267: Bribers came to the door

The family finished dinner happily. Li Yuan, being sensible, went with Zhang Chunhua to the Kitchen to wash the dishes, while Lin Zifeng brewed a pot of tea and sat on the sofa in the Living Room with Lin Jiahua.

Not long after, Zhang Chunhua and Li Yuan came out of the Kitchen and sat on the sofa with the two men.

The four of them chatted while drinking tea.

"Zifeng! Ningning is already over two months old. You've been to the provincial capital three times. The photos of our little granddaughter on your phone when you came back last weekend were just adorable."

"Since Yuxi gave birth, so much time has passed, and Your Father and I haven't even been to see our little granddaughter once! We both miss her."

"Xiao Yuan has her monthly break this weekend, so Your Father and I are planning to take her with us to the provincial capital to visit Yuxi and Ningning."

Zhang Chunhua expressed the Old Couple's wishes.

"Brother, I haven't met my little niece yet! I want to go see my sister-in-law and my little niece too."

Li Yuan said with a look of longing.

"Of course, that's no problem at all! You can go without any worries. I'll let Yuxi know in advance, and you can just stay at the house Yuxi and I have in the provincial capital; there's no need to stay in a hotel."

Lin Zifeng said without hesitation, thinking to himself that he needed to tell Yuxi and Yuqing in advance to arrange things regarding Haotian, so his parents wouldn't notice anything amiss.

"Alright, then your mother, Xiao Yuan, and I will head to the provincial capital this weekend."

Lin Jiahua said happily.

Just then, a knock sounded at the door. Li Yuan stood up, walked to the door, opened it, and asked politely, "Hello, who are you looking for?"

A man's voice came from outside, "Hello, does Secretary Lin live here?"

"Brother, we have a guest. They're here for you," Li Yuan said, moving aside to let them in.

Lin Zifeng and the other two stood up. Lin Zifeng walked a few steps toward the door, and a familiar figure walked in, carrying fine liquor and tea in each hand.

It was none other than Liu Fa, the Deputy Town Mayor of Yushu Town.

Lin Zifeng had previously had a drink with him at a gathering organized by Comrade Li Chunchang, so he was not unfamiliar with him.

"Hello, Secretary. Hello, Uncle and Aunt. Please forgive my presumptuous visit."

Liu Fa said, placing the gifts in his hands onto the coffee table.

Seeing the value of the liquor and tea on the coffee table—estimated to be worth at least several thousand yuan—Lin Zifeng frowned slightly, feeling very displeased.

However, since a guest had arrived, Lin Zifeng suppressed his displeasure and introduced him, "Mom, Dad, this is Comrade Liu Fa, the Deputy Town Mayor of our Yushu Town."

Mr. and Mrs. Lin Jiahua greeted Liu Fa, then gave Li Yuan a look. Li Yuan went back to her Bedroom first. Lin Jiahua then said, "Go ahead and discuss your work. Deputy Town Mayor, please have some tea."

The couple then walked into the Bedroom, leaving the Living Room to Lin Zifeng and Liu Fa.

"Take a seat, Deputy Town Mayor," Lin Zifeng said as he sat down.

Liu Fa acknowledged him, sat down properly, and kept his upper body straight.

"Secretary, I know you are extremely busy, which is why I chose this time to visit your home. I am here specifically to report on my work."

Liu Fa spoke first, looking somewhat restrained.

Hearing what Liu Fa said, Lin Zifeng couldn't help but think, 'Who are you trying to fool? Does anyone bring thousands of yuan worth of liquor and tea to report on work?'

Calling it bribery would not be an exaggeration.

So, Lin Zifeng nodded, suppressing his discomfort, and signaled for the other man to continue.

Liu Fa began reporting on his work, which was essentially reporting on his own performance, exaggerating and embellishing to highlight his outstanding achievements.

After more than twenty minutes, Liu Fa finished reciting the words he had practiced multiple times in front of the mirror.

In the end, he hinted clearly that he had been in the position of Deputy Town Mayor for four years. The meaning was clear: he wanted a promotion.

Lin Zifeng had some understanding of Liu Fa's situation. Originally, Liu Fa had been relatively close to Comrade Li Chunchang; otherwise, he wouldn't have been at that drinking gathering.

Later, the reason Comrade Li Chunchang distanced himself was that Liu Fa had once behaved disgracefully after drinking, molesting a waitress at a restaurant and eventually trying to force a hug on her, only to get his face scratched up by the young woman.

If someone hadn't cleaned up his mess, apologized to the waitress, and paid her compensation, Liu Fa would have long since been reported to the Public Security Bureau.

Comrade Li Chunchang and the others felt that Liu Fa was unpresentable and lacked moral character, so they cold-shouldered him and excluded him from their small circle.

Lin Zifeng had also heard that Liu Fa's work was mediocre, which was the real reason why he had remained in the position of Deputy Town Mayor for over four years without moving up.

Therefore, after hearing Liu Fa's report, Lin Zifeng changed his usual work style and spoke in bureaucratic jargon for the first time.

He implicitly expressed his meaning: don't engage in superficial things, just work hard. The county's personnel mechanism is very sound, and everything must be carried out according to organizational procedures and assessment mechanisms.

Because Liu Fa was nervous and restrained, he only grasped the general idea.

Seeing Lin Zifeng pick up his teacup, signaling that he had nothing more to say, Liu Fa stood up to leave.

Lin Zifeng picked up the gifts from the coffee table and shoved them into Liu Fa's hands. Liu Fa insisted on not taking them back, and the two of them pushed them back and forth until they reached the door.

Seeing that the other man still refused to take the gifts, Lin Zifeng began to lose patience.

He straightened his face, his voice carrying a hint of coldness, "Comrade Liu Fa, the gifts you brought already constitute bribery. If you don't take them back, I will have no choice but to turn them over to the county Discipline Inspection Commission."

Seeing Lin Zifeng's displeased expression, Liu Fa dared not hesitate any longer. He quickly took the gifts and said with a cautious and embarrassed expression, "Secretary, I know I was wrong."

"I was just confused for a moment. This is the first time I've done something like this, and I promise it will be the last."

"I won't disturb your rest any further. I'll leave now."

After saying this, Liu Fa gave a fawning smile and slunk away.

Since Lin Zifeng had brought up the county Discipline Inspection Commission, if he dared to continue pestering him, the result waiting for him might be immediate dismissal.

Knowing that Lin Zifeng was truly angry, Liu Fa almost slapped himself twice in regret after going downstairs.

The Cadres of Yushu County all knew that Lin Zifeng was upright and incorruptible. Liu Fa had tried to take a chance in hopes of getting promoted, and now he was filled with regret.

Knowing that he hadn't succeeded and would end up on Secretary Lin Zifeng's blacklist, Liu Fa regretted his actions deeply.

The only thing he was relieved about was that the thirty thousand yuan in cash placed in the tea box had not been discovered by Lin Zifeng.

Otherwise, judging by Lin Zifeng's attitude, he would certainly have called the county Discipline Inspection Commission directly and had him taken away to drink tea with them.

He wasn't wrong about that. If Lin Zifeng had actually discovered the trickery in the tea box, he would absolutely not have been polite. Catching a Deputy Town Mayor bribing him right in his own home would definitely have been more of a deterrent.

It would have served perfectly as a warning to those who were restless and plotting.