Colorful years

In mid-July of 1989, the sun blazed like a giant fireball. Zhang Cong felt a surge of excitement, his heart burning with anticipation for his new job.

After much deliberation, Zhang Cong gritted his teeth and gave up his stable and enviable job at the People's Bank of China.

Filled with guilt towards Zhang Ying, he embarked on his journey home without stopping, rushing along the way until he finally arrived back in his hometown—Dayong.

The first thing to do upon arriving in Dayong was, of course, to report to the Publicity and Liaison Department. At that time, Dayong was truly bustling with activity.

The preparatory work teams of several important units, including the Municipal Party Committee, the Municipal Government, the Municipal People's Congress, the Municipal Political Consultative Conference, and the Municipal Commission for Discipline Inspection, all gathered at the Ziwu Hotel on the south side of Guyong Road, working busily and enthusiastically.

This Ziwu Hotel is no ordinary hotel; it's a business hotel meticulously built by the Provincial Supply and Marketing Cooperative at great expense. However, making money isn't its primary purpose; its main aim is to solve the employment problem for the children of cadres within the supply and marketing system.

That's why many employees from the families of cadres in the supply and marketing system gather here. And most of them are stunningly beautiful women.

This restaurant has an amazing location, right in the city center, with excellent accessibility. Whether you take public transport or drive, it's very convenient.

Therefore, the leaders of the preparatory team immediately took a liking to this place and selected it as a good place for the preparatory staff to work and live.

The Ziwu Hotel is five stories high, with thirty spacious and bright rooms on each floor, totaling one hundred and fifty rooms. The first to third floors are used for offices, while the fourth and fifth floors are designated as residential areas.

Those cadres at the section chief level and above in the internal departments of various government agencies who do not yet own houses in the city are now all arranged to live and eat here.

Actually, the leadership teams of the city's major organizations have already been internally selected, and they are just waiting for the upcoming general meeting to formally confirm them.

Moreover, even the work teams directly under the municipal party committee and government departments are not fully staffed; only some temporary leaders have been appointed, and the number of staff in each department is quite small.

When Zhang Cong went to the Publicity and Liaison Department to report for duty, he was surprised to find that there were only two people in the entire department. One of them was the temporary person in charge—who would later become the executive deputy minister, Minister Zhang; the other was a woman around thirty years old named Zhang Jie.

Ms. Zhang Jie is currently taking on the main responsibilities for the office and related work in the United Front sector. Once Zhang Cong completes his registration, he will naturally take over the work in the propaganda sector.

In the spring of 1990, the earth slowly opened its eyes, and all things were full of vitality. Following this hopeful and energetic season, the department began to transfer in some urgently needed staff.

At that time, the entire city was under the guidance of the "small government, big society" policy for city preparation and construction, and the control over administrative agencies and staffing was extremely strict.

Under these circumstances, the Propaganda and Liaison Department, which bears the heavy responsibility of propaganda and united front work, only set up four departments: the General Office, the News and Propaganda Section, the United Front Section, and the Cadre Section. Moreover, the number of leadership positions and staff in the department was strictly controlled to no more than 16.

Among these departments, the News and Publicity Department, which Zhang Cong was in charge of, actually covered the work of almost all the other departments within the Provincial Party Committee's Publicity Department, except for the General Office and the Personnel Department. The workload was truly overwhelming!

The daily work scene often looks like this: meetings come one after another, seemingly never-ending; meanwhile, there's a constant stream of reporters arriving from all directions. It's incredibly busy, but also incredibly enjoyable!

That year, the great republic celebrated its 40th anniversary. In mid-to-late September, Zhang Cong was incredibly busy because he received two crucial tasks in succession.

Firstly, regarding publicity work, in accordance with the instructions issued by the Provincial Party Committee's Publicity Department, Hunan Daily was to dedicate a special section to each city and prefecture in the province to showcase their remarkable achievements over the past forty years. Furthermore, it was stipulated that these reports must emphasize the unique characteristics of each locality and encompass various news genres, including news reports, features, stories, commentaries, and photographs.

When this arduous task fell to Zhang Cong, he did not rush into action, but instead calmed down and thought it over carefully. After much deliberation, he quickly focused his attention on the Dayong region where he was located.

Without a doubt, the most distinctive feature of Dayong is its tourism. After all, it boasts breathtaking natural scenery and abundant tourism resources, which is an advantage that no other place can match!

The next step was to determine the theme for the promotion. After careful consideration, Zhang Cong finally settled on a highly attractive and ingenious theme – “Three Thousand Peaks Welcoming National Day.” This theme not only immediately grabs the reader's attention and arouses their interest, but also cleverly combines the unique natural landscape of Dayong with the joyous occasion of National Day, making it absolutely perfect.

Prior to this, Zhang Cong spent approximately four full days each week accompanying reporters on their journeys along Zhangjiajie's five renowned tourist routes.

They explored every corner of the scenic area, gaining a detailed understanding of all aspects of tourism development. Through this close contact and firsthand experience, Zhang Cong became intimately familiar with the entire scenic area and the current state of the tourism industry.

Before long, Zhang Cong easily completed the eight categories of content and titles for the special edition, according to the requirements of genre and word count.

In just three days, he completed the editing and compilation of the special edition all by himself.

Zhang Cong was quite satisfied with three of the important manuscripts.

1. News: "Instead of agriculture, 100,000 farmers in Zhangjiajie have switched to the service industry for tourism."

2. Feature article: "Conquering a Thousand Peaks of Verdant Green." This article primarily tells the moving story of the cadres and staff of the Zhangjiajie State-owned Forest Farm, who, for thirty-one years, have remained true to their original aspirations, diligently planting trees and working hard to transform barren mountains into oases and remote areas into scenic gems.

3. Sketch: "Turning Sunshine into Green". Using prose, it beautifully depicts the golden tourist route of "Golden Whip Stream - Luanchuan Slope - Moon Pass - Yuanjiajie (First Bridge Under Heaven, Hanging White Silk, Qiankun Pillar, Drunken Terrace, Back Garden)" and cleverly uses the charm of sunshine to express personal aspirations and life insights.

When Liu Yangchu, the editor-in-chief of Hunan Daily, received Zhang Cong's special feature article, he was very satisfied and immediately moved the special feature to the front of the page.

After reading the special editions from various regions, everyone agreed that Zhangjiajie's National Day special edition was the most eye-catching.