Chapter 247: Blocking the Road (Part 2)

Fei Yue lit a cigarette, took a few puffs, and then said, "Brother, the situation is not good. The employees of the bankrupt lock factory and silk factory all know that Secretary Zhou of the Municipal Party Committee is coming to Yiyang for inspection. They are openly threatening to block the cars and petition."

Hou Weidong widened his eyes. "Secretary Zhu emphasized repeatedly at the meeting that we must maintain tight internal control while appearing relaxed externally. How did these workers find out?"

During his time working in Qinglin Town, Qin Feiyue had engaged in fierce struggles with Zhao Yongsheng. He had been arrested for soliciting prostitution by the Public Security Bureau under mysterious circumstances, nearly losing his political career. He had a deep understanding of the cruelty of political struggles. Shaking his head, he said, "I don't know the specific reason, but I feel this matter is extremely serious. That is why I hurried over to report to Secretary Zhu."

As expected, after hearing Qin Feiyue’s report, Secretary Zhu’s expression changed slightly. He said angrily, "We need to discipline the ranks. Whatever the County Party Committee discusses leaks out within half a day. I don't know if it's due to weak awareness of confidentiality or if someone has ulterior motives."

Qin Feiyue sat opposite Secretary Zhu and volunteered, "Secretary Zhu, I will take responsibility for the three enterprises in the Development Zone. There will be absolutely no problems."

Secretary Zhu praised him, "Director Qin has strong political sensitivity. This report was very timely. Otherwise, the County Party Committee would have been put in a passive position."

At 2:00 PM, an emergency meeting of the Standing Committee was held to specifically study the petition issue. The responsibility system was emphasized again: each county-level leader was assigned to oversee one bankrupt county-owned enterprise to ensure everything went smoothly.

After this meeting, various localities and units sprang into action with lightning speed. Policies that should be implemented were put into effect immediately. Money that should be compensated was fully distributed. For problems that were truly difficult to solve, relevant departments such as trade unions and neighborhood committees were asked to step in and explain the situation. Special forces were even arranged to track and monitor several key petitioners who were considered troublemakers.

The most extreme measure came from the Commerce Bureau. After the county department store went bankrupt, more than ten veteran workers had been petitioning for a long time. This time, the Commerce Bureau made a firm decision: they chartered a large bus and took all ten or so veteran workers on a trip, ensuring they wouldn't cause trouble for the County Party Committee at the critical moment.

Ji Haiyang, on the other hand, wrote a major article. He thoroughly analyzed the problem of bankrupt enterprises in Yiyang County, covering history, current status, and suggestions for solutions. The article was over twenty thousand words long. After reading it, Secretary Zhu praised it endlessly. Coincidentally, a reporter from Key Information Reference in Lingxi Province arrived in Yiyang. Interested in the article, the reporter noted that the bankruptcy issue was widespread across the province. He suggested that after some revisions, the article would be published in Key Information Reference.

After reading Ji Haiyang’s article, Hou Weidong began to look at Ji Haiyang with new respect. At the same time, he realized that his own theoretical foundation in economics was shallow. He took the economics textbooks distributed by the Party School out of his briefcase and read a little every day when he had free time.

October 10th arrived in the blink of an eye. Early in the morning, Hou Weidong wore a navy blue suit and a tie, looking neat and elegant. However, when fastening his belt, he noticed that his waistline had thickened imperceptibly. He had to loosen the belt by one notch to feel comfortable. He took off his jacket, went to the bathroom, and observed his abdominal muscles in the mirror for a while. He even posed with a few boxing stances in front of the mirror, pretending to exercise for a bit before heading out.

When he went out, he met Guo Lan. Her eyes lit up, and she thought to herself, "Hou Weidong is really handsome." She was usually dignified and rarely joked with people. After Hou Weidong greeted her proactively, she smiled slightly and said as they walked, "You're dressed so neatly today. Is there some good news?"

"Secretary Zhou of the Shazhou Municipal Party Committee is coming to Yiyang for inspection today."

Guo Lan said, "Oh," and added, "I've been busy reporting the county's cadre lists these past few days. I was so busy I forgot about this big event."

The two walked down the stairs side by side. Guo Lan’s mother, who had returned from morning exercise, was coming up the stairs. Hou Weidong greeted her proactively, "Good morning, Madam Guo."

Madam Guo smiled happily. "You're going to work? Little Hou, it's been a long time since I saw you. Being a secretary to the County Party Secretary must involve a lot of work, right?"

Hou Weidong humbly replied, "There are many trivial matters every day."

After Hou Weidong and Guo Lan’s figures disappeared into the doorway, Madam Guo turned around and sighed. She thought to herself, "If Little Hou weren't married, he would be a perfect match for Lanlan. Our two families are neighbors. If they married, it would be convenient for raising children. Sigh, I don't know what Lanlan is thinking." Guo Lan was already twenty-four years old. After her first love failed, she had refused to date anyone else. This had become a heartache for Madam Guo. She thought Ren Lindu was not a bad choice, but her daughter simply didn't look favorably on him. She had tried to persuade her daughter several times, but without success.

Secretary Zhou Changquan of the Shazhou Municipal Party Committee was expected to arrive at Shawanzi at 9:00 AM. Therefore, the motorcade of the four major leadership teams of Yiyang departed punctually at 8:00 AM. Half an hour later, they arrived at Shawanzi.

Shawanzi is located at the border between Shazhou and Yiyang. There happened to be a relatively wide flat area there, which was usually used for stacking timber and sand. Today, all these building materials had been cleared away. Some crushed stones were brought from Shangqinglin and compacted with a road roller to create a temporary parking lot. In the eastern corner of the parking lot, some exhibition boards were neatly arranged. The main content displayed the achievements of Yiyang's transportation construction and the development strategy for the highway.

