I was married off to a disabled hero in lieu of marriage; my in-laws doted on me and I aspired to gr

"Although you are not greedy, you are not a good person either. Now let's talk about your problems."

Feng Shiguang glanced at Zhou Zhonghai, and Zhou Zhonghai immediately became obedient.

"The gun the Central Military Commission left you as a souvenir, hand it over immediately. Because you disregard discipline and threatened important cadres with a gun, you are placed on probation for six months. If you commit any further violations of rules and regulations, you will be expelled from the Party and the military..."

"Are wages and benefits being paid as usual?"

"You're about to be expelled from the Party, and you're still thinking about your salary?"

"I still owe my youngest son a lot of money for medical treatment. The Minister of Agriculture sounds like a high-ranking official with a generous salary, but he's really nothing."

"Zhou Zhonghai..."

"Stop calling me Zhou Zhonghai. Just fire me and see who dares to take my place. In a small city with a dozen or so counties, six of them are involved in corruption and bribery in agriculture. You, the governor, are just a piece of shit."

"you……"

"If you dock my pay, I'll come live at your house and eat, drink, and sleep there. Fine, I'm going to the agricultural university; who has time to listen to your lectures then?"

"Zhou... okay, okay, you can go."

Feng Shiguang waved his hand, and Zhou Zhonghai, without any hesitation, picked up his briefcase and left.

Feng Shiguang relaxed. Zhou Zhonghai was right. If the Ministry of Agriculture could produce such a big corrupt official, what about other industries?

No, we must hold a meeting. We must notify the Discipline Inspection Commission that a three-month inspection of violations of discipline and regulations will be conducted throughout the province.

Zhou Zhonghai went to an agricultural university. For some reason, whenever he felt upset or irritable, he would go to Xia Lei's research institute to calm down.

Xia Lei was carefully shaking a glass bottle in the lab when he saw Zhou Zhonghai. He quickly handed the bottle to the young researcher next to him and said, "Shake it for ten minutes and then check the quality."

"Yes."

Xia Lei took off his white gloves and greeted him happily, "Minister Zhou, it's been a while!"

Zhou Zhonghai plopped down on the sofa in the living room outside the laboratory and said, "I've run into some minor troubles."

"Zhao Jintao said that you went to Liuxian County for inspection and found a corrupt official. How is the case being handled?" Xia Lei asked with concern.

"Don't even mention it! I've been groveling here to develop new varieties, and they're just reselling them at a higher price to other counties, Director Xia. I've been played like a fool. How can I stand this? I'll make them pay!" Zhou Zhonghai was seething with anger.

"Actually, it's not really about being subservient. They still haven't paid back the 100,000 yuan they owe our research institute, have they?"

Xia Lei chuckled: "However, it is indeed despicable to take the wheat seeds that farmers rely on for survival and resell them to other counties. Our mission is to ensure that the people have enough to eat, so that in the end, the corrupt officials can eat their fill and become smug."

"Isn't that right? A desperate corrupt official would do anything, even kidnap my grandson."

"Ah... kidnapped? Kidnapped the minister's grandson? Who, who is so audacious, don't they value their life?" Xia Lei was genuinely frightened.

"Hmph, even if we tie him up, we can't do anything to him. His family has military merits that can save their lives; I'd have to admit defeat. Alright, alright, stop talking about me. I'm already annoyed enough, and you keep bringing it up."

"There are always people more capable than you, and mountains beyond mountains. You're arrogant enough as it is."

"Xia Lei, do you even know how to comfort people? If you don't, then don't try."

"Yes, yes, then I have something to be happy about. You used your connections to get Zhao Jintao into my program, you really struck gold."

"No, when did I use connections? Are all you intellectuals this emotionally intelligent?"

"I was wrong, I was wrong. My disciple Zhao Jintao, whom I willingly took on as my last apprentice, is incredible. He's even more capable than the graduate students I've mentored for several years. Just by looking at the fields, he knows when it's time to pollinate the flowers. And by looking at the wheat seedlings, he knows when to spray pesticides and when to irrigate... Wow, amazing."

Xia Lei was beaming with joy, genuinely liking Zhao Jintao.

"Of course, before he went to university, he was the team leader. Among dozens of villages around, his village had the highest wheat yield. You, with your narrow-mindedness, almost lost a good apprentice," Zhou Zhonghai said sarcastically.

"Yes, I was too opportunistic. Minister Zhou, Zhao Jintao is a good kid. After he graduates from university, I plan to keep him by my side to do research."

"What? Keep me by your side?"

"Yes, our research institute needs a lot of talent. In the past, all the college students were recommended. They were all mediocre and had terrible tempers. They are not as good as these students who got in through their own abilities."

"The agricultural university has enrolled so many students this year, you have plenty to choose from, Zhao Jintao is not suitable."

"Hey, Minister Zhou, so many people want to get into the research institute. I'm giving you special treatment."

Xia Lei got angry. "You can't even tell right from wrong!"

"Who cares about your face? Just focus on training Zhao Jintao. After graduation, he'll be working for the Ministry of Agriculture in Tonggang County."

Zhou Zhonghai sneered, "You want talent? The whole country needs talent. Take the comrades in the agricultural departments of various counties, for example. They're all half-baked. They can't do anything right, but they're all good at speculation."

"I understand, you want Zhao Jintao to take the official route."

"What officialdom? All officialdom serves the people. Zhao Jintao is talented, decisive, and resourceful. Isn't keeping him in the research institute a waste of his talent? He should be working to benefit more people."

"Hehe, that makes sense. Minister Zhou has a high standard; I'm ashamed to admit my inferiority. Since he has a more suitable place for him, I can't take what he desires away. Minister Zhou, what brings you here today?"

Is there something wrong? I'm just feeling a bit irritable and wanted to come and sit for a while.

"Can't you come if there's nothing wrong? You won't even pour me a glass of water, and you still want money. I'll drag you along no matter what," Zhou Zhonghai said pettily.

"Oh dear, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry, I'll pour it right away. It's new tea, new tea grown by our research institute." Xia Lei immediately got up to pour the tea.

In a large porcelain jar, a pot of fresh, vibrant green tea was steeping. Zhou Zhonghai smelled it and said, "Such fine tea, is this a new product you've researched?"

"Yes, it's a pity nobody wants the tea seedlings. If people can't even afford food, who's going to appreciate tea?"

"I want it, is it expensive?"

"You...you still owe me 100,000?"

"Don't even mention the 100,000. The 400,000 allocated by the Ministry of Finance will be coming in soon, and I'll pay back what I owe you."

"Minister Zhou, if you pay back the 100,000 yuan, I'll give you 100,000 good tea seedlings for free. However, I won't cover the transportation and labor costs; you'll have to dig them up yourself from the tea mountains. Planting tea is easy; it doesn't require careful tending. Just find a few hilltops and plant them."

"Really?"

"Hurry up and dig them up. There are too many tea seedlings taking up my space. If you remove them, you'll be helping me out. Our research institute is preparing to plant fruit trees."

"Okay, it's a deal. I can cover the shipping costs. As for labor costs, doesn't your school have plenty of workers? Just have the students do a day's work."

"You, you, you can't be the legendary Zhou Bapi, can you?"

"Poor, poor, everything is for the people, Director Xia. I knew that coming here would not leave empty-handed, hahaha."

My dejected mood instantly brightened.