The command headquarters for the Heigao Marsh Development Project was officially established after a unanimous approval at the enlarged meeting of the Chu County Standing Committee where, the county party secretary, Liu Chengyin, read out the appointment decisions for the total commander, executive deputy commander, and deputy commander of the Heigao Marsh Development Project Command Headquarters. Liu Chengyin himself took on the role of the commanding general, which was the first in Chu County’s engineering development.

    Liu Chengyin’s actions were widely recognized by the majority of county leaders and department officials responsible for the project. They believed that Secretary Liu was a doer brave enough to shoulder heavy responsibilities on the frontlines. Working under such a leader was not a concern, as they were confident that Liu would take responsibility should any problems arise, rather than putting the burden solely on those at the frontlines.

    In past work experience, the leader was often seen as higher above. Whether it was an important job or a key project, there was always a deputy to take charge, and the leader never personally got involved. When problems arose, the blame was pushed down by superiors, and those who did the work were unlucky. The leader at most took responsibility for leading, without ever having to bear any actual

    consequences.

    This time, Secretary Liu did not do what the previous secretaries of Chu County used to do, which was to give important speeches, mobilize their staff, then inspect and make demands, and give instructions. Secretary Liu rushed to the frontline and served as the overall commander of the Heigao Marsh development project. In fact, he could completely avoid taking on this role as the top leader of the county government was qualified and capable enough to serve as such overall commander.

    However, Secretary Liu made it clear during the expanded meeting of the County Party Committee that the Heigao Marsh development project had decisive significance for changing the backward appearance of the “Great Northwest” of Chu County. The County Party Committee and the County Government attached great importance to this project. It should be noted that the development of Heigao Marsh not only presented great difficulties in terms of the project construction organization and funding, but also involved the changes to the original ecological environment. To be honest, there was a certain degree of risk in this. However, we could simply watch our fellow citizens living in poverty with nothing but a lake for a meal, and with the reeds that couldn’t be sold to bring in good returns. It was necessarily transformed to enable the people in the Shagou area to live better lives. I was willing to take on the risks as the commander general. Be there any risks, I would be the first to bear them.

    Secretary Liu’s words won long and enthusiastic applause from all the comrades present in the conference room. Some people had previously thought that Secretary Liu was unwilling to delegate power due to his extended reach. However, with such courage displayed by the young County Party Secretary, they felt admiration from the bottom of their hearts.

    As a result, the County Magistrate Liang Shangjun became the Executive Vice Commander, while Gou Daosheng, the Deputy Secretary of the County Party Committee in charge of agriculture, and Zhu Rui, the Deputy County Magistrate in charge of agriculture, were appointed as Vice Commanders, with Gou Daosheng ranked ahead of Zhu.

    The expanded standing committee meeting also decided to seize the favorable opportunity of the winter season and quickly start the development project of Heigao Marsh. Deputy Commander Zhu Rui led a team of personnel to stay in Yuduo Town, and urgently held consultations with Shagou area and its subordinate townships, as well as county water conservancy, aquaculture, agriculture and other departments, to come up with a project plan and work plan.

    Zhu Rui did not expect that her proposal at the “County Rural Economic Work Report Meeting” would be adopted so quickly by Secretary Liu, and the Heigao Marsh development project command centre was established so quickly. Moreover, she was entrusted with an important task and had to immediately rush to the forefront of the project development to start from the most basic work. This undoubtedly showed Secretary Liu’s trust in her, and she was determined to do a good job. This gave her a sense of heroic responsibility in the face of Marsher.

    Secretary Liu  said that there were certain risks in the Heigao Marsh development project. However, Zhu Rui had clearly become the first person to bear the risk. Didn’t that sound a bit heroically tragic?

    Faced with such a heavy responsibility, Zhu Rui couldn’t afford to be careless. As soon as she arrived in Yuduo Town, she held a meeting with the person who arrived early, clarified everyone’s work responsibilities, and proposed the work tasks to be completed in the near future. Subsequently, accompanied by the deputy secretary of the town party committee, Lu Xiaoying, and relevant water conservancy technical personnel, she took a boat to Heigao Marsh to conduct on-site surveys.

    Heigao Marsh still looked as vast as it did years ago, with rustling reeds in the cold wind, devoid of any signs of life. Nearby, several villagers were harvesting the dry reeds on the beach. This was the place that had brought her both sweet memories and bitter humiliation. Facing it now, she couldn’t help but think back to her impassioned speech at the “County Rural Economic Work Report Meeting.” Did that mean that deep down, she had always wanted to destroy it? Did development mean the destruction of Heigao Marsh in another way?

