Nominal: Intercepting Zhong Xiaoai, Dominating Handong

In June, the summer heat was just beginning to set in Tianzhou, the capital of Hanjiang Province.

Inside the provincial government compound, the plane trees spread out their dense green shade, and cicadas chirped incessantly.

Gu Mingyuan sat in the reception room of the Provincial Development and Reform Commission. His white shirt was neatly ironed, but there were subtle wear marks on the cuffs.

He held his speech in his hand, but his gaze was fixed on the view outside the window—this place seemed like another world from Liping.

"County Chief Gu, the leaders will be here soon," a staff member whispered a reminder.

Gu Mingyuan nodded and took a deep breath.

Today's provincial symposium on county-level economic development is of a very high level, with the provincial deputy secretary in charge of economic affairs, the executive vice governor, and the director of the development and reform commission all in attendance.

The leading officials of advanced counties and districts recommended by fourteen cities gathered together, not only for exchange but also for competition.

The conference room door opened, and the leaders filed in.

Gu Mingyuan immediately recognized Wu Tianming, the executive vice governor sitting in the main seat—this pragmatic former governor had once specifically praised Liping's tea industry at the provincial agricultural work conference.

At the start of the meeting, the first few county heads who spoke had made careful preparations, with beautifully designed PPTs, detailed data, and references to classical texts.

When it was Gu Mingyuan's turn, he stood up, but did not turn on the projector; he simply held a few pages of handwritten outline.

"Distinguished leaders, I am Gu Mingyuan, the county head of Liping County. Today I will not speak in flowery words, but only talk about the practices and reflections of Liping over the past eight months." His voice was not loud, but clear and powerful.

He took a small packet of tea from his pocket and placed it on the table: "This is Liping Yunwu tea. Eight months ago, this kind of good tea sold for less than 20 yuan per pound. Today, it can sell for 120 yuan in supermarkets in the provincial capital."

The room fell silent.

"The price has increased sixfold, not because our packaging is so exquisite, but because we did three things right," Gu Mingyuan said, holding up one finger.

"First, road construction. We used a tiered fundraising and work-for-relief approach to let the people build their own roads."

He told the story of Grandpa Wang, describing the scene of a seventy-year-old man carrying a shovel to the construction site.

Some leaders were moved and took notes in their notebooks.

"Secondly, we found markets. I took samples to the provincial capital, not to beg for handouts, but to discuss cooperation. We guaranteed the quality, and the merchants guaranteed sales. Now, Liping's tea, mushrooms, and bamboo shoots are available in 38 supermarkets throughout the province."

"Third, we rely on science and technology. The Provincial Academy of Agricultural Sciences has set up a work station in our county, and experts live in the villages to teach farmers hand in hand. Tea farmers have learned scientific pruning, and their yield per mu has increased by 30%. Mushroom farmers have mastered temperature control technology, and their mushroom production rate has doubled."

Vice Governor Wu Tianming suddenly asked, "With tiered fundraising, have the people not complained?"

"Yes," Gu Mingyuan answered frankly.

"At first, some people said this was a disguised form of forced contributions. We held seventy-six community meetings to clarify the costs: how much it would cost to repair one kilometer of road, how much the higher authorities would subsidize, how much the county would raise, and how much the villagers would contribute. Every penny of the funds raised was publicly posted, and every kilometer of road was inspected and approved by village representatives. Once it was fair and transparent, there were fewer complaints."

"How is fund supervision handled?" the director of the National Development and Reform Commission pressed.

"The county discipline inspection commission took the lead in inviting veteran Party members, retired teachers, and village representatives to form a supervisory group. Every expenditure requires the signatures of five people; missing even one signature is unacceptable. So far, there have been no cases of embezzlement or misappropriation."

Wu Tianming nodded, then asked, "I heard you often stay in the village?"

"Yes. Of the 18 townships and 180 administrative villages in Liping, I have visited 153. Only by living in the villages can I hear the truth and see the real situation." Gu Mingyuan paused.

"In Qingshi Township, an old lady held my hand and said that the road had been repaired and her paralyzed son could finally take a bus to the county hospital. At that moment, I felt that all the suffering had been worth it."

Applause rang out in the conference room; it wasn't enthusiastic, but it was sincere.

Gu Mingyuan concluded by saying, "Liping is still on the road to poverty alleviation, and there are still many difficulties. But I want to say that poverty is not terrible; what is terrible is resigning oneself to fate. As long as our cadres sincerely think about the people and lead them in their work, even the poorest places have hope."

