Me! A high-ranking official!

Zhao Jianguo patiently explained to Luo Jiaxin the points-for-goods and garbage sorting and composting model that he had just talked about at Liu Zhijun's house, in the simplest and most understandable way.

Although Luo Jiaxin was old, he wasn't stupid. He quickly calculated in his mind that this job was indeed feasible! He could work in his own village, which had only about two hundred households. It would take him at most an hour to ride his bike around and collect garbage. Even if he made two trips a day, it would only take two or three hours in total.

He could spend the rest of his time farming, cooking, and keeping an eye on the two crazy people in the house, and he could control his own time.

His gloomy old face softened slightly as he hesitantly stared at Zhao Jianguo and asked, "So... how much are you going to offer me?"

He smiled and said frankly, "I've looked at the village's accounts. There's not a single penny on them right now. But don't worry, to avoid disrupting your lives, I'll personally cover the initial wages and supplies for the exchange point. Once we have a surplus from selling organic fertilizer and scrap, I'll make it up to you from the accounts. As for the wages, how about 1,500 each for you and Zhijun per month?"

Fearing that Luo Jiaxin might feel it was unfair, he added, "Uncle Luo, you only need to collect the garbage twice a day and turn over the fertilizer, so your time is relatively flexible. Zhijun is not in good health, but he has to sit at the village committee's exchange point to keep track of the accounts, so his working hours will be longer. Therefore, your wages will be the same for the time being."

Luo Jiaxin was completely smitten.

1,500 yuan a month! That might not be much in the city, but in their impoverished rural area, for a middle-aged man who was tied to his home and unable to go out to work, it was an absolute life-saving fortune! This job was practically tailor-made for him based on his circumstances!

Luo Jiaxin's cloudy eyes glanced at Zhao Jianguo twice, and a strange feeling suddenly arose in his heart.

As the saying goes, "He who takes a man's money is bound to be grateful," and "He who eats a man's food is bound to be grateful." The Party Secretary not only didn't hold his bad attitude against him earlier, but also paid out of his own pocket to find him such a good job. This was indeed a great help to his family. Thinking of the nonsense he had just said, Luo Jiaxin's old face showed a hint of unease, and he felt a little guilty.

He coughed lightly, rubbed his rough hands on his clothes a couple of times, and said in a stiff but noticeably softer tone, "Um... okay, when do we start?"

Hearing his agreement, Zhao Jianguo smiled with satisfaction: "At the earliest tomorrow, at the latest the day after tomorrow. I need to go and talk to the village chief of Shuishan Village first, after all, this is a big event for the village. After it's settled, I'll broadcast it over the loudspeaker in the village today, and then Zhijun will go and visit a few acquaintances to spread the word."

"Oh, right," Zhao Jianguo remembered something and asked, "Speaking of which, there's still a problem we haven't solved. The kitchen waste we collect needs to be composted, which will definitely smell bad. Are there any wastelands or similar places near our village that we can use for composting without the fumes affecting the villagers?"

Liu Zhijun had been ill for the past two or three years and had hardly left the village, so he was not very familiar with the situation outside the village. He shook his head.

Upon hearing this, Luo Jiaxin saw it as an opportunity to demonstrate his value and hurriedly said, "Yes! There's a piece of land at the west end of the village! It used to be Wang Sanhei's family's homestead, but more than ten years ago, Wang Sanhei's family line died out, and the land has been vacant ever since. Nobody dared to occupy it, and now it's overgrown with weeds. It's quite a distance from the village, so the stench definitely won't reach anyone!"

Zhao Jianguo listened and nodded slightly: "Okay, let's set it there for now. Alright, Uncle Luo, I won't say anything else. Just be prepared. I'll try to get you a tricycle in the next couple of days so you can collect the garbage from house to house."

"Yes, yes! Okay!" Luo Jiaxin nodded repeatedly, finally managing a smile that looked more like a grimace on his bitter face. He glanced at the sky, rubbed his hands together, and said awkwardly, "Secretary Zhao, um... have you eaten yet? I just cooked some noodles in the pot, how about... we make do with a bite here?"

"I've already eaten, Uncle Luo, you should go eat now. I need to hurry and find the village chief to finalize this so we can get started as soon as possible." He waved his hand with a smile.

After saying goodbye to Luo Jiaxin, he took Liu Zhijun back to the village committee.

There was a spare room in the backyard of the village committee. It was originally arranged by the town to be used as a dormitory for the two work team members who were supposed to be stationed in the village with Zhao Jianguo, but now it seems that those two "ancestors" are not going to come.

He simply pushed open the door and said to Liu Zhijun, "Zhijun, this room is yours from now on. It will be the head office exchange point for our Environmental Protection Bank. You stay here today and think through what the villagers usually need to exchange for—firewood, rice, oil, salt, spices, eggs, etc. Give me a detailed list. After I finish talking with the village chief, I'll go to town to buy them!"

After making arrangements for Liu Zhijun, he turned and walked out of the village committee, heading straight for the mud board factory in the south of the village.

Luo Shuishan's mud board factory is about a kilometer away from the village. Zhao Jianguo had read the information before. The factory covers an area of ​​three or four acres. It was originally Luo's basic farmland, but he illegally converted it into a factory.

Zhao Jianguo walked to the factory gate. Inside, the machines were roaring and white dust was flying everywhere. A dozen workers, covered in dust, were working hard. Judging from their appearance, they were all villagers from the same village.

Upon seeing Zhao Jianguo enter, the workers stopped what they were doing and looked up at the new secretary with complicated expressions. Zhao Jianguo didn't put on airs and greeted everyone with a smile. He learned from a familiar worker that Luo Shuishan was in the office inside.

He walked straight through the factory area, came to the row of brick houses, and pushed the door open without even knocking.

The spacious office was furnished with leather sofas and a large boss's desk. Luo Shuishan was leaning back in the boss's chair, making a phone call.

Seeing Zhao Jianguo suddenly push the door open and come in, Luo Shuishan's eyes flashed with surprise, but he quickly put on a smiling face, pointed to the sofa opposite him, indicating that Zhao Jianguo should sit down first, and then continued to speak loudly into the phone: "Yes! Yes, yes, yes! That batch of goods must be shipped on time... Hey Lao Li, I told you, that price is that price... Yes, no, absolutely not, I'm telling you..."

Zhao Jianguo calmly found a stool and sat down, without urging him, and just quietly watched Luo Shuishan perform.

Luo Shuishan was definitely doing it on purpose, repeating the same few meaningless phrases over and over: the price is not good... the goods need to be shipped... I said it yesterday, he kept going on and on, dragging out a phone call that could be explained in two minutes for a full ten minutes.