Right path to power

The next morning, Lin Xiao arrived at the township government.

After brewing a cup of black tea, Lin Xiao sat at his desk, sipping his tea and organizing his thoughts. The overall development strategy for Songmao Village had been clarified; the next step was to implement it.

After rethinking his approach, he decided to put the detailed implementation plan into writing, which would also serve as a record of his work achievements during his time stationed in the village.

Moreover, he also thought that if the development model of Songmao Village were used as a pilot project and a brand-new Songmao Village were indeed created in the future, it could provide some experience for the development of other townships and villages in the county.

Thinking of this, Lin Xiao felt more motivated and began typing on the keyboard.

Wu Di, sitting diagonally behind him, was holding documents but wasn't paying attention to them. Instead, he kept glancing at Lin Xiao. Seeing that Lin Xiao showed no sign of leaving, he finally couldn't help but say, "Hey, Lin Xiao, why aren't you going down to the village today?"

Lin Xiao ignored him and continued typing on the keyboard.

"you......"

Wu Di was getting increasingly exasperated. He gritted his teeth and said, "Lin Xiao, don't forget who you are. You're just a village-based cadre. What are you doing in the office instead of going to the villages? Have you forgotten what I do? Or should I just write 'Not stationed in the village today' on your attendance sheet?"

Lin Xiao stopped, turned around, gave him a cold look, and said with a slight smile, "Making a mountain out of a molehill. Who says village cadres can't be in their offices organizing documents? So, what business is it of yours if I'm in my office?"

"I......"

Wu Di stood up from his seat, gritting his teeth in anger, and pointed at Lin Xiao, scolding, "What kind of attitude is this? Do you really think you can act recklessly and look down on everyone just because you got a few words of praise from Secretary Wang? You really think you're something special, huh? Let's see if your tail is wagging in the sky!"

"What? Are you jealous? If you're so capable, then get Secretary Wang to praise you a couple of times yourself. Otherwise, stop your babbling here. Also, if the mirror in your house isn't big enough, I suggest you buy a bigger one so you can see yourself clearly."

After saying that, Lin Xiao turned back to her work, but Wu Di was so angry that he was speechless. He sat down angrily, while the others in the office covered their mouths and secretly laughed.

Although Ding Shangkun, who was in a cubicle at the back of the office, was unaware of what was happening outside, he could see through the glass that others were covering their mouths and laughing at Wu Di. Besides him, the only other person in the office who could "subdue" Wu Di was Lin Xiao.

He could only shake his head helplessly, realizing that his previous assessment of Wu Di hadn't been too biased.

Just then, a phone call came in, and he immediately perked up and answered it.

"Okay, I'll inform him right away."

After hanging up the phone, Ding Shangkun pushed open the door and called out to Lin Xiao, who was standing at the door, "Lin Xiao, Mayor Kong just called and said that you need to quickly draft the development plan for Songmao Village in writing. The township will discuss it tomorrow. You..."

"I'm sorry, Director Ding, I have other work commitments tomorrow."

"What did you say?"

Lin Xiao turned around and said seriously, "Director Ding, I told you I have other work arrangements for tomorrow and can't come to work overtime."

"Lin Xiao, aren't you being too arrogant? This is a task assigned by Township Head Kong, and you actually dared to refuse? Do you really think you can get away with anything just because Secretary Wang praised you in public?"

Ding Shangkun took a step forward and left the cubicle.

"I have to accompany my boss tomorrow."

"Accompanying the boss? Which boss? You're dreaming this early in the morning? Is something not quite right? You'd better hurry up and fix it. Don't think you're still young. If you miss the best opportunity, it'll be much harder to handle, hahaha..."

Ding Shangkun had no reason to believe Lin Xiao's words. His sarcastic remarks were enough to show his attitude, and Wu Di, who was standing next to him, also sneered.

Clearly, in their view, Lin Xiao's previous praise by the new secretary was just a coincidence, and now that Lin Xiao said he wanted to "accompany the leader," it was even more absurd.

"What, you don't believe me? Then please ask Secretary Gong of the County Party Committee."

Ding Shangkun's smile vanished, and he said angrily, "Lin Xiao, stop trying to intimidate me with the county leadership. Don't you understand the saying, 'A local official is more powerful than a distant one'?"

Then, he picked up his phone and called the township head, Kong Changgeng: "Township head Kong, Lin Xiao said he has to accompany the leaders tomorrow and doesn't have time to work on the development plan... Um, he also said that if you don't believe me, you can go and ask Secretary Gong of the county party committee directly."

Kong Changgeng on the other end of the phone instantly flew into a rage and almost slammed the phone down. He had originally had some goodwill towards Lin Xiao, but after being severely criticized by Wang Yuanze yesterday, that last bit of goodwill disappeared completely.

