After the breakup, I joined the Provincial Commission for Discipline Inspection

Early in the morning, when it was still dark, Lu An got up to the sound of roosters crowing in the village. Together with his younger brother Lu Ping, they took a shoulder pole and a bucket and went to fetch water from the public well at the foot of the mountain.

Although it is only four or five in the morning, beside the well, besides people queuing up to fetch water, there are also people washing clothes and vegetables, and even killing chickens. It is very lively.

Seeing Lu An and Lu Ping coming over, everyone greeted them warmly.

"College students are here? Do college students also have to carry water?"

"Has Boss Hu contacted you again?"

"Why don't you just stay and work in the village committee? You're a college student, so you can definitely make Lugang Village better."

The villagers' teasing was mostly harmless, and Lu An could just laugh it off even if it was a bit sarcastic.

"Of course not. I am going to the countryside, from the masses to the masses!"

Of course, Lu An would deliberately scare her: "Aunt San, if you say that, don't blame me for complaining to Secretary Lu, saying that some people think he didn't manage Lugang Village well and are saying bad things about him behind his back..."

During this period, Lu An has gradually adapted to the pace of life in the village.

Of course, Lu An also understood that this was not the busy farming season, otherwise he would have to rush to harvest and plant during the double harvest season, which would have been too much for him even with his current 20-year-old body.

After skillfully changing the water in the water tank, Lu An took Lu Ping to the main hall to have breakfast, only to find that his father had actually taken out the Dacron that had been kept in the bottom of the box and put it on.

Perhaps in the eyes of later generations, Dacron fabric is not breathable and the clothes will stick to the body if one sweats a little, which is very uncomfortable. However, compared with the general clothing in the village, Dacron fabric does look more high-end and is usually worn as good clothes during festivals.

Not only were there really good clothes, Lu An also noticed that there were two sacks next to the door. One of them was moving and making clucking sounds from time to time. It was a live chicken or duck, and the other one should be a pickled duck or goose.

Lu An's heart moved: "Dad, where are we going today? What's the matter?"

Lu An knew very well that given his parents' character of not wanting to spend even a penny, the fact that they suddenly made such a grand ceremony today must be something unusual.

"Let's go to your third uncle's house in town. Today is your brother Weiqiang's birthday." Lu Yuanchao said.

Lu An was stunned at first, then shook his head helplessly: "Mom and Dad, you still don't believe that I really have a job?"

He was dressed in fine clothes and brought pickled chickens and ducks with him. It was obvious that he wanted to ask a favor.

Thinking about the time he had spent in the village and his third uncle's identity, the answer was almost obvious.

Lu Yuanchao paused while eating noodles and said, "After all, your uncle is also a cadre, and he knows more about the affairs of the government than we do. Your parents are not very capable, so at most they can ask your uncle to help you, or at least give you some advice. It's impossible for a college student to really go out to work."

There is no doubt that parents just assume that they don't have a job.

It's no wonder. I've been in the village for more than a week. It's not a holiday. Which unit can give such a long vacation? And I haven't called or sent a letter to the village.

Therefore, parents think that what they call work is just a way to save face.

As for Third Uncle's cadre status, although it was not something that Xia Donglai had promoted himself, it was just that in Lu An's opinion.

My third uncle is named Lu Youfu. He is the deputy director of the Luoqiao District General Office and director of the Water Conservancy Bureau.

The name may sound intimidating at first, but if you understand the ins and outs behind it, it’s a completely different story.

First of all, the Luoqiao District is not the same as the district that most people understand. It is a district office unique to this era. It is a special institution that is one level lower than the county, but is responsible for leadership and communication above the townships. Some places also call it a county district.

Generally, the district office is a section-level unit, and the district party secretary is only at the section-level. However, my third uncle, the deputy director of the General Office, is only at the deputy section-level, which is not very high.

As for the so-called Water Conservancy Bureau that he concurrently holds, it is even more ridiculous. You have to know that the entire district office has a staff of only twenty people, and the Water Conservancy Bureau led by my third uncle is just one person, a typical lone commander.

But for people outside who don’t understand the ins and outs of the system, since my third uncle is both the deputy director and the director, and the Water Conservancy Bureau is quite important in rural areas, they think he is an outstanding cadre.

Lu An's parents were like this. When they thought about finding a job for their son, the first person they thought of was his third uncle who was the "director".

At this point, Lu An knew that he couldn't persuade his parents to go back, but Lu An still reminded them: "Mom and Dad, you can go to Uncle San's house, but I think you have to be mentally prepared first."

Lu Yuanchao didn't hear the hidden meaning of his son's words: "We have to give it a try. Lu An, you finally got into college. You can't really go back to the village to farm, or go work for that boss Hu. It won't be decent to tell others about it!"

After the meal, Lu An and Lu Ping helped to wash the dishes. Their mother Qian Xiuzhi also changed into nice clothes, and the family of four set off carrying sacks.

Third uncle lived in the town, and Lu An originally suggested going to the village entrance to wait for the bus, but his mother was reluctant to spend the money on the bus ticket.

