Chapter 188 The New Officer Takes Charge
Chapter One Hundred and Eighty-Eight
Morning.
The ancestral hall of Longyang Village was crowded with people.
Yesterday, the elders of the family, such as the great-uncle, met with Long Xiaoshan, and quickly organized themselves.
Today, the entire population of Longyang Village had been gathered for the election of the village chief.
It was called an election, but it was entirely a formality.
Long Xiaoshan stood as a candidate on the stage, with the villagers of Longyang Village below him.
With the development of Longyang Group, the villagers' income was steadily increasing. The villagers who used to work outside had all returned, and the village was more bustling than ever before.
Everyone was standing below with smiles on their faces.
Now, within an eight to ten-mile radius, Longyang Village was the richest. Hence, various peddlers came to Longyang Village to do business: those blowing cotton candy, slicing sugar cakes, selling candied haws, and baking sesame seed cakes, had set up in a row at the entrance of the ancestral hall, hawking their wares.
The children were the most excited, running back and forth in front of these stalls.
Clenching the five or ten yuan given by their parents, they bought this and that.
They frolicked, and sounds of joy could be heard.
The children of Longyang Village never had spare money to buy these things before.
But now it was different. Even if the villagers didn't work for the group, their land would bring in tens of thousands of yuan in rent each year.
Not to mention the village, it was considered a high income even in the county.
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Many villagers from the neighboring villages often came to Longyang Village to inquire about recruitment.
The villagers of Longyang had an air of pride when they went out and were no longer looked down upon as they were before.
Long Xiaoshan watched all of this with a satisfied smile.
This lively scene had not been seen in Longyang Village for so many years. It used to be called Widow Village, with few men, and the village itself was desolate. But his efforts over the past few months had changed the face of the village.
It filled him with a sense of achievement and contentment.
Seeing that everyone had arrived,
The great-uncle took to the stage.
As the oldest and longest-lived elder in the village, the village assembly had always been presided over by him.
Standing on the stage, the great-uncle began to speak.
As he started, the crowd below became much quieter.
The great-uncle said, "Fellow villagers of Longyang, today we have convened this assembly to elect our new village chief of Longyang. The changes in our village over the past few months are clear to all, there is no need for me to elaborate. What it was like before, what it is like now, I just want to ask you all one question, who brought about all these changes?"
"Xiaoshan!" A chorus of shouts came from below.
Everyone was chanting.
The great-uncle nodded, "It seems everyone is clear on this. No need for more words. You all have received your ballots. Write down the name and start voting."
There were two other candidates in the village, as the rules required at least three.
But this was all prearranged.
The other two were merely going through the motions, like attendants to the Crown Prince.
As ballot after ballot was brought up, next to them were the people counting the votes.
Continuously calling out "Long Xiaoshan, one vote!"
As the vote counting progressed, all votes were cast for Long Xiaoshan.
Half an hour later, the dust had settled.
The elder once again stood up and said, "I now announce that Long Xiaoshan has been elected the head of Longyang Village with one hundred and fifty-three votes, unanimously. Let's give him a round of applause!"
Whir!
The applause from below was like thunder.
The faces of Couple Long Dashan, standing in the front row below, were blooming with smiles.
He Xiangyue, although she claimed she didn't care about Xiaoshan becoming the village head, felt a tremendous sense of pride deep down. After all, her son was now capable. Half a year ago, her family was nothing in the village, looked down upon by everyone.
Her son had become a reform-through-labor prisoner.
Look at the family now, not only had her son started a big company, but he had also become the village head.
The elder said, "Now, please welcome our village head to speak."
Long Xiaoshan nodded to the elder, walked up to the podium, scanned the crowd below, raised his hand to signal, and the applause stopped.
Long Xiaoshan said, "Fellow villagers, I am humbled by your trust in electing me, Long Xiaoshan, as the head of Longyang Village. I grew up in Longyang Village, this place is my root, my home. Now that I have become the village head, I will surely lead everyone to build our homeland even better. Upon taking office, I will first develop two projects in the village. One is a school; the village primary school has been abandoned for many years, and children wanting an education have to travel to other villages or towns, which is very inconvenient. Therefore, building a school is our top priority. Mr. Zhao Jun from Xinyuan County has agreed to invest ten million to build a primary and secondary school in Longyang Village. Longyang Group will spend a considerable amount to hire excellent teaching staff, with the aim of making the school bigger and better, and to cultivate even more outstanding talent.
Another project is village renovation. Nowadays, most of the houses in the village are dilapidated and in disrepair, many of which are dangerous. The Group will restrategize the planning within the village, constructing villa areas, village squares, cinemas, gyms, basketball courts, and other facilities to enrich the spiritual lives of the villagers... All these projects will be completed within a year."
The people below were all boiling with excitement.
A new official brings a new approach.
But these new approaches burned with great fervor.
Schools, villas, cinemas...
These were things once beyond the dreams of Longyang Village's inhabitants.
Now, from the mouth of Long Xiaoshan, they were about to be realized one by one.
And construction was to commence immediately, with completion within a year.
The elder stepped forward, cleared his throat, and said, "Xiaoshan has finished speaking, and I have a few words to say. Everyone's living comfortably now, with hope for the future, but have you ever thought about whether Xiaoshan could have made his farm successful or made any money without us."
"The answer is obvious; without us, Xiaoshan could still become wealthy. Let's not even mention our contribution of the land and shares, but think about it, without Xiaoshan, how much would that land be worth? The village committee now holds 30% of the shares, and to be honest, we've gained an excessively large advantage. Boss Guu from Hong Kong Island invested a billion and only got 10% of the shares. If we calculate it, how much would the village committee's shares be worth? I heard that the township originally planned to allocate land to Xiaoshan for his farm. It would be more convenient there with better transportation. But Xiaoshan didn't go. He still wanted to consider everyone, to get rich together."
"Tell me, where can you find such a village head? Shouldn't we support him and be grateful?"
"We should!"
"Village head, we all follow your lead!"
"Xiaoshan, you are now our leader."
"If anyone dares to say otherwise about Xiaoshan, I will beat them to death!"
The villagers below shouted loudly, one after another.
In the crowd, Chun Tao and her daughter Jin Lian stood together.
Gazing admiringly at the man on the stage...
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At this moment, a hundred li away in the Weifeng Martial Arts School of Hechuan City, a large crowd of people stood. Wei Zhentian was at the front of the crowd, craning his neck in anticipation. His hair had turned half white, his figure somewhat stooped, supported by two disciples as if he had aged twenty years overnight.
He was a far cry from the imposing martial arts master of just half a month ago.
Suddenly.
A black Mercedes-Benz S600 turned the corner, and Wei Zhentian's eyes lit up slightly. He abruptly shook off the disciples supporting him and staggered forward a few steps, saying, "They're here!"