Siheyuan: Starting from 1958

Huai County Guesthouse.

Chen Jun is temporarily staying here with her husband and daughter.

Today was Chen Jun's third day at work. As soon as he entered the door, he threw his briefcase on the cabinet by the door, then walked to the sofa with a face full of anger, sat down, and remained silent for a long time.

Hearing the noise, Wang Dong quickly went out of the bedroom and saw his wife sitting on the sofa, sulking.

His daughter had just fallen asleep when Wang Dong quickly sat down next to his wife, pulled her into his arms, and massaged her shoulders while asking, "Wife..."

"What's going on here?"

"Who made you angry..."

"If I remember correctly, you are the executive deputy county head..."

"In the entire Huai County, only a handful of people—the Party Secretary, the County Head, the Deputy Party Secretary…—have a higher rank than you…"

"Did they make you angry?"

Chen Jun shook her head and replied, "They didn't provoke me, after all, I'm a woman..."

"They went too far. Seeing that I was an outsider, they assumed I didn't know anything about Huai County, so they deliberately ganged up on me, trying to force me to leave..."

"Today, the county held a meeting and assigned tasks to all county leaders: to carry out reform and opening up, attract investment, and increase the income of the people throughout the county."

"The Party Secretary and the County Head assigned all the better-off townships to their own people, and gave me the worst-off township, making me the acting Party Secretary. They even made me sign a pledge to double the harvest of all the people in the township within two years..."

"This is clearly a trap set for me..."

“If I fail to complete the task within two years, even if my superiors do not punish me, my prestige among all cadres and ordinary people in the county will be greatly affected, and no one will recognize me as the executive deputy county head.”

"At that point, there will be no other way but to slink back to my original workplace."

Wang Dong's face instantly darkened.

Although he had never served as a government official, he had read many novels about officialdom before his transmigration.

As the saying goes, even if you haven't eaten pork, you've seen pigs run. He immediately realized that his wife was being targeted by local officials, and he was worried that she would take his place, using the position of deputy county head as a stepping stone to eventually become the county head, or even the party secretary.

To avoid such an accident, the local officials banded together and used this method to make the wife lose prestige in Huai County, ultimately forcing her to leave Huai County as a loser.

Chen Jun is his wife, and he treats her like a treasure, afraid that she might be wronged while she's with him.

Now that he was being bullied at work, Wang Dong, as the husband, certainly couldn't accept it, and his brows furrowed instantly.

Then he stared at Chen Jun and asked, "Wife..."

"Does the military order specify what the reward will be for completing the mission, and what the punishment will be for failing to complete the mission...?"

Chen Jun shook his head and replied, "He didn't say..."

"They're not stupid..."

“My power to appoint and punish is in the city. The Party Secretary and the County Head have been working in the government for decades, and they certainly wouldn’t overstep their bounds and make such a basic mistake.”

"As for the reward, I am now the executive deputy county head. The next step up is county head or party secretary, and they don't have the ability or qualifications to do so."

Wang Dong's eyes lit up as he replied, "Then what's there to be afraid of..."

"Since there's no punishment, just agree to their request..."

"But you must make one condition... All leaders assigned to various townships must sign a pledge; if they fail to complete their tasks, they must make a public apology in front of all the cadres in the county." "If they succeed, a large meeting will be held in front of all the cadres in the county to reward them."

"Aren't they trying to damage your prestige among all the cadres in Huai County through this incident?"

"Then let's play along and bring all the county leaders along, have them all sign a pledge, and make a joint self-criticism."

"No..." His wife shook her head vigorously, refusing immediately.

"They just want to see me make a fool of myself in front of all the cadres in the county and lose my prestige... Wouldn't agreeing to sign a pledge be like a lamb being led to the slaughter?"

"Although many cadres were arranged to go to the countryside with me today, the county head and the party secretary did not go to the countryside; they stayed in the county to oversee the overall situation."

"Even if those leaders who went to the countryside like me failed to complete their tasks, had to make a self-criticism in front of all the cadres in the county, and lost their prestige, as long as the county head and the party secretary still supported them, that lost prestige could be restored in a short time."

"I'm different..."

“I am all alone in Huai County, without the support of the county head and the party secretary.”

"If you really lose your prestige, you can never get it back. How can you be a good executive deputy county head in the future..."

"Then just complete the requirements of the military order within the stipulated time," Wang Dong continued, expressing his thoughts with a very relaxed expression, not taking the issue seriously at all.

Chen Jun replied with a wry smile, "It's easier said than done."

"If the township that I was assigned to was really so easy to get out of poverty and become rich, how could the Party Secretary and the County Head have assigned me, an outsider, to it? They would have picked it up by their own people long ago."

"As far as I know..."

"The township I was assigned to has a population of over 20,000. It's mostly mountainous with little arable land, and the average person has less than two mu of fertile land..."

"The little grain harvested from the fields is just enough for the people to fill their stomachs. After a year of hard work, there is almost no money left over, not even enough to buy clothes for the children for the New Year."

"Because families don't have money, at least half of the children in the town don't go to school."

"After the reform and opening up, many ordinary people felt that there was no way out at home, so they went to Beijing to work."

"But many locals in Beijing can't find jobs, let alone these outsiders."

"Many people returned empty-handed and could only live a hard life by guarding their few acres of land."

"Those who were lucky enough to stay in Beijing to work were all doing the most menial and low-level jobs."

"Not only is it unstable, but the salary is also very low, and it is particularly harmful to the body."

"With such poor conditions, let alone two years, even if I had five years, it would be difficult for them to double their income."

After listening to his wife's complaints, Wang Dong remained as confident as ever, his face calm and composed, showing no sign of worry.

Instead of comforting his wife, he laughed and said, "Mountains are great..."

"There are different development methods for areas with many mountains..."

"As long as the right path is chosen, there is still a great chance to make the local people rich and double their income."

“I don’t know if others have this ability, but if your husband does it, he can definitely do it…”

"I just don't know if you, my wife, believe me." (End of Chapter)