"The bus ticket to town is 80 cents, and it costs more than three dollars for the four of us! Anyway, the town is not that far away, we can walk there."

In those days, three dollars was a day’s income for working in a public institution, so it was really hard to spend that money.

Lu An had to change his approach by saying that the road was dusty and it was a rare occasion for his parents to wear such nice clothes so they didn't want to get them dirty. He also said that it took an hour to walk from the village to the town and it would be uncomfortable if they sweated and the clothes stuck to their bodies after traveling such a long distance.

"After all, we are going to celebrate a birthday. It would be impolite if we were covered in dust. It would be even worse if our clothes got dirty and torn."

After Lu An's earnest persuasion, his parents finally chose to take the boat as a last resort.

Fine!

Although it is much farther to go to the town by water, at least it won’t be so tiring, and the price of the boat ticket is much more acceptable to my parents than the bus ticket.

So about an hour and a half later, Lu An and his family finally arrived in Linhe Town.

After getting off the boat and refusing the carts waiting to carry goods at the dock, Lu An and his parents dragged the sacks towards his uncle's house.

My third uncle's house is in a government apartment building on the west side of the town.

This is a relatively special type of commercial housing. It is funded by the unit and built according to commercial housing standards. It is mainly sold to public officials of the unit.

Compared with the collective family housing in the unit, this type of unit building has a larger area and especially has an independent bathroom.

Therefore, although the price is not affordable, it was still very popular once it was launched, and Uncle San had to use a lot of connections to get one.

"Lu An, you must speak nicely to your uncle when you see him later, okay?"

"Your uncle is the deputy director after all. He has power and can definitely help you find a good unit. You may not know that it was your uncle who helped Bashang Meihua get a position in the hospital."

"In fact, your uncle has been concerned about you for the past few years since you went to college in the province. He would write to you from time to time to ask about your situation, where you plan to develop after graduating from college, and whether you have been assigned a job."

"It's not easy for your family to have a college student. Your uncle is very proud of you!"

"Besides, no matter what, he is your third uncle. It's not shameful to ask him for help..."

Along the way, mother Qian Xiuzhi kept repeating to Lu An that she was worried that the young man would be too embarrassed to ask others for help.

"Don't worry, Mom. I know what I should say." Lu An said.

Qian Xiuzhi thought of Lu An's performance when facing Boss Hu in the fields on the dam, and she felt relieved.

She didn't notice that when Lu An said this, his face was full of disgust towards his third uncle.

Yes, Lu An had a very bad impression of his uncle, who was the deputy director of the district office, because Lu An knew exactly what kind of person his uncle was.

It was just as my mother said, my third uncle often wrote to ask about my situation, but in fact he just wanted to know which unit he could be assigned to and whether I could help transfer his job.

Of course, if it were just this, it would be human nature. Lu An couldn't say that he was disgusted. The most important thing was that Lu An knew that his third uncle's family actually looked down on his family. They thought that his family was from the countryside and had lost a high-ranking official in the district office, so they were not in the same class as him.

There were actually clues about Uncle San's attitude towards his family a long time ago. For example, every Spring Festival, Uncle San never returned to the village to pay New Year's greetings. Every year, it was his father, the eldest brother, who went to the town to pay him New Year's greetings.

Later, when the Jianye Bureau corruption case was uncovered and he was placed under double supervision, not only did his third uncle's family immediately cut ties with him, they even wrote many letters of denunciation to the Discipline Inspection Commission, as if they were determined to sever all ties with him for the sake of justice.

Lu An only understood these things after experiencing so many things in his previous life.

Uncle San's attitude is not only due to his instinctive aversion to the countryside, but also because of his identity as a college student.

Just think about it, he was the only "cadre" in the Lu family, and all the relatives rushed to curry favor with him. Even his father, the eldest brother, had to pay him New Year's greetings and give him gifts. He was the most promising person in the family.

But when I was admitted to university, the situation was different.

At that time, people still held the old idea that if they graduated from university they would become cadres.

Uncle San only went to high school at that time, but he was already a cadre in the district office. Now that Lu An is in college, shouldn't he at least start at the county level?

At that time, not only will Third Uncle no longer try the most promising person in the family, but he will also no longer have so many relatives trying to curry favor with him. Instead, he will demand favors from his nephew who comes from the countryside and even go back to the countryside to pay New Year's greetings. This makes his mentality begin to become distorted.

And then there is his son Lu Weiqiang.

I was admitted to university, but Lu Weiqiang didn't even finish junior high school before he started working in society.

After comparing the two, Uncle San couldn't accept it again.

He is a high-ranking official in the district office, and your parents are just farmers. Why can your son go to college while his son dropped out of junior high school?

This is jealousy!

Of course, if I were really assigned to be a cadre in the county, such as joining the Finance Bureau as I did in my previous life, my third uncle would definitely restrain himself for the sake of his own official position, and would even try to curry favor with me.

But now that my family has come to him and told him that I have no job, I'm afraid his attitude will be different...