Right path to power

"Fellow villagers, I am Lin Xiao, the acting county head of Fuchuan County. I came to Qionglin today to visit you all, and I just happened to run into your problems. Let's resolve them here and here, and listen to your difficulties and thoughts." Lin Xiao turned around and said slowly with a smile to the crowd.

"Acting county magistrate?"

"So young?"

"Really?"

"There's no mistake, didn't you see how respectful Chen Shiwei was to him just now?"

The crowd whispered among themselves, their faces filled with surprise.

The white-haired old farmer who had just collapsed and complained of dizziness instantly became energetic again, bent over, and quietly slipped out of the crowd.

Lin Xiao saw this and simply smiled faintly.

At this moment, Su Dejin, the head of the police station, approached, raised his hand in salute, and said, "Hello, County Chief Lin, I am Su Dejin, the head of Qionglin Police Station. Please give me your instructions."

He had a smile on his face, and his eyes seemed brighter than before.

Lin Xiao nodded: "Director Su, I don't see anything wrong at the scene. You stay, everyone else go back."

"yes!"

Su Dejin felt a sense of relief and immediately ordered the other police officers to return to the station.

Seeing this, everyone breathed a sigh of relief and believed in Lin Xiao's identity as the county magistrate.

"County Chief Lin, please move to the conference room. I'd like to report the actual situation to you. Things aren't as you think..."

Chen Shiwei quickly nodded and bowed, knowing full well that if this matter was not handled properly, his future would be completely ruined.

"What is the actual situation? What I saw on the spot was you pushing and shoving the crowd and shouting for people to be arrested. There's no need to report it; just let the villagers tell me what happened."

Chen Shiwei's smile froze instantly.

Nie Haixing stepped forward and asked, "County Chief Lin, why don't you invite the villagers to the meeting room so we can sit down and talk things over?"

Lin Xiao waved her hand: "No need for that. We can chat face-to-face right here. Just have someone bring out some chairs and stools."

"Yes, County Head."

Nie Haixing responded and left.

Seeing that the new county head's demeanor was completely different from the cadres they had seen or encountered before, the crowd immediately felt more favorably toward him.

"That's right, that's how you become a good official."

"Everyone, please be quiet so that County Chief Lin can hear us clearly."

"Okay, okay..."

After a brief murmur, the scene gradually quieted down.

Looking at the group of simple farmers in front of him, Lin Xiao understood: the people are naturally honest and simple, but they have to fight for their lives due to the pressure of making a living.

A short while later, the on-site discussion officially began.

Lin Xiao set the tone first: "Okay, let's begin now. Everyone can raise any questions they have. I will solve the ones that can be solved on the spot. For those that cannot be solved immediately, I will take the issues back to study them and give everyone a reply as soon as possible."

No sooner had the words been spoken than a middle-aged man stood up impatiently: "I'll go first! I want to report the issue of fees charged at the farmers' market..."

The middle-aged man explained in great detail, but Chen Shiwei didn't hear a word. His forehead was slightly sweaty, and his entire back was soaked with sweat.

He secretly pondered a thought: Why does this kid increasingly feel like he's coming for me? Is he really going to make an example of me first? Otherwise, why would he be acting like this? What should I do...?

In fact, Lin Xiao's visit to Qionglin was by no means a spur-of-the-moment decision.

Soon, other leaders from Qionglin Town also arrived at the scene. Seeing that Lin Xiao was surrounded by the crowd and it was difficult for them to go up and greet her, they could only stand quietly behind Chen Shiwei.

Everyone watched the scene with forced smiles, but their hearts were filled with mixed feelings.

The newly appointed acting county magistrate chose Qionglin as the first place for his research trip, which shows his emphasis on Qionglin. However, the fact that he chose to conduct the visit incognito makes people uneasy.

Although the purpose of County Magistrate Lin's visit was still unclear, everyone knew in their hearts that he was up to no good.

Of course, some people with a keen sense of smell have already noticed something amiss.

Chen Shiwei had been arrogant and domineering in Qionglin because of Ding Junning's support. Now that he has lost his backer, many people think he will behave himself.

Who would have thought that because of the farmers' market incident, he would start calling for the arrest of ordinary people, and Lin Xiao even caught him in the act.

It's safe to say that the odds are against them!

Those who were gloating, upon discovering that Mayor Jiang Shishui was not present, hurriedly sent him a text message.

However, those close to Chen Shiwei would think that Lin Xiao was making a mountain out of a molehill.

In their view, grassroots work is difficult, and if everything is done in a conventional manner, nothing will get done.

Moreover, some ordinary people do not have a high level of education, which makes them feel frustrated, like "a scholar encountering a soldier, unable to reason with him."

Gradually, many township officials developed an extensive management style.

Just like today, when Chen Shiwei called the police station, although he shouted that he was going to arrest people, it was more of a threat.

A little scare and a bit of a commotion, and once everyone's emotions have calmed down, the matter will be over.

