36: Slamming the table

Hearing Lin Zifeng's righteous words, Yu Hualin's heart skipped a beat. He repeated over and over in his mind, "How dare he? How does he dare to do this?"

Could it be that while he was investigating these situations, he didn't realize that Yu Dacheng, the boss of Dacheng Construction Company, is the son of County Party Secretary Yu Guodong?

How could he dare to bring something that everyone tacitly understood out into the open?

Yu Hualin could hardly believe what he was hearing; he was a bit flustered.

Meanwhile, the other committee members were in an uproar. They hadn't expected that Lin Zifeng, the newly appointed Town Mayor, would dare to confront Yu Hualin head-on at the Party Committee Meeting.

This was tantamount to firing directly at Yu Hualin.

While Jiang Yufei admired his courage, she also began to worry about him.

Zhang Zhenhua, Cao Shuang, and Jia Chunsheng were all cheering internally, praising Lin Zifeng's boldness and toughness.

Li Meide and Qian Yonggui, however, wore expressions of indifference, as if it had nothing to do with them, waiting to watch the show.

Only Organization Committee Member Chen Shuangjie looked at Yu Hualin with a worried expression.

Yu Hualin forcibly suppressed his anger and said with a livid face, "Town Mayor, you have been in Heping Town for too short a time and simply do not understand the specific situation.

The playgrounds of the town's middle and primary schools are used by mischievous children. The children are young and too naughty; it is perfectly normal for there to be damage, isn't it?

As for why we chose the same construction company, it is because our town has had a long-term partnership with them and we know them inside and out, which is why we made such a choice."

Yu Hualin tried his best to suppress the can of worms Lin Zifeng had opened and downplay the matter, but since Lin Zifeng had come prepared, how could he let things go as he wished?

"Secretary, among everyone present, I am the youngest. Although my experience cannot compare to yours, I do have some insight.

I have been to both the town's middle and primary schools and have walked around their playgrounds. The area of the playgrounds at both schools is not large, yet every time they are renovated, the middle school requires 300,000 and the primary school requires 200,000.

At current prices, even if we used the best materials for everything, it wouldn't cost that much money, and at the very least, it would ensure no renovations would be needed for ten years.

Is this the construction company that you, Secretary, claim is trustworthy and known inside and out? I highly suspect that this company is substituting inferior materials for quality ones to deliberately siphon off state funds.

I also have reason to suspect that a link in the middle has gone wrong, and our staff members are being too irresponsible.

I propose that Discipline Inspection Commission Secretary Zhang report this matter to the County Discipline Inspection Commission. It is necessary to investigate thoroughly to see if there are any hidden tricks involved."

Zhang Zhenhua wanted him to charge into battle, so he also had to pull the other party out; he couldn't let them hide in the background and watch the fun.

Yu Hualin was panting with rage and was just about to speak, but Zhang Zhenhua spoke first.

"I think the Town Mayor's proposal is very appropriate and also very necessary."

Zhang Zhenhua was quite reliable, choosing to directly support Lin Zifeng.

Zhang Zhenhua's statement forced the words Yu Hualin wanted to say right back down his throat.

He felt the Party Committee Meeting was getting out of control. He was just about to find an excuse to announce the end of the meeting—not wanting the situation to escalate further, wanting to shelve the matter and resolve it slowly after the meeting—but Lin Zifeng spoke again.

"Just now, the Secretary also mentioned the special poverty alleviation funds. Before this, I also looked into the work in this area.

In previous years, the special poverty alleviation funds, aside from purchasing the three daily necessities of rice, flour, and oil, would be used to buy some daily supplies like toothpaste and toothbrushes with the remaining funds.

There were also various clothes. I looked at the records in the accounts, and they had even bought suits costing several hundred yuan each. This strikes me as absurd.

Everyone, do you think a suit worth several hundred yuan is practical for those impoverished households and the five guarantees households? Even if some of them needed one, couldn't they buy it themselves? Can uniforms bought and distributed in bulk fit everyone?"

"Therefore, I propose that for this year's poverty alleviation fund distribution, aside from purchasing the three items of rice, flour, and oil, the remaining funds should be distributed equally among the impoverished households and the five guarantees households.

Furthermore, the purchase of these three relief items—rice, flour, and oil—must not exceed the market price. The Discipline Inspection Commission must strictly supervise and audit this to prevent any embezzlement from occurring."

Lin Zifeng threw out another issue.

Upon hearing his proposal, Yu Hualin was so angry his lungs were about to explode.

He thought furiously to himself, "This audacious Lin Zifeng is trying to cut off both of my sources of income!"

Every year when the school playgrounds were renovated, he didn't know how much his nephew made, but he would receive a fixed tribute of 50,000 yuan.

The special poverty alleviation funds were the bulk of what he embezzled; every year he would earn 150,000 yuan in kickbacks from them.

He hadn't expected that Lin Zifeng would try to cut off both of these sources of income.

As the saying goes, cutting off someone's source of income is like killing their parents. Yu Hualin couldn't hold it together anymore; he glared viciously at Lin Zifeng, wishing he could eat him alive.

Just then, Cao Shuang actually spoke up as well.

"I fully support the Town Mayor's proposal."

Lin Zifeng was taken aback; he hadn't expected Cao Shuang to support him so clearly and decisively.

Just as Zhang Zhenhua and Jiang Yufei wanted to speak up to support Lin Zifeng, Cao Shuang's statement completely snapped the tightly wound string in Yu Hualin's mind.

He slammed the table hard and stood up with a loud slap, shouting, "Enough, Lin Zifeng! Do you have any sense of organizational discipline? This is a Party Committee Meeting! You are completely rejecting decisions previously made collectively by the Party Committee. Do you have any sense of organizational principles?"

"Secretary, having a point doesn't depend on how loud you shout. Do not try to label me. How do I lack organizational discipline or organizational principles?

Is it that if some decisions are wrong and have many problems, they cannot be corrected, and we must continue to execute them wrongly? Do we not even have the courage to face our mistakes?"

Lin Zifeng said unhurriedly, not caring at all about Yu Hualin's angry expression.

"You are glib-tongued. You think you can reject decisions we made collectively based on your shallow understanding? You are delusional.

You want to use me, the Secretary, to establish your authority? You are daydreaming. I advise you, Lin Zifeng, to put away your little schemes and keep your tail between your legs!"

The incredibly furious Yu Hualin was already speaking without thinking.

A slap rang out. Lin Zifeng also slammed the table and stood up, looking at Yu Hualin without showing any weakness, and said angrily, "I have been discussing work with you the entire time; everyone here can testify to that.

As the Secretary, how can you say such insulting things to me, telling me to keep my tail between your legs?

I am the Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and the Town Mayor of Heping Town appointed by the organization. I am worthy of the responsibilities I shoulder, and no one has the right to force me to do anything I am unwilling to do. You cannot, and no one can."

Yu Hualin knew that he had made a slip of the tongue due to anger. For a Town Secretary to tell a Town Mayor to keep his tail between his legs was very easy to use as ammunition against him.

But spilled water cannot be gathered; what has been said cannot be taken back. So he gave a disdainful cold snort to cover up his inner panic, and then spoke again, "Some things will have their own conclusions in the future.

Your behavior of not respecting collective decisions and not uniting the leadership team will be reported to the higher-ups. Meeting adjourned."

After saying this, Yu Hualin didn't wait for anyone to react and was the first to leave the meeting room.