Me! A high-ranking official!

He put his mind at ease, started the car, and drove back to Linshui County.

As soon as the car came to a stop in front of the village committee, my cell phone started buzzing in my pocket.

When I took it out, I saw that it was a call from Li Xing.

As soon as the call connected, Li Xing's hearty laughter came from the other end: "Brother Jianguo, are you back in the county yet? I have good news for you. The process for the 80,000 yuan special fund you applied for has been expedited. The finance department just replied that the money has been transferred to the public account of your Luojia Village. Please check it later."

He was overjoyed; he hadn't expected the money to arrive so quickly. He immediately laughed into the phone, "Thank you so much, Brother Li! This has solved my immediate problem! I'm going back to the county town in a couple of days to take care of some business. I'll treat you then, let's get together and have a couple of drinks!"

"Haha, no need for formalities, we're brothers! It's settled then, I'll pick the place!"

After hanging up the phone, the smile on his face slowly faded. Li Xing worked for the Finance Bureau and usually dragged his feet when doing things according to the rules and regulations. The reason why he was able to allocate the money so decisively this time and even take the initiative to call and curry favor was only one.

Luo Jiacun, or rather Zhao Jianguo, is now on the desks of those bigwigs in the county. Li Xing is going with the flow, taking public funds in advance to curry favor with him.

The SUV was parked in the village committee courtyard. Several villagers who were sitting under the shade of a tree chatting and enjoying the cool air saw him get out of the car and stood up with smiles to greet him.

He nodded in greeting and was about to go inside when Li Gan quickly came out to greet him.

"Brother Zhao, you're back." Li Gan handed over a brown paper document bag: "Deputy Director Wang from town made a special trip just now, but when he saw you weren't here, he left this document and left."

He took the document bag, opened the seal, and found two official documents inside.

The first document is the county discipline inspection commission's decision regarding Luo Shuishan's serious violations of discipline and law. The second document is a personnel document issued by the town party committee and town government. The content is very clear: given Luo Shuishan's serious dereliction of duty and subsequent investigation, and considering the outstanding performance of Zhao Jianguo, the first village-based secretary, during his tenure in the village, to ensure the normal operation of grassroots work in Luojia Village, Zhao Jianguo will temporarily serve as the village party secretary during the period between the election of a new village party secretary and village head.

A hint of surprise flashed in his eyes as he looked at the bright red official seal at the end of the document.

The town made this move extremely decisively. According to the regulations on grassroots organization work, when the village party secretary is absent, the higher-level party organization can indeed appoint a temporary person in charge to take over. This was obviously a political goodwill intentionally released by the town party secretary, Wang Yongchun, after meeting with him a few days ago. They didn't even go through the formalities and directly issued an official document to hand over the power to him.

This appointment came at a very opportune time. Previously, he was just a village secretary, whose main responsibility was to assist and guide. The decision-making power for major village matters still rested with the village committee. The implementation of projects such as nursing homes, student care programs, and planting bases was somewhat illegitimate, and it was only because of his personal prestige that no one dared to criticize him. Now that Luo Shuishan has fallen, he has rightfully taken over all the work, and any decisions he makes from now on will be legitimate organizational decisions.

After putting away the documents, he took out his phone and dialed the number of Director Wang from the town's Party and Government Office.

A few seconds later, Director Wang's hearty laughter came through the receiver: "Jianguo, I just went to your village and heard you were out. I knew you were busy, so I didn't want to bother you. Did you receive the documents?"

"Just got back to the village," he replied with a smile. "Brother, thank you so much! Where are you now?"

"We're almost at the town government. I knew you'd call when you saw the documents." Director Wang paused, lowering his voice slightly. "There's something I didn't tell the others in the village earlier. The report we submitted has been officially approved by the county. On the day your planting base officially starts construction, Deputy County Head Qi will be there in person."

He perked up: "This is absolutely fantastic news. Thanks to the town's strong support, please convey my thanks to Secretary Wang."

"No need for formalities, we're all friends. The town will definitely do everything in its power to support your work," Director Wang said frankly.

He then added another piece of good news: "By the way, the special funds for the lighting project have arrived. I'll arrange for the finance department to transfer the funds to the company tomorrow. They really helped a lot this time. When I go to town in a couple of days, let's have a good get-together."

"Okay, I'll wait for you to come over."

After hanging up the phone, he felt relieved and turned to look at Zhu Yan, who was organizing documents, and called out to her.

Upon hearing the sound, Zhu Yan quickly walked over: "Secretary, what's wrong?"

"Has the yard been cleaned up?"

"It's all done."

"Okay, broadcast it over the loudspeaker to the whole village later. We'll start accepting tutoring for the children tonight. While you're at it, go and tell Grandpa Luo Duomi about it in person."

Zhu Yan nodded and noted it down.

He then asked, "Have you been in contact with the Hotan company in the last couple of days? When do you plan to start the training?"

"We've made contact, and it will officially begin this Sunday." Zhu Yan opened her notebook: "The venue will be the student classroom. We'll provide planting training for the villagers during the day and use the evenings for tutoring the children, so that neither aspect will interfere with the other."

He nodded in satisfaction and continued to ask, "Has the oversight account that Luo Ming is in charge of been activated?"

"The line has been opened, and the initial funding from Hotan Company has been transferred in. However, the matching funds from the county and the Culture and Tourism Bureau have not yet arrived."

"The county's finances are already tight. Although the deputy county head has spoken, the procedures will take time." He pondered for a moment, "As long as Hotan Company provides the financial backing, it won't delay our normal bidding and construction. As for the Culture and Tourism Bureau, I'll take some time to go back to the bureau and meet with Director Guo in person to discuss the progress."

Just as I was planning my next steps, my phone suddenly vibrated again.

The name "Guo Nanguo" was prominently displayed on the screen.

He immediately pressed the answer button: "Director Guo."

On the other end of the phone, Guo Nanguo's voice carried an unusual seriousness: "Where are you right now?"

His heart sank slightly as he keenly sensed the unusual tone in Guo's voice: "Director Guo, I'm at the village committee."

"Can you go back to the station today?" Guo Nanguo asked without mincing words, his tone leaving no room for argument.

Judging from the situation, something tricky had definitely happened, and it wasn't appropriate to reveal it over the phone. Without hesitation, he immediately replied, "Understood, Director Guo. I'll head back now."

He hung up the phone and sighed helplessly.

He regretted not reporting to the county bureau earlier; he hadn't even had a chance to sit down before having to go back. He quickly explained a few village affairs to Li Gan, got into his car, stepped on the gas, and the SUV kicked up a cloud of dust as it sped off towards Linshui County once again.

As soon as the SUV entered the courtyard of the county's Culture and Tourism Bureau, he keenly sensed something unusual.