PCJ – Chapter 236 The Temptation of Black Tea

Ge Zhuping Town Party Secretary Hu Xuxiang and Town Mayor Tang Guanying received an urgent notice from the county and quickly rushed to the county in the only official vehicle of the town government—an old Beijing Jeep.

“Old Tang, the county is urgently asking us to attend a meeting. Has something happened?” Hu Xuxiang looked very serious. The sudden notice from the county clearly indicated that something had happened, but he had no prior information. It was the county government office secretary, Cui Shilin, who had directly notified them by phone without revealing any details.

“Secretary Hu, I don’t know anything either,” Tang Guanying shook his head.

The atmosphere in the car was tense. It wasn’t surprising that Hu Xuxiang and Tang Guanying were nervous, given the series of shocks following the theft case. Although it ended with Xu Yinshan being imprisoned, the aftershocks of the case were still felt.

“Maybe I’m overthinking it, but I can’t help feeling that something has happened in our town,” Hu Xuxiang said, frowning, as if talking to himself.

“Nothing has happened in the town recently. If something had, how could the county know before us?” Tang Guanying shook his head again.

“Let’s stop scaring ourselves. Otherwise, we might create problems where there are none,” Hu Xuxiang said, pulling out a pack of Baisha cigarettes from his pocket, offering one to Tang Guanying and another to the driver, Yu Xingkuan.

“Thank you, Secretary Hu,” Yu Xingkuan accepted the cigarette and thanked him. Driving for the leaders could be quite rewarding if one knew how to read their moods and kept quiet. Others usually offered cigarettes to the leaders, but he received one from them. However, he had to light it himself, taking out a lighter from his pocket.

Tang Guanying quickly took out a matchbox to light Hu Xuxiang’s cigarette and then lit his own. The car soon filled with smoke.

Upon arriving in the county, Hu Xuxiang and Tang Guanying headed straight to the county government meeting room. Approaching the meeting room, they felt weak-kneed, seeing all the county leaders present. Only Hu Xuxiang and Tang Guanying were there from the town level.

“Secretary Hu, Mayor Tang, we urgently called you here to understand a situation. Thank you for coming so quickly,” County Mayor Deng Junshan said from the head of the meeting room.

“It’s our duty.”

Unsure of what was going on, Hu Xuxiang and Tang Guanying sat in the two empty seats in the meeting room.

“Secretary Hu, Mayor Tang, how much do you know about the Meiziao Horticultural Farm?” Deng Junshan asked after they sat down.

Hu Xuxiang and Tang Guanying immediately stood up.

“Sit down. We just want to understand the situation,” Deng Junshan said.

Tang Guanying replied, “Meiziao Village is under my jurisdiction, so I’m familiar with it. The horticultural farm covers about two to three hundred acres. It was initially established as a tea farm by the village but was contracted out to villagers in the 1980s. The tea plants have degraded significantly. This year, the village reclaimed the farm and agreed to contract it out again. When the county promoted fruit trees in the countryside, the contractor planned to convert the tea farm into an orchard. However, I heard that the tea plants seemed to have revived, but I’m not very clear about the specifics.”

Deng Junshan nodded but his expression became serious, “It seems our cadres don’t care enough about rural production.”

This comment almost entirely negated Tang Guanying’s work, causing his face to change drastically.

“Don’t be nervous. It’s not time for blame yet. I just received news that the tea from Meiziao Horticultural Farm won the Xiangcha Cup Gold Award. Our county has struggled to find a flagship product, but now we have a prize-winning product and only learned about it after the award. Are we not a bit too slow to react?” Deng Junshan looked around the meeting room.

Everyone in the room was serious and silent.

“Director Dai, shouldn’t the agricultural bureau have recommended this tea for the Xiangcha Cup evaluation? Why didn’t you know about it?” Deng Junshan turned to the newly freed Agricultural Bureau Director, Dai Chengbao.

Although Dai Chengbao was freed, his position was not stable. Upon hearing his name, he trembled, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and nervously said, “The Meiziao tea was not recommended by the county. It must have gone through some provincial connections.”

“No one knew about this black tea beforehand? Why didn’t the agricultural bureau send it for evaluation?” Deng Junshan’s expression darkened.

Dai Chengbao shook his head, “Normally, we would have known in advance. Such good tea should have had some reputation. But no one in the county has ever drunk Meiziao black tea.”

Tang Guanying quickly added, “Yes, yes, I’ve been to Meiziao many times and never drank black tea. The locals drink sun-dried tea leaves boiled in water. If there was such good tea, I would have known.”

Deng Junshan nodded. If there was indeed such good tea, why had no one known about it before?

“Let’s not pursue this issue now. The Meiziao Horticultural Farm’s award is a huge opportunity for our county’s tea industry. We were once a major tea-producing county but lacked a flagship product. Now we have a prize-winning product, and we must make the most of it,” Deng Junshan said.

“County Mayor Deng, the Meiziao Horticultural Farm is contracted out to an individual. The black tea must have been developed by the contractor. If they don’t agree, it might be hard for us to utilize it,” Deputy County Mayor Zang Guoxin expressed his concern.

“In the face of the county’s interests, individual interests must comply with collective interests. The Meiziao Horticultural Farm, though contracted out, remains collective property. We can take it back with appropriate compensation,” Deng Junshan, eager for political achievements, didn’t want to miss any opportunity.

However, Zang Guoxin was worried that such actions might contradict the central government’s policy of reform and opening up and promoting private economic development. But he couldn’t change Deng Junshan’s decision.