After get off work that night, Zhou Haiyang did not go home on time, nor did he call Pei Xiaohong in advance as usual, saying that he would go back later.

He stayed alone in his office for a long time...

Because he was about to be transferred, he still had some things to deal with.

The most troublesome thing was the envelopes he had received since he became the deputy county magistrate.

He read for a while, and when the lights went out in the office building, he took out all the envelopes from the safe and counted them one by one.

After adding them up, he was really shocked to find that there were more than half a million.

In the past, Zhou Haiyang didn't understand why some people became so generous once they became officials, but now he understands it completely.

He and Pei Xiaohong are not short of money at all, and they still have the stamps they bought with Liu Yan before 1980. Their current value is many times more than the money in these envelopes...

Zhou Haiyang, like all ordinary people, cannot live without money. He needs money, but he does not need that much money.

He has worked hard, made contributions, and the party and government have given him the status and honor he has today, and he is very satisfied.

He always had only one very simple thought in his heart: Give me what should be given to me. There is no shortage of anything at home.

It is not easy for the cadres below to do specific work. As a leader, there is no reason and absolutely cannot take advantage of the cadres below!

Looking at the money in the envelopes in front of him, he thought to himself that this seemed to be no longer a problem with the money itself, nor with ordinary human sophistication and courtesy, but with the current cadre atmosphere and political atmosphere.

They give gifts because they are interested in your position and the connections behind them, and they want you to support them at critical moments.

For example, moving to a better position, or changing from a deputy position to a full-time position, or from a department with less oil and water to a unit with more oil and water.

If you accept the money, you may not have any problems in your life, but what will the people who gave you the money think of you, Zhou Haiyang?

In their hearts and behind their backs, they would definitely say that despite the fact that this kid Zhou Haiyang was born into a high-ranking family, received a good education, and is usually sanctimonious, he is not like some people who say one thing and do another behind the scenes, but they still turn their eyes to money.

At best, he is just a dog. As long as you throw down a meaty bone, it will immediately pounce on it and bite it.

An envelope containing at least a few hundred dollars or as much as a few thousand dollars can change and destroy a person's will.

As long as you accept this money, you will be wagging your tail around other people's batons in the following days.

In this case, you will live as if you have lost your personality, or even have no personality.

And you, Zhou Haiyang, will always be humble, shameless, and unable to hold your head high in the eyes of those who give you money.

Am I, Zhou Haiyang, willing to be such an easy-to-coddle dog? Of course not!

Zhou Haiyang understands very well that there are only two things that are most tragic about a leader:

One is corruption and bribery, which is a loss of personality.

The second is that no one listens to your words, which is a loss of authority.

If you really want to behave like a human being in the officialdom and be able to walk upright in society, then there is only one way: to live a clean life and work for the people in a down-to-earth manner.

Even if he endures hardships in life or encounters political ups and downs in the future, he will still be worthy of the people.

Zhou Haiyang thought hard for a long time and finally decided to return all the money.

However, returning the money is more difficult than returning goods, and it is even more difficult than demolishing illegal buildings.

While returning the money every penny, you must also consider not hurting other people's face, not hurting other people's good intentions, and not causing any negative impact on other people.

Otherwise, people will scold you Zhou Haiyang for being ignorant of good and evil, ignorant of praise, prude and pretentious.

Zhou Haiyang regarded this matter as one of the important tasks before leaving.

But he couldn't retreat quietly. He had to make the matter public, and at least there had to be an insider.

After pondering for a while, he decided that this insider must be a person full of integrity and the person he trusts most in Boxing County. This person is Xiao Guorui.

The next day, Zhou Haiyang invited Xiao Guorui to his office, showed him the pile of envelopes, and said: "These are all money. I want you to take a look at them, and then return them one by one and return them to their original owners."

"

Facing those all-white kraft paper envelopes, Xiao Guorui suddenly understood!

But he was curious in his heart, so he looked at them one by one to see who sent them. How many were sent? Then he registered them one by one.

Almost every leader will encounter things like collecting envelopes, but their attitudes and methods of handling them are different.

Some people don't want it, some people give it half-heartedly, some people firmly refuse it, and some people turn it over to the public.

