Wangchuan Linzhou: No Connections, Just Fighting Corruption and Protecting Livelihoods

On his first day reporting for duty as a public affairs officer in Wangchuan Town, Lin Zhou runs into two infuriating problems: 12 fruit farmers are being compensated for their honey pear orchards as if the land were ordinary farmland, while Auntie Wang, who is paralyzed, has had her minimum subsistence allowance application rejected twice. His direct supervisor, Zhang Jianjun, simply advises him, “Don’t make trouble over this.” But Lin Zhou insists on making trouble. He crouches in the pear orchards to photograph evidence that the county agriculture bureau certified the trees as fruit crops, then searches through three years of welfare records and uncovers 18 suspicious transactions. Some of the subsidies went to a small shop owned by Zhang Jianjun’s wife. Zhang Jianjun panics and privately threatens him, warning him not to “wade into muddy water,” then even suspends him. But villagers block the town government with a banner reading “Protect Officer Lin.” His partner, Su Qing, secretly retrieves records of the transactions, while a former accountant risks everything to expose the scheme to inflate the welfare rolls by three recipients. With no influential connections, Lin Zhou relies on one thing alone: evidence. From screenshots of benefit fraud to a recording about 200,000 yuan in withheld compensation, then on to an interest network involving Deputy Director Wang of the county project office, he passes the clues to the county discipline inspection commission one step at a time. Even after receiving anonymous threatening texts and watching a crucial ledger go up in flames, he refuses to back down. In the end, he helps the fruit farmers recover their compensation, removes fraudulent recipients from the welfare rolls, and sees Zhang Jianjun, Deputy Director Wang, and others sentenced to prison. But this is only the beginning. There is a neighboring town where dead people continue receiving welfare benefits, corruption in the county education bureau’s school meal program, and shady dealings in state-owned enterprise project bids. Moving from town to county, Lin Zhou pushes for the creation of “villagers’ oversight groups” and an “online reporting platform.” Some say grassroots anti-corruption work is difficult, but he proves through his actions that having no connections is nothing to fear. Protecting the people’s money takes nothing but sheer determination. Next, he plans to investigate funds for children’s welfare. Can he keep standing up to the powerful?