Me! A high-ranking official!

"Sister Xu, just one more question," Zhao Jianguo said casually, putting away his documents, "Who has the bureau assigned to work with me this time? How many people are in the village work team?"

Xu Ling coughed twice, her eyes filled with even more sympathy, and lowered her voice to say, "It's on the list. Including you, there are three people. The other two... are Old Wu from the office, Wu Dayong; and Li Wen from the publicity department."

Upon hearing those two names, Zhao Jianguo's eye twitched violently, and he cursed inwardly: Zhang Baocheng, damn it!

These two people are known as "two living ancestors" in the Bureau of Culture and Tourism!

Old Wu, Wu Dayong, is fifty-eight years old this year. He's a typical "ship has reached the dock, car has reached the station" type. In two more years, he'll go straight to retirement procedures. The only thing this old man does every day when he comes to the office is to hold a purple clay teapot, read the newspaper, and grow clivia in the office. He sits there all day long. Ask him to go to the countryside to help the poor? You'd be lucky if he didn't cause you trouble. In fact, Zhao Jianguo might have to serve him instead.

As for Li Wen, she's even more of a freak. She's a young woman who got in two years ago. Her family owns a carbon factory in a neighboring county. She's a genuine rich kid. She took the civil service exam purely because her family doesn't expect her to make money. They just want a stable job in the system, which sounds good and makes it easier to find a good match in a good family. This lady usually drives a BMW 4 Series to and from get off work. If she's in a good mood, she'll clock in. If she's in a bad mood, she won't even ask for leave and will just disappear. Anyway, she has a secure job. As long as she doesn't make any big mistakes, the bureau can't fire her. Even Zhang Baocheng usually doesn't bother with her.

By including these two "treasures" in his village work team, Zhang Baocheng's shoes were practically tailor-made for Zhao Jianguo!

This means that although the work team was nominally three people, once they arrived in the village, all the dirty and tiring work, door-to-door visits, and writing reports and filling out forms all fell on Zhao Jianguo's shoulders! This was no longer going to be the team leader; it was clearly going to be a farmhand!

"Okay, I understand, thank you, Sister Xu." He sighed inwardly, his dream of becoming a hands-off boss had been shattered.

However, the only thing that gave him some comfort was that although Luo Family Village was remote, it was located in a no-man's-land, so geographically it was not too far from his hometown, Qianzhao Village, with only two towns in between, which would make it much more convenient for him to go home in the future.

According to the documents issued by the provincial and municipal governments, all selected first secretaries stationed in villages must report to the township corresponding to their assigned villages before May 15th. At that time, the township will arrange for a special person to take them to the village. This is to announce the organizational appointment at the village committee meeting and to coordinate and solve the problem of food and accommodation for the stationed cadres.

Counting the time, there were only a few days left. Luo Family Village had nominally escaped poverty, but he knew in his heart that most of the empty villages were now left behind by elderly people. The young people with a little ability had either bought houses and settled down in the county town or gone to work in the south. Once they got there, they would probably have to find their own way to eat, drink, and take care of their own needs.

After leaving the station, he went straight back to the budget hotel he was renting.

Pushing open the door and seeing the pile of luggage inside, I couldn't help but curse again: "This is fucking ridiculous! I paid a month's rent, and after only half a month, I have to pack up and leave!"

Although he now has a huge sum of money and has bought a new house, it is still under renovation and has no furniture or anything, so it is uninhabitable.

"Well, consider it a loss to avoid a bigger disaster." He quickly repacked his change of clothes and daily necessities. Since he had decided to go to the countryside, he didn't want to linger in this run-down hotel any longer. He decided to go back to his hometown for two days tomorrow and then go directly to the town to report for duty.

The next morning, he checked out of the hotel, hailed a taxi, and took his luggage directly back to Qianzhao Village.

After paying the fare, he dragged his suitcase to the gate of his own yard, only to find a large padlock on the iron gate. Just then, his neighbor's second aunt came out carrying a basin of water to empty it. Seeing him, she greeted him with a smile, "Oh, Jianguo's back? Your parents aren't home; they went to the field on the south slope early this morning to apply fertilizer and water the plants!"

"Hey, Auntie's busy." He replied with a smile, took out his key, opened the front door, threw his suitcase into the main room, changed into some old clothes and sneakers, locked the door, and headed south.

The May sun was already quite strong. From afar, he could see the elderly couple bending over, scooping fertilizer from their four-acre peanut field, with a water pipe set up next to them to irrigate the land.

"Dad! Mom!" he shouted at the top of his lungs from the edge of the field.

The elderly couple straightened up, raised their hands to shade their eyes, looked over, and immediately dropped what they were doing, trudging through the mud to greet them.

"Oh my! My child, why are you back so soon? It's not Sunday today, is work not busy?" The mother wiped the sweat from her brow with the towel draped around her neck, looking her son up and down with delight in her eyes.

"I'm being transferred to a village in a couple of days to serve as the first secretary stationed there. The bureau hasn't assigned me any work these past few days, so it's like a holiday. I came back to see you all," he explained with a smile.

The elderly couple were overjoyed to hear that their son would be staying at their home for a few days.

Since Zhao Jianguo got married, he has been stuck with a domineering mother-in-law. He is tied to the city during holidays. Not to mention ordinary days, even during the Spring Festival, he can only come back for a couple of days on the first and second days of the new year. He has to rush back before he can even sit down properly. The number of times the family sees each other throughout the year can be counted on one hand.

"Alright, alright, go back inside and rest. It's hot in the field, don't let yourself get sunburned. We'll go back and cook dinner after we finish this!" His father pushed him back inside.

"Why should I rest? I've already changed my clothes." He snatched the fertilizer sack from his father's hand, and without saying a word, rolled up his sleeves and trousers and got down to the ground.

"Hey! You kid, working in this mud and water, how could someone like you sitting in an office do this..."

The elderly couple couldn't stop him no matter what they tried. Although his physical condition was far superior to that of ordinary people, farm work required a skillful coordination of waist and body. Under the scorching sun, he worked with his parents in the more than four acres of land. After spreading fertilizer and spreading the water pipes, he was also exhausted and drenched in sweat. His clothes were soaked and stuck to his back.

By the time all the work in the fields was finished, it was already past 1 p.m.

Back home, my father washed his face and hurriedly rode his electric bike to the small restaurant at the village entrance. He cut up a large plate of pork head meat with alternating layers of fat and lean meat, and also got a cold dish of pig ears and a plate of mixed pork and vegetables. He also picked up two bottles of ice-cold beer.

Meanwhile, her mother was busy in the kitchen, kneading dough and chopping vegetables. Before long, two large bowls of steaming hot and fragrant noodles were served on the table.

The family of three sat under the shade of a tree in the yard, eating meat and drinking cold beer. He listened to his parents asking him how he was doing and if his work was going well. He felt a long-lost warmth and sense of security. This was what home was, and this was what family was like.

Because he had exerted himself greatly in the morning and had drunk some alcohol, he collapsed onto his old bed after dinner and fell into a deep sleep.