Chapter 9 Chapter nine

It's winter, and it's raining all day long.Every morning, when most people in the city are still asleep, they will hear the sound of firecrackers, wailing and suona on the street.This year is very strange, many people are getting old, and there are funerals every day.Tao Tao couldn't bear to see the dead, and was afraid.Whenever he heard crying on the street, Tao Tao would crawl into Guan Yinda's arms, trembling all over.Guan Yinda coaxed her, saying that she was still a child. The county party committee office suddenly received a notice that Chen Yongdong, the former secretary of the prefectural party committee, had passed away, and asked all counties and cities to lay wreaths and send leading comrades to attend the memorial service.Guan Yinda was acquainted with Chen Yongdong, so he discussed with the secretary of the county party committee and said, "I'll go to Xizhou."

Tao Tao just wanted to go back to see his parents, so he went together.The two returned to Xizhou City, bought wreaths on the street, and went directly to the mourning hall.The directors are all old colleagues from the prefectural committee office, and they are unavoidable to be polite when they meet Guan Yinda.But after all, there was a funeral, and it was inconvenient to warm up, so I shook hands, with an inexplicable expression on my face.Chen Yongdong's two sons and one daughter are both in their forties or fifties, and they don't know how to be polite, so they hide away.They came to shake hands with Guan Yinda after the people from the district committee called them.Seeing their indifferent looks, Guan Yinda couldn't say anything like condolences and resignation.He only said that Old Secretary Chen was a good person.There were a lot of onlookers, all chattering about something.

The memorial service will be held in the afternoon, so Guan Yinda and Tao Tao will go back to Dad's house first.Guan Yinda sent the driver to the hotel to rest, and walked up the mountain with Tao Tao.The wind in Taoling was even stronger, making it difficult for people to open their mouths to breathe.With his back against the wind, Tao Tao said, "Some people say that Mr. Chen left a lot of money." "How do you know?" Guan Yinda asked loudly against the wind. Tao Tao stepped back and said, "You are greeting people, I'm listening to other people's discussions."

Only my mother is at home, and my father has not come back yet.Seeing that the two of them were blushing from the cold, mother hurriedly turned on the air conditioner. "What a weird old man!" Mom said about Chen Yongdong. Tao Tao asked: "Others say that Mr. Chen has saved a lot of money." My mother said: "Your father told me that it was true. There are more than 400,000 yuan. Mr. Chen left a will and all the money should be paid to the party dues." Tao Tao said: "The realm of the old man is quite high." Mom shook her head and talked about the whole story.Chen Yongdong was so pitiful. No one knew about it until he died for a few days.He usually walks alone, and his children are not around.An old comrade suddenly remembered that it had been a long time since Mr. Chen danced his sword in the morning.He felt something was wrong, so he reported to the prefectural committee.The prefectural committee sent someone to pry open the door and found the old man sleeping peacefully.Fortunately, it was winter, otherwise the corpses would have died.Tao Fan heard about it, and immediately took Wu Mingxian to rush there.Comrades from the prefectural committee are cleaning up Mr. Chen's belongings.Someone found a crumpled note from the bedside.When I opened it, it turned out to be Old Chen's will.The characters are crooked and bold.

my will 1. I have accumulated a total of 450,000 yuan in my life to pay party dues. 2. I want to cut off my braids, shave my head, and go to see Marx clean. 3. My children will definitely fight for my money, so I cannot listen to them. Chen Yongdong on a certain day of a certain month and a certain year Tao Fan took the will and looked at it, and told the people present: "This will, comrades, please keep it secret." Tao Fan immediately made an appointment with Zhang Zhaolin and several other leaders at home.Tao Fan said: "Comrade Chen Yongdong deserves our admiration. However, in my personal opinion, we cannot fully implement this will."

Everyone was taken aback, not knowing what Tao Fan's intentions were, but they didn't speak, and waited for Tao Fan to continue.Tao Fan was a little excited, and after a moment of silence, he said: "Mr. Chen has been strict with himself all his life, and even his own children are not allowed to enter the city. The old man's two sons and one daughter are all in the countryside, and the living conditions are very bad. My personal opinion , paying a fraction of 50,000 yuan for the party fee is considered to be in accordance with the old man's wishes, and the remaining 400,000 yuan is still given to his own children. The party does not lack these hundreds of thousands of yuan."

Zhang Zhaolin took the lead in expressing his opinion: "I agree with Secretary Tao's opinion." Someone raised the question: Are there legal issues? Tao Fan said: "Fortunately, legislation on wills is still a blind spot for the time being. I think the old man will understand us if we deal with it this way." After talking about the will, Tao Fan asked Zhang Zhaolin to stay for a while, and said: "Zhaolin, regarding Mr. Chen's death, you should say hello to Wu Mingxian, and ask him to tell his comrades. Don't talk about it. Mr. Chen is from Xizhou after the founding of the People's Republic of China. The first secretary of the prefectural party committee had such a bleak evening scene, and the influence of rumors was not good. Maintaining the prestige of the party is more important than anything else. In order to comfort the old family of Chen, I considered making the funeral as decent as possible. It can be simple, but the standard must be high. Recently, there are new regulations above. When a party member or cadre above the prefectural level dies, the body can be covered with the party flag. I suggest that at the memorial service, the body of Mr. Chen should be covered with the party flag. Usually, the memorial service is held after cremation here, and Mr. Chen will break it For example, cremation after the memorial service. All departments and counties and cities must send wreaths, and all units must send leaders to attend the memorial service.”

