Chapter Thirty-Six: Retreat as Advance

  Liu Jincai came out of the conference room, although the early spring weather was not hot, his sweat had soaked through his clothes, wet and clinging to his body, his face slightly pale, it could be seen that the previous short conversation was quite mentally exhausting.

  He was a deputy section-level cadre who had been suspended from duty for reflection, and his status was basically no different from that of ordinary people. Suddenly being "interrogated" by the secretary of the head of the local revolutionary committee made him tense with anxiety.

  Liu Jun was even more nervous than him.

  Liu Jun's tension was not due to Liu Hejian's identity, but the questions he raised, especially the last one, which was absolutely not a casual inquiry. As the secretary of the regional leader, how could he be an ordinary person? How could such sensitive questions come out of his mouth so easily?

  It seems that letting Liu Jincai give up his NPC deputy identity is probably Long Tiejun's own intention.

  Why did Long Tiejun want Liu Jinchang to give in? To help Wang Benqing? It doesn't seem like it! If Wang Benqing was really close to Long Tiejun, Zheng Xingyun would have found it difficult to stand firm in Xiangyang County and wouldn't have dared to openly oppose Wang Benqing. Why did Wang Benqing need to compromise with him and let him do the work of persuading Liu Jinchang?

  The most likely scenario is that Long Tiejun himself did not agree with Liu Jinchai and Yan Yucheng's political views. Therefore, he not only acquiesced in the decision to deal with Yangyang County but also, like Wang Benqing, was unwilling to see Liu Jinchai attend the People's Congress. However, given his identity and position, he naturally could not directly intervene to obstruct Liu Jinchai. In 1978, although people's legal awareness was generally to be improved, it was common to replace "law" with "policy", and for an organization to openly wipe out a newly elected NPC delegate was just a trivial matter. But Long Tiejun had to maintain his dignity, and as the director of the regional revolutionary committee, he could not afford to personally confront a small commune deputy director, no matter what the reason, without becoming a laughing stock.

  In the eyes of the people, it was already unwise to have a grudge against Wang Benqing in Xiangyang County. If he were to provoke the top leader of the region again, it would be overestimating his own abilities and simply laughable.

  Since Long Tiejun has this intention, then Liu Jincheng will have to reconsider the matter. In official circles, there is a rule that remains unchanged, that is, those who do not listen to organizational calls and act arbitrarily must be eliminated.

  "Not listening to summons" is almost as serious as "disobeying orders" in the army.

  Liu Heqian's face was gloomy, and he forced a smile as he shook hands with Wang Benqing and Zheng Xingyun to bid farewell. Liu Jun knew that he couldn't hesitate any longer.

  "Dad, give up this People's Congress representative qualification yourself."

  Liu Jincai also seemed to be hesitating and asked, "Why?"

  Liu Jun had already thought it through and immediately replied: "Can't afford to make too many enemies. Especially Long Tiejun, can't afford to offend him!"

  Liu Jincai hesitated, unwilling to speak. Liu Jun knew he still had some misgivings and felt that giving up like this would be unfair to Wu Bo and too unprincipled. But for now, the priority was to protect himself; as the saying goes, "as long as the green mountain is there, one need not worry about firewood." If he couldn't keep his position as a cadre, even if he had grand ambitions, he would have no way to put them into practice.

  "Dad, we can't hesitate any longer. If we offend Long Tiejun, our family will have no foothold in the entire Baozhou region."

  Liu Jincan was shocked, and this remark really moved him. Whether or not to be the deputy director of the commune was not important. But for his family, Liu Jincan attached great importance to it, and he did not want his children to suffer at all.

  Liu Heqian walked towards the stairs with Wang Benqing and Zheng Xingyun accompanying him. Obviously, they all saw Liu Jinchai and his wife, but pretended not to see them, their facial expressions didn't change a bit, as if they didn't exist.

  Unable to complete Long Tieshen's orders, Liu Hejian lost face and seemed to have hated Liu Jincai.

  "Director Liu..."

  Liu Jincai shouted.

  Liu Heqian stopped in his tracks and looked at Liu Jincheng with a glimmer of hope in his eyes.

  Liu Jincan took a deep breath and said slowly: "Please inform Director Long that I am willing to give up my qualification as a representative of Yangyang County People's Congress."

  Liu Heqian's face revealed a faint smile, and he asked with restraint: "Is it your own will?"

  "Yes, I am willing. The Constitution stipulates that citizens have the right to vote and stand for election, but I also have the right not to be elected."

  Liu Heqian's smile spread rapidly across his face, and he unconsciously took a step forward, grasped Liu Jincheng's hand, and said: "Very well, Comrade Liu Jincheng, I will report your intentions to Director Long as they are."

