Courtyard Houses: Starting with the principle of hard work paying off

Chapter 162 The Street Office is Established, and New Year's Day Arrives (6k)

Li Hongbing didn't care how Yi Zhonghai and Wang Guihua acted and caused trouble, but he was concerned about something else.

"Uncle Yan, have you heard the news that a subdistrict office is going to be established in our area?"

It was December 1954, and the year was drawing to a close.

On the last day of this month, the "Regulations on the Organization of Urban Subdistrict Offices" will be passed, formally clarifying the nature and functions of subdistrict offices in law.

But in fact.

The establishment and implementation of subdistrict offices in Beijing predates national legislation, and early pilot programs provided a practical basis for legislation.

As early as last year, the leaders of Beijing had already proposed the idea of ​​establishing subdistrict offices.

In May of this year, the first subdistrict office in Beijing—the Haidian Town Subdistrict Office—was established.

During the second half of the year, other street office pilot programs were also launched in various districts.

Li Hongbing has been paying close attention to this matter.

In this era, although Nanluoguxiang was not in the core administrative and commercial area, it was still in the inner city, but there was never much activity in this regard.

Fortunately, Li Hongbing knew that the various street offices in Beijing were not established at the same time, but rather gradually covered over a period of time. After the regulations were passed at the end of the month, the pace would be further accelerated.

It was for this reason that Li Hongbing inquired with Yan Bugui, the head of the management department.

Yan Bugui had a lot of information. Most of the things and gossip that Li Hongbing knew came from him. He could be called the courtyard's little news source.

"No, are we going to set up a subdistrict office here too?"

Upon hearing Li Hongbing's words, Yan Bugui was taken aback, then asked curiously, "Where did you get this information?"

The matter of the subdistrict offices is not a secret at the moment, after all, many subdistricts in the city are already doing it. Yan Bugui had not only heard some related content before, but also made a special inquiry about this matter.

After all, as the caretaker of the compound, if a street office were to be established in their area, it might have a direct impact on him.

"Hey! I just saw that they've been established in other places, and in the past six months, quite a few places in Beijing have already set up subdistrict offices. I figured it wouldn't be long before they were established here, so I just asked out of curiosity."

Li Hongbing offered a casual explanation.

If he really had news, he wouldn't have asked Yan Bugui.

"That's right..."

Yan Bugui didn't think much of Li Hongbing's answer.

however.

Five days later, Li Hongbing had just returned from get off work at Fengzeyuan when Yan Bugui, who was waiting for him there, rushed up to him and said with great enthusiasm, "Hongbing, you're amazing! You asked about this a few days ago, and today our local street office was established. Did you receive some inside information beforehand?"

"The subdistrict office has been established?"

Upon hearing this news, Li Hongbing was somewhat surprised.

He knew that the subdistrict office would definitely be established, and around this time.

But to be honest, this was a bit sudden. I hadn't heard anything about it in the past two days; it seemed like it just appeared out of nowhere.

However, this is understandable, since such matters are decided internally by higher authorities and do not require soliciting public opinion or prior announcement, especially since it is still in the trial and exploration stage.

Once the organizational regulations concerning subdistrict offices are passed at the end of the month, the next step will be a nationwide rollout.

Seeing Yan Bugui's curious and probing gaze, Li Hongbing smiled helplessly and explained, "Uncle Yan, I don't have any inside information. I just paid more attention to the situation at the street office, and then it just happened to be a coincidence!"

If it were someone else, Yan Bugui might have believed it, but Li Hongbing was no ordinary person.

Working in a place like Fengzeyuan, they definitely know more about all sorts of things than ordinary people. Moreover, Li Hongbing has Guo Youzhong as his master and a group of fellow apprentices, so his network of connections is far stronger than theirs.

Seeing that Li Hongbing was unwilling to talk, Yan Bugui wisely stopped asking and instead said, "By the way, there are some things to discuss at the Intermediate People's Court later during the court-wide meeting."

"what's up?"

Li Hongbing was curious.

"Hey! Isn't it true that our local street office was just established? After get off work tonight, we old guys from the management institute were called together for a meeting. We talked about some things and were assigned some tasks. It's too long to explain in just a few words. The meeting is about to start again, so we'll go into more detail at the meeting later."