When he sat down, the back of his shirt was soaked.

After the meeting, Wu Tianming went up to Gu Mingyuan and shook his hand, saying, "Young County Chief Gu, you spoke well, and you did even better. Next week, I'll have the staff from the Policy Research Office go to Liping to conduct research and summarize your experiences."

"Welcome, leader, for your guidance!" Gu Mingyuan was startled.

"It's not guidance, it's learning," Wu Tianming patted him on the shoulder.

"A young cadre like you should take on more responsibilities."

Back at the hotel, Gu Mingyuan had just breathed a sigh of relief when his phone rang.

It's Zhong Xiaoai.

"How's the report?" his wife asked gently.

"It's alright, the leaders seem to approve." Gu Mingyuan lay down on the bed.

"Where's Pengpeng?"

"She's asleep, being a good girl." Zhong Xiaoai paused.

"Mingyuan, Dad is calling."

"What did my father-in-law say?"

"He said he saw it on the provincial TV news, and your speech clip was broadcast. He said..." Zhong Xiaoai's voice was tinged with laughter.

He said you didn't embarrass him.

Gu Mingyuan's eyes welled up with tears.

Chung Cheng-kuo has always been strict, so this evaluation is already a very high compliment.

He also said that the poverty alleviation work conference was scheduled for July, and that I should prepare well, as there might be an opportunity.

"I will." Gu Mingyuan sat up.

"Xiao Ai, thank you for your hard work. While I'm away, the family relies entirely on you."

"We don't talk about this between husband and wife," Zhong Xiaoai said softly.

"You should get some rest. Aren't you going to the Commerce Department to discuss cooperation tomorrow?"

After hanging up the phone, Gu Mingyuan opened his laptop and began to organize his thoughts.

The lights of Tianzhou shone brightly outside the window, but his heart had already flown back to Liping, surrounded by mountains.

At the end of June, a working group led by Sun Jianhua, deputy director of the Provincial Party Committee Policy Research Office, arrived in Liping.

Gu Mingyuan greeted them at the county border.

Sun Jianhua is in his fifties, wears glasses, doesn't talk much, but has sharp eyes.

"County Chief Gu, we're here not just to hear reports, but also to see the real situation," Sun Jianhua said bluntly.

"Governor Wu specifically instructed that we should visit the poorest villages and the most impoverished households."

"Understood." Gu Mingyuan nodded.

"Director Sun, I suggest we go to Yunwu Township first."

The convoy was traveling on the winding mountain road.

The newly paved asphalt road was smooth and wide, and Sun Jianhua was somewhat surprised: "How long did it take to build this road?"

"Three months. The masses contributed their labor, with more than 800 people working every day." Gu Mingyuan pointed out the window.

"Look at those slope protection structures, they were all built up by the villagers one stone at a time."

Sun Jianhua stopped the car and walked to the side of the road. Several elderly people were cleaning the drainage ditch, and when they saw Gu Mingyuan, they all gathered around him.

"County magistrate, here for another inspection?"

"Sir, this is Director Sun from the province. He's here to check on our route."

Sun Jianhua squatted down and touched the road surface: "Is the thickness sufficient?"

"According to the standard, it's eighteen centimeters, no more, no less." Gu Mingyuan also squatted down.

"We asked the Municipal Transportation Bureau's Quality Inspection Station to supervise the entire process, taking a core sample every 500 meters."

"What about the cost? How much per kilometer?"

"Two hundred and eighty thousand. In the plains, it might cost four hundred thousand, but our labor costs are low, and we use local stone materials, which saves a lot."

Sun Jianhua stood up, looking at the terraced fields in the distance: "How much did the common people contribute?"

"Eight hundred yuan per household on average. Impoverished households pay in kind, while extremely poor households are exempt from payment." Gu Mingyuan opened the ledger he carried with him.

"This is the fundraising details for Yunwu Township; every household has a record."

Sun Jianhua carefully examined the documents and suddenly asked, "This family, Wang Fugui, contributed five thousand yuan? Are they officials?"

"No, he's a tea farmer. Last year, the tea sold well, and he earned 30,000 yuan. He voluntarily gave an extra 1,000 yuan," Gu Mingyuan said with a smile.

He said that with the road repaired, he could earn even more next year.