"That's what happened," Li Xiangqian told Li Long in the office. "That fellow Liu didn't dare say another word afterward. He'd been acting so high and mighty... Hmph! The director said to come see him when you got here. You've done our cooperative proud this time. The county's notice has come through too: we've been named an outstanding organization for ethnic unity, and you've been named an outstanding individual. You've been awarded twenty yuan. The director also said the cooperative would reimburse what you spent repairing the house and putting in the well!"
"I didn't get receipts at the time." Li Long waved a hand. "It was something I did myself. There's no need to trouble the cooperative..."
"What trouble?" Li Xiangqian lowered his voice. "If the cooperative reimburses you, that means it had a part in this, understand? It's a good deed. We can't let all the credit go to you, can we?
"Now you're famous. When that big-name reporter wrote about you, she took you into consideration and included our organization's name. That means this has brought honor to the cooperative. If we do nothing, wouldn't we be enjoying that reputation for free? That wouldn't sound good either!
"So claim the expenses. Then the director can speak with confidence when he mentions this. At least our cooperative put up money and genuinely supported it, understand? All right, go see the director first. Be modest."
"Right, right. I understand."
Li Long had actually only dropped by to chat with Li Xiangqian because he had nothing to do. He hadn't expected to run into this.
Nor had he expected the new deputy director to make him the target of his opening moves.
Nobody could have imagined such a coincidence: a temporary worker with little backing suddenly appearing in a regional