Yan Bugui explained half of it, then kept everyone in suspense.

"Okay, I'll put the bicycle back first."

Li Hongbing thought about it and realized that apart from the establishment of the subdistrict office, there didn't seem to be anything special happening at the moment, so he didn't inquire any further.

"Oh, there's something I forgot to tell you."

Seeing that Li Hongbing was about to leave, Yan Bugui, as if remembering something, quickly said, "When the street office was established this time, a female director surnamed Wang came, named Wang Lanying."

The civil affairs officer who used to be in charge of this area at the police station, Officer Yang, has now been transferred to the subdistrict office and even promoted to deputy director.

"Oh? Congratulations, Officer Yang."

The new Director Wang wasn't someone I knew well; I didn't recognize him at all.

But this Officer Yang was an old acquaintance.

However, no matter who is in charge, it will have little impact on Li Hongbing.

Now that the subdistrict office has been established here, it is clear that it has taken over some of the functions of the police station. It is only natural that Officer Yang, who was originally a civil affairs officer, would move to the subdistrict office.

As for his appointment as deputy director of the subdistrict office, it's not surprising.

Count it up.

Yang has served as a street government officer and then as a civil affairs officer at the police station for several years. In addition, he is most familiar with the situation in this area, which will obviously be of great use and advantage to the street office in carrying out its work.

Even the newly appointed Director Wang of the subdistrict office cannot ignore the other party's existence.

Not long after.

Li Hongbing brought a small stool with him to the Intermediate People's Court.

By this time, almost everyone had arrived.

Li Hongbing casually found a spot, put down a small stool, sat down, and pulled out a handful of sunflower seeds from his pocket, starting to crack them open.

Nowadays, Li Hongbing, though not very old, is already a figure of importance in the courtyard house, and no one dares to underestimate him.

His appearance naturally attracted a lot of attention.

Faced with his actions, the three senior administrators, including Liu Haizhong, Du Jianguo, and Yan Bugui, who were in the center, were already used to it.

In the past, if other people in the institute did the same, they would inevitably be accused of disrespecting the institute-wide meeting or other people in the institute, and would be criticized and educated, or even made a negative example.

"Alright, now that everyone is here, let's get straight to the point and save everyone's time."

"I think some of you have already heard before this plenary meeting that a subdistrict office has been established here."

"However, I estimate that you probably don't know very well what a subdistrict office is or what it does."

"Next, a few of us senior students from the School of Management will explain it to you."

"This subdistrict office is actually..."

"..."

Since the street office has just been established, many people are unaware of its functions and scope, or even its existence. Therefore, it is necessary for people like Yan Bugui, who are in charge of the management, to carry out publicity and explanation.

Li Hongbing could only listen to the three old men, Liu Haizhong, Du Jianguo, and Yan Bugui, talking back and forth like they were performing a comedy routine. It was just an evening entertainment program for him.

Luckily, he had sunflower seeds to eat, otherwise he would have been bored to death.

After listening for a while, Li Hongbing couldn't help but shake his head. The three of them had said a lot, but Li Hongbing understood none of it as well as he did.

"Hongbing, do you understand exactly what this subdistrict office does?"

Xu Damao, clearly confused, ran over to Li Hongbing for advice.

Li Hongbing is the most educated among them, so it's not shameful at all to ask him for advice.

"Okay!"

Li Hongbing ate sunflower seeds while modestly stating this.

Upon hearing this, Xu Damao immediately said, "Then tell us about it?"

"Alright then, I'll give a brief explanation."

Seeing Yan Jiecheng and Liu Guangqi and the others come over, the people who were originally sitting next to Li Hongbing also looked over. Li Hongbing had no choice but to say, "This street office is actually a grassroots branch of the district government. It's like the district government has set up a service point here to specifically undertake the responsibilities of managing the residents' affairs in our jurisdiction as assigned by the district government."

To put it bluntly, the work that Officer Yang used to do has now been taken over by this street office, but at the same time, the scope of work has been expanded, meaning that there are more aspects and things to manage.

For example, this includes policy promotion, population registration, poverty subsidy assessment and distribution, resettlement and preferential treatment for families of martyrs, as well as supervision of sanitation and urban appearance, including fire prevention and windbreak, and cultural education and sports activities..."

