In the end, Lin Wen got what he wanted. He received the mission to protect the village dam of Changpai Village and went back happily.
County Head Zhao had even specially returned the 12 staff members he had borrowed from him in the early days, but Lin Wen was indifferent to this.
After the flood defense meeting ended, all the officers of the villages and towns had left. Only Zhao Anping and his secretary Xiao Zhang were left in the meeting room.
Under the dim light, County Head Zhao drank his tea silently. The meeting room was silent.
After a long time, Secretary Xiao Zhang could not help but say, "County Head, it's getting late. It's time to go back."
County Head Zhao nodded but did not move.
After a while, he put down his teacup and said slowly, "Xiao Zhang, do you remember how Lin Wen became the mayor of Changle Town?"
Xiao Zhang thought for a while and said, "I remember that Xiao Lin's father sacrificed himself valiantly in a desperate battle with the human traffickers in order to save the kidnapped child. Later on, he was awarded the title of First Class Hero. His mother was swept away by the waves when she sailed a barge to rescue the people trapped in the flood. Later on, it was calculated that she alone saved more than 1,200 lives and was awarded the title of First Class Hero. Later on, the Empire issued a call to remember heroes. According to the opinion of the governor-general's office, Lin Wen was the descendant of the heroes. He was promoted directly from town clerk to mayor. He jumped four levels in a row!"
County Head Zhao stared at the teacup as if he was lost in thought. "Yes, that was three years ago. I remember that Xiao Lin was too young back then and caused quite a bit of objections."
Xiao Zhang nodded. "That's right, but how can the authority of the governor-general's office be challenged? Haha!"
County Head Zhao ignored Xiao Zhang's ridicule and continued, "He's been working in that position for three years. Although Xiao Lin doesn't have the talent to be an official, he has always been very diligent and has never violated the law. It's said that he has been even more diligent recently. The people of Changle Town are full of praise for him."
Xiao Zhang bent down and whispered, "County governor, what are you trying to say?"
Zhao Anping said calmly, "Do you think Xiao Lin has learned of the plan of promotion?"
Xiao Zhang smiled and said, "That's impossible. The drafting document is still in your safe. Other than you and a few people in the county office, no one else knows."
Zhao Anping sneered but did not continue. Instead, he asked, "What do you think Xiao Lin is trying to do by actively defending the most dangerous area?"
"He's just trying to get some credit." Xiao Zhang yawned. "Don't be fooled by his nice words. At most, he's just doing some repairing and pre-processing work. If the flood really comes, he definitely won't go up the embankment."
Zhao Anping didn't say anything else. He sat quietly in the dim light for a moment before standing up and saying, "Let's go."
"That's great. We can finally go back." Xiao Zhang immediately beamed with joy. He picked up the briefcase and dashed out.
Zhao Anping glanced back at Lin Wen's seat, then silently left as well.
…
After Lin Wen returned to the town, he finished reading the files that he brought back to prevent the flood.
The next day, he brought his men to the dam.
Although the dam of Changpai Village was called a dam, it was actually just a small dam that connected the Clear Wind Mountain upstream and the mountain ranges downstream.
It was on the west side of Changle Town. It was a little far, but Lin Wen didn't want to sit in that crappy car anymore. He walked over with ten staff who had just been transferred back.
There were still two people left to Xiao Li to take the rear.
In fact, if it weren't for the fact that Lin Wen couldn't clone himself, he would have done all the work himself.
Once they reached the levee, they saw the surging river water coming from the horizon. The waves were surging and terrifying. The surface of the river was at least 2,000 meters wide. There was no end in sight. On the opposite shore, there was a tall and steep cliff. The greenish-gray rock walls pierced straight into the clouds from the bottom of the river. It was a daunting sight.
In this place, humans were so tiny, like ants beside a giant beast.
And what resisted such a powerful flow of water was only a segment of an earthen dike that had been neglected for many years. Water was flowing out from all sides of the dike, proving that it was full of holes. Several areas had collapsed, and the river had already invaded the foundation of the dike.
It was the exact opposite of what was described in the flood prevention document, which claimed that the dam was sturdy, meticulously built, and would never fall.
The ten employees who accompanied him were all pale and trembling.
Lin Wen was overjoyed. He had just found an excuse. He waved his hand and said, "It's dangerous on the dike. All of you can go down and prepare soil. Use woven bags to pack it up. Also, prepare some bamboo cages filled with stones and tools for reinforcement. Place them under the dike. I'll take them myself. You don't have to worry about the rest."
The ten employees looked at each other. One of them stammered, "Mayor Lin, this isn't good…"
"There's no need to say anymore!" Lin Wen pulled a long face. "If the mayor doesn't do dangerous things, who will? Is the mayor's salary for nothing? What does the mayor's power do? The mayor eats good food every day. All you can do is gnaw on the soil. Is that fair? If the mayor doesn't charge forward and sacrifice himself for justice when something big happens, what's the use of the mayor? Why would the commoners choose an old man to lord over them?"
At this point, everyone did not want to stay on the dike any longer. The fear of the raging waves hitting the shore made them run down.
Lin Wen was the only one left in this world. As the raging waves roared, he spread out his arms and laughed, "I'm coming! Immortals, gods, tremble!"
