Chapter 1060 - 1058: Blind as a Bat
Bam, the door opened, and a man in his thirties appeared at the doorway. As soon as he saw Tang Yumeng and Li Huaishan, his face froze, and he stuttered, "Se-Secretary Tang, Secretary Li, why, why are you here?"
"Why wouldn't we be here?" Tang Yumeng's face was terrifyingly cold as she walked straight into the room.
Inside, there were three or four people sitting around a Mahjong table, with stacks of cash on it. One of them was Township Party Secretary Zhao Bingnan. As soon as he saw Tang Yumeng and Li Huaishan, his face turned pale, as if he was about to faint.
"You all seem to be living quite comfortably, a township head and a township party secretary playing Mahjong during work hours." Tang Yumeng tried to suppress the anger ready to burst in her heart, looking at Zhao Bingnan and Tong Huaiyu.
The two of them didn't dare to speak, with cold sweat pouring down their faces like rain.
Sitting in the southwest corner was a dark-skinned and sturdy guy who, not knowing who Tang Yumeng and Li Huaishan were, stood up and actually cursed at Tang Yumeng, "Who the hell are you to speak to the township head and secretary like that? Are you tired of living?"
Li Huaishan's face turned livid upon hearing this guy cursing at Tang Yumeng, glaring fiercely at Zhao Bingnan and Tong Huaiyu.
This guy was Tong Huaiyu's brother-in-law, named Yao Shunzi, and because he was dark-skinned, others nicknamed him Er Heizi.
Er Heizi meant that this guy was not only dark but also dim-witted.
"Shunzi, shut up! How can you talk to Secretary Tang like that?" Tong Huaiyu now really wanted to kick his brother-in-law.
"Oh. So this woman is a secretary too, but I bet she's not a bigger official than our Secretary Zhao, right? Just move aside and don't interfere with our game." This guy's brain truly was dim; Tong Huaiyu's face was already cringing, and yet he couldn't see the situation.
Xiao Xue, hearing this guy was all brawn and no brains, deliberately said, "You say our Secretary Tang's position isn't as high as your Secretary Zhao's, but what's your rank?"
Yao Shunzi said with a bit of smugness, "I'm not a big shot, just the head of security at the township government."
Tong Huaiyu couldn't hold back anymore. If his brainless brother-in-law kept talking, who knew what mess would ensue. He kicked Yao Shunzi and cursed, "You idiot! Can't you see that Secretary Tang from the City Committee and Secretary Li from the County Committee are here? What nonsense are you talking about?"
Yao Shunzi gasped and finally realized he was facing the City and County Committee Secretaries. His legs went weak, and he fell to the ground with a thud.
"Secretary Tang, Secretary Li, we were just entertaining ourselves during lunchtime," Zhao Bingnan said, his eyes darting, not daring to meet Tang Yumeng and Li Huaishan's gaze.
Tang Yumeng let out a cold laugh, "Really? How come I heard you were here since ten o'clock?"
"No way, who the hell said that? We've only been playing for less than three hours," answered the brainless Yao Shunzi, quickly standing up with the help of a chair.
Less than three hours, but it was still not even one o'clock in the afternoon, which meant they started after ten.
Tong Huaiyu was so angry he almost spat blood, wishing he could just rush over and put this guy out of his misery.
Li Huaishan could no longer bear it; such a big joke happening under his jurisdiction made even him, the County Committee Secretary, feel utterly embarrassed. He coldly said to Tong Huaiyu and Zhao Bingnan, "You two pack up immediately. Secretary Tang and I will wait for you in the township government office."
Then he turned to Tang Yumeng, "Secretary Tang, let's wait for them at the township government."
Tang Yumeng responded with a hum and turned to leave, followed by Xiao Xue and Luo Guoqing. Li Huaishan gave Tong Huaiyu another fierce glare before hastily leaving with his secretary.
As soon as Zhao Bingnan, Tong Huaiyu, and the others stepped out, their legs gave way, and they slumped into their chairs. The clueless Yao Shunzi actually said to the two of them, "Brother-in-law, Secretary Zhao, we're just playing Mahjong. What can they do to us? Look at how scared you are."
Tong Huaiyu, burning with anger with no place to vent, jumped up and kicked Yao Shunzi twice, cursing, "Having a brainless brother-in-law like you, I've really had the worst luck for eight lifetimes."
Knocked to the ground by Tong Huaiyu's kicks, Yao Shunzi started crying out, "You dare to hit me, Tong? I'm going to tell my sister!"
The group led by Tang Yumeng and Li Huaishan arrived at the entrance of the township government. The security guard, seeing Luo Guoqing and Xiao Xue, chuckled, "So, did you find Mr. Tong? Judging by your looks, I bet you got a cold shoulder, right? Haha."
