Chapter 75: Luo Pei’s Achievements (Part 1)

On the last Monday before the Winter Festival in December, Wooden Bucket Town was filled with a joyful atmosphere everywhere, except for the town management committee compound, which still seemed busy and tense, because today was the committee members’ year-end summary meeting.

The door of the small meeting room had been opened early, and four braziers were placed in the four corners of the room. The newly baked Kaila charcoal burned out, leaving behind a layer of snow-white ash, and the heat it gave off made the whole room warm and cozy.

“…This is the current situation of our Wooden Bucket Town. So, according to the instructions from Saia City, our focus for next year’s work will still be on economic development, and this focus must be maintained unswervingly in the coming years!” The one speaking was Mr. Kajielun, the Deputy Mayor of Wooden Bucket Town, who was one of the nine committee members with voting rights. According to the regulations of the Davoma Empire, the Deputy Mayor was mainly responsible for specific work, and the economic work of the town and all the villages under Wooden Bucket Town was one of his main focuses.

When Deputy Mayor Kajielun finished his speech here, the people around immediately burst into applause. Then, also one of the nine committee members with voting rights, the Chief Elder of the town’s Noble Senate, Baron Gaddafi, smiled and said: “Speaking of this economic work, I recently received the work reports sent by the Village Elders of various villages. It seems that Luo Pei over at Talim Village is doing quite well. The average annual income per person has more than quintupled… tsk tsk~~ very impressive!”

Baron Gaddafi had no special relationship with Luo Pei. He was simply speaking about the matter as it stood. Luo Pei’s achievements were indeed so dazzling that even he couldn’t help but take notice. If the numbers were true, then this village’s Director Luo Pei was indeed a capable fellow.

Hearing what Speaker Dubai said, the Speaker of the town’s Commoners’ Council, Dubai, who was sitting beside him, immediately smiled and said: “Yes, I’ve read this report too. It’s indeed very impressive!” As he spoke, he nodded seriously, then smiled again and said: “…I’ve met that village’s Director Luo Pei a few times. He’s a very promising young man. He seems to be a Collateral Lineage Disciple of the Luo Family of Flax City, right? No wonder…”

At the end of his words, Speaker Dubai casually glanced at Baron Gaddafi, smiled meaningfully, and that made Baron Gaddafi’s face sink.

Speaking of it, between the “Speaker of the Commoners’ Council” and the “Chief Elder of the Noble Senate” in various places, it seemed there had never been a good relationship between the two. One represented the interests of the commoners, while the other was the spokesperson for the nobles. They were naturally repulsive to each other. It would be strange if they got along well.

Just like what Speaker Dubai said just now — at first glance, it sounded like “Luo Pei is a member of the great noble Luo Family of Flax City, no wonder he’s so capable.” But if you thought about it carefully, it also sounded like “Luo Pei is a Collateral Lineage Disciple, no wonder he’s so capable. If he were from the main line, he would never have this kind of ability!”

As an old rival who had worked together and fought against each other for many years, Baron Gaddafi could naturally hear the meaning behind Speaker Dubai’s words. He said calmly: “The Luo Family of Flax City is a great noble family that has been passed down for hundreds of years. It’s only natural that Director Luo Pei, coming from such a family, would be capable. In a family of such noble blood, even Collateral Lineage Disciples would receive excellent cultivation.”

If Speaker Dubai’s words just now were a double-edged insinuation, Baron Gaddafi’s response was already quite disrespectful. It was just a routine year-end summary meeting, and no key issues had been discussed — it was just a casual remark, yet it could become this intense. This showed how their relationship was. But then again, it was naturally like this. The power struggles at the town level were naturally not as grand as those at higher levels, but they were even more simple, direct, and cruel, and their intensity was no less than that at higher levels.

The two of them exchanged barbs with each other, and the other committee members were silent for a moment. But at this time, the Discipline Inspection Commissioner, Bill Sherman, suddenly interjected with a smile: “Per capita income quintupled within one year? If there really is such a talented person, we should give him some kind of reward!”

What had originally been mentioned casually as an interesting piece of news suddenly became a proposal by Discipline Inspection Commissioner Bill Sherman to give Luo Pei a reward. The others were stunned for a moment. Deputy Mayor Kajielun instinctively turned his head to look at Mayor Lloyd.

In fact, among the nine committee members with voting rights in Wooden Bucket Town, “Captain of the Guard” Hubie Brown belonged to the military representative. He never meddled in local administrative affairs and didn’t show any particular leaning among the committee members. He was the kind of “abstaining committee member.”

“Priest” Miguel was a mid-tier Divine Art practitioner, responsible for all the church’s affairs in Wooden Bucket Town, and he didn’t meddle much in local administrative affairs either. “Civil Affairs Commissioner” Sir Billy Moore was a third-rank Magicist, managing multiple important systems related to people’s livelihood and municipal affairs in Wooden Bucket Town, such as culture, education, and health. He was more like a scholar than a politician. “Independent Chief Judge” Baron John Thompson was directly transferred from the main county, had deep connections in Lons Pompey City, and, adhering to the principle of judicial independence, would not curry favor with the Mayor or Deputy Mayor. Although these three ranked lower, they all held real power and had always belonged to the neutral faction, showing no particular inclination in the committee. Both Lloyd and Kajielun had to show them some respect, and neither wanted to offend them.

Among the remaining three, “Chief Elder of the Noble Senate” Baron Gaddafi and “Discipline Inspection Commissioner” Bill Sherman were both on very good terms with “Mayor” Lloyd, while “Speaker of the Commoners’ Council” Dubai had always been close to “Deputy Mayor” Kajielun — no one would really think that Kajielun and Lloyd were “working together in unity and sharing the same boat,” right? — The high-level leadership of Wooden Bucket Town was thus divided into three factions. However, although Mayor Lloyd had more strength in the town management committee, Deputy Mayor Kajielun could occasionally win over the four neutral members, and since he was born locally, he had deep roots among the Directors of the villages under Wooden Bucket Town. In the struggle, he was not at a disadvantage, and at least he could protect his right to speak.

So now, when Bill Sherman, the Discipline Inspection Commissioner of Lloyd’s faction, said they should reward a young Director who had only been there for a little over a year and whom he didn’t even know well, Kajielun’s first reaction was: What is that bastard Lloyd trying to do again? Could he be trying to shake his foundation and plant a nail in it?

But Kajielun never expected that after hearing Bill Sherman’s suggestion, Lloyd’s reaction would be even more intense than his… awkward.