    Although more than a decade had passed, everything that Heigao Marsh had gone through still lingered in Zhu Rui’s mind. Certain sensitive triggers could bring it all back to the surface……

    The days when Gou Daosheng and Zhu Rui quietly fell in love were sweet. The two young hearts communicated, exchanged, collided, and created sparks, producing unusual feelings.

    However, all of this could only be done quietly. Every time Zhu Rui went to Gou Daosheng’s school, she had to find a legitimate reason, either to borrow or return books, or to learn about the local customs of Heigao Marsh. This made Gou Fugui and Tan Maozi, who were still holding their dinner bowls, feel like they had nothing to say.

    What made Tan Maozi a little strange was that Zhu Rui, although working in the fields with them during the day and doing no less work than anyone else, would only eat one medium-sized bowl of rice at the dinner table and would not add a second. She sucked the rice grains from her chopsticks and then placed them neatly with her bowl. She would then greet Gou Fugui, Tan Maozi, and the other Gou family members who were wolfing down their food, “Uncle,Aunt, take your time. I’m full.” No one reminded her, but Zhu Rui voluntarily began calling Gou Fugui and his wife “Uncle” and “Aunt.” Tan Maozi was quite happy about this, feeling that Zhu Rui, from the county of seniority, understood etiquette. Having such a pretty and competent female educated youth like Zhu Rui calling her “Aunt” also gave Tan Maozi some face in the village of Heigao Marsh.

    Since Zhu Rui was already addressing them so warmly, Tan Maozi couldn’t justifiably withhold the house key from her. Additionally, they needed to take care of Zhu Rui in daily life. Once a girl settled into the Gou family, she was essentially part of the family. Thus, Tan Maozi became concerned for Zhu Rui. After a few days of observation, she realized that Zhu Rui ate very little at dinner. This wouldn’t do, as the saying goes: “Man is iron, rice is steel. One meal missed, one’s famished.” If she didn’t eat enough, where would she find the energy to work in the fields?

    Finally, one evening, Tan Maozi saw that Zhu Rui had only finished one bowl of “xian” porridge and was about to put down her bowl. Tan Maozi snatched the bowl away from Zhu Rui and said, “Zhu Rui, you are a good girl but you eat too little. You are young and need to grow. As you know, my family’s economic conditions are not good. We don’t have much food here but we have to eat until we are full, even if it’s just ‘xian’ porridge. If you don’t eat enough, you will become weak and unhealthy. Tonight,listen to me and eat another bowl.”

    Tan Maozi personally filled a bowl with porridge and placed it in front of Zhu Rui. Zhu Rui was deeply touched. As the saying goes, “One heart exchanges another.” When Zhu Rui first arrived at the Gou family, Tan Maozi did not welcome her, but now she was enthusiastically serving her food. Zhu Rui felt that her efforts in the Gou family, including helping Gou Hua with her schoolwork, had not been in vain. In response to Tan Maozi’s care, Zhu Rui could only pick up her bowland continue it.

    Of course, Zhu Rui couldn’t tell Aunt Tan. Whenever she went to Gou Daosheng’s school at night, he would always light the kerosene stove in the dorm and tackle her the elaborate to satisfy her cravings. Sometimes, he would fry two eggs with sugar and oil, and the eggs in the greasy pan smelled of burnt sweetness, crispy outside, tender inside, incredibly satisfying her appetite.

    Sitting in his own single dormitory, Gou Daosheng felt a sweet sensation in his heart as he watched his beloved girl eat so contentedly. Of course, at times like this, Zhu Rui would also tease her beloved boy a little. She stuffed a small piece with a missing bite into Gou Daosheng’s mouth, causing a little egg yolk to stick to the corner of his unprepared mouth. Naturally, Zhu Rui mocked him, “As a teacher, note your table manners. Now see your mouth.”

    Gou Daosheng naturally wouldn’t miss such an opportunity——hugging his sweet lass,pretending to be serious as he commanded her, “you made the mistake, but return it upon me. Now you have only one thing to do, lick the egg yolk off. Otherwise, a quality show.”

    Zhu Rui naturally felt the strength in the hands that were holding her, and had no hope of breaking free. Moreover, she didn’t want to. At this moment, she protruded her soft tongue and started licking the egg yolk off the corner of her beloved boy’s mouth.

