Something Big Happened?

Over the past two days, everyone at the office had been talking about the New County Party Committee Compound. The inspection had been completed, the construction quality had passed, and they would soon be moving into the new workplace. Everyone was excited. They had suffered enough in the Old Office Building—leaks, dampness, poor soundproofing, and so on. Now it was practically on the verge of collapse. Who wouldn't want to move somewhere new when they worked in such a dangerous environment every day? Ever since former County Party Secretary Li Guian had proposed the construction project, everyone had been looking forward to it. They had waited for more than a year.

"Finally, we're getting out of here."

"I've had enough of this damn place."

"Haha, I heard the new compound is especially luxurious."

"That's what I heard too, but I haven't seen it. What's it actually like?"

"Though it's a little remote, they say it was built like a palace. Have you ever been to the Forbidden City? Apparently, it feels something like that—especially grand."

"Really?"

"Yeah. We'll be living the good life from now on."

"Isn't that a little too extravagant? Won't there be problems?"

"The surrounding counties all have places like that. It'll definitely be fine."

"That's true. Last time I went on a business trip, I visited the County Party Committee Compound in the neighboring county. You wouldn't believe it—their County Party Committee and county government office building was twenty or thirty stories high, and the grounds were six or seven times larger than ours. Anyone who knew better would know it was a county, but anyone who didn't would definitely think it was some provincial government building. I've never seen what a provincial committee compound looks like, but I imagine it must be about the same.