"So that's it."

Now that you put it that way, I understand.

“Hongbing, what you said is much clearer than what Uncle Yan and Uncle Liu said.”

"Exactly, I couldn't understand some of the words they used."

"In my opinion, it would be better to let you go up and speak. I saw that many people didn't understand it."

"..."

After listening to Li Hongbing's explanation, especially his analogy of Officer Yang and the detailed examples he gave, Xu Damao and Yan Jiecheng immediately had a sudden realization and understood.

"So the subdistrict office did all this work, but what about the original police station? Which is more important, the subdistrict office or the police station?"

Having just answered one question, Xu Damao immediately asked two more.

"The police station will still be in charge of public security, case investigation, and handling of emergencies. It just no longer handles neighborhood disputes and civil affairs. Other than that, nothing much has changed."

After giving a brief explanation, Li Hongbing shook his head and continued, "As for who is bigger or smaller, there's really no way to compare them, because the street office and the police station belong to two different systems."

One is the government administration, and the other is the public security system. They are not subordinate to each other, and their personnel and funding are independent. Neither can interfere with the other's internal operations.

However, the two agencies have overlapping jurisdictions and complementary functions. The subdistrict office can make public security requests to the police station, such as investigating potential hazards, and the police station needs to cooperate with the subdistrict office in carrying out its work. Conversely, when the police station needs assistance in handling cases, it can also ask the subdistrict office for help…

This time.

Li Hongbing's explanation was not so easy for Xu Damao and the others to understand, but they still managed to grasp some of it.

The main problem is that they have far too little attention and understanding in this area.

If it were Yan Bugui, he would probably understand very quickly.

Even if you understand it yourself, you may not be able to explain it clearly to others.

Otherwise, Xu Damao and Liu Guangqi wouldn't have come to him for advice.

Of the three senior students in the management department, Yan Bugui was the most educated, but seemingly to show off, he always liked to use pedantry, speaking in technical terms and making statements that were difficult for people to understand.

In the entire courtyard, apart from the younger generation, how many people have actually received a proper education? Many can't even read, let alone fully understand what they hear.

As for Liu Haizhong and Du Jianguo, although they have read books and can read, their level of education is not high. They may not have fully understood or grasped the concepts themselves, and they also lack sufficient expression skills when speaking.

There's nothing we can do about it. If we had enough staff at the grassroots level, we wouldn't need these management staff members with varying levels of competence.

After explaining and educating everyone in the courtyard about the newly established subdistrict office, Yan Bugui quickly continued, "That was the first thing. Now for the second thing, which is..."

"The second thing, I think, goes without saying!"

Before Yan Bugui could finish speaking, Liu Haizhong interrupted him and said, "The second thing is about the registration and review of families of martyrs, as well as preferential treatment. I think there shouldn't be anyone in our institute who is a family of a martyr, right? If there is, please raise your hand now."

After Liu Haizhong finished speaking, he looked around at everyone. Seeing that no one spoke or raised their hand, he continued, "In that case, let's start talking about the third thing, which is about subsidies and assistance for impoverished households."

If there are still people in the institution who meet the criteria for poverty relief but have not applied for poverty relief, they can contact me, Lao Du, or Lao Yan to register after the general meeting of the entire institution.

Simultaneously.

For impoverished households in the community, the subdistrict office encourages them to actively participate in production and self-help while receiving government assistance, so as to achieve poverty alleviation as soon as possible.

People with skills, such as embroidery and paper cutting, can take on some jobs provided by the neighborhood office. They can earn their own wages by piece and supplement their household income.

Even those without skills can sign up. The neighborhood office will arrange training for you, and you can still increase your family's income through your own labor..."

"Me! I'm signing up!"

"I'll sign up too!"

"And I!"

"Old Liu, count me in too."

"..."

Before Liu Haizhong could finish speaking, a chorus of responses erupted from below.

Who wouldn't want a chance to make money?

There are plenty of unemployed housewives in the courtyard, regardless of whether they have any skills or not. As Liu Haizhong just said, those without skills can learn, and the neighborhood office will provide unified training.

only.

Looking at the people scrambling to sign up, Liu Haizhong's face darkened. He said irritably, "What I just said refers to those who meet the criteria for impoverished households. Look at those of you who raised your hands, how many of you actually meet the criteria?"

