Chapter Sixteen: Everything Looks Forward

  Wang Qiang from the Water Conservancy Station was the only friend Ye Pingyu made after he started working in Cao Lingzi Township. Like him, Wang Qiang had no family to rely on and came from a poor rural background. After much difficulty, he managed to get into an ordinary junior college and was assigned to Cao Lingzi Township, then further assigned to the Water Conservancy Station.

  The water conservancy station is just a marginal department, its office is not located in the county government compound, but in a small courtyard to the south of the county government. There are not many employees inside, only about five or six people. Wang Qiang is one of the younger ones, the others are some uneducated people who are older and do not come to work often. Wang Qiang comes to work on time and lives in the water conservancy station's courtyard.

  Although the water conservancy station is small, it doesn't mean there's no oil to be squeezed. Every year during flood control and drought relief, the water conservancy station has to take charge, so the village will allocate some funds for it. As a result, Yan Bengli, as the station head, naturally has money to invite guests left and right, without being short of cash. Moreover, he also participates in other village affairs, plus his family is quite powerful locally, so although he's just the water conservancy station head, he eats very well and has a lot of face in the village.

  Ye Pingyu wanted to do a good job with this audit, so he had to be careful in his response. The next day, when Yan Bingli was not around, he came alone to the Water Conservancy Station to find Wang Qiang, wanting to indirectly understand some of the situation from him.

  After walking to the water conservancy station, Ye Pingyu saw Wang Qiang sitting alone in the station with a dazed expression. After the flood control and drought relief work was over, there was nothing much to do at the station, it was very boring, and he had no one to chat with, so he couldn't help but sit there in a daze.

  As soon as he saw Ye Pingyu walking in with a smile from outside, Wang Qiang immediately stood up and smiled: "Pingyu, what wind blew you here?"

  Ye Pingyu smiled and said: "What's wrong, aren't you welcoming me?"

  Wang Qiang hastily laughed and said: "How is that possible? I'm so bored alone, there's no one to chat with, I really want to go home and rest like them!"

  An older person going home to rest would naturally have no one to care for him, but he is a young man. If he wants to go home and rest, Yan Bengui will not criticize him to death, so this can only be said in passing.

  He smiled and said, "I'll come over right now to chat with you. It won't be too boring, will it?"

  Wang Qiang let Ye Pingyu sit down on an old wooden sofa next to him, and then poured himself another cup of water. He said: "Pingyu, isn't the work at the Party and Government Office very busy? How do you have time to come here? Can't you just call me and I'll go over there?"

  Ye Pingyu glanced around the room and smiled: "Staying in the party and government office is also boring, thinking of coming out to breathe some fresh air, so I came here. Where's Station Master Yan?"

  Although Ye Pingyu knew that Yan Bingli was not there, he still asked again. Wang Qiang heard and immediately said: "He's not always here, only comes over when something happens, let me be on duty every day, even eating is a problem!"

  "Yè Píng Yǔ asked: 'Why don't you go eat at the school cafeteria?'"

  Wang Qiang said: "I am not a person inside the county government compound, and Yan Bengli won't help me buy canteen meal tickets, I have no way to go eat!"

  When Ye Pingyu heard this, he felt that it was also a matter of course. The problem of eating wasn't solved, and people were still asked to be on duty here. Such leadership really didn't care about subordinates. However, this was very much in line with Yan Bingli's character. He only cared about people who were useful to him. Wang Qiang was just a young man who had recently joined the workforce and didn't have any background, so why would he care? On the contrary, Wang Qiang still had to fawn over him. He wouldn't go out of his way for Wang Qiang to buy him food tickets from the countryside cafeteria. The food tickets from the countryside cafeteria weren't something that anyone could buy if they wanted to.

  Knowing it was like this, Ye Pingyu also had no way to help him. He was a man of little power and influence, and even if he wanted to help, he couldn't.

  "Wang Qiang, if you don't have food to eat in the future, come to the countryside and find me. I have a meal ticket, we can eat together!" Ye Pingyu said after thinking for a moment.

  "Come on, this won't do, the meal tickets are just enough for you to eat, if I eat, what will you eat? I can handle it alone, let's just get by like this for now, and it'll be fine after we get married!"

  Ye Pingyu smiled and said: "Have you found someone you like?"

  Wang Qiang's face turned red as he said: "I've introduced several, but none of them worked out. How about you? Your party's political department has two big beauties, don't you have a head start with the advantage of being close to them?"

  "Hehe, what a joke! They're all looking up to the sky with their eyes, so clever and shrewd. If you think you can get their attention, it's like a monkey trying to catch the moon - they'll fall into the water without even knowing how!"

  As soon as he heard this, Wang Qiang widened his eyes and said: "I don't think they're that kind of people? Zhao Yan seems very innocent to me!"

  Ye Pingyu smiled slyly and looked at Wang Qiang with narrowed eyes: "Wang Qiang, have you taken a liking to her? Otherwise, I can introduce you to her and see if there's an opportunity!"

