Monday.
Morning. Cloudy.
Guang Ming Subdistrict Office staff arrived at work and heard from their coworkers, who were around yesterday, about what their Director Dong did yesterday.
“Have you heard about it, Old Liang?”
“I heard it’s about the advertisement boards.”
“Haha…. You should have seen that wine factory’s boss’s arrogant face. He has no respect for us.”
“The District Government had isolated our Subdistrict. Who will respect us? What happened yesterday?”
“The Health Wine Factory had put up an advertisement board near my place, and I saw workers removing it last night.”
“Huh? Why did they remove it? Why did Song Qingming get people to remove it? What is he up to?”
“It’s true. I heard about it when I was working overtime yesterday.”
“That factory boss is stupid to think he can go against our Director Dong.”
Dong Xuebing arrived at work. He did not hear what his staff were talking about, but he knew it must be about removing the advertisement boards.
Dong Xuebing had shown everyone his capabilities through this incident. This is also his way of establishing his authority and warning the other Leaders not to provoke him. He is not a pushover, and they must be prepared for his retaliation if they dare to try anything. Don’t think you can kick me when I am down because I offended the District Party Secretary Wang.
I want to see who else dare to play these dirty tricks with me! I will retaliate if anyone dares to provoke or challenge me.
Dong Xuebing had walked a path full of ‘dead bodies’ and had diverted away from the norms of the Government Service. But he had no choice. At the lowest point of his career, he also wants a smooth sailing career path. That’s why he is very concerned about the upcoming Earthquake. He needs to lower the casualties of the Earthquake. He wants to protect all of his residents. This is also to protect his position and get promoted out of Nan Shan District.
Work Party Secretary Office.
Dong Xuebing called the Subdistrict’s Party Office Department when he reached his office. “Director Zhou, did the wine factory remove all their advertisement boards?”
Zhou Yanru laughed. “I sent my people to check this morning. All of them are removed.”
“Ok.” Dong Xuebing added. “Make sure all advertisement board applications are properly verified and check all their fixtures. This wine factory’s advertisement boards should not be the only ones with quality issues. We should check all advertisement boards in our area these few days. Those advertisement boards that failed our inspection must be removed immediately. Also, write a report and send it to the District Government.”
“Yes. I will lead my men to do it.”
“Ok. I will leave it to you.”
Dong Xuebing has finally cleared one item from his to-do list.
The Earthquake is coming in slightly more than twenty days, and he has lots of work to do.
Dong Xuebing doesn’t have time to waste. He switched on his PC and started looking for related information online. His next step is to increase his residents’ earthquake prevention and mitigation awareness.
Most people should know that buildings and walls will not collapse immediately during a major earthquake. There will be a buffer time of around five seconds to ten seconds. Also, those old houses and buildings are not made of paper, and the epicenter is at Da Feng County. The shockwaves in Nan Shan District should not be as strong as 8.0 on the Richter Scale. The immediate reaction when the Earthquake happens is the most important. From the information and data Dong Xuebing collected, most earthquake casualties happen when they panic. They could not find suitable shelters and were unprepared, resulting in tragedies. If everyone knows what to do during an earthquake, most of them can survive. That’s why earthquake prevention and mitigation awareness are critical.
Dong Xuebing remembers he had learned these in school, but he forgot about it after years. Even a university graduate like him had forgotten about it, let alone those residents. Most people should lack this knowledge. He believes that at least half of the almost one thousand victims can survive if they know what to do. But he needs an excuse to start this initiative.
Dong Xuebing does not want to be charged for spreading earthquake rumors and got an idea. He called the Office Department to call all neighborhood committees’ heads to come for a meeting.
Morning.
Meeting room.
As usual, Dong Xuebing was the last to arrive. But before he reached the meeting room, he noticed a familiar person walking towards him. It’s Work Party Committee Deputy Secretary Geng Xinke.
Geng Xinke looks at Dong Xuebing in his eyes. “Director Dong, I am back.”
Dong Xuebing laughed. “Secretary Geng…. Haha. When did you come back?”
“The Party School’s training had ended, and I just came back.” Geng Xinke replied emotionlessly.
Dong Xuebing walked over and patted his shoulder warmly. “Xinke, you are finally back. The office cannot do without you.”
Geng Xinke felt goosebumps when he heard Dong Xuebing calls him Xinke.
Dong Xuebing laughed. “Let’s go. We are having a neighborhood committee meeting now.”
Geng Xinke frowned and felt uncomfortable. He doesn’t understand why Dong Xuebing is so friendly towards him. He must be up to something. Geng Xinke immediately becomes wary of him.
Everyone is there when Dong Xuebing enters the meeting room.
All the Subdistrict Office Leaders and the neighborhood committees’ people in charge are at the meeting.
Dong Xuebing sits at the head of the table and picks up the microphone. He did not waste time and went straight to the point. “I have a few tasks for you all. You all should have heard of Wenchuan Earthquake, Yushan Earthquake, the recent major earthquakes in Indonesia and other countries. These disasters had caused devastating losses, and many people lost their family, friends, and their homes.” Earthquakes are happening everywhere in the world, almost every day. He uses this as an excuse to talk about the impact of a major earthquake.
Everyone’s expression is different when they hear this.
Dong Xuebing looks at everyone and continues. “So, I feel there’s a need to start Earthquake preventive and mitigation measures in our Subdistrict. We cannot prevent natural disasters, but we can take precautions and be prepared for them. This is necessary.” He paused for a second. “All neighborhood committees will start with this initiative to spread awareness of preventive and mitigation measures of Earthquake. The heads of every neighborhood committee must lead their team to give out brochures to every household. Everyone, including those staying here temporarily, must be informed. This is a political mission.”
People start talking among themselves.
“Earthquake preventive and mitigation measures?”
“This is formalism.”
“Why are we doing this? This is a waste of manpower and resources.”
“Promotional brochures for every household? How much will it cost? Is the neighborhood committee going to foot the bill?”
Geng Xinke, Zhou Yanru, and other Subdistrict Office Leaders are puzzled. Why did Dong Xuebing want to start this initiative suddenly? The earthquake preventive and mitigation measures awareness campaign only happens when the Earthquake Administration Bureau orders. There are no orders from the higher-ups. Even if an order is given, it will only be conducted in schools. There’s no need to implement it for all households and everybody. The Subdistrict Office’s annual budget is limited. How are they going to get funds to implement it?
Many people are unhappy with this decision.
But Dong Xuebing is not seeking anyone’s opinion. “The Subdistrict Office will print the brochures. Director Wang, you are in charge of the brochures. Come and get the information from me later and discuss with Director Zhou for the funds.” He turns to Wang Yuling. “I will repeat this. This promotion campaign is vital. Even if you have to put aside your other works, you must settle this as soon as possible. You don’t need to wait for all the brochures to be printed before giving them out. These brochures can be given out in batches. I want to see progress tomorrow.”
Wang Yuling blinked. “Yes. I will complete this task.”
Dong Xuebing nodded. “All neighborhood committees should start preparing when you get back. Let me know if there are any problems.”
Everyone did not object, and they couldn’t say anything.
Although they felt this campaign is a waste of time, they must do it as it is an order from the Subdistrict Office.
Dong Xuebing looked at them and nodded. “Alright. Meeting dismissed!”
Geng Xinke shook his head in his heart and wondered what is Dong Xuebing up to this time.
Translator’s note:
2008 Wenchuan Earthquake
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2008_Sichuan_earthquake
2010 Yushu earthquake
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2010_Yushu_earthquake
