Me! A high-ranking official!

He took a deep breath, summoned the small bowl, and the bottom of the bowl lit up. His consciousness sank to the bottom of the basin.

The interface remains the same, with eight large characters in the center: "Give and take as you please, life and death are irrelevant," and today's numbers in the lower left corner.

Today's population: 374374, permanent resident population: 362311. Then there is a sentence below: For every 10,000 increase in the city's permanent resident population, one chance to win a prize will be given; for every 50,000 increase, an additional chance to win a prize will be given; when the population reaches 500,000, the Treasure Basin will be upgraded.

This sentence wasn't there before; it only appeared today. He was certain of it. He didn't know why it hadn't appeared yesterday, but today this sentence and the number of permanent residents definitely appeared below. Perhaps it was just bound yesterday, like the system data hadn't been updated yet, he thought.

Zhao Jianguo read the line of text three times.

lottery.

Upgrade.

Then he noticed the two most crucial words... permanent residence.

They are not migrant workers.

The migrant population only receives money, not a lottery. Only when the permanent population increases to 10,000 can they participate in the lottery.

The spark that had just ignited in Zhao Jianguo's heart was instantly extinguished.

He sat back on the bed, tossed his phone onto the pillow, and began to make plans.

The current permanent population of Linshui County is over 362,000. If it increases by 10,000, it will be over 372,000. For every 10,000 increase, there will be a lottery. When the population increases by 50,000, that is, when the permanent population reaches over 412,000, there will be an extra lottery. When it increases to 500,000, the Treasure Basin will be upgraded.

That sounds wonderful.

But the question is, how can the permanent resident population increase?

He worked in the government office for five years and handled countless statistical data. He knew the population situation in Linshui County very well. This county is a typical labor-exporting county with a registered population of over 470,000, but a resident population of only over 360,000. Where are the other 100,000 people? They work in coastal areas, in the provincial capital, and in the city. Their bodies are not in Linshui, but their household registration is there. When calculating the resident population, those who have not returned for more than six months are not counted.

Therefore, the permanent population of Linshui County has remained stable at around 360,000 to 370,000 year-round, with fluctuations not exceeding 3,000.

An increase of 10,000?

What will drive the price up?

Building factories? He knew better than anyone the results of Linshui County's investment attraction efforts in recent years. Last year, the county attracted three projects with a total investment of less than 200 million yuan. One of them was a real estate project by the Construction Engineering Group. There were no real enterprises that could bring employment. Young people who wanted to stay had nowhere to work and could only leave.

Developing tourism? Linshui County has neither famous mountains nor great rivers, and can't even offer a paid scenic spot. The year before last, the county held a peach blossom festival, spending hundreds of thousands of yuan to build the stage, but less than a thousand people came, and more than half of them were from the county itself. Developing tourism is not a viable path.

Education? There's only one high school in the whole county, and it's considered a success if any students get into a second-tier university each year. Forget about attracting students from other places; even parents with connections in the county send their children to study in the city.

Medical services? They're just a county hospital.

The more Zhao Jianguo thought about it, the more his head ached.

Permanent residents, not migrants. Migrants are easy to manage; just organize an event or create a buzz, and people will come. But permanent residents are people who actually live, work, and consume in the local area. Without industry, employment, and supporting facilities, who would want to move to Linshui County?

Let alone people from other places, we can't even keep the young people in our own county.

He leaned against the headboard, staring at the ceiling, his mind racing.

The path that the treasure trove led him down was even more difficult than making 20 million.

At least there's a concrete figure of 20 million; he knows how much he needs to save, how much he needs to save each day, and how many days it will take to save enough. But what about an increase of 10,000 in the permanent population? There's no timetable for that at all. Based on the trend in Linshui County over the years, it would be a miracle if the permanent population didn't continue to decline. An increase? What a load of crap.

Forget it.

Let's not think about this for now.

Whether it's a lottery or a promotion, those are things far off. Right now, the most important thing is Zhou Qingyan's situation.