    The sexual desire in Gou Daosheng’s body was suddenly aroused by Zhu Rui’s tongue. His tongue, full of aggression, stuck out into his loved girl’s mouth.

    It should be noted here that although Gou Daosheng was born and raised in Heigao Village, his father was the deputy director of Yuduo Commune and his mother worked at the commune’s supply and marketing cooperative. He also had a younger brother who was attending junior high school in town. Gou Daosheng graduated from highschool and, thanks to his father’s connections, returned to his hometown to become a private school teacher. In fact, he had neither a home nor family in his hometown. The school gave him a small classroom, which he cleaned up and turned into his dormitory. He originally planned to teach for another year and had his father help him transfer to a school in the suburbs. The suburban school not only had better facilities but also, more importantly, young and attractive female teachers. At the age of 23 or 24, Gou Daosheng wanted to find a partner and start a family.

    As fate would have it, his father seemed to know his son’s thoughts and sent him the ethereal female educated youth Zhu Rui. Now, Gou Daosheng refused to leave this place anyway. Unless, Zhu Rui went with him.

    Every night, Gou Daosheng, just like performing a sort of magic trick, would whip up some tasty food, like the fried eggs. He could also boil the fried dough twist, fry sesame cakes, and cook a variety of dishes. Zhu Rui would ask someone to bring back snacks like “White Rabbit” milk candy and Hua Fu biscuits from the county town to complement their meals. The two young spent their leisure time enjoying each other’s company and indulging in the heavenly food, in addition to which, Zhu Rui would always talk to Teacher Gou about the revolutionary ideals and their bright future together——a sweet and fulfilling life for the two of them.

    Occasionally, Gou Daosheng would take advantage of his student Gou Hua’s home visits to come and visit Zhu Rui himself, just to check on his dear girl’s daily life. There would be no secret whispers or intimate gestures since the whole family was present. Their little secrets could not be easily revealed.

    Such a sweet time was gone forever because of a visit by director Gou of the commune.

    Due to Zhu Rui’s outstanding performance as a sent-down youth at Heigao Marsh, the commune director visited her and brought a generous gift from the commune revolutionary committee: a target reserved for a worker-peasant-soldier university, clearly stipulated to be for the educated youth activist Zhu Rui. This was something that Zhu Rui could not even dream of.

    At the beginning, Zhu Rui had listened to Chairman Mao’s call and came to Heigao Marsh to receive re-education from the poor and lower-middle peasants. She never imagined that her superiors would value her so highly and provide her with a reserved target to attend college. By going to the countryside as a sent-down youth, she should have become a college student. If her parents knew about this, they would think she was lying and never believed that such good fortune could fall into the hands of Zhu Rui. It was quite true, Zhu Rui’s family in the county town was relatively well-off, as both parents were employed and she had a younger brother in junior high school who was around the same age as Gou Daosheng’s brother. However, to think that they could send their daughter to college was something they didn’t even dare to hope for.

    Now, in the west room of the thatched cottage where Zhu Rui lived, Director Gou from the commune presented her with the admission notice on behalf of the commune’s Revolutionary Committee. At the moment she held the notice, Zhu Rui was overwhelmed with emotion and threw herself into Director Gou’s arms, tears streaming down her face. “Uncle Gou, thank you so much. If you hadn’t brought me to Heigao Marsh, I wouldn’t be where I am today. Thank you, really, thank you so much,” she said, addressing him as uncle instead of Director Gou. In her heart, she believed that since she was dating Gou Daosheng, she would eventually have to call him uncle.

    Today, Zhu Rui was so excited that she called out “Uncle Gou” and gave him a hug, as if it came naturally. Fortunately, Uncle Gou didn’t put on any air as an old revolutionary. Not only did he agree to Zhu Rui’s request to be called that, but he also took her hold and hung on tight for a while.

    Director Gou did not directly respond to Zhu Rui’s gratitude, but instead fully affirmed her performance at the Heigao Marsh Youth Village. Afterwards, he said to her, “You’re a lucky girl, you know. This luck comes from Chairman Mao. When you go to college, you must continue to strive for progress politically. You should strive to join the Communist Party as soon as possible so that you can have a greater future and do better in revolutionary work.”

    As she listened to Uncle Gou’s instructions, Zhu Rui retrieved a tin can from her bedside table. It was filled with malted milk powder, which her family had recently sent to her from the boat on her arrival at Heigao Marsh. Zhu Rui had planned to bring this tin to school to share with her loved Doasheng. She hadn’t even tasted it herself yet. Today, Uncle Gou brought her great news, and she felt that she had to offer something good to treat him. So, Zhu Rui thought of the tin can of malted milk powder on her bedside table.

