Special forces soldier demobilization: Starting from the county government compound, a meteoric rise

Late autumn always arrives exceptionally early in the city.

The leaves of the old jujube tree in the courtyard have mostly fallen. The morning sunlight filters through the sparse branches, casting dappled shadows on the paving stones.

Liu Ming sat in a rattan chair, holding a newly delivered copy of the "Internal Reference" newspaper. The headline on the front page featured a line of large, bold characters.

[The latest list of the top 100 counties in China has been released: Qingyun County, Ningzhou City, Jiangnan Province, tops the list!]

These few words were like a key, instantly unlocking the dusty door deep in Liu Ming's memory.

Qingyun County.

More than a decade ago, he took off his military uniform, carrying injuries and filled with hatred, and first stepped into that place. That impoverished, remote village where even getting food at the county government compound canteen required currying favor, where criminal gangs ran rampant, and where the people couldn't even get enough to eat.

That lawless place where Li Yuankui held absolute power and Wang Bancheng acted with impunity.

Now, it has actually become the number one model economic zone in the country?

"What are you looking at so intently?"

Nangong Yao, dressed in loose-fitting home clothes, came out of the kitchen carrying two cups of hot milk. She handed one of the cups to Liu Ming, then sat down on the stone bench next to him and peeked at the contents of the newspaper.

"Wow, Qingyun County has become number one?"

Nangong Yao raised an eyebrow, a hint of reminiscence flashing in her peach blossom eyes.

"I remember when I flew there in a helicopter to support you back then, there wasn't even a decent helipad, just endless yellow dust. The changes in the last ten years have been truly remarkable."

"Yes, it's unbelievably big."

Liu Ming put down the newspaper, picked up the milk, and took a sip. The warm liquid flowed down her throat, dispelling the slight chill of the morning.

His gaze was somewhat profound.

"When I first arrived in Qingyun County, the local people looked at the cadres with evasive and numb eyes, like a flock of lambs that had been penned in a mud pit and had resigned themselves to their fate."

"That Lao Fan, he spent his whole life in the General Affairs Section, and he turned himself into a cunning official who only knew how to flatter people. And that Lu Xiao Kui, a recent college graduate, was so scared that she trembled when she delivered a document."

"But back then, they still had a breath left in their bones. It's just that they were suffocating under the thick veil of darkness above them."

Liu Ming gently stroked the edge of the newspaper, a testament to the fruition of the "White Paper on Industrial Upgrading of Qingyun County" that he had personally written years ago.

……

Qingyun County at this time was no longer the poor and backward place it once was.

What were once bumpy dirt roads are now wide and smooth asphalt roads. High-rise buildings line both sides of the streets, with modern commercial complexes and upscale residential communities standing side by side.

In the south of the city, there once lay a den of thugs that had given successive county leaders headaches and which even the police dared not easily set foot in. Now, it has been transformed into the "Qingyun Digital Technology Industrial Park," covering thousands of acres.

Inside the park.

One after another, futuristic research and development buildings have sprung up. At the drone test flight field invested by Nangong Group, dozens of the latest logistics drones are being tested. Some of the petty thugs who used to make a living by collecting protection money have gone to prison after Liu Ming's heavy blow to "crack down on organized crime" years ago, while others have become skilled technical workers in the park under the government's vocational training.

"Check the parameters of this machine again! The precision required by Germany is at the micrometer level; even the slightest deviation is unacceptable!"

In a high-precision instrument manufacturing workshop, a man in blue overalls with slightly graying hair is loudly giving instructions.

He is the same "nail house" resident, Old Zhao, who was bitten on the leg by Wang Bancheng's dog for resisting Li Yuankui's forced demolition. Now, he is the deputy director of this Sino-foreign joint venture precision instrument factory and a nationally renowned technical expert.

"Factory Manager Zhao, don't worry! The pass rate for this batch of goods is absolutely 100%!"