Zhao Jianguo put the treasure bowl away and picked up his phone to check if there were any new messages in the group. The moment he unlocked the screen, he saw that the red number in the upper right corner of the WeChat icon had increased again.

Dozens more messages flooded the Hair Loss Alliance forum.

He clicked on it and scrolled to the latest section.

Liu Peng: Brothers, breaking news! Secretary Zhou has been transferred out of the ICU and his vital signs have stabilized.

Zhang Lei: So fast? Didn't you say your allergy was severe?

Xiao Chen: My wife said that penicillin allergies come on and go quickly. As long as you get timely treatment and get through the most dangerous period, you'll recover quickly afterwards. Secretary Zhou still has some rashes that haven't completely disappeared, but all his other indicators are normal. He should be able to be discharged after a little more observation.

Li Ming: That's good, that's good, you scared me to death.

Xiao Sun: If something really happens to the new Party Secretary, our county will probably be trending on social media nationwide.

Liu Peng: The county has issued a gag order; no one is allowed to talk about this. You all need to keep your mouths shut and don't spread rumors.

Zhang Lei: Do you even need to tell us? We're not stupid.

Li Ming: By the way, why did Secretary Zhou take penicillin? Has that been found out yet?

Xiao Chen: I don't know. The hospital has also covered it up. No one is allowed to ask. My wife said that the leaders specifically instructed that only the hospital director and the head of the emergency department can see Secretary Zhou's medical records. No one else is allowed to touch them.

Zhang Lei: So mysterious?

Xiao Chen: Nonsense, if the new secretary was sent to the ICU in the middle of the night on his first day in office, would that make sense? The county would definitely cover it up tightly.

Liu Peng: Alright, alright, stop asking around. As long as everyone's okay, let's get back to what we were doing.

Zhao Jianguo put down his phone and let out a long sigh of relief.

Zhou Qingyan is alright.

Although she suffered a lot, she survived and regained consciousness. Next, she will definitely try to get her hands on doxycycline and begin a fourteen-day course of preventative medication. With her status and connections, obtaining a box of the drug shouldn't be difficult.

Whether the blockade will be successful is another matter.

At least for now, she's made it through.

He leaned against the headboard, all his strength seemingly drained away, and his whole body went limp. His heart had been in his throat since last night, but now it finally felt at ease.

Just then, my phone rang.

It wasn't a WeChat message, it was a phone call.

A string of unfamiliar numbers, local, with no name displayed on the screen.

He glanced at it and hung up without a second thought. He'd been using this phone number for seven or eight years, and all sorts of sales calls and scam calls came in every few days; he was used to it.

He tossed his phone aside, closed his eyes, and planned to doze off for a while longer.

A few minutes later, the phone rang again. It was the same number. He frowned, picked up the phone, and swiped to answer.

"Feed".

A man's voice came from the other end of the phone; his Mandarin was very standard, with a slight local accent.

"Excuse me, are you Mr. Zhao Jianguo?"

"It's me, who are you?"

"My surname is Sun, Sun Jianjun." The other person gave a name, but he couldn't recall it.

"Mr. Zhao, I would like to meet with you to discuss the matter of Deputy Secretary Cao Wenting."

His face immediately darkened.

Cao Wenting? These three words are now like a thorn stuck in his heart, impossible to remove.

"There's nothing to talk about," he said coldly, preparing to hang up.

"Mr. Zhao, please don't hang up yet." The other person's voice was unhurried: "Let's meet, have a chat, and hear if what I have to say makes sense. After you've heard it, you can decide, okay?"

Zhao Jianguo's finger hovered over the hang-up button, but he didn't press it.

He wasn't persuaded by the other party, but rather wanted to find out where the other party came from.

Cao Wenting was taken away by the Discipline Inspection Commission yesterday, and today someone called to talk about her case. Who is this Sun Jianjun? Who sent him? What does he want? He wanted to know.

"Where shall we meet?"

"Xihai Square, 10 o'clock, I'll be waiting for you under the sculpture in the center of the square."

"OK."