    “Xiao Zhu, no need to make the milk powder today. Look, how nice it is today. You can accompany me for a walk around Heigao Marsh. There are so many childhood memories of mine. You won’t be able to come here often in the future, so every time you come here, one less chance. But today I also want to assess whether your rowing skills are qualified. How about it?” Director Gou didn’t let Zhu Rui open the can of milk powder, and instead made a new request with the additional condition.

    “Okay, place me in your power. I’ll go to the village and row a boat, and let Director Gou investigate on the spot.” After her excited emotions calmed down a bit, Zhu Rui called Director Gou again.

    In the spring, Heigao Marsh was full of vigorously lush green reeds. Several swallows were flying through the reeds, occasionally stopping on the sandbanks in the marsh to peck at some fresh mud before flying away. One wondered where they would fly to build their nests. A flock of unknown birds flew by the small boat Zhu Rui was rowing, leaving behind cheerful chirps.

    “Xiao Zhu, well done, very well. Your rowing skills are really good. The rowing rhythm is even and steady, you control the oars well when they enter and exit the water. Your strength is balanced, and the boat is sailing smoothly.” The boat slowly rowed through the reeds, while Director Gou told Zhu Rui some interesting

    stories from his childhood in the marsh, such as catching fish and shrimp. He also occasionally praised Zhu Rui’s rowing skills.

    “Xiao Zhu, look at the sky above the marsh, it’s so blue, like the sea! By the  way, have you ever seen the ocean? You’ll have a chance once you go to college!” Zhu Rui could tell that Director Gou was in high spirits today.

    She never imagined that Director Gou had such a sense of aesthetics, expressing his fondness for the blue sky above Heigao Marsh. She smiled and said to him, “Director Gou, you’ve never made me feel this close to you before.”

    “Really? Xiao Zhu, don’t row too hard. Let’s find a sandbank and park the boat, take a break, and enjoy the beautiful spring scenery. I also have an important thing to tell you.” Director Gou smiled at this young and energetic female youth, his eyes full of desire.

    “Okay, okay, today I listened to Director Gou. Director Gou is right. We won’t have this kind of opportunity often in the future, so let’s enjoy it.” Innocent Zhu Rui didn’t know what was on Director Gou’s mind.

    “Xiao Zhu, you said it yourself. Today, you listen to me.” Director Gou said meaningfully.

    “Of course, you’re my great benefactor.” Innocent Zhu Rui didn’t realize that Director Gou’s words had any hidden meaning, and readily agreed.

    The small boat just parked on a shoal in the deep reeds when Director Gou, who had been sitting at the bow all this time, suddenly pounced on the young and beautiful Zhu Rui like a starving wolf.

    After Director Gou had fulfilled his wishes and his long-suppressed desires were satisfied, he even calmly comforted the sobbing Zhu Rui in the cabin. “Compared to you walking through the doors of college, this sacrifice is worth it. Once you enter college, everything begins new and wonderfully. You can completely forget about what happened today and pretend it never happened. Besides, every woman will eventually have this day——sooner or later, a man will do this to you. It may or may not be your husband, but what does it matter? Colleges are very open, once you go, no one will care about these things.”

    Faced with Director Gou’s ride down, Zhu Rui could only grit her teeth and swallow the bitter pill. Could she tell her beloved Dao Sheng about all of this? What good would it do? It would only add another person who knew about her humiliation. The thing was done, and there was no going back. Even if it were her Dao Sheng or any other boy, who could tolerate their beloved girl ever defiled by his own father, but not scrupling about it, or willing to be with her? It was impossible. There was no such boy in the world.

    In front of her beloved Dao Sheng, Zhu Rui carried the label of being a promiscuous woman like Chen Shiming, and endured the humiliation in the unspeaking reticence, breaking up with him.

    In the eyes of others, Zhu Rui’s departure from the Heigao settlement of urban youth and her entrance into the gates of a higher education institution seemed so glamorous, so enviable that it aroused jealousy. But who knew the pain and anger she harbored behind the scenes? Even her beloved Dao Sheng was destined for a breakup after such an event. Since the breakup was inevitable, why not preserve the beauty of their initial feelings for each other? At this point, Zhu Rui even hated herself for not giving her precious virginity to Daosheng, whom she loved so much, and waiting for his father, Guo Zaided, to violate her like a beast, leaving an indelible scar on her for life.

