Me! A high-ranking official!

That night, he tossed and turned in bed, his ears filled with the villagers' voices urging him to stay, until he finally drifted off to sleep in the middle of the night.

The next morning, after washing up, he called Zhu Yan to his office and began to hand over the basic work for the next period of time. He explained everything in detail, from the follow-up of the village road construction to the details of the groundbreaking ceremony, and the follow-up contact with the mud board factory. Zhu Yan listened carefully and scribbled down the key points in her notebook.

Around noon, the cell phone on the table suddenly vibrated. I glanced at the screen and saw it was a landline number, but the number segment looked extremely familiar; it was an internal line for the county party committee's organization department.

He was a little puzzled. What did the Organization Department want to call at this time? When he answered the phone, a steady middle-aged male voice came from the other end: "Hello, is this Comrade Zhao Jianguo? I am Xu Jun from the Third Cadre Section of the Organization Department of the County Party Committee."

He immediately sat up straight: "Director Xu, hello, I'm Zhao Jianguo. What instructions do you have for me?"

Xu Jun paused on the other end of the line, a barely perceptible bitter smile in his voice: "Comrade Jianguo, our department received a complaint this morning forwarded from the city. An anonymous member of the public reported that the county is going to transfer you away illegally before your term of service in the village is up."

He opened his eyes wide in surprise and quickly explained, "Director Xu, this is a misunderstanding. My return to the county is a normal work secondment arrangement by the Bureau of Culture and Tourism. It has already been approved by the county leaders, and the relevant filing procedures have already been completed at the Organization Department."

"Of course I know about the procedures," Xu Jun sighed helplessly. "But the problem is, this is the first time we've received a complaint of this nature. The city directly instructed us to thoroughly investigate and provide feedback as soon as possible. The other party's core demand is that you stay in the village and continue your village posting. After analyzing the situation, we realized that it must be a complaint call made by villagers from your Luojia Village, bypassing the proper channels. So we're letting you know first. You need to quickly do some ideological work with the villagers and stop them from calling higher up."

He was stunned for a moment, then smiled wryly and said, "Director Xu, I'm really sorry for this mess. I've caused trouble for the department. I'll go down and explain the policy to each of the villagers right away."

Hearing him blame himself, Xu Jun suddenly laughed on the other end of the phone: "Jianguo, don't be nervous. To be honest, it's the first time in recent years that the people have been so anxious to keep a village cadre that they called the complaint hotline. When the minister saw the complaint, he was not angry at all, but rather very happy."

He listened quietly without interrupting.

Xu Jun suppressed his smile and said seriously, "In principle, we should just report the situation to our superiors according to the normal procedure. But the minister specifically instructed me to make this call to you personally. The minister's exact words were that even if you temporarily return to the county, you must not abandon the work in Luojia Village. You must push it forward with your heart and soul. You cannot dampen the enthusiasm of the people. You must let the masses truly see that there are still good cadres in our team who are rooted in the soil and wholeheartedly do practical things."

He was startled and nodded repeatedly in agreement: "Thank you for the minister's concern and affirmation, and thank you for Director Xu's guidance. Please rest assured, I will definitely not neglect the work in Luojia Village."

After hanging up the phone, he held the phone, looked at the bright sun outside the window, and felt a warm current spreading through his chest.

In the afternoon, Zhao Jianguo drove to the town government and went straight to the office of Wang Yongchun, the town's Party Secretary.

He knocked and entered. Wang Yongchun was looking through documents. When he looked up and saw him, he immediately waved with a beaming smile: "Jianguo, please sit down. I was just about to call you."

He stepped forward, somewhat surprised: "Secretary Wang, is it urgent that you need to see me?"

Wang Yongchun smiled broadly and nodded repeatedly: "It's a big deal, and a great thing."

Seeing Wang Yongchun's mysterious demeanor, he pulled out a chair and sat down in surprise.

Wang Yongchun picked up his teacup, took a sip, and said with barely concealed excitement, "This morning, the county held a large meeting, and Minister Liu from the Organization Department directly mentioned your name at the meeting. Guess what? The letter of complaint that the county received from the masses requested that you continue to stay in Luojia Village to help with poverty alleviation. Minister Liu praised you highly at the meeting and even mentioned the scene in the live broadcast last night where all the villagers pleaded with you to stay. He said it was truly moving."

Wang Yongchun paused, looking intently at him: "The minister issued an order on the spot that all town leaders and village-based cadres must attend the groundbreaking ceremony for the planting base this Thursday to observe and exchange ideas, so that everyone can learn from you and see how you have done such an outstanding job in the village in such a short time, earning unanimous praise from the people."

He was stunned when he heard this, never expecting that the matter would escalate to the point of attracting the attention of the entire county and even alarming so many people.

"Secretary Wang, I was just doing my job. There's nothing to learn. Organizing a county-wide demonstration is too intimidating." He gave a wry smile.

Wang Yongchun patted the table meaningfully: "Jianguo, don't underestimate yourself. Everyone has seen your achievements. This exchange is not only an excellent opportunity for you personally, but also an honor for our town. Just do your best, and the town will do everything in its power to support you."

He nodded helplessly. He had wanted to complete the handover quietly, but unexpectedly, things had turned into such a big commotion. However, recalling Guo Nanguo's previous advice, he realized that a good cadre should not just bury himself in his work, but also know how to appropriately showcase himself. This was indeed an excellent springboard for accumulating political capital and expanding his network of contacts.

Composing himself, he steered the conversation back on track: "Secretary, tomorrow is Thursday, and I've come here mainly to discuss the specific details of the groundbreaking ceremony with you."

Wang Yongchun waved his hand confidently: "I've already arranged everything. The village doesn't need to worry about the big picture. The town will handle everything, including the banners, the stage setup, the backdrop design, and the meeting agenda. Everything is ready. This afternoon, Director Li from the office will bring people from GG Company to the village to install them. In addition, people from the county party committee office and the county government office will also go to the site this afternoon to provide guidance. The TV station will also be broadcasting simultaneously. Your only task is to notify the villagers to enter the venue at 9:00 AM tomorrow morning."

Hearing that the town had taken over the complicated meeting affairs, he felt much more at ease and then brought up another matter: "Secretary, there's one more thing. The clay slab factory left behind by Luo Shuishan is currently shut down. I've contacted a friend in the county who does business to take it over. We'll need the town's help with some of the subsequent licensing procedures."

Wang Yongchun agreed without hesitation: "Absolutely no problem. As long as it's compliant and legal, the town will give it the green light. For the specific procedures, you can contact Director Li Fen in the office for coordination."

After thanking him, he left the office, found Li Fen to finalize the details of tomorrow's implementation, and then left the town government.