of course you can. You've been to Wang Lei's house before, and his parents' cooking is really delicious."

"Yeah, I was planning to go over there for a free meal last night, but when I heard that County Chief Miao was there, I got scared and didn't dare to go," Liu Dong said with a chuckle.

Fang Qingye smiled after hearing this and said, "I heard from Wang Lei that you've encountered some unpleasant things at work?"

"Yes, to be honest, working in a township is much more difficult than working in the propaganda department where I used to work. That's my biggest takeaway after almost a year here," Liu Dong sighed.

“Or maybe Wang Lei doesn’t want to stay in town and insists on trying to transfer to the management committee, where things are simpler,” Fang Qingye said.

"Yes, when I first arrived in town, I didn't really understand the division of labor within the team. I took on the task of improving the environment around the historical sites without really knowing what it was all about. At first, I thought it would be easy, but now I realize it's a hot potato," Liu Dong said with a wry smile.

"I heard from Wang Lei that the village is not cooperating with the demolition of illegal buildings in Guagong Lane?"

“It’s not just the village! I don’t know what our town mayor and party secretary are thinking. They don’t seem to care about this matter. If we keep dragging it out, we can’t fail to complete the task within the stipulated time. Otherwise, I’ll be the one to suffer the consequences,” Liu Dong said.

Fang Qingye was puzzled: "Logically, shouldn't it be like this? If the task isn't completed, the Party Secretary and the Mayor will also bear responsibility."

Liu Dong remained silent for a while before speaking.

“I heard that our Party Secretary and Mayor originally recommended the Director of the Town Party and Government Office to the county to fill the vacant position of Deputy Mayor, but I came down from the county and took the position.”

(End of this chapter)