This call was made to Zhao Yiping.

Because Gu Hang was directly under Zhao Yiping's command.

Over the phone, Gu Hang detailed the events of the day, one by one.

Particularly with regards to the Starlight Night Market.

After he finished.

Zhao Yiping on the other end of the line was silent for a long time before he said, "Good, you did very well. Given Chen Fang's personality, he won't be able to ignore this matter. When he clashes with Zhu Kuang, no matter who loses or wins, it will be beneficial for us."

"Leader, rest assured, I will continue to pay attention to this matter,"

said Gu Hang.

Zhao Yiping said, "It's not enough to just pay attention, you also need to stoke the fire appropriately. I can't step in directly in this matter, you are the most suitable person to handle it."

"Understood, leader. I've got it,"

Gu Hang responded.

After hanging up the phone.

Gu Hang felt somewhat smug with himself.

What was clearly a bad situation

had turned into a good one for him.

And it was a good one where he could only gain without losing.

Just as Zhao Yiping had said, it was a good thing regardless of who won or lost.

It went without saying for Chen Fang.

Zhu Kuang, in secret, was also one of Zhu Hanmin's people.

It was not often that one came across a situation where the fisherman benefitted from the clam and the heron's fight.

On the way back after dropping off the old man.

The old man told Chen Fang that he was from Shatou Town in Gaokin County, Wulan City, and his name was Lv Honggui.

He had a son and a daughter.

His son had died of liver cancer three years ago, leaving behind a huge debt.

The daughter-in-law, unable to bear the heavy burden of life, had run away.

His daughter had married far away and wasn't well off either.

Now, it was just him and his grandson, Zicheng, left to rely on each other.

He had grown some watermelons in Shatou Town and when they ripened, he would hire a tractor to bring a load to sell in Wulan City, a task that would take several days. The money earned was intended for his grandson's school fees and living expenses when the school term started.

Despite their poverty, they managed to get by.

However, city management had recently tightened regulations on street vending significantly.

This resulted in difficulty selling his watermelons, with the last batch rotting quite a bit. If Chen Fang hadn't stepped in to help today, he might not have been able to scrape together his grandson's tuition fees for the year.

Under a remote bridge in Qingling District.

Chen Fang and Yu Zhengchuan met Lv Honggui's ten-year-old grandson, Lv Bo, along with the neatly stacked unsold watermelons.

Lv Honggui told Chen Fang,

They would rest under the bridge during the day.

At night, he would go out to sell watermelons while his grandson, Lv Bo, stayed under the bridge to watch over the remaining melons.

In such sweltering weather, along with the constant buzzing of mosquitoes, Chen Fang found it unimaginable how they were able to persevere through such days.

He felt somewhat distressed and said,

"Old man, I'll buy all these watermelons."

"No, no, no, leader, it's too many. You won't be able to eat them all, they'll spoil. If you like, take a few, I won't charge you,"

the old man hesitated.

"Old man, my friend has a restaurant. She also needs to buy quite a lot of watermelons. It doesn't matter where she buys them from. If you sell them to me, I can still make a profit on them,"

Chen Fang assured him.

At those words,

hope lit up in Lv Honggui's eyes.

He asked, "Is that true?"

"Of course it's true. A Chuan, arrange for a vehicle and some people to come and pick these up right now and then deliver them to Mo Zifei's restaurant. She needs the watermelons anyway,"

Chen Fang instructed Yu Zhengchuan.

Yu Zhengchuan nodded.

"Okay, I'll make the arrangements right now," he said.

Continuing.

Chen Fang opened the bag, pulled out a stack of money, a full ten thousand yuan, and stuffed it into the old man's hand, asking, "Old man, is this money enough?"

"No need, no need, it's too much, it's really too much, there are only a few hundred pounds left, just a few hundred yuan would be enough."

Lv Honggui hurriedly refused.

Chen Fang took out a thousand yuan, asking, "Well, this amount surely isn't too much, right?"

Only then did the old man accept it.

Clutching the money.

The old man was very excited.

He quickly called his grandson over to kowtow to their benefactor.

Chen Fang caught Lv Bo in a swift move.

He said, "Child, go back and study hard. When you grow up, you must take good care of your grandfather, understand?"

"Mhm, I understand,"

said Lv Bo sensibly.

After a few more pleasantries, Chen Fang said goodbye.

About twenty minutes later,

a pickup truck and several people arrived to take all the watermelons away.

As the sky suddenly changed and rain seemed imminent, Chen Fang also arranged for a car to pick up the grandfather and grandson and take them back to their home in Gaokin County.

By the time the grandson and grandfather got home, it was already twelve o'clock at night.

Lv Honggui called his grandson to go to bed.

At that moment, Lv Bo felt something in his pocket and, startled, pulled out a stack of money and exclaimed, "Grandpa, look."

Lv Honggui stood still, dumbstruck.

Wasn't this the very stack of money Chen Fang had taken out earlier?

How did it end up in his grandson's pocket?

Then he remembered.

It must have been when Chen Fang steadied Lv Bo that he secretly slipped it in. For a moment, his eyes brimmed with tears…

Early the next morning,

just as Chen Fang arrived at the office, he received a notice. Due to the downpour in the upper reaches of Longjiang over the past ten days, coupled with the impending storm in Wulan City, the locality was bracing for the worst flooding in twenty years.

All units were required to participate in a provincial flood control video teleconference.

After the meeting at 10 o'clock,

Chen Fang received a notice that members of the city government leadership team and heads of various departments and districts were to immediately gather in the meeting room to participate in the city government's emergency flood control meeting.

At the meeting,

Zhao Yiping first outlined the severity of the flood peak.

He demanded that all departments complete all preparation for flood control before the torrential rain.

Additionally, members of the city government leadership team must go down to the districts and main departments to supervise the work.

After the division of labor was arranged for the first few districts and departments, Gaokin County was the only one left.

Gaokin County has hilly terrain, the highest possibility of landslides and debris flows, and to make matters worse, it lies adjacent to Longjiang, with the weakest infrastructure and set to be the first to face the brunt of the flood peak.

In such a place, the other deputy mayors naturally did not wish to go.

After all, one misstep could lead to losing one's official hat.

When it came to Gaokin County,

all the deputy mayors lowered their heads.

At this moment, Zhu Kuang stood up and said, "Flood control in Gaokin County bears great responsibility; it definitely requires someone very experienced to oversee the situation. Mayor Zhao, I've heard that Comrade Chen Fang has had successful experience dealing with landslides in Yong'an Province, and I think it would be most appropriate for him to be stationed in Gaokin County."

Chen Fang indeed was a member of the city government leadership team.

But he had only recently arrived in Wulan City.

Logically speaking, he shouldn't be the one sent for this flood control mission.

But Zhu Kuang's proposal was met with approval from other leadership team members.

Experience was a good reason, but not the most important one; what mattered most was that no one else wanted to go, and so Chen Fang naturally became the top candidate.

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