C109 (2/2)

”This is my first time in the Taoyuan Village, and seeing your warm welcome made me feel very touched. In the future, I hope that everyone will cooperate with each other, understand each other, support each other, and work together well. This is what I really mean. ”

After hearing the speeches of his predecessors and new Rural Party Committee s and government leaders, Secretary of the Party Branch of Taoyuan Village Wang Zipeng, Village Head Deng Chunming s, Vice Village Chief Wang s and all made statements. They all said that they would do their job well under the leadership of the new Party Secretary and the village chief. At noon, the Taoyuan Village entertained the new and old leaders of Erdaojiang Village at the Ming Shan Hong Hotel.

The Ming Shan Hong Hotel was located diagonally across from the Village committees. Although the restaurant was not big, it was packed with people for lunch. Zi Peng greeted the owner of the restaurant in the morning, thus, he left a private room for Taoyuan Village.

After the meeting ended, Wang Zipeng, Deng Chunming, Wang Chang and the four leaders from the village walked into the Ming Shan Hong Hotel. This time, they were accompanied by two comrades from Director of Women's Affairs Ding Qingzhen.

There were 10 staff members eating lunch today and there were 12 dishes. These dishes were all discussed and ordered by Zi Peng and Chun Ming this morning. Wang Xuanzhong, the secretary of the Rural Party Committee, and Ding Xianchun, the former Party Secretary, sat on the lead seat; on the left was the new village chief Qu Zhenwen, while on the right was the old village chief, Wang Cheng and the Deputy Secretary Yu Shenglin.

In a short while, the dishes were served. The steaming hot dishes filled the table. These include braised beef, sweet and sour meat, stewed carp, chicken stew, chili belly slices, chilli sausages, fish in sauce, liver tips, two fresh vegetables, and two cold mixes. 3 bottles of 45-degree Big Spring Liquor and beer. Amongst these people, Secretary Ding, Wang Zipeng, Deng Chunming, Ding Qingzhen, and Li Junying were not allowed to drink alcohol.

After filling the cup to the brim, Prince Peng Secretary of the Party Branch stood up with his wine cup. He looked at everyone with his eyes and said with sincerity:

”Leaders, today, in order to welcome the new leaders of the village to their missions, as well as to send the old leaders off to their new jobs, Taoyuan Village has prepared a table full of simple food. I hope everyone will eat and drink well. Secretary Ding, Chunming and I do not drink white wine, please forgive me. So I can only toast you with beer. Everyone raised their glasses and let me toast them. As long as they had feelings, everything was wine. ”Come, cheers!”

After Zipeng finished speaking, he clinked his wine glass with everyone else and drank his first cup together. At this time, Chun Ming lit up a cigarette for each leader; Ding Qingzhen and Li Junying poured a second cup of wine for each leader. After the wine was poured, the newly appointed Party Secretary Wang Xuanzhong raised his wine cup and stood up. He took a puff on his cigarette, and said with a beaming smile:

”The people sitting here are all leaders, there are former Rural Party Committee s and Rural Government s; there are new Rural Party Committee s and Rural Government s' leaders; there are Taoyuan Village Party Branch s and Village committees s' leaders. We came to the village today to take a look, and we're sorry to have caused you so much trouble. Since the village has prepared such a sumptuous meal for us, I would like to express our heartfelt thanks on behalf of the three new comrades! Today was the first time we met, and I could tell that the leader of the Taoyuan Village was very passionate. I don't want to say much here, I just want to say two sentences. The first sentence is called ”unity and stability”; the second is called ”solid work”. I hope that you will continue to support us in your future endeavours. I would like to drink a toast to all of you using the Taoyuan Village's wine, wishing you all the best in your work and career. ”Come, cheers!”

After Secretary Wang finished speaking, he clinked his wine cup with everyone and drank his second cup of wine. Village Head Deng Chunming lifted his goblet and stood up after filling it with the third cup of wine. He said with a big smile:

”Today, I am very happy to be together with the new and old leaders of Erdaojiang Village. Please be at ease, new leader, how do we in Taoyuan Village do our work, and how do we do it? The old leaders have made a lot of effort for the development of the Taoyuan Village. Here, I represent the Taoyuan Village in expressing our deep gratitude to the three old leaders. Don't just leave now. If there's anything I need your help with in the future, I hope the old leader will not decline. Today, the village prepared some light food, disrespectful, I hope everyone eat and drink well. It is hoped that the new leadership will give more guidance in their future work. I toast everyone. Come, cheers! ”

After Chun Ming finished his speech, he clinked glasses with everyone and drank his third glass of wine. At this time, Ding Qingzhen and Li Junying had filled the fourth cup of wine for everyone. After filling the cup to the brim, Secretary Ding raised her wine cup and stood up. He used her eyes to look at everyone and said with a face full of smiles:

”I'm an old man at this table. Today, the Taoyuan Village welcomed the new village leader, and we also borrowed some light. To be honest, the leadership of the Taoyuan Village was one of the best in the entire village, no matter what. Especially in the team unity, for the whole village led a good start. Under the leadership of Comrade Zi Peng, they had exceeded the economic targets set by the village every year. Therefore, we can be at ease in all aspects facing the Taoyuan Village. I hope you will do better under the leadership of the new secretary and the village head. I'll borrow the wine from the village and toast everyone. ”Come, cheers!”

When Secretary Ding finished, he clinked his cup with everyone and drank his fourth cup. Putting down their glasses, the director lit a cigarette for everyone. The two women then filled everyone with a fifth glass of wine. At this moment, the newly appointed village chief, Qu Zhenwen, stood up with a cup in his hand. He took a drag from his cigarette, looked at everyone, and said with a laugh:

”The first time I came to the Taoyuan Village today, I gave you all so much trouble. Don't waste your time like this when you come back. According to the village leader's introduction, the Taoyuan Village's work had improved in every aspect, especially that of Comrade Zi Peng, who had achieved remarkable results in his publicity and reporting. Village is a huge township to the whole district, we have to keep up with the work of publicizing and reporting, otherwise, we will be left behind. Here, I hope you will give more support to our new secretary and head of the village in his or her work, offer more ideas, and give more critical comments in order to further our work. I don't want to talk anymore today, so I'll borrow the Taoyuan Village's wine and toast everyone. ”Come, cheers!”

After Qu Xiang Chang finished, he clinked glasses with everyone and drank his fifth cup. After drinking till this point, the wine was more or less ready. The original three bottles of Spring Origin didn't have enough to drink, so he asked for another two bottles. As a result, everyone's faces were glowing red. Everyone said that they should drink up. Thus, the drinking ended here. The village officials and the village leaders shook hands and said their goodbyes one by one …