Chapter Seven: The Words of Third Uncle

  Yu Fan found that the dishes on the table were indeed rich, not to mention the chicken soup and yellow croaker fish, just a clear steamed turtle would sell for three or four hundred yuan in Donghu City. Listening to Secretary Yu saying that the dishes were not good, Yu Fan couldn't help but feel amused.

  Yu Secretary left, Wang Fuchun and others also started to toast each other. Yu Fan was also sitting on the side, occasionally raising his glass to toast a few people. The sons and daughters of Shenzhou are like this, after a round of toasting at the wine table, the relationship between several people has become much closer. Yu Fan also actively participated in the wine scene with several people, making them feel carefree and happy.

  When it comes to baijiu, Yu Fan didn't drink less in college. It was also during his college days that Yu Fan discovered he had a considerable capacity for liquor, and never got drunk with his dorm-mates when they drank together. The only time he got drunk was on the day of graduation from college, when all his friends were completely intoxicated in their dorm room, and to this day, Yu Fan still can't remember how much he drank that day.

  After a round of toasting, Wang Fuchun also led several people to toast Three Aunt and Yu Secretary. Yu Fan saw that Three Aunt's face was slightly red, so he didn't continue to toast him, but instead picked up his wine cup and walked towards Yu Secretary: "Uncle Yu, I'm younger and it's my first time drinking with you. This cup of wine, I'll just drink it as a sign of respect, you can do whatever you want." After finishing speaking, he downed the wine in one gulp.

  Yu Secretary burst out laughing: "Xiao Fan, you're also a Yu, from our Yu family village. Now that you're working in the local government, you should take care of your own people more often. This cup of wine, I won't take advantage of you either, or else your dad will tease me when he gets back." After saying that, he finished all the wine in his cup too.

  Yu Fan looked and hastily thanked: "Thank you, Uncle Yu, for your kindness." Secretary Yu chuckled and pulled over a chair, saying to Yu Fan: "Come, little Fan, sit next to your uncle. I'll introduce you to the village cadres." His third aunt nudged him with her hand, and Yu Fan understood, sitting down beside Secretary Yu.

  Yu Secretary smiled and pointed to Zhang Village Head, "This is your Uncle Zhang Yongqing, also our village head. If you have anything in the future, you can find your Uncle Zhang." Yu Fan listened and quickly filled his own wine cup, stood up and said to Zhang Yongqing, "Please take care of me more in the future, Uncle Zhang." Zhang Yongqing also smiled and took a sip of wine.

  Yu Secretary pointed to Captain Wang and smiled: "This is the Captain Wang who entertained us today, the captain of the first team in the village. For anything related to the team, you can find him. He is the richest man in our village." Yu Fan also hurriedly toasted a cup to Captain Wang. Then he pointed to several others and smiled: "This is Captain Li of the second team and Captain Wang of the third team. If you have any matters in the future, you can look for them. Ah, this is my son, your cousin Yu Qiang, you brothers should get along well in the future." Yu Secretary said with a smile, pointing to Yu Qiang who had led them in.

  Yu Fan also joined them in drinking. Secretary Yu looked at Yu Fan, cup after cup, and laughed, patting his shoulder: "Little Fan really has a good capacity for wine. That's the way it should be, in official circles you need to have a good capacity for wine. The village accountant and several other cadres had something on today and didn't come, Uncle will introduce you next time." After finishing speaking, he started chatting with Third Aunt beside him.

  Yu Fan was also getting a bit dizzy from cup after cup, and this way of drinking fast wine had never been tried before. Back at Wang Fuchun's table, he drank a few more cups with several people and ate another bowl of rice. This round of drinking for almost two hours was slowly dispersing. Before leaving, Secretary Yu and others were still apologizing for the inadequate hospitality, and San Gu Fu also politely said a few words to them with Yu Fan and his group. The group returned to the village committee under the accompaniment of Secretary Yu and Village Head Zhang, and other village cadres gradually dispersed.

  After sitting in the village committee for a while, Wang Fuchun and others took Yu Fan to the village entrance to continue their stakeout. As they faced the gentle summer breeze, the effects of the wine also gradually wore off. The whole afternoon was uneventful, with the group standing at the village entrance chatting idly, occasionally villagers passing by would look at them with curious eyes, making Yu Fan feel that the work of the rural government was quite leisurely.

  It was almost five o'clock when San Gu Fu also slowly pushed his bicycle out of the village. Several people also smiled and welcomed him, but San Gu Fu took out a "Chinese cigarette" from the black bag behind him and threw it to Wang Fuchun, laughing and scolding: "You guys can't do without your benefits, can you? Old Wang, here, give some to your brothers."

  Wang Fuchun smiled and unwrapped the "Zhonghua" (Chinese brand) cigarettes, taking out two packs to hand over to Yu Fan. Third Uncle waved his hand, saying: "This time, Little Fan doesn't need to give any, you all just split them." Wang Fuchun refused, saying: "How can that be? Whoever is present gets a share, this is an old rule." After finishing speaking, he stuffed the two packs of cigarettes into Yu Fan's pocket and distributed two packs each to the other three people.

  Yu Fan looked at Third Uncle, who smiled indifferently and said, "Alright, let's stop here for today. It's time to get off work now. How about it? Why don't we all go to my place tonight and have a few drinks?" Wang Fuchun shook his head with a smile as soon as he heard this: "Forget it, Head. I'm still not sober from the wine at lunchtime today. Besides, after working hard all day, I should probably go home and take a look." Third Uncle chuckled and pointed at Wang Fuchun, saying, "Forget it, Old Wang. I think you're just afraid of your wife." The others burst out laughing at this, but Wang Fuchun didn't mind laughing along with them.

