Chapter Sixteen
The county disciplinary commission and the county procuratorate had set up a joint taskforce to investigate and prosecute the fake joint venture case and the
corruption of the factory director Zhou Jinmin of the fertilizer plant.
Once this news spread, it caused a great commotion in Chu County. Everyone who hung around in Chu County knew who Zhou Jinmin was, and he was the big shot in front of the County Party Secretary and the County Magistrate. The fertilizer factory he led was the leading enterprise among the key enterprises of the county. As the factory director, he was an outstanding one among the factory directors of enterprises in the county. He was known for his shrewdness, competency, and managerial skills within the entire industrial system in the county. Of course, there were also those who knew the inside story and believed that Zhou did not have a proper personal life. They thoughthe was trying to keep up with the trend of bosses in South Guangdong and Zhuhai, involved with the mistresses, but these rumours lacked evidence and no one took them seriously.
Now the special task force had been stationed in the fertilizer plant, and rumours about Zhou Jinmin gradually surfaced, which really scared the people of Chu County. The factory director of a county-owned backbone enterprise was actually so decadent and corrupt in his personal life, with no less than 35 normal sexual partners. That meant that many of them might not even have a chance to be favored once a month. This was like an emperor in feudal society. Wow, incredible. This Zhou Jinmin, despite his ordinary appearance, actually had so many hidden desires. It seemed that this guy must be a corrupt official. I wondered how much money from the fertilizer plant had gone into his personal pocket. It was really strange. How could Director Zhou, who had to lead such a large fertilizer plant and had more than thirty lovers, manage to cope with it? Oh my god, was his thing down the seat of his trousers ironclad? Otherwise, how could he be well-braced to more than thirty lovers?
As the saying went, everyone ran to it with his ax. When Zhou Jinmin go into trouble, there were all talebearing about him. Of course, Zhou Jinmin deserved to be talked about by others. If you didn’t want others to know, you shouldn’t have done it. If you don’t want other people to talk, you shouldn’t have done it. He has done so many terrible and dirty things, what could he argue with when others said a few words?
However, these were just discussions among the common people in Chu County. The high-level leadership in Chu County was not concerned with these topics. Some people thought that this young secretary Liu was very powerful. He had not been working in Chu County for a long time, but he had accomplished several major tasks, such as the development of Heigao Marsh and the expansion of Yingxiong Road. Everyone praised him for his boldness and vision. Now, from his decisive handling of Zhou Jinmin, people could see that Secretary Liu’s strength was not only reflected in his work, but also in his control of the situation and management of man.
People who had this feeling naturally knew that in the past year or two, Zhou Jinmin had once been an important pawn in Liu Chengyin’s hands. The entire county’s economy depended on Zhou Jinmin’s leadership at the fertilizer plant, which supported the reputation of the county party secretary.
Now Zhou Jinmin was in trouble, and Secretary Liu mercilessly kicked him out. Therefore,the responsibility for the false joint venture of the fertilizer plant fell entirely on Zhou Jinmin’s head. When the special investigation team arrived, Zhou Jinmin was bound to have a bad ending. In this matter, blinded by lust, he caused a loss of more than 1.2 million to the factory. If they investigated his accounts during his years as the factory director, they would find that he had never embezzled before? There was a saying circulating in society: ten factory directors, nine were corrupt, you knew, and the last one affected a high moral tone. Although high-toned, he still accepted cigarettes and alcohol as gifts during festivals. The red envelopes that were delivered to him all went into his pocket. The person like Zhou Jinmin must be a corrupt official; otherwise, how could he serve those thirty lovers?
In response to the false joint venture incident at the fertilizer plant, Liu Chengyin took decisive action against Zhou Jinmin, punishing him severely and thereby mitigating the negative impact of the incident. At the Standing Committee of the County Party Committee, the Joint Task Force of the County Discipline Inspection Commission and the County Procuratorate informed all the Standing Committee members about the investigation and hearing of the stationed fertilizer plant. It was found that not only did the plant director, Zhou Jinmin, have a decadent lifestyle and corrupt morals, but he committed serious economic crimes. The task force recommended that the County Committee take party and government disciplinary action against Zhou Jinmin and transfer the case to the judicial authorities for legal sanctions.
