22: Chapter 22 The Dilapidated Central School of Dahe Township

Township Head's office.

Township Head Liu Qiang's face was dark and extremely ugly. With no one else around, he stopped pretending, and the anger in his heart was completely displayed on his face.

Director Li Youfu was in a miserable state, crying and complaining there.

"Township Head, I have served you faithfully for so many years. Even if I haven't made any great achievements, I have at least put in the hard work. By what right does that man surnamed Qin dismiss me with a single word..."

Glancing at the miserable Director Li Youfu, Township Head Liu Qiang said helplessly, "Calm down for now. Don't overthink it; there will be opportunities in the future."

As for whether there would really be any opportunities, who knew.

Township Head Liu Qiang himself didn't have much confidence.

This Party Committee meeting had truly dealt him a blow. He had originally thought he had it in the bag, but in the end, Vice Township Head Mu Xiuwen had completely sided with Qin Chuan, and with Ma Zhengnan and Deputy Party Secretary Fu added to the mix, Qin Chuan held the majority in the Party Committee.

This was very difficult to deal with!

What to do in the future? Could one of them be pulled over? For example, was there any hope for Deputy Party Secretary Fu...

After sending Director Li Youfu away, Township Head Liu Qiang sat with a gloomy face. Besides thinking about how to win people over, he was also thinking about how to get rid of Qin Chuan next...

...

Qin Chuan, accompanied by the newly appointed Director of the Party and Government Office, Director Hu Qibin, walked to Dahe Township Central School. It wasn't far; it took less than ten minutes to walk from the Township Government compound.

This was a junior high school.

It was also the only junior high school in Dahe Township, with over thirty classes from the first to the third year, and over a hundred faculty and staff members.

The campus was not small, with large trees that one could barely wrap one's arms around and a large playground. However, the playground was made of yellow mud—dusty on sunny days and muddy on rainy days.

The teaching building was old and looked like it had been there for decades. Some windows didn't even have glass, and it was dilapidated everywhere.

The student dormitories and staff dormitories were basically the same; they also looked like they had seen better days.

Qin Chuan felt heavy-hearted upon walking into this school for the first time and seeing all of this.

Township Head Liu Qiang and his cohorts were actually thinking about building a luxurious office building instead of thinking about renovating this dilapidated school.

It was truly damnable!

Perhaps hearing that Secretary Qin had arrived, Principal Yang Qi trotted over. "Secretary Qin, you're here. Why didn't you give us a call in advance?"

Qin Chuan said, "I came to take a look. You arrived just in time; take me to visit our school first."

Led by Principal Yang Qi, Qin Chuan toured the school, feeling increasingly heavy-hearted.

Not only was the teaching building dilapidated, but the desks and chairs in the classrooms were also extremely worn out. Some desks even had only three legs and had to be propped up with bricks to be used.

Principal Yang Qi looked ashamed. "Secretary Qin, our conditions are too poor. I've embarrassed you."

Qin Chuan said, "It is we who should feel ashamed and guilty. I'm sorry; I didn't know the conditions of the Central School were this bad."

Principal Yang Qi felt a little moved.

He never expected Qin Chuan to say something like that.

Township Head Liu Qiang had also visited the Central School a few times. Every time he came, he was full of bureaucratic airs, taking a cursory look, giving instructions from a high position, and then leaving with the same bureaucratic airs, never caring about the actual difficulties of the Central School.

It seemed that he had suddenly seen hope.

Principal Yang Qi said, "Secretary Qin, how about we go to my office to sit for a while? I have some work matters that I need to report to you."

"Sure, let's go sit for a while."

The principal's office wasn't much better—dilapidated and cramped. The sofa had a big hole in it, and one of the window panes was broken and patched with a newspaper.

Principal Yang Qi smiled sheepishly; the conditions were indeed too poor.

He personally brewed two cups of hot tea, and then he briefly reported on the work situation of the Central School, finally saying slowly,

"Our biggest difficulty at the moment is that we haven't been paid for half a year. Many teachers are starting to have difficulty living."

It seemed he didn't know about the resolution from the Party Committee meeting in the morning.

The Party Committee meeting didn't finish until around 11:20 in the morning. It hadn't been many hours since then, so it was normal that he didn't know the situation.

Qin Chuan said, "I have already helped everyone solve the issue of the unpaid teacher salaries. Before work ends this afternoon, all the unpaid salaries will be issued in full!"

Really?!

This surprise came too suddenly!!!

So much so that Principal Yang Qi thought he had misheard. He was stunned for a moment, and it took a full three or five seconds to react before he said loudly,

"Is this true? That's wonderful!"

Director Hu Qibin said, "Principal Yang, at the Party Committee meeting held this morning, Qin Chuan overcame all dissenting opinions and demanded that the Finance Office quickly issue the unpaid salaries to everyone."

Qin Chuan nodded and instructed, "You go to the Finance Office in a while, find Director Liao Ping, and then have all the unpaid salaries issued immediately."

"Okay, okay, I will go in a while!"

After chatting for a while longer, Qin Chuan rose to leave. On the way back to his office, he thought to himself that it seemed he needed to run to the higher-ups and get some money to renovate the Central School.

In another month or so, the school would start its summer vacation. It would be perfect to use the summer vacation to carry out some proper construction, striving for the students to be able to sit in spacious and bright new classrooms when the next semester begins.

However...

This was not a small sum of money. He needed to think carefully about where to get the money.

Returning to the Township Government compound and walking into the two-story office building, Qin Chuan saw an unexpected scene: a long queue at the door of his office, with at least a dozen people.

He glanced at them, and his heart understood.

These were all the heads of various stations, departments, and offices in Dahe Township—the middle-level cadres of Dahe Township. It looked like they were preparing to queue up to report their work to him.

This was interesting.

He had been in office for a few days, and apart from a few people who had taken the initiative to come and report their work, most people hadn't even shown their faces.

Most likely, they had heard that he had suppressed Township Head Liu Qiang and controlled the Party Committee, so they moved with the wind and came over one by one, fawning and eager.

Qin Chuan looked majestic. "What are you all doing? Go back. What does it look like, gathering here?"

"Secretary Qin, I am Liu Guang from the Forestry Station. I have some work I would like to report to you."

"I am Jiang Zhengjun from the Township Education Committee. I also have some work to report to you."

"I am..."

Not only did they not leave, but they also crowded up one by one, saying they wanted to report their work.

Qin Chuan really looked down on this group of people a little.

But he also knew that in the system, there were too many such people. He had originally wanted to drive them all away, but then he thought, since he had no urgent matters on hand for the time being, he might as well listen to their work reports and take the opportunity to understand the work in various aspects.

"Alright then, come one by one. Five minutes maximum per person."

And so, this scene occurred: these people lined up and entered Qin Chuan's office one after another to report their work, each for about five or six minutes.

The Township Government compound was only so big. Soon, many people heard about this, and some curious people even ran over to take a look from afar.

Consequently, many people started discussing it privately.

"It's unbelievable. There's a long queue at Qin Chuan's office door, all for reporting work!"

"Should I go line up?"

"Forget it. Your rank isn't high enough for that!"

"Qin Chuan is too powerful. In just a few short days, he has completely controlled the situation. From now on, everything will be decided by Qin Chuan!"

"Keep your voice down. Be careful that such words don't reach Township Head Liu's ears."

"..."

Township Head Liu Qiang came out of his office in a bad mood, with no motivation to work at all. He planned to skip work early and go to the county. He had already made an appointment with a few people to play mahjong at the Sanjiang Hotel tonight.

He had lost over a hundred thousand last night, and he had to win it back tonight.