In addition, early this morning, Yan Zhao called him to his office and told him to take the lead in developing the development plan for Songmao Village and to give the city and county leaders a satisfactory explanation. This was clearly a way of shifting the blame for Songmao Village onto him.

Despite his reluctance, he, as the second-in-command, dared not show too much resistance in the face of the authority of the top leader, especially since it was indeed the township government's responsibility.

So he asked Ding Shangkun to keep an eye on Lin Xiao so that Lin Xiao could finish the plan as soon as possible. But Lin Xiao actually used his position to refuse to work overtime, saying he had to accompany the leader. He simply didn't respect him, the township head.

However, after weighing the impressions that Lin Xiao and he himself had given to the new secretary during this investigation, and after hesitating for a while, Kong Changgeng finally decided to ask Gong Lei to verify what Lin Xiao had said.

He tried to make the call, but it rang for a long time without going through. About five minutes later, he tried again, and the call was finally answered just as it was about to stop ringing.

"Secretary Gong, hello, sorry to bother you!"

As soon as the call connected, Kong Changgeng greeted the caller.

"Comrade Chang Geng, is there something urgent that you need?"

"Yes, Secretary Gong, I'd like to report to you that, in accordance with the county's instructions, we have begun to prepare a detailed development plan for Songmao Village. Comrade Lin Xiao will be specifically responsible for refining the plan. We will discuss it this weekend, and then submit the plan to the county for review next Monday."

"That's great! Admitting your mistakes and correcting them makes you a good comrade!"

Gong Lei made a polite remark, then changed the subject, saying, "However, Comrade Chang Geng, Lin Xiao already clarified the development strategy yesterday. The next step is to refine the details and expedite implementation. This matter should be led by your township government to ensure its smooth progress. We can't just push everything onto Lin Xiao!"

Gong Lei had made his meaning very clear, but Kong Changgeng had no intention of giving up so easily. He smiled ingratiatingly and said:

"Secretary Gong, we did have many shortcomings in our previous work on Songmao Village. Fortunately, after Lin Xiao conducted in-depth research, we found a way to develop the village. So we want to take this opportunity to make Songmao Village a pilot village, so that when Secretary Wang comes next time, he can see a brand new Songmao Village."

Whether considering his familiarity with the matter or his personal abilities, the township believes that Comrade Lin Xiao can play an important role in advancing the work, and entrusting him with perfecting the development plan is what everyone hopes for.

Furthermore, I believe that this experience will help Comrade Lin Xiao gain valuable experience, laying a foundation for him to shine in more important positions in the future.

Kong Changgeng's argument was so airtight that it seemed impossible to find any loopholes to refute it.

However, he was facing the deputy secretary of the county party committee, while he was merely the head of the township.

"In the end, you just don't want to use your brains, you just don't want to take responsibility," Gong Lei said coldly. "Is Lin Xiao really that important to you? Then why are you so quick to punish him? Is it really a misunderstanding?"

"Secretary Gong, the disciplinary action is irrelevant..."

"Alright, Mayor Kong, let's not talk about this anymore. As an old acquaintance, I feel it's necessary to remind you that you can't always try to smooth things over like this. Also, regarding Lin Xiao's matter, the county has its own arrangements; just don't mess around with it. That's all, I have another meeting."

After saying that, Gong Lei hung up the phone. Fortunately, he was in a good mood today, otherwise he would have given those people in the village a good talking-to, because he knew very well how "important" Lin Xiao was to him at this moment.

Wang Yuanze's first investigation followed almost exactly Lin Xiao's "route," demonstrating the extent of Lin Xiao's influence on him. With Lin Xiao's prior notice, he felt that his performance in front of Wang Yuanze yesterday would be better than Hong Feng's. At a time when there was still no indication of who the new county magistrate would be, this was tantamount to giving himself an advantage.

Therefore, he would never allow anyone to have any more bad ideas about Lin Xiao.

Kong Changgeng, on the other end of the phone, paused for a few seconds before slowly putting away his phone. He was both frustrated and helpless: Yan Zhao had handed over the development of Songmao Village to him, which was tantamount to throwing a hot potato at him. If it went well, he might not be the biggest contributor, but if it went badly, he would definitely not be able to escape responsibility.

He had originally planned to stay in Nangang Township for a while, trying to please everyone, and then find an opportunity and connections to be transferred back to the county as a bureau chief. Now it seems that this might be difficult.

And so, no one bothered Lin Xiao for the rest of the morning, allowing him to concentrate on writing the first draft of the plan.

In fact, what Lin Xiao is doing now is exactly what Kong Changgeng wants him to do. However, he doesn't want to hand over the plan to the township. Instead, he wants to wait until the plan is perfected before taking it directly to the county and having the county use Songmao Village as a pilot village for development.

In his view, this approach would be more reliable, and Songmao Village would be able to genuinely receive support from higher authorities.

In short, everything is for Songmao Village and for all the villagers of Songmao Village.