The Standing Committee unanimously agreed with the proposal of the special investigation team and made a decision to expel Zhou Jinmin from the party and revoke his position as the director of the chemical fertilizer plant, and he would be handed over to the judicial authorities for punishment in accordance with the law. Liu Chengyin made a concluding speech at the end of the Standing Committee, emphasizing the need to seriously summarize and reflect on the lessons learned from the false joint venture of the chemical fertilizer plant. At the same time, he pointed out that he must take leadership responsibility for this issue, and made a preliminary self-criticism at the Standing Committee meeting. He would report to the Municipal Party Committee after the meeting and conduct a deeper review.
These measures taken by Liu Chengyin made some comrades who had previously had opinions about him unable to say anything more. Everyone felt that the problem was mainly caused by Zhou Jinmin. Secretary Liu was deceived because he was eager for a large project. As members of the county party committee, everyone hoped that there would be a large industrial project in Chu County. As a leader, it was understandable for Secretary Liu to have such feelings. Therefore, when hearing that Secretary Liu wanted to make a personal report to the municipal party committee, some people expressed different opinions, believing that this matter should be collectively reviewed by the county party committee, and it was not appropriate to let Comrade Liu Chengyin personally review it. Comrades also found the basis for collective review, saying that the signing ceremony of the false joint venture project of the fertilizer plant was hosted by the county party committee and the county government, so the bad results should be attributed to the collective. It was not appropriate to assign blame to the leader for problems.
As the county party secretary, Liu Chengyin was deeply moved by the comrades’ care and tolerance towards him. However, he advised them not to argue about the self-criticism issue, and he decided to submit a self-criticism report personally to the municipal party committee.
The fake joint venture of the fertilizer plant had involved too much of Liu Chengyin’s energy, even causing the young county party secretary to feel a little exhausted.
Watching the year 1990 coming to an end in chaos, Liu Chengyin felt empty and had a sense of rolling flat. He thought, no, it couldn’t go on like this. In this way, Liu Chengyin would leave a blank spot in the history of Chu County. To say a blank spot was not accurate, to do nothing was a blank spot, but to have caused a fake joint venture in the fertilizer plant would become a stain. He must not let people only think of the fertilizer plant’s fake joint venture when mentioning 1990.
At this point, Liu Chengyin assigned the task to Qiu Zhiwei, the newly appointed member of the standing committee and office director. He asked him to brainstorm and come up with a plan to turn the current passive situation around and boost morale throughout the county.
After taking office, Qiu Zhiwei held several symposiums in a row, inviting the people from all walks of life to offer advice and suggestions. After several meetings, Qiu Zhiwei had a rough idea. Many people suggested that there were many “festivals” in different places, which were very lively. Chu County should also learn from other places and create its own “festival”, which would beheld every few years and become an effective carrier for promoting and introducing Chu County.
Qiuzhiwei thought that the suggestion of hosting a “festival” was unique. Chu County indeed had its unique resource: shelduck double-yolk eggs. This was a one- of-a-kind brand in the Lixiahe area. Once successfully developed, it would not only promote Chu County’s various businesses and specialty breeding, but also use the small shelduck double-yolk eggs to promote and enhance Chu County’s reputation and popularity.
So a planning report on the Chu County “Shelduck Double-Yolked Egg Festival” was submitted to County Party Secretary Liu Chengyin’s desk. Liu Chengyin carefully reviewed the report led by Qiu Zhiwei and made a note: Please had County Magistrate Gou to lead the establishment of the “Chu County Shelduck Double-Yolked Egg Festival Preparation Leadership Group” and strove to hold the first festival in October or November this year; to contribute to the development of various businesses and special breeding in Chu County, and to create a new platform for publicity and promotion of Chu County. He also suggested that this festival should beheld in the name of the county government, and held every two years in the future, with normality as the goal and not to be hasty, but to have a long-term vision.
