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

Chapter 186 Fan Jinyou's Death warrant: A happy prison meal
"Director, isn't there some misunderstanding? I..."

Even at this point, Fan Jinyou still wanted to argue and deceive himself. Director Li sneered and said, "Fan Jinyou, should I still call you Director Fan? You have such a big official air about you. For your personal desires and grudges, you deliberately undermined the public-private partnership policy, deceived your superiors and subordinates, and used your power to oppress the masses. We have already investigated and found out everything. What else can you say?"

Taking advantage of his trust, Fan Jinyou ran amok in the tavern, causing all sorts of trouble. When reporting back, he always reported good news and never bad news. Even the so-called good news was full of lies, and he almost got himself killed by him.

At this point, Director Li almost hated Fan Jinyou to death.

The good situation that he had worked so hard to create was almost ruined by Fan Jinyou.

If we had been any later, there might not have been a chance to make amends.

"The joint public-private ownership is a way for the Party and the government to care for and help merchants and to complete the socialist construction of private enterprises. It is not for you to act arrogantly and domineeringly. You are using this opportunity to create class antagonism and settle personal scores. We are serving the people, not treating the masses as enemies. You have taken the wrong class stand!"

After delivering these words with righteous indignation, Director Li looked at the two inspectors who had just entered from outside and said to Fan Jinyou again, "Fan Jinyou, these two are comrades from the Inspection Department. Go with them and explain your problems clearly so that we can try to treat you leniently."

"what?"

Upon hearing Director Li's words and seeing the two inspectors who had appeared at the tavern, Fan Jinyou was immediately dumbfounded, a chill running from the top of his head to the soles of his feet.

Removing him from his cadre status wasn't enough; they even wanted to conduct a further investigation and try to destroy him.

Fan Jinyou's gaze fell on Director Li's face. Feeling apprehensive, he couldn't help but remind him, "Director Li, I'm one of your men!"

"Fan Jinyou, what nonsense are you spouting?"

"What do you mean, 'your people' or 'my people'?"

“You were a cadre in the subdistrict office before, and it was right that you worked under my leadership. But you are a cadre of the state, and so am I. We are both serving the people.”

"We, the Communist Party, do not engage in factionalism or forming cliques. You should be careful what you say!"

"As the director of the subdistrict office and your superior, I failed to adequately supervise your work and bear responsibility for my negligence. I have deeply reflected on my actions, written a self-criticism, and proactively reported to my superiors."

"I hope you can explain your problem clearly."

"..."

When Fan Jinyou said those words, especially in front of the inspectors, Director Li's expression changed drastically, and he almost broke out in a cold sweat. He quickly distanced himself from Fan Jinyou.

This Fan Jinyou...

Not content with harming yourself before, are you now planning to harm him as well?
In fact, if Director Li could have suppressed this matter and minimized it, wouldn't he have done so?

If he can handle it internally, then he, as the director of the subdistrict office, won't have to bear any responsibility.

But no.

Fan Jinyou's actions during this period have gone too far, causing widespread resentment among businesspeople and severely disrupting the progress of their street's public-private partnership program.

If Fan Jinyou is not dealt with seriously, and a clear stance is not taken and the attitude is made clear, those merchants who have changed their attitude or are still observing will likely find it difficult to quell their anger and anxiety.

As a result, the public-private partnership program could not be carried out at all, and he had no way to explain it to the leaders of the district and the city.

Even though he was Fan Jinyou's superior, he couldn't suppress this matter.

The key point is that Li Hongbing has already written the whistleblower's letter in his office. If he doesn't give Li Hongbing a satisfactory result, then it's likely that the higher-ups will hold him accountable.

Director Li was completely unaware of Fan Jinyou's actions during this period, nor were they on his orders, so naturally he would not take the blame for Fan Jinyou.

Now that he has discovered the problem, he is taking the initiative to "examine and correct himself" and make amends in a timely manner. Even if he may have to bear the responsibility for oversight, it is not the worst outcome for him.

At the very least, he distanced himself from any direct connection between himself and Fan Jinyou in doing these things.

Otherwise, if the higher-ups investigate and find out that Fan Jinyou wants to drag him down with him, he'll be in big trouble.

Just like just now.

Fan Jinyou tried to curry favor with me in front of the inspectors. If I hadn't taken the initiative to handle the matter first and proactively reported and apologized to my superiors, I probably wouldn't have been able to explain myself.

