Me! A high-ranking official!

Having made up his mind, he went straight to the neighbor's house and borrowed an electric scooter. Last time in the county town, he asked Deputy Director Wang to help him find the application submitted by their village, and promised Deputy Director Wang some local specialties. He planned to buy two cartons of good cigarettes and two bottles of good wine in town. He rode the electric scooter at high speed, heading straight for the town government.

When we arrived at the town government compound, it was just past four in the afternoon.

Zhao Jianguo, carrying a black plastic bag filled with fine cigarettes and liquor, arrived at the Party and Government Office with practiced ease. He stopped at the door and peeked through the slightly ajar crack.

The room was quiet. Everyone else had probably gone to the countryside or attended a meeting. Only Deputy Director Wang was left, leaning back in his office chair with his legs crossed, idly scrolling through short videos on his phone.

He took a deep breath, put on a warm smile, raised his hand and gently knocked on the door, then pushed it open and went inside.

"Hey, Director Wang, busy?"

Hearing the noise, Deputy Director Wang looked up and, seeing it was Zhao Jianguo, immediately put down his phone, forcing a smile, and greeted him, "Oh, it's Secretary Jianguo! What brings you to town? Please, have a seat!"

"Hi, Director Wang, I don't come here unless I need something." He walked over with a smile and gently placed the bag he was carrying in a blind spot behind the door.

Deputy Director Wang glanced at the bag covered with newspaper out of the corner of his eye, immediately understanding the situation, but on the surface he still spoke in an official tone, smilingly scolding, "Look at you, if there's anything you need, you can just call and say so, why did you have to come all this way in person! It's such a long way."

"Of course, of course." Zhao Jianguo lowered his voice, leaned closer and smiled, "Last time I came back from the county, I was busy with village affairs and didn't have time to visit. So, I brought some local specialties from our county to see you. Director Wang has been very supportive of our Luo Family Village's work lately, and I'm very grateful. These are just some local specialties, nothing much."

Upon hearing this, Deputy Director Wang's smile widened even further. He pointed at Zhao Jianguo twice with his finger, and said in a affected manner, "You! Jianguo, how many times have I told you? We cadres are here to serve the people. What are you doing with all this pretense? Why are you still doing this? Just this once, and don't do it again!"

"I understand, I understand! This won't happen again!" He nodded repeatedly in agreement. "They're really just some cheap, cheap stuff, just a little something from me as a younger brother."

After the pleasantries, he changed the subject and got straight to the point.

"Director Wang, actually, I'm here today mainly to report to you on the progress of the village's work." He pulled up a chair and sat down, saying in a serious tone, "I've already shown the county leaders the materials that you helped me organize last time. However, the higher-ups are being very strict now, requiring that results be seen first, that the work be implemented first, before any funding can be allocated."

Deputy Director Wang nodded: "Yes, the higher-ups are cracking down hard right now. Doing it first and then making up the difference is the standard procedure. Are you encountering difficulties?"

He sighed: "It's quite difficult. Take the lighting project that our village applied for last year, which is to install solar streetlights. It needs to be implemented and started in the next few days, but as you know, the village's situation is very tight. We can't afford to advance a single penny."

At this point, he leaned forward slightly, looked into Deputy Director Wang's eyes, and his tone became very sincere: "When I first received this task with a deadline, the first person I thought of was Director Wang! I, Zhao Jianguo, am completely clueless when I first arrived in town. If it's about doing this kind of lighting project, I can only feel most at ease and reassured if I ask you to help me make connections."

"Look..." Zhao Jianguo revealed his trump card, hinting carefully, "Could you help me find a reliable installation company? The most important thing is that they can advance the funds to complete the work. According to the policy, that 80,000 yuan special fund can be approved directly within a month or two, as long as our village passes the inspection. Moreover, this money is earmarked and will be directly deposited into our village's collective account, without going through the town government's second disbursement. Then, our village will transfer the money directly to the company's corporate account without hesitation! What do you think?"

Deputy Director Wang has spent half his life working at the grassroots level; how could he not understand the implied meaning?

