Qiao Liang understood what was going on as soon as he saw it. He frowned and said, "You are not allowed to bring anything with you when you go to my house for dinner."
The mayor said flatteringly: "Director Qiao, this is our first visit to your home. This is more or less a token of our appreciation for your elders."
Qiao Liang waved his hand: "I accept your offer, but we are here to work today, not a gathering of friends, so that's not allowed."
The mayor persisted, but Zhuang Jiaming winked at him and waved his hand.
The mayor looked at Zhuang Jiaming, then at the town secretary. The town secretary seemed to realize something and nodded.
So the mayor gave up and put the things back in the car.
Then everyone went to Qiao Liang's house.
When we entered the door, my father had already cleaned the yard. There was a big round table under the big tree, and tea sets were placed on the round table. The tempting aroma of vegetables wafted from the kitchen, and my mother was busy inside.
Qiao Liang's parents greeted everyone warmly. After Qiao Liang introduced everyone to her parents, she invited everyone to sit down and drink tea.
Lu Qian then got into the kitchen to help, shouting sweetly from one aunt to another, which made Qiao Liang's mother smile from ear to ear.
Then Qiao Liang went into the back room, came out with two bottles of good wine, and said to everyone: "Everyone has tea first. My dad will chat with you. I will go out to see an elder and will be back soon."
Everyone nodded. Qiao Liang's father originally wanted to ask Qiao Liang which elder he was looking for, but he didn't ask in front of everyone.
Qiao Liang left the house with the wine and went straight to Zhang Zhimin's house in the west end of the village.
Arriving at the door of Zhang Zhimin's house, Qiao Liang pushed open the courtyard door and said loudly: "Second uncle, are you at home?"
Zhang Zhimin came out after hearing the sound, saw Qiao Liang, and said happily: "Oh, it's Liang Zi, come in quickly."
Qiao Liang entered the main room and put the wine on the dining table. Zhang Zhimin was busy being polite. Qiao Liang said: "Second uncle, why are you so polite? You are an elder. Isn't it right for me to bring you wine?"
Zhang Zhimin happily asked Qiao Liang to sit down and poured tea.
Qiao Liang took out a cigarette and handed it to Zhang Zhimin, and then took out a lighter and lit it for him. Zhang Zhimin looked at Qiao Liang happily while smoking: "Liangzi, I heard that you are working with a senior official in the city. You are now successful, but why?
We, the young and old men of Qiaojiayu, have been disgraced."
Qiao Liang smiled: "Second Uncle, what's the point of this? I just have a job... By the way, Second Uncle, are you feeling well now?"
"What's the matter? I've been feeling aggrieved lately." Zhang Zhimin sighed.
"What's wrong?" Qiao Liang said calmly.
"It's not because of those trees on the deserted beach. I have worked hard to plant them over the years, and I rely on them to support me in my old age." Zhang Zhimin said angrily, "The town bullies people so much that they shovel them down without even saying hello.
I refuse to pay compensation. I have been holding this breath in my stomach for 3 months. I just wrote a letter of complaint to the Municipal Party Committee Secretary a few days ago. If you don't solve it for me, I am thinking about how the big officials from the province will come to us the day after tomorrow.
When the village red base carries out activities, go directly to them for redress..."
Qiao Liang felt scared after hearing this. Fortunately, Zhang Zhimin wrote a letter to An Zhe. Fortunately, An Zhe told him in time, otherwise the consequences would be serious.
Qiao Liang continued: "Second uncle, to tell you the truth, I know this about you. That's why I came to see you today."
"Oh, Liang Zi, you..." Zhang Zhimin looked at Qiao Liang.
Qiao Liang continued: "Secretary An received the letter you wrote to Secretary An and gave special instructions. Not only Secretary An attaches great importance to it, but also the county secretary."
Zhang Zhimin perked up when he heard this: "Liang Zi, what did the two leaders say?"
"Secretary An and Secretary You both requested that this matter be resolved satisfactorily as soon as possible. Secretary An asked me to take charge. Today I came specifically for this matter together with the leaders of the county and town." Qiao Liang said.
Zhang Zhimin slapped his thigh: "Great, Liang Zi, you must make the decision for my second uncle in this matter and give him justice."
"Second uncle, don't worry, I will handle this matter fairly and justly, and I will not let you suffer any loss," Qiao Liang said.
"Hey, okay, okay, Liang Zi, with your words, my second uncle will feel at ease." Zhang Zhimin said happily.
Qiao Liang continued: "Second uncle, how many saplings did you plant at that time?"
"There are 5,000 willow trees, poplar trees and apricot trees in total." Zhang Zhimin said.
"Is there any proof?" Qiao Liang asked.
"Proof? They have destroyed the trees and built the bridge. How can I prove it?" Zhang Zhimin was a little confused and said angrily, "They said that I have less than 5,000 trees just because I can't prove it. They said that I deliberately
They exaggerated the figures to take advantage of the public, and only paid compensation for 1,000 trees. They also said that the trees were less than 5 years old and could only be compensated based on their age of 3 years."
Qiao Liang said: "Where did you buy the saplings?"
"I bought it from a nursery 10 kilometers away," Zhang Zhimin said.
Qiao Liang felt hopeful when he heard this: "This is easy to handle. Can't we just go to the nursery and find the person who sold you the saplings to testify?"
Zhang Zhimin shook his head: "The nursery failed to do well and went bankrupt the year before last. The man who opened the nursery left Sanjiang a long time ago and has no contact with him. I heard that he went to the polar bear country to farm with others."
Qiao Liang was dumbfounded. It was a long way to go to the polar bear country, so it was certainly unrealistic to find him.
Qiao Liang thought for a while: "Second uncle, when you bought the saplings, did you have any receipts or anything like that?"
"Um..." Zhang Zhimin frowned, "It seems that the person who sold the saplings gave me a receipt, but after so many years, who would have thought that something like this would happen later, and who would have thought of saving this? I didn't know how to save it.
Where did you put the receipt?"
"Don't worry, second uncle, think about it carefully," Qiao Liang said.
Zhang Zhimin thought for a long time, then stood up: "Wait a minute, I will go into the house to look for you."
As he spoke, Zhang Zhimin went into the back room to look for it, and came out with a shoe box after a long time: "The receipts for the things my family bought over the years are all here. I don't know if they are inside."
Qiao Liang took the shoe box and opened it. Inside was a pile of invoices and receipts, as well as some household appliance manuals and warranty cards.
Qiao Liang looked through them one by one, and finally found none.
Qiao Liang felt disappointed and looked at Zhang Zhimin: "Second uncle, are there any more?"
Zhang Zhimin shook his head: "It should be gone."
"Think about it again, think about it carefully." Qiao Liang was unwilling to accept it. Under the current circumstances, this was the key to handling the matter fairly.
Zhang Zhimin thought for a long time, shook his head and said: "It's really gone."
Qiao Liang's heart felt cold, but he refused to give up. He stood up and said, "Second uncle, look for it again. What if you can find it? I'll help you look for it together."
Seeing Qiao Liang's persistence, Zhang Zhimin and Qiao Liang went to the back room and began to rummage through almost all the places where things could be placed. After tinkering for a long time, they still found nothing.
Qiao Liang couldn't help but feel frustrated and disappointed. He sat on the edge of the kang and frowned. He couldn't find any evidence. Zhang Zhimin's problem was really difficult to solve.
