Give all town teachers and staff a supplementary salary, Shen Huai made a decisive decision, returned to the town, and still informed Li Feng and others.

  Everyone also knows that the teaching staff has been complaining a lot in the past two years, and the teaching quality of Meixi Town Middle School and Primary School has declined sharply in the past two years, which is closely related to this. Except for a few cadres in the town government, most of their families are in Meixi Town, and their children or grandchildren may also study at the town's primary school or junior high school, so they also hope from the bottom of their hearts that the teaching quality of the schools can be improved.

  In the past, there were no conditions, everyone's life was very tight, and even if they wanted to do things well, they couldn't.

  Now that some conditions have been met, the Meixi Steel Plant is reviving strongly. Under Shen Hua's leadership, other economic tasks are also being carried out step by step. Everyone has confidence that next year they will be able to build bridges and roads and raise funds for housing construction, these two major projects. The financial situation of the town next year is naturally very optimistic, and some things have become urgent.

  This year's year-end bonus for civil servants is acceptable as long as it's not less than last year's.

  Shen Hua's decision was welcomed by most of the cadres in the town.

  He Qing didn't even notice it was already 4 pm and immediately gathered everyone to start work.

  Almost all schools have already started their winter breaks, and even if someone is on duty at the school, it's not necessarily the principal; first make a phone call, and if the person can't be reached by phone, send someone to find them on a motorcycle.

  The advantage of Shen Hua being the party secretary is that he can oversee everything, and specific tasks can be handed over to others. At night, five tables were set up at the Zhuxi Hotel for a working dinner, where the principals of each school were gathered, which was equivalent to a mobilization meeting. Shen Hua made an appearance, said a few words, and considered his task done.

  Zhang Xiuyun only then realized that Du Jian had already left Meixi Town today. These days, for the sake of their family's Chengming, running back and forth, this young man who looked like he was only twenty-four or five years old, had become the master of the entire Meixi Town.

  He Qing Society worked overnight with the principals and financial personnel of each school to calculate the supplementary wages for teachers and staff, so that the finance department could issue the funds to each school the next day, and then distribute them to the teachers through the schools, allowing everyone to have a good New Year.

  Meixi Steel Plant continued to improve in January, with a production of 7,000 tons of rebar and other steel products in January, and sales revenue reached 23 million yuan. Due to the slight rebound in rebar prices before the Spring Festival, Meixi Steel Plant's profit in January was higher than that in December, reaching 4 million yuan.

  Of course, Shen Hua took over Meixi Steel Plant in mid-October and by the end of November, Meixi Steel Plant was still adjusting its production sequence. From December onwards, production doubled and profitability was restored, but it was only two months' time, and the annual loss could not be made up yet.

  Mei Creek Iron and Steel Factory still loses money every year, so it's impossible to have dividends to pay to the town.

  The allocation of year-end bonuses for management and frontline workers was simultaneously announced before the staff meeting.

  However, the situation in the first year was a bit special. The steel plant lost money for the whole year, but after the new management team took shape, Meixi Steel Plant achieved profitability that far exceeded people's expectations, and it would be unreasonable not to give rewards.

  Shen Huai immediately convened a meeting with He Qing She, Li Feng, Guo Quan and other town leaders, as well as Wang Kangsheng, Xu Xiting, Qian Wenhui, Zhao Dong and others from the steel plant. In the end, they decided to allocate one million yuan for year-end bonuses for the management layer and front-line workers of the steel plant.

  Frontline workers, team leaders to ordinary managers will receive one to three months' salary as year-end bonuses; the remaining 400,000 will be distributed among the management team according to a certain ratio, with each person receiving around 20,000 to 40,000 in year-end bonuses.

  By the end of the year, Mei Xi Steel Factory, apart from maintaining normal production and operation, almost all peripheral work has stopped, making it seem idle, but financial work is busier at the end of the year.

  On the side of the town government, He Qing was busy paying wages to all teachers and staff in the town, inspecting the safety work of primary and secondary schools during the holidays. Li Feng was responsible for comprehensive governance. It seemed that there was nothing to do with Shen Hua, but as the party secretary, he had to be in charge of everything. Even if Shen Hua tried his best to push things away, He Qing, Li Feng, Huang Xinliang and others were used to finding him to ask for instructions, report, and discuss whenever they had something or nothing to do.

  At the end of the year, the town leaders also went out in full force to visit the five-guarantee households and comfort the lonely elderly people in the town's nursing home.

  Shen Hua not only doubled the consolation money (after actually doubling, there was only 100 yuan of consolation money besides grain and oil goods), but also took charge of visiting the five-guarantee households in Xuetangqiao Village.

  On the twenty-sixth of the twelfth lunar month, it snowed heavily throughout the land. From morning till noon, the snow didn't stop falling, with big flakes swirling down from time to time, making it hard for people to keep their eyes open.

  The snow on the road has melted into mud, but in the fields and on the rooftops, it's already a vast expanse of white, as if covered with a thick layer of quilts.

  In Shen Hua's impression, Donghua's winter had never seen such a big snowfall. The weather forecast said that the snow would continue to fall for a long time, and at noon, when I came out of town, I was worried that some dangerous houses might not be able to withstand it.

  Accompanied by Huang Xinliang and Chu Qiang, Shen Hua joined the village branch secretary of Huizhao Bridge Village and others to visit the last villager group. Due to yesterday's rain and today's heavy snow since dawn, the muddy road from the village path was trampled into a muddy pit, so Shen Hua and his party left their car on the village path and walked in from the relatively dry edge of the wheat field.