Seeing this, Yan Bugui also stepped forward and said, "The street office does have some jobs available, but the number is limited. For now, we can only provide them to families with financial difficulties. Others should not join in."

“Old Yan, our family meets the criteria. Huai Ru not only knows how to make and mend clothes, but also does some paper cutting. Moreover, our family of four only earns eighteen yuan a month, which meets the criteria for poverty. We should also apply for poverty-stricken household status.”

Just as Yan Bugui finished speaking, Jia Zhangshi suddenly stood up and loudly uttered these words.

Hearing Jia Zhangshi's words, Yan Bugui's face darkened, and he said speechlessly, "Jia Zhangshi, stop causing trouble. Do you think I don't know what's going on in your family?"

"Your family has four members, that's true, but the household registration only lists Jia Dongxu, Qin Huairu, and Bang Geng's name. You're not included. With your current income, you don't meet the criteria for applying for poverty alleviation assistance."

Yan Bugui was almost speechless.

When the flour purchase certificates were being tallied initially, Jia Zhangshi tried to take advantage of the situation, but failed. Now she's set her sights on this again.

Moreover, the Jia family had considered applying for poverty alleviation status before, but they failed because they did not meet the criteria.

Everyone in the compound knows about this.
"Old Yan, the Jia family's situation does not meet the criteria for applying for poverty-stricken household status, so they cannot apply for poverty-stricken household status, but their conditions do indeed present difficulties."

"The purpose of the neighborhood committee is clearly to help families in need, enabling them to earn money through their own skills and labor. This is different from receiving subsidies and relief."

"I think you guys from the management office should check with the street office more about this matter."

“If the Jia family meets the requirements, or if the neighborhood committee allows it, and you don’t let them register, that would be an oversight on your part. If the neighborhood committee investigates, you’ll be in trouble.”

"I'm saying this for your own good."

"..."

Before Jia Zhangshi could retaliate, Yi Zhonghai stepped forward to speak up for the Jia family.

He didn't want Jia Zhangshi to cause trouble.

These kinds of things either exist or they don't.

Making a scene won't help.

Moreover, he genuinely hoped that Yan Bugui and the others could figure out that if Qin Huairu could take on jobs from the street office like the impoverished households in the courtyard and earn some money each month to supplement her family's income, the Jia family wouldn't have to rely entirely on his help.

After what happened recently, his family's wealth has dwindled.

Leaving aside the more than five million yuan that He Daqing took back, the cost of his medication and hospitalization alone is a considerable expense.

As a state worker, and working in the steel mill's designated hospital, even if not all of my medical expenses are reimbursed, I can still get a portion of them.

But once he tries to get reimbursed, the fact that his "big treasure" (referring to his penis) is missing will definitely be known to the factory staff, and then it will be impossible to hide it anymore. So Yi Zhonghai has no choice but to pay for it himself.

To date, Jia Dongxu's demotion salary has not been restored, and with the addition of Qin Huairu and Banggeng to the household, monthly expenses are significantly higher than before.

Given the Jia family's current situation, it's not a sustainable solution for him to continue helping and subsidizing them like this.

He did want to help the Jia family and Jia Dongxu, and do them favors, but if he continued like this, he wouldn't get Jia Dongxu's gratitude in return, but rather Jia Dongxu would leech off him.

Habits are a terrible thing.

Yi Zhonghai is now slowly beginning to realize this.

Faced with Yi Zhonghai's statement on behalf of the Jia family, the three elders in charge of the courtyard, Liu Haizhong, Du Jianguo, and Yan Bugui, frowned but said nothing.

Because if the situation described by Yi Zhonghai were to actually occur, it would not be a good thing for them.

The subdistrict office has just been established, and they are eager to do their best to get things done efficiently and effectively, so as to make a good impression on the leaders of the subdistrict office.

Don't end up not getting any credit for your performance, but instead making a mistake and becoming a laughing stock in other departments.

"Alright, let's leave the third matter at that for now. We'll find some time to get more information about the Jia family from the neighborhood committee. After the general meeting of the whole compound, those who meet the requirements and have this idea should contact us to register."

