Official title: Refused to stay at the university, started his career in a rural town.

On October 15th, Yang Fan was in his office reviewing visitor data for the first week of the harvest festival when he received the call.

The call was from Zhao Dayong, his voice low but urgent: "Secretary Yang, something's happened at the North Slope picking area. Tourists and villagers are arguing, and quite a few people have gathered."

Yang Fan closed the report, stood up, and prepared to leave. "What exactly is the reason?"

"The boundaries of the picking area weren't clearly marked—tourists wandered into the breeding area that Lao Sun (Sun Zhiyuan) was overseeing and picked a lot of the mushroom spawn that was being cultivated. Lao Sun got anxious and went to stop them, but the tourists wouldn't have it, saying that what they advertised was that you could pick whatever you wanted, so why couldn't they pick this? Lao Sun wasn't good with words, and after several attempts, he couldn't convince them, so the two sides clashed."

"Okay, I'll be there in five minutes. First, calm the tourists down."

Yang Fan didn't stop walking. He thought to himself that it was fortunate that he was shrewd enough to arrange for a member of the Standing Committee to keep an eye on things in the picking area, otherwise he was afraid that the people below would cause trouble.

He knew about the breeding area on the north slope—it was an experimental field specially designated by Professor Song Huaiyuan's research group. Old Sun was in charge of its daily management. There wasn't even a fence; it was just a few scattered wooden fences. This was indeed a failure of the township's work.

Chen Ming had already started the car and was waiting in the yard. Yang Fan opened the car door and got into the back seat.

The car turned onto the dirt road leading to the north slope, and from a distance we could see a group of people gathered at the foot of the hill.

A middle-aged man in his early forties—wearing a striped polo shirt and sneakers—was pulling and tugging at Sun Zhiyuan, whose face was flushed red.

There were about twenty or thirty people gathered around, including tourists picking fruit, villagers carrying hoes, and several safety officers in red vests, who were trying to separate the two groups.

Yang Fan got out of the car, followed closely by Chen Ming, who was holding a camera.

"Secretary Yang is here." Someone in the crowd recognized him and automatically made way for him.

A few people were arguing loudly over there. Yang Fan walked over and stood between Lao Sun and the male tourist, separating the two.

He glanced at Sun Zhiyuan first. Old Sun's lips trembled, and he pointed at the man, unable to speak.

Yang Fan patted Old Sun on the shoulder and turned to face the middle-aged man.

"Hello, comrade, I am Yang Fan, the Party Secretary of Qingping Township." He introduced himself in a low voice.

The male tourist was visibly taken aback, his expression shifting from impatience to panic. "The township party secretary? This... never mind, never mind, bad luck. I won't pick it, okay? Let's go."

He put the cloth bag on the ground and turned to leave.

"Brother, don't go." Yang Fan took a step and grabbed the male tourist's arm. The force wasn't strong, but it was very steady.

The male tourist turned around, his expression frozen, and the onlookers around him quieted down.

"Please don't leave yet." Yang Fan released his hand and glanced at the crowd of onlookers. "This matter today is not your problem, nor is it the villager's problem. It's because our township government didn't delineate the area clearly and didn't do a good job of publicizing it."

The male tourist opened his mouth, already prepared to be lectured in official jargon—he'd seen this kind of scene before, where village officials would come and try to smooth things over, say a few nice words to get rid of you, but the problem remained the same.

But the secretary in front of him, who looked a decade younger than him, didn't say "Please understand" as his first words; instead, he said, "It's not your fault."

"Like this," Yang Fan turned to the side and pointed to the hillside at his feet.

"Please don't leave! Today, as the township party secretary, I'm here to clarify this matter in front of everyone. Would it be alright if I took a little of your time?"

Chen Ming stood to the side, glanced around, then took a step forward and asked in a low voice, "Secretary, more and more people are gathering. Should we disperse them?"

Yang Fan looked around and saw that more and more people were gathering on the hillside. Some were tourists who had just come from the picking area, with baskets full of mushrooms and walnuts, while others were villagers who had come from nearby after hearing the commotion.

Several security guards were trying to maintain order, but no one could stop the eagerness to watch the spectacle.

Yang Fan glanced at Chen Ming, his voice calm but firm: "No need for evacuation. Just have the safety personnel maintain order and prevent people from crowding together."

"How policies are set and how officials act—everyone needs to understand this!"

He took two steps forward and faced the male tourist.

"Brother, on behalf of the Qingping Township Party Committee and government, I would like to apologize to you first."