This was the first major task assigned to County Magistrate Gou Daosheng by Secretary Liu after taking office. Gou Daosheng must ensure it to be well done with significant impact. He was fully aware that Secretary Liu’s intention and background for organizing the “Shelduck Double Yolk Egg Festival” required a grand gesture to divert the attention of the people of Chu County from the fake joint venture in the fertilizer plant incident and boost the morale of all levels in the county. With determination to execute Secretary Liu’s instructions, County Magistrate Gou immediately stated that he would ensure the successful organization of the first Chu County “Shelduck Double Yolk Egg Festival.”
After more than a month of intense preparation, the first Chu County Shelduck Double-Yolk Egg Festival was successfully held in late October in Chu City. Following the model of “vigorously developing the economy based on Shelduck Double-Yolk Egg festival”, the Chu County government held on-site observation meetings for special aquaculture and livestock breeding, as well as a promotion meeting for the natural ecological resources of Chu County. More than 200 leaders and guests from inside and outside the province, as well as talented men from Chu County, enthusiastically visited and inspected the Heigao Marsh special aquaculture scale-breeding base, the Yangshan Duotian Scenic Area, and the Neolithic site. Of course, a grand opening ceremony was essential for the festival. Some suggested holding the opening ceremony at the newly expanded People’s Cinema at the north end of Hero Road, but this proposal was vetoed by Secretary Liu.
Secretary Liu’s opinion was that with so many guests gathering in Chu County, the city’s appearance and environment must be presented to them. They should not only see the newly expanded Hero Road, but also the night scene of Haichi River. Prior to this, he had instructed the relevant departments to comprehensively renovate and innovate the night scene of Haichi River, and to introduce new and fresh ideas in the lighting and beautification aspects. As for the opening ceremony, the county government hall was the most suitable place for a solemn and grand effect.
Upon hearing Secretary Liu’s instructions, the head of the preparatory team, Magistrate Gou, felt that Secretary Liu had considered everything carefully. Therefore, the opening ceremony was still held in a grand manner in the county government auditorium.
In fact, holding the opening ceremony of the Shelduck Double Yolk Egg Festival in the county government auditorium was considered the opening effect, and also had a particularly important yet embarrassing idea: Liu Chengyin did not want the people of Chu County to only remember him presenting a certificate and giving a key to “Jia Huaren” at the county government auditorium. He wanted to change the people’s perception of him on the presidential podium at the county government auditorium.
The first ever Shelduck Double Egg Festival, which lasted for four days, was a great success. Leaders from cities and provinces and guests from various backgrounds all expressed their satisfaction with the event, and the entire county agreed that it was well done.
What made Liu Chengyin happy was that the leaders and experts raised a new topic on how to accelerate the industrialization of Chu County’s special resources—— Shelduck and Double-yolk Eggs Festival. It was clear that if this special industry was allowed to develop naturally by individual households as it was now, it couldn’t be expanded and strengthened. As a result, it couldn’t have a greater impact or generate the economies in full scale. They planned to learn from the experience of Heigao Marsh’s special aquatic breeding and promote the semi-wild breeding of Shelduck on a larger scale.
Experts suggested that relying on the natural ecological environment of Shagou in Chu County, a large area of pure wild reed swamp could be opened up for the breeding of shelducks. Based on this, an eco-leisure tourism route could be formed together with the pastoral scenery of Yangshan. Tourists could not only watch the spectacular scenery of thousands of shelducks flying in groups in the reed swamp, but also enter the reeds to pick duck eggs and other activities——there were many projects worth developing. In this way, the shelducks and double-yolk duck egg industry in Chu County would develop rapidly, and this special resource would soon become well-known inside and outside the province.
Of course, the recommendations of experts should be followed. After consulting with County Secretary Liu and County Magistrate Gou, it was decided to form a research group composed of multiple departments, including the County Committee’s Agricultural and Industrial Department, the County Government’s Economic Research Office, the Agricultural Bureau, and the Multiple Business Management Bureau. This group would specialize in researching the industrialization of the shelducks and double-yolk duck egg industries.