The reason Director Li dared to do this was that he had a clear conscience, could withstand investigation, and had no other leverage over Fan Jinyou.

"Xu Huizhen, you've got some skills, but don't get too cocky."

As he was being taken away by the inspectors, Fan Jinyou glared at Xu Huizhen with hatred.

He was clearly the one who was causing trouble and bullying others, yet Fan Jinyou acted as if he had been wronged by a villain.

Seeing this, Director Li's face immediately turned cold, and he hissed in a low voice, "Fan Jinyou, even at a time like this, you still dare to spout nonsense?"

After Fan Jinyou was taken away, Director Li made a public apology and offered reassurance to Xu Huizhen, showing his sincerity and goodwill.

A new general manager was assigned to the tavern, and Xu Huizhen was promised some management authority and increased power. After all, Xu Huizhen had been wronged this time, so it was natural to give her some policy support and privileges.

After handling and arranging things at the tavern, Director Li didn't linger and quickly left with the neighborhood committee members.

The problem with the tavern has been solved, but the troubles of other businesses have not yet been dealt with. The follow-up work will be enough to give them a headache.

……

night.

After Xu Huizhen took over the tavern again, in addition to reorganizing the internal operations, she invited all the old customers of the tavern back.

The purpose of doing this was, of course, to rebuild the reputation and goodwill of the small tavern that Fan Jinyou had damaged.

Li Hongbing and Chen Xueru also came over.

Li Hongbing played a crucial role in dealing with Fan Jinyou. Xu Huizhen personally visited him to ask for his help, and Chen Xueru, being such a close friend of hers, naturally couldn't refuse her such a small favor.

"Master Li, over here."

When Li Hongbing and Chen Xueru arrived, there were already quite a few people in the tavern. Before Xu Huizhen could go forward to greet them, Uncle Niu waved to them excitedly upon seeing them.

Seeing this, Li Hongbing did not find another table with Chen Xueru, but instead shared a table with her, just like last time.

Coincidentally, Uncle Pian was also there.

Both Niu Ye and Pian Er Ye were regulars at the tavern, so naturally they were both on Xu Huizhen's invitation list. Moreover, the two of them often got together, so it wasn't surprising.

Not only Niu Ye and Pian'er Ye, but all the other customers in the tavern, whether they knew Li Hongbing or not, greeted him warmly. The reason was actually quite simple.

Most of the tavern's customers were here when Li Hongbing last visited. He treated everyone to drinks then, and they were grateful, especially considering his current status.

At this moment, Li Hongbing did not act aloof or arrogant.

Regardless of whether they knew each other or not, or whether they were familiar with each other or not, they all responded.

"Master Li, I haven't had a chance to thank you for what happened last time!"

As Li Hongbing and Chen Xueru sat down, Uncle Niu poured Li Hongbing a glass of wine and toasted him, saying, "This meal is on me. Order whatever you like."

"About last time?"

Li Hongbing was taken aback for a moment, but after realizing what was happening, he pretended to be confused and asked, "What is it?"

"Uh... well... thank you for treating us to drinks last time!"

Faced with Li Hongbing's question, Niu Ye couldn't give a public answer, so he could only come up with this excuse.

To put it bluntly, it was actually the last time he brought up the topic of public-private partnership, and just as he was about to launch into a long-winded discussion, Li Hongbing interrupted him and "reminded" that Fan Jinyou, a street office cadre, was in the tavern.

After returning home, Uncle Niu learned about the policy on joint public-private ownership in detail and studied it thoroughly. He was terrified.

If Li Hongbing hadn't interrupted him, he probably would have said something reckless and given Fan Jinyou a handle to use against him, which would have put him in big trouble.

Niu Ye wasn't sure whether Li Hongbing did it intentionally or unintentionally, since the two didn't know each other before, and Li Hongbing might not have known what he was going to say next.

But based on his experience and intuition, Niu Ye had a feeling that Li Hongbing's actions at the time were mostly intentional.

Regardless of the circumstances, he had benefited from Li Hongbing's kindness, and as a principled man, Master Niu naturally couldn't forget this favor.

"Hey, Uncle Niu, you're too kind. When I treated everyone to drinks, I said it was an apology drink, so there's no need for thanks."

Li Hongbing clearly realized that Master Niu might have come to his senses, but he didn't care and just smiled.

Soon.