His eyes lit up instantly when he heard the words "transferring money directly to the village without going through the town government" and "directly to the public account"!

Zhao Jianguo is incredibly shrewd!

His meaning was clear: this 80,000 yuan project is your responsibility, Director Wang. As long as you can find someone to advance the funds to complete the work so I can report back, Luo Family Village will not concern itself with how much of the 80,000 yuan is for the cost of the streetlights and how much is for accounting profit! Once the money is in the account, I will transfer it directly to the company you found, and you can split the profits yourselves!

Although the project costing 70,000 to 80,000 yuan is not large, the profit margin for such a small village-level project is quite considerable. As long as he makes slight adjustments to the specifications of the solar panels and batteries, Deputy Director Wang can easily pocket several thousand yuan in referral fees!

Deputy Director Wang looked at the young village secretary in surprise. He had initially thought the young man was a bookish and naive young man, but he was surprised to find that the secretary was so experienced and capable! He was much more sensible than Luo Jiaxin, the stingy and stubborn village secretary from Luojia Village before!

"Oh, Secretary Jianguo, you're being too polite!"

Deputy Director Wang immediately adopted a sincere expression, patted his chest, and laughed boastfully, "As I just said, solving problems for the villages and serving the people is simply our duty as office workers!"

He leaned back, exuding confidence: "Perfect timing. I was in charge of liaising with the construction company for that street lighting project in our town. The boss and I have a pretty good relationship. It's just a small project costing a few tens of thousands of yuan, right? He'll give me that much face. Besides, you, Secretary Jianguo, have already given me a heads-up: the funding will be approved in a month. It's a sure-fire deal, nothing serious!"

"Leave this to me, brother!" Deputy Director Wang decisively agreed. "I'll give him a call in a bit, and I'll have him contact you directly tonight. As for the specific specifications of the streetlights and the construction schedule, that's your village's business. I won't interfere. You can discuss it with him yourself!"

This statement was also a message to Zhao Jianguo: I'm only responsible for making connections and taking my share; I don't care about the quality of the project. You just need to set the bottom line, and we'll keep to ourselves.

Upon hearing that the matter had been resolved, Zhao Jianguo felt a huge weight lifted from his shoulders. He quickly seized the opportunity to flatter Wang, saying, "Oh, thank you so much, Brother Wang! I knew that when you encounter difficulties working at the grassroots level in our town, going to Director Wang is like finding a true savior!"

Deputy Director Wang, flattered and pleased, chuckled smugly, "Of course, of course! If Brother Jianguo ever has any more good deeds to do for the people like this, just come to me! I guarantee I'll handle it perfectly!"

After the deal was settled, the two chatted amiably for a few more minutes.

Seeing that it was almost time, he stood up and invited with a smile, "Director Wang, it's almost time to get off work. Do you have some free tonight? I've reserved a private room at a restaurant in town. Shall we have a couple of drinks?"

Director Wang waved his hand, feigned a wry smile, and sighed, "Brother Jianguo, I absolutely shouldn't have refused your invitation, but I've been out with the inspection team every day these past two days, and my stomach is churning from drinking so much. My wife just had a huge outburst yesterday and gave me a strict order: I must be home for dinner on time every night for the next few days, or she'll change the locks and won't let me in! I'm really sorry, brother!"

Zhao Jianguo immediately understood. In such a special period, having a private meal together would indeed be too conspicuous and easily give others cause for gossip.

"Haha, I understand!" he laughed and replied, "Your wife really cares about your health, brother. Unlike me, a bachelor, I have to suffer in my dorm when I have a headache or fever. Alright, then I won't keep you from getting off work on time and going home to report back."

After finishing all that, he rode his electric scooter back to Luojia Village along the country road.

As the evening breeze blew, Zhao Jianguo felt an unprecedented sense of ease.

Although the 500,000 yuan special fund for road repairs was temporarily stuck and not recovered, today's 80,000 yuan lighting project is a real and unexpected surprise!

By simply erecting streetlights in the village, the tangible political achievement is secured, and even an old fox like Luo Jiaxin can't steal the credit!