A Tale of Two Cities Supporting Xinjiang

"Why should we, the native locals, be inferior to outsiders?"

Ma Haitao slammed his fist on the table and said, "This project occupies land near Qianquan Lake, and they won't even let the locals profit from the supporting infrastructure. These aid-to-Xinjiang cadres must be satiated by big corporations!"

The other three bosses who participated in the bidding also chimed in, getting angrier and angrier as they talked.

"No, we can't just let this go. We have to cause them some trouble and show them what the locals are capable of!"

That afternoon, Ma Haitao, carrying a pack of cigarettes, visited several pastures.

When they encountered herdsmen, they would approach them and sigh mysteriously, "Alas, you don't know yet, do you?"

The new project involves building underground pipelines. I heard from someone on the construction team that the pipes are too thick and will puncture the groundwater layer. In less than six months, Qianquan Lake will be dry!

The herders panicked upon hearing this, and Ma Haitao added fuel to the fire: "That's right! If the lake dries up, the cattle and sheep won't have water to drink, and the crops in the fields will die of drought. How will we survive then?"

As he traveled, the story spread, becoming increasingly bizarre. The lake's condition changed from possibly drying up to certain drying up, and the timeframe shortened from "six months" to "three months."

The next morning, Ma Haitao handed a wad of cash to the idle Wumaier Maimunan and a slogan for protecting the water source that had been printed overnight. "Brother, if this is done, I'll give you 30% of the subsequent projects."

Go door to door and tell everyone that Qianquan Lake is going to dry up, and if we don't stop it, everyone will starve!

Wumaier Maimunan rushed out with a banner in hand, shouting at the top of his lungs at the pasture: "Everyone, wake up!"

That project involves building underground pipelines, and Qianquan Lake is going to dry up! Our cattle and sheep won't have water to drink, and we won't be able to survive!

He ran around sweating profusely, knocking on door after door, repeating Ma Haitao's words over and over, his eyes full of incitement: "The aid workers don't care about our lives, and big companies only care about making money. If we don't step up, our roots will be gone!"

More than 20 herder households immediately grabbed shovels and ropes and followed him to the construction site.

Upon arriving at the construction site entrance, Wumaier Maimunan led the charge, shouting at the construction team, "Stop work! Stop work, all of you! You're cutting off our livelihood!"

The construction team leader quickly stepped in to stop them, saying, "Everyone, don't be impulsive, let's talk this out."

"Bullshit! The cadres sent to Xinjiang to assist in the relief efforts are protecting big corporations; they don't care about the lives of us herders. Either stop today, or we'll smash this fence!"

Several agitated herders rushed forward, reaching out to dismantle the construction barriers. The construction team quickly stepped forward to stop them, and a shoving match ensued, instantly turning the scene into chaos.

Ma Haitao, hiding at a distance, saw the scene escalating and quickly called his men, "Quickly film! Film as many people as possible, add captions saying 'Qianquan Lake is disappearing,' and post it on short video platforms to get more people to support us!"

As soon as the video was released, the number of views surged rapidly. When herders from nearby pastures saw it, they thought that Qianquan Lake was really going to disappear, and they rushed over on horseback and in cars to help.

Before noon, the number of people blocking the construction site had increased from 20 to more than 50. They held up banners and shouted slogans, and some even threw stones into the site. The construction team could only retreat to the inside of the site and watch helplessly as chaos erupted outside.

Wumaier Maimunan stood at the front of the crowd, repeatedly shouting, "The cadres supporting Xinjiang don't care about the lives of the herders." His voice was hoarse but inflammatory, and more and more herders were ignited. The scene completely spiraled out of control, and even passing vehicles were blocked on the side of the road.

Ma Haitao watched this scene from a distance. This was exactly the effect he wanted. Even if he didn't ruin the project, he would make them obediently hand over the supporting facilities.

