Nominal: Who isn't a son-in-law?

"Linwa, you've lost weight, but you've also matured."

Chu Shijun stepped forward, patted him on the shoulder, and pointed forward.

"I heard they said you did a great job this year, but how so? I want to see."

"Come on, you, the head of the household, show me around and give me a tour."

"Okay, Secretary Chu,"

The two led the way, walking along the village road, where Lin Xiangjun summarized and reported on his work over the past year.

"Secretary Chu, you once said that we young people should make a difference and achieve something. When we were having dinner at your house, you asked me what I planned to do after graduation. I said I wanted to learn from you and go to the west, to the underdeveloped areas. I haven't broken my promise."

"When we first came here, the biggest shortcomings of our Xilin Village were the lack of formal industries, the lack of a collective economy, and the lack of good income-generating channels."

"Based on your work experience in Huayang, I immediately launched a survey and found that the biggest advantage of the area is the excellent soil quality of the mountainous terrain, the abundance of idle land, and the sufficient basic labor force left behind."

"Therefore, after I was stationed in the village, I didn't blindly introduce large industries and projects. Instead, I based my approach on the village's actual conditions and followed a development path that was 'small but refined, small but stable, accessible to every household, and with the lowest risk.' Like you, I started by building the roads."

Lin Xiangjun smiled slightly.

"Subsequently, under the leadership of our village committee, the entire village collectively reclaimed over 100 mu of abandoned mountain land and concentrated on planting local alpine vegetables, medicinal herbs, and organic grain crops. We adopted a system of unified management, individual household operation, and collective village purchasing and sales, which solved the problems of farmers' scattered individual planting and lack of sales channels."

He pointed to the crops drying on the ground in front of some yards.

"Based on this, we established labor mutual assistance points to address the situation where elderly people and left-behind women in the village are unable to go out to work. These points provide services such as management and maintenance of the village's planting base, preliminary processing of agricultural products, sorting and packaging, etc., allowing these left-behind residents to have work to do every day right at their doorstep, thus solving their problems of having enough to eat and having some extra money."

"We will conduct door-to-door surveys and monitoring of households and those lifted out of poverty, establish files for each household, closely monitor families with seriously ill members, disabled members, or those without labor capacity, and implement basic assistance and placement in public service positions..."

Lin Xiangjun recounted the measures and achievements implemented over the past year, and when he encountered villagers, they all warmly called him Secretary Lin.

Chu Shijun witnessed all of this.

"After a year of hard work, our Xilin Village has completely bid farewell to the state of having no collective economy. The village's annual collective income has achieved a breakthrough from zero to tens of thousands of yuan, the per capita income of farmers has increased significantly, all idle resources in the village have been revitalized, and grassroots governance is also being steadily standardized. All indicators have basically met the standards for exiting the list of key weak villages. The focus going forward is to stabilize this status quo and strive to achieve just the right balance..."

Behind the two, Liu Yuntian felt that the arrangement at the time was indeed correct, and this trip was the right one.

Thinking of this, he glanced at the time, took two steps back, and instructed the county leaders, "Make arrangements to prepare dinner."

"ah,"

The county leaders were taken aback. Given Chu Shijun's status, why would he be eating here?

"Governor Liu, it's not appropriate to have Secretary Chu eat in this village. How about we go to the county? I'll make a call and arrange it..."

"What do you know!"

Liu Yuntian frowned and said, "Damn it, we've been researching for four days, and we've finally arrived at a place that's quite nice. Chu Shijun knows people there, so if we don't treat him to a meal to get closer to him, when will we have another chance?"

"Secretary Chu has always been simple, frugal, and concerned about the people. Now that he's come to Xilin Village, which is doing quite well, he must want to hear the people's true feelings. It would be wonderful to have a hearty meal here tonight!"

"I'm telling you, make arrangements immediately to purchase ingredients from the city and bring them over quickly. Set up several more pots so the villagers can eat together and have a lively meal. For the specific standards, you can discuss them with Director Li of the security department who is accompanying you. Also, ask the county public security bureau to send more people over. If you're going back at night, set up checkpoints along the way to ensure safety."

"Okay, Governor Liu, I'll make the arrangements right away." The county leader nodded and prepared to go.

"Wait a moment, let me tell Secretary Chu."

Liu Yuntian quickened his pace to catch up and explained the arrangements to Chu Shijun.

Upon hearing this, Lin Xiangjun, seeing Liu Yun's envious glance, also said, "Yes, Secretary Chu, why don't you stay for dinner tonight? Invite the villagers along, and we can all have a lively time. If you have any questions or things you'd like to hear, the villagers can tell you their honest feelings."

"Yes, Secretary Chu." Liu Yuntian said with anticipation.

"You two, you planned this all along, intending to make me eat this meal."

Chu Shijun shook his head helplessly, not wanting to refuse the good intentions.

"Alright then, we'll do as you wish. Xiao Li, come here."

Director Li from the security department, who was accompanying them, immediately stepped forward. His tall and burly figure was quite imposing. "Secretary Chu, what are your orders?"

"We'll stay here for dinner tonight. I know you're going to have tests done, so please talk to them about it. Also, you pay for this in advance, and I'll reimburse you later."

"How can this be allowed? Secretary Chu, we can't let you spend the money, our province will cover it..." Liu Yuntian said anxiously.

"Why,"

Chu Shijun waved his hand, "It won't cost much. I have plenty of royalties. It's settled then. Go ahead."

"OK."

As a member of the security department, Xiao Li always obeyed his superiors' orders and never asked too many questions. He would only stand up for himself if it violated their security principles, and he had his own principles.

Seeing Chu Shijun's resolute attitude, Liu Yuntian had no choice but to give up and turned to have the message passed on.

This little incident did not disrupt the rhythm.

The group continued walking forward.

I walked along the village roads and looked around everywhere, including the planting base established in the village, the cultivated fields, and even sat down in some villagers' homes.

Finally, the group returned to the village committee and rested for a while.

While brewing tea, Chu Shijun said to everyone, "Comrade Xiang and I both graduated from Handong University. We share the same origins and aspirations. He is a young man from Huayang Town. Huayang was my first place when I started working. I have a deep affection for that land and its people."

Everyone listened attentively.

"Having come from the fertile land of Huayang and graduated from the prestigious Wuhan University, they are willing to give up the stability of the city and take the initiative to settle down in the most remote and underdeveloped mountain villages. This original aspiration, this sense of responsibility, and this sentiment are very precious."

"Today I also witnessed the changes in Xilin Village, which is a typical example of small investment, big changes, and practical results. There was no fancy stuff or superficial work. Instead, we focused on the actual conditions of the village, the needs of the people, and worked hard in a down-to-earth manner. Comrade Xiang Jun and all the comrades in Xilin Village have overcome the shortcomings and tough challenges in a year, truly living up to the education of their alma mater, the land and water of their hometown, and the expectations of the people at the grassroots level."

"This deserves recognition and praise!"