  "Right ahead is Old Man Kou's house." The village branch secretary made an effort to stick together with Shen Huai, helping him hold up the umbrella to block the snow.

  Shen Huai wore a ski jacket inside and a waterproof and snow-proof windbreaker outside, not afraid of the snowflakes hitting his body, but it was also not good to rush the village branch book to the side, and he had to lead the way in front.

  Shen Hua knew that Kou Xuan was discharged from the hospital today, although his injury had not fully recovered. However, no one in the countryside likes to spend the Spring Festival in the hospital. Even if they have to be hospitalized again after the Spring Festival, they must first be discharged and return home before the festival.

  On such a snowy day, Shen Hua didn't know if Xiao Li had gone to pick up Kou Xuan from the hospital. Anyway, after Xiao Li's holiday, she spent all her time at the town health center, and neither Shen Hua nor Chen Dan went to bother her.

  Kou Lao's house was a humble earth-walled hut, looking extremely shabby. The roof had already accumulated a thick layer of snow, making Shen Huan worry whether this simple house could withstand the weight of the snow.

  The old wooden door was closed, and the sound of laughter could be heard from inside. Her orange bicycle was leaning against the wall. Shen Huan couldn't help but smile wryly: on a snowy day like this, she didn't even think about how to get back later.

  The village branch secretary ran over and knocked on the door. Little Li opened the door, saw Shen Hua, was stunned for a moment, and asked: "Shen Hua, what are you doing here?"

  Shen Huai reached out and rubbed Xiao Li's head, laughing: "I'm just here to pick you up, how are you going to get back later?" Xiao Li awkwardly stuck out his tongue.

  The village branch secretary didn't know what relationship Shen Huai had with the beautiful girl in front of him, but seeing how close they were, he thought they must be either relatives or old friends. Seeing Old Kou poking his head out, he said: "Old Kou, Secretary Shen from the town came to pay you a New Year's visit..."

  Old Kou hurried out and said to Shen Hua: "This is really, on New Year's Day, Secretary Shen you are also a busy person, come over to give us New Year's greetings?"

  Shen Hua knew that Old Man Kou was a straightforward person, so he smiled and said: "As Communist Party members and cadres, we are the public servants of the people. We must first ensure that the masses can have a good New Year's celebration; only then can we, as their servants, feel at ease and enjoy our own New Year's celebrations..."

  As I walked into the house, there were only two earthen rooms. The main room also served as a kitchen, with an earth floor, a stove and a table. On the table was placed a copper water pipe. In the corner, a small bed had been set up, presumably where Old Kou slept.

  The quilt on the bed had been patched, and the cotton was exposed. Underneath was a layer of dry grass. The north window in the main room was open, without glass, covered with plastic sheeting and newspaper, with a hole torn in it, letting in a howling cold wind. The temperature inside and outside the house was almost the same, making people feel not even a hint of warmth.

  Shen Huai walked into the inner room with his head lowered, Kou Xuan was still lying on the bed and hadn't sat up yet. It seemed that she was both ashamed and distressed about the family's difficulties being exposed to outsiders, her small face was flushed red, and there were tears welling up in her eyes.

  The little girl no longer looked like the first time I saw her, with a swollen face. Her white and delicate complexion, straight nose bridge, except for being somewhat thin, had a fairly elegant appearance, her eyes were big and spirited, only appeared to be overly sharp...

  Shen Huai looked up at the roof and the earthen wall supporting the house beam, too busy to care about Xiaomei's emotions, nor did he pay attention to what Cunzhu Shu and Huang Xinliang were saying in the main room. He turned around and went out the door, circling around to the back of the house.

  Huang Xinliang and Chu Qiang saw Shen Huai's strange reaction, chased him out, and asked: "What's wrong with Secretary Shen?"

  "This heavy snowfall is going to last all night according to the weather forecast, this house can't withstand it!"

  Huang Xinliang and Chu Qiang were stunned.

  Shen Huai didn't explain anything to Huang Xinliang and Chu Qiang, but walked back into the house and said to Old Man Kou: "Today's heavy snow is something Donghua hasn't seen in many years. This house may not be able to withstand it. Today you and Kou Xuan should still go stay in town, I'll have a car take you there. At least wait until the snow stops before coming back..."

  "It's nothing, what can happen with snow?" Old Kou shook his head and said, "This house is a nuisance when it rains."

  Donghua is located in the south, where the architectural style is Zheng and Ba Jing. In terms of design, the snow load standard is also much lower than that of northern cities.

  In the south, near the sea, when it comes to typhoons, the government gives a call and the masses move quickly, but when it comes to preventing snow disasters, they are very complacent. Even Huang Xinliang and Chu Qiang did not have a strong sense of vigilance and awareness in preventing snow disasters.

  Shen Huai, with a background in industrial management, had received training in disaster prevention and safety that was more professional than any ordinary official. The thickness of the snow pressure this roof can withstand, Shen Huai's eyes looked at it roughly estimated, which is obviously not the ability of Huang Xinliang, Chu Qiang and others.

  This snow is going to last until tomorrow morning as forecasted, and there's a high chance that this house will collapse.

  Shen Huai also broke out in a cold sweat. There were over a hundred houses in the town that were similar to Old Kou's, and if he had stayed in his office today, he might not have been able to avoid the snow disaster even with extra precautions...

  Shen Hua also secretly felt that being a leader is not easy! To be a good leader, one needs to have experience in handling all sorts of unexpected problems and remain calm. This is also the main reason why many young officials with deep backgrounds start as deputy leaders in local areas and are not allowed to take on leadership roles easily.