Me! A high-ranking official!

"Brother Liu?" He walked over quietly, took out a cigarette from his pocket, and offered it to him.

Liu Zhijun stared blankly at the cigarette, then at Zhao Jianguo, without taking it. He simply shook his head with great effort, his withered lips moving to produce a hoarse, weak sound like a bellows: "I'm not smoking anymore... I can't smoke anymore. Who are you?"

"I'm Zhao Jianguo, the first secretary newly appointed to our village by the county." He didn't seem to mind the dust on the steps and sat down directly on a stone next to me. "I just heard about your situation at my aunt's house, so I came to see you. How are you feeling?"

Upon hearing the words "First Secretary," Liu Zhijun's withered face remained completely expressionless. He turned his head back and continued staring at a withered blade of grass swaying in the wind in the yard. His voice seemed to drift from underground: "Why are you looking at me... Just a man waiting to die. My body is like this, I don't even have a stomach anymore. I eat a bite and spit out half of it. That's good, it'll make me die faster."

Seeing Liu Zhijun's dejected appearance, he felt a pang of sadness and gently comforted him, "Brother Liu, don't say that. Now that the illness has been cured, as long as a person is alive, there is still hope. Take your time to recover, and you'll get through this."

"Hope?" Liu Zhijun forced a bitter smile that was more like a grimace, his eyes still lifeless. "My parents are long gone. My wife, my seven-year-old son, and my in-laws—they all perished in one trip. Now all I have left is this broken body, with no ties or attachments. I sit here every day, waiting for the day God will open His eyes and let me take my last breath so I can reunite with my wife and child in the afterlife… It's been too long. I'm afraid they'll get impatient waiting over there and won't recognize me…"

These words were spoken with utmost calmness, without tears or accusations, yet they conveyed a suffocating despair. This was true despair, a complete exhaustion of anger and grief.

His throat tightened, and all the comforting words he had prepared suddenly vanished. After a long pause, he finally managed to ask, "Brother Liu, are you facing any insurmountable difficulties in your life, or any problems that you need my help with? Even something as simple as welfare or medical expense subsidies, just let me know."

Liu Zhijun slowly shook his head: "No, I don't lack money. I can't even eat, what would I need money for? Secretary, you should leave. Don't let this unlucky place of mine taint you with death."

He knew that when faced with someone who had lost all will to live and was determined to die, any grand principles or sympathy would be pale and powerless. Liu Zhijun's state could not be changed by simply giving him a few bags of rice, a few hundred yuan, or saying a few nice words.

We need to revitalize him and reconnect him with the outside world.

His eyes lit up, and he changed his approach.

"Alright, we'll talk about your matter later." Zhao Jianguo patted his trouser leg and asked casually, "But Brother Liu, I'm new here and completely clueless. Since you don't need any help, could you tell me if there are any other families in our village who are having a particularly hard time and need special assistance?"

These words finally brought a flicker of surprise to Liu Zhijun's otherwise lifeless eyes. He turned to Zhao Jianguo, looking at him with some confusion: "Why...why are you asking this? Didn't the cadres who came down from the town in the past just have a meal at the village chief's house, take a quick look around, and leave?"

He smiled and looked him directly in the eye, his gaze honest: "I don't like eating at the village chief's house. Since the higher-ups appointed me as the first secretary, I thought I'd take advantage of these two years to do some real work for the villagers. You're someone who rarely leaves the village, so you must know something about the old stories, right?"

Liu Zhijun stared at Zhao Jianguo for a long time, seemingly trying to determine whether the young secretary in front of him was putting on a show.

After a moment, he pursed his chapped lips and said in a low voice, "If you really want to help someone... go to Luo Haitao's house at the west end of the village."

"What happened to his family?"

"Tragic." Liu Zhijun sighed, seemingly still able to feel a sliver of instinctive sympathy for the suffering of others: "Luo Haitao's mother had mental illness before she died. She gave birth to Haitao and his sister, but the illness was hereditary. Haitao is a normal person, but his sister went insane when she was a teenager. His wife... went insane a few years after she married into the family, I don't know if she was forced into it or what. Two mentally ill people in the family, all relying on Haitao's father, an old man, to take care of them at home. Haitao is a tough guy, he works like crazy on construction sites outside to earn money and support this whole family. Those days... were inhuman."

"Two mentally ill people in one family?" He gasped. Such family conditions would be an absolute disaster in the countryside. If anything happened, the whole family would collapse.

"Okay, I understand. This is a real problem." Zhao Jianguo stood up and suddenly grabbed Liu Zhijun's wrist, which was so thin it was practically skin and bones. "Brother Liu, I'm new here and can't even tell which way is which, let alone find someone at the west end of the village. You're just sitting here anyway, so why don't you come with me and show me the way?"

Liu Zhijun was startled and instinctively shrank back: "I'm not going! I haven't left this courtyard in years! I can't walk..."

"If you can't walk, I'll help you. Consider it a walk after dinner to aid digestion." He didn't give him a chance to refuse. With a little force, he half-pulled and half-dragged Liu Zhijun up from the bench.

"Hey! How can you be so unreasonable! I..." Liu Zhijun coughed anxiously, trying to break free, but his weak body was no match for Zhao Jianguo, who had been strengthened by the Treasure Basin.

"Come on, come on, just consider it helping me, the new Party Secretary, out. If I get bitten by a village dog without you leading the way, who will be responsible?" He joked as he grabbed Liu Zhijun's arm and led him out of the courtyard.

Liu Zhijun was exasperated by his unreasonable enthusiasm and could only sigh helplessly. He could only drag his unsteady steps, leaning against Zhao Jianguo, and lead Zhao Jianguo toward the west end of the village.

Under the scorching afternoon sun, the two trudged towards the west end of the village. Liu Zhijun was too weak, and he had to stop and start frequently. By the time he reached Luo Haitao's house, he was covered in sweat and panting heavily.

Luo Haitao's courtyard wall was slightly neater than Liu Zhijun's, but the two large iron gates were rusty. Zhao Jianguo stepped forward and knocked on the gates a few times.

"Clang, clang, clang..."

The iron gate emitted a dull echo, but no one answered for a long time.

Liu Zhijun leaned against the wall, panting heavily from exhaustion. He waved his hand and said, "Phew... stop knocking. Haitao's dad is probably out working in the fields, not home."

He was taken aback, then turned his head in confusion: "Go to work in the fields? Didn't you say you have two mentally ill people at home who need his care? How can he go to the fields without someone by his side?"