Chapter 28: Hugging the Grass and Beating the Rabbit
Li Xiaoning's ambition is not to fight corruption. He wants to lead a group of people towards common prosperity. For him, catching one or two corrupt officials is purely a side job, so this time he still politely refused. After accepting Zheng Chang's invitation, Zheng Chang didn't force it. He just laughed and scolded Li Xiaoning for a few words and then gave up.
The old lady and the young woman made a meal of wild vegetable porridge for Li Xiaoning and Li Xiaoning using the white flour they had just brought back last night. After they finished eating, they asked for directions and then left.
It turned out that the two of them had already moved to the other side of the mountain when they went down the mountain last night. If they wanted to return to the town government, they had to walk back around the foot of the mountain.
After walking for a while, the two of them were blocked by a river. They walked along the river bank for a while before they found a suspension bridge. There was a simple wooden house on the other side of the suspension bridge.
Not far after Li Xiaoning helped Lin Xi cross the suspension bridge, two men in their thirties came out of the wooden house. One had triangular eyes and the other had a flat nose, and shouted: "Come back."
The two turned around, and Li Xiaoning asked: "What's the matter?"
As soon as the two people saw Lin Xi's face, their eyes suddenly shone with a greedy light, "Look at us dozing off, it's like we are evading fees,"
Li Xiaoning frowned and asked, "What's the fee?"
"Bridge toll," Triangle Eyes said gloomily.
"Bridge toll," Li Xiaoning said happily, "Who asked you to collect it?"
"Damn it, why are you asking so much? The state asked me to keep it, why don't you accept it," Triangle Eyes opened his mouth and cursed.
Li Xiaoning's eyes flashed coldly, and he said with a sneer: "So, you are government workers,"
"You don't care who we are," said Flat Nose, taking a step forward, "Hurry up and pay us."
Li Xiaoning asked: "Okay, how much does it cost?"
"One hundred per person," the triangular-eyed lion opened his mouth.
Li Xiaoning took out his wallet, took out two hundred yuan, and said, "I can also pay the money. Do you have the invoice?"
"Damn it, are you deliberately looking for trouble? Don't leave. Squat down to the side and check your thoughts carefully first, and then correct your attitude." The flat nose said rudely again.
Li Xiaoning continued to act: "Two leaders, my girlfriend is not in good health, and we are in a hurry to go back. Please let us go. I don't want the invoices, why don't I?"
"You can leave, but this woman has to stay," the flat-nosed man said with a lustful look in his eyes.
"What did she stay for?" Li Xiaoning asked deliberately pretending to be surprised.
"Who told your woman to be so fucking beautiful? Tell me, what do men want to do most when they see a beautiful woman? Tell your woman to take off her pants and make us happy. If we are happy, we will let you go. , I won’t fine you any money, and I won’t charge you any fees,” the triangle-eyed man said with a lewd smile.
"Rogue bandits are shameless scum," Lin Xi cursed with her face flushed angrily.
"Haha...haha..." The triangular eyes and flat nose broke out into laughter, "Scold me, scold me, it will make you happy later, you will stop scolding me, it's time to call me brother," as he spoke, the two People began to press forward from left to right.
Lin Xi shivered and stood behind Li Xiaoning, her teeth chattering involuntarily.
Triangle Eyes rolled his hand, showed a dagger, pointed at Li Xiaoning and cursed: "Damn it, get out of the way and don't interfere with my business, or I'll kill you."
Li Xiaoning knew that things couldn't be better today, so he pretended to be afraid and said, "Please, I'll give you all the money. Please let us go," and he went up to us.
The triangular eyes and flat nose did not notice that Li Xiaoning was approaching while he was talking. They were used to running wild in the countryside. People in several nearby villages knew the bad reputation of the two of them, and usually they would bully them obediently. Even if they met someone These two tough guys turned into softies as soon as the knife was flashed, so they didn't expect that Li Xiaoning, a seemingly gentle and weak scholar, would dare to resist them.
Li Xiaoning approached Sanjiangyan, suddenly attacked, grabbed the wrist of Sanjiangyan holding the knife, and then moved downwards. Sanjiangyan suddenly screamed and fell to the ground, and the dagger was completely buried in his thigh. .
Before the flat nose could realize what was going on, Li Xiaoning was in front of him again, and a heavy punch hit him right on the bridge of the nose. This time, the flat nose immediately turned into a nose without a bridge, and he covered it with his hand. With a grimace on his face, he screamed like a pig, and blood flowed out from between his fingers. Li Xiaoning then kneeled him on the temple of his flat nose. The kid immediately passed out and lost his voice.
Li Xiaoning clapped his hands, walked to Triangle Eye, raised his foot and stepped on the handle of the dagger. Triangle Eye immediately screamed like a killing pig, and his whole body was trembling, but he was unable to resist.
Li Xiaoning then said coldly: "Now I will ask and you will answer. If there are lies or the answer is slow, you know what the consequences will be."
The triangle-eyed man nodded hurriedly, "I understand, I understand."