As a result, Lin Xiao, the newly appointed official, took it seriously and even held a symposium on the spot.

Isn't this a slap in the face to the Qionglin Town government?

But even if you want to, you still have to accept being proven wrong.

So, each with their own thoughts, they looked at Lin Xiao with disapproving expressions, pretending to be attentively listening to the people's complaints.

After hearing the accounts from several farmers, Lin Xiao understood the general reason for the incident.

It turns out that the town had slightly renovated and expanded the farmers' market, and then required all vendors who came to the market to operate within the farmers' market, prohibiting them from setting up stalls along the street. The official reason given was to facilitate centralized management and improve the town's environmental sanitation.

If it were just about regulating street vending, everyone could understand. However, after the new regulations came into effect, in addition to vendors with fixed stalls having to pay monthly rent, even nearby farmers who temporarily set up stalls to sell their own agricultural products had to pay a temporary stall fee of five yuan. Many elderly people who sell vegetables at stalls already earn very little, so they are very dissatisfied with this.

Some people went to the town to complain, hoping that farmers could be exempted from temporary stall fees if they temporarily sold their own goods, but they received no response for a long time. After that, some people simply ignored it and continued to set up stalls on the street.

As a result, the market management staff overturned the stalls, drove away the vendors, and confiscated their goods, which gradually fueled the resentment of the elderly farmers.

Moreover, on one occasion, a stubborn old farmer refused to pack up his stall. After several arguments and scuffles, market management personnel resorted to violence and injured the farmer.

Today, some elderly farmers from nearby Yanghuai Village gathered at the entrance of the town government to set up stalls in order to express their dissatisfaction.

That's why the scene just now happened.

"County Chief Lin, we are not young anymore and can't go to the city to work. We can only supplement our income by selling some things. We don't set up a stall every day. We really can't understand why we have to pay a fee."

"Exactly, we only sell that much stuff, and even if we sell it all, we'll only make twenty or thirty yuan. We really..."

"Yes, ask everyone how much they can sell in a day. Why can't the town consider our needs?"

"The TV says that officials serve the people, but in Qionglin..."

Several elderly farmers spoke with helpless expressions, their eyes filled with disappointment.

Suddenly, several relatively young voices came from the crowd.

"I heard that the farmers' market has been contracted out to Chen Shiwei's brother-in-law..."

"No, not a real brother-in-law, but a fake one—he's the younger brother of the owner of a tea shop in town."

"real?"

"It's true, I heard the proprietress is very beautiful, Chen..."

Lin Xiao was speechless as everyone chattered and steered the conversation away from the topic.

"County Chief Lin, don't listen to their nonsense. The renovation of the farmers' market was a public tender. I... I don't know any tea shop owner..."

Chen Shiwei, standing behind him, wiped the sweat dripping down his face as he offered a dry explanation.

Lin Xiao said calmly, "No need for explanations. I'm asking you, how was the standard of five yuan per person per visit determined? Who gave you the authority to arbitrarily charge? And what right do the market administrators have to overturn the vendors' stalls?"

Chen Shiwei was speechless. Of course, he didn't have that authority, and neither did the market management personnel.

Lin Xiao then turned to Su Dejin, the police station chief, and asked, "The people were beaten, have the perpetrators been caught? The whole county is currently conducting a thorough crackdown on organized crime; how is your work progressing?"

Su Dejin immediately tensed up and cautiously replied, "County Chief Lin, the police station has not received any reports of anyone being assaulted. During this period, the police station is actively cooperating with the county bureau in investigating other cases. Next, we will definitely increase patrols and police response efforts to ensure the safety of people's lives and property."

Lin Xiao nodded. Su Dejin had only been transferred to Qionglin Police Station not long ago and was indeed cooperating with the investigation into illegal mining. He was satisfied with this attitude.

"Everyone heard that. From now on, if anyone assaults you without cause, go to the police station and find Chief Su. Let him take care of things for you. If he fails to perform his duties, please report it to me in the county."

The crowd shouted, "Okay, thank you, County Chief Lin!"

Finally, Lin Xiao stood up and looked at Chen Shiwei: "As for the issue of temporary stall fees, Secretary Chen, the town will immediately designate corresponding areas for farmers to set up stalls temporarily, waive the stall fees, and replace the management personnel of the farmers' market as soon as possible. Those who should be held accountable will be held accountable. I will keep an eye on your implementation."

"Yes, yes, County Chief Lin, I'll take care of it right away," Chen Shiwei replied repeatedly.

Lin Xiao turned to the crowd, his tone softening: "Fellow villagers, from now on you won't need to pay fees for temporary stalls, but you still need to abide by the relevant department's regulations. Let's hope this kind of situation doesn't happen again. Of course, if you have any complaints, you can report them to the relevant departments, or you can come directly to me. I wonder if everyone can do that?"

"able!"

"Don't worry, County Chief Lin, we'll all listen to you."

Everyone responded enthusiastically, and they all beamed with joy.