  At this time, Liu Jun noticed that Wang Benqing's expression was extremely relaxed, as if he had escaped a great disaster. The gaze towards Liu Jincheng even mixed with a hint of gratitude. Zheng Xingyun, on the other hand, was completely stunned, his face quickly turning from peach red to pale red...

  Not far from the county revolutionary committee's gate, a jeep caught up from behind, and the license plate number was Wang Benqing's special vehicle.

  Liu Jincai pulled his son and silently let him go to the side of the road.

  Forced to give up his NPC deputy qualification, Liu Jincai still felt very suffocated.

  With a "ding", the Jeep stopped beside them. The driver stuck his head out and said, "Director Liu, Director Wang asked me to send you back."

  Liu Jincai was still hesitating, while Liu Jun had already cheered and jumped into the front seat of the jeep, turning his head to wave at his dad. He looked completely like a little girl. Liu Jun was really worried that his dad would be stubborn. At this critical moment, since Wang Benqing was willing to make amends, there was no need to make things more complicated.

  Liu Jincan had no choice but to sit up as well. He smiled at the driver and said, "Driver, thank you."

  The driver responded with a faint reply, it can be seen that he is not very happy about this errand.

  ……

  "What? You gave up voluntarily?"

  Liu Jinwen's beard stood on end with anger. He had seen the small package car personally send his twelfth brother back to Liujiashan in the fields, and was very happy for a while, thinking that his twelfth brother had received some attention in the county. Hurriedly driving the jeep into the gate of Liu Jincai's house, after listening to Liu Jincai say something, he immediately became displeased.

  Liu Jincai felt ashamed and guilty. For this people's congress representative, Fifth Brother had offended all the cadres in the commune and even the county, but at the last moment, he himself knelt down and surrendered, becoming a "despicable capitulationist", which was unforgivable!

  Judging from the situation, if it weren't for Liu Jincai's usual favoritism towards his brother, Liu Jintian might have scolded him loudly while pointing at his nose and then stormed off.

  This is really not right.

  Seeing that his old dad was in the wrong and feeling guilty, as a son, he shouldered the responsibility.

  Liu Jun pulled over a stool: "Fifth Uncle, sit down." Then he ran back and forth to bring over a bowl of tea: "Fifth Uncle, have some tea."

  Since the repair of the 71 coal mine's motor was praised by Director Liao from the provincial government, Liu Jun became a household name in several large teams near Liujiashan, and his reputation rivaled that of Liu Jinchang. To be served personally by Liu Jun, Wu Bo felt honored, haha!

  "What's going on with Jin Cai?"

  Liu Jinwen politely passed over a cup of tea and took two sips, his temper slightly soothed.

  Liu Jincai handed over a "Flying Pigeon" brand cigarette, sighed and said: "The secretary of the Revolutionary Committee of Longtian District, Liu Heqian, personally came to talk to me and asked if I wanted to give up voluntarily. What could I do?"

  "Long Tie Jun?"

  Liu Jinwen took a deep breath in reverse, and then he felt a few points of pride.

  "Even his daughter is selling X, he's also shocked, this thing has gotten big, haha..."

  "It's not like that, Zheng Xingyun came to talk to me and I didn't even bother with him."

  "What's going on? Zheng Xingyun also came to talk to you? This is strange, isn't Zheng Xingyun at odds with Wang Benqing?"

  The contradiction between Zheng Xingyun and Wang Benqing is almost an open secret, and there are few cadres in Zhangyang County who do not know about it.

  "How can I possibly understand these mysterious things they're doing?"

  Liu Jincai cursed.

  Liu Jun couldn't help but laugh. Old dad, if things go smoothly, once Yan Yucheng becomes the county party secretary, you'll probably become a "ghost" too, and then let's see what you have to say.

  Actually, Liu Jincai was admiring Yan Yucheng in his heart. Sitting at home, he analyzed the messy things between Wang Benqing and Zheng Xingyun, and it was almost nine out of ten correct. This move is really worth learning from others.

  At this thought, Liu Jin couldn't help but glance at Liu Jun again. At the critical moment, this eight-year-old child seemed to be even clearer-headed than himself.

  Liu Jun knew what he was thinking in his heart. At that time, the situation was urgent and couldn't afford to hesitate too much, so he spoke out strongly. As for Father's suspicion, it was also unavoidable. In any case, he couldn't bear to look at his own son's "genius" with disapproval, could he?

  "Long Tiejun personally paid attention to this matter, and it's not surprising that you would think so. After all, he is a big leader... Hmm, Jin Cai, then there was his secretary, Liu, Liu something..."

  Liu Heqian.

  Liu Jun's father replied.