After Yi Zhonghai finished speaking, and while Liu Haizhong and Du Jianguo fell silent, Yan Bugui had no choice but to speak up to regain the rhythm of the meeting, saying, "Next, let's talk about the fourth thing, which is also the last thing for today's meeting."

Next, the neighborhood office plans to open a literacy class to teach everyone to read and write, and hopes that everyone will actively sign up to participate and improve their knowledge and cultural level..."

What are the benefits of attending this literacy class?

"Of course there are benefits. As I just mentioned, everyone can improve their knowledge and literacy. Once they can read, they will not only be able to write their own names, but they can even read newspapers on their own, and they will no longer be illiterate."

"Isn't this just like going to school? Do you have to pay money?"

"No need to pay, it's free, it's a benefit provided by the neighborhood committee."

"Since it's a benefit, is there any money for attending this literacy class? Or are there any rewards?"

"This...not at the moment."

"..."

Listening to their conversation, Li Hongbing found it quite interesting, as it was very much in line with the current social situation and also had certain characteristics of the times.

Their subdistrict office was just established, yet it has already taken so many actions, which clearly shows that it has absorbed and learned from the experiences and measures of other subdistrict office pilot projects.

After the plenary meeting ended, Li Hongbing clapped his hands, picked up his small stool, and went back.

The things mentioned at the meeting have basically nothing to do with him.

However, these measures have indeed provided considerable help or benefit to some residents in the compound.

only.

People aren't very enthusiastic about things unless they believe they're beneficial, like literacy classes.

Despite the active mobilization efforts of Liu Haizhong, Du Jianguo, and Yan Bugui, only five people ultimately participated in the entire courtyard.

Besides Qin Huairu, who volunteered, three of the remaining four people were the wives of the three senior officers of the management department.

There was really no other way. In order to avoid making the task too embarrassing, and in order to demonstrate the awareness and enthusiasm of being a family member of a senior member of the management school, we had no choice but to send our own people on board.

As for the Jia family's desire to enroll in the self-help production program for impoverished households, they were still unable to do so. Otherwise, Jia Zhangshi would not have allowed Qin Huairu to attend that literacy class.

Even so, Jia Zhangshi still had many complaints.

After all, with Qin Huairu attending literacy classes, she would have to take care of Banggeng herself.

If it weren't for Yi Zhonghai and his wife's persuasion, and Jia Dongxu's agreement, Jia Zhangshi wouldn't have wanted Qin Huairu to attend some "useless" literacy class.

But no matter what.

With these measures taken by the neighborhood committee, the impoverished households in the courtyard, who were facing difficulties, have become much happier and more hopeful for the future, bringing a new vitality to the entire courtyard.

It's almost the end of the year, and there's still more than a month until the Lunar New Year. Many impoverished households hope to use this time to ensure they have a good New Year.

In the blink of an eye.

New Year's Day is coming.

With the arrival of this day, 1954 became a thing of the past, and the year 1955 officially began.

As it is a statutory holiday, Fengzeyuan, which has already achieved public-private partnership, also closed for a day and gave all employees a holiday.

I thought it would be a relaxing and leisurely day.

It's snowing outside, and I'm thinking of taking this opportunity to be lazy.

Li Hongbing, unusually, did not get up early for his morning exercise as usual, but instead stayed in bed and slept in.

As a result, the courtyard became lively in the morning.

"Are you here yet?"

"Nope!"

"Where are Director Wang and the others?"

"I thought they would come to our place first, but they went to the neighbor's house first."

"Oh, that'll be soon. Let's get ready quickly."

"..."

Unable to sleep due to the noise outside, Li Hongbing had no choice but to get up and get dressed.

Because of the cold weather, the water pipes outside are frozen, and tap water cannot get into the house.

Fortunately, Li Hongbing had anticipated this situation and stockpiled some water in the system space beforehand, thus avoiding the trouble of running out of water.

After pouring some hot water and washing up, Li Hongbing quickly went outside.

"Uncle Yan, what's all this commotion so early in the morning?"

"Hey, did I wake you up?"

"It's New Year's Day today, and the neighborhood committee is going to visit impoverished households and elderly people living alone. They even prepared rice, flour, and oil. We only received the news at the last minute..."

"..."

(End of this chapter)