Pure Streams of This Era

Set in the early 1990s, during China's large-scale poverty alleviation campaign, the story takes place in Nanping, a national-level impoverished county in the old revolutionary base area. The local government severely violates central poverty alleviation principles by intercepting and misappropriating poverty relief funds, ultimately using five million yuan to build a government office building. After being reported by the public, a provincial investigation team confirms the facts, leading to nationwide notification of the punishment: the county party secretary is dismissed and reassigned, the supervising county magistrate receives a serious warning within the party, and the entire leadership of the old construction office is removed. At this time, the newly appointed county party secretary, Gao Yangtai, promotes democratic decision-making and reform, uncompromisingly opposing those against reform. He opens a public recruitment for the director of the old construction office. The new director, Niu Qingliu, takes office with integrity, fearlessly confronting the supervising county magistrate, Xiao Yuntian, and achieving initial success in poverty alleviation. In fact, this is almost an autobiographical novel; the author was the director of the old construction office who won the recruitment. He feels self-blame and helplessness, unable to do anything about the illegal activities he witnessed. After leaving the "circle" that troubled him for years, he remains preoccupied and thus writes this work, using fictional plots to express full positive energy.