Xiao Guorui has his own way of dealing with this kind of thing.

He has said several times at meetings: "Anyone who wants to spend money to buy an official position will not only get their money back, but they will also not be promoted from now on.

Don't try to buy an official position from me. That is wishful thinking and cannot be bought.

Let me say it first, if you continue to send me money, don't blame me, Xiao Guorui, for turning against me and denying anyone else.

Everyone knows that I am the secretary of the county party committee, and I am an upright and upright person. Don't try to trick me or try to drag me down and remove me from office! No way!"

Xiao Guorui told everyone in this naked way at the meeting, which made everyone laugh in the audience.

While registering the envelopes, he said to Zhou Haiyang: "It seems that you are still a little soft-hearted and don't want to hurt their hearts.

There are more people giving me gifts than you, but I don't give them any face at all.

You cannot be merciful to such people, you must be tough with them, and you must never be conciliatory or accommodating.

As long as I severely hurt their face the first time and let them know my temper, they would not dare to do it a second time.

In the past two years, no one has dared to send me money.

However, I will accept the gifts of cigarettes and alcohol and treat them as public use. If I return them, it would be a bit embarrassing and very unkind."

Zhou Haiyang smiled slightly and said: "I only accept tobacco and alcohol! It seems that we are the same."

When Xiao Guorui heard this, he immediately became happy, his belly trembled with laughter, and he said: "Actually, this is wrong, but there is nothing we can do about it.

Remember! If one day we are punished by the Discipline Inspection Commission for accepting other people's cigarettes and alcohol, then we will ask to be locked up in a room and be our companions."

Zhou Haiyang said with a smile: "Okay! Then we can recall the past together, today's scene, and talk about the corruption topics we have discussed..."

The two of them joked happily.

Zhou Haiyang knew in his heart that if he and Xiao Guorui had not been in an inseparable relationship for so many years, it would be almost difficult for officials to talk about such secretive topics together. Even the best friends would not dare to touch upon these contents.

No matter how greedy a person is, he will pretend to be a gentleman anytime and anywhere. Even when it comes to his best friends, he will remain silent.

Xiao Guorui admired Zhou Haiyang's actions very much and suggested: "Be careful when you retreat to prevent accidents in the future."

He paused and then said: "If necessary one day, I can come forward to testify for you.

As for what method you took to hand over the money intact to them, I'm sorry! I have no experience and can't help you. You have to rely on yourself."

Zhou Haiyang nodded knowingly. He specially found a mini-recorder and prepared to make a live recording of what happened during the refund process.

Zhou Haiyang thought up several plans for how to return the gift money, and finally chose the most humane one.

This made him feel that the difficulty of being an upright official was not much worse than that of working on a project.

In order to save face and not embarrass those people, Zhou Haiyang changed all the envelopes for sending money into envelopes from the county government, then wrote his name on them and returned them door to door.

His refund method has formed an inherent pattern: when he goes there, he chats with people for a while, drinks tea and smokes.

When I see someone eating, I will join them and have a home-cooked meal without any hesitation.

Everyone knows that Zhou Haiyang will soon be transferred to Renyuan County as the county party committee secretary. Perhaps in a few years, he will enter the leadership team of the municipal party committee.

They were very polite to him and respected him very much.

Being able to visit in person before leaving not only made these people feel flattered, but also grateful.

After finishing drinking, eating, and chatting, Zhou Haiyang took out the envelope he had prepared in advance and said: "This is a little thought from me, take it to buy something for your children or family members.

I don’t know what to buy...Thank you for your understanding and support of my work over the years!”

Some people took the envelope with both hands, their eyes filled with tears, and they were so excited that they could not speak for a long time.

Some people kept saying thank you with trembling hands.

Some people are too embarrassed to accept it and refuse again and again...

But no matter what kind of situation he encounters, Zhou Haiyang will never give the other party a chance.

Instead, he dropped the envelope, walked away without saying a word.

After Zhou Haiyang left, these people opened the envelope and suddenly realized:

The envelope contains all their own money, not a penny more, not a penny less.

Suddenly, I felt like a mute eating Coptis chinensis, unable to describe the pain, unable to laugh or cry.

…
Chapter completed!