At this point, Liu Chengyin could finally breathe a sigh of relief.
In the blink of an eye, it was approaching New Year’s Day in 1991, and after the efforts from all aspects, Chu County finally emerged from the shadow of the false joint venture of the fertilizer plant.
Just as Liu Chengyin was gearing up to lead and unite the one million people of Chu County to achieve great things in the new year, Mother Nature played a not-too- big-not-too-small joke on him with a gust of wind. This wind indeed caused some damage in Chu County and disrupted Liu Chengyin’s original plans and expectations for the new year’s work. However, not long after this wind, Mother Nature sent in a rain. Compared to the subsequent rain, the disaster caused by the wind and the test it posed to Liu Chengyin and his team in the county committee and government could be almost negligible.
In the spring of 1991, the entire Chu County was hit by a severe typhoon. It was normal for a plain area to experience windy weather in the spring, but such a strong typhoon was quite rare. The typhoon was really fierce, causing the protective forests in the fields to be toppled, small trees to be uprooted, and larger trees to be broken and snapped. Almost all of the dilapidated houses belonging to the villagers were roofless and collapsed. Many villagers had to gather in the temporary shelters at the village committee’s assembly hall. For those severely affected by the disaster, some schools had to be closed for a few days, freeing up classrooms as temporary housing for the displaced villagers.
The whole county was in emergency mobilization. The county party secretary Liu Chengyin issued a mobilization order on the radio, television, and newspapers, calling on the million people in the county to rise up and fight against the “15th Super Typhoon.” Because this strong typhoon occurred on April 15th, it was named “15th Super Typhoon.”
True, the places like Chu County were plains, and there were almost no good ways to fight against the typhoons. The only way was to reinforce the safety facilities and evacuate the people from Marsherous buildings. As for the crops in the fields, they could only take things as they came.
Luckily, in the fields of Chu County in spring, the wheat had just sprouted and had not yet reached the stage of stem elongation, so the impact of the typhoon was not significant. If the wheat grew rapidly and reached maturity, it would be disastrous as the stems would break and the harvest would naturally be affected.
If the “Super Typhoon on the 15th” was a pre-exercise for the combat effectiveness of the Chu County Committee and the County Government, then a heavy rain that came two months later in early July was a real test for Liu Chengyin and his leading team of the County Committee and the County Government, as well as the million people in the county, even a test of life and death.
On July 1st, the commemorative conference of the 70th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China was held in the government hall of Chu County. Secretary Liu Chengyin systematically summarized the arduous road that
our party had traveled, the brilliant history it had created, and the great achievements it had established over the past 70 years. Secretary Liu’s report was powerful and resonant.
However, there was something even more daunting than Secretary Liu’s momentum——the sound of rain outside the auditorium, which was getting heavier and heavier, making Secretary Liu feel uneasy. He knew that on June 14th, the water level in the “Pot Bottom Depression”, a well-known flood-prone area in the lower reaches of the Suhe River in northern Jiangsu province, had already crossed the warning line of 1.8 metres. If the rain continued like this, there occurred a risk of flood disasters.
He was not in the mood to give the report anymore. Of course, the responsible leaders of various departments under the stage, especially the leaders of various districts and townships, were also not in the mood to listen to the report. Their minds were all concerned about the non-stop rain.
As expected, Secretary Liu did not finish his report as planned and went straight to the discussion of the rainfall situation. “Comrades, the rain is more tremendous. According to the information I have, some areas have already been flooded. The county has long exceeded the warning water level. It seems that this flood is unlike any other in the past. We must attach great importance to it and be prepared to fight a people’s war against flooding and for disaster relief. The county committee and the county government will no longer hold special meetings to mobilize and deploy. Now, County Magistrate Gou will make specific arrangements for how to do a good job in flood control and disaster relief.”
On July 2, a rainstorm poured in.
Chu County, with a ground elevation of only 1.5 metres to 2.2 metres, suddenly became a “waterlogged country.”
