Chapter 2 Difficult things

Hou Weidong opened a quarry in Shangqinglin for two years, and was promoted three times to become the deputy mayor without any experience as a middle-level cadre.His mind was blank, and he sat in the office with nothing to do. He reviewed "Shazhou Daily" in the morning and concentrated on studying "Lingxi Daily" in the afternoon. At 4 o'clock in the afternoon, he put down the "Lingxi Daily" and thought painfully: "A cup of tea and a newspaper. This job is really exhausting." According to the division of labor, Hou Weidong is in charge of social undertakings, transportation construction, and comprehensive management of social security, corresponding to the two departments of the Social Affairs Office and the Comprehensive Management Office.There is no special department for traffic construction, only a temporary leading group office.

At 5 o'clock, Hou Weidong couldn't sit still anymore, so he went downstairs to Yang Feng's office. A pack of Wu Hai's fried melon seeds was placed on Yang Feng's table, and a newspaper was spread out on the table, with a pile of melon seed shells on it.Seeing Hou Weidong enter the door, she asked, "Hou Zhen, what's the matter?" When Hou Weidong saw Yang Feng eating melon seeds before, he didn't think there was anything wrong with it, and this bag of Wu Hai's melon seeds was still a gift from him.At this time, he became the deputy mayor, and seeing Yang Feng eating melon seeds in the office felt quite dazzling.It's just that it's unwise for a new official to make trouble for someone when he takes office, so he avoided the pile of melon seeds and said, "Help me find the government work report of the National People's Congress and the key points of work at the beginning of the year."

Yang Feng opened the file cabinet and searched for it relentlessly. After searching for about twenty minutes, he handed over the two files to Hou Weidong. When he got off work, Hou Weidong only read the government work report, and read the key points of the work at the beginning of the year on the next day.He waited in the office all day, and no one from the department in charge came to report to work.He thought about it: "I am the deputy mayor of the town. It seems that I haven't gained everyone's approval yet." When he was in Shangqinglin, Hou Weidong was the owner of the quarry and the deputy leader of the working group. Everywhere he went, he always had delicious food and spicy food, and was warmly received by the villages.Now that he came to the government of Qinglin Township as the deputy mayor, he felt a sense of loneliness.

After get off work, Hou Weidong looked at the dark sky by the window, found Ouyang Lin again, and said, "Director Ouyang, please help me find a way. It is not a long-term solution to go up and down hills to and from get off work every day." Ouyang Lin understands that Zhao Yongsheng is unwilling to solve housing for Hou Weidong, let alone take the initiative.Even if there is a suitable listing, it cannot be said.Hearing Hou Weidong's question about this matter, he said embarrassingly: "Qinglinchang Town is only as big as the buttocks, and I haven't found a suitable house after much deliberation. If I really want to rent a house, there are still some places for the nearby villagers' homes, but the environment is too bad .”

"Where do the other cadres live?" Hou Weidong asked knowingly. "Before the merger of the two townships, the township government had some dormitories. After the merger, it was overcrowded. The houses of the township government were already full, and most of the cadres of the township government were locals. Cadres who had no housing returned to live in the countryside. The main purpose of Qinglin’s establishment of a working group is to resettle cadres who do not have housing.” After chatting for a while, the sky became much darker, Hou Weidong saw that Ouyang Lin had no choice but said, "Forget it, I'll go back to Shangqinglin first."

Halfway up the mountain, it was getting dark.Looking back at the town in the mist, because of the distance, the town presents a tranquil beauty in the twilight.Hou Weidong said in his heart: "Qinglin Town is too old. If we can change the old look of the town, it should be regarded as the most obvious achievement of the new government." After this idea flashed, the more he thought about it, the more reasonable he felt. Entering the Shangqinglin township government yard, Yang Xinchun, the postal agent, greeted him: "It's too inconvenient for Hou University to go uphill every day. Why don't you ask for a house in the town?"

Hou Weidong said in embarrassment: "I asked, there is no housing." Yang Xinchun didn't pursue this issue, and said with a smile: "I still call you Hou University instead of Mayor Hou. You won't be angry, will you?" When Yang Xinchun called Hou Daxue, Hou Weidong really didn't think of this. After Yang Xinchun mentioned this matter, he thought that the problem of addressing is actually a serious problem: "Three deputy mayors were elected at the same time, and colleagues called the other two. A certain town mayor, but he only calls me Hou Daxue, which is actually disrespect in disguise. Disrespect will lead to ineffective speech and poor command, and the consequences will be very serious.”

