Me! A high-ranking official!

Tomorrow is Tuesday, and the weekly "People's Talk" live broadcast will begin again.

He knew that although Luo Shuishan had been the local tyrant in the village for more than ten years, and the villagers still outwardly sided with him, with the progress made this week, the benefits of the environmental protection bank, and the implementation of solar streetlights, he believed that if he showcased these achievements in the live broadcast tomorrow, some villagers would gradually accept him as the new village secretary. This was a subtle and pervasive influence.

When it was lunchtime, Zhao Jianguo and Liu Zhijun cooked some noodles in the backyard of the village committee to tide them over.

During the meal, Zhao Jianguo, holding his bowl, seemingly casually inquired about the situation of Aunt Wang's two children.

"Brother Zhijun, what's the background of Aunt Wang's two children?"

Liu Zhijun swallowed a mouthful of noodles, sighed, and said, "Sigh, Aunt Wang's son works as a bricklayer on a construction site. Years ago, he scraped together a down payment to buy a small house in the county town. His wife is also from out of town, and she rarely comes back all year round. She says she's busy on the construction site, but actually, she's just afraid of spending money and doesn't want to bother her old mother in the village."

"As for Aunt Wang's daughter, her name is Luo Xiuzhen. She married and moved to another place a few years ago. It's quite far from here, more than 300 kilometers away. She only comes back once every few years. I remember the last time she came back was four years ago when her father passed away!"

He nodded in agreement, then pondered for a moment and asked, "How many elderly people like Aunt Wang are there in our village, whose children don't live with them and who are all alone and helpless?"

Liu Zhijun thought for a moment, then shook his head with a wry smile: "I really don't know about that. Secretary, you know I've been like a living dead person for the past few years. I haven't been active in the village for a long time, and I'm too lazy to ask about things outside."

He nodded. Although Liu Zhijun was not clear about it, he had actually figured it out a little bit after visiting and investigating in the village these past few days.

Luo Family Village has a nominal population of over 700, but in reality, only about 500 people live there year-round. Of these 500 people, only one-third are young people, and the remaining two-thirds are mostly elderly people who can no longer work. There are very few children, since most of the young people with some ability have gone to work in the county town or settled down in other places, taking their children with them to school.

Aunt Wang's situation is just a microcosm of Luojia Village, and can even be said to represent the elderly left behind in rural China. Most elderly people in the village face the reality of having no one to rely on in their old age and no one to care for them when they are sick.

Afternoon work hours.

Zhao Jianguo sat at his desk, found the phone numbers of Aunt Wang's two children in the village committee's archives yesterday, and dialed Aunt Wang's son first.

The phone rang for a long time before being answered. A loud, noisy machine humming came from the other end, followed by a man's booming voice: "Hey? Who is it?"

"Hello, are you Aunt Wang's son? I'm Zhao Jianguo, the newly arrived first secretary of Luojia Village." He politely introduced himself.

"Secretary? What do you want?" The voice on the other end sounded wary.

"Here's the thing, your mother broke her leg in the village a few days ago. Now she's lying on the kang (a heated brick bed) all by herself, unable to even get a hot meal. Do you think you could spare some time to come back and take care of her for a couple of days, or perhaps take her to the county town for a medical checkup?"

To everyone's surprise, when Aunt Wang's son heard that he was calling because of this matter, he was not anxious at all. Instead, he immediately started pouring out his grievances.

"Oh, my dear Secretary Zhao! Do you think I don't want to go back? I've been working on construction sites all year round, and every day I miss a day means a deduction in pay! I also have two young children at home who are constantly asking for food and tuition fees; they're at the age where money is really needed!"

The voice on the other end of the phone grew increasingly aggrieved: "If I go back to take care of my mother, who will take care of my family's livelihood? Who will pay the mortgage? Besides, it takes a hundred days to recover from a broken bone; I can't just stay home and watch over her for three months without working, can I? Secretary, it's not that I'm unfilial, I really can't go back! Please, village committee, keep an eye on her for a while; I really need to go to work!"

After saying that, before Zhao Jianguo could say anything more, the other end of the line slammed the phone down.

Zhao Jianguo frowned as he listened to the busy tone on his phone. Although his son was full of excuses, what he said was indeed the reality of working-class people. In order to make a living, they sometimes couldn't take care of their parents at their bedside.

He took a deep breath and dialed the number of Aunt Wang's daughter, Luo Xiuzhen.

This time the answer came quickly, from a shrewd female voice: "Hello, who is this?"

Zhao Jianguo repeated what he had just said, explaining Aunt Wang's injuries.

Luo Xiuzhen's response was even more direct, tinged with a self-righteous indifference: "Secretary Zhao, go talk to my brother about this! A married daughter is like water spilled from a bowl; I didn't take a single penny of the house and land back home. Why should she come to me when she's old and sick?"

"My in-laws' whole family needs to make a living, and I have to take care of them and take the kids to school every day. They live more than 300 kilometers away. How can I go back? I can manage to go back for a day or two, but if I break my leg and it takes too long, how will I manage?"

Luo Xiuzhen argued confidently on the phone: "Besides, I transfer 500 yuan to my mother via WeChat every month without fail. In the countryside, 500 yuan a month is more than enough for her to eat and drink, right? Secretary, I've already done my best to be filial. You can't expect me to abandon my family, can you?"

Zhao Jianguo patiently and earnestly persuaded her, trying to appeal to her emotions, saying that the old lady was not short of money, but short of someone to take care of her, and even had difficulty turning over.

No matter how he tried to persuade them, the brother and sister seemed to have rehearsed their lines beforehand and refused to come back no matter what. In the end, Luo Xiuzhen even said directly, "Secretary, if you really can't stand it, take the five hundred yuan I sent and help her hire someone in the village to take care of her!" Then she hung up the phone.

He put down his phone, leaned back in his chair, and felt a deep sense of helplessness.

This is the most authentic grassroots situation, and also the most unsolvable deadlock.

Although he was a village-based secretary dispatched to the village, he was able to build roads, set up an environmental protection bank, and even use his influence to suppress local bullies like Luo Shuishan.

However, when it comes to family ethics and private matters such as children caring for their parents in old age, even if he has immense power and a lot of money, he cannot force the children to quit their jobs and return to their parents' bedside to fulfill their filial duties. Although there is a legal obligation to support their parents, if he were to file a lawsuit over this matter, it would be a bottomless pit of disputes, and a distant solution that cannot quench an immediate thirst.

"If we rely on these ungrateful wretches, the old folks in the village will die on their beds sooner or later..."

Zhao Jianguo lit a cigarette, and through the rising smoke, his eyes gradually became deep and profound.