Absolute power in officialdom

Chapter 26 The Leveling of Graves, A Crooked-Mouthed Monk Reciting Crooked Scriptures

Wu Zhiyuan's voice was as cold as ice: "How did you get in?"

Su Taohong smiled charmingly: "Zhiyuan, I already had the key!"

Wu Zhiyuan said coldly, "Didn't you say you would never set foot in this dilapidated house?"

Su Taohong retorted, "Didn't you send me? Did you say I left some personal belongings behind?"

Wu Zhiyuan said bluntly, "Then please take your personal belongings and leave!"

Su Taohong pouted: "Zhiyuan, why are you being so fierce?"

If someone misses you, don't you miss me at all?

"Even a day as husband and wife is worth a hundred days of kindness. You've slept with me at least a hundred times. How can you be so heartless after taking my manhood?"

"Su Taohong, put on your clothes and get out of here immediately!" Wu Zhiyuan felt disgusted by Su Taohong's performance.

He also recalled what Li Mo, a doctor at the county hospital, had said during their last meal: Su Taohong had a chaotic private life and had even had an abortion before dating him.

But Su Taohong said she was a virgin.

I remember that there were many times when Wu Zhiyuan tried to seduce her, but he always refused.

But on one occasion, Su Taohong voluntarily agreed, and even bled.

In retrospect, it was a carefully designed scam by Su Taohong.

The blood wasn't virgin blood, but eel blood or pigeon blood.

Su Taohong sat up and looked at Wu Zhiyuan with a mournful gaze: "Zhiyuan, I was wrong before. I was blind and mistook a pearl for a fish eye."

I regret it, I really regret it. Can you give me a chance to get back together? Please don't forget our past relationship!

"Old feelings?" Wu Zhiyuan sneered. "From the moment you brought someone else through this door, there was nothing left between us!"

Get dressed and leave right now, and I'll pretend nothing happened tonight!

Otherwise, I'll call the police station right now! The choice is yours!

Su Taohong was still unwilling to give up. With a sob in her voice, she tried to make a final attempt to persuade him to stay: "Zhiyuan, I know I was wrong. It was all my fault before."

Please give me another chance, okay? Tonight, whatever position you want, I'll do my best to accommodate you…”

Wu Zhiyuan retorted sarcastically, "I'm not a scavenger!"

Your behavior just disgusts me!

Furthermore, it's one thing that you weren't a virgin in the first place, but to pretend to be one and feign innocence—don't you find that disgusting?

Su Taohong was furious: "You're spouting nonsense!"

Wu Zhiyuan sneered: "Do you think I know nothing? It's one thing for it to be a second-hand house, but someone died in it!"

None of that matters. What matters is that they lied and said it was a brand new house!

Wu Zhiyuan's words were like a bucket of cold water, completely extinguishing Su Taohong's last glimmer of hope.

She finally understood that no amount of acting could win back this man's heart.

After putting on her clothes, Su Taohong glared at Wu Zhiyuan fiercely, gritting her teeth: "Wu Zhiyuan, you don't know what's good for you!"

Did he think that just because he became the secretary to the municipal party secretary, he was all that important and that the whole world was his?

Don't lose heart in adversity, and don't be arrogant in success! The more you jump around happily today, the harder you'll fall tomorrow!

Wu Zhiyuan didn't retort, but coldly said, "There are your personal belongings in the second bedroom. Take them with you!"

Su Taohong said, "Throw it away," and then walked away without looking back.

……

Wu Zhiyuan drove his car and took Xu Youwei to Haihe County.

Longcheng City administers four counties and two districts. Haihe County is about 60 kilometers away from the urban area of ​​Longcheng City.

Once you cross the border of Longxi District, you'll reach Jinqiao Town in Haihe County.

A large crowd had gathered by the roadside, along with bulldozers, and it looked like a conflict was taking place, with people pushing and shoving each other.

On one side of the road is a hillside, and there are many graves on the hillside.

Xu Youwei gestured for Wu Zhiyuan to pull the car over to the side of the road and asked, "Zhiyuan, what's going on?"

Wu Zhiyuan said, "If I'm not mistaken, this should be leveling a grave."

Before you came to Longcheng after He Jiaping's incident, Mayor Ai was in charge of the municipal party committee's work.

He started a campaign to level graves. The goal was to level graves within a set timeframe and achieve a 100% cremation rate.

