Zhao Xiangdong originally wanted to satisfy his hunger with instant noodles at noon, but he was carried to the village committee by the village chief and two village cadres.
Although the dishes are not as exquisite as those in restaurants, they look very affordable and the plates are full and delicious. Especially the plate of stir-fried spicy chicken, which is full of color, flavor and taste.
Before leaving, Zhao Xiangdong quietly left two hundred yuan as meal money. There were repeated orders from above that no one could accept banquets from subordinate units. He had just been promoted and he didn't want anyone to take advantage of him.
Returning to town in the afternoon, Zhao Xiangdong bought a roast chicken, two pounds of pork head meat, fried peanuts and a small cold dish, and went directly to Lu Feiyang's house.
"Director Lu, sister-in-law, I'm here to eat again."
Zhao Xiangdong entered the yard and shouted.
"Uncle Zhao, dad, Uncle Zhao is here."
A little boy of five or six years old with a tough head came out of the house and hurriedly entered the main room.
"Xiangdong, come in quickly, why are you here to buy groceries again?"
Lu Feiyang, who was wearing a trousers and vest, saw Zhao Xiangdong, smiled and greeted him warmly into the house.
"I came to have a drink with you. On the way here, I guessed that you were about to get off work, so I came to your place."
Zhao Xiangdong put down his things and smiled.
"Coming to the east? Just in time, I made dumplings with pork vermicelli and they will be ready soon."
Lu Feiyang's handsome wife came to the door of the hall wearing an apron.
Zhao Xiangdong smiled slightly and praised: "Sister-in-law, I find you are getting more and more beautiful, haha."
Lu Feiyang's wife smiled brightly and said, "You are so sweet-talking, my sister-in-law, I will treat what you say as truth, haha!"
Zhao Xiangdong said seriously: "It must be true!"
After the greetings, Zhao Xiangdong and Lu Feiyang came to the restaurant. After sitting down, they told him about their visit to Dawa Village and the nearby Zhujialou and Shanggang Villages.
Lu Feiyang took out the beer from the kitchen and asked, "I went there, what do you think?"
Zhao Xiangdong took a deep drag on his cigarette and said with a heavy expression: "The people in Dawa Village and several nearby villages are suffering so much. I have been there many times before, but I have never cared much about passing by. But today I I was shocked. After the rain, the road was so muddy that the car could not be pushed, and there were safety issues on the narrow road. Director Lu, talking about this, I felt a little uncomfortable."
Lu Feiyang listened attentively, sighed slightly and said nothing, his eyes showing helplessness.
"The reason why Dawa Village is poor is not that the people are lazy and unwilling to make progress, but that they cannot sell their own things and cannot get in from outside. In the final analysis, this is all because of the roads. The roads are narrow enough not only for cars, but also for tricycles. It’s difficult to pass. I don’t understand. Is it so difficult to build a road in Dawa Village after so many years? What has our town government done in the past few years?”
Zhao Xiangdong became more and more excited as he talked.
Lu Feiyang frowned, handed him a cigarette, and said, "You can vent these complaints to me, but you can't say that in front of other people. Xiangdong, do you really want to build the road in Dawa Village?"
"I think it must be repaired!"
Zhao Xiangdong said with firm eyes.
"Haha, come on, cheers."
Lu Feiyang picked up the wine glass and took a sip, and said slowly: "Thirteen years ago, like you, I went to Dawa Village and wanted to build a road, but then I slowly gave up on the original plan until Later, I completely lost confidence in building roads and became desperate. Brother Xiangdong, slowly you will also lose confidence and become desperate."
"I don't know how. Is it so difficult to build roads? Highways across the country, plus cross-sea bridges, which one is not more difficult to build than the road in our Dawa Village? If you want to build this dirt road, is it still a problem?"
Zhao Xiangdong picked up the wine glass and drank it in one gulp.
"Of course it's a matter of course, and it's still a very difficult thing."
Lu Feiyang said with a straight face.
"What's the problem?"
Zhao Xiangdong asked puzzledly.
"Money! Can you raise the money? Do you know how much it will cost to build a road in Dawa Village? Have you made a budget?"
Lu Feiyang asked a series of questions, and when Zhao Xiangdong became silent, he slowly added: "A few years ago, when I reported the plan to the town government, Mayor Huang immediately asked professionals to make a detailed budget. I was dumbfounded when it was at least over one million. And this was the budget eight years ago, and now I think the cost will only be more than this."
"Who will pay for this cost? Does Dawa Village want to pay for it? Let alone the town government, even if it does, it is impossible for the town government to spend one million to build this road. Are you aware of this leadership team? How many people are there? Are there any people who seek truth from facts when doing things? How many of them are dedicated to seeking development and a way out for the people?"
"Just last year, the Water Conservancy Bureau allocated 500,000 yuan to the town water conservancy station, and the 200,000 yuan spent by the Civil Affairs Office for poverty alleviation were intercepted by the town government, leaving 80,000 yuan for the water conservancy station and 80,000 yuan for the civil affairs office. It costs 50,000 yuan. You can cut off the traffic, you can do some serious things, but Qi Feng’s grandson spent most of his money on replacing offices, chairs and decoration. Just painting the walls and replacing the glass windows, oh , and changed seven or eight desks, which cost 350,000 yuan, and the remaining money was used to study projects in the south."
When Zhao Xiangdong heard this, he raised his head and asked, "What projects did you go to the south to inspect?"
Lu Feiyang flicked the cigarette ashes and sneered: "Did you see the granite at the entrance of the town compound? It's the project they brought to the south for inspection."
Zhao Xiangdong became even more confused and said, "Isn't it just an ordinary granite? There are two words "Qilu" engraved on it. What does that mean?"
Lu Feiyang sneered and said: "It means that opening the road means opening the road to innovation. It is said that if this stone is established, the economy of Liuhe Town will take off and start a new journey."
"Nonsense! Is this what Qi Feng did?"
Zhao Xiangdong shouted indignantly.
"If it's not his grandson, who else?"
Lu Feiyang said emotionally and angrily.
"Secretary Xie, don't you care?"
Zhao Xiangdong asked doubtfully.
"Secretary Xie, haha, he just made a few mild criticisms at the meeting, and that was it. Just like that, 470,000 yuan was intercepted, and the trouble was gone."
Lu Feiyang paused for a moment before saying, "Normally speaking, Xie Zhengliang would stop Qi Feng's behavior, but he didn't. There must be something going on here."
From what Lu Feiyang said, he could not count on the town government to pay for the road construction, so he had to ask the county for help. "What do you think?"
Lu Feiyang thought for a moment and said calmly: "You can give it a try, but don't hold out hope. In recent years, the county's finances have also been tight, and some money has been invested in the construction of new cities. The old city has not been built at all. In fact, , County leaders all want political achievements, GDP, and image projects, and they will not invest money in Dawa Village."
Zhao Xiangdong said unconvinced: "Then the villagers of Dawa Village should be poor and suffer? Shouldn't the safety of the people's lives be ignored?"
