Courting Death!

Noon.

City Finance Bureau, office building.

It was lunchtime, and the City Finance Bureau staff on their lunch break were also starting to eat. When Dong Xuebin worked in Beihe Province before, let alone the City, even a District Finance Department had designated restaurants, and everyone basically went out to eat. The Finance Bureau had money, so the staff benefits were naturally good. However, things were clearly different here. As Dong Xuebin walked up the stairs, he noticed that no one seemed to be going out to eat at restaurants. Some people went downstairs to the Small Cafeteria in the Courtyard, which could only accommodate a dozen people, while a large number of people brought their own lunches. A queue formed in front of the microwave ovens in the first and second floor work areas, and they heated their food one by one, the aroma of the dishes wafting through the corridors.

Third floor.

Stairwell.

Dong Xuebin and the others came up.

"Are you all hungry?"

"Not hungry, County Chief Dong."

"I'm not hungry either."

"Good, then everyone please bear with it, let's take care of business first."

"County Chief Dong, should we go to Director Wei's office? But..."

"Director Wei is definitely there, let's go straight there, lead the way, Lao Yan."

"Uh, um, it's the third room on the left inside."

At this moment, a staff member from the Finance Bureau finally came over to stop them, warily saying, "Hey, wait a minute, what are you doing? Who let you come up here?"

Yan Yizhi said, "We're looking for Director Wei."

The man said, "This is the leadership's office, irrelevant personnel are prohibited from entering. Please go downstairs to register first, and someone will bring you up later."

Dong Xuebin looked at him, "Is Director Wei in the room?"

The man frowned. "Who are you?"

Chen Xiaomei said, "We're from Zhenshui County."

Upon hearing this, the man's expression changed slightly. "Zhenshui County? Oh, Director Wei is not here, he went to a meeting. Come back tomorrow!"

Yan Yizhi patiently said, "Comrade, please help us inform him. We really have something urgent to discuss with Director Wei."

The man impatiently waved his hand, trying to shoo them away. "I already said Director Wei went to a meeting. He's not here, come back another time."

"Comrade..."

"Go back, all of you."

Dong Xuebin was too lazy to waste words with him and didn't say anything. He directly squeezed past him and slowly walked forward.

"Hey! What are you doing?" the man said, annoyed.

Yan Yizhi, Chen Xiaomei, and Yao Cui saw this and followed.

"Stop right there!" the man went up and grabbed Dong Xuebin. "What's wrong with you? If you're here to cause trouble! I'm calling Security!"

But how could that man be a match for Dong Xuebin?

Dong Xuebin didn't even use any strength. With a slight flick of his wrist, the Finance Bureau staff member's hand came loose, and he stumbled back a few steps.

Dong Xuebin didn't bother knocking and directly yanked open the door to the Director's Office.

The door opened, and a middle-aged man's gloomy face was revealed to Dong Xuebin.

Dong Xuebin looked at him, "Director Wei, right? Sorry to interrupt your meeting."

Wei Lin was the only one in the room, so it was clear that he wasn't in a meeting. Dong Xuebin's words were obviously sarcastic, and he was full of fire right from the start.

The staff member behind him hurriedly came in as well, "Director Wei, they..."

Wei Lin waved his hand with a dark face, "I know. Xiao Zhang, you can leave."

That person gave Dong Xuebin and the others a few unfriendly glances before closing the door and leaving, still annoyed.

As soon as the door closed, Wei Lin looked at Yan Yizhi with a very aggressive gaze, "Lao Yan, still barging into my office? What are you doing?"

Yan Yizhi said with a bitter face, "It's a bit urgent."

Wei Lin said, "So only you have things to do? I have nothing to do?"

Yan Yizhi was just about to say something, but Dong Xuebin shook his hand to stop him. He had said before they came that Dong Xuebin would handle the offending matters, and he could withstand it, and he was never afraid of this. Moreover, Yan Yizhi was several levels lower than Wei Lin, so he didn't have the confidence to speak, which would weaken their momentum. When Yan Yizhi and Chen Xiaomei saw this, they were naturally happy to relax, so they retreated behind Dong Xuebin along with Yao Cui.

Wei Lin looked at him and asked knowingly, "Who are you?"

Dong Xuebin said calmly, "I am Dong Xuebin, the Executive Deputy County Chief of Zhenshui County. We spoke on the phone before. It's a pleasure to meet you, Director Wei."

Wei Lin replied indifferently, "Oh, it's County Chief Dong."

Dong Xuebin said calmly, "We've been traveling all day. Can we sit down?"

Wei Lin glanced at him, thinking that he really wasn't polite, "...Sit."

Dong Xuebin let Yan Yizhi and the others sit on the guest sofa, while he himself sat in the chair directly opposite Wei Lin's desk, "Director Wei, I'll get straight to the point, I won't beat around the bush. We're here to ask for money. I just met with Deputy Mayor Zhao, and Deputy Mayor Zhao said that the funds allocated to us by the Central Government are all here with you, so we came, wanting to take the remaining money back as soon as possible, that's the matter."

