Sail across the sea

Chapter 367 Where can I find this information?

Li Maoliang was taken to a small dark room by the security department. He didn't dare to resist, but just muttered something. Later, the security personnel poked him in the waist a few times, and he finally behaved.

Seeing that the matter had been resolved, Tan Rongjiang gave Shi Defa a few instructions and prepared to return to the office building. Before he could turn around, he sensed something was amiss and felt a feverish sensation in his body. He stopped in surprise and looked around at the people around him.

Upon seeing this, he couldn't help but feel uneasy. The farmers around him who had come to collect fertilizer were all silent, only looking at him with complex emotions. Those gazes seemed to carry a warmth, making him feel dizzy as if he were under a spotlight.

"Why are you all looking at me like that...?"

Tan Rongjiang blurted out a sentence.

Some of the people at the scene knew Tan Rongjiang before, or at least knew he was the director of the nitrogen fertilizer plant. Others who didn't know him before had overheard their companions whispering that he was the person Li Maoliang had threatened to smash their windows with.

When Shi Defa and the others pulled Li Maoliang away, Li Maoliang cursed and said quite a bit, which everyone overheard. Combined with the inexplicable rumors circulating in the county these past two days, the way everyone looked at Tan Rongjiang naturally became somewhat hostile.

"You must be Director Tan?" a farmer standing at the back asked Tan Rongjiang.

"What?" Tan Rongjiang frowned and asked in an annoyed tone.

The farmer was not intimidated by Tan Rongjiang's attitude, but asked directly, "I want to ask why the nitrogen fertilizer plant doesn't sell urea?"

This was a question shared by most people present; it had been discussed long before Li Maoliang's disturbance. The farmer, feeling he was speaking on behalf of everyone, wasn't worried about offending Tan Rongjiang. Many understood the principle of "the law doesn't punish the masses." He wasn't breaking any windows; he was just asking a question. Could Tan Rongjiang really have the security department arrest him too?
Tan Rongjiang didn't want to answer the question, but the atmosphere at the scene left him no choice but to. If he just turned around and left, who knows what rumors would spread outside.

"This matter is not something our nitrogen fertilizer plant can decide," Tan Rongjiang decided to explain. "I just called the director of Jingqiao Fertilizer Plant in Yihu City to confirm, and they haven't signed an agreement with the provincial fertilizer company either. The cooperation conditions proposed by the provincial fertilizer company are very unfavorable to us, so we cannot agree to them."

He thought he had carefully chosen his words and spoken very rigorously, but unexpectedly, there was still a loophole that someone seized upon, and immediately, the people around him began to clamor:
What does "very unfavorable" mean?

"They said they'd help upgrade our nitrogen fertilizer plant so our county can produce urea on its own in the future. How is that a disadvantage?"

"Seventh Brother, didn't you hear that? The factory manager was talking about things that were bad for them, but they didn't care whether it was good or bad for us farmers."

"That's right, that's right. Anyway, those officials can get urea, but it's us who have no connections who suffer."

“I heard that several officials in the county specialize in smuggling urea from other places to sell, and they can make 10 yuan per bag.”

"too dark!"

"Maybe this is what the factory manager does."

"Why was that guy smashing the bulletin board? He should have smashed the offices of these officials instead."

Perhaps due to their peasant nature, these people, even when whispering, spoke loudly enough for people several meters away to hear. Tan Rongjiang listened for a few moments, his face turned green, and he felt an urge to rush forward and argue with them.

Shi Defa also heard this and saw the change in Tan Rongjiang's expression. He quickly stepped forward, stood in front of Tan Rongjiang, and waved to the crowd, saying:
"What are you all arguing about? The urea issue was decided by the county. What are you all arguing about? Do you still want fertilizer? Hurry up and line up at the warehouse!" After being yelled at like that, the crowd stopped making a fuss. They had come to buy fertilizer, and since they couldn't count on urea, they had to buy ammonium bicarbonate, even if it was just a little something.

Compared to Tan Rongjiang, everyone was actually more afraid of Shi Defa, because everyone knew that he was in charge of fertilizer delivery, and if he really made things difficult for you, it would be quite unpleasant.

Seeing everyone leave reluctantly, Tan Rongjiang felt an extreme tightness in his chest. He instructed the office director beside him, "Go and send a car; I need to go to the county."

Upon arriving at the county government, Tan Rongjiang first met with Niu Jianping, the deputy county head in charge of the nitrogen fertilizer plant, and then, guided by Niu Jianping, went to the office of County Head Meng Zimin.

As soon as he entered the room, Tan Rongjiang said angrily, "County Chief Meng, I'm here to resign. Just dismiss me now."

His words were logically confused, clearly showing that he was blinded by anger.

Meng Zimin, unaware of what was going on, asked Niu Jianping, "Old Niu, what's wrong with Lao Tan?"

Niu Jianping said, "It's still about the ammonium-to-urine conversion. There are some rumors circulating in the county. There was a small disturbance at the nitrogen fertilizer plant just now. A farmer who went to buy fertilizer smashed the plant's bulletin board."

Then he recounted the situation Tan Rongjiang had just described to him, and added some of the rumors he knew about in the county.

"Nonsense!" Meng Zimin said angrily. "Have you investigated where these rumors came from?"

"Where can we even find that out?" Niu Jianping said with a wry smile.

Rumors that reach the ears of a deputy county head are very difficult to investigate, because the spreaders are not limited to bored people on the street, but also include many government officials.

If you ask the police to investigate, can the police force these government officials to reveal who relayed the message? This person could very well be a relative of these officials, or another official; they certainly won't tell you the truth.

Furthermore, judging from Niu Jianping's experience in the business world, such rumors might have multiple sources, and might simply be things that many people have come up with themselves. If Niu Jianping weren't the leader in charge of this work, he might also have suspected something was amiss with the ammonium sulfate-to-urine conversion project.

"Old Tan, these are just irresponsible rumors, why bother with them?" Meng Zimin turned to comfort Tan Rongjiang.

Tan Rongjiang said, "County Chief Meng, this is not just a matter of a few rumors. The urea issue is related to the livelihoods of farmers. If the county cannot give all the farmers in the county a reasonable explanation, I think this matter will only escalate."

“I don’t care if someone breaks my window. But if these people come and break the windows of the county government, I can’t afford to suffer the consequences.”

"They wouldn't dare!" Meng Zimin shouted angrily. "Who would dare to smash the windows of the county government building? No, even if they just smash your windows, the police aren't pushovers..."

Before he could finish speaking, the telephone on his desk rang, causing everyone present to tense up slightly.

(End of this chapter)