"Okay, very good," Li Xiaoning took his feet back and asked, "What are your names and which village are you from?"
"My name is Zhang Duzi, and his name is Zhang Guzi," Triangle Eyes answered very neatly, "We are both from Lianshantun."
Li Xiaoning asked again: "Who instigated you to set up card charges here?"
Zhang Duzi hesitated for a moment, and Li Xiaoning stamped his foot on the handle of the dagger again. The pain suddenly made him scream like a pig, and said hurriedly: "It was the order from Mayor He. He said that the bridge tolls are collected by the state. "
"He Dongliang, this beast," Li Xiaoning clenched his fists and asked again: "How much money did you charge and who gave the money to you?"
Zhang Duzi hurriedly replied: "We don't remember exactly how much we collected. Anyway, each of us gets 500 every month, and the rest is given directly to Mayor He."
Li Xiaoning asked again: "How long has it been collected?"
"It's been almost two years," Zhang Duzi didn't dare to hide anything anymore and answered all questions.
After asking questions, Li Xiaoning took out his mobile phone and dialed Zhang Erwa's office, "Secretary Zhang, I'm Li Xiaoning. I'm at the foot of the mountain now. You can quickly bring your comrades from the police station over. I have a situation here. I'll let you know the specific location." Someone told you." As he spoke, he put the phone to Zhang Duzi's mouth and said: "Tell Secretary Zhang where we are now,"
Zhang Duzi didn't dare to be negligent, so he immediately told Zhang Erwa obediently.
After about half an hour, Zhang Erwa came to the scene with Tian Wannong, deputy director of the town police station, and four joint defense team members, and asked in surprise: "What's going on?"
Li Xiaoning simply told Zhang Erwa the matter, and then asked: "Secretary Zhang, do you know all these things?"
Zhang Erwa frowned and said: "I know some, but not everything. He Dongliang told me that he would charge some fees, but I didn't pay much attention to it. I didn't expect it to be like this."
Li Xiaoning said solemnly: "The central government has repeatedly issued orders not to charge farmers arbitrarily and increase the burden on farmers. The people in Pingshan Town are so poor, and He Dongliang actually created a name to extract money from farmers unscrupulously. As an old town owner of Pingshan Town, The director didn’t care, and he didn’t even know what fees he was charging. Secretary Zhang, you really let me down,”
Zhang Erwa's face was also full of guilt. He sighed and said: "Xiaoning, it's my fault that I didn't do my job well. You are right to criticize me. I feel sorry for the people of Pingshan Town."
Li Xiaoning said angrily: "I have always respected you and thought that you were an old comrade who cared about the common people at heart, but these are major matters related to the vital interests of the peasant people. In the face of these big issues of right and wrong, you turned a blind eye. Ask, I know very little, Secretary Zhang, it’s time for you to wake up,”
"Xiao Ning, I did have the idea of dawdling in the past, but I didn't expect that He Dongliang did so many bad things. I am responsible. When I turn around, I will report to my superiors and resign. I am not worthy of being this secretary," Zhang Er The baby lowered his head in shame, and the white hair on his head looked really dazzling.
Although the mayor and secretary are both top leaders, according to the principle of the party leading the government, Zhang Erwa is actually Li Xiaoning's superior. Li Xiaoning was also angry, so he reprimanded Zhang Erwa, and saw that the old secretary also had a face full of anger. Regretful, his heart softened and his tone softened, "Secretary Zhang, don't blame me for my short temper and unpleasant words. But since we are officials, we have to be considerate of the common people, otherwise Even if the corpse is a vegetarian, I also know your difficulties. Before, Pang Weidong had all the power, and it was difficult for you to make a difference. In the future, I hope that the two of us can help each other and jointly lead the people of Pingshan Town to live the good life they deserve. ,"
"Xiao Ning, you are right, I am old and confused," Zhang Erwa raised her head and said, "Don't worry, I will fully support your work in the future, and I also hope that everyone can give me a thumbs up in the future, and You’re not pointing at my spine and calling me a wimp,”
Li Xiaoning nodded and said: "Take these two back first. I have reported He Dongliang's matter to the superior Discipline Inspection Commission. The task force will come down soon. They are also witnesses. This time, I want to make the cadres in Pingshan Town have a certain style." For a qualitative change, only when cadres have the common people at heart can their work achieve practical results."
Zhang Erwa said: "It can't be said that all our cadres have become bad. Most of them still think about the people and are still doing things for the masses. It's just that we in Pingshan Town need money but have no money, and we have no supplies. We have nothing. I have good intentions for the people, but I don’t have the ability to make them good.”
Li Xiaoning looked back at the mountains and said: "Our Pingshan Town is actually full of treasures. It's just because of the inconvenience of transportation that we have been living in poverty while guarding a cornucopia of treasures. Therefore, the top priority is to build the roads first."
"You still want to build roads," Zhang Erwa said in surprise, "because of the road construction, all the people came to besiege the town government, but you still dare to build roads,"