    Life was unpredictable and ever-changing. Zhu Rui, who was originally supposed to work at a local agricultural institute after graduating from university, was reassigned to Chu County as a deputy county magistrate in charge of agricultural science and technology due to the trend of respecting knowledge and wits, to her possession of a bachelor’s degree, to her non-membership in the Communist Party, to her gender, her relative youth, and a few other factors. Upon returning to Chu County, she learned that her former classmate, Dao Sheng, whom she had left behind, had worked hard and not only passed the college entrance exam in the first year that was reinstated, but had also consistently pursued progress. He joined the Communist Party while in college and was a key target of the organization department upon graduation. After being trained at the grassroots level and moving through several departments, he rose to become the deputy secretary of the county party committee of Chu County.

    Although one was in the county government and the other was in the county party committee, their work scope was the same. According to the principle of local organization, Gou Daosheng was Zhu Rui’s direct supervisor in reality. Of course, in the county, the deputy secretary simply did not see the deputy county magistrate as a subordinate. They generally respected and cooperated with each other at work and jointly did a good job. If there were conflicts between the two and they sabotaged each other, causing damage to the work, the organization would certainly take action to transfer one of them or both of them completely. The proper balance in such situations was in the hands of the superior organization department, and outsiders couldn’t say for certain how it would be handled.

    After Zhu Rui became the deputy county magistrate of Chu County, she had a hard time working due to her past relationship with Gou Daosheng. She always had a knot in her heart that she couldn’t untie.

    But Gou Daosheng was magnanimous and invited Zhu to his office. He advised her to let bygones be bygones, as they both had their own families now and should not let the past affect their work. They must never mix public and private affairs. In Gou Daosheng’s eyes, there was only Deputy County Magistrate Zhu. He was now focused on how to cooperate well with her and develop agriculture in this nationally renowned agricultural county. There would be nothing else. In short, let the past be the past. Gou Daosheng shook hands with Zhu Rui as a gesture of politeness and escorted her out of the office.

    After coming out of Deputy Secretary Gou’s office, Zhu Rui felt a lot lighter in her thoughts. But she really wanted to say to her former brother Daosheng, “Daosheng, I’ve been so miserable all these years. It’s really not easy to bear this kind of pain that I can only chew on by myself!”

    The development project of Heigao Marsh was successfully launched, and in the several thousand acres of reeds, there was a hubbub of voices and roaring of engines as water pumps spewed out long streams of water. The once peaceful and leisurely Heigao Marsh had now lost its former tranquility, becoming busy and lively almost overnight.

    As a key project for the whole county, the county committee and government mobilized the labour force of the entire county, establishing divisional command posts at different areas and forming groups at the township level, and camps at the village level, completely implementing a quasi-military management model. In terms of the work area division, each area constituted an independent operation zone, while each group was responsible for a larger operation zone. Due to the large amount of work required for constructing fish ponds around the reeds, the geographical conditions within the reeds were not entirely consistent, requiring coordination between different areas to work together and push forward the project. This increased the workload and difficulty for the headquarters, divisional command posts, and leaders of each group and camp.

    Perhaps someone might ask, the Cheluhe project was completed successfully so long ago, why was it so difficult to develop Heigao Marsh? The Cheluhe project was the “No. 1 Project” of the county committee and government in the 1970s, and its success became a model for the county to work together to accomplish great tasks. That project had nothing to do with Secretary Liu.

    After Liu Chengyin decided to start the Heigao Marsh development project, he also carefully and meticulously studied various aspects of the Cheluhe project, including its organization and construction, and reviewed a large amount of information left from the project’s construction. Liu Chengyin found that although the construction site of the Heigao Marsh project was not as long as that of the Cheluhe project and the total amount of earthwork was not as large, the total number of migrant workers involved in the project was also smaller than that of the Cheluhe project. In terms of project nature, the Cheluhe project seemed to be meant to build a county-level transportation artery, but in fact, its key was not the road but the river. As long as the river was strictly planned and managed, the transportation artery along the riverbank would also be realized.

    The complexity of the Heigao Marsh development project was far greater than that of the Cheluhe project. To transform the original thousands of acres of reed marshes into a high-standard aquaculture farm, the entire framework needed to be built from the marshes, from the floating surface. Some work areas were on the beach and could be operated easily. However, most of the work areas were in the marshes, with a vast expanse of water, making it impossible to get started without first solving the water problem. Trying to drain such a large natural reservoir required a lot of effort and resources, and it was not worth the effort.