Thinking of this, Hou Weidong didn't go into the agent's office to chat and read the newspaper. While going upstairs, he laughed at himself and said: "Climbing the mountain every day is the healthy life dreamed by the rich in the West. I have realized it in advance." Luckily it was winter and the leftovers and leftovers on the table were still usable.Hou Weidong turned on the electric frying pan, poured the leftovers together, and turned them over with a spatula.The aroma of the food soon permeated the room, and the aroma mixed with the sound of the TV. Although there was only one person, it created a somewhat homely atmosphere.

While thinking about Xiao Jia, a low voice suddenly came from outside the door: "Teacher Hou, can I come in?" In Shangqinglin, most of the villagers call Hou Weidong a lunatic, a few villagers call him Hou University, and only Tie Ruiqing's family insists on calling Hou Weidong Teacher Hou.The thin female voice outside the door, needless to say, was Tie Ruiqing. "Come in quickly, the school is not on holiday yet, why are you back?" When Hou Weidong arrived in Shangqinglin, Tie Ruiqing was in the first year of high school.Time passed, and she was admitted to Lingxi University with excellent grades. This is Shangqinglin's first key university student.When Hou Weidong first came to Shangqinglin, he taught Tie Ruiqing English. Now that the student has been admitted to a key university, he has a small sense of accomplishment.

After half a year of nurturing in the university, Tie Ruiqing quickly transformed from a thin and cautious high school student into a young girl with bright eyes and bright teeth.It's just that after entering the door today, my face is pale and my mood is low. Hou Weidong noticed the problem from his sad face, and asked, "What happened?" Tie Ruiqing lowered his head, as if he was in an ideological struggle.After a while, she raised her head and said, "Mr. Hou, did you make a lot of money by opening the quarry?" "Why do you ask, do you need my help?" Tie Ruiqing asked persistently: "Mr. Hou, please answer me, did you make a lot of money?"

