Right path to power

The next morning.

Lin Xiao opened a document and was about to get up to close the door when a very gentle voice sounded at the door.

"Director Lin, hello, I'm Mi Dehong from the county supply and marketing cooperative."

Lin Xiao looked up at the door and saw a fat man with eyes that were almost squinted into slits standing at the door, bowing and scraping as he spoke.

Lin Xiao frowned slightly and asked calmly, "Director Mi, is there something you need?"

Every single person who came to report to Gong Lei had made an appointment by phone in advance, but this director of the supply and marketing cooperative actually showed up early in the morning to block the door. He really had no self-awareness at all, so Lin Xiao naturally didn't stand on ceremony with him.

Mi Dehong continued bowing and scraping, but without being invited, he walked into the secretary's office, then said with an extremely obsequious smile, "Director Lin, I'd like to report to the county head on some work matters, but I don't know..."

"Is it urgent, or is it something very important?" Lin Xiao pressed.

"That's not exactly urgent."

"Since it's not a very urgent matter, I suggest Director Mi report to County Head Jiang, who is in charge, first. County Head Gong is going out for research later and doesn't have much time."

"Oh, I see. Okay, I'll go report to County Chief Jiang right away."

As he spoke, Mi Dehong moved closer to the desk. When he was a few steps away, he suddenly took two steps in one, quickly placed a brown paper envelope on the document, and then quickly stepped back a few steps. His movements were extremely skillful.

Lin Xiao's face immediately darkened. He said, "Director Mi, what do you mean by this?"

"It's just a small token of my appreciation. First, congratulations to Director Lin on your promotion, and second, to express my gratitude for what happened to your mother last time..."

After learning the purpose of the visit, Lin Xiao decisively interrupted Mi Dehong and said coldly, "Director Mi, either you take this back yourself, and I'll assume you were just temporarily blinded by greed; or I'll take it and go directly to Secretary Hou. You can decide the consequences yourself."

"this......"

Mi Dehong's face turned completely red, and his expression was extremely embarrassed.

"Okay, then I'll call Secretary Hou." With that, Lin Xiaozhen picked up her phone.

At this moment, Mi Dehong strode forward to the desk, quickly grabbed the envelope, and stuffed it into his pocket. Although he still had a smile on his face, it looked worse than crying.

"Director Lin, I... I really didn't mean anything by it."

Lin Xiao kept her head down, looking at the documents, and said calmly, "I understand what Director Mi means. If there's nothing else, please leave."

"I'm so sorry to bother you."

Mi Dehong walked out of the secretary's office with a flushed face, and then heard the sound of the door closing behind him. He looked back and saw that the secretary's office door was closed. Beads of sweat appeared on his forehead, and he felt even more ashamed and indignant. He never expected that Lin Xiao would be so disrespectful. It seems that he had held a grudge against Lin Xiao for not handling Xiang Fangjing's matter last time.

Lin Xiao got up and took a document to Gong Lei, while also adding some tea to his teacup. Just as he was about to return to the secretary's office, Gong Lei suddenly spoke.

"Who was that just now? I was trying to say I was looking for Secretary Hou?"

Lin Xiao was taken aback, but still told the truth: "It was Director Mi Dehong from the supply and marketing cooperative. He said he was here to report to you, but he actually gave me a red envelope in front of everyone."

"what?"

Gong Lei couldn't help but chuckle, then said, "What's going on in Mi Dehong's head? He's so blatant, not doing a single proper task every day, just wasting his time on these crooked ways. Sigh, speaking of this supply and marketing cooperative, it's practically raising lazybones, or even parasites."

"It's a typical case of overstaffing. My mom said that this supply and marketing cooperative probably won't last much longer, so several of her colleagues are thinking of quitting and starting their own business, like opening a supermarket or something."

"That's a good idea, but it will require more effort and time, and there will be a lot of pressure."

"Well, it's still better than staying in that kind of place, right?"

"It seems we need to investigate and take action against this supply and marketing cooperative."

"County Chief Gong, I heard that the city is preparing to issue a document on accelerating the restructuring and reorganization of loss-making state-owned companies. I think we can take this opportunity to carry out a sweeping overhaul of the supply and marketing cooperatives."