  "Right, didn't Liu Hejian say something else?"

  "What can he say?"

  "For example, when are you going back to work? The old lady is selling X, they say what we do, we should give them some benefits, right?"

  At this time, Liu Jinwen had completely regarded Liu Jincheng as "one of his own".

  "Haha, he didn't say this after all. Maybe Long Tiejun didn't let him mention it either."

  "Pshaw!"

  Liu Jinwen spat heavily and his expression was extremely indignant.

  Liu Jun couldn't help but laugh and tease: "Wu Bo, are you speaking from the heart? Others tell you not to raise fish, but you secretly do it anyway. This is going against the leadership!"

  Wu Bo's old face turned red with anger, and he lightly slapped Liu Jun on the head, scolding: "You little kid don't understand anything. What law is broken by raising a few fish? Those leaders in the county are all crazy."

  Liu Jun suddenly remembered something and said: "Wu Bo, why don't we plant some more jasmine?"

  "What?"

  Liu Jinwen was momentarily stunned.

  Liu Jun remembered that in the early 1990s, Xiangyang County had a trend of planting Chinese medicinal herbs, mainly Lonicera japonica. Because the soil and climate of Xiangyang County were suitable for the growth of Lonicera japonica, the county's pharmaceutical company would purchase some wild Lonicera japonica from farmers every year. However, later on, too many people planted it, and the planting area was too large, causing the price of Lonicera japonica to plummet. Many farmers lost money and in a fit of anger, burned all the Lonicera japonica on the mountain, almost triggering a large-scale forest fire.

  That thing made a big noise, and Liu Jun, who was out of town, also heard about it. He even took the time to learn about the cultivation techniques of honeysuckle. Now that he thought about it, he had forgotten most of it, but some impressions remained. However, this didn't matter, as in the vast Yangyang County, he would surely be able to find an expert.

  Nowadays, if we plant in advance for a dozen years or so, just like what was done in Liujia Mountain Big Team, there will be no overstocking at all.

  "I say, we can ask everyone to plant some honeysuckle. That thing is medicine, the county pharmaceutical company buys it every year. It can also increase the collective income."

  Liu Jinwen stared at him steadily: "Xiao Jun, how do you know so many things? Ah? Planting golden and silver flowers, why did you think of getting them?"

  "It's what the book says."

  Hehe, books are really good things, everything can be pushed onto them.

  "Has it been said in the book?"

  "Yes. The honeysuckle has strong adaptability and does not have strict requirements for soil and climate, it can be planted in the field or on the roof, planting more or less is okay, no need to form a large scale. The key point is that honeysuckle is a perennial woody vine, once planted, it can benefit for several decades..."

  Liu Jun casually mentioned some common knowledge about honeysuckle from his mind.

  Wu Bo never attended a private school, and most of his education was obtained in literacy classes. He had an almost superstitious trust in people who read a lot, and seeing this nephew talk fluently and seemingly knowledgeable, he felt a sense of reverence for this "erudite scholar".

  Liu Jincai stared at his son with a straight face, looking rather strange.

  Sweat!

  Dad knows what he and Mr. Zhou are reading, it seems there's no agricultural knowledge in it, if they keep pretending, they might get caught.

  "It sounds really good. It's just that nobody has ever planted this thing around here before, so I don't know how to go about it..."

  "Honeysuckle is propagated by layering..."

  "What is vegetative propagation?"

  Liu Jinwen frowned directly.

  "Just cut off the branches and stick them in the soil, just like a poplar tree."

  "Oh, is that so? That's easy then, and it doesn't cost any money either."

  Liu Jinwen suddenly enlightened, immediately delighted. At that time, the team was really poor, basically there was no collective surplus, and big expenses were not to be thought of. Only such a small investment with great returns could make him happy.

  "Really, is this good thing true?"

  After all, Liu Jun was still young, so Liu Jinwen wasn't very reassured. He turned his head to ask Liu Jincheng.

  "Brother Five, I'm not good at this."

  Liu Jincai scratched his head, feeling a bit embarrassed.

  "It says so in the book, it can't be wrong."

  Liu Jun said firmly.

  "Alright then, let's listen to Xiao Jun."

  Liu Jinwen made up his mind. Anyway, it doesn't cost money, even if it can't be done, the loss is not big.

  Liu Jinwen was excited, but just as he was about to leave, he suddenly remembered the purpose of his visit and couldn't help but laugh. He turned around and said to Liu Jincheng: "Jincheng, that people's representative thing, if you don't want to do it, then forget it. Anyway, I only let you make a big fuss in the first place so that the higher-ups would remember you. Now that even Long Tiejun has been startled, it wasn't all for nothing."