Large areas of sunken farmland on both sides of Yangshan Highway;
Large areas of sunken farmland on both sides of the Chudong Highway;
Large areas of sunken farmland on both sides of the Beiyan Highway;
…
On July 5, rainstorm, heavy rainstorm, extremely heavy rainstorm.
By 23: 00, the water level in Chu County had reached a record high. The Chu County was completely surrounded by water and flooded.
The South Street was flooded;
Beishuiguan was flooded;
The heroic road was flooded … .
Citizens gave driving, and small boats were already paddled onto the streets of the city; all schools in the city were closed, and classes were suspended; many factories were inundated and forced to shutdown; a large number of city residents living in low-lying houses moved to the high-rise buildings unifiedly arranged by the flood control and disaster relief headquarters.
The county party committee and government office compound was also flooded, and Liu Chengyin’s family, along with other residents in the compound, was relocated to several buildings on Hero Road. Little Liu Yong, of course, could no longer attend the government-run kindergarten. Looking down from the high-rise buildings, it was quite novel to see small boats paddling on the water.
“Mom, Mom, look, there’s a boat on the street, I want to go ride it for fun.” Liu Yong ran up to Su Hua, who was washing clothes, tugging at her clothes and making his request.
“Children not sensible, go read at the table. What’s so fun about rowing a boat? They have no choice.” Su Hua rubbed the wet clothes her husband had just changed out of in her hands, feeling annoyed. The rain was pouring down all day, not to mention other things, even the clothes couldn’t dry. They were given a large office to live in temporarily. However, now it was hung with clothes everywhere, like a clothes shop. But none of these clothes were dry.
The child didn’t care whether the adult was upset or not. He had never seen people rowing on the streets, wasn’t that novel enough? When Liu Yong saw that asking his mother didn’t work, he ran to his grandmother who was cleaning the tables and chairs and made the same request to Yang Xuehua.
“Xiao Yong, you knowhow your grandparents are doing in the countryside? I know that their house in Xianghe must have been flooded, but I don’t know to what extent. I wonder if their clothes and other belongings were soaked in water.” Yang Xuehua was concerned about her hometown.
Two days ago, when the rain was pouring down, Liu Chunyu felt that the situation was not right and hurriedly went back to the countryside. Yang Xuehua was worried about him going back alone, but they had just moved to the city and there were many things that needed to be sorted out, and Su Hua couldn’t handle it alone. Since the children were not attending kindergarten due to the heavy flood, they needed the adults to take care of them. It was heard that a child had already been drowned. This was not a small matter since Little Yong was the lifeblood of the Liu family.
Liu Chunyu went back for two reasons. Firstly, he wanted to see how his old house was affected by the flood. He would ask his neighbours for help to move his wardrobe and other important furniture to higher ground, and would bring some essential items with him to the city. If his house was damaged, he would just have to leave it there. Secondly, he wanted to visit his father’s grave to make sure it was not affected by the flood. It was the highest point in Xianghe Village, and if it was flooded, the whole village would be submerged. If that were the case, he would have to ask for his father’s forgiveness and accept his fate.
“Grandma, grandma, when will grandpa come back? It’s raining so heavily, don’t let him go to the countryside alone.” As a child, his mother and grandma couldn’t fulfill his request to go out and sailboats on the street, so his attention shifted.
“I don’t know, maybe he’ll be back soon,” Grandma thought to herself.
“Mom, Mom, Dad hasn’t come home for several days. Can you call him back and send someone to bring Grandpa back from the countryside?” Little Yong ran to
Su Hua again. In his imagination, it shouldn’t be difficult for his father to handle this matter.
“Yong, it’s not your business as a child. Your dad is so busy, he’s even no time to sleep, let alone come back and arrange for someone to pick up your grandpa,” Su Hua said, not looking at her son and instead focusing on washing clothes with a “huff and puff.”
“You’re just a child, you wouldn’t understand. Your father, as the county party secretary, has a tough job,” Su Hua said with concern as she looked at the pouring rain outside.
The change in rainfall quickly turned into a disaster, and the disaster was now a command!