Gong Lei nodded and said, "That is indeed a good path. We need to plan it out properly. By the way, I've discussed the pilot project of making Songmao Village a pilot village with Secretary Huang. He wants to speed up the work so that Secretary Wang won't have to come back and look back someday. Secretary Huang and I both agree with your plan. You should go through the procedures as soon as possible and issue it as an official document. Please pay close attention to this matter as well."

"Okay, County Head, I suggest that after the document is issued, we convene a meeting with the relevant departments to clarify some responsibilities and make everyone take it seriously."

Gong Lei nodded in agreement. Although some people joked that government leaders are either in meetings or on their way to meetings, this is not entirely wrong, since there are indeed quite a few government meetings. It's just that some things are not taken seriously unless they are discussed in meetings.

By this time, Gong Lei had finished his work. He stood up and said, "Let's go to the police station."

This research trip was planned in advance and was intended to cooperate with the special inspection work of the Supervision Office. It also sends a clear signal, since the county head has come in person.

First of all, upon entering the service hall, one is immediately struck by a wave of heat. There are quite a few people there, but it is not crowded. However, the entire service hall feels rather oppressive.

Many people lined up while vigorously fanning themselves with their fans, while those who came to conduct business either stood and waited or sat on the ground. There wasn't even a single chair to sit on while waiting in the hall.

At first glance, it looked like a farmers' market, because quite a few people were muttering complaints.

"Not only is there no water, but there's not even a place to sit. Is this what they call serving the people?"

"They're all inside enjoying the air conditioning; they wouldn't care about us anyway."

"Look at everyone, their eyes are practically pointing to the sky."

"Look at that guy, there must be some connection, otherwise how could he cut in line?"

……

Gong Lei and Lin Xiao heard it clearly. They deliberately moved closer to the service window and indeed felt a cool breeze through the small window, which was only twenty or thirty centimeters wide. The staff member in charge of the service was also very leisurely and chatting and laughing with the people around him.

Just then, a commotion broke out nearby, and people who weren't in line rushed over. Gong Lei and Lin Xiao also went over and saw that someone had fainted on the ground.

I clearly heard someone shout "Someone has fainted" twice, but no one came forward to do anything. There were no staff members on site, and the onlookers were afraid of getting into trouble.

Seeing this, Lin Xiao squeezed in and shouted, "Everyone, step back and make more space to keep the air circulating!"

As Lin Xiao shouted, he pinched the philtrum of one of the fallen people hard.

"oops……"

A few seconds later, the middle-aged man finally woke up and, with Lin Xiao's help, slowly sat down on the ground.

Someone handed over a bottle of mineral water. Lin Xiao opened it and let the middle-aged man take a few sips. Then the middle-aged man took it himself and drank a few more big sips.

After catching his breath, the middle-aged man said to Lin Xiao, "Thank you, young man!"

Lin Xiao shook her head and said, "It's good that you're alright. You drank some more water, and thank you to the friend who handed you the water earlier."

Lin Xiao looked up and scanned the area, trying to find that person, but saw that the tension on many people's faces had not completely subsided, while some people had smiles on their faces.

Immediately, a hint of relief appeared on Lin Xiao's face!

"Young man, I brought my own water, but who knew it would take so long to get a pass today, and it's so stuffy here, so I finished the water right away. Ugh, what's going on?"

Just as Lin Xiao was about to say something, an impatient reprimand came from the other end of the hall.

"Are you even going to get anything done? What are you all doing here? Is the person dead? If not, hurry up and stop wasting time."

Looking in that direction, Lin Xiao saw a tall and muscular policeman walk into the hall. He waved his hand dismissively, as if he were herding ducks.

At this moment, the crowd dispersed and made way for him, and the policeman walked out of the hall with a smug gait.

Yes, he didn't even glance at the person who had fainted. When Lin Xiao turned to look at the service window, the staff were chatting nonchalantly, and one of them, a glutton, was even eating sunflower seeds without restraint.

Lin Xiao strode forward, banged on the glass, and shouted inside:

"Bring out your Director Zhan!"