The Industrial and Commercial Bureau said that work is hard to do, and many people just set up stalls without applying for licenses. However, some people also open stores without licenses, which leads to various problems.
The Land Management Office said that they have nothing to do, and each village collective manages its own affairs, so they cannot intervene.
The Family Planning Department complained even more, saying that their work is difficult, that the villages are not cooperating, and that it is hard to collect fines for exceeding the birth limit.
There are also problems with other departments like the Agricultural Machinery Station, Agricultural Technology Station, State Taxation Office, Animal Husbandry and Veterinary Station, and Post and Telecommunications Office. All sorts of problems have emerged.
Since he did not have a full grasp of the situation, although they spoke, Sun Liancheng did not express any clear opinions. He simply appeased them, and the first meeting ended.
Next, Sun Liancheng needed to discuss the situation with the several deputy township heads, and talk about dividing up responsibilities and tasks.
For several days, Sun Liancheng's head was spinning.
He wanted to lie flat, but he still had to do his job!
Therefore, he had to seriously understand the situation and think hard about the problems at hand.
It wasn't until the following week that he finally had a basic understanding of Donglin Township.
And his head became even bigger!
Hu Lai, the old Party Secretary, had been in Donglin Township for many years, and most of the heads and directors of the various departments were under his control.
If it weren't for some people who were loyal to the former township head, and a few newly appointed officials, Hu Lai would have been running the show completely.
Several state-owned enterprises in the township were managed by relatives of Hu Lai or people he had placed there.
In other words, even Sun Liancheng, the township head, might not be able to command them, even if he spoke!
This was a difficult start for Sun Liancheng!
He wanted to lie flat, but he didn't want to be a puppet!
However, he couldn't think of any good way to break through the situation for the time being, so Sun Liancheng could only adopt a wait-and-see approach and not do anything for the time being.
He would only do things that needed to be done, and there would be no "new official taking office and setting the place on fire."
After a month, Hu Lai began to feel restless.
He gathered several of his confidants and discussed: "What's going on? This young township head isn't doing anything at all?"
"Secretary, could it be that he really doesn't know anything and is just here to gain experience and polish his resume before going back?"
Hu Lai shook his head and said: "No! According to my sources, this Sun Liancheng was the secretary of County Party Secretary Zhou Shanhe, so he couldn't possibly be clueless!"
"Then what's going on with him? Is he plotting something?"
"Who knows?"
Since they couldn't figure out what Sun Liancheng was up to, they gradually relaxed their vigilance.
Since Sun Liancheng wasn't causing any trouble, the people in other departments breathed a sigh of relief.
These days, many departments had a lot of older officials. They would spend their days sipping tea and reading newspapers.
In the past, they had to manage everything, and going out to the villages was a common occurrence.
Now, they didn't manage anything. As long as there were no murders or major incidents, the villages would handle their own affairs.
As a result, they were free and had a more leisurely lifestyle than Sun Liancheng, the township head.
Although Sun Liancheng did not propose any major measures or plans, he had been continuously gathering information over the past month.
After a month, he finally had a basic understanding of the township's situation.
Besides the seven stations and eight offices, there were also the supply and marketing cooperative, the credit cooperative, the middle school, elementary school, health center, and grain management office.
There didn't seem to be many departments, and the work didn't seem to be much, but the responsibility was greater.
Because the atmosphere was not good, and there were too many people who just wanted to get by, many people were older and had no hope of promotion. They simply gave up, didn't do anything, and just sat around drinking tea and chatting.
Seeing this, Sun Liancheng felt even more depressed.
If he didn't do anything, he might be stuck here for the rest of his life!
So, while he wanted to lie flat, he still had to do some real work.
At least he could lie flat once he reached the Guangming District, right?
After a month, Sun Liancheng finally took action.
"Township head, someone is looking for you at the front gate!"
"Oh, wait a minute, I'll be right there!"
Sun Liancheng walked briskly towards the front gate of the township government.
"Are you Comrade Sun Liancheng?"
"Yes, you brought the motorcycle over?"
"That's right. It's your motorcycle. Come on, get someone to help unload it."
Sun Liancheng gestured, and the gatekeeper came over.
After fiddling with it for a while, they finally managed to get the motorcycle off the truck.
Sun Liancheng had bought the motorcycle with his own money because he couldn't stand the old motorcycle and sidecar in the government.
If he didn't use those, he would have to use a bicycle…
In those days, there were only a few cars and trucks, and they were too expensive and not of very good quality. Sun Liancheng could only afford to buy a motorcycle.
Seeing this, some gossipy people came over.
"Township Head Sun, is this your motorcycle?"
"Yes, I bought it with my own money! We have a lot of places where we need to use vehicles, and there are only a few government vehicles. I don't want to compete with my comrades."
"Township Head Sun, how much did this motorcycle cost?"
"It came from Shanghai, a Xingfu 125, about five to six thousand yuan."
"Wow, that's expensive!"
Within half a day, the news that Sun Liancheng had bought a motorcycle with his own money had spread throughout the township government and party committee.
When Hu Lai heard this, he immediately became suspicious.
He called an old acquaintance in the county and began to inquire about Sun Liancheng.
Unexpectedly, the other party directly said: "If it's about his finances, don't bother asking or investigating. We know about it here in the county. Comrade Sun Liancheng has filed records with Secretary Zhou and the Disciplinary Committee, and it's all legal and compliant."
Hu Lai was immediately deflated.
But after thinking about it, he cheered up again.
"Looks like this is really a rich kid who's here to gain experience and polish his resume before going back in a year or two."
With this understanding, they gradually stopped paying attention to Sun Liancheng.
Apart from a few colleagues borrowing his motorcycle when they really needed it, no one was really interested in him anymore.
Over the next month, Sun Liancheng slowly got to know the people, becoming familiar with the heads of various departments and some specific clerks.
But because he was familiar with them, he felt even more pressure when it came to doing his job.
In recent years, direct management of the villages had been relaxed, leading to a lack of planning and organization in many things.
In the past, everything was managed, but now no one wanted to manage anything, leaving Sun Liancheng with a huge headache!
Because of this, it wasn't easy for Sun Liancheng to do his job properly.
People in various departments often paid lip service while secretly going against him, and some even went over to Hu Lai's side, completely ignoring the township head.
There was no breakthrough for now. Fortunately, Sun Liancheng's "lie flat" mentality had gradually taken root. Otherwise, he would not have been able to sleep.
However, he couldn't just wait around. He had to seize the relevant power, or the system might think he was not doing his job properly, and then he wouldn't be lying flat.
Before that, he needed to thoroughly investigate and understand the situation of the township and the villages.