County Party Secretary Zhu Yan, County Mayor Ma Youcai, Director of the People's Congress Jia Yingxiong, Chairman of the Political Consultative Conference Nan Zhiqiang, and Director of the Party Committee Office Ji Haiyang all got out of their cars and gathered together.

Jia Yingxiong, Director of the People's Congress, had previously served as Executive Vice Mayor. He had worked with Ma Youcai at the Yiyang County Government for one year. His characteristic was that he never expressed his opinions lightly. His relationship with Ma Youcai and Zhu Yan was neither good nor bad, neither close nor distant. When the Municipal Party Committee determined the leadership team for the People's Congress, both Zhu Yan and Ma Youcai had expressed their support for him.

Nan Zhiqiang was an outsider. He was originally the County Party Secretary of Linjiang. Due to average performance in Linjiang and tense relations with the County Party Secretary there, he was transferred to Yiyang to serve as Chairman of the Political Consultative Conference. If he hadn't had some connections in the Provincial Party Committee, he would have been dismissed.

The four of them gathered together, chatting and laughing.

Nan Zhiqiang smiled and said, "Try this cigarette of mine. It's tribute tobacco from the Yunnan Cigarette Factory, without packaging, supplied directly to Zhongnanhai."

Secretary Zhu did not have a strong addiction to smoking and rarely smoked. He took the cigarette Nan Zhiqiang offered and said, "Old Nan, I remember that when you were in Linjiang, you contacted the cigarette factory in Yunnan and planned to set up a branch factory there. Could you do some more work to see if we can bring this project to Yiyang?"

The cigarette factory project was the one Nan Zhiqiang had invested the most effort in during his time in Linjiang. If the branch factory was successfully built, the fiscal revenue of Linjiang County would surge significantly. This would have been his greatest political achievement. Unfortunately, the Shazhou Municipal Party Committee did not give him enough time. Just as the negotiations for the cigarette factory were about to succeed, a transfer order came, and he was moved to Yiyang County. The cigarette factory project in Linjiang County was indefinitely shelved.

Now that Secretary Zhu brought up the old matter, Nan Zhiqiang smiled bitterly. "The leadership of the Yunnan Cigarette Factory has changed several times. Re-establishing contact is a difficult task."

Secretaries like Hou Weidong stood to the side, consciously maintaining a distance from the leaders. They all remained silent, looking into the distance.

It was October, with clear autumn skies. Looking far into the distance, the vast land showed both the joy of maturity and the beginning of winter's bleakness. The autumn breeze blew across their faces, bringing a slight chill.

The mobile phone in his pocket vibrated. Hou Weidong took it out and saw the number. It was another unfamiliar number.

"Secretary Hou, this is Old Tan from the Chengguan Town Police Station. I need to report something to you. The family of Yang Weige is under joint surveillance by the police station and the Chengguan Town Government. Early this morning, we found that Yang Weige's wife and son are missing. They are very likely trying to complain to Secretary Zhou."

The matter was too serious for Hou Weidong to make a decision on his own. He said, "Director Tan, please don't hang up. I will pass the phone to Standing Committee Member Ji. You can speak to him directly."

Ji Haiyang took the phone and immediately walked away from the main leaders like Secretary Zhu. He said, "Director Tan, send all the people from your station out. You must control Yang Weige's family members."

After hanging up, Ji Haiyang immediately called Shang Guanghua, the Director of the Public Security Bureau. At this moment, he assumed the demeanor of a county party leader. He said, "Director Shang, this is Ji Haiyang. I heard that Yang Weige's family members have lost control. If they really disrupt Secretary Changquan's motorcade, it will be a political incident. You must attach great importance to this. Organize elite police forces to control the ten or so veteran petitioners in the urban area. This is a political task. You know the gravity of the situation."

Shang Guanghua received Ji Haiyang's call and did not dare to neglect it. He called the office director into his office and said, "Today is a special time. Except for the window service departments, everyone else must go out. We are a frontline department. Can we handle cases while hiding in the office?"

Hou Weidong was secretly worried in his heart, but at this point, he could only pray for God's protection. At 8:56 AM, the shadows of two cars appeared in his line of sight. Both cars were Audis. They arrived at Shawanzi and slowly stopped in front of the crowd, extremely steady and silent.

Secretary Zhu, with a smile on his face, led the other main leaders to welcome them.

Hou Weidong had often seen Zhou Changquan on television, but this was the first time he saw him in person. The real person was taller and thinner than on TV, with slightly dark skin and sunken eyes that shone brightly. Accompanied by Secretary Zhu, he walked with his hands behind his back to the exhibition boards. After listening to the introduction, he made no comments, appearing profound and unfathomable.

Making the exhibition boards and repairing the temporary parking lot had taken considerable time, yet Secretary Zhou only stood there for five minutes. After shaking hands with Ma Youcai, Jia Yingxiong, Nan Zhiqiang, and others, he got into his car. Secretary Zhu, as the County Party Secretary of Yiyang, sat in Secretary Zhou's car according to the pre-arranged plan.

With police lights flashing, the eight cars drove majestically towards Yiyang County town.

Hou Weidong sat in Ji Haiyang's car. The familiar melody of Santana was still playing inside, though slightly quieter than usual. Ji Haiyang was quite nervous. He said, "Call Director Tan and ask about the situation."

Upon learning that Yang Weige's family members had still not been found, Ji Haiyang said, "Have the police station's Iveco van wait at the city entrance. Then follow the motorcade. If anyone tries to block the road, immediately take them to the Iveco. The handling must be decisive."