128: It's on the news.

Lin Zifeng and the other two took two separate cars and left Gangou Township; before long, they all fell asleep and began to snore.

Upon returning to the county seat, Wang Zhongyu and Li Qiang went back to their dormitories, while Wan Guoliang's driver took Lin Zifeng directly home.

When Lin Zifeng opened the front door, Zhang Chunhua, who was sitting in the Living Room watching TV, saw his state and anxiously stepped forward, grabbing his arm while carefully checking his body, and asked urgently, "Son, what happened to you? How did you end up looking like this?"

"I'm fine, Mom. I just haven't rested well, haven't showered or changed clothes, so I'm a bit dirty.

I'm going to take a shower and then go to sleep; I'm really exhausted."

Lin Zifeng said with an indifferent expression.

"I heard about it too. There was a forest fire in Gangou Township, and both the city and county television stations reported it. Did you go to the scene to direct operations?

Are you hurt anywhere? Has the fire been put out?"

Zhang Chunhua said with a worried look.

"I'm not hurt, Mom. You don't need to worry. The fire has been put out, which is why I just got back. I'm going to take a shower."

As he spoke, he walked toward the Bathroom.

"Alright, Son. Go ahead and take your shower. I'm going to cook you some noodles now. After you finish your shower, eat a bowl of noodles before going to sleep; otherwise, you won't be able to sleep soundly."

As Zhang Chunhua spoke, she walked into the Kitchen.

By the time Lin Zifeng finished his shower, changed into pajamas, and walked out of the Bathroom, Zhang Chunhua had come out of the Kitchen carrying a large bowl of steaming hot noodles.

"Son, eat the noodles before you sleep."

Zhang Chunhua placed the noodles in front of him.

Lin Zifeng acknowledged her and began to wolf down the food.

He hadn't eaten anything since last night and was starving; in less than three minutes, he had finished the entire large bowl of noodles.

"Mom, I'm going to sleep."

He handed the bowl to Zhang Chunhua and then headed toward the Bedroom.

Within a few minutes, Lin Zifeng had fallen into a deep sleep, and due to extreme fatigue, he began to snore shortly after.

Lin Zifeng slept for a full day and night, not waking up from hunger until the next morning.

What he didn't know was that he and the forest fire in Gangou Township had been featured on the Provincial Level news broadcast the previous night. Although it lasted less than a minute and his face couldn't be clearly seen,

his powerful words had earned him widespread praise.

Although Wang Ziyan was not entirely satisfied with his attitude at the time,

she maintained a responsible attitude and did not edit the footage out of context or intentionally frame him.

Lin Zifeng walked out of the Bedroom. Zhang Chunhua had already prepared breakfast, while Lin Jiahua had finished eating and left for work.

Seeing him come out, Zhang Chunhua said, "Son, I didn't expect you to sleep for so long. You must be starving, right?

Come over and have breakfast!"

Lin Zifeng acknowledged her, sat at the dining table, and began to eat breakfast.

Just as he finished breakfast, his phone rang.

Seeing that it was a call from Chen Yuxi, he took his phone and walked into the Bedroom.

Once inside the Bedroom, he closed the door and answered the call.

"Yuxi, why are you calling so early?"

"I saw you on the news last night. I sent you a message yesterday evening, but when I saw you didn't reply, I figured you might be resting, so I didn't call.

I saw on the news how disheveled you looked. You aren't hurt, are you?"

Hearing what Chen Yuxi said, Lin Zifeng guessed that the interview the female reporter Wang Ziyan did with him had made it onto the news broadcast, but he didn't take it too seriously.

After all, in terms of Huanan Province, he was just a minor deputy secretary of the county party committee, a deputy section-level Cadre; it really didn't amount to much.

Besides, people who weren't particularly familiar with him wouldn't recognize who he was.

So he gave an "oh" and said, "I didn't even scrape my skin, so don't you worry! I couldn't bear to leave you a widow.

I just finished breakfast; I slept for a whole day and night and have fully recovered."

"You only know how to say unreliable things. You must remember in the future that you don't need to do everything yourself, and you certainly shouldn't disregard your own safety. If you encounter emergency situations again, the role of overseeing command is often more important than doing everything personally."

"Besides, if you keep doing this, people will accuse you of grandstanding. If something were to happen to you, what would I do?"

Chen Yuxi's tone was filled with warning.

Lin Zifeng's heart stirred; he felt that what Chen Yuxi said made sense. Some people's perspectives on issues were often quite cynical.

If people spun it as grandstanding, he wouldn't have the time to prove his innocence, and it would waste a massive amount of his time and energy.

Thinking of this, he smiled and said, "Our Yuxi is right; I will be careful in the future.

Yuxi, when can you come back to Yushu County? I've missed you to death. I'm busy with work and can't find the time to go to the provincial capital to see you."

"In a little over half a month, it will be the October 1st Golden Week. I will be going to the Yingjianzui Scenic Area as a company representative to supervise and inspect the work at the scenic area.

By then, we will be able to see each other again."

Chen Yuxi said with full anticipation.

The two talked for over an hour before ending the conversation.

Lin Zifeng changed his clothes, said goodbye to Zhang Chunhua, and left.

He didn't call Wang Zhongyu and walked to the County Committee Compound to go to work.

Time passed quickly, and in the blink of an eye, several months had gone by, reaching the end of 2008.

Lin Zifeng, who was about to turn twenty-six, had been serving in Heping Town for nearly two years.

After two years of development, Heping Town had undergone earth-shaking changes. The town's three main streets had all been demolished and rebuilt, with uniform three-story buildings, shops lining the streets, and wide, clean roads.

Most of the villagers in each village had rebuilt their homes into two-story Western-style houses.

The people's incomes had increased, their wallets were fuller, and there were more smiles on their faces.

In the year-end economic statistics, Heping Town had ranked among the top ten towns in Huanan Province, placing sixth. The annual economic output of a single town had exceeded that of an ordinary county.

Qian Dagang was transferred to the neighboring county to serve as the County Party Secretary.

As the leader of Heping Town, Lin Zifeng was directly appointed as the Acting County Mayor.

Of course, having been appointed as Acting County Mayor, he could no longer hold the concurrent position of Secretary of Heping Town.

Therefore, after the Spring Festival, at the County Party Standing Committee meeting, and under the repeated recommendations of Lin Zifeng, Wei Ting successfully took on the position of Secretary of Heping Town and was promoted to County Party Standing Committee Member.

Cao Shuang was promoted to Deputy County Mayor, Jiang Yufei succeeded as the Mayor of Heping Town, and Hu Yulin succeeded as the Deputy Secretary of Heping Town.

A series of personnel transfers were completed before April.

Lin Zifeng was also successfully elected with a high number of votes at the People's Congress meeting held in May, becoming the County Mayor of Yushu County and removing the "Acting" title.

At the age of twenty-six, he became a county magistrate.