Zhang Zhaolin nodded and said, "I agree with you. I'll ask Wu Mingxian to decorate the mourning hall in a decent way." "That's right. Some flowers should be placed around the body. Zhaolin, ask Wu Mingxian to quickly draw up a list of funeral committees. I'll be the director, and you can consider others." Half an hour later, Wu Mingxian sent the list of the funeral committee to Tao Fan's desk.After looking at it, Tao Fan said: "Old Wu, you have been the secretary-general for several years, why don't you even know the basics of common sense? The list of funeral committees is not the same as the list of leaders of prefectural committees and administrative offices. The retired old leaders have to enter Funeral committee. Directors and deputy directors are arranged according to their positions, and other committee members must be arranged according to the strokes of their surnames."

Wu Mingxian said: "Some old leaders have not lived in Xizhou for many years." Tao Fan became angry: "You are confused! They have lived in the United States for a long time, and you can't touch them with political treatment!" After several iterations, the list of funeral committees was finalized.Tao Fan instructed: Immediately print and distribute the county and city party committees, governments, and prefecture-level departments and units, and send it to the leaders of the prefectural committees, administrative offices, the National People's Congress Joint Working Committee, the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference Joint Working Committee, and retired veteran comrades above the deputy prefecture level.

Although Wu Mingxian was scolded, he still admired Tao Fan's instructions.He saw that Tao Fan used the word "quickly" instead of "immediately" or "immediately", which seemed to be more ink than other leaders. It will be noon in a while.Tao Tao heard the sound of a car and said, "Dad is back." Tao Tao hurriedly went out to have a look.Guan Yinda also followed out.Tao Fan got out of the car and smiled slightly when he saw Guan Yinda and his wife coming.After entering the room, Tao Fan sat down and couldn't help sighing.Tao Tao asked, "What's wrong with Dad?"

Tao Fan shook his head and said, "Someone was not tight-lipped and leaked Mr. Chen's will. A reporter is so busy that he actually let this news into the newspaper." Guan Yinda asked: "So we have to pay all the party dues? I don't think it's necessary." Tao Fan didn't say what to do, he just said: "It's meaningless to create such news!" Seeing that Tao Fan didn't want to talk about it anymore, everyone stopped mentioning it.After lunch, the family chatted, and it was time for work in the afternoon.Tao Fan had to give a eulogy to Mr. Chen.The car arrived, and Tao Fan went out with his bag in his arms.Guan Yinda was also going to attend the memorial service, but he didn't go with Tao Fan's car.Tao Fan didn't intend to invite him to go with him either.The relationship between the two is no longer the relationship between the leader and the secretary, so they can't be as close as they used to be.Guan Yinda was not very kind to always reminding people of their relationship with their son-in-law. Two minutes after Tao Fan left, Guan Yinda went down the mountain.The mourning hall is solemn and solemn, with three layers of wreaths inside and outside.The old man Chen Yongdong was lying among the flowers, covered with bright party flags.Old Chen's withered cheeks were made up, like waxed walnut shells.After a few minutes, the memorial service officially began.The scene quieted down, and Tao Fan looked back on Comrade Chen Yongdong's glorious and arduous battle in a low voice.I heard some people whispering that Mr. Chen was so lucky that he was able to cover the party flag when he met a prefecture-level cadre. At night, Tao Fan stayed alone in the study and did not come out.Guan Yinda and Tao Tao didn't go back to the county right away, they wanted to accompany their father.Mom said, "Let your father be alone. He hasn't been in a good mood since the day he passed away." The TV was on all the time, and no one looked at it.When it was evening news time, a piece of news about Mr. Chen was broadcast, saying that when an old Communist Party member was dying, he handed over all the huge property he had accumulated throughout his life to the party organization.The reporter interviewed Mr. Chen's sons and daughters. The three honest farmers stared blankly at the ground in a daze, unable to say a word.There is a heavy news tone on the TV: Yes, they can't say a word, what they have is endless mourning for the old man. Before going to bed, Tao Tao said: "Father seems to be in a bad mood." Guan Yinda said: "I can't figure out what dad is thinking. If I were in the position of dad, I would wonder if Mr. Chen's life is worth it? How should I evaluate my own life?" "Everyone says Mr. Chen is a strange old man." Tao Tao said. Guan Yinda sighed: "Anything, as long as it goes beyond reason and goes against human nature, there will be problems. Mr. Chen is more and more like a fireman in his later years. Dad may have seen through this and ignored his will. I don't know. What does Dad think? I think Mr. Chen's ending is a bit ridiculous." It was very late at night, but there was still light shining through the door of Tao Fan's study.