The Beautiful County Magistrate
Chapter 144: Leader of the Qingshan Town Flood Prevention Team!

Chapter 144: Chapter 144: Leader of the Qingshan Town Flood Prevention Team!

Xu Qianli had no sooner spoken than Lan Qianrong immediately braced up, decided on the spot, and ordered all the civil servants in the county to mobilize and go to the front lines of flood prevention to guard against any possible dangers.

She immediately assigned the attendees to different areas to be stationed in, establishing over ten flood prevention groups based on townships and including herself as one of over ten team leaders to be responsible for their respective areas.

Whoever was responsible for a township that encountered an issue had to answer for it completely!

Facing the assertive Lan Qianrong, Zhang Kuisan and the others were completely helpless.

After all, it was that Xu Qianli who had given Lan Qianrong that devilish idea to use emergency flood prevention as a pretext to assert control, and no one dared raise objections against it, only obediently following Lan Qianrong’s instructions.

Everyone thought they had thoroughly sidelined Lan Qianrong, making it impossible for her to move an inch in Jiang City or issue any orders. Yet now, they were forced to follow her commands. Zhang Kuisan was furious, but there was nothing he could do. Holding his anger inside, he frequently glared at Xu Qianli, wishing he could tear the man to shreds.

Xu Qianli ignored Zhang Kuisan’s rage, couldn’t care less about that creature, and took the initiative to volunteer to Lan Qianrong to take charge of Qingshan Town, the area with the greatest flood prevention pressure, and obtained approval.

The meeting ended hurriedly, and the team leaders of the more than ten flood prevention groups quickly departed, braving the heavy rain to rush to the various townships to oversee the coordination of the flood prevention work.

Zhang Kuisan and Ding Biao were in charge of the same area and left together in one vehicle.

In the car, Ding Biao angrily shouted.

"Dammit Xu Qianli and his damned ancestors, that bastard really lacks any decency!"

"I had everything prepared, had just gotten two top-class blonde beauties, with legs so long, breasts so big, and I heard their skills in bed are top-notch. I was about to have a great time with you, County Magistrate Zhang."

"And now, look at us, having to run around in the downpour guarding the riverbanks and directing flood prevention work. This is just damn bad luck!"

"And that Lan Qianrong, getting all high and mighty with Xu Qian’s help, daring to boss us around, it’s just way too outrageous!"

"Just thinking about her condescending face earlier, I just really want to slap that smug look off her face!"

Ding Biao was cursing nonstop. He had spent a fortune to bring in two foreign girls, aiming to please himself and toad up to Zhang Kuisan as well, and now it all went down the drain. Not only were the beauties out of reach, but he also had to run around in the rain dealing with flood prevention work.

The more he thought about Xu Qianli and Lan Qianrong, the angrier he got.

Zhang Kuisan said, "At such a critical moment, Xu Qianli is practically pissing on our heads, and you’re still thinking about women? Are you kidding me?"

Ding Biao replied, "County Magistrate Zhang, what are you talking about? It’s just that Xu Qianli used the emergency flood prevention as an excuse to put a big hat on us, allowing Lan Qianrong to feel empowered and command us for a moment. It’s not as serious as you’re making it out to be."

"You still don’t think it’s serious?"

"Don’t forget, why we’ve been able to keep that bitch Lan Qianrong in check. It’s because she’s new to Jiang City, doesn’t have much credibility, and apart from Xu Qian, no one else dares to side with her."

"Well, look now, just because of one rainstorm, we’re forced to obey her commands."

"If things go on like this and similar situations continue to arise, and her credibility starts to grow, can we still hold her down?"

"Don’t forget, she is the County Magistrate after all. If she manages to build up her Magisterial authority and more and more people start to side with her, then we’re in trouble!"

Zhang Kuisan grew increasingly worried, full of concern.

At today’s executive meeting, he thought he could easily control Lan Qianrong, but Xu Qianli’s interference turned the situation completely in the opposite direction to what he anticipated, catching him completely off guard.

"If this continues, I, Zhang Kuisan, won’t be able to keep Lan Qianrong in check."

"Today’s incident undoubtedly sounded an alarm bell for me. I have to be on my guard against that guy Xu Qianli!"

Ding Biao said, "County Magistrate Zhang is right. Today we suffered such a terrible loss; we have to be more cautious in the future. In my opinion, the problem still lies with that kid Xu Qianli. We need to figure out a way to deal with him. But he’s not one of us, and even if we try to win him over now, I’m afraid it won’t work. We certainly can’t kill him, can we?"

"Kill him?"

Zhang Kuisan pointed to his own nose.

"If he really were to be killed, everyone in Jiang City would think it was me, Zhang Kuisan, who did it. Even if I were a damn fool, I wouldn’t dare do such a thing."

"If we can’t win him over and can’t kill him, we need to think of another way."

"I’ll handle this matter myself; he won’t be arrogant for long. He’ll soon have a tough time of it!"

...

Xu Qianli drove straight to Qingshan Town, accompanied by his bosom buddy Wu Kai.

With Xu Qianli’s arm injured, Wu Kai was responsible for driving. They raced through the rain towards Qingshan Town as quickly as possible.

Upon arrival, Xu Qianli immediately went to the Qingshan Town Government Comprehensive Building to find the Party Secretary Li Zhu, intending to organize flood control efforts.

But once they got there, the person was nowhere to be found. With no other choice, they had to let the town leader take charge in gathering others to discuss and arrange the work.

Qingshan Town is mountainous and crisscrossed with a dense network of rivers. The greatest pressure for flood control and the most dangerous potential spot is the Qinglong River, which crosses Qingshan Town.

This river is the largest in Qingshan Town territory, with a wide catchment area. Even generally, the current is extremely rapid. Now, due to rain, the river water is surging, and there is immense pressure on flood defenses, necessitating vigilant and steadfast guard.

Xu Qianli delegated responsibilities; at each dangerous spot along the river, someone must be on guard. Moreover, the masses from various villages must be mobilized to reinforce the embankments and patrol the river to prevent any potential dangers.

He personally went to the most dangerous section of the Qinglong River, a place called Qinglong Waist. Historically, there had been several dike breaches here, causing incalculable losses.

Also, Jiang City County and Zhongzhou City governments had frequently allocated special funds to reinforce dangerous sections of the Qinglong River, like Qinglong Waist.

The most recent reinforcement work was carried out by Li Zhu two years ago.

Xu Qianli and Wu Kai rushed to Qinglong Waist and saw that this section was U-shaped in the middle of the river. The torrential river water came from upstream, took a large bend towards downstream, and the powerful flow continuously battered the dikes of Qinglong Waist, looking extremely perilous.

Braving the rain, they got out of the car and Xu Qianli went to the edge of the embankment to inspect it, wanting to personally verify the condition of the river dike.

Once he reached the embankment and took a look, Xu Qianli’s heart leapt to his throat.

He could see that the surface of the embankment at the Qinglong Bay section, supposedly made entirely out of reinforced concrete, had actually been struck by large logs carried by river water, creating more than a dozen holes of various sizes.

On closer examination, it turned out that the embankment was only covered on the surface with about ten centimeters of concrete, without a single steel reinforcing bar inside. It was so brittle that it couldn’t withstand the impact of the logs, resulting in so many holes, the largest one the size of a soccer ball.

With the water’s impact, large amounts of mud and sand were washed out from those holes.

Seeing such a situation, Xu Qianli couldn’t help shivering all over.

This is bad. If this continues, Qinglong Bay is likely to breach and the dam could collapse!