Just after Zhou Mingyu attended the opening ceremony, a short video popped up on his phone showing that the Qianquan Lake project site was surrounded by herdsmen, some holding up signs to protect the water source, and others shouting that the pipeline would destroy the groundwater.

The camera was shaky, and the caption was even more jarring: "Aid-to-Xinjiang cadres protect big enterprises, ignoring the lives of herders."

Zhou Mingyu immediately took a car to the project site, where he happened to run into Uncle Abduja Token surrounded by a crowd.

The older man saw him and was about to speak when a herdsman beside him interjected, "Director Zhou, you can't just focus on projects. Director Yang said last time he'd protect the irrigation canal, but it collapsed during the flood season. This time he's saying the pipeline is safe. Why should we believe him?"

"Exactly! This pipe will puncture the aquifer, and Qianquan Lake will dry up within six months!"

Another herdsman chimed in, "We depend on this lake for our livelihood. If we lose it, how will we survive?"

Abduja Token sighed and looked at Zhou Mingyu with a complicated tone: "Director Zhou, it's not that we don't trust you, it's just that this matter concerns the livelihood of our entire family."

Director Yang failed to deliver on his last promise. Now you're saying the pipeline is safe—does that promise count?

Before Zhou Mingyu could explain, General Manager Zhao from Tianye Group called: "Director Zhou, I know about the construction site blockade. The land use approval was already stalled; if this continues, the project will have to be halted. You must resolve this as soon as possible, otherwise I will have to consider withdrawing my investment!"

"Don't worry, Mr. Zhao, I'm on site right now and will handle it as soon as possible."

After hanging up the phone, Zhou Mingyu turned to his staff and shouted, "Contact Yang Zhitong and the geological exploration team experts immediately and have them come over with all the reports."

Half an hour later, Yang Zhitong and the geological experts arrived, carrying thick stacks of documents.

Zhou Mingyu took the document, walked to the center of the crowd, and raised his voice to shout, "Fellow villagers, please be quiet."

The claim that the pipeline damaged groundwater is a complete rumor, and I'm here to clarify that today!

He opened the hydrological exploration report of Qianquan Lake, pointed to the charts on it, and said, "Look, this is the result of three explorations by the geological team. The groundwater layer of Qianquan Lake is buried 15 meters underground, like a thick steel plate, very hard."

Our pipelines not only feature a leak-proof coating, but the construction route was also deliberately designed to avoid the core water source area, completely avoiding the groundwater layer!

An expert stepped forward to add, picking up a sample of the pipe: "This coating is corrosion-resistant and leak-proof. Even if it is buried underground for a long time, it will not pollute the soil and water. You can touch it and see that this material is even more durable than the iron pots in our homes."

Zhou Mingyu then asked Yang Zhitong to produce the monitoring data for the irrigation canal: "The last time the irrigation canal collapsed, it was due to a sudden shift in the quicksand layer, which was an accident."

We have since reinforced all the water conservancy facilities. Monitoring data over the past few years shows that the irrigation canals have never delayed irrigation, which is something everyone can see with their own eyes.

The aid projects in Xinjiang have never been about achieving political goals; they are genuinely aimed at improving people's lives.

The crowd gradually quieted down. Wumaier Maimunan stepped forward and carefully examined the data on the report. "Just looking at a piece of paper isn't enough. How do we know this data is accurate?"

I assure you.

Within three days, I organized representatives of herders to follow the geological team on-site to conduct explorations, take samples with drilling rigs, and let everyone see with their own eyes how deep the groundwater layer really is and whether the pipeline is safe.

If there is even the slightest falsehood, the project will be halted immediately, and I will personally apologize to everyone!

These words calmed many herders down.

As Zhou Mingyu watched the herdsmen gradually disperse, he knew perfectly well that this was no simple misunderstanding; someone was definitely stirring things up behind the scenes.

Instead of returning to the management committee, he turned around and ran towards the pastures around Qianquan Lake.