Li Huaishan's face grew even darker, and the secretary next to him yelled at the security guard, "You blind fool, don't you recognize Secretary Tang from the City Committee and Secretary Li from the County Committee?"
The security guard froze. His expression turned extremely rigid, and his legs went weak, leaving him speechless as he leaned against the wall.
"Does my cigarette taste good?" Luo Guoqing muttered as he passed by the security guard.
The security guard, startled, hurriedly reached for a cigarette, but Luo Guoqing had already entered the township government's office building.
Tang Yumeng and others waited in the township government office for less than fifteen minutes before Tong Huaiyu and Zhao Bingnan hurried in, sitting at the corner seats, heads bowed, not daring to look at Tang Yumeng and Li Huaishan.
"Secretary Zhao, Mr. Tong, let's not talk about your gambling during work hours for now. Please report the land lease situation in XX Village to your County Committee Secretary," Tang Yumeng said coldly, looking at the two of them.
Li Huaishan was unaware of the land lease issue, and was taken aback by her words.
When Tong Huaiyu and Zhao Bingnan heard Tang Yumeng mention this, they knew someone had spilled the beans. At this point, they realized it was impossible to hide it anymore.
"Secretary Tang, regarding the land lease, our township signed a land lease contract with Tianrui Company, and we also signed contracts with the villagers. According to the contract, we pay the villagers an annual land rent," Tong Huaiyu said stiffly.
Xiao Xue asked, "Mr. Tong, we all know about this, but Tianrui Company compensates villagers with an annual land rent of CNY 2,100 per acre, so why does your township government deduct CNY 1,100?"
Tong Huaiyu argued, "Let me explain this issue to Secretary Tang and Secretary Li. We did deduct a portion of the land rent, but the money was used for proper purposes. We didn't dare pocket a cent."
"Then tell us, where did all that money go?" Tang Yumeng glared at Tong Huaiyu.
Tong Huaiyu hesitated for a moment and said, "Secretary Tang, Secretary Li, you both know our township is a poverty-stricken area. The hospitality budget the county allocates each year is far from enough, so this money was mostly used for hospitality expenses. I'm not lying; there are records for every penny."
"Is that so," Tang Yumeng slapped the table and shouted, "I think it went into your own stomachs. This is the lifeline money for villagers to survive. How dare you do this? It's too much."
Tong Huaiyu was too frightened to say anything further.
Luo Guoqing added, "Do you two township leaders know what the village looks like now? The capable men have all gone out to earn a living. The village is left with only the elderly, widows, and children. Also, the school in the village is still cramming several grades into one classroom. Whenever it's windy or rainy, the children are afraid to go to school. Yet, you have the nerve to say the money was spent on wining and dining."
Li Huaishan finally grasped the full situation, abruptly stood up, and pointed at Tong Huaiyu and Zhao Bingnan, saying, "You are truly a disgrace to West River County! Secretary Tang, what do you think we should do?"
Having been in politics for a long time, Li Huaishan didn't offer a solution himself, pushing the issue to Tang Yumeng. If things were to be investigated, at worst, he'd be guilty of negligence.
Tang Yumeng saw through Li Huaishan's little trick but didn't bother arguing at this moment. She said, "Mr. Tong, Secretary Zhao, I now order you to pay the full amount of the withheld land rent to the villagers immediately. Do it now."
Tong Huaiyu looked troubled and murmured, "Secretary Tang, the township has no money right now..."
Before he could finish, Tang Yumeng interrupted coldly, "I don't care, even if you have to sell everything, you must distribute this money to the villagers today. I'm staying right here to see you distribute the money."
Tong Huaiyu glanced at Li Huaishan, clearly asking him to say something to help.
After all, Tong Huaiyu was his subordinate. Li Huaishan couldn't ignore him and said, "Secretary Tang, distributing the money today might be a bit rushed. Besides, we still need to count the number of villagers and so on..."
This time it wasn't Tang Yumeng who interrupted, but Xiao Xue: "Secretary Li, these things can be handled by having the village head distribute according to previous records."
Li Huaishan was left speechless, sulking silently.
The land contracted by Tianrui Company totals 2,600 acres, with a yearly rental deduction of CNY 1,100 per acre. Annually, the total amounts to 2.86 million, over three years, totaling more than CNY 8.5 million.
Tong Huaiyu and Zhao Bingnan glared at each other. Most of this huge sum had long been spent, with almost nothing left. Telling them to produce this money was like asking for their lives.
After a silent ten minutes, seeing the two of them still not moving, Tang Yumeng said coldly, "Mr. Tong, Secretary Zhao, do I need to escort you to get the money?"
"No, no," Tong Huaiyu quickly replied. "Secretary Tang, asking us to get this money now, it's nearly ten million. I have no way."
Tang Yumeng snorted coldly, "I've already said, no matter what you have to do, you must distribute the money today. If you really can't come up with it, ask your Secretary Li for it."