Me! A high-ranking official!

Nine o'clock the next morning.

The village committee meeting room was empty. He sat alone at the table, looking through the village's household registration information.

Luo Shuishan didn't come, and neither did Luo Ming.

He picked up his phone expressionlessly and called Luo Shuishan first.

After ringing a dozen times, the call connected. Luo Shuishan's rough voice, yawning and tinged with feigned concern, came through the other end: "Oh, it's Secretary Zhao! I'm so sorry, a few bosses from town came over last night, drank too much, and went to bed early. My phone was on silent, so I didn't notice. What's up, Secretary Zhao? Is something wrong?"

He apologized verbally, but didn't mention a word about coming to the meeting.

He didn't pursue the matter further and laughed, "It's alright. Secretary Luo works so hard for the village's businesses, it's only right that he gets more rest. You can continue sleeping."

After hanging up the phone, he dialed the number of Luo Ming, the village head.

As soon as the call connected, Luo Ming, who had confidently promised to attend on time the night before, stammered on the phone, his tone extremely awkward: "Secretary Zhao... Secretary Zhao, I'm so sorry, something urgent has come up at home, I can't get away, I don't think I can make it today, I'm so sorry, I'm really so sorry..."

Just as Luo Ming was apologizing profusely, he keenly heard a strong voice shouting from the background of the phone: "Luo Ming! Bring me the ledger for last month's cement purchases!"

That voice belonged to none other than Luo Shuishan, who had just said he was drunk and sleeping at home!

His eyes narrowed slightly, and a cold smile curled at the corner of his mouth.

Luo Ming is the village head, but in reality, he only receives a subsidy of about a thousand yuan a month. His real identity is the accountant at Luo Shuishan's mud board factory, and he supports his family by receiving a salary from Luo Shuishan.

Without a doubt, Luo Shuishan was behind this.

As an outsider, I was suddenly parachuted in as the first secretary. Not only did I have to check the accounts, but I also had to carry out Party building. If I could really establish myself in the village, it would be a huge threat to Luo Shuishan, the village Party secretary who had been a local tyrant for more than ten years.

By sidelining him and paralyzing the village committee, Luo Shuishan's methods were to effectively remove him from power.

"Alright, if you have something to do at home, go ahead and take care of it." His tone remained calm, showing no sign of being provoked. Then he changed the subject: "But Director Luo, since you're with Secretary Luo, could you please pass on a message to him for me?"

"Huh? You...you heard that...?" Luo Ming panicked even more on the other end of the phone.

Ignoring his guilty conscience, he continued, "Tonight at eight o'clock, I plan to use the village committee's account to start a live broadcast called 'People Speak Out.' The theme is to invite all the villagers, young and old, whether they have difficulties or opinions about the village's development, to come and participate in the live broadcast and speak freely."

"This is an innovative working model required by higher authorities, and it's also to increase our village's visibility. Make sure Secretary Luo attends the live stream tonight and chats with all the villagers about the development of Luo Family Village!"

"Live stream?!" Luo Ming was taken aback by the word. None of the village's peasants had ever done anything like this. He stammered, "Okay...okay, I understand, Secretary Zhao. I'll definitely pass it on. I have work to do here, I'll hang up now!"

Hearing the busy tone on his phone, he leaned back in his chair, his fingertips lightly tapping the table.

Since you're not coming to the meeting and want to isolate me by forming a clique behind closed doors, then I'll just open the village gates wide and put everyone under the spotlight! I want to see if you, the village secretary, still dare to play dead in front of the entire village and the online audience!

He sat at his desk, registered a live-streaming account on his phone called "First Secretary of Luojia Village," and then opened the Luojia Village residents' chat group with nearly 500 members. After carefully considering his words, he sent a long message: "Dear fellow villagers, hello everyone. I am Zhao Jianguo, the newly appointed First Secretary of the village. Tonight at 8 PM, I will be at the village committee, along with our village secretary Luo Shuishan and director Luo Ming, to host a live-streamed discussion among the villagers. If you have any difficulties at home, or any feasible suggestions for the future development and infrastructure construction of our village, please feel free to raise them in the live stream. Our village committee will answer and record your questions live. Below is the link to the live-streaming account; please follow us in advance. See you tonight at 8 PM!"

After sending the message, he stared silently at his phone screen.

One minute, two minutes, five minutes passed...

The WeChat groups that used to occasionally have people sharing links to Pinduoduo's "cut-a-price" deals are now like stagnant water, completely silent, without even a single emoji.

He leaned back in his chair and smiled helplessly. He knew very well that most people in the village were on Luo Shuishan's side, and many of them even had intricate interests or kinship ties with him. As an outsider who had parachuted in, who would dare to easily step forward and support him before the villagers had figured out his background? Winning the hearts of the people in Luo Family Village was not as easy as sending a WeChat message.

Just as he was about to put down his phone, the screen suddenly lit up.

A new message popped up in the group chat.

Liu Zhijun: "Received."

Looking at the two lonely words, he was taken aback at first, then couldn't help but laugh out loud. It seemed that dragging Liu Zhijun out for a walk yesterday, along with a meal and a chat, had some effect. This honest man had a sense of justice and knew how to be grateful.

After putting his phone away, he took his laptop and went out again to conduct field visits.

This time, he didn't take the main road, but instead wandered through the village's alleys, eventually reaching the back of the village.

As soon as he approached, an extremely pungent stench hit him, making Zhao Jianguo frown. He quickly walked forward and saw a huge, deep pit lying across the back of the village.

This is no ordinary puddle; it's practically a natural open-air garbage dump!

The pit was filled with tattered clothes, worn-out shoe soles, various plastic bags, and even the rotting carcasses of dead chickens and ducks. The bottom of the pit was filled with stagnant water left over from the rain a few days ago. The water had turned black and green, and a layer of nauseating white foam floated on the surface. Swarms of greenbottle flies and spotted mosquitoes buzzed around in the pit, like a black cloud.

What worried him most was that less than ten meters away from this huge pit, there were several houses with their courtyard walls right next to it.

"This garbage pit is so big, how many years has it been accumulating..." He covered his mouth and nose and silently wrote down this serious environmental sanitation hazard in his notebook. This is not just a matter of being unsightly. In the summer, this will definitely be a breeding ground for infectious diseases. It seems that the village needs to solve not only road repairs, but also environmental remediation, which is a huge project.

He continued to visit the village, thoroughly investigating all the alleys, several dilapidated houses, and a few idle wastelands. It wasn't until nearly noon that he had a general outline of Luo Family Village in his mind.