MMB Chapter 17 Thugs and Rascals
Chapter 17 Thugs and Rascals
In November, the weather was a bit cold, and you could see the breath coming out of the nose.
A leaden-gray cloud hung over the town of Balu. Before the rain could even touch the ground, it mysteriously dissipated in mid-air, leaving behind only a layer of fine, powdery moisture that clung to the skin, making it wet and itchy.
The colleagues at the water supply station had long since abandoned their thin and unsightly work uniforms and started wearing thick clothes. Only Lin Chen remained in full work uniforms, with at most an inconspicuous thermal undershirt underneath.
Even so, Lin Chen still stood out from the crowd; being handsome meant he could do whatever he wanted.
Tang Yuwei, on the other hand, seemed to have some mysterious switch turned on by the cold weather. She wore a different outfit every day, from long trench coats and shirts to knitted long skirts and mini mouse-themed clothes. Today, she even wore a turtleneck sweater, which accentuated her charming figure, making her breasts look like mountains.
"Tsk tsk, Yuwei, this sweater today...it's magical!" The old tea master held his teacup, his eyes practically glued to Tang Yuwei.
"You're right, I never realized Tang had such a great figure..."
"Little Tang is getting more and more beautiful. Whoever marries her will be very lucky."
The experienced workers huddled together, their eyes fixed intently on Tang Yuwei as she walked from one end of the office to the other, completely forgetting that it was already time to leave work.
Hearing these compliments, Tang Yuwei wasn't happy; instead, she felt a nameless anger rising within her, because Lin Chen, who was sitting at his corner workstation, hadn't even raised an eyelid the entire time.
"Stubborn fool, idiot, serves him right for spending his whole life in front of a computer!"
She bit her lip and cursed.
Lin Chen did look at her, but only when she wasn't looking at him.
In the afternoon, the director came in and said to Lin Chen, "Lin Chen, the bureau has approved the pipeline renovation plan for Meihua Village. You don't need to mention it again."
"Wow!" Lin Chen was surprised to hear that.
Persistence pays off? An iron rod can be ground into a needle? The sun rose in the west?
Lin Chen had been fighting for this project for several years, submitting more than a dozen reports, but each time it was rejected for reasons such as "the sewage won't kill people," "insufficient funding," and "not high enough priority."
How could it suddenly be like this...?
Lin Chen secretly asked Chen Ya in the office. It turned out that at the provincial company's board meeting two weeks ago, Chairman Tang mentioned the term "water supply quality" for the first time in his report. After several days and nights of research and understanding by hundreds of experts in the company, the company had finally learned about it.
The final conclusion was that Chairman Tang would focus on water supply quality this year, so a major overhaul of water supply quality is now underway throughout the province, in order to add a positive note to the year-end report.
The Suixian Company was not to be outdone. Director Song was the first to praise Chairman Tang, and immediately convened a meeting to study the spirit of Chairman Tang's speech. They urgently came up with the Meihua Village water quality improvement plan. After all, this matter had been put aside for several years, and it just so happened to be put to use. It can only be said that it was a coincidence.
[Remember the fastest online novel website: 1 ...
That's how it was done.
You thought you opened the door with your own strength, but it was just that someone in the higher-ups happened to want to open a window. But at least this matter has been settled, and Lin Chen can give the villagers of Plum Blossom Village an explanation.
Before the project started, the director called Li Fugui, the village chief of Meihua Village, over for a talk, while Lin Chen served him.
Lin Kaidong: "Village chief, this is a project we've worked very hard to secure, with the goal of ensuring you have access to safe and clean drinking water. You must give it your full support."
Li Fugui smiled and said, "Thank you. I unconditionally support your work, and I believe the villagers feel the same way. I will go back and tell the villagers the news as soon as possible."
Lin Kaidong was quite satisfied with Li Fugui and said, "This new pipeline renovation will pass through one of your contracted farmlands, including several wild hills. When you go back, tell the relevant personnel to harvest the crops on your contracted farmland and move the graves on the hills if necessary. Once the project starts, they won't care about all that and will just level everything."
Hearing this, Li Fugui sat up straighter and said, "That's no problem, but I heard there's usually compensation. I wonder how much it will be. Give me a heads-up so I can tell my fellow villagers when I get back."
