Crossing the Western Tianshan Mountains

Ling Fengxi was still drunk that night.

When he woke up again, it was already noon the next day. There was some noise outside the tent, as if someone was arguing.

He rubbed his head which was about to explode, and felt waves of pain in his stomach. He endured the discomfort, pushed open the door curtain and walked out, only to find that the people who were talking were Wu Yongjie, Ayala and others.

He endured the discomfort and walked out, and saw Hanati and his brothers speaking in Kazakh. Judging from their expressions, both sides were very emotional. Ayala was very calm, even a little helpless. She stood there and shook her head gently.

He turned around and saw Ling Fengxi, who hurried over. "Did they wake you up? I told them to go somewhere else and make noise, but they didn't listen."

Ling Fengxi said, "What happened?"

Hanati and the others also saw him and gathered around him. "Secretary Ling, it's like this. We now have a village. The notice from above has come down. We have a village. We are Batis Village in Bozidun Township. We were merged into this village. We agreed that Hanati would be the village chief. The current village chief is still the former village chief of Batis Village. Our Hanati didn't become the village chief. Are you responsible for this?"

Actually, Ling Feng knew a little about this matter. When these seven or eight herder households were incorporated into Batis Village, it was he who personally conducted the research and wrote the report.

There was indeed a suggestion that Hanati be the village chief. Now, the notice has come down, but the village chief is not Hanati, so a few people have to find Ling Fengxi to find out.

However, Hanati thought it was too embarrassing to ask, so he stopped them, and an argument ensued.

Now that the matter had been discussed, Hanati stopped arguing with his brothers and walked up to Ling Fengxi with a stern look on his face. "Secretary Ling, every time you come, we treat you to good food and wine. The breasts in your camp were also given to you by a few of us. Logically speaking, our relationship should be very good, but this matter is really not fair. In this situation, what do you say we should do?"

Ling Fengxi was having a headache and feeling nauseous. As soon as Hanati finished speaking, Ling Fengxi ran off to vomit and didn't come back for a while...

Hanati said, "Han people are no good. They don't keep their word and can't drink much. Since I'm not the village chief, there's no point in merging the villages. Forget it."

Ling Fengxi knew that these herders were difficult to manage. After much difficulty in merging the villages, they were unwilling to do so and kept running around and setting up camps randomly, making it impossible for the government to find them. Over time, they would become "missing persons" in the mountains. If something happened, it would be difficult to handle, and they would not be able to enjoy the rescue and any civil and people-friendly policies organized by the government.

In fact, it is very disadvantageous to the herdsmen in these natural villages.

But he didn't want to argue with Hanati at this moment, so he just said, "Don't worry, wait until I ask clearly. Everything has rules, and without rules, there is no order. They must have made such a decision for a reason. This is not a leader selection in a mountain village, and they can't be chosen with just a few words."

Hanati said coldly, "What are you talking about? You're comparing us to bandits!"

Ling Fengxi didn't want to talk to them anymore, so he went back to the tent. He didn't expect them to chase him into the tent without any scruples. Ye Minglang happened to be bringing food over, and seeing this situation, he immediately stood in front of Ling Fengxi and said, "Why are you guys talking so close to each other? The secretary is drunk and just woke up. You should at least let him have some food, right?"

Ayala also said hurriedly, "Everyone, go to the other tent first. I made some hand-pulled pork. It should be ready soon. Let's eat together first."

With the joint efforts of Ye Minglang and Ayala, these ruffians were finally asked to leave. Ling Fengxi didn't have time to eat, and hurriedly called the relevant government staff to inquire. The signal was not very good and it kept coming back, but he finally got the answer.

After a while, when Hanati and the others came again, Ling Fengxi asked, "Hanati, can you read?"

"Learn to read." Hanati's neck stiffened. "I'm the most educated person in our film."

Ling Fengxi took out a pen and notebook, "Write a few words for me to see."

Hanati snorted coldly, walked over with a defiant look on his face, and then wrote a long string of words in a notebook. Ling Fengxi said, "In the fall, you had an assessment and each of you was given a notebook to write about the village development plan. Is this how you wrote it? Using this kind of handwriting?"

"Or else?"

Ling Fengxi's expression remained unchanged as he spoke seriously, "Your inability to write Chinese characters will have a certain impact on your chances of becoming village chief. No one will be able to understand the reports you write, and you won't be able to understand the documents others send you. For example, the document for this assessment clearly stated that you need to answer the questions in Chinese characters. So you don't meet the requirements and you haven't even passed the first round."

Hanati was stunned and couldn't help but look at Ayala. He remembered that Ayala always asked him to learn some Chinese characters and even wanted to teach him, but he refused to learn.

Now...

This loss is quite huge.

Ling Fengxi added, "Also, the term of office for village chief is three years, meaning they're elected every three years. If you didn't make it this time, you can strive for it next time, but you need to study hard. You can't claim to be village chief if you can't even understand government documents. How can you convey accurate information to the villagers?"

Hanati sat dejectedly on the tatami, glanced at his brothers with a complicated expression, and then said, "I told you, there must be a reason why I wasn't selected. You keep asking, keep asking. Where is my dignity?"

Those people still didn't seem to understand what Ling Fengxi said. They kept saying to him, "We will only obey Hanati if he is the village chief. From now on, we will listen to him and not anyone else."

"That's right. We were living well without a village chief. Now they're sending someone from outside to manage us. We can't handle it. We don't want to do it this time."

"Yes, we don't recognize anyone except Hanati..."

For some reason, Ling Fengxi suddenly found this group of people quite endearing. They didn't actually have any conflict of interest; they simply trusted Hanati and wanted him to be the village chief. Ling Fengxi thought for a moment and said, "As for this matter, I'll go down the mountain and ask the government about it."

Ayala quickly said, "No need, isn't it said to be held every three years? Let's do it next time. I'm sorry to bother you, it must be difficult for you."

Hanati glared at Ayala. "What's wrong with asking? You're such a nosy woman. Women shouldn't interrupt men when they're talking. Get out of here and start cooking your bones!"