Li Xiaomei stared at the photo, feeling extremely gloomy. She really felt embarrassed to death. If such a photo was seen by her family, where would she put her face? She sat in front of the computer, hoping that her family wouldn't see it since they didn't usually go online. She could only comfort herself like this. However, at this moment, she was still worried about Ma Yingjie. Ma Yingjie had just gotten married. If Ma Yingjie's wife misunderstood, she would feel even more sorry for him. Therefore, she rushed to the hospital. She wanted to tell Ma Yingjie about the situation as soon as possible so that he could be mentally prepared.
Just as Li Xiaomei finished reporting the situation on the internet, Ma Yingjie's phone rang. Ma Yingjie grabbed his phone tightly. A call at this time would probably be related to the report. However, Ma Yingjie didn't expect that the call was from Luo Tianyun in the office. He pressed the answer button and Luo Tianyun's serious voice came through. "What happened? How did it end up like this? "Ma Ying Jie hurriedly explained the situation at the time. After listening to it, Luo Tianyun didn't speak for a while. Then, he said, "Ma Yingjie, remember this. Think more about what you do in the future. Stay calm and control yourself. Try your best to think about the worst and be prepared. Don't be so brainless and embarrass yourself in front of everyone. You're embarrassing all the staff. "With that said, he hung up the phone without waiting for Ma Yingjie to reply.
Ma Yingjie was stunned with his phone. Li Xiaomei looked at Ma Yingjie's serious face and was so scared that she didn't dare to speak. She just kept looking at Ma Yingjie's face. At this time, Cui Yongquan came to visit Ma Yingjie with a group of department staff. When he saw Li Xiaomei staring at Ma Yingjie, and Ma Yingjie was deep in thought, he deliberately coughed a few times. Ma Yingjie immediately came to his senses and quickly adjusted his state of mind. He pretended to be calm as he looked at the group of people coming in and said, "I'm not seriously injured. I'm really sorry for disturbing everyone."
When Li Xiaomei saw so many people coming in, she quickly stood up and walked out. Cui Yongquan shouted: "Director Li, we just arrived and you are leaving. Don't you want to stay longer?"
Li Xiaomei was embarrassed. She felt that this group of people had seen the photos on the Internet and even the comments. She lowered her head and hurriedly left.
Ma Yingjie looked at Li Xiaomei's back and realized how lonely and helpless she was. He knew a little about this woman's experience. He knew that after the former Secretary Ren Zhiqiang was arrested, Li Xiaomei's life had been difficult. Although Li Xiaomei was not involved in the case, she had completely lost her dignity in the eyes of the people in Qin County. They all knew her relationship with the former Secretary Ren Zhiqiang and how she became the director. When Li Xiaomei became the bureau chief, especially when she was a female bureau chief, not to mention her dignity, even the bottom line of her character had been trampled to the point that there was nothing left.
The group of people brought by Cui Yongquan lined up and stuffed money into Ma Yingjie's hands. They all said the same thing: buy some soup for County Mayor Ma. Under such an occasion, Ma Yingjie had to accept it. However, there were too many people, and he was a little embarrassed. While taking the money, he said to Cui Yongquan: "Director Cui, hurry up and take everyone back to work. Don't spread the news that I'm in the hospital anymore."
Cui Yongquan smiled and said: "Secretary Jiang wants to set you up as a typical person who saved people. He has already informed the office to collect the materials."
"What?" Ma Yingjie was anxious and sat up. Cui Yongquan and the colleagues who were not familiar with Ma Yingjie were shocked and instinctively moved back. Ma Yingjie realized that he was too immature and could not keep things in his heart. He was now the deputy head of Qin County, which meant that he had entered the highest level of leadership in Qin County. He was no longer a small secretary. As a leader, he should have the demeanor of a leader. He should put on airs and be calm no matter what happened. He did not look like a leader at all when he was so shocked. Therefore, he quickly adjusted his emotions and suppressed all his thoughts. He put on a smiling face and looked at everyone. "Thank you all for coming to see me. Go back to work."
As soon as Ma Yingjie finished speaking, another group of people rushed in. Cui Yongquan hurriedly asked the people he brought to leave. Ma Yingjie was anxious and raised his voice. "Director Cui!" His voice was a little loud, so Director Cui turned around and looked at him in surprise. Ma Yingjie could not care less and asked Director Cui, "Where are these people from?"
Cui Yongquan shook his head. One of them stood up and said, "We are from the Environmental Protection Bureau. We heard that County Head Ma was beaten up in order to protect our director. We came to see you on our own accord."
Ma Yingjie asked, "Does Director Li know that you are here?"
It was still the leader who said, "We came on our own accord. We did not disturb Director Li."