The entire county was submerged in flood water and became a “floating city.” With over 2 300 square kilometres affected, the county became a swamp. People’s lives and property were threatened by the flood, and the fighting capacity of all levels of Party organizations in Chu County was facing a tough test.
A few months ago, the county party secretary Liu Chengyin called on the million people of the county to fight against a typhoon through radio stations, television, and newspapers. Now, he had issued an urgent mobilization order to fight against the catastrophic floods.
The Anti-flood and Disaster Relief Command Headquarters in Chu County was promptly established, with the County Party Secretary Liu Chengyin serving as the overall commander and the County Magistrate Gou Daosheng serving as the executive deputy commander. Each member of the County Party Committee was assigned to liaise with a district, serving as the deputy commander of the Anti-flood and Disaster Relief Command Headquarters in each respective district.
The general Headquarters required all standing committee members to take command at the front and not withdraw until the flood receded. Meanwhile, all government departments, townships, enterprises andinstitutions in the county had taken action, mobilizing and organizing cadres and workers to participate in this battle against the flood. The County Youth League Committee had organized a “Youth Flood Control and Rescue TaskForce”, and the County Women’s Federation had organized a “March 8th Flood Control Mini Team” consisting of young women. County public security, fire, and armed police had also taken action, forming various emergency teams and rescue teams.
Everyone in the county had sprung into action, and Liu Chengyin, the county party secretary, had been even busier these days. In over one score and ten of age, when had he ever seen such a flood?
As a child, he had heard from his grandfather that the biggest flood in the history of Chu County occurred before the establishment of the People’s Republic of China. The flood came down from upstream with unstoppable momentum. At that time, Chu County had not received much rain, so the flood was caused by external factors. The entire county town was submerged. It was the old society, and no one came to take care of the life and death of the people. Within a few days, there were dead bodies floating up in the city. The whole county town cried out in misery, wailing and shouting for their parents and loved ones. It was a scene of utter devastation.
Fortunately, the county town of Chu was like a lotus leaf-shaped ground, so even the biggest flood could not sink it. It floated on the flood like a lotus leaf, enabling some of the residents to survive and preserve their lives. Grandfather Liu Anran told his grandson that tens of thousands of people died in that flood. Almost the entire city was submerged, except for the Chu county, which was floating.
The current situation was more severe than the flood that his grandfather spoke of. Not only was the water level rising, but the accumulated rainfall had exceeded 1 255 millimetres, which was twice the highest rainfall in history. Chu City had become a floating city swaying in the wind and rain.
Honestly, this situation made Liu Chengyin a little nervous. After all, he was young and had never experienced anything like this. To control such a situation was not an easy task.
These days, he formed an “iron triangle” with Jin Aiguo and Huang. They were constantly patrolling the frontline of flood fighting and disaster relief on a fibreglass speedboat. When he was tired, he would take a nap while Huang continued driving. When he was hungry, he would take a few biscuits from the cardboard box and munch on them. Because there was no hot water, he had been chewing on dry food for several days, making his throat almost smoke.
Fortunately, Liu Chengyin did not hear them complain even half a sentence, and gave them timely encouragement, “Well done, you have the courage and perseverance of a soldier. Jin and Huang, now we are fighting against the flood, it’s also a war. We have to fight against the catastrophic flood.”
Although he cheered on the other two people, he felt very sad inside. The once lush green rice fields, the flourishing cotton plants, the villages surrounded by green trees, all of which used to be covered in large areas of green, were nowhere to be seen. Instead, what lay before Liu Chengyin’s eyes were endless water, vast and boundless. Liu Chengyin’s brows furrowed again, feeling a heart-wrenching discomfort.
What he heard most from his mobile phone every day was “flooded”and “disaster-stricken.”A series of numbers pierced his nerves like steel needles. Sometimes he wondered if the heavens were challenging his patience or trying to break down the mental defenses of a young county party secretary with the constantly occurring data of floods and disasters. It was impossible to defeat him！ Liu Chengyin gritted his teeth and said to himself.
“Ring ring…”,“Ring ring … .”
There it rang again, the county party secretary Liu Chengyin’s cellphone was ringing.