"Minister He, today is County Chief Ji’s first day in office, and we’ve arranged a welcome banquet. We invite you to join us."
He Feng smiled, "Sure."
Everyone headed towards the small government cafeteria.
It was only then that Ji Yang realized everyone dined together here; although called a small cafeteria, it was actually quite large, offering a variety of dishes, keeping the chefs busy.
After reaching a private room, they saw some pretty girls serving as waitresses.
"These are some rural children recruited by the logistics department, primarily to help their families. It’s similar to having maids; they too have an income, which helps their families."
Everyone sat down and took the hot towels handed to them.
He Feng, seemingly accustomed to the customs here, wiped his face with the towel, saying, "This road really needs to be fixed, but unfortunately, the city doesn’t have the money, and we can’t get enough funds for road maintenance from the province either." ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ NoveIꜰire.net
"Exactly, every time we travel on that road, our hearts are in our mouths. We grassroots officials really suffer," Mo Chengguo chimed in. Holding a dual role as the head of the Public Security Bureau, he often had to go to the city and had many grievances about that road.
They talked about the road issues for a while.
Ji Yang sat there without saying much, and nobody directly addressed him, once again isolating him.
"Comrade Ji Yang, it seems this road issue might be the first problem you’ll need to address after taking office. To be wealthy, one must first build roads!" He Feng remarked, looking at Ji Yang.
"County Chief Ji, you’re appointed from above. Do you have any channels to fix the road? The whole county is counting on you," Deputy County Chief Xu Linping said jokingly.
Although it was said in jest, Ji Yang knew it was setting a trap for him. He believed it wouldn’t be long before they started spreading news that the new county chief had promised to fix the road; if it went unfixed, he would be dubbed a ’blowhard county chief’ by the people.
"Fixing the road is not something I can decide alone. Before coming here, I had already learned that our county is impoverished—how could you expect us to have enough money? As for higher-level channels, I can only try my best to fight for them, but it requires the support of the municipal committee. Minister He, please speak for us when you return to the city."
Everyone looked at Ji Yang, whose words made it clear he didn’t have the power.
Bao Geishan looked at Ji Yang too; initially, he thought Ji Yang, being young, would impulsively promise anything once provoked, and they would then exaggerate his commitments. If he failed to deliver, Ji Yang would lose even more credibility in the county. However, Ji Yang didn’t fall for it.
Ji Yang was the new county chief, and Bao Geishan had already discussed a plan with everyone to take advantage of Ji Yang’s arrival. They intended to get him drunk during his first dinner and ideally provoke some drunken antics from him—failing that, they planned to place him in a bed with a woman they had arranged for, thereby ruining his reputation.
They had long prepared for such a scheme; even the woman, an attractive female official, was ready, and her man would show up to catch them in the act.
Thinking of such an outcome, everyone looked at Ji Yang with indescribable intent, hoping to spread rumors of him fooling around with women on his very first day.