A young technician next to me smiled and handed me a report. "Our Qingyun County is now the industry leader in this area. Even established European companies have to look up to us."

Old Zhao took the report, looked at the impressive data, and subconsciously touched his injured leg, his eyes welling up slightly.

"Yes, the top boss."

Old Zhao muttered to himself.

"If it weren't for that young man surnamed Liu, if he hadn't stood in front of the bulldozer and shot that Molotov cocktail, if he hadn't sent all those vampires to prison..."

"Our Qingyun County is probably still a dilapidated and impoverished place."

He walked to the workshop window and looked at the highway that stretched straight into the distance. It was the road to survival that Liu Ming had painstakingly built with a 5 billion yuan investment, after making a solemn pledge.

"Director Liu."

Old Zhao muttered to himself.

"The people of Qingyun County have not disgraced you."

……

Not just in the south of the city.

In the various townships under the jurisdiction of Qingyun County, those once barren mines have been transformed into a continuous stretch of green ecological tourism parks. The miners who risked their lives for money in those illegal coal mines are now shareholders in the parks, receiving more dividends at the end of the year than they used to earn mining coal.

The person who created all of this, whose name once left behind countless legends in the county government compound, is still the most talked-about topic among the people of Qingyun County.

In the honor room of the county party committee compound.

The current Party Secretary of Qingyun County is accompanying a visiting leader from the province on a tour.

"This display board records the momentous 'battle to break the deadlock' that Qingyun County fought back then."

The county party secretary pointed to an enlarged black-and-white photograph on the wall, his tone filled with undisguised awe.

The photo shows Liu Ming, in his early twenties, wearing a mud-covered camouflage uniform, standing amidst a group of riot police and an angry mob. He holds a large red megaphone, his eyes sharp as knives.

That was the moment he stood at the scene of the forced demolition in the south of the city, debating with a group of scholars and turning the tide.

The provincial research leaders, upon seeing the photo, also gasped. "Is this the place where Liu Gu was temporarily assigned back then?"

"That's right."

The county party secretary nodded. "When Liu Gu was here, he left behind a lot of 'iron-fisted' rules. Many of the people in our current team were personally promoted by him back then. That 'zero-tolerance' anti-corruption mechanism and 'efficient and transparent' investment promotion process are still in use today."

"No wonder."

The visiting leaders exclaimed, "With such a foundation, it's no wonder that Qingyun County ranked first among the top 100 counties in the country."

……

In the courtyard house.

A gentle breeze blew by, and a yellow leaf fell, landing right on the newspaper in Liu Ming's hand.

"What are you looking at?"

Xi Wanqing carried over a plate of washed fruit and placed it on the stone table. Following Liu Ming's gaze, she also saw that familiar place name.

"Qingyun County".

She paused for a moment, then her eyes softened instantly.

"That's a place you'll never forget."

She recalled her early days there, isolated by Li Yuankui, her desk piled high with documents ignored by everyone. She also remembered that dinner party where Liu Ming single-handedly outdrank three leaders.

I also recalled that thrilling life-or-death rescue at the chemical plant on that stormy night.

That was where their fate began. It was also the starting point where this man truly began to display his earth-shattering brilliance.

"Yes, I can't forget it."

Liu Ming put down the newspaper, picked up the glass of milk, and looked at the two children chasing and playing in the yard not far away. A sincere and extremely gratified smile slowly appeared on his lips.

He knew the sweat he had shed, the injuries he had sustained, and even the infamy he had borne on that land back then.

None of it was in vain.

The seed he planted in the soil with his own hands, named "hope," not only sprouted but also grew into a towering tree.

Its fruits have brought a better life to hundreds of thousands of people.

"This world."

Liu Ming murmured softly, her voice revealing a calmness born from experience.

"In the end, this world belongs to these down-to-earth, honest, and hardworking ordinary people."

"Those tables we overturned back then."

"It was worth it."