Seeing that most of the regular customers had arrived at the tavern, Xu Huizhen took the initiative to speak to everyone present: "Everyone, there have been some problems with the tavern recently, and I, Xu Huizhen, am sorry for all of you. However, I am grateful that you have given me, Xu Huizhen, another chance and are still willing to come to my tavern."

Even now, after the public-private partnership, the tavern remains the same as before: it doesn't sell diluted liquor. See that wooden sign? If the tavern ever sells diluted liquor again, it will be penalized tenfold…”

In order to rebuild the tavern's reputation and people's trust in it, Xu Huizhen directly used the "tenfold penalty for fakes" tactic.

"Manager Xu, this is not your fault. You can only blame Fan Jinyou."

"Exactly, if Fan Jinyou hadn't messed things up, none of those messy things would have happened."

"Now that Fan Jinyou has been arrested, the tavern will be quiet again."

“Manager Xu, people recognize not only the tavern’s signboard, but also you, Manager Xu. Fan Jinyou is no match for you.”

"..."

To be honest, the things Fan Jinyou has been up to lately have caused resentment not only among Xu Huizhen, but also among the guests.

"Manager Xu, I heard that Fan Jinyou stole wine from your house a couple of days ago. Is that true? I also heard that Fan Jinyou's accomplice turned himself in to the police station not long after Fan Jinyou was arrested..."

Amidst the criticism of Fan Jinyou and the praise for Xu Huizhen, some people also started gossiping and took the initiative to ask Xu Huizhen to verify the matter.

This is quite an "interesting" story.

In the past two days, after Fan Jinyou completely ruined the business of the tavern and canteen, he was worried that the public-private partnership would fail and he would be unable to pay wages due to continuous losses. He was also worried that if things got out of hand, he would be held accountable by the street office. So he actually thought of stealing wine from Xu Huizhen to sell at the tavern, making a business with no capital.

It's hard to imagine that Fan Jinyou, a street office cadre, could do something so contrary to his status; it's truly incongruous.

If Fan Jinyou's actions in altering the tavern's menu, which ruined the tavern's business, were mistakes made out of eagerness to achieve success and by an amateur trying to guide an expert, then this was purely a matter of character and disregard for the law.

Although the theft was unsuccessful, Qiangzi, as an accomplice, voluntarily surrendered and implicated Fan Jinyou. Fan Jinyou, who was already under further investigation, was now even more doomed.

Over the next two days, a number of complaint letters from Fan Jinyou appeared in the offices of the street office or the supervisory department. The main content of these letters was about the mistakes Fan Jinyou had made when he started working over the past few years.

Fan Jinyou's work style used to be quite extreme, which caused a lot of trouble and offended many people.

Because of his official status, some people are wary of him and are unwilling or even afraid to offend him easily. But now that he is in trouble himself, there are more people who want to kick him while he's down.

Just at this crucial moment, Chen Xueru made a banner for the subdistrict office, specially hired some people, and, with great fanfare, banged gongs and drums all the way to deliver it to Director Li and his colleagues, together with Xu Huizhen.

This step is naturally the final link in the plan.

The aim was to give Fan Jinyou more incentives, ensuring he could continue to receive a government job and preventing him from causing trouble again.

Li Hongbing had already used this method once before when the deaf old woman was causing trouble.

Don't be fooled by the repetitive moves; they're really effective.

on the other hand.

This was also to show goodwill to Director Li and to pave the way for him.

Although Fan Jinyou himself caused this incident, it almost ruined the street office's plan for private ownership and caused Director Li to suffer a loss.

People who are involved in politics are all shrewd and will inevitably suspect that Xu Huizhen and Li Hongbing were behind this, deliberately condoning Fan Jinyou and making things worse.

Regardless of whether there is evidence or not, once you think this way, it's hard not to have other thoughts.

Faced with Xu Huizhen and Chen Xueru's gesture of presenting the banner, Director Li did not expect that when this display was placed at the entrance of the street office and attracted a large crowd of onlookers, when he received the banner embroidered with the eight characters "Restoring the Chaos and Caring for the People," Director Li kept saying that he was ashamed and that he had not done enough, but he could hardly suppress the smile on his face.

After this ordeal, the merchants' resistance has clearly lessened, and the workload for Director Li and the street office has been significantly reduced.

a few days later.

Li Hongbing heard the news that Fan Jinyou had been granted prison food and was once again receiving government rations, and couldn't help but feel happy for him.

(End of this chapter)