Ordinary World: Starting with a divorce from Tian Runye

The meeting room of the former Xixian Revolutionary Committee was located on the second floor of the county government building.

The small room contained a long table covered with a green velvet cloth, with an enamel teapot in the center. A portrait of the leader hung in the center of the wall, flanked by slogans in white lettering on a red background. The window was only half-open, and the hot June wind, carrying the smell of loess, poured into the room, causing the meeting minutes on the table to curl up.

Today's meeting is a Standing Committee meeting.

The topic is the current situation of agricultural production.

There were five people in total.

Feng Shikuan sat in the middle of the long table. He was the director of the county revolutionary committee and the former top official of Xixian County. He was in his early fifties, his hair was neatly combed, and every button on his shirt was fastened tightly.

In Yuanxi County, Feng Shikuan's authority was unquestionable, but he knew in his heart that his authority did not come from Yuanxi County, but from Huangyuan Region. Miao Kai, an official in Huangyuan, was his true backer.

Feng Shikuan had a peculiar characteristic: he never acted on his own initiative, always trying to gauge Miao Kai's attitude first. If Miao Kai said go east, he would never go west. If Miao Kai didn't speak, he would wait. Over the years, he rose from a deputy to the top official of Yuanxi County precisely because of this ability to closely follow and accurately understand Miao Kai's intentions.

But in the past year, he has felt increasingly uncertain.

The winds in the province were shifting; some things that used to be said with conviction now sounded less convincing. He called Miao Kai several times to report Tian Fujun's troubles in Yuanxi County, but Miao Kai's attitude remained ambiguous.

They neither expressed support for Feng Shih-kuan nor mentioned taking action against Tian Fu-jun. Every phone call consisted of the same few lines: "Just focus on your work and don't worry about anything else. Unity is the most important thing."

Unity? Unity with Tian Fujun?

Feng Shikuan sometimes felt that the province might have deliberately placed Tian Fujun, this troublemaker, in Yuanxi County just to prevent him from having a peaceful life.

Ma Guoxiong was sitting to his left.

Ma Guoxiong was the deputy director, Feng Shikuan's staunch supporter. He lacked independent thought, but had one redeeming quality: loyalty. He followed Feng Shikuan's every word without question, never failing to obey. In the power structure of Yuanxi County, Ma Guoxiong was Feng Shikuan's shadow; he was always there when Feng needed him, speaking for him on matters Feng Shikuan couldn't easily say. Today was no exception.

Li Dengyun was sitting to Feng Shih-kuan's right.

Li Dengyun was also a deputy director, and in terms of seniority, he had served as deputy director for six months longer than Ma Guoxiong. He was shrewd and shrewd.

He used to be one of Feng Shikuan's men, a fact known throughout the county. But ever since his son, Li Xiangqian, married Tian Fujun's niece, Tian Runye, his position became more complicated. Feng Shikuan always felt that his position wasn't as secure as it used to be.

Sitting opposite them were Tian Fujun and Zhang Youzhi.

Tian Fujun is the deputy director, in charge of agriculture. Feng Shikuan knows this guy all too well. A graduate of the Statistics Department of Renmin University of China, he's well-educated, has insightful ideas, and isn't one to mince words.

In the past, when everyone else attended meetings at the county revolutionary committee, they would just read from prepared speeches, but he always insisted on expressing his own opinions. Feng Shikuan cursed in his heart more than once, "The organization sent you to Yuanxi County to do the work, not to be a thinker."

But this person just happens to stand firm and never fall.

Feng Shikuan vaguely knew that Tian Fujun and Shi Zhong, the deputy secretary of the provincial party committee in charge of organization, had a past relationship. Feng Shikuan guessed that Miao Kai was wary of this relationship, so although Miao Kai disliked Tian Fujun, he didn't easily take action against him.

In officialdom, it's not that we're afraid of your competence, but that we're afraid of you being capable and having someone protecting you.

However, when it comes to political direction, no matter how high-ranking an official is, it's useless. There are plenty of people with connections and ideas than Tian Fujun, so why don't they all go down to the grassroots?

Now the whole country is united in its efforts to learn from Dazhai in agriculture; who dares to disagree?

Secretary Miao Kai is just being a bit too cautious.

Feng Shih-kuan thought to himself.

Zhang Youzhi is the youngest of the deputy directors. He has worked with Tian Fujun for many years and has a clear stance.