  Look at the sky, it's not early anymore. San Gu Fu smiled and said to a few people: "Since that's the case, let's just forget about it for now. Anyway, there will be plenty of opportunities in the future." A few people heard this and rode their bicycles back home. When they arrived at the next village, everyone dispersed and went back to their own homes. Yu Fan followed San Gu Fu back to his house, where San Gu had already prepared dinner.

  Third Uncle was at home and didn't drink, Third Aunt also served the two of them rice. Third Uncle picked up a mouthful of green vegetables in his bowl and asked Yu Fan with a smile: "Today is your first day on the job, how does it feel?" Yu Fan heard this and hesitated for a moment before saying: "There's no special feeling, just that it feels completely different from being in university."

  "Of course it's different from university, once you start working in society, things will definitely get a lot more complicated." He thought for a moment and smiled again: "However, your performance today was not bad, your responses were very appropriate, and you got along well with the people you worked with. It proves that you didn't just read books to death in school."

  Yu Fan didn't think it mattered, having heard enough in school. Speak to people in their language, speak to ghosts in theirs, he knew that much. But Third Aunt said again, "However good you are at getting along with the people below, it's still useless." Yu Fan listened and asked in confusion, "Why? Isn't being an official in the government all about being smooth with people and maintaining good relationships with those above and below?"

  "Ha! You think you're some kind of official now? You're just a temporary worker, that's all. Save those words for when you become the town head," he said with a laugh, getting up to pour tea for both of them and placing one cup in front of Yu Fan. He patted Yu Fan's shoulder and chuckled, "For now, what you need to do is build a good relationship with Zhang Bo's family, who are also part of our local government. Try to get on their good side so you can become a regular employee soon, or else you'll be having sleepless nights." Yu Fan looked puzzled.

  The third uncle walked over and sat down, smiling and saying: "Don't mind the many temporary workers in the countryside now, they are all borrowed from various villages for this task, after the task is completed, they will all return to their respective villages. You don't have to pay much attention to these people, once the task is over, they will become farmers again, as long as the relationship doesn't get too stiff. Our township government is just a leftover product from when Xinyang City was converted from a county to a city, it's not a regular township government agency, and it will eventually be merged into the town government. Haven't you seen that your Zhang Bo is still only a deputy department level? A normal township party secretary would be at least a full department level."

  Yu Fan nodded after a pause, "Isn't the current situation of the township government quite embarrassing?" Third Uncle smiled and said, "It's not that embarrassing. You haven't seen that the official staffing of the township government is only six people now? The official staffing is decreasing every year, and the competition here is much fiercer than you think." After finishing speaking, he took out a cigarette from his pocket, and Yu Fan quickly handed him a lighter to light it up.

  Third Uncle smiled and looked at Yu Fan, saying: "You're indeed a material for being an official." Yu Fan chuckled twice, and Third Uncle continued: "In the next few days, you'll still need to run around with me downstairs, just consider it as training. After these few days are over, I'll leave you in charge of the rural government, so be clever and take the initiative. When there's nothing going on, visit your Aunt Zhang's house more often, and help out with whatever you can see needs doing. Leave a good impression on your aunt, and try to get your probation period shortened." Yu Fan only nodded after hearing this.

  Third Uncle looked at Yu Fan, who seemed to be inspired, and said: "Do you think that Yu Secretary in your village is treating us to good wine and food today for nothing? He even gave me two 'Chinese cigarettes' when we were leaving. Do you know how many cars left the village during your lunchtime? The accountant in your village was probably busy checking accounts at that time." Yu Fan exclaimed, "Ah!", really didn't think that a meal could have so many twists and turns. After thinking for a moment, he felt that something wasn't right and said: "No way, Third Uncle, even if they can leave the village, aren't there still people from other township governments guarding along the way?"

  Third Uncle smiled and said, "That's their own business, I don't care about it anymore." Yu Fan was a bit worried and said, "If the people above find out about this..." Third Uncle laughed indifferently and said, "So what if they know? We're just guilty of a work oversight. Besides, do you think the people above don't know about this situation? It's just that now the grain management office in town is always sending over blank receipts, who can stand it? Rural people also need to eat. If things get out of hand, no one in town will be able to afford food." After finishing speaking, Third Uncle sighed and said, "Actually, even if these grains were transported outside, the price wouldn't be much higher, but they just can't resist the cash. The farmers below are also having a hard time."

  Yu Fan also sighed and said, "Can't the town government manage it at all?" San Gu Fu chuckled and said, "How can they manage? Without money, there's nothing to be done. When the time comes, the Grain Management Office will not complete its task, and the town government will assign tasks to each village again. This matter is considered settled. Never mind, this matter is not something we can handle. What you need to do now is hurry up and get promoted. San Gu Fu is afraid that he won't be able to catch up with this opportunity." After finishing speaking, his face also showed a hint of disappointment.

  Yu Fan looked at San Gu's expression and didn't know what to say, after all, he was just a temporary worker. At this time, San Gu also came out of the kitchen with a plate of fish, put it on the table, and said to San Gu in a bad tone: "What work are you talking about while eating? It's all about corrupt things underneath." But San Gu glared at San Gu and said: "What do you know? Without these corrupt things underneath, what can you eat? Can the few hundred yuan from the temporary job in the county government support your life?" San Gu didn't speak again after hearing this.

  She glanced at San Gu, and San Gu's father took out a "Zhonghua" from the black bag and handed it to San Gu, saying: "Here, selling this Zhonghua can pay for more than a month's salary." San Gu also sighed and accepted the "Zhonghua". Yu Fan saw this and didn't speak again, finishing his rice bowl in silence. He chatted with San Gu's father for another two sentences, then bid farewell to San Gu's father and mother, and pushed his bicycle back home across the river as the sky darkened.