He bent down and bowed.

There was a moment of silence in the crowd. The male tourist didn't know where to put his hand. He wanted to reach out and help, but then he withdrew it.

He has traveled to quite a few places in his life and has met cadres with good attitudes and cadres with bad attitudes, but he has never met a township party secretary who bows to him from the very beginning.

This instantly transformed the anger that had been building up inside him into an inexplicable sense of guilt—had he gone too far in his scuffle with Old Sun?

"The patch of mushrooms you just picked is indeed from the breeding area," Yang Fan said, straightening up.

"That's an experimental field that our township specifically reserved for professors from Handong University to conduct scientific research—they're helping us cultivate new varieties that are healthier and have higher nutritional value."

"Because the breeding area is cared for more meticulously in terms of pesticide application, fertilization, and lighting, it does look fresher than the ordinary picking area."

"You have a good eye; you picked that spot at a glance—but it's not your fault; it's our own fault for not setting up the sign clearly." He paused.

"What I want to say is, first of all, the mushrooms you picked were obtained normally. The losses in the breeding area will be coordinated by the township government and the Han University research group, and have nothing to do with you." The male tourist opened his mouth, wanting to say no, no, but Yang Fan raised his hand to interrupt him.

"Secondly, within one day—I guarantee you all here—the boundaries of the entire mountain's picking and breeding areas will be cordoned off with warning lines and directional signs will be erected. Before going up the mountain, the promoters will explain clearly which areas are allowed to be picked and which are not, so that everyone doesn't have to make a wasted trip."

"Finally," he said, his voice softening, "you did us a huge favor today."

The male tourist was completely stunned. Help?

"This is the first time our Qingping Township has held a harvest festival. We lack experience, so there are bound to be some shortcomings. Please be understanding," Yang Fan said with a smile.

"You exposed this problem today, and you didn't just sneak away and leave—you confronted our staff directly, letting us know where the problem lay. That's helping us improve our work!"

He turned around and raised his voice slightly to the crowd around him.

"Therefore, all expenses incurred by this gentleman in Qingping Township today—accommodation, fruit picking, meals, etc.—as long as they are spent within our Qingping territory, will be paid for by the township government."

The crowd erupted in a clamor, like a pot boiling over.

Tourists with cameras snapped photos, safety officer Lao Liu took off his hat and fanned himself, several villagers exchanged glances, and a woman carrying a basket muttered under her breath, "This Party Secretary..."

She didn't finish her sentence, and the people next to her didn't respond either.

They were all older people who had seen how officials resolved problems – usually standing aside with stern faces, waiting for the argument to die down before stepping in to smooth things over.

The young Party Secretary bowed, said, "It's not your fault," and then took responsibility for it.

The male tourist stood in the middle of the crowd, his face flushed red.

His lips moved several times before he finally managed to stammer out, "Secretary Yang... this can't be done. I don't want the money, I don't want those mushrooms either, I just..."

He didn't finish his sentence, his throat tightening. He couldn't explain why he suddenly felt a tightness in his chest—he had just been arguing with Old Sun, his voice so loud it could be heard halfway down the hill, but now all that energy had dissipated.

"Thank you for your understanding. Someone will contact you shortly." After nodding to the tourists in front of him, Yang Fan raised his voice a little and said, "Thank you all for your recognition of the Qingping Township picking area."

"Qingping Township welcomes all visitors and will address any issues that arise. From now on, if you come to Qingping and encounter any problems—whether you're not satisfied with the fruit picking, have accommodation issues, or the food doesn't suit your taste—you can come to the township government to report them to us. You've come all this way, and what you want is to have a comfortable experience."

"Our township committee and government will definitely do a good job in providing logistical support for everyone!"

Someone in the crowd started clapping, and then the applause went from a few people to a whole crowd, with even the safety officers joining in.

Zhao Dayong stood on the outermost layer of the crowd and did not squeeze in.

He heard the tourist with the camera say to the person next to him, "I'll come again next time," heard Old Zhou, who was selling cold noodles, shout at the top of his lungs, "Secretary Yang is great!" and heard the tourists who were questioning him mutter a few words, after which one of the middle-aged women said, "His attitude is really good."

"Once we get back, write a brief report on the cause of today's incident and send it to each village for further self-examination. Also—notify the leadership team members to have a short meeting at 3 PM this afternoon." He paused, "During the harvest festival, safety and service must be given equal importance, and both must be handled well!"