Lin Kaidong said very seriously, "Our company has strict regulations on this. The compensation for the contracted farmland is 300 yuan per mu. Moving graves is 200 yuan per grave, regardless of the age. Moving trees is 30 yuan per tree, regardless of size. Go back and do the statistics. You will be responsible for it later."
Upon hearing this, Lin Chen frowned slightly, because he clearly remembered that the company's engineering renovation regulations stipulated 500 yuan per mu, 300 yuan per grave, and 30 yuan per tree for relocation.
It seems the director wants to skim some profits, but isn't taking this much a bit too much?
Upon hearing this, Li Fugui quickly patted his chest and assured him, "Sure, no problem."
On the 8th, construction team trucks, vans, excavators, and cranes began to arrive at the site one after another. When they were ready to start construction, they found themselves at a loss. The construction manager, Liu Mingyu, came to the water supply center to complain, saying that the project could not continue.
With the director absent, only Lin Chen was in charge.
"Squad Leader Lin, this project can't be done."
Lin Chen: "What's going on? Our leaders are keeping a close eye on this project. It has to be completed by the end of the year." Indeed, Director Tan has mentioned this project several times in meetings. It must be completed before the end of the year. At that time, a detailed report will be submitted to the municipal company to try to get praise.
Liu Mingyu shook his head, looking helpless: "Squad Leader Lin, you'll know once you go to the scene."
"Let's go take a look." Lin Chen and Tang Yuwei arrived at the scene together and saw several villagers lying in the middle of the road like dead fish, blocking the construction.
It turned out that the villagers already knew about the pipeline renovation project and, as if they had smelled a shortcut to wealth, they went crazy and started building graves and planting trees on the hilltop in advance.
Lin Chen saw that this small hill had suddenly gained more than a dozen graves in just one week, the soil of which was not even dry.
The trees were even more outrageous, with no gaps at all, densely packed together. Tang Yuwei pulled one out and found that some trees didn't even have roots; the villagers had simply cut them down and stuck them in the ground to make them look real.
Liu Mingyu also pulled out a tree branch: "Director, take a look. Is this even a tree? How are we going to compensate them? If they keep making unreasonable demands like this, the project can't start."
Tang Yuwei touched the dry branch and said to Lin Chen, "This really doesn't make sense."
One villager immediately retorted: "How can this not be a tree? A sapling isn't a tree? Isn't a child a person? Are you born an adult? Don't even think about starting work until you pay compensation. If you want to shovel, run over my corpse."
It seems they're prepared to die for it.
There are all sorts of birds in a big forest. Lin Chen tried to reason with him about the importance of people's livelihood and the overall situation, but this guy was completely unmoved. It was a headache. He couldn't just ignore him and leave him to his fate.
But the project had to start, which had already caused some delays, so he called the director to report the situation. The director said he would call Li Fugui.
Before long, Li Fugui arrived, all excited and eager.
Lin Chen pointed at the troublemakers and cursed, "Li Fugui, what kind of job are you doing? What's going on with these people? Are they trying to extort money? Why are there so many trees here?"
Li Fugui: "Squad Leader Lin, I'm really sorry. I didn't do my job properly. Most of the people in my village are kind, but there are a few bad apples. I'll take people to deal with them right away."
So the village chief, along with his brothers, rushed up the tree and started pulling it out and shaking it. One villager clung to the tree, trying to stop them, like a dog clinging to a tree. The village chief then slapped him hard across the face, spewing excrement as he yelled, "Get the hell out of here!"
He still wouldn't let go, so the village chief and a few others started pulling again, pulling his pants off to reveal his red underwear. He still wouldn't let go, so they stepped on his hand, tearing off layers of skin and drawing blood.
After enduring the pain, they finally loosened their grip, and several people carried them out like a pig's head.
A woman lay on the new grave, refusing to budge, so the village chief kicked her hard. The woman and her child cried loudly, shouting that they had been hit. The villagers ignored them and carried her out again. Their efficiency was extremely high, and they were simply invincible.
Seeing this, Lin Chen frowned and went up to persuade the village chief, saying, "Village chief, isn't this going a bit too far? There's no need to hit someone. Let's talk this out."
Village Chief: "Squad Leader Lin, just leave it alone. The only way to deal with these thugs is through these thuggish methods."
Lin Chen wondered, "Who exactly is the real thug?"