"I appreciate everyone's kindness. I thank you all. Can you all go back to work? " Ma Yingjie already felt that something was wrong. Although there was a custom of the so-called courtesy money to buy soup for the leaders of Qin County, he was only a deputy county head. Moreover, he had nothing to do with these people. Logically speaking, these people should not have come to see him. However, they just had to come. Moreover, they had come in such a large group with such a grand and imposing presence. This was a bit unusual. There must be some undercurrent behind all abnormal things. But Ma Yingjie had just returned to Qin County. Where did the undercurrent come from? How big was it? He did not know. In a situation where he didn't know what was going on, he had no other choice but to wait and see.
"Thank you all for coming to see me. I appreciate everyone's kindness. Go back to work," Ma Yingjie said again.
The leader leaned over to Ma Yingjie's bedside, took out a few bills from his pocket, and stuffed them into Ma Yingjie's hand. He said, "Buy some soup for County Head Ma." The people at the back surged forward. One by one, they stretched out their hands towards Ma Ying Jie. One by one, they stuffed the banknotes into Ma Ying Jie's hands. Cui Yong was caught in the crowd. He didn't know whether to leave or stay.
Ma Yingjie was really anxious. He shouted, "Director Cui." Cui Yongquan separated the crowd and walked to Ma Yingjie. "Hurry up and let everyone go. Please hand in the money for me." As she said that, she tidied up the money in her hands. In front of everyone, she sent the money to Cui Yongquan. Cui Yongquan didn't take it. Instead, he said to the people in the ward, "Everyone, go back to work."
The people in the ward soon left. Cui Yongquan continued to put money into Ma Yingjie's hand. He said, "County Head Ma is from Qin County. This is the custom of Qin County. When a leader is sick, everyone has to come to see him. This is an unwritten rule. Please accept it, County Head Ma."
Ma Yingjie did not want to take the money again. He did not know how much it was, but he estimated that it would not be too little. Three hundred and five hundred yuan per person. It must be a large sum of money. But since Cui Yongquan said so, as a cadre who returned to Qin County on his first day, could he change this unwritten rule? Most of the time, as an official, the first thing to do was to "do as the Romans do". There was a balance, but it was difficult for a new official to grasp it. No matter whether you accept or refuse, you can't be too casual. If you accept at the beginning, it will create the first impression people have of you, which will become worse in the future. If you refuse flatly, it will cause people to doubt you, because this is a custom that has already been formed. In the officialdom, it is also a rule. If you refuse flatly, it may break this rule. People living under this rule will keep their distance from you, because it is very likely that you are not part of the "circle." Officialdom was an extremely inert place. Once the rules were set, it was difficult to change them. If one wanted to survive in this world, he had to abide by such rules first. It was just like what the American anthropologist, Benedict, had said. Human society was a pattern structure, and everyone was a slave to the pattern. If anyone did not accept the pattern or broke the existing pattern, he or she would be abandoned by the society.
Cui Yongquan saw Ma Yingjie was hesitating, and he threw the money to the desk and walked out in a hurry. He was afraid Ma Yingjie would call him again. If he accepted the money, where would he submit it to? To the Commission for Discipline Inspection? Or to the Party Secretary and County Magistrate? No matter which aspect, he would be a sinner. Everyone knew that when a leader was hospitalized and a family's wedding or funeral, it was a special opportunity to generate income. For so many years, no leader had broken this rule. He was just a small office director, even if he had a hundred guts, he would not dare to break it. Furthermore, Party Secretary Jiang Chaoran had hinted to Cui Yongquan to let more colleagues know that County Magistrate Ma had been beaten up. He wanted everyone to visit him and give him some comfort. Shouldn't Cui Yongquan follow the leader's order?
Ma Yingjie saw Cui Yongquan running away in a hurry, so he didn't call him again. He counted the money one by one. When he was counting, Luan Xiaoxue came. She looked at Ma Yingjie in surprise and asked, "Where did you get so much money?"
"Two groups of people came just now. These people gave it to me." Ma Yingjie smiled bitterly and counted the bills again and again. He was shocked when he counted it. It was eight thousand yuan, plus the ten thousand yuan he had received yesterday. This leader had stayed in the hospital for two days and had received nearly twenty thousand yuan, which was equivalent to half a year's salary.
"18,000 yuan in total." Ma Yingjie looked at Luan Xiaoxue and said.
"So much?" Luan Xiaoxue was also surprised.
"See? This is the benefit of being a government official." Ma Yingjie smiled deliberately. He wanted Luan Xiaoxue to experience the benefits of being a government official, and he also wanted to hide the panic in his heart with this smile. He did not want Luan Xiaoxue to be tied up the moment she returned to Qin County. Moreover, he was not sure if Luan Xiaoxue would talk about his cowardice in front of her boss.
"We can't take the money." Luan Xiaoxue said.
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