Handong: Starting Out in the Poorest Township

As graduation approaches, lives take different paths.

Qi Tongwei, a law student, is suppressed and assigned to the front lines of the anti-drug campaign. His roommate, Lu Zhou, a top student in economics, instead volunteers for Qingxi Township, the poorest place in the province.

Some people laugh at him for being a fool. Others expect him to give up.

A leaky dormitory, an unwanted portfolio, subsidies that don't add up, a poverty relief project worth 260,000 yuan with no trace of the goods, a village road that has been broken for three years...

Lu Zhou doesn't argue or complain. By day, he hikes through the mountains and visits villages. At night, he pores over the account books.

He believes in one thing: the books are right there, waiting for someone determined to set them straight.

Every minor government account is entered into the proper process; every small matter affecting people's livelihoods is followed through to the end. He builds a bridge, settles an account, establishes a cooperative, and breaks up a web of vested interests.

From the first bridge in Qingxi Township to a blueprint for the entire province:

A good reputation in public service is earned through work, not grandstanding.

This novel and its characters are entirely fictional. Any resemblance to real people or events is purely coincidental. Do not imitate.