Wei Lin looked down and flipped through the documents, not even looking at him, "The financial affairs are managed by Mayor Zhao. The higher-ups have decided to manage it on their behalf, so it's useless for you to talk to me."

Playing Tai Chi?

As expected, they want to drag us down!

Dong Xuebin wasn't surprised, "Then we'll go through the normal procedures. Our county's finances have a huge shortfall recently. Almost all the staff in all units haven't been paid for a long time, and some debts haven't been paid off, and they're being urged very hard. The City only left us with Fifty million, which is obviously not enough. I'll write an application now. I want to apply to the City Finance Bureau for an allocation of Forty-five million first."

Forty-five million?

You really want to take all the money back?

Wei Lin found it a bit ridiculous and also felt that Dong Xuebin was too naive. The money had already been withheld by the City, didn't they have any sense of the situation? As the Director of the Finance Bureau, Wei Lin also knew the economic situation of Zhenshui County, this nationally designated poverty-stricken county, and also knew that Dong Xuebin wasn't exaggerating. Zhenshui County was indeed too poor. They were also frequent visitors to the City Finance Bureau, almost every year they had to come and ask for money, but the City wasn't rich either, so they hadn't given them much, and they didn't want to give them, because they were afraid that Zhenshui County would get used to it and drag the City down. So the City always told them to find their own solutions. But knowing was knowing, Wei Lin was intentionally knocking them down, of course he wouldn't give them money. Fifty million wasn't enough? Their finances were tight? What did that have to do with him, anyway Wei Lin wasn't in a hurry, and the City wasn't in a hurry either.

Whose fault was it?

They couldn't blame them for this.

Wei Lin felt that in the end, it was Zhenshui County's own fault.

A common man is not guilty, but he possesses a treasure, you guys asked for a few million from above, the City wouldn't reach out, this small amount of money wasn't necessary, but now what they had gotten was a full Fifty million, in their Meihe City, this poor city, an allocation of Fifty million was really too tempting!

You, a small county, didn't even say hello to the City before going to the Central Government? And you even asked for so much money? It would be strange if they let you take it away! When you guys softened up and took the initiative to lower your heads, then they would allocate Five million or Six million to you, which would be enough for Zhenshui County's financial expenditure, but obviously it wouldn't work now. With your tough attitude towards the City and your attitude towards me, it would be strange if they gave you money!

Wei Lin didn't even think about it and said, "You can write an application, but the City's finances are also very difficult, so it definitely won't be approved in a short time. You should be mentally prepared." Wei Lin clearly told them, conveying this signal. He was clearly dragging them down, they would talk when they corrected their attitude!

Hearing this, Dong Xuebin glanced at him, "The City is having financial difficulties? Didn't Fifty million just get allocated? How could the Finance Bureau not have money?"

Wei Lin was annoyed, "Do I need to report the City's finances to you?"

Dong Xuebin looked at him coldly, "Reporting is out of the question, but this is money the Central Government gave us, and I think you really need to talk to me about it!"

Hey!

Is he picking a fight??

You're just a Fuchu Level cadre! And you're arguing with me??

Wei Lin's level is Director Level, and he's a cadre from the City, holding an important position as the Director of the Finance Bureau. So, for an Executive Deputy County Chief from a poor county to dare argue with him like this made Wei Lin very unhappy. He felt that these people from Zhenshui County hadn't put themselves in the right position at all!

Wei Lin's expression also turned cold, "This was decided at the Municipal Party Committee Standing Committee meeting. If you have any objections, you can raise them with the City. County Chief Dong, don't be sarcastic with me here, as if we've robbed you of your money. The City needs to take care of the overall situation. Meihe City isn't just your Zhenshui County. Besides, it doesn't make sense procedurally for your county to directly apply for funds from the Central Government. Now that the Central Government has allocated the funds, we won't say anything, but this allocation isn't just for your county, is it? This is also money the Central Government gave to Meihe City for poverty alleviation. The City isn't just dealing with your one poor county! There are many brother counties that aren't doing much better than you! So, of course, this allocation has to be used where it's most needed! The City has already taken that into consideration!"

Dong Xuebin said coldly, "Where it's most needed? What do you mean by where it's most needed?"

Wei Lin, also not one to back down, stared into Dong Xuebin's eyes and said, "The City will let you manage this money first, but as for how to allocate it and how to use it where it's most needed, the City will decide. You don't need to worry about it!" These words... were already a bit of a break in relations.

Yao Cui almost cursed when she heard that.

Yan Yizhi and Chen Xiaomei were also angered by these words!

It's clearly our money! You took it away, and you're still making excuses?

What kind of logic is that? It's simply the logic of a robber! It's blatant bullying!

We and County Chief Dong went to the Central Government and worked hard to get the money, and we don't know how many cold shoulders we received in the process. But the City is doing great! You didn't put in any effort! You didn't do anything! You just moved your lips, and all the money is yours? And you have the attitude of giving alms? You took our money, and you still want us to come here and humble ourselves and soften our tone? What kind of humanity do you have!?

Dong Xuebin didn't expect that not only was Zhao Xu acting like a rogue, but even Wei Lin had such a confident attitude. For a moment, he was so angry that he laughed!

This is Courting death! (To be continued...)