Perhaps out of gratitude, ten people brought over 200 bags of soil, 50 bamboo cages filled with stones, 20 anchor posts, and a bunch of tools.
Mayor Lin didn't go down the dike the whole day. He carried a clay cube on his back and used a shovel to reinforce the dike.
The dam of Changpai Village was more than 200 meters long. Logically speaking, it was very difficult for a person to complete the repairs and reinforcement. However, in the evening, they didn't dare to say that because Mayor Lin had already carried more than 100 bags of soil up the dike. He held a shovel in each hand, and like a mountain climber, he walked quickly on the slippery and muddy dike as if he was carrying a bag of cotton on his back. In just a moment, he transported a bag of soil from the bottom to the top.
According to this speed, he might be able to finish repairing the dam before the flood season arrived.
"Is this possible?" One of the employees could not believe his eyes. "Is this humanly possible?"
"Is this person made of iron?"
"Why don't we go up and help him?" said a tiny voice.
"Go if you want to."
"I can't stand it when I see the river. It's like a monster that chooses humans to devour."
"Did anything like this happen before?"
"Stop talking! This is Mayor Lin's order! He arranged this job. If we don't transport the soil, will Mayor Lin go to the village and dig the soil before carrying it back?"
"Yes, yes, this is the job that Mayor Lin arranged! We have to follow the arrangements and not be lazy!"
"Carry more?"
"Let's go!"
At 9 pm, dark clouds gathered and it started raining heavily. It was too difficult to transport the soil in the rain, so the ten of them decided to go back and rest.
Before one of them left, he looked back. The dam was pitch-black and he couldn't see anything. He muttered to himself, "Mayor Lin should have left long ago."
A bolt of lightning flashed across the river, illuminating the surface. The river surged as if it had gone mad. It made people wonder if the thin dam in front of the 2,000-meter wide river could withstand the terrifying force.
And above the dam, in the pouring rain, under the lightning, there was clearly a figure carrying something, walking towards the dike.
Lightning flashed away and everything returned to darkness.
A huge sense of fear surged in his heart, and he fell to the ground as he cried out in shock, "There's… there's someone on the dike!"
Everyone turned around. "What did you say?"
"Are you blind? It's pitch black, what the hell is that!"
"Hurry up and take a hot shower. I'm so tired!"
That person was still in shock. He wondered if his eyes were playing tricks on him. It was impossible for Mayor Lin to still be on the dike at this time. Even if he was Superman, he had to light a lamp, right? Otherwise, how could he work in this pitch-black area?
Although his rationality kept denying it, the scene that was illuminated by the lightning was still etched in his mind.
Unlike what they thought, Lin Wen was indeed still on the levee, and he didn't feel tired at all. He faced the terrifying power of nature in the storm, and he didn't feel any fear. Instead, it made him feel as if he had come to the cultivation world ahead of time. That kind of excitement was something that others couldn't understand at all, making Lin Wen completely intoxicated.
Of course, this was not entirely unrewarding.
For the first few hours, Lin Wen was indeed exhausted. The road on the dike was covered in mud. It was soft to step into and it was tiring to pull it out. It was wet and slippery. A bag of dirt was over a hundred kilograms. It felt like a mountain on his back. Without the support of his faith, he would have been lying down.
It took more than half an hour for him to carry the first bag of soil to reach the dam, and it took another half an hour to find the dark hole. Fortunately, Lin Wen was smart enough to remember how to search and block the hole in the document.
In order to prevent the bags from being washed away, Lin Wen specially found a place where the water flow was slower. This hole was also very small, and a bag of soil filled it up. It should be a very small hole.
After Lin Wen finished reinforcing it with the shovel, he instantly gained one point of kindness.
Lin Wen was shocked. In the past, he had worked so hard all day without getting even a single bit of Kindness. In just over an hour, he had earned one point?
Although he had long guessed that repairing the dam was a great merit and should be able to obtain a lot of Kindness, he did not expect it to be so much.
"Calm down! Calm down! There might not be so many of them. I've been trying for a long time but I haven't been able to gain any. Maybe this just made up for the missing part."
The verification method was very simple. He just had to try again.
Although there was a strong power boost, due to his physical condition, it still took Lin Wen more than 30 minutes to carry a bag of soil.
It took another hour to find a particularly small dark hole. After it was blocked, he was instantly given one point of Kindness!
"F*ck!"
Lin Wen immediately pounded his chest. He regretted not discovering this road to riches earlier and wasting so much time.
Just as he was about to make use of the time to try again, he turned around and fell onto the dike. Only then did Lin Wen realize that his entire shoulder was numb, his arms were shaking uncontrollably, and his legs were like cotton, unable to exert any strength. A huge soreness ran through his entire body.
"No way, how can that be?"
Kindness was right in front of her but he couldn't get it. Lin Wen was as anxious as an ant on a hot pan.
"Get up, get up, this broken leg, get up!"
Just as he was panicking, a white mist flashed in front of him and the immortal cultivation panel appeared again. The biggest change from before was that the number after the golden words 'Kindness' became 10.
These were the 10 points of Kindness that Lin Wen had accumulated over many days.
"Why are you looking at this now? What am I thinking…"
He stopped mid-sentence because Lin Wen suddenly realized that the seal behind the Spell column had disappeared.