Chen Zhiyuan is reborn. He returns to 2005, to the very day he first takes office as a village official. A leaky warehouse, an indifferent village Party secretary, and impoverished Kaoshan Village: in his previous life, he spent two years here before being transferred away in disgrace. This time, he's decided to live differently. It starts when he helps Zhang Guangfa, a chicken farmer, avoid a disaster, and he gradually establishes himself in the village. He writes a land acquisition proposal that catches the county Party secretary's eye; after foiling an ambush, he becomes the mayor's right-hand man. Some people support him, some hate him, and someone texts him in the middle of the night: Don't stick your nose where it doesn't belong. He rises from village official to mayor, then from mayor to county magistrate. He builds roads, attracts investment, demolishes illegal structures, and takes on criminal gangs. Every step is on the edge of a knife, and every time someone tries to bring him down. Fifteen years later, he stands by a window in the provincial Party committee building, watching the cars come and go below.
Someone asks if he still remembers Kaoshan Village. He says nothing. The wind picks up outside, making the papers rustle. He glances down at the photograph on his desk: Zhang Guangfa crouched beside a chicken coop, grinning and showing a mouthful of yellow teeth.
Beneath the photo lies a slip of paper, covered in sloppy handwriting. He doesn't know who slipped it in: "Some scores are still unsettled."
This book nourishes the soul like a clear spring. The author outlines a touching story with delicate writing style. Each chapter is full of sparkling wisdom. It is unforgettable after reading and is worth reading again and again.