This man was even more straightforward than Tian Fujun. At least Tian Fujun was strategic, but Zhang Youzhi just started cursing. Feng Shikuan wasn't too afraid of him because Zhang Youzhi didn't have any powerful backing; he was just someone who made a living through his own abilities. But what made this man difficult to deal with was that his insults were often extremely harsh, and they were so harsh that they were always justified, leaving you with no grounds for rebuttal.

Five people, five enamel mugs, and five faces, each with its own thoughts.

Feng Shih-kuan spoke first.

"Today's meeting is mainly about the issue of our Yuanxi County's title as an advanced county in learning from Dazhai in agriculture. This title was given by the province and is the result of the efforts of all cadres and the masses in the county over the past few years. No matter what winds blow outside, we cannot waver or slacken our efforts."

Feng Shih-kuan picked up his enamel mug, took a sip of tea, and glanced around the table.

"Some comrades always feel that there's something wrong with our working methods, that we've gone too far in our campaigns. I don't see it that way. How can we carry out construction without discipline, organization, and pressure?"

Ma Guoxiong immediately took over.

"Director Feng is right. The title of advanced unit is hard-won, and the whole county must work together. Individual comrades may have different opinions, but they must not contradict each other at the meeting and affect the overall work of the county."

When Ma Guoxiong said this, he didn't even look at Tian Fujun; his gaze was fixed on the enamel teapot on the table. He knew his role; he didn't need to make eye contact with Tian Fujun. He only needed to say what Feng Shikuan wanted to say but couldn't say himself.

Tian Fujun did not respond immediately.

He leaned back in his chair, his fingers tapping unconsciously on the table. He knew what Feng Shih-kuan wanted to achieve at today's meeting. It was nothing more than using the pretext of securing a title to silence him on agricultural issues. He'd been through too many of these meetings. Feng Shih-kuan always used the same tactic: first set the tone, then get Ma Guoxiong to chime in, and finally force others to express their opinions.

Tian Fujun was not afraid of him.

During his years in Yuanxi County, he and Feng Shikuan had engaged in countless open and covert struggles. Every time he raised the issue of addressing people's livelihoods, Feng Shikuan would use the "big picture" to pressure him. But what is the "big picture"? Isn't the greatest "big picture" the fact that ordinary people don't have enough to eat?

"Director Feng, I have a different opinion."

Feng Shih-kuan raised an eyebrow.

"We've retained our title as an advanced county, but what about our commune members? Last year, three production teams in Shigejie Commune ran out of food, and the commune members in Liucha Commune couldn't even afford cotton-padded clothes in the winter, so they had to exchange their rations for money on the black market. You all know these things."

Tian Fujun's voice wasn't loud, but every word carried weight.

"What's the point of maintaining the title if the commune members can't even get enough to eat? The plaque for the advanced county hangs in front of the county government, but the commune members' pots are empty. I think we'd rather not have this kind of advanced status."

The meeting room fell silent.

Feng Shikuan's face darkened as he quickly calculated in his mind. Tian Fujun had brought up the food shortage issue again, and this was the most troublesome topic. Because it was a fact. But he couldn't admit it; admitting it would be tantamount to admitting that his work was flawed and that the title of "advanced county" was meaningless.

"Comrade Fujun, your words are too harsh. You said there was a food shortage, but why haven't I received any reports of that?"

"Because nobody dares to report it." Tian Fujun looked at him. "Which commune-level cadre dares to tell the county that their commune or production team has run out of food? If they do, won't they be disqualified from being considered advanced? If they're disqualified, will they be able to keep their official positions?"

Feng Shih-kuan was momentarily speechless, but quickly seized the opportunity and retorted.

"Comrade Fujun, this is a new era, a new society. There are no official hats here, only public servants. Let's stick to the facts and not bring up feudal ideas."

"Director Feng, let's not play with words. A food shortage is a food shortage. We can tell how the commune members are doing just by walking around. We're working for the government, so we need to find a way to make sure they have enough to eat."

That's what makes Tian Fujun so remarkable. He doesn't argue with you about grand principles; he presents you with facts. And even though you know the facts are true, you can't refute them.

"That's a generalization!" Ma Guoxiong slammed his hand on the table to help Feng Shikuan out of the predicament.

Taking advantage of the moment when Ma Guoxiong was speaking, Feng Shikuan turned his gaze to Zhang Youzhi.

"Comrade Zhang Youzhi, what do you think?"