"In your mind, what is the criterion for being rich? One hundred thousand, two hundred thousand, or one million?" "Do you have 100,000 yuan? I need money. My mother has a heart problem. I'm going to take her for an operation. The operation fee is 150,000 yuan, and our family's deposit is only 56,000 yuan. Dad is a primary school teacher. , He has a very strong self-esteem. He has never borrowed money from anyone in his life, let alone such a large sum. For this matter, he hid himself and cried several times. I came to Mr. Hou without telling him. You must help me. " Tears flickered in her eyes, and she said, "Ms. Hou, don't worry, I will issue an IOU for the money. I majored in finance. After graduation, my income should not be low, and I will definitely be able to pay it back." Hou Weidong was moved by Tie Ruiqing's family affection, and said: "Tomorrow I will go to Yiyang City to withdraw money for you. I am a law student, and I value the contract relationship the most. You must write an IOU. I don't want interest. Don’t write down the repayment period, okay?” Tie Ruiqing's eyes sparkled, and he said, "Mr. Hou, you are a good person and a man." Tie Gangsheng appeared at the door, and seeing his daughter sitting in Hou Weidong's living room, he asked in surprise, "Tie Ruiqing, why are you here?" Tie Ruiqing said almost at the same time: "Father, why are you here?" Tie Shan said awkwardly: "I'm here to ask Mr. Hou to borrow money." He has been the primary school principal for 20 years, and he is very noble in Shangqinglin, so it is not easy for him to ask others to borrow money.However, the desire to save his wife finally defeated the concept of face. Tie Ruiqing said happily: "Teacher Hou promised to lend us one hundred thousand." Tie Shan said with a shy expression on his face: "Brother Hou, I have to make it clear that I will not pay the money for the time being, but please rest assured, I swear by my personality that I will pay back the money even if it is a cow or a horse. Ruiqing will be graduating from university in three more years, and the two of us will make money by then, and the economic conditions will be much better than now, and we will definitely be able to pay back the money." Hou Weidong hurriedly said: "You are serious, Principal Tie is serious." When the father and daughter left, Hou Weidong stood in the aisle to see each other off.The back of Tie Shansheng seems to be a little stooped, while Tie Ruiqing is bursting with vigorous vitality like a young tree in spring. After serving as the deputy mayor for a month, Hou Weidong finally encountered the first difficult thing since becoming the deputy mayor. On the morning of February 9, Zhao Yongsheng and Su Ming returned from a meeting in the county.In the afternoon, the government of Qinglin town held a party-government joint meeting. At the meeting, Zhao Yongsheng said with a serious expression: "Today, the county held a special meeting on funeral and interment reform. The content of the meeting is very important. Everyone put aside the matters in hand for the time being, and concentrate on the meeting. First, please ask Mayor Su to convey the spirit of the county." Su Ming took out the file bag and said, "Yesterday, Secretary Zhao and I went to the county to hold a work meeting on funeral reform. Funeral reform is a work that is uniformly arranged by Lingxi Province. Shazhou City is a moderately developed area in Lingxi Province. It is the cremation area. Next, I will organize everyone to study the "Shazhou Funeral Reform Management Measures", as well as relevant documents of the city government and county government." It took nearly forty minutes to read a series of documents. After reading it, Su Ming said: "Today, I have studied the documents at the provincial, city and county levels in the original text. According to the unified deployment of the whole province, the funeral reform in our county will be officially implemented from May 1st. It is a millennium funeral tradition to burrow into the ground. It is hard to imagine how difficult it is to change in a short period of time.” He emphasized his tone, and said: "This matter has been signed from the province to the city to the county and town. Responsibility agreements have been signed at all levels. If the task cannot be completed, all levels will be held accountable. No joke. From now to May 1, In less than three months, the task is heavy, the time is tight, the contradictions are deep, and the difficulty is great. Mayor Hou is in charge of social undertakings, so he must be fully mentally prepared for this work." When Su Ming mentioned this, something suddenly came to his mind, and he thought to himself: "No wonder Zhao Yongsheng wants to adjust my leadership division of labor plan. Most likely he knew about the funeral reform in advance and deliberately asked Hou Weidong to do this difficult task." This idea flashed through his mind, and he continued: "To advance the work of funeral and interment reform, we must do a good job in publicity. From now to May is the stage of publicity and promotion. Only through overwhelming publicity can the funeral reform be known to everyone and deeply rooted in the hearts of the people. , in order to minimize the conflict.” He turned his attention to Hou Weidong again: "I came back from the meeting in the morning. I have already told Mayor Hou about this matter. You will put forward the publicity plan for study." Hou Weidong didn't get the materials from the county until after lunch. According to the deployment of the county, he worked overtime to make a publicity plan. "Based on the requirements of the county government, I drew up a publicity work plan, which is divided into four parts: one is to hold a publicity meeting. I suggest that the town hold a meeting of cadres at the town, village, and communal levels, and explain the funeral reform work thoroughly at the meeting. The villages also carry out publicity separately; the second is to use the existing radio to repeatedly broadcast the relevant documents of the Yiyang County Government to implement compulsory publicity; Lime painted slogans along the highway, creating momentum and creating public opinion.” After Hou Weidong finished speaking, Zhao Yongsheng held the general's belly and said, "Mayor Su talked about policies, Hou Weidong talked about propaganda work, and I will make three points below. "First, Hou Weidong's publicity plan is very comprehensive. If the publicity work is really done to this extent, the effect