    This involved dealing with the scientific treatment of Heigao Marsh water. At the initial stage of the project, it was not about progressing as fast as possible, but about emphasizing the coordination and advancement between different areas. Otherwise, dam collapsing would happen every day, and the entire project would become a mess, making it impossible to move forward.

    Soon, Zhu Rui, the deputy commander, broke free from her initial repressed emotions. After all, the development project of Heigao Marsh was of great importance, and her workplace quickly shifted from Yuduo Town to Heigao Marsh. She, like all of the migrant workers, moved into a makeshift shed in Heigao Marsh. People noticed that the gasoline lamps in Zhu’s work shed were often left on all night long.

    County Party Secretary Liu Chengyin, County Magistrate Shangjun, and Deputy County Party Secretary Gou Daosheng came to inspect the construction progress of the Heigao Marsh development site. When they were checking the construction progress and saw Deputy County Magistrate Zhu Rui, they almost didn’t recognize her.

    “Liu Secretary, is this our beautiful and elegant County Magistrate Zhu? I heard that the wind at Heigao Marsh is strong, but I didn’t expect it to be so strong. It’s only been a few days, and our County Magistrate Zhu’s fair and tender face seems to have been blown off,” Liang Shangjun joked and sympathized with his female assistant.

    “Well done, Magistrate Zhu. It’s winter now, the wind at Heigao Marsh is like a knife, cutting into the face in pain,” Deputy County Party Secretary Gou Daosheng, who had lived in Heigao Marsh, expressed condolences to Zhu Rui and supported Liang Shangjun’s words.

    “Comrade Zhu Rui has indeed worked hard. She sacrificed her youth and beauty for the common people, bringing them better change! If the scale of farming at Heigao Marsh really takes off, the people in this area will remember the sacrifices made by Magistrate Zhu. Today, we come here not just to inspect the work but to visit Comrade Zhu Rui and see what work problems need support from the County Party Committee and County Government,” Liu Chengyin, who was usually serious and didn’t joke, looked at the pale-faced Zhu Rui and felt some emotions. Influenced by Liang Shangjun, he said the melancholy words “sacrificed her youth and beauty for the common people.”

    While the three leaders were talking about her face, Zhu Rui personally poured tea for them. “Gentlemen, please sit down and talk. Our office doesn’t charge for seats. Since you have come, let me give a brief report on the work. There are some things that still need the decision of you leaders.”

    “Alright, let’s get back to business and talk about work,” Magistrate Liang said, changing his tone and taking out his work notebook and pen from his briefcase.

    At this moment, the Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of Yuduo Township, Lu Xiaoying, entered the construction site and asked Zhu Rui how the leaders wanted to arrange the lunch, whether they wanted to eat on the site or in Yuduo Township. After Zhu Rui was stationed in Heigao Marsh, she transferred Lu Xiaoying from the town to the project headquarters. Lu Xiaoying basically played the role of the office head of the headquarters. For any big or small matter, Zhu Rui would give an order and Lu Xiaoying could handle it cleanly and efficiently. This allowed Zhu Rui, as the Deputy Commander-in-Chief, to save a lot of time and energy to consider some key development issues. After this period of time, Zhu Rui couldn’t help but rely on this young and capable Deputy Secretary.

    “I suggest we just eat on the construction site, keep it simple. But we should still have a few drinks. We have to toast to Deputy Commander Zhu. What do you think, Magistrate Liang?” Secretary Liu made the arrangements with a clear attitude.

    “I agree with Secretary Liu,” Magistrate responded straightforwardly.

    “What do you think, Secretary Gou? Do you want to go back to the town and check on your parents?” The young County Party Secretary thought things through carefully. He knew that Gou Daosheng was a filial son who took good care of his parents.

    “Thank you, Secretary. I came here to work today, so I won’t visit them right now. Next, I plan to focus my main energy on the Heigao Marsh project. The construction there is already quite big, and relying on Comrade Zhu Rui alone to supervise and coordinate is too much stress. This is my time to step up.” Gou Daosheng, who had experience with the rural work, felt that it was time for him to take action.

    “Okay, let’s follow Liang’s suggestion and get back to the main topic. Let’s listen to Comrade Zhu Rui’s report on the situation.” Secretary Liu nodded slightly at Lu Xiaoying, both as a greeting and a signal for her to leave. They, as a group of leading cadres, were about to discuss work.