However, upon hearing that members of the municipal party committee had differing opinions, Mayor Ai insisted on pushing forward the plan, ultimately deciding to pilot it first in the Haihe River before expanding it throughout the city.

Some time ago, Haihe County established a funeral reform team, which dug up graves, pried open coffins, and forcibly cremated corpses. The county television station even produced a documentary about it, which was repeatedly broadcast to educate the public.

Xu Youwei's face was grim: "And what about the people's reaction?"

Wu Zhiyuan didn't hide anything: "Secretary Xu, the people here often curse like this: Destroying someone's ancestral graves will bring them childlessness! Destroying someone's ancestral graves will bring them lightning strike!"

Desecrating ancestral graves is considered extremely immoral, so conflict is inevitable. But at most, ordinary people will just curse behind their backs; can that change Mayor Ai's decision?

Xu Youwei paused for a moment, his expression serious: "In ancient times, digging up ancestral graves was considered an unforgivable crime, on par with murder and arson, and punishable by beheading."

Funeral reform is the right direction, but the methods used are simplistic and brutal, hurting public feelings and ultimately backfiring. This approach runs counter to our Party's principle of serving the people!

Wu Zhiyuan said, "Secretary Xu, as far as I know, the county conducted a survey before leveling the graves, and the graves of ancestral graves of officials at the deputy director level or above were exempted from being leveled."

Xu Youwei was utterly astonished: "Is that so?"

Wu Zhiyuan explained, "There was such a saying before, and I also found it unbelievable. I specifically asked several classmates and friends who work in government departments to verify it, and they all said it was true. They said that ordinary people jokingly call these ancestral graves the ancestral graves of deputy-department-level officials."

Xu Youwei said, "Zhiyuan, let's go down and see what the people have to say."

Wu Zhiyuan tentatively asked, "Secretary Xu, shall we not reveal your true identity?"

Xu Youwei hesitated for a moment, then said four words: "Act according to the situation."

Xu Youwei got out of the car, and Wu Zhiyuan followed closely behind.

An excavator roared, its massive steel arm aimed at a cemetery.

Several people wearing clothes with the words "Funeral Enforcement" printed on them are confronting the villagers.

An elderly woman with white hair knelt before a grave, clutching the tombstone tightly with both hands, crying out, "This grave cannot be leveled! This is my son's grave! My son was a martyr, he died on the border! You cannot let him die without peace!"

A middle-aged man who looked like an official said impatiently, "Old man, that's the policy! The whole county is treated the same way. All graves must be leveled, and martyrs are not exempt!"

Cremation saves land and promotes a change in customs! As relatives of martyrs, you should support it even more!

A dark-faced man standing nearby, who appeared to be a family member of the old woman, was so angry that his face turned red. He was waving a shovel and yelling, "This is a bullshit policy that will cut off your lineage and make your sons grow up without an anus!"

"If anyone dares to disturb my brother's grave today, I'll fight them to the death!"

The middle-aged man who looked like an official, instead of calming the dark-faced man's angry rebuke and the old woman's cries, became even more impatient. He pointed at the dark-faced man and shouted, "Liu Laohei! I'm warning you, violently resisting the law is illegal!"

We are carrying out the decision of the county party committee and county government! If anyone obstructs law enforcement, we will arrest them!

Liu Laohei was not afraid at all: "Mayor Yao, this despicable act of digging up people's ancestral graves is unacceptable even if the King of Heaven himself came!"

My brother sacrificed himself for the country! If his grave can't be preserved, how can I face the world?

If you dare to move a single shovelful of dirt today, I'll leave my hundred-odd pounds of dirt right here!

The atmosphere reached a critical point, and tensions were running high between the two sides.

Xu Youwei stepped forward and questioned the middle-aged man: "Are you Mayor Yao? Work requires methods, but even more so, it requires empathy."

The old lady's son was a martyr who made contributions to society. Shouldn't we handle this matter more carefully?

"Be cautious?" Mayor Yao sneered. "What do you know? This is a tough task of 'leveling graves and returning farmland' personally overseen by Mayor Ai. There are timelines and performance indicators!"

"If we fail to complete the mission, we will all be dismissed! Besides, what's wrong with being a martyr? Martyrs should be even more proactive in responding to the government's call!"

Xu Youwei said coldly, "What if it's the ancestral grave of a deputy division-level official?"