  Wang Qiang's face turned bright red, and he hastily stopped saying: "Don't, Ping Yu, the beauty of the Party and Government Office is beyond my reach, leave her to you guys, I don't want to be that monkey fetching the moon for you!"

  Ye Pingyu burst out laughing and said: "I'll tell you, you still don't believe me, let you go up, you retreated again. If you want to chase girls, you can't be timid. Tell me if there's another woman you like?"

  Wang Qiang felt that Ye Pingyu was trying to get something out of him, so he asked in return: "Pingyu, you're not just talking about me, are you? Do you have a girl you like?"

  Yeping Yu smiled and said: "The ancients said, 'How can we talk about home when the Xiongnu have not been destroyed?' I just started working and don't need to rush to find a partner. Doing well in my current job is the most important thing!"

  As soon as Wang Qiang heard Ye Pingyu say this, he knew that he was a man with great ambitions and said: "Pingyu, you must have a bright future in the party and government office. Unlike me, stuck in this water conservancy station, I don't know when it will end. Yan Bingli is not good to me at all, I don't even know how to talk to him... Ah, never mind, Pingyu, I heard that our water conservancy station's accounts for reimbursement from the township are now being audited by you. How is the audit going?

  As soon as he mentioned this matter, Ye Pingyu smiled and said: "Nothing much, why are you also concerned about this?"

  Wang Qiang said: "The expenses in this water conservancy station are all decided by him alone, what to spend and how to spend, we don't know anything. If you say there's nothing fishy about it, we really can't believe it, but not believing is useless, he's the station head, we're just small soldiers, even if we have opinions, we can't express them!"

  When he heard this, Ye Pingyu asked: "Wang Qiang, did you know what he bought during the flood and drought prevention period?"

  Wang Qiang heard him ask about the situation, thought for a moment and said: "It seems that some things were bought, but now where did these things go, we don't know either. Anyway, things are bought every year, but after buying them back, they disappear, and we don't know where they went. We also dare not ask."

  "Has he bought a bed yet?"

  Wang Qiang said, "I bought it, I bought two of them. Last time you came to buy a bed, he said it was for flood control and drought relief, but in just a few days, Zhao Haibo from the rural middle school took it away, giving it as a gift!"

  At the thought of Zhao Haibo's cold face, Ye Pingyu asked: "Why does he still want a bed?"

  Wang Qiang said: "Zhao Haibo came here to find him, happened to see that bed, and said the school duty room was short of a bed. He asked if he could take it away for use. Yan Bengli agreed without hesitation, obviously trying to curry favor. In fact, according to the rules, the party committee should have priority, so it's only right that you get to use it first!"

  Listening to Wang Qiang's words, Ye Pingyu was silent with a gloomy face. Without power or influence, this is what it looks like. If it wasn't him who came alone to ask for the bed, but rather Niu Zhencai who came to ask, it would definitely not be the same result. Although he said that Niu Zhencai instructed him to come and take it, there was no direct face-saving, Yan Bengli wouldn't care at all because giving it to him wouldn't bring any benefits, while giving it to Zhao Haibo could get him a favor from Zhao Haibo alone, and maybe in the future, he could use Zhao Haibo for something. This is his calculation.

  But he never thought that now the village would let him audit the accounts of the water conservancy station. This is the cycle of fate, who knows which family will be useful in the future, and who knows when someone who is not needed now may become useful later. So, as a person, you must not be too utilitarian.

  "Are you saying he just bought two beds?" Ye Pingyu thought for a moment and asked.

  Wang Qiang said: "Anyway, I only saw two of them. As for the others, I didn't see them. How could he have reimbursed so many beds?"

  Ye Pingyu immediately said: "This is not the case, I just wonder why we have to buy a bed every year. Why didn't they take good care of the previous one and need to buy a new one again?"

  Wang Qiang said: "Isn't it clear? If he only buys once and doesn't buy again, how can he benefit from it in the future? This is the kind of person he is!"

  Ye Pingyu nodded, but he didn't tell Yan Bengli that the reimbursement for buying beds this time included five beds, while Wang Qiang only saw two. As for the other three, it was unclear where they went or if they were even purchased.

  Ye Pingyu came here to ask about this matter. As for Yan Bengli's embezzlement, he couldn't verify it and could only verify the bed. On one hand, it was easy to verify, on the other hand, it was a lingering grievance from last time. Every year they bought new beds, but the old ones were not allowed to be used by him. Thinking about this made him feel resentful, forcing him to spend his own money to buy a bed, and the expenses had not been reimbursed yet.

  "Wang Qiang, I'll head back first. When you're free, come to the party committee office to hang out. Don't mention today's conversation to others, or Yan Bingli might get suspicious!" After a while, Ye Pingyu stood up and left.

  Wang Qiang immediately said: "I won't talk to him, letting someone like that be the station chief in our village, it's really a shame for Caolingzi Village. Alas, there's no use saying this, I'm just venting my frustrations!"

  Seeing Wang Qiang's appearance, Ye Pingyu smiled and said: "Wang Qiang, don't be so disheartened. Some people may dominate for a while, but they will never dominate forever. We must always look forward!"