will definitely be good. What I emphasize is that it will be implemented in practice. Hou Weidong will be responsible for the specific work of the funeral reform, and Liu Kun will be in charge of the publicity work. After the meeting was over, Liu Kun and Hou Weidong had a good discussion about the work, and tried to create a publicity boom in Qinglin Town, paving the way for the funeral reform in May. "Secondly, set up the Qinglin Town Funeral Reform Leading Group, with Town Mayor Su as the group leader, and Hou Weidong and Liu Kun as the deputy group leaders. The leading group has an office under it, with Su Yajun from the Social Affairs Office as the office director." Su Ming interjected modestly: "Secretary Zhao, this matter is too difficult, and you have to take care of it." Zhao Yongsheng waved his hand and said: "Mayor Su is the most suitable team leader, you can't always let me, an old guy, stand in front. "Third, I only want to emphasize one point here. The funeral reform is not about treating guests to a meal, nor is it a word of mouth. At that time, you will have to sweat, cry, or even bleed. Everyone must be fully prepared. On May 1, the whole town will implement cremation in an all-round way." , The first three axes are the key. If the first few axes are not chopped well, there will be many difficulties in the future. Hou Weidong is a young comrade, and he must have courage and wisdom. The 30,000 people in the town are looking at you." After talking about this matter, Zhao Yongsheng said: "This is the end of today's meeting. Mayor Su and Hou Weidong come to my office." When he arrived at the office, Zhao Yongsheng said slowly: "According to the opinion of the county, in the funeral reform, various places can collect a certain amount of security deposit for reburial, or it is called a fine, or it is called land compensation. This money stays in the town and does not need to be handed over to the county. Finance is used as a fund for the funeral reform work. I have calculated that if the money is collected, it will be a large amount of income. The town has a lot of debts and the financial operation is difficult. This money will solve a big problem. "Funeral reform is a major and difficult task, and the village cadres must be mobilized to participate. My idea is to extract 10% of the land compensation and reward the village cadres, so as to really improve their enthusiasm and let them change from passive to active." Speaking of this, Zhao Yongsheng explained: "This matter can only be done, not talked about, let alone publicized. Hou Weidong is the leader in charge, so he must be careful. He must not only publicize to the village cadres, but also keep it secret." Hou Weidong nodded and said, "I understand." But he was thinking of something else in his heart: "Zhao Yongsheng has been refusing to address Mayor Hou. It seems that he has quite a big opinion on me." Su Ming already had an account in his mind, and said, "The county has set cremation quotas based on the natural death rate of each town each year. My town must complete 200 cremations this year. As long as we can complete the 200 cremations task, other burials can be fined for burial, the fee is 4,000 to 10,000 yuan per body. According to the situation in my town, 5,000 yuan is more appropriate, and 240 to 300 people die in our town every year. If the land occupation fee Receive 5,000 yuan each, and if you can collect land occupation fees for 40 people, the town can receive 200,000 yuan. "If you consider 10% of the work expenses for the village cadres, according to the calculation just now, it is about 20,000 yuan per year. There are twelve villages in Qinglin Town, and each village gets very little money, which is not very attractive. I suggest Consider giving village cadres 20% of their work expenses, so that each village has an average of more than 2,000 to 5,000 yuan per year, which can effectively mobilize their enthusiasm for work.” Zhao Yongsheng listened carefully to Su Ming's opinion, and made a decision on the spot: "Funeral reform is a major event for the whole town. If the village cadres don't work hard, we will be blind and deaf. I agree with Mayor Su's suggestion just now, and the refund rate is set at 20% , 20% of the rebate can mobilize the enthusiasm of village cadres, which is very cost-effective.” Speaking of this, Su Ming, who was tortured by the financial shortage and was about to go crazy, his eyes glowed, and said: "The township government's finances are tight. With this money, teachers' salaries can be repaid, and the construction of the town can be strengthened. From this point of view, A good grasp of the funeral reform will not only benefit the country, society and future generations, but also contribute to the construction of the town." Hou Weidong felt awkward about collecting land fines, but from a practical point of view, the approach of secretary Zhao Yongsheng and mayor Su Ming was the most realistic choice. After the meeting, Hou Weidong came to Liu Kun's office thinking about publicity. Liu Kun called Duan Ying, and while waiting for a call back, Hou Weidong appeared at the door. Hou Weidong ignored Liu Kun's expression, and said, "The funeral reform will be implemented in early May, and the preliminary publicity work is very important. This Friday, we plan to hold a special meeting on funeral reform in the town. I want to discuss with you how to do a good job in publicity work in the town." Seeing Hou Weidong, Liu Kun felt furious, and said coldly: "Put the information on the table, and I'll read it when I find time." Hou Weidong turned and left, walked to the door, and reminded: "It is best to distribute the propaganda outline and slogan at the mobilization meeting." At this time the phone rang suddenly, Liu Kun answered the phone, and his attitude immediately became very affectionate: "Hey, I'm coming back tonight, go home for dinner." Duan Ying's voice came from the phone: "Your mother doesn't like me, I don't want to go to your house." Liu Kun said cautiously: "Honey, don't be too narrow-minded. My mother has a sharp mouth and a tofu heart. It's settled like this, and I will pick you up at night." Duan Ying said: "The mouth of a knife can kill people!" After a few words of persuasion, Duan Ying still didn't want to go back to his parents' house.Liu Kun said angrily: "Why do you have such an attitude, how can my mother feel sorry for you?!" After getting